Speaker 1: Hey, we're ready for our next guest. He is the
Speaker 1: new manager of the San Diego Padres, Craig Stammon, joining
Speaker 1: us right now on foul Territory for the first time.
Speaker 2: Craig, great to have you on here.
Speaker 1: Congratulations on getting the role, and how has the off
Speaker 1: season really your life changed over the past month and change?
Speaker 3: Yeah, thanks a lot. Yeah, it's been definitely been a
Speaker 3: life change. I'm a lot busier here in November, December
Speaker 3: and January leading up the spring training and planning, you know,
Speaker 3: everything in the off season and planning what we're going
Speaker 3: to do in spring training. So it's been a fun
Speaker 3: change though exciting put in a leadership role and testing
Speaker 3: my leadership abilities.
Speaker 4: So far, so good.
Speaker 5: I'm just glad you didn't big league me, okay, because
Speaker 5: I saw you at winter meetings and we talked, and
Speaker 5: your family came up to mind and we have mutual
Speaker 5: friends and family friends, and I text you. I had
Speaker 5: to dig through my doldrums of my rolodecks to try
Speaker 5: to figure out a way to get your phone number.
Speaker 5: Got your phone number and you said that you would
Speaker 5: come on after the holidays. So I am just here
Speaker 5: saying thank you, thank you, for coming on. We appreciate it,
Speaker 5: and we were not going to ask you how to
Speaker 5: split the atom.
Speaker 2: Okay, we might talk a little.
Speaker 5: Bullpen or platoon advantages, but other than that, it's going
Speaker 5: to be all ball and hopefully you get to have
Speaker 5: a good time.
Speaker 2: So thank you.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you're welcome.
Speaker 3: Hopefully that's you know, a foreshadow of the future that
Speaker 3: I'm a man of my word. You know, good managers
Speaker 3: are usually a man other word. And I'm glad we
Speaker 3: could make it work that we get on the show. Sorry,
Speaker 3: I couldn't make it happen in winter meetings, but all good.
Speaker 1: Now, all right, so let's first get into the transition
Speaker 1: period and the conversation that you've probably already had a
Speaker 1: million times with others, but that one moment where all
Speaker 1: of a sudden it switched from I'm interviewing people to
Speaker 1: I'm one of them being interviewed.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you know, aj I should have probably
Speaker 3: gotten the tune the message a little earlier in the
Speaker 3: off season, but he kept prying, and without really saying
Speaker 3: it that he wanted me to be a candidate, just
Speaker 3: kept asking, you know, do you want to do more?
Speaker 3: You know, are you tired of being a special assistant,
Speaker 3: and my wife and I had just talked about it,
Speaker 3: you know, over the last few off seasons, because there's
Speaker 3: definitely been a you know, a desire to stay in
Speaker 3: the game and be a part of it in some capacity,
Speaker 3: and the special assistant role felt comfortable with my family
Speaker 3: and the situation that we were in with young kids
Speaker 3: and just being able to get them into school and
Speaker 3: get them situated back home, get them into sports, all
Speaker 3: that kind of stuff, and so we just had a
Speaker 3: lot going on and it was kind of just a no,
Speaker 3: a casual note between me and my wife and like,
Speaker 3: this just isn't going to work. And then when AJ said, no,
Speaker 3: I really need you to think about this, and if
Speaker 3: it takes me flying out to come see your wife
Speaker 3: and answer all the questions and stuff like that, he goes,
Speaker 3: I'm willing to do that.
Speaker 4: And that's what I knew. He was really serious.
Speaker 3: And when he was really serious, then I had to
Speaker 3: start thinking about it and get really serious about it too.
Speaker 3: And I guess, just like sitting down and actually like
Speaker 3: mapping it out and thinking about it.
Speaker 4: Do I really want to do this?
Speaker 3: This is this an opportunity I want to pursue hadn't
Speaker 3: really you know, I'd lightly thought about it, but not
Speaker 3: seriously considered it until after those interviews. So odd timing,
Speaker 3: I guess on that end. But I'd spent so much
Speaker 3: time with AJ and Josh and most of the Padrey's
Speaker 3: front office the last two years.
Speaker 4: It was like they've been interviewing me for the last
Speaker 4: few years.
Speaker 3: So the interview process probably started back when I signed
Speaker 3: as a minor league free agent back in twenty seventeen.
Speaker 5: Did you feel like you had the answest to the
Speaker 5: test already when they started interviewing you, because you you've
Speaker 5: been through this, so you've sat in those interviews and
Speaker 5: you've know what they like when Preller by the way,
Speaker 5: we call him Preller because there's only one AJ on
Speaker 5: the show, so don't anything with him, all right, And
Speaker 5: by the way, I addressed way better also, but that's
Speaker 5: a whole different topic. Did you feel like you had
Speaker 5: the innswest to the test when they started asking you questions?
Speaker 5: When they're coming up to you and they're saying, Craig,
Speaker 5: well this, what would you do in this situation? You're like, remember,
Speaker 5: three interviews ago, we had disc candidates. We didn't like
Speaker 5: that answer, so I'm gonna go with the opposite answer.
