Speaker 1: Hey, very delightful, good evening to you, and welcome out
Speaker 1: to the Budweiser reds Hodstove League presented by UDF. We
Speaker 1: are live at the bet MGM Sportsbook inside Tom's Watch
Speaker 1: Bar at the Banks, and we've got a pretty big
Speaker 1: crowd assembled here to uh hear what Colin Cowgill has
Speaker 1: to say Reds first base coach, based running coach, outfield coach.
Speaker 2: He's on with us today.
Speaker 1: We're also gonna have Mark Sheldon checking in redsbeatwriter for
Speaker 1: MLB dot Com. He will check in from the Winter meetings.
Speaker 1: Emiliopagon will join us a little bit later on with
Speaker 1: Jim Day. I'm Tommy Graw. It's great to be with
Speaker 1: you as we talk Red's Baseball for the next hour. Jimmy,
Speaker 1: I know a lot of people want to talk about
Speaker 1: the news of the week, and that was the fact that,
Speaker 1: of course everybody in Red's country hoping Kyle Schwarber would
Speaker 1: return home and suit up in a Red uniform this year,
Speaker 1: only for him to re sign with the Phillies.
Speaker 3: Really not surprising for me.
Speaker 4: I mean I said it on the record all along,
Speaker 4: I thought it was going back to Philadelphia. As you know,
Speaker 4: let's slide from the big city.
Speaker 3: It's free agency.
Speaker 4: Good for him, it was the last big contract for
Speaker 4: him perhaps, and you gotta move on now, you gotta
Speaker 4: beat him right.
Speaker 1: Well, we will talk more about that a little bit
Speaker 1: later on. We'll get Mark Sheldon's thoughts about it as well.
Speaker 1: But first, let's welcome in Colin cal Gill CEC. Thanks
Speaker 1: so much for joining us. You just took part in
Speaker 1: a Q and A here at Tom's watch Bar and
Speaker 1: the bet MGM sportsbook. But you know, for you last season,
Speaker 1: I mean, a new manager. We kind of talked about
Speaker 1: that a little bit ago, but a new manager that
Speaker 1: the base running certainly something that this team is capable
Speaker 1: of doing and doing very well. It seems like they
Speaker 1: got a little bit more efficient last year.
Speaker 3: Definitely more efficient. It was good. Well boy, feedback, Yep,
Speaker 3: it feels good. Take care of that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, feels good in the ear drums wakes you up
Speaker 1: a little bit.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, And we did talk about it earlier
Speaker 5: and it was challenging, you know, going from one manager
Speaker 5: who has a style of aggression to another manager who
Speaker 5: just isn't as aggressive of a mindset, especially on the
Speaker 5: basis and and Tito's one that just doesn't like to
Speaker 5: make outs on bases on the basis and.
Speaker 3: And and I can I can totally agree with that.
Speaker 3: It's it's it makes sense to me.
Speaker 5: I think the what we were talked about earlier was
Speaker 5: was just trying to find the balance of of not
Speaker 5: being overly aggressive where we make costly mistakes, but being
Speaker 5: aggressive enough to where, you know, sometimes it might open
Speaker 5: up a hole for us, or it might get us
Speaker 5: a few more fastballs, or it might affect the game
Speaker 5: in some way that you know, we could take advantage
Speaker 5: of some of our better athletes, the skills that they
Speaker 5: that they possess, their instincts, all those things.
Speaker 3: So, you know, going from one.
Speaker 5: Manager to another is definitely challenging with their different styles
Speaker 5: and belief systems. But uh, the one thing that you
Speaker 5: can count on with Tito is that that that man
Speaker 5: wants to win the game.
Speaker 3: However that that may look like.
Speaker 5: There was times when he'd come down to the end
Speaker 5: of dugout and like, hey man, we gotta go, and
Speaker 5: I'd be like, finally, you know, let's go. But there'd
Speaker 5: also be times like, hey man, let's be a little
Speaker 5: bit more conservative here.
Speaker 3: You know, there was a real life example.
Speaker 5: We were in Colorado and we're facing a I can't
Speaker 5: remember his name, Tyler Kinley I think slowed the plate,
Speaker 5: gave up a lot of stolen bases. I think it
Speaker 5: was Freedom or Frehley was on and Tito was giving
Speaker 5: me the red light. And this was early, early on
Speaker 5: in the season, and I came back out and I
Speaker 5: was like, Hey, Tito, what what's up?
Speaker 1: Man?
Speaker 3: Like why we would have second and third?
Speaker 5: And say, well, they would have just walked Ellie, you know,
Speaker 5: And like now we got bassis loaded with Ellie not
Speaker 5: having a chance to hit in a lesser matchup with
Speaker 5: a right handed hitter behind him, Like all right, well
Speaker 5: that makes a little bit more sense to me, you know.
Speaker 5: But that's an early moment where we're trying to feel
Speaker 5: each other out, understanding the relationship how he thinks, where
Speaker 5: in the previous it was like, Hey, we're gonna go
Speaker 5: because we're gonna be safe, and then whatever happens after
Speaker 5: that happens. We might have a two pointer on a single,
Speaker 5: But the way he thinks about and looks at the
Speaker 5: game and the running game is just a little bit
Speaker 5: different and was a learning process. But now I feel
Speaker 5: like I got a pretty decent handle on it.
Speaker 4: The times that he did say go, gave you the
Speaker 4: green light, where those times where the club was going
Speaker 4: through maybe a stretch of offensive struggles. You had a
Speaker 4: ton of games where you scored less than two runs
Speaker 4: where maybe you need to manufacture some runs. Where those
Speaker 4: the times and do you think we could see more
Speaker 4: of that?
