Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talker.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Dodger Talk We are on until eight
Speaker 1: o'clock tonight here on a five seventy LA Sports. And
Speaker 1: Andrew Friedman has made it back from Orlando today the
Speaker 1: introductory press conference with Edwin Diaz and Andrew.
Speaker 2: Edwin Abby a work ethic and he really wants to win.
Speaker 2: You saw it today, We've seen it over the years
Speaker 2: with his willingness to come in in the fourth inning,
Speaker 2: fifth inning, sixth inning to try to you know, when
Speaker 2: we were beating the Mets last year in the CS,
Speaker 2: he would come in early to try to stop the bleeding,
Speaker 2: just to give them a chance to come back. And
Speaker 2: last weekend of the year this year against the Marlins,
Speaker 2: that Sunday game, which was a must win for them,
Speaker 2: coming in in the fourth, just the selflessness to win.
Speaker 2: And it fits in so well with so many of
Speaker 2: our guys. So the talent fits really well. The human
Speaker 2: what kind of worker he is, how much he cares
Speaker 2: also works fits really well.
Speaker 1: Did you believe you had a very good chance of
Speaker 1: signing das.
Speaker 2: You know, obviously he was top of our list coming
Speaker 2: into the off season, but just thought the chances were
Speaker 2: pretty remote, so it didn't spend a ton of time
Speaker 2: other than express interest. We have a lot of interests,
Speaker 2: so we kind of kept in touch with them, but
Speaker 2: all the while just thinking, hey, the likelihood of this
Speaker 2: is pretty low. Then when the Mets signed Devin Williams
Speaker 2: five minutes later, I called the agent and and there
Speaker 2: was more of an opening than I had since before,
Speaker 2: which gave us some encouragement, but still felt like it's unlikely,
Speaker 2: so putting an offer that night or maybe the next night,
Speaker 2: and then don't really hear anything until that Saturday, right
Speaker 2: before the Winter meetings, and they give us some feedback,
Speaker 2: and so we started talking Sunday into Monday, and still
Speaker 2: all along I'm like, I just you know, it's gonna
Speaker 2: be hard for him to cut the cord with New York.
Speaker 2: Can't see New York letting them go. But through the
Speaker 2: conversations Monday night, late Monday night into Tuesday morning, felt
Speaker 2: like the chances were actually way better than I was
Speaker 2: giving credit for. And then we got into how do
Speaker 2: we close this deal mode? And fortunately we're able to
Speaker 2: push it across.
Speaker 1: At this point, you've built back to back world series championships.
Speaker 1: You're going for a three pete at this point in
Speaker 1: your position. When you're signing players and them deciding whether
Speaker 1: or not they are going to sign with the Dodgers,
Speaker 1: like Diaz, doesn't it say something about the player that
Speaker 1: they want in on this And conversely for players that
Speaker 1: shy away from it, doesn't it say something about them?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think there's a real, you know, kind of
Speaker 2: selection bias that we get some insights into guys that
Speaker 2: we haven't had before as players. Because there's a lot
Speaker 2: that comes with it, and you have fifty plus thousand
Speaker 2: people every night, you feel that responsibility. There's the highest
Speaker 2: of expectations, and so it's not for everybody, and the
Speaker 2: people who it's not we'd rather not sign and so
Speaker 2: hopefully we're able to kind of sift through that. But
Speaker 2: I think a lot of it also is that in
Speaker 2: our conversations with guys this winner, it's conveying how hungry
Speaker 2: we are to do it again, because I think there
Speaker 2: would be some concern of Okay, they've won. No, okay,
Speaker 2: they've won twice in a row. Does that mean they're
Speaker 2: going to put their feet up and hope for the best.
Speaker 2: So it's conveying and making sure to sell that point
Speaker 2: of just how committed we are to doing everything we
Speaker 2: can to win again in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1: What do you believe is next for you this offseason?
Speaker 1: Do you want to add more as far as trying
Speaker 1: to help your position player group? What do you see
Speaker 1: in the near future.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think adding a bat would be great, and
Speaker 2: it would just take some pressure off some of our
Speaker 2: younger guys. That being said, things happen over the course
Speaker 2: of the season and getting our younger guys sim at
Speaker 2: bats is going to be really important. Things play out
Speaker 2: in that way. But I think just building out the
Speaker 2: depth more, adding a really interesting kind of position player
Speaker 2: that fits into our group really well is very high
Speaker 2: on the list.
Speaker 1: How much do you look at some of your guys
Speaker 1: that have put so much of their body through it
Speaker 1: the last couple of years and are starting to get
Speaker 1: to their mid thirties and late thirties. How much is
Speaker 1: that on the forefront of your mind to try to
Speaker 1: supplement with some younger guys.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think there's looking at it in
Speaker 2: a couple different ways. I mean, if you're just focused
Speaker 2: on twenty twenty six, I'm not that worried about it.
Speaker 2: It's so important to us who we sign a long
Speaker 2: term deal with in that we know that we are
Speaker 2: going to get everything out of that player. So they're
Speaker 2: gonna work really hard over the winner. They're gonna compete
Speaker 2: and they're gonna lay it out on the line to
Speaker 2: try to win. And we've got a whole clubhouse of
Speaker 2: guys that are playing for each other, they're playing for
Speaker 2: this city, that are playing for their legacy, that are
Speaker 2: playing to create a dynasty. And it is really hard
Speaker 2: to win back to back and it takes that mentality
Speaker 2: to do it, and that mentality is still really strong.