Speaker 2: How does that work? Because it seems like you already
Speaker 2: know what to say.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I could see how you could think that way.
Speaker 3: I think I had the you could say I had
Speaker 3: the answers to the test because I've been watching a
Speaker 3: bunch of games with AJ and Josh and a lot
Speaker 3: of the front office guys, and we think baseball. I
Speaker 3: think that's why they hired me, as we think about
Speaker 3: baseball in a very similar manner.
Speaker 4: They hadn't you not much to do with the rest
Speaker 4: of the candidates.
Speaker 3: I think we're all good baseball men that were on
Speaker 3: all those interviews, and everybody had a lot of good ideas,
Speaker 3: and I thought like I had some good ideas that
Speaker 3: I brought to the table, two that were unique and
Speaker 3: different and thoughts that I had even that I'd probably
Speaker 3: told AJ and Josh already from you know, just trying
Speaker 3: to you know, navigate the last two seasons and help
Speaker 3: our team be the best that they can be, So
Speaker 3: you know, it wasn't an advantage.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 3: I've sat on a bunch of interviews, you know, for
Speaker 3: different roles, and in fact, like the very first year
Speaker 3: out of being an off season.
Speaker 4: Interviewed for being the bench coach.
Speaker 3: So I just try to be myself, be as genuine
Speaker 3: as possible, be a man of integrity, and you know,
Speaker 3: hopefully that shines through on those interview processes.
Speaker 4: And and you know, I am who I am.
Speaker 3: You know, it's it's my character hopefully speaks for itself.
Speaker 3: And that's, you know, kind of what I tried to
Speaker 3: put out in those interviews.
Speaker 6: All Right, you've been in it for two years and
Speaker 6: you know, special assistant role. One of the things we
Speaker 6: hear about Preller is he could be tough. He can
Speaker 6: be tough to work with. Do you have a little
Speaker 6: bit of like an insight into say, I get it, Aja,
Speaker 6: Like he's calls you and I get it. You're gonna
Speaker 6: be pissed about this, But let's relax. You know, we
Speaker 6: set this ahead. You know, is there are you the
Speaker 6: Are you the Preller Whisperer?
Speaker 4: I'm not a Preller whisperer.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 4: That's funny.
Speaker 3: I think that we we build a relationship when I
Speaker 3: was playing, we build a relationship with me as a
Speaker 3: special assistant. Obviously it's going to be a you know,
Speaker 3: slightly different relationship with me as the manager. But so far,
Speaker 3: it's been great to work with AJ. I've loved playing
Speaker 3: for him. I love being a special assistant for him.
Speaker 3: The one thing that it boils down to is he
Speaker 3: wants to win and he's going to go for it,
Speaker 3: and anybody that wants to go for it, I'm all
Speaker 3: in on that too, because I want to go for it.
Speaker 4: To you know.
Speaker 3: That's you know, us as former players, that's all we
Speaker 3: ever wanted every year, we wanted to show up to
Speaker 3: spring training, but the chance to compete for the World Series.
Speaker 3: And sometimes we've fooled ourselves into believing that when we're
Speaker 3: on teams that you.
Speaker 4: Know, weren't quite ready.
Speaker 3: But you know, working for AJ, playing for AJ, and
Speaker 3: now being a manager with AJ, you know, I don't
Speaker 3: have to worry about that anymore.
Speaker 4: We're going to show up the spring.
Speaker 3: Training with a chance to compete, chance and win a division,
Speaker 3: chance to make it to the playoffs. And you know
Speaker 3: what more can you ask for from somebody that is
Speaker 3: your boss and that has a you know, been a
Speaker 3: great GM and is always going for it.
Speaker 1: Hey make good eats at home part of your twenty
Speaker 1: twenty six New Year's resolution, Hello Fresh, is what we're
Speaker 1: talking about.
Speaker 5: Here, steaks, seafood, whatever options you want to have, stone
Speaker 5: fruit to corner the cops.
Speaker 2: God, I know you're a big stone fruit fan. Hey,
Speaker 2: you've eaten it all I have.
Speaker 5: I've tried a lot of things, but HelloFresh always delivers.
Speaker 5: They're fresh, delicious meals that you get to cook so
Speaker 5: you feel like you actually accomplish something when you get
Speaker 5: eat them after you're done.
Speaker 1: Cooking over one hundred mouth watering recipes each week. It's
Speaker 1: made with wholesome ingredients like one hundred percent antibiotic and
Speaker 1: hormone free chicken. Because when dinner tastes this good, nothing
Speaker 1: hits like home cooking. Go to HelloFresh dot com slash
Speaker 1: ft ten FM to get ten free meals plus a
Speaker 1: freeze willing knife, a one hundred and forty four to
Speaker 1: ninety nine value on your third box.
Speaker 2: Offer valid while supplies last.
Speaker 1: Free meals applied as discount on first box new subscribers only.
Speaker 1: Varies by a plan. Get America's number one meal kit,
Speaker 1: Hello Fresh.
Speaker 6: Five minutes of your interview here, I've gleaned the words, integrity,
Speaker 6: the relationships, all that stuff anytime before you became the man.