Speaker 3: Maybe? Just it's Tito. I get his.
Speaker 4: Philosophy, but you just pushed the envelope just a little
Speaker 4: bit more.
Speaker 5: Yeah, And that's right, and it was time, and it's
Speaker 5: it's challenging and in that aspect too, because if you're
Speaker 5: down two runs and then you get thrown out with
Speaker 5: your only opportunity that with somebody on base, you know,
Speaker 5: like you're kind of you're kind of cutting off.
Speaker 3: Your legs there too.
Speaker 5: So it's it's definitely we need to be right when
Speaker 5: we make the decision to go, and that needs to
Speaker 5: be right, and that needs to be moving the needle
Speaker 5: for us.
Speaker 3: To win that game or score that run.
Speaker 5: So I think moving forward with him, yes, I think
Speaker 5: to answer your question, yes, I think we will be
Speaker 5: more aggressive, especially having one year under his you know,
Speaker 5: his regime, the way he thinks and feels our players
Speaker 5: understand the way he thinks and feels. Because there was
Speaker 5: a bit of a lull kind of the middle of
Speaker 5: the season where we were very very passive. I would
Speaker 5: I would, I would say, uh, and then we kind
Speaker 5: of picked it back up towards the latter part of
Speaker 5: the season. So having known knowing what Tito wants, knowing
Speaker 5: our players knowing what Tito wants, I think you can
Speaker 5: probably see us, you know, being a bit more aggressive
Speaker 5: and when the offense is struggling the way it does, Yes,
Speaker 5: like we're gonna need to to make something happen. Hit
Speaker 5: and run a little bit more st doe attle bit
Speaker 5: more bases, you know, score some more runs.
Speaker 3: Juse the offense.
Speaker 1: We obviously all know that Ellie is an elite base runner.
Speaker 1: He's electric, especially when he's healthy. Who's somebody that kind
Speaker 1: of flies under the radar a little bit as far
Speaker 1: as base running goes, and their ability to maybe surprise
Speaker 1: you with a stolen bag here and there.
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, I think we saw like a glimpse of
Speaker 5: sal Stewart, you know, towards the end of it, with
Speaker 5: a little bit you know of of his uh, but
Speaker 5: he's just you know, he's he's exciting. Uh, he's an
Speaker 5: excitable person. We're gonna have to tame that a little bit.
Speaker 5: But but he's really instinctive. He's a guy that sees
Speaker 5: something in a picture and takes advantage of that. Spencer
Speaker 5: Steer is one of the better bolt steel players in
Speaker 5: the league. He's not the fastest guy, but he is
Speaker 5: just an opportunistic base runner.
Speaker 3: And then Noelvie.
Speaker 5: You look at a guy like Noelvie who is a
Speaker 5: big human being. He's probably two hundred and thirty pounds,
Speaker 5: but he runs really, really well, and he's also a
Speaker 5: really really smart based runner. He has some techniques that
Speaker 5: he likes to use, and he's sneaky. So I think,
Speaker 5: you know, with him, as long as he stays in shape,
Speaker 5: stays healthy. Spencer two, I think we got some guys
Speaker 5: that are gonna, you know, get back to running bases
Speaker 5: the way where we know we can run bases.
Speaker 4: How much of a challenge was it for you in
Speaker 4: that Ellie at times with his injury, and there was
Speaker 4: a lot of you know, he was injured more than
Speaker 4: was led on that he was a ferrari that wasn't
Speaker 4: working on all cylinders at times, where you had to
Speaker 4: hold him back because I know he goes to first
Speaker 4: base and the first thing he says to you is Poppy,
Speaker 4: I'm going to score.
Speaker 3: So you had to hold him back.
Speaker 6: How much of a challenge was that?
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know what, most of the time I just
Speaker 5: felt bad for him, because, like, he wants to go,
Speaker 5: and I'm like, hey, man, like, we.
Speaker 3: Can't risk you. You're probably gonna be safe. But if you.
Speaker 5: Set yourself back to three more days and we lose
Speaker 5: you for any day, our chances of winning that game
Speaker 5: that day are very, very are a hell of a
Speaker 5: lot smaller, you know, because he's such an impactful player.
Speaker 5: So not only is our shortstop, you know, he's our
Speaker 5: best offensive player. He's our most dynamic players. So trying
Speaker 5: to keep him healthy and also satisfy his need to
Speaker 5: you know, be aggressive and use his legs was super challenging.
Speaker 5: But hopefully all this is behind him, you know, and
Speaker 5: we can get back to watching Ellie run the way
Speaker 5: he's capable of running.
Speaker 1: It's obviously fun to talk base running because of how
Speaker 1: athletic this team is, and there are some dynamic guys
Speaker 1: like we've talked about, But the other thing that is
Speaker 1: A big part of what you do is working with
Speaker 1: the outfielders. We saw a guy like Noelvie Marte make
Speaker 1: huge shrides in very short order. What was the key
Speaker 1: to kind of get him comfortable with and then becoming
Speaker 1: not just a respectable outfielder in right field, but a
Speaker 1: pretty darn good right fielder. We saw him rob the
Speaker 1: home run that may have saved the season and helped
Speaker 1: this team get to the postseason late in the year.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was.
Speaker 5: It was so fun to watch him, you know, just
Speaker 5: the relief he felt moving from the infield to the outfield.
Speaker 3: He just he was just dragging that around.
