WEBVTT - Jason Heyward (5-13-26) 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:04.680 And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talk. 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:09.240 All right, the Dodgers and Giants are getting set for 0:00:09.280 --> 0:00:10.400 Game three of this series. 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:11.960 Otani's pitching all that. 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:16.080 But I'm joined right now by the newest Dodger employe. 0:00:16.560 --> 0:00:19.000 He's part of the Dodgers' front office staff now with 0:00:19.040 --> 0:00:22.520 Andrew Freeman as his special assistant. And that is sixteen 0:00:22.600 --> 0:00:27.000 year veteran World Series Champion, All Star and great guy 0:00:27.160 --> 0:00:30.440 Jason Hayward back in the Dodgers family. Great to have 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:33.080 you out here, and man, I'm not afraid to talk 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:35.600 to you. I'm not afraid to hug you. People might 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:38.280 give me a lot of crap about it, but I'm 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:38.800 a hugger. 0:00:40.040 --> 0:00:41.959 Oh. First off, David, I appreciate it. Man. 0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:44.839 It's so good to be back here, back around family, 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:48.239 back around very familiar faces. And you know, we talk 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:51.680 about being a part of the Dodgers organization. It's amazing 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:54.360 to just know everyone's working together as the team. As 0:00:54.400 --> 0:00:57.120 our good friend Chris Archer here was just saying, but 0:00:57.200 --> 0:00:59.280 now it's good to be back and good to have 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:04.640 an opportunity. Much appreciation on behalf of Andrew Gomes of 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:07.760 Carving out some space for me. Dave Roberts as well. 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:09.720 I told him, I'm curious. I want to learn this 0:01:09.800 --> 0:01:11.959 side of the game. I like to work towards being 0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:13.960 in a front office member one day and contributing to 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:17.280 a franchise. And here's an opportunity to get the ball rolling. 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:18.800 So super grateful some. 0:01:18.760 --> 0:01:21.320 Of the best started from the ground up. As far 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:24.120 as this part of the life. What will you be doing. 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:26.000 Will you be going to the minor leagues? Will you 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:29.440 be just canvas seeing the entire organization. 0:01:30.200 --> 0:01:32.280 I will be going to the minor leagues. I'm talking 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:35.600 about visiting every affiliate. The unfortunate thing for me in 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:37.280 my mind is that then I'm starting now and the 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:39.840 season's already be gone. But I will be doing my 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:41.840 best to catch up. I'll be traveling around with the 0:01:41.920 --> 0:01:45.959 lights of David Finley, Chris Archer, Tyson, Ross rabul lebon Is, 0:01:46.440 --> 0:01:49.320 of course, communicating with Rock Oball Delhi, some of the 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:53.200 outfeel people. Just do whatever I can right now, present day, 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:56.160 right like putting sixteen years of experience as an outfielder, 0:01:56.360 --> 0:01:59.880 as a defender, as a world champion, and all those things. 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:02.480 And when I say that, it's you know, the sacrifice 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:05.480 and contributing to the player development side, and at the 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:10.040 same time going to affiliates, learning the scouting area, learning 0:02:10.040 --> 0:02:13.320 how to evaluate players and be a support system. You know, 0:02:13.360 --> 0:02:14.840 while I can right now present. 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:17.760 Day, did you have this vision the last few years 0:02:17.800 --> 0:02:20.840 of playing or did you ever have this vision while 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:21.880 you were in the thick of it. 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:24.320 I don't want to say I had the vision because 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:26.200 I don't think that's fair to say. I feel like 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:29.280 I was heavily invested in doing whatever my role was, 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:31.280 especially a latter part of the career. 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:32.760 Though maybe that's a start. 0:02:32.800 --> 0:02:35.360 Maybe that's coming off the bench, Maybe that's being a 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:38.880 guy who's evaluating my teammates and doing my best to 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:41.400 get the best out of them, to support them in 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:44.200 a sense. But the more I looked at it, coming 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:46.600 down to like the last couple of years, it's like, man, 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:49.800 don't turn the page on the game yet, you know, like, 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:51.760 see what else you can get out of it? And 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:55.079 what I know is I enjoy having conversations about baseball. 0:02:55.480 --> 0:02:58.639 I enjoy having competitive conversations about how can we win, 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:00.880 how can we do do the best to put the 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:03.400 right people in the right situation. And I know that 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:05.799 sounds a lot like front office. It sounds a lot 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:10.040 like building culture. Building ors is organization, excuse me, and 0:03:10.080 --> 0:03:12.239 getting the best out of the players that are a 0:03:12.240 --> 0:03:15.320 part of the system. So that's that was my curious issue, 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:16.320 and I appreciate them. 0:03:16.440 --> 0:03:17.760 Let me have a stab at it. 