Speaker 6: Because we hear about you're respected by the current players
Speaker 6: as a player, and then as your role in the
Speaker 6: front office, you're respected by preler. You mentioned Josh too.
Speaker 6: Any time was there a moment in the last two
Speaker 6: years where you were like, as a manager, I would
Speaker 6: have done this differently? Or did anybody come to you
Speaker 6: and say, hey, as a manager, would you have done
Speaker 6: this differently?
Speaker 2: Or as a bench coach would you have done this differently?
Speaker 3: I think we all have our own ideas of how
Speaker 3: we would do things differently. I think the last two
Speaker 3: years in this role, Mike Shields have been our manager,
Speaker 3: and he's a great manager. His track record speaks for himself,
Speaker 3: you know, back to back ninety win seasons and before
Speaker 3: that with Cardinals, same thing, always taking his teams to
Speaker 3: the playoffs. So I think more so I learned a
Speaker 3: lot from him on how to navigate through the season,
Speaker 3: how to navigate a spring training, how to get your
Speaker 3: team ready to play and get off to the fast start.
Speaker 4: So I you know, I've.
Speaker 3: Talked with him pretty regularly year since he retired, and uh,
Speaker 3: he's giving me some great advice and he's kind of
Speaker 3: helped me through this offseason and looking forward to my
Speaker 3: next phone call with him to you know, pick his
Speaker 3: brain some more, and you know, asking, hey, what should
Speaker 3: I be thinking about right now? You know, three four
Speaker 3: weeks before spring training? And you know what do I
Speaker 3: got to get their guys ready for? What I got
Speaker 3: to get the coaches ready for? So you know, there's
Speaker 3: a there's you know, you could do little things here
Speaker 3: and there differently, but overall, like our team has been
Speaker 3: in a good spot for the last couple of years
Speaker 3: and now it's just trying to get over that hump,
Speaker 3: get hot at the right time and and hopefully get
Speaker 3: to the playoffs and be the hottest team at that point.
Speaker 5: All right, I have to ask you because this is
Speaker 5: the one thing that when people people have asked me,
Speaker 5: do you want to manage?
Speaker 2: This? The one thing I always think about.
Speaker 5: And you sat in the bullpend board a lot of
Speaker 5: a lot of your time as a big league player.
Speaker 5: But when you're in let's say, let's see you guys
Speaker 5: training Peoria and you have to drive to I don't know, Mesa, okay,
Speaker 5: and watch a Padres Athletics game and you're in the
Speaker 5: seventh inning and it's the first week of spring third
Speaker 5: week of spring training, and you have all number eighty
Speaker 5: nine's out there all over the field. Are you going
Speaker 5: to be bored? Because that's what I think about, Like
Speaker 5: I'm thinner thinking like you know, as a former player,
Speaker 5: like you were a former big leaguer pitcher, you pitching
Speaker 5: the fifth inning, they'd be like, okay, great, go ahead
Speaker 5: and go home. Right, So I'd play six or seven innings.
Speaker 5: They're like, all right, go ahead and go home. But
Speaker 5: now you're the manager.
Speaker 2: You have to stay.
Speaker 5: You have to take all the buses, you have to
Speaker 5: do all these things. Get back to the field. It's
Speaker 5: late at nine.
Speaker 2: Then you have to have the lineups ready, Like are
Speaker 2: you going to get bored? Or are you worried about?
Speaker 2: Because that's the one thing that I always thought like
Speaker 2: that would be boring sometimes.
Speaker 3: You know, you know, everybody doesn't know those eighty ninees
Speaker 3: and eighty eights and eighty seven's.
Speaker 4: But unfortunate, you know, not Unfortunately.
Speaker 3: Fortunately, the role that I had the last few years
Speaker 3: was was a lot with the player development, and I
Speaker 3: was able to go down to all those minor league
Speaker 3: affiliates and see those guys and try to be a
Speaker 3: mentor to them and somebody that they could count on.
Speaker 3: And so I know those eighty sevens, eighty nine's and nineties,
Speaker 3: and when they're in the game, I'm gonna be root
Speaker 3: for them because this is their chance to prove that
Speaker 3: they can be big leaguers. And to me, that's exciting
Speaker 3: because we've been pushing, you know, those guys to get
Speaker 3: better at their game, do this, do that, you know,
Speaker 3: to make it to the next level. And you know,
Speaker 3: finally they get their chance to prove it as a
Speaker 3: as an eighty nine and a ninety.
Speaker 4: And it's still a big league game.
Speaker 3: It's still a big league stadium, a big league atmosphere,
Speaker 3: and you know, be able to pat those guys on
Speaker 3: the back, tell them they're doing a good job. And
Speaker 3: you know, that's something I look forward to. It's gonna
Speaker 3: be a fun. End of the game.
Speaker 4: Will be different.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, usually you're not staying for a full
Speaker 3: game and spring training as a player and able to
Speaker 3: sneak out of there and get eighteen holes around golf
Speaker 3: in in the afternoon. I think as a manager, my
Speaker 3: golf game is going to suffer in that respect for
Speaker 3: spring training.