Speaker 2: So for us, it's about adding guys that can add
Speaker 2: to that. But the core in the group we have
Speaker 2: in place, we feel like is really strong.
Speaker 1: I'm glad you brought that up because Max Munsey, Hey,
Speaker 1: you might have a future in this business. Hey, how
Speaker 1: how have you celebrated since the end of the World Series.
Speaker 1: I haven't seen you since the parade? Has there been
Speaker 1: much of a victory lap Brand and Drew Friedman? Did
Speaker 1: your wife throw you a party at the house? I mean,
Speaker 1: what's going on?
Speaker 2: The celebration? The parade itself was incredible, just both years.
Speaker 2: That day is so fulfilling and incredibly impactful, and it
Speaker 2: really is, like it sounds cheesy, but it's like fuel
Speaker 2: to get back there. It really is. That's how special
Speaker 2: that day is. The energy, the joy, you can feel it,
Speaker 2: and it's something that really is fuel to do everything
Speaker 2: we can to get back to it. But we got
Speaker 2: to celebrate by turning around and going to the gm ME,
Speaker 2: and you know, no real time for us on our end,
Speaker 2: and other teams head start preparing for the winner, you know,
Speaker 2: but I can't complain much because our goal is to
Speaker 2: have the least amount of time to prepare. So we've
Speaker 2: been playing catch up and just trying to make sure
Speaker 2: that we're not missing opportunities, and so it's been right
Speaker 2: back at it now. I would love to knock out
Speaker 2: a few of the things that we'd like to and
Speaker 2: have a little break going into spring training, but we'll see.
Speaker 1: We always ask the question about what keeps players hungry.
Speaker 1: You've had an incredible career, You've accomplished more things than
Speaker 1: some have. After being out of the game for ten
Speaker 1: years now, back to back World Series championships, how do
Speaker 1: you stay hungry and do you ever feel like I've
Speaker 1: done it all. Do I need a new challenge?
Speaker 2: No? I mean, I think for us winning is so
Speaker 2: incredibly difficult, it's so fulfilling, and we feel an immense
Speaker 2: pressure from our fans. What they pour into us is
Speaker 2: unprecedented and clearing four million this year. The passion that
Speaker 2: this city has for this team makes us feel a
Speaker 2: great sense of responsibility to return it and to be
Speaker 2: as good as we can possibly be. And we've talked
Speaker 2: about this a lot, but that goal and it's hard
Speaker 2: when you're mired in it to have appreciation. But for
Speaker 2: us to look back after I get fired, things change whatever,
Speaker 2: to look back and say that was a golden era
Speaker 2: of Dodgers baseball. And so that is a very real
Speaker 2: motivating factor for us, is you know, nineteen eighty eight
Speaker 2: to twenty twenty was a long time and to do
Speaker 2: everything we can to keep pouring in and keep this
Speaker 2: momentum going and hopefully add you know, more and more
Speaker 2: up there and have to clear out room for the banners.
Speaker 2: But I think just the sense of responsibility we have
Speaker 2: is a very real driving factor.
Speaker 1: All right, So that's good news for Dodger fans. Andrew
Speaker 1: Friedman's not going anywhere. But if you're a Dodger fan,
Speaker 1: you're likely a Laker fan. And there was the news
Speaker 1: that you're helping out the Lakers a little bit. So
Speaker 1: what's the role, what's the balance for you between these
Speaker 1: two incredible franchises.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I've got a pretty full time job
Speaker 2: as is. I think it's more we're all under you know,
Speaker 2: Mark Walters TWG umbrella, and it's about helping one another
Speaker 2: and as things are coming up and we can be
Speaker 2: a resource for one another. It's not often that you're
Speaker 2: able to do that and kind of lean on other
Speaker 2: teams and other sports. You know, there's sharing of information
Speaker 2: of how we do our scouting process or how they do,
Speaker 2: or how we've set up certain systems or them. You know,
Speaker 2: have spent some real time with you know, Rob and
Speaker 2: his team, and you know they've done a great job,
Speaker 2: gotten off to a great start. But I think it's
Speaker 2: more just us all being a resource for one another
Speaker 2: and you know, helping anything that's kind of under that
Speaker 2: TWG umbrella to be as good as it can be.
Speaker 1: So the Lakers are basically your side hustle. Hey, thanks
Speaker 1: a lot for the time. It's great catching up up
Speaker 1: with you and look forward to doing this a few
Speaker 1: more times during the off season because you're always you're
Speaker 1: always big game hunting, So we'll see you soon.
Speaker 2: You as well, And I'm just glad because I was
Speaker 2: concerned that after you landed the Brian Cranston interview that
Speaker 2: you wouldn't slum it with me anymore. So I'm just
Speaker 2: happy that you're still slumming it.
Speaker 1: Have you heard Cranston's trade ideas like this guy's plugged
Speaker 1: into your minor league system all the way in London.
Speaker 2: That's great. I haven't heard it yet, but I did
Speaker 2: see a couple of fans point out that his knowledge
Speaker 2: of some of our deeper minor league guys was impressive.
Speaker 1: And you heard about Elizabeth Olsen having a little bit
Speaker 1: of a crush on me as well.
Speaker 2: I mean, she's only a human, all right.
Speaker 1: I'll take that. Thanks a lot for the time, great
Speaker 1: to see you, and happy holidays.
Speaker 2: And to you. Thanks Dave.