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:20.880 Since you're not that far removed from playing, you just retired, 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:23.760 I bet you have the appreciation or I should ask you, 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:26.360 do you have the appreciation of the blend of the 0:03:26.400 --> 0:03:29.799 analytics and what makes a player tick and what their 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:31.440 character and their makeup is. 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:35.320 Oh, one percent, one hundred percent. And I think that's 0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:37.640 a unique thing that I have as well. Starting in 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:41.720 twenty ten, seeing the game change rapidly, going into that 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:44.680 heavy analytic phase, and now we're starting to see it 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:46.920 come out of it a bit. You know, it's still there, 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:49.080 It's still a part of the DNA. It's still the 0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:53.320 terminology and how front offices, how coaching staffs, and how 0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:57.440 players now are learning to communicate every day. But you 0:03:57.560 --> 0:04:00.160 understand it, there needs to be the field right to 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:02.920 be those conversations of having someone who's had the experience, 0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:05.520 how do you handle this situation as a rookie, how 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:08.680 do you handle this situation facing a closer right, how 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:10.920 do you handle a situation like maybe a guy needs 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:14.040 a day off, needs a breathe it. And I think 0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:16.000 that is very very cool that the game is going 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:18.600 to more of a collab between the field and analytics. 0:04:18.600 --> 0:04:18.960 For sure. 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:20.679 Jason Heyward is our guest. 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:23.080 He's now part of the Dodgers front office as a 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:28.120 special assistant. When you started to explore this opportunity with 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:32.240 the Dodgers, what was Andrew Friedman's reaction when you made 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:33.279 that first phone call. 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:37.360 The reaction was, well, first, honestly, it was a lot 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:39.880 of texting, and I'll give you know, Gohmer and Andrew 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:42.599 credit because the season that are started, like I said, 0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:45.720 and you know, they're on pace for you know, trying 0:04:45.760 --> 0:04:48.080 to have another championship season and that's that's winning three 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:50.720 in a row. So a lot of responsibility on their end. 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:53.640 But no, we did a lot of texting back and forth. 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:56.560 Andrew said, look like we're going to pull up our 0:04:56.600 --> 0:04:59.080 sleeves here and see what we can do to find 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:02.000 find a space for you to come on and for one, 0:05:02.040 --> 0:05:04.359 contribute in ways we think you can help today, but 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:07.080 also give you that opportunity you're asking for and that's 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:09.320 to learn, and that's to see what this side of 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:12.039 the game looks like. So again like super grateful for 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:14.919 the opportunity and then the rest of the way with 0:05:14.960 --> 0:05:17.400 Brandon Gomes, you know, doing what he's done. Of course, 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:20.360 former player, so he has that perspective, he's been in 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:23.159 my shoes and he's been a great sounding board to 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:25.400 talk to on like what this may look like, how 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:29.360 this feels right, And and again like Tyson Ross, Chris 0:05:29.440 --> 0:05:31.200 Archer's you know same guys as well that have that 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:33.919 have done the same thing on sharing perspective. But you know, 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:36.480 our our two front office guys, like our head Honchos 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:39.600 so to speak, they've been absolutely instrumental and just you know, 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:42.000 creating an opportunity for me this year to do so. 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:44.839 Since your shoes are on the ground now, not the spikes, 0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:47.920 you have a different kind of view of how the 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:51.400 team is playing and what you've been seeing. Obviously they're 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:53.480 not swinging the bats as well as we saw in 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:55.880 the first few weeks of the season. What do you 0:05:55.960 --> 0:05:57.920 see and what do you remember as a player when 0:05:57.960 --> 0:06:00.800 you're kind of in this group types, how do you 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:01.520 get out of it? 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:02.279 Well? 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:04.920 I think there are always going to be different ways 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:07.440 to get out of things, right out of those slumps. 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:10.040 David, because every year's a different year. Every year is 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:10.560 a new year. 