Speaker 6: All right, Well, what Craig just said, and what he
Speaker 6: really meant to say was AJ, you were a superstar
Speaker 6: and you weren't a superstar, so you appreciate the little people.
Speaker 6: AJ can't respond right now. So that's good. That's why
Speaker 6: I said it. But that's why AJ would have hated it.
Speaker 6: So that's why you're going to be a great manager.
Speaker 4: Except yeah, I feel like I was pitching.
Speaker 3: I was pitching in those seventh, eighth, nine games in
Speaker 3: Mesa against the A's.
Speaker 4: You know, I was like, that was like my jam.
Speaker 3: I was trying to get out the eighty nines in
Speaker 3: the nineties.
Speaker 2: You were you were trying to prove it. You were
Speaker 2: hanging on, you were grinding. AJ doesn't know about being
Speaker 2: a grinder. It's okay, correct.
Speaker 6: He already had six years in the big leagues by
Speaker 6: the time you first got called up to the big
Speaker 6: leagues at twenty five years old. So that's where he
Speaker 6: doesn't connect. But you and I we connect, except on
Speaker 6: this part. Can a pitcher, let alone a relief pitcher,
Speaker 6: be a good manager.
Speaker 3: We're gonna find out, you know, That's that's gonna be
Speaker 3: the cool part about it. You know, us relievers were
Speaker 3: usually you know, thrown over there, thrown out in the outfield,
Speaker 3: in the bullpen, we're separate from the dugout, but we've
Speaker 3: got our own team chemistry out there too, and we've
Speaker 3: got to be a tight unit out there.
Speaker 4: We've got to be a unit.
Speaker 3: That picks each other up, you know, holds those inherited
Speaker 3: runners on the board and you know they't usually the
Speaker 3: The only thing a reliever gets on Sports Center for
Speaker 3: is when you give up a home run. So that's
Speaker 3: how managers get on get on ESPN or or on TV.
Speaker 4: Also is if they make a bad decision. So I'll
Speaker 4: be used to that.
Speaker 3: I'll have to have a quick memory, you know, forget
Speaker 3: about the tough times and move on to the next
Speaker 3: day and be the best. So I think being a
Speaker 3: reliver reliever has shaped me for this position. It's not
Speaker 3: common in our game, but there's been pitchers that have
Speaker 3: that have been in this position. The Brian Price is
Speaker 3: Bud Blacks, Roger Craig's of the world off the top
Speaker 3: of my head. So hopefully I can carry on their
Speaker 3: legacy and make all those pitchers and especially the relief
Speaker 3: pitchers proud.
Speaker 5: Okay, do you think you have an advantage running a
Speaker 5: bullpen because you're a bullpen guy? You think that there
Speaker 5: will be an advantage to you of matchups and when
Speaker 5: to bring guys in and who's fresh, because as a
Speaker 5: former bullpen guy, unvailable Skip I could pitch I've done
Speaker 5: four days.
Speaker 2: In a row, but I'm ready for that fit Dake.
Speaker 5: Come on, do you think you'll have a better understanding
Speaker 5: of the Bullpen's not only psyche, but when do you
Speaker 5: use guys at certain times?
Speaker 3: I should if I paid attention, you know, and and
Speaker 3: note how knew how I feel?
Speaker 2: And you know we dry hunt from Buck Craig. Although
Speaker 2: Crats wants to bang on me.
Speaker 5: I also know what you guys did because I used
Speaker 5: to have to go out to the bullpen one days
Speaker 5: I didn't start and catch, and I know those stupid
Speaker 5: reindeer games you guys play out there.
Speaker 2: Okay, we're flicking seeds and we're trying to see you
Speaker 2: can get it in the cup.
Speaker 5: Oh look look at that funny looking fella in the
Speaker 5: hat up there behind me. Like you guys aren't always
Speaker 5: paying attention, So that's just you know you should, But
Speaker 5: I mean I would think you know roles and how
Speaker 5: to define.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, you know you know you were catching behind
Speaker 3: no play? Were you paying attention all the time too.
Speaker 3: I'm sure when you were walking looking to the dugout,
Speaker 3: you know, checking out who's sitting in the front or
Speaker 3: front row, third row. You know that kind of stuff
Speaker 3: that's baseball. You know, baseball is supposed to be fun.
Speaker 3: Those reindeer games are kind of part of it.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: Hopefully in the dugout, we're playing the game like ten
Speaker 3: year olds and we're playing it the same way with
Speaker 3: the same energy and enthusiasm that we had as little leaguers.
Speaker 3: And you know, that stuff's all fun, and we've got
Speaker 3: to be able to do that to bring some light
Speaker 3: to the situation over one hundred and sixty two game seasons.
Speaker 3: So maybe I can bring some of those reindeer games
Speaker 3: of the dugout, but also be ready to lock it
Speaker 3: in and focus when we need.