Speaker 5: He was dragging his his his miscues on defense into
Speaker 5: the box, and you know, it's hard to battle yourself
Speaker 5: and the pitcher at the same time offensively, So just
Speaker 5: to watch him be able to just play free, have fun.
Speaker 5: There was always a smile on his face. But the
Speaker 5: way he got better was because he just worked at
Speaker 5: it every day. We worked every day. I stood behind
Speaker 5: him in BP. I helped him with his his pre pitch,
Speaker 5: his first step, and then just kind of like let
Speaker 5: him make mistakes out there, like hey, man, go catch
Speaker 5: the ball or don't catch the ball. But if you
Speaker 5: don't catch the ball, learn from it. You know what happened.
Speaker 5: And there beat there was plays in the season which
Speaker 5: he didn't miss very many, but there was a couple
Speaker 5: of where his routes weren't great. But I would take
Speaker 5: the iPad to him and I'd show him and and uh.
Speaker 3: And he'd get the hang of it. And then and
Speaker 3: the very next play he'd clean it up.
Speaker 5: So he's that good at at at making changes and
Speaker 5: adjusting and and he's just a great baseball player.
Speaker 3: So the more he.
Speaker 5: Works, and if he continues to work, he's going to
Speaker 5: continue to be a pretty good outfielder.
Speaker 4: That robbing of the home run is directly correlated to
Speaker 4: the drill that you have with the pitching machine. I'm serious,
Speaker 4: and I'm blowing smoke here.
Speaker 6: You guys work on that.
Speaker 4: So congratulations on that play.
Speaker 3: Come in to Prision congratulation.
Speaker 4: Seriously, Hey, you know I've seen defense go by the wayside,
Speaker 4: uh somewhat in this game.
Speaker 3: You're known for your enthusiasm.
Speaker 4: You're you're more like a football coach and the baseball
Speaker 4: coach I've ever seen when guys get down to first base,
Speaker 4: you headbutt them. Now, has there ever been a time
Speaker 4: where a guy had butted you so hard that it
Speaker 4: like you saw stars a little bit, or vice versa,
Speaker 4: or you did it too.
Speaker 1: Hard to get into concussion protocol.
Speaker 5: I'm telling you, Uh, Freedol will absolutely send it on
Speaker 5: some head butts. I could see that, and and I
Speaker 5: will absolutely send it back to Freedel. So it's morally
Speaker 5: just you know, because you know we're kind of the
Speaker 5: same size, we're very similar, uh, you know, little pit bulls.
Speaker 3: And Jack Russell's whatever you want to call us.
Speaker 5: But when he gets a bunt down for a not
Speaker 5: I am more fired up for that event than I
Speaker 5: am a lot of other things. And if he forgets
Speaker 5: the head butt me, I will take his head and
Speaker 5: I will smash it against my head just to make
Speaker 5: sure that he doesn't under didn't misunderstand how fired up
Speaker 5: I am because he works really hard at bunting and
Speaker 5: when he gets it done, it's a big it's normally
Speaker 5: a big moment for us, and uh, and that fires
Speaker 5: me up.
Speaker 3: You boys, right, that's that's right.
Speaker 1: Well, thanks so much for the time. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Thanks for coming down.
Speaker 1: Always fun to chat baseball with you and enjoy the
Speaker 1: rest of the winter.
Speaker 6: Yeah, you got it.
Speaker 1: My pleasure guys is Colin cal Gill joining us on
Speaker 1: the Budweiser Reds Hot Stove League. We are live, Hey,
Speaker 1: but the bet MGM Sportsbook inside Tom's watch Bar at
Speaker 1: the Banks. We're back with Mark Sheldon. Next on the
Speaker 1: Reds Radio Network. Beckets the Budweiser Reds Hot Stove Leak
Speaker 1: presented by UDF.
Speaker 3: We are live the.
Speaker 1: Bet MGM Sportsbook inside Tom's watch Bar at the Banks. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: Mark Sheldon is staying nice and warm. I'm sure he's
Speaker 1: got a good tan working. He is down in the
Speaker 1: Sunshine State. I bet it ain't raining down there, Marky, Mark,
Speaker 1: what's going on?
Speaker 7: How are you doing?
Speaker 6: Pretty good?
Speaker 7: I can tell you that I don't have any tan
Speaker 7: because I barely left the hotel all week and the
Speaker 7: hotel was freezing inside with all the air conditioned plumping in.
Speaker 7: But I'm at the airport and I'm ready to come
Speaker 7: home in the slop that we're gonna get in Cincinnati soon.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're bringing some snow with you, which is really nice.
Speaker 8: Well.
Speaker 1: Mark has been down in Orlando, not for vacation, not
Speaker 1: just checking out the area Disney hotels, but he is
Speaker 1: down there for the winter meetings. He's on his way
Speaker 1: home now, hanging out at the lovely Orlando Airport. Well
Speaker 1: Mark Danks for joining us. But you know, obviously there
Speaker 1: was a lot of excitement on whether or not the
Speaker 1: Reds were going to land Kyle Schwarber. They didn't. What
Speaker 1: have you learned and and how how much have you
Speaker 1: realized about how close the Reds really were on that deal?
Speaker 7: You know, Schwarber said today on his zoom with the
Speaker 7: Phillies writers that he thought the Red's offer was impressive.