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:15.800 Get twenty twenty four, Amazing twenty twenty five, amazing photo, 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:19.839 finish twenty twenty six. They're gonna be different variables along 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:21.600 the way, and you've got to figure out how to 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:23.840 get through those. And I think it's just this group 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:26.120 being creative. They're going to have fun with it. You 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:28.120 see it with some changes in the celebration. And I 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:30.440 was listening to you on Dodger Talk one of the 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:32.440 other days saying, please get rid of that and the kick, 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:35.039 you know, kick the bad vibes out of there, which 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:37.839 I completely understand. But I think it's just the fact 0:06:37.839 --> 0:06:40.159 that they're forward thinking, right, They're realizing, all right, we 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:41.880 know things aren't going how we want them to go. 0:06:42.320 --> 0:06:45.240 Let's get creative on ways to stay in the moment. 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:48.000 Let's do our best to have fun. But I think 0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:50.320 most importantly, to be honest, it's call a spade has 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:52.600 paid and they realize things aren't going how they want 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:55.200 them to go right now. But every day we see 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:56.760 the work they put in out here on the field, 0:06:56.800 --> 0:06:58.800 We see the work in the clubhouse and in the 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:01.640 cage in the weight room. So no doubt in my 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:04.600 mind the process will rise over the results and. 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:06.240 There'll be where they need to be. Just need to 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:07.400 get a few people healthy. 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:09.640 Yeah, no doubt, and maybe do the Freddie Freeman, not 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:12.320 the dance, but maybe simplify things. 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:14.320 Seaball hit ball one hundred. 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:17.680 Seaball hit ball helps. But no, the game is hard. 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:20.040 The game is hard, and there's something to be said 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:22.960 about being that last team standing back to back years, 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:26.680 playing the most games, managing pitching staffs and innings and 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:29.280 all these things. Like again, there's so many variables of 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:32.600 being that team that wins it. The first variable is 0:07:32.800 --> 0:07:34.560 nobody feels sorry for you at all. 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:35.480 Right, so every. 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:37.600 Day teams are gettingenough to play against you, and that's 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:39.720 what you want to have happen. But again, you just 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:42.200 got to be creative, got to be open minded and 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:45.200 realize that it's not always going to be how we 0:07:45.280 --> 0:07:47.040 got here, how we won. The first one might be 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:49.080 a little different in the second one. How we win 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:51.560 that third one might look a little different, But you 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:53.240 just find a way to do it and trust the 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:54.120 people you have in the room. 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:57.880 Well, the Dodgers trust, Jason Hayward. Great to have you back, 0:07:58.000 --> 0:07:59.960 and I know it was a breath of fresh air 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:03.200 for all your former teammates to see you. Because you 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:07.880 built your reputation by living your life as a baseball 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:11.120 player and away from the field as a genuine person. 0:08:11.200 --> 0:08:15.160 And that's why everybody gravitates towards you. That's why I 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:17.800 can't stop giving you hugs. Even though Chris Archer wants 0:08:17.840 --> 0:08:20.640 to shame me for those hugs, I'm not gonna stop. 0:08:20.960 --> 0:08:23.280 No, I appreciate it, bro, I'll take a hug. It's 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:26.080 great to see everyone again. I mean that, you know, genuinely. No, 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:28.080 I don't take it for granted. It's good to be seeing, 0:08:28.240 --> 0:08:30.640 good to be around the game, good to have an 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:33.760 opportunity to learn. And you know, people say, hey, Jay, like, 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:37.120 happy retirement. Thank you very much to everyone who's told 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:38.560 me that. But I have a lot of work to 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:40.360 do and I'm gonna get get to work on that. 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:41.559 So I appreciate you guys. 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:44.040 Yeah, you're too young and too swoll to retire. 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:48.160 Hey, I'm just glad there's more opportunities in baseball, more 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:50.880 opportunities around the game because it's a very good games. 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:52.640 We're in a good spot right now with it, and 0:08:52.960 --> 0:08:54.439 you just happy to be a part of it with 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:57.320 an organization like LA And you know you heard Art 0:08:57.400 --> 0:08:57.680 say it. 0:08:57.760 --> 0:08:58.839 You know you talk about him. 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:00.800 I know you're giving him a heart time and saying, hey, 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:03.559 you're now Jay Hayes mentor and I'm like, no, that's right, 0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:06.319 he very much is. But his first response is though, 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:08.240 it's a team and that's how we move here. 0:09:08.280 --> 0:09:09.840 So it's it's again good to be a part of 0:09:09.840 --> 0:09:10.160 the GOP. 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:13.800 Love it team player. Jason Hayward, Thanks a lot and congratulations. 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:15.960 Thank you very much. F good to be with you.