Speaker 6: To position players. They love reindeer games too. Don't don't
Speaker 6: let them. Don't let them get it twisted. You guys
Speaker 6: just pitch in an area. But are you gonna have
Speaker 6: Mason Miller in the bullpen? Or was it your or
Speaker 6: is it would it be your objective to say, Mason,
Speaker 6: can you start some games for us this year? Can
Speaker 6: you be a starter? Because we see value in what
Speaker 6: you could bring every five days.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm not gonna put a limit on what he
Speaker 4: can and can't do.
Speaker 3: I just know that he's the best in the entire
Speaker 3: world coming out of the bullpen. And when you're the best,
Speaker 3: you know, it's hard to take somebody away from being
Speaker 3: the best at what they're what they're already good at,
Speaker 3: and we're looking forward to putting them in the game.
Speaker 3: You know, got the back in for us in San
Speaker 3: Diego because he's going to be dominant, just like he
Speaker 3: was when we traded for him last year. And you know,
Speaker 3: you got the picture of him, you know, getting ready
Speaker 3: to pitch for the.
Speaker 4: USA and WBC.
Speaker 3: I think DeRos is pretty excited to have him too
Speaker 3: on that squad.
Speaker 4: But you know we couldn't.
Speaker 3: You know, if you're making a phone call down the
Speaker 3: bullpen saying get Mason Miller ready, that's a good phone call.
Speaker 6: You are an ex player. You understand value, You understand
Speaker 6: the length of a career. If Mason came to you
Speaker 6: and said, yes, I want to do what's best for
Speaker 6: the team. But Craig, I'm seeing what guys are making
Speaker 6: as starting pitchers and seeing what guys are making as closers,
Speaker 6: please give me a shot to start. How tough of
Speaker 6: a decision is that because you were an ex player?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think, you know what.
Speaker 3: I think it makes it an easier decision, honestly, because
Speaker 3: when a player says I want to do this, that
Speaker 3: means they're all in, and that means they're willing to
Speaker 3: put the work in to do it.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: The troubles when you get some guys that are like, yeah,
Speaker 3: i'll do it if you want me to, you know,
Speaker 3: and you kind of just get that fifty to fifty
Speaker 3: you know, feeling from him.
Speaker 4: But when they say, hey, I'm all in, this is
Speaker 4: what I want to do. I know I can help
Speaker 4: the team win this way.
Speaker 3: I also know I can you know, help myself, my
Speaker 3: career and my family in this way too. You kind
Speaker 3: of got a side with the player in that and
Speaker 3: give them the opportunity, and you know, obviously you give
Speaker 3: them the opportunity, but you put guardrails around it to
Speaker 3: protect them and hopefully that you know, they have a
Speaker 3: long lasting career that goes beyond ten years and play
Speaker 3: as long as they want to and they get to
Speaker 3: retire when they say hey, I'm done. But you know,
Speaker 3: it's I think it makes a decision much easier when
Speaker 3: the player says, Hey, this is what I want to do,
Speaker 3: and I know I'll be good at it, you know,
Speaker 3: And in our conversations with our players, we ask those
Speaker 3: questions and they give us those types of answers, and
Speaker 3: that's how we make decisions, right.
Speaker 5: You know, how I know Mason Miller's not starting for
Speaker 5: you guys because he's pitching for Team USA, and if
Speaker 5: he was starting, there's no way you guys would let
Speaker 5: him go do that. Okay, Well, that's how I know
Speaker 5: he's not starting for you guys. As soon as I saw,
Speaker 5: they're like, huh, he's going to the bullpen because there's
Speaker 5: no way you guys will be like, hey, Mark de Rosa,
Speaker 5: you go use Mason Miller for three or four innings.
Speaker 5: You decide, don't worry, We'll be good over here in
Speaker 5: Peoria playing the Mariners every other day.
Speaker 2: Okay. So as soon as I saw that, I knew.
Speaker 5: What I want to know is how many of these
Speaker 5: players you'd mentioned your communication with Mason and other players.
Speaker 5: Have you reached out to all the players Manny Machado's
Speaker 5: and er boguards. Have you reached out to these guys
Speaker 5: Cronin were and had conversations about what their roles are
Speaker 5: and what you need to see out of them this year.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think I've been on my phone more
Speaker 3: in the last two three months, and I think I
Speaker 3: have in the past two to three years, you know,
Speaker 3: just talking to all the players, talking to all the staff,
Speaker 3: and trying to create that culture and that attitude that
Speaker 3: we want to bring to spring training.
Speaker 4: So far, those guys have been working their tails off this.
Speaker 3: Offseason, which has been pretty cool and I'm proud of,
Speaker 3: you know what, the effort that those guys want to
Speaker 3: put in and the sting that they felt from losing
Speaker 3: to the Cubs in the playoffs last year, and so
Speaker 3: I think that's motivation for them going into the offseason
Speaker 3: and going into this next season. I think the other
Speaker 3: part of it is, you know, we've I've been in
Speaker 3: the locker room with those guys, have you know, tried
Speaker 3: to take this team to the World Series. With those guys,
Speaker 3: they know what it's about, we know what it's about,
Speaker 3: we know what it's like with each other, and so
Speaker 3: me being in the seat as a manager is definitely different.