Speaker 7: He thought the Reds efforts to get him were legit,
Speaker 7: and he I think the term he used, they weren't
Speaker 7: pulling his chain. Him and his wife were at Great
Speaker 7: American Ballpark the Monday before Thanksgiving and they listened to
Speaker 7: what everyone had to say from the front office, which
Speaker 7: included Nick Krawl and Brad Metter and Bob Castellini and
Speaker 7: Tito Francona and Chris Valaika and Jeff Garpe. You know,
Speaker 7: they went left and they came away okay with that,
Speaker 7: but that ultimately when the offer came, they they were
Speaker 7: better offers and and honestly, the Reds were a long
Speaker 7: shot in a lot of ways. But because the phil
Speaker 7: were always going to be the leader in the clubhouse,
Speaker 7: they they wanted him back. I think he wanted to
Speaker 7: go there first priority, and the Phillies produced the money
Speaker 7: to make that happen.
Speaker 4: Where do you think the Reds go from here? Where
Speaker 4: are some rumblings that you're you've heard this week? You know,
Speaker 4: there are a thousand rumors out there. You don't know what
Speaker 4: to believe, You're gut feeling where they go.
Speaker 7: It's you know, that's a tough one. It's it's wide
Speaker 7: open now at this point, Jim, because you know, it's
Speaker 7: not like they're you know, pet A Lonzo's off the
Speaker 7: board now, of course, but I'm not sure they were
Speaker 7: ever They were never in play for him. But there's
Speaker 7: obviously there's the biggest probably free agent for them that's
Speaker 7: left is Boba Shet, but they're not connected to him yet.
Speaker 7: I would wonder if they would think about going to him.
Speaker 7: Nick Krawl has said that they are willing to look
Speaker 7: at guys that maybe their position is filled on the team,
Speaker 7: and then maybe requiring to move a guy to a
Speaker 7: different position because they have a lot of flexible players,
Speaker 7: and that kind of makes sense with Brandon lou coming
Speaker 7: up as a trade candidate maybe from the Raise because
Speaker 7: he's a second baseman, and that would mean someone like
Speaker 7: Matt McClain would have to move maybe to center field.
Speaker 7: So there's there's different hoops, you know, things they can
Speaker 7: do it. It's just not as easy to pinpoint as Yeah,
Speaker 7: they were after Kyle Schwarber. Now it's like they have
Speaker 7: a lot of different, you know, irons in the fire.
Speaker 7: They've been talking at free agents, they've been talking to
Speaker 7: the trade partner's, potential trade partners, and we'll have to
Speaker 7: see what happens.
Speaker 1: One hundred and twenty five million dollars is what they
Speaker 1: were willing to pay over five years for Kyle Schwarber.
Speaker 1: That seems to be a pretty good price tag for
Speaker 1: a team that's budget seems to be fairly limited. Would
Speaker 1: that give you an indication that they're willing to spend
Speaker 1: if it's the right player moving forward?
Speaker 3: Yes to no.
Speaker 7: I mean Nick Caral's been pretty transparent about the part
Speaker 7: with the what the payroll is going to be. Similar
Speaker 7: to last year they gave Emilio Pegan, you know, ten
Speaker 7: million a year for the next two years. They didn't
Speaker 7: have a whole lot left, and I think what they're
Speaker 7: trying to do is that whether it's with trying what
Speaker 7: they tried to do with Schwarber or what they might
Speaker 7: do with another free agent, is can they find a
Speaker 7: way to get creative in year one? They know their budget,
Speaker 7: maybe if they can get a guide to the first
Speaker 7: of money. I think deferrals is a big part of
Speaker 7: what they might try to do, and then then they
Speaker 7: can see where they are for the twenty twenty seven
Speaker 7: budget and twenty twenty eight, et cetera. So if they
Speaker 7: can find the right guy and tofer some money and
Speaker 7: have that player be willing to do that, or maybe
Speaker 7: they try some opt outs or other creative ways to
Speaker 7: make it work, they will. But I don't think they're
Speaker 7: going to expand based on what he said today, I
Speaker 7: don't think they're going to expand the budget, nor were
Speaker 7: they trying to expand the budget to get shorter.
Speaker 3: If they can't dip into the free agent market. And
Speaker 3: as you said, the two.
Speaker 4: Big sluggers are off off the board, so trade would
Speaker 4: be the next avenue. Now they've are build within franchise,
Speaker 4: they've been reluctant to trade prospects coming up with a
Speaker 4: trade major league player for major league player is less
Speaker 4: frequent nowadays. Do you see them dipping in the trade
Speaker 4: market to try to come up with the bat Do
Speaker 4: you think that they would deplete the farm system to
Speaker 4: do so.
Speaker 7: I mean, it sounds like the way things were going
Speaker 7: at the Winter Meetings, and you've seen it a couple
Speaker 7: of times with trades before the Winter Meetings.
Speaker 3: It seems like there's been.
Speaker 7: More major league for major league player trades this time around,
Speaker 7: which is a change from the past. Like you said,
Speaker 7: it was more rare for a while, But it seems
Speaker 7: like teams aren't hunting for prospects the way they were
Speaker 7: hunting for them in past years. There's there are fewer
Speaker 7: rebuilding teams.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 7: The one place I keep mentioning, much to people's chagrin,
Speaker 7: is dipping into starting pitching.
Speaker 2: You know, they have a lot of depth.
Speaker 7: But at the same time, both Nick cral and Brad
Speaker 7: Metter have been pretty open about the fact that they
Speaker 7: really don't want to trade someone like Hunter Green or
Speaker 7: Brady Singer or any of their starters because they, you
Speaker 7: know what, the that was deep and talented as it is,
Speaker 7: a lot of those guys have histories of going on
Speaker 7: the injured list, and they have three guys that missed
Speaker 7: all of last season, so I would think their starting
Speaker 7: pitchers would be the ones that would attract the offers.
