Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Basse or Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2: It's the Dodgers and Padres.
Speaker 3: It's getting set for first pitch, and we're joined right
Speaker 3: now by Dodgers GM, Brandon Gomes, who pulls all the strings.
Speaker 3: Alex Freeland should be beware, treats a nice or Brandon
Speaker 3: Gomes will have a target on your back.
Speaker 2: Thanks a lot for the time. Great to see. Yeah,
Speaker 2: thanks for having me, Dave. Great vibes around the team, Brandon.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's been a fun group and obviously playing good
Speaker 1: baseball and I can't believe that when the All Star
Speaker 1: break is right around the corner. So a lot of
Speaker 1: good stuff so far.
Speaker 3: I know everybody is never satisfied around here. But considering
Speaker 3: you have an eight game lead over the Padres, you
Speaker 3: have one of the best records in baseball, how comfortable
Speaker 3: do you feel where things stand with the team right now?
Speaker 1: Comfortable is not a term that we generally use. Feel
Speaker 1: really good about where guys are at right now, and
Speaker 1: you know, trend lines on a lot of them as well. Plus,
Speaker 1: you know, looking forward over the next month or two,
Speaker 1: getting some guys that have been down for a bit,
Speaker 1: some reinforcements to join us. So, you know, all things
Speaker 1: consider playing well, the guys are have really stepped up
Speaker 1: with you know, some injuries along the way, and it's
Speaker 1: been good opportunities for different different guys. But you know,
Speaker 1: the overall outlook of the team right now really solid
Speaker 1: and hopefully looking to improve as the next couple of
Speaker 1: months come around to.
Speaker 3: It's incredible to believe you're the only team in baseball
Speaker 3: this season with fifty two wins, most wins of any
Speaker 3: team in baseball so far this season, and you really
Speaker 3: haven't had your whole team together. At the same time,
Speaker 3: when you get tay Oscar back and you have Edmund back,
Speaker 3: how much of a different look do you think this
Speaker 3: offense will have.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know those guys obviously getting Tayo back and
Speaker 1: Tommy back in the rhythm really continues to link in
Speaker 1: the lineup. But the guys that have come in, and
Speaker 1: you know, while different guys have been out, have really
Speaker 1: shown well. So I think it's been great opportunity for
Speaker 1: the younger guys to come in. And you know, even
Speaker 1: you know, Ac getting regular at bats, getting him in,
Speaker 1: you know, he's going to be a tough at bats,
Speaker 1: so you know, the the lineup will continue to round.
Speaker 2: Out and be uh, you know, have really good.
Speaker 1: Lengths to it. And then as guys start to heat
Speaker 1: up and round into form, that'll only be another positive
Speaker 1: as well.
Speaker 3: And not only the guys that are filling in for
Speaker 3: injured players, but even a guy like Dalton Rushing Brandon
Speaker 3: getting a lot of opportunities with Will Smith being down.
Speaker 3: How much do you think he's starting to understand what
Speaker 3: it takes to get through a regular season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, very much.
Speaker 1: So. I think this is you know, part of part
Speaker 1: of the luxury of having two really good catchers, especially
Speaker 1: you know, guys that can handle a staff, but also
Speaker 1: it can really produce on the offensive side of things. Uh. So,
Speaker 1: you know, having Will go down and making sure that
Speaker 1: he you know, when he comes back, he's one hundred
Speaker 1: per sent, giving this opportunity to rush to get in
Speaker 1: there and be you know, more of the everyday slash
Speaker 1: you know, bulk catcher, good friend to navigate at bats,
Speaker 1: understand how his body's gonna feel, uh, day in and
Speaker 1: day out, and then continue to to build his chops
Speaker 1: with our pitching staff and and you know, getting used
Speaker 1: to the game calling night in the night out.
Speaker 3: How comfortable are you with the way Dave Roberts, Mark
Speaker 3: pryor Freddie Freeman helped kind of get the emotions back
Speaker 3: in check last Wednesday with Rushing and Otani.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a it's a beautiful thing that this group is,
Speaker 1: you know, so tightly knit and obviously you know Doc
Speaker 1: leading the leading the charge. You know, all anybody cares
Speaker 1: about his winning and knowing that eagles get set aside
Speaker 1: and everybody is here to make each other. It's as
Speaker 1: good as they possibly can be. And this is a
Speaker 1: you know, these these guys are brothers. They spend a
Speaker 1: lot of time together, so you know you're gonna have
Speaker 1: some uh stuff when when you're around competitors like this,
Speaker 1: and you know, the way it was navigated was excellent.