Speaker 3: But we can also partner together and we can have
Speaker 3: real conversations about, you know, how to make this team
Speaker 3: better and how to get over the hump, and and
Speaker 3: they've been great conversations and the guys seem very motivated
Speaker 3: and what we've seen from them the off season has
Speaker 3: proven that.
Speaker 4: And excited just to see them in spring training.
Speaker 3: And get to prove to the rest of the world
Speaker 3: that you know, and show every by the rest of
Speaker 3: the world, you know, the work that they did put
Speaker 3: in and how they're ready to play this year.
Speaker 2: Mine's kind of a two part question.
Speaker 6: First, what type of what type of role did you
Speaker 6: have in roster acquisitions, trades, you know, in your previous role.
Speaker 3: With AJJS to to get the opinion of the entire room.
Speaker 3: So he made all of us within the organization, within
Speaker 3: his front office group feel like we always had a voice.
Speaker 3: I always felt like I had a voice. I could
Speaker 3: state my opinion whether it was what he agreed with
Speaker 3: or not. He would kind of take all that into
Speaker 3: consideration and then and then make his decisions. So I
Speaker 3: felt like the curtain was pulled back from when I
Speaker 3: was a player. I got to see, you know, how
Speaker 3: things ran. I got to see, you know, how AJ
Speaker 3: likes to think about, you know, constructing the roster and
Speaker 3: then what he's thinking about at the trade deadline. And
Speaker 3: I think, you know, one of the coolest things, you know,
Speaker 3: and what why AJ is so great at his job
Speaker 3: was last year he was talking about the players he
Speaker 3: wanted to trade for in April and May, and then
Speaker 3: traded for those exact same players at the end of
Speaker 3: July at the August trade trade deadline. And you know,
Speaker 3: I asked him, I said, is it always Are you
Speaker 3: always that smart? Has it always worked that way? And
Speaker 3: he was kind of like, you know, some trade deadlines
Speaker 3: go the way you wanted to go. Sometimes there's a
Speaker 3: few curve balls, and he goes, you know, this one
Speaker 3: was exactly the way I wanted it to go, and
Speaker 3: it felt like we did a good job.
Speaker 4: And so just knowing being a part of that, I
Speaker 4: was quite you know, I wasn't.
Speaker 3: A part of every conversation or every little detail, but
Speaker 3: you know, I had a pretty good synopsis of what
Speaker 3: was going on with the team.
Speaker 6: Do you have a bigger seat now? Do you have
Speaker 6: a larger say now as the manager than you did
Speaker 6: last year as a special assistant.
Speaker 3: I don't know if I have a larger say. I
Speaker 3: definitely am in a lot more of those conversations, and
Speaker 3: he's in AJ and I are talking more often, so
Speaker 3: naturally he's asking my opinion more often on all those things,
Speaker 3: and probably know a lot more about the you know,
Speaker 3: some of the things that you know don't get got
Speaker 3: down to the special assistance. You know that weren't you know,
Speaker 3: on the edge of decision making. So I would say
Speaker 3: my voice is similar, but I just know a lot
Speaker 3: more that's going on.
Speaker 5: Okay, can we get Preller to come on the show please?
Speaker 5: I've asked him. He says he doesn't watch. Okay, I
Speaker 5: see him in San Diego. I'm like, hey, we'd love
Speaker 5: to have you on Talk Padre's Ball. He goes, well, well,
Speaker 5: I don't really know your show. I don't really watch,
Speaker 5: but I've seen you say like these ten things, so
Speaker 5: somewhere there's a disconnect here.
Speaker 2: So I'd love just to talk to him. I know
Speaker 2: he doesn't sleep.
Speaker 5: He doesn't sleep, so I know if we need to
Speaker 5: get him on at three in the morning out in
Speaker 5: San Diego when I'm just waking up and he's just
Speaker 5: now winding down from the game, I'm happy to interview him.
Speaker 5: So just pass that message along to him from me,
Speaker 5: from one AJ to another. He's been ducking me for years,
Speaker 5: so I just love to talk to him. He did
Speaker 5: sign me one time in Texas, so and we do
Speaker 5: have a little connection.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you need to go. You need to go play
Speaker 4: some hoops with him. Go play some hoops. Bill Little.
Speaker 5: I feel like I could post three, because he's he's
Speaker 5: like little, you could post.
Speaker 2: I feel like I could just post.
Speaker 5: Him up and just back him down like Shack did
Speaker 5: to like some of those people like I would be
Speaker 5: shocked and he would be like Muggsy Bogues. I just
Speaker 5: back him up, back him up, and oh layup he will.
Speaker 4: He will shock you.
Speaker 3: And how good he is at basketball, it's it's surprising.
Speaker 3: It's surprising he can he can play. So but that's
Speaker 3: that's the way it was hard, That's the way it
Speaker 3: was Hart.
Speaker 1: Hey, Craig, I want to ask you about a specific
Speaker 1: player who you've been able to watch for years and
Speaker 1: might not be a part of the mix for next year.
Speaker 1: Tell us about how unique Luisa rises as a player.