Speaker 7: I don't know if they have position players that would
Speaker 7: grab what they need, you know, elsewhere. Obviously, if they
Speaker 7: have a good hitter on their team, they're gonna want
Speaker 7: to hang on to him because they need him in
Speaker 7: the lineup too. They don't want to deplete one spot
Speaker 7: for another.
Speaker 1: Well Mark, it's certainly going to be interesting real quickly
Speaker 1: talking about trades before we let you go? Is could
Speaker 1: tell Marte a viable option you think on the trade market.
Speaker 7: I mean he's been rumored. I think somebody did mention
Speaker 7: his name. It connects you with the Reds. I don't
Speaker 7: know how serious it is. I also don't know really
Speaker 7: know what a fit he would be. I think clubhouse
Speaker 7: fit is a big part of it. And el Marte
Speaker 7: maybe had some issues in Arizona, so I don't know
Speaker 7: where that goes. If he's the guy they would get,
Speaker 7: But and again if they got him, they would have
Speaker 7: to move McClean, no doubt, so it would be it
Speaker 7: would be interesting to see what they do. But I
Speaker 7: think he's like he's making like one hundred million dollars,
Speaker 7: so I don't I don't know if if that's the
Speaker 7: right fit or not quite honestly.
Speaker 1: Well, Mark, thanks for the time, appreciate it. Be safe
Speaker 1: getting home and we'll we'll talk to you, I'm sure
Speaker 1: again soon.
Speaker 7: Thanks and happy holidays.
Speaker 2: Happy holidays.
Speaker 1: That is Redsbeat writer for MLB dot Com, Mark Sheldon.
Speaker 1: We're back with Red's closer, Emilio Pagan. It's the Budweiser
Speaker 1: Reds Hot Stove League presented by u DF live at
Speaker 1: the bed MGM Sportsbook. Inside Tom's Watch Bartha Banks on
Speaker 1: the Reds Radio Network. Welcome back into the Budweiser reds
Speaker 1: Hot Stove League presented by u d F with Jim Day.
Speaker 1: I am Tommy Throw continuing on the show. Now, we
Speaker 1: are thrilled to be joined by Red's closer, Emilio Pagan. Boy,
Speaker 1: how refreshing it is to be able to say those words, Emilio.
Speaker 1: I'd like to say welcome back, but you you never
Speaker 1: ended up leaving, so it's it's great to it's great
Speaker 1: to have you still in a Reds uniform. How thrilled
Speaker 1: were you to get this deal? Done, especially as quickly
Speaker 1: as it got done.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I was pumped, you know.
Speaker 9: I told Brad and Nick and Jeff, you know, pretty
Speaker 9: much everybody that you know. I was hoping to be
Speaker 9: bad and uh, you know, I was really grateful that
Speaker 9: we were able to get it done. Man it uh
Speaker 9: and uh, and it moved fast, You're right. But it
Speaker 9: was a fun process. It was super humbling to hear
Speaker 9: from all the teams that were calling. You know, anytime
Speaker 9: you get a phone call from a major league club
Speaker 9: and they they're interested in signing you as one of
Speaker 9: their players, Uh, it's a.
Speaker 6: Super cool feeling, you know.
Speaker 9: I I've watched baseball my whole life, and so to
Speaker 9: uh to have those calls was a fun process.
Speaker 6: But at the end of the day, there's.
Speaker 9: A lot to like about what we've got going on
Speaker 9: in Cincinnati, and I knew that's where I wanted to be.
Speaker 10: That last day at Dodger Stadium, Uh, when you guys
Speaker 10: got knocked out and and everyone in the clubhouse is
Speaker 10: saying they're goodbyes, and it's kind of an emotional moment.
Speaker 10: Did you think at that moment that might be the
Speaker 10: last time you put on a Red's uniform? How much
Speaker 10: were you thinking because I was saying goodbye to you
Speaker 10: because I didn't it was gonna happen.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 9: It's it's really hard, from being honest, to not think
Speaker 9: about that, to not think about, man, this could be
Speaker 9: the last time teammates with these guys, and so you
Speaker 9: know in the moment, you know, I tell guys.
Speaker 6: All the time, I am terrible at goodbyes.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 6: I'm a very emotional person.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 6: I think fans can see that. And when I'm on
Speaker 6: the mound, you know, I have fun.
Speaker 9: Out there, and and so I'm not afraid to show
Speaker 9: my emotions a little bit. And so uh when it
Speaker 9: comes time at the end of the year, whenever that
Speaker 9: time does come, I'm I'm not good at goodbyes, and so, uh,
Speaker 9: you're right. I was kind of just sitting in my
Speaker 9: locker taking it all in and uh, you know, being
Speaker 9: thankful for for my time there and with those guys.
Speaker 6: I've had a blast the last two years. Uh.
Speaker 9: But there was you know a huge part of me
Speaker 9: that was very hopeful that we could figure something out
Speaker 9: and could uh could get it done to bring me
Speaker 9: back and and you know, take another run at it,
Speaker 9: because I believe in this team. I believe in these guys,
Speaker 9: and you know, I said it a couple of days
Speaker 9: ago when I was up in Cincinnati. I think we
Speaker 9: were just uh, I think we just grabbed to surface
Speaker 9: on what this team can accomplish. And so I'm excited
Speaker 9: to get back to work.
Speaker 2: Emilio Pagun, big Irish exit guy.
Speaker 1: Uh Hue, Emilio, you you talked about, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: the process and that other teams were calling you.
Speaker 2: Uh, how'd that process go?
Speaker 1: Uh? Take us behind the curtain just a little bit.
Speaker 1: I mean, did you you said you wanted to be
Speaker 1: back with the Reds. You've You've made that clear to
Speaker 1: everybody involved. So during the during that process, did you
Speaker 1: feel like the Reds had to outbid some other teams
Speaker 1: or just get competitive? I mean, how does that whole
Speaker 1: process kind of play out, especially when you know where
Speaker 1: you want to be.
Speaker 9: Yeah, you know, the process is it is what it is.
Speaker 6: Man.
Speaker 9: You know, teams call, uh, teams call my agent asient
Speaker 9: does a really good job of communicating with with all
Speaker 9: the teams and with me. I'm aware of who's calling,
Speaker 9: when they're calling, what they're thinking, and you know, it's
Speaker 9: really just having fun with it.
Speaker 6: As far as as far as offers.
Speaker 9: In the market, I don't really worry about that. Uh,
Speaker 9: to be honest, you know, you know, I feel like
Speaker 9: it's not really something to worry about.
Speaker 6: You know, I grew up in church.
Speaker 9: You know, for me, you know, God had a plan
Speaker 9: for my life to play baseball, and so for me,
Speaker 9: he's He's provided opportunities and and uh places for me
Speaker 9: to go. And so you know, I had a desire
Speaker 9: back in Cincinnati, and you know, I felt like it
Speaker 9: was gonna happen the whole time. And so as far
Speaker 9: as the market goes, I wasn't really concerned about it.
Speaker 9: You know, I have said, and I do believe this
Speaker 9: is true. I do owe a little bit to the
Speaker 9: game of baseball and to players and to the future
Speaker 9: players to get what the game might dictate. You know,
Speaker 9: somebody who's done what I've done in this game is
Speaker 9: worth and so there there is a little bit of
Speaker 9: that factor. But as far as being like anxious or
Speaker 9: concerned about the market like that, you know, I'm grateful
Speaker 9: that that was never a part of my process, and
Speaker 9: so I'm just glad we were able to get it done.
Speaker 6: Be back in Cincinnati.
Speaker 10: There's been so many players that have come through Cincinnati,
Speaker 10: and there's I guess there's just something about it that
Speaker 10: players like. Even during the down years, there were players
Speaker 10: that I really like it here and I'd really like
Speaker 10: to come back, and a lot of times they didn't twofold.
Speaker 10: What is it about Cincinnati, Cincinnati Reads, and what is
Speaker 10: it about this particular group that's so enticing and situation.
Speaker 9: Yeah, yeah, it's hard for me to comment on like
Speaker 9: previous guys, because I don't know what the you know,
Speaker 9: what the clubhouse was like, you know, during those years
Speaker 9: that you're referring to. For me, I can say right now,
Speaker 9: what's enticing for me is the people. The guys in
Speaker 9: that clubhouse. Our front office staff, our coaching staff, are
Speaker 9: port staff in the clubhouse. It's just a really special
Speaker 9: group of people where it feels like we're all on
Speaker 9: the same page. It feels like there's one common goal,
Speaker 9: which is to get better, to win games, and to
Speaker 9: hopefully bring a championship to this organization. And so, you know,
Speaker 9: as a fan of baseball, you like to think that
Speaker 9: every team is trying to win as many games as
Speaker 9: possible every year. Being in the game, I think we're
Speaker 9: all aware that that's not always the case, unfortunately, and
Speaker 9: so as far as guys in previous years that have
Speaker 9: wanted to come back, I'm not sure what was enticing
Speaker 9: to them. But for me, you look at the talent
Speaker 9: on this roster, you pair that with the group of
Speaker 9: people that we have in this organization, it's just a
Speaker 9: special place at a special time, and I think, like
Speaker 9: I said, we're just scratching the surface. I think this
Speaker 9: is going to become a destination in this league if
Speaker 9: we do this right, and you know, we start taking
Speaker 9: more and more steps in the right direction towards winning
Speaker 9: a championship, and so I'm great to be a part
Speaker 9: of it and excited to see what we can accomplish.
Speaker 1: Emilio, closing wasn't probably at the top of your radar
Speaker 1: coming into the last season. You turned into not just
Speaker 1: the team's closer, but a reliable closer. At that what
Speaker 1: you learn about yourself throughout the course of the year
Speaker 1: doing it day in and day out.
Speaker 6: I learned that I needed more sleep than normal.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 9: It's a stressful role, but it's something that I've always
Speaker 9: really really hoped that I would get another shot at.
Speaker 9: You know, I did it a little bit in twenty
Speaker 9: nineteen with Tampa and then a little bit in the
Speaker 9: beginning of twenty twenty two in Minnesota. And both of
Speaker 9: those years I put it on such a pedestal, you know,
Speaker 9: calling myself I get to be a major league closer,
Speaker 9: you know, and just really adding unnecessary importance to getting
Speaker 9: three outs, you know what I mean, when you really
Speaker 9: boil it down, that's all it is, just go get
Speaker 9: three outs.
Speaker 1: And so.
Speaker 6: I've matured enough.
Speaker 9: At least I thought I had matured enough to get
Speaker 9: another shot at it, and you know, I was really
Speaker 9: hopeful that I would get another shot at it. And
Speaker 9: this time around, I just tried to have fun and
Speaker 9: tried to go get three outs as fast as possible
Speaker 9: and not really care what it looks like. You know,
Speaker 9: if I get three outs before they you know, tie
Speaker 9: the game or go ahead, then I did my job.