Speaker 3: In my opinion, all of us, even on the media side,
Speaker 3: that are around Dalton Rushing every day. He's got such
Speaker 3: a big heart, He's such a great guy. Can you
Speaker 3: set the record straight for perception versus reality of who
Speaker 3: he is for us?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean he's one of the nicest human beings
Speaker 1: I've been around. I think, you know, this question comes
Speaker 1: up like I would have Rush babysit my kids and
Speaker 1: feel great about it. So, you know, I think he's
Speaker 1: just an intense competitor, and when the juices get flown,
Speaker 1: guys get caught up in the moment sometimes, so you know,
Speaker 1: it's a lot easier to calm down the intense competitor
Speaker 1: than to try to bring it out as somebody. So
Speaker 1: it's much we'd much prefer to have that, and we'll
Speaker 1: take it as a good learning moment and you know,
Speaker 1: moving forward it will be in a better place because
Speaker 1: of it.
Speaker 3: Brandon gom Stodgers. GM is our guest. We are almost
Speaker 3: at the end of June and the trade deadlines not
Speaker 3: until August second, is it too early to think about
Speaker 3: August third? Is it too early to think about that, Brandon?
Speaker 3: As far as what conversations you may be having behind
Speaker 3: the scenes, is it a little premature for people to
Speaker 3: start talking about a trade deadline that is pretty far away?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, obviously everybody likes to tie. It's a
Speaker 1: good news cycle and trying to understand what, you know,
Speaker 1: each team, where they're gonna be in standings and what
Speaker 1: the team needs are you know, as we stand here today,
Speaker 1: you know, with the guys coming back, which will probably
Speaker 1: be around that time, you know, Uh, it's gonna be
Speaker 1: hard to go out and acquire better players than than
Speaker 1: what we actually already have in house, and a lot
Speaker 1: of you know, our aggression in the past few off
Speaker 1: seasons is to avoid the deadline and be paying a
Speaker 1: huge premium for you know, rental players or guys that
Speaker 1: you know it may not be as good as you
Speaker 1: already have in house. So a lot of it is
Speaker 1: wait and see see how the next you know, a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks, month or two play out. But with
Speaker 1: the current team we have and they that are coming back,
Speaker 1: we feel really good about this group and that we're
Speaker 1: more than a championship caliber type of team.
Speaker 3: Back to back World Series champions, fifty two wins. And
Speaker 3: yet it seems like you have the most assets of
Speaker 3: any team because of your drafting, your development, so many
Speaker 3: great young players in your farm system. I would imagine
Speaker 3: that's unusual where teams want what you have when you're
Speaker 3: in this position.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're very fortunate. We have such an amazing scouting
Speaker 1: group PD you know, and part of you know, an
Speaker 1: aggressive ownership group is to be able to go out
Speaker 1: and get guys in the offseason and not necessarily have
Speaker 1: to dip into your farm system to go out and
Speaker 1: get players. So you know, it's a true organizational win
Speaker 1: to be able to have the prospects that we have
Speaker 1: right now, and you know the rankings that we have,
Speaker 1: and you get to hopefully watch these guys develop and
Speaker 1: play out and come up and impact the major league
Speaker 1: team over you know, the next few years. And you know,
Speaker 1: it's always striking the balance between winning championships now in
Speaker 1: long term and you know, like I said, right now,
Speaker 1: the current group that we have here in the big leagues,
Speaker 1: we feel great about going out and trying to run
Speaker 1: a third championship in a row. So we'll continue to
Speaker 1: assess what it looks like on the market and if
Speaker 1: there's a meaningful upgrade somewhere. We've shown that we're not
Speaker 1: afraid to do that, but feel great about this current group.
Speaker 3: Brandon, thanks a lot for the time, and thank you
Speaker 3: on behalf of everybody because we have a front row
Speaker 3: seat to such a special time and Dodger your history
Speaker 3: and to see this team still be as hungry as
Speaker 3: ever to go for a three PET is really special.
Speaker 2: So thanks a lot for the time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks for having me. Dack