Speaker 1: It's a name we haven't heard a ton about in
Speaker 1: rumors yet this offseason, but just wanted to get your
Speaker 1: scouting report on his value. And if you think that
Speaker 1: advanced metrics are being too harsh on.
Speaker 4: Him, Louise is a great player.
Speaker 3: He was a great addition to our team the last
Speaker 3: few years, just in a culture standpoint, and even like
Speaker 3: an attitude that he had brought to the hitting group.
Speaker 3: He was always working, one of the hardest workers on
Speaker 3: the team, and always caring about his craft and he
Speaker 3: takes took his takes his craft series. As we know,
Speaker 3: we've seen him play and you know, multiple multiple season
Speaker 3: batting champ Uh. He brings a unique skill set to
Speaker 3: the to the team, skill set that not many players bring.
Speaker 3: Doesn't strikeout, makes a lot of contact, not a ton
Speaker 3: of power. But you know, honestly, the last few years,
Speaker 3: there wasn't too many people I'd rather have up at
Speaker 3: the plate, you know, two out situation runner and scoring position,
Speaker 3: because you know he was gonna put a good a
Speaker 3: bat on. You knew he was gonna put the ball
Speaker 3: in play, and he just had a unique ability of
Speaker 3: just shooting the line drive over the shortstop and scoring
Speaker 3: that runner from second. So you know, RBI is kind
Speaker 3: of a stat that the analytics departments don't value as highly,
Speaker 3: especially to out RBIs. But I think that was his
Speaker 3: specialty and and he kind of he struggled a little
Speaker 3: bit with it at the at last year. But you know,
Speaker 3: some of that was a little bit of bad luck,
Speaker 3: and some of that was just you know, the you
Speaker 3: know state of the seasons. We all have good seasons
Speaker 3: and bad seasons, good luck and bad luck. And you know,
Speaker 3: I think Luis is gonna have a great season next year.
Speaker 3: He'll probably be right up there in the batting race
Speaker 3: and probably win another one here coming up shortly. So
Speaker 3: he'd be a good addition our team. He'd be a
Speaker 3: good addition to you know, the rest of the teams too.
Speaker 3: He was great for us the last few years in
Speaker 3: San Diego.
Speaker 5: Be careful now because you're you're you're a manager now,
Speaker 5: so you can only talk. You can't really talk about
Speaker 5: you know. So I like what you did there. He'd
Speaker 5: be great on our team, but also all twenty nine
Speaker 5: other teams too, So that was that was very nice.
Speaker 2: That was very nice. You're learning managers speak as we
Speaker 2: go here.
Speaker 4: On the fly, learning the learning.
Speaker 2: The I love it.
Speaker 5: No one ever accused you of not being an intelligent
Speaker 5: fellow that's why you're a manager.
Speaker 6: Now.
Speaker 5: Can you guys compete with the Dodgers, the two time
Speaker 5: defending World champions? Everyone knows their payroll. There's a rivalry
Speaker 5: between San Diego and LA. I don't care what anyone says.
Speaker 5: If you haven't been to an La Padre game, there
Speaker 5: is a different atmosphere, especially at pet Goo. You guys
Speaker 5: knocked him out a few years ago. You guys keep trying,
Speaker 5: You guys keep pushing. I love that going there. Can
Speaker 5: you guys compete with LA the way your team is
Speaker 5: assembled right now, and can you knock them off again
Speaker 5: like you did a few years ago.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're gonna compete, There's no doubt about that. You know,
Speaker 3: we're gonna give them our best shot. That's what we'll
Speaker 3: do every year. That's what we've done every year. They're
Speaker 3: a great team, two time defending World Series champions. They
Speaker 3: got a lot of great star players, future Hall of famers.
Speaker 3: We feel good about our roster too. We feel good
Speaker 3: about our team, We feel good about the attitude. We've
Speaker 3: definitely had a lot of battles with them. We know
Speaker 3: what it's like to play in Dodger Stadium. We know
Speaker 3: what it's like to play that Petco and how exciting
Speaker 3: that atmosphere is. So we're looking forward to those battles
Speaker 3: this season. They're a tough team, they're a great team.
Speaker 3: But there's nothing better than in the big leagues than
Speaker 3: playing against the best. You know, it's us against them.
Speaker 3: You know, we'll stand on the mound and we'll throw
Speaker 3: pitches and see if they can hit them, and we'll
Speaker 3: do the same thing. They'll stand on the mount and
Speaker 3: throw pitches and see if we can do some damage.
Speaker 3: And then and then the best team will win. It's
Speaker 3: been some good battles over the last few years. They
Speaker 3: got us last year, but you know, hopefully we can
Speaker 3: turn the tide this year and put our best foot
Speaker 3: forward against them.
Speaker 1: Hey, Craig, I brought one that you can fully talk about,
Speaker 1: nice and easy. Ready, sun Moon Song signs with the Padres.
Speaker 1: That's already been official, the whole deal. I think we
Speaker 1: don't know a lot about him. So this is actually
Speaker 1: an off season where there were a number of players
Speaker 1: coming from overseas, some US pictures of course that went
Speaker 1: over and then came back ABO, np B et cetera,
Speaker 1: many NPB stars. But this is one that I think
Speaker 1: flew under the radar and for some reason the timing
Speaker 1: of his signing too. There was just a lot going on.