Speaker 9: And so I had a lot of fun with it.
Speaker 9: But yeah, what I learned was when you're in that role,
Speaker 9: sleep becomes even more important.
Speaker 6: So the arm's good.
Speaker 10: You mentioned twenty nineteen, you seventy innings pitched that year,
Speaker 10: sixty eight and two thirds this year, but they were
Speaker 10: all stressed.
Speaker 6: Is that a big difference.
Speaker 9: I don't know, we'll find out. You know, Physically, I
Speaker 9: feel fantastic right now. You know, obviously everybody in spring
Speaker 9: training says, yeah, I'm in the best shape of my life.
Speaker 9: I feel better now in this off in this off
Speaker 9: season that I felt probably the last two or three
Speaker 9: off seasons. And so you know that there's gonna be
Speaker 9: ebbs and flows with that as you're as you're building up,
Speaker 9: there's gonna be periods of dead arm and uh times
Speaker 9: in the off season where you're more sore than others.
Speaker 9: You know, that comes, you know, being able to manage
Speaker 9: that comes through experience, and so I'll know when it's
Speaker 9: time to step on the gas or maybe you know,
Speaker 9: take it back and notch. But as far as how
Speaker 9: I feel right now going into you know, the later
Speaker 9: stages of the off season where bullpens will start to
Speaker 9: pick up and long toss will start to pick up,
Speaker 9: I feel great. And so I'm really happy with how
Speaker 9: I feel physically. And uh yeah, I mean I threw
Speaker 9: a lot last year, but it's not the most I've
Speaker 9: ever thrown. And so you know I met they were yeah, yeah,
Speaker 9: for sure, Yeah, for sure, they were.
Speaker 6: They were definitely all high leverage, which has not always.
Speaker 3: Been the case.
Speaker 9: But uh, you know, for me, and I think a
Speaker 9: lot of people would say this, like any inning in
Speaker 9: the Big league is high stress. Like we all want
Speaker 9: to stay in the big leagues as long as possible,
Speaker 9: and so you know, the score and and everything dictates
Speaker 9: some uh you know, the leverage index, you know, whatever
Speaker 9: that stat is. But as far as how I approach it,
Speaker 9: I'm trying to put up a zero. I don't care
Speaker 9: if it's the first or the fifteenth, you know. So
Speaker 9: that's that's the way I look at it.
Speaker 1: You talk about sleep, a little harder to sleep after
Speaker 1: the adrenaline rush of pitching a ninth inning, isn't it.
Speaker 1: I mean that that's not easy to just shut it down,
Speaker 1: go home, put your head on the pillow and call
Speaker 1: it a night.
Speaker 6: Yeah. Yeah, no, it's it's definitely not.
Speaker 9: But again that comes from like what I was referring
Speaker 9: to is like just keep it into perspective, Like when
Speaker 9: I was getting when I was getting a chance to
Speaker 9: close in Tampa. Yeah, I was up till three four
Speaker 9: o'clock in the morning after games, just either super pumped
Speaker 9: up because I got the job done or super disappointed.
Speaker 6: In myself because I blew the game this time around.
Speaker 9: I was just trying to be you know, more honest
Speaker 9: with myself about how I threw the bait, not necessarily
Speaker 9: what the result was. Like if I threw good and
Speaker 9: blew the game, I was okay with it, which you know,
Speaker 9: fans may or may not want to hear that, But
Speaker 9: my process was, in my opinion, the right way to
Speaker 9: go about it. Like I don't want to pitch bad
Speaker 9: and get the job done and think, man, I'm in
Speaker 9: a good spot, you know, like this is sustainable for
Speaker 9: the next two weeks. So like if I threw bad
Speaker 9: and didn't and and still got the save, like all right,
Speaker 9: let's look into why I wasn't commanding my fastball as
Speaker 9: much or whatever. Which the flip side of that was
Speaker 9: if I pitched good and gave up a homer and
Speaker 9: we lost, like I was okay with that because I
Speaker 9: knew that if I kept throwing the ball like that
Speaker 9: more times than not, just the way that baseball is designed,
Speaker 9: like if you pitch good, you're gonna get out. It's
Speaker 9: really hard to get hits in this game and string
Speaker 9: string two.
Speaker 6: Or three together.
Speaker 9: And so that was my whole thought process, and because
Speaker 9: of that I was able to get better sleep.
Speaker 1: As somebody once told me, they decided to become a
Speaker 1: pitcher because they realized it was a lot easier than
Speaker 1: being hit her.
Speaker 6: Yeah that guy was you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, well, Emilio certainly appreciate the time.
Speaker 2: Thanks so much.
Speaker 1: Really happy for you and your family and have a
Speaker 1: great holiday season.
Speaker 6: All right, Yeah, thanks guys. I appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 1: Absolutely That is Red's Closer, Emilio Pagan joining us. We'll
Speaker 1: take your phone calls and mores. We wind down on
Speaker 1: the Budweiser Reds Hot Stove League presented by UDF.
Speaker 2: Next on the Reds Radio Network.
Speaker 1: BET, wrapping things up on the Butterwiser Red Hot Stove
Speaker 1: League presented by ud ALF. We are live the BET
Speaker 1: MGM Sportsbook inside Tom's Wahbar at the Bank. Shopping for
Speaker 1: a Reds fan this holiday season, there are plenty of
Speaker 1: great gift options available tickets, fan club memberships, memorabilia, apparel,
Speaker 1: and more.
Speaker 2: Plus don't miss thirteen.
Speaker 1: Days of Christmas at the Reds Team Shop, with new
Speaker 1: deals on select days through December twenty third. Visit Reds
Speaker 1: dot com for details. Let's go to the phone lines.
Speaker 1: Now if five one, three, seven, four, nine, seven hundred
Speaker 1: the big one. Let's go to Grandpaul, Mike and Dayton. Gramps,
Speaker 1: what do you got for us?
Speaker 8: You know him?
Speaker 1: Sir, you're behaving, trying not to, but you know there's
Speaker 1: plenty of people to keep.
Speaker 8: Hey, that's where I am. Well, I have a new job,
Speaker 8: but I'm not going into that. I'm knowing a lot
Speaker 8: of traveling. But anyway, with the Reds, I am a
Speaker 8: big Reds fan. I'm a diehard Yankee fan, being rigid
Speaker 8: from New York. I hate the Orioles. How the hell
Speaker 8: the Casteline let the Ools sign Alonzo? I hated them.
Speaker 1: Well, thanks for the call, Gramps, appreciate you calling in.
Speaker 1: I gotta be honest with you. I you know, I
Speaker 1: like the idea Kyle Sharber. I thought he would be
Speaker 1: a really good fit for this Reds team. And by
Speaker 1: all accounts, look, the Reds did everything they could. Uh,
Speaker 1: the Phillies came up with a better offer, And I
Speaker 1: think it probably comes down to deep down he was
Speaker 1: comfortable there, that's where he wanted to stay. Pete Alonzo,
Speaker 1: I don't Jim, I don't know how you feel about this.
Speaker 1: I don't feel as though Pete Alonzo would have been
Speaker 1: as good of a fit with this team. Granted, the
Speaker 1: bat's great, the power numbers are great, but sometimes it
Speaker 1: has to be a fit all the way around. It's
Speaker 1: a boatload of home runs.
Speaker 4: It's hit a botload of home runs in Great America
Speaker 4: that that was certainly playing on this team, that would play.
Speaker 4: But the reports are that it's even a slightly larger
Speaker 4: contract right than what Shwarbur got.
Speaker 3: So I don't know the finances.
Speaker 4: I'm not privy to the talks of how much was
Speaker 4: offered to Schwarbur, how much you know he's in the
Speaker 4: end gonna get or Pete Alonzo. I'm not gonna pooh
Speaker 4: pooh on a guy hits that many home runs that
Speaker 4: he wouldn't fit in.
Speaker 1: Well, you find a way to make it work, don't you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: But I never I never got the sense that he
Speaker 1: was a guy that the Reds were necessarily interested in. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know that he was on the radar for them,
Speaker 1: But you know what, I'm sure he'll work out great
Speaker 1: for the Orioles. He's certainly a power back that could
Speaker 1: use in their lineup, and they need to figure out
Speaker 1: a way to get some power from somewhere. We wrap
Speaker 1: up the show and we come back next on the
Speaker 1: Reds Radio Network. It's up on the Budweiser Reds Hot
Speaker 1: Stove League presented by UDF. Give the gift of Reds
Speaker 1: Baseball this holiday season with Red's Holiday Flex Ticket vouchers.
Speaker 1: Your favorite Reds fan will get a choose which games
Speaker 1: they want to see in twenty twenty six. Visit Reds
Speaker 1: dot com slash Holiday for details. Well, pretty much out
Speaker 1: of time for today's show. Who knows, maybe we'll be
Speaker 1: talking about some excitement next week. Shows on a Tuesday.
Speaker 1: Great to have Emlio Pagan on today. Great to have
Speaker 1: him back in the bullpen. Sounds like the Reds are
Speaker 1: still willing to go out there and spend some money.
Speaker 3: Remains to be seen.
Speaker 4: It does not my money to spend, nor my position
Speaker 4: to talk about it.
Speaker 3: Things that I don't know. We'll see, we'll.
Speaker 1: See what will be waiting Like everyone else, we will
Speaker 1: be And you know what, it is disappointing that the
Speaker 1: Kyle Schwarber thing didn't work out, but you got to
Speaker 1: move on.
Speaker 3: And now we'll see where.
Speaker 1: The Red's pivot and how they continue to try to
Speaker 1: piece together this team for twenty twenty six. But you've
Speaker 1: got to try to find a way to build on
Speaker 1: the momentum getting to the postseason last year. Tito's talked
Speaker 1: about it, Emilio Pagan talked about it. They want to
Speaker 1: get back there, they want to pop bottles again.
Speaker 4: They're gonna have to come up with a creative trade then,
Speaker 4: in my opinion.
Speaker 1: And I think that's probably what we'll be looking at. Yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe we'll halt, Maybe we'll be talking about that.
Speaker 3: Perhaps Tuesday is the show. Tuesday.
Speaker 1: Next Tuesday, we'll be here in the same spot, all right,
Speaker 1: at the bet MGM Sportsbook inside Tom's Watch Bar at
Speaker 1: the Banks. We're out of time for this show. Big
Speaker 1: thanks to Calling cal Gill for joining us today. Thanks
Speaker 1: to Mark Sheldon for calling in. Also thanks to Emilio
Speaker 1: Pagan for our producer, engineer, dave Yiddy, Arm Brewster, Joe
Speaker 1: Waddell back in our network headquarters, and for Jim Day.
Speaker 1: I'm Tommy Thrawl saying good night from the bet MGM
Speaker 1: Sportsbook inside Tom's Watch Bar at the Banks. You've been
Speaker 1: listening to the Budweiser reds Hot Stove League presented by
Speaker 1: UDF on the REDS radio network,