Speaker 1: So what can you tell us about him and the
Speaker 1: role that he'll be going for in spring training?
Speaker 3: Yeah, Sun Munsong great addition to the Padres. We had
Speaker 3: a lot of success with his you know friend hasan Kim.
Speaker 3: We kind of know how that process went bringing Kim
Speaker 3: over from Korea, and we feel like we can implement
Speaker 3: that same process with Song and so he's going to
Speaker 3: be kind of in a little bit of a super
Speaker 3: utility roles kind of where we see him. He's a
Speaker 3: natural third baseman, can play second base. We're going to
Speaker 3: try him out at first base and left field also,
Speaker 3: so you know, he's a left handed bat. It's gonna
Speaker 3: fit in well. We need to get Manny a dhday
Speaker 3: or Manny a day off. You know, he can slip
Speaker 3: right into there to the third you know, put him
Speaker 3: in against a tough ridy you know, get some good
Speaker 3: left handed bats in. He's he's a player that's got
Speaker 3: some speed, also has got a little bit of power
Speaker 3: that he's shown over the last few years. We feel
Speaker 3: like his body's transformed a little bit here in the
Speaker 3: last couple of years he's got into the weight room,
Speaker 3: so we feel he's very well equipped to make the
Speaker 3: jump from the KBO to major league Baseball. And you know,
Speaker 3: we're gonna try to bank on that success we had
Speaker 3: with with has On Kim and and and you know,
Speaker 3: Sung Monsong is gonna do the same thing, and we're
Speaker 3: excited to have him and just another player, a great
Speaker 3: player that we got for a very favorable contract that
Speaker 3: we feel can can make a good impact on our team.
Speaker 6: Last one for me, Joe musk Grove update and also
Speaker 6: update on how you guys, if he's healthy, if he's
Speaker 6: ready to go on the date that you guys have
Speaker 6: him ready to go, how far you'll push him coming
Speaker 6: off of his entire missed twenty five season.
Speaker 3: Joe's in a great spot right now. He's been throwing
Speaker 3: bullpens regularly. He's he's ramping up for spring training. Uh
Speaker 3: so far, so good, on schedule with everything. As you know,
Speaker 3: Joe is, you know, as good of a teammate as
Speaker 3: you could ever have. He's as hard a worker as
Speaker 3: you could ever have. Some would say works too hard,
Speaker 3: which I don't know if there is such a thing,
Speaker 3: but he's a leader in our clubhouse, a leader within
Speaker 3: the whole organization, leader in the city of San Diego,
Speaker 3: and so we're.
Speaker 4: Just looking forward to getting Joe back on the field.
Speaker 3: As far as the inning limits go, you know, he's
Speaker 3: at a stage in his career. I don't think he's
Speaker 3: willing to entertain any innings limits. But we're gonna be
Speaker 3: very cognizant of his recovery, how he's feeling after every outing.
Speaker 4: I'm not gonna put a number on him.
Speaker 3: You know, I've seen We've seen players come back from
Speaker 3: Tommy John and and go through a full season pitching
Speaker 3: the playoffs. Adam Wainwright comes to mind, you know, coming
Speaker 3: back from Tommy John and then pitching.
Speaker 4: Two hundred and thirty innings the very next year. So
Speaker 4: no limit on Joe. He can. He's he's a stud.
Speaker 3: You know, We're gonna, you know, take him as far
Speaker 3: as he's willing to go, and we're going to be
Speaker 3: smart about it too. So you know, is any range,
Speaker 3: could could be any number of things, but you know,
Speaker 3: it'll be more of like a week by week, month
Speaker 3: by month, start by start process with him and making
Speaker 3: sure he's feeling good and then peaking at the end
Speaker 3: of the season, so that we've got him, you know,
Speaker 3: for that playoff atmosphere, because when we get Joe in
Speaker 3: the playoffs, there's probably nobody better.
Speaker 5: All right, before we let you go, have two more
Speaker 5: quick ones. One you Darvish update, where's he at? Because
Speaker 5: I've seen things where he at one point some people
Speaker 5: were saying he was contemplating retiring.
Speaker 2: Have we do we have a U Darvish update?
Speaker 3: Yeah, Darvi Darvish had uh Tommy John surgery at the
Speaker 3: end of the season, so he's gonna be rehabbing this
Speaker 3: whole season. He won't be playing, he won't be pitching.
Speaker 3: You know, we'll see what that recovery timeline looks like.
Speaker 3: But he's been around the organization a lot already this season.
Speaker 3: He's got great relationships with some of the pitchers on
Speaker 3: our staff, especially the young guys like Randy Vasquez. Those
Speaker 3: two have turned into quite the pair and best buddies,
Speaker 3: and they're constantly you know, Darbish is constantly pouring into him,
Speaker 3: trying to motivate Randy and and get him, you know,
Speaker 3: learning how to do scattering reports the way you son
Speaker 3: has kind of done those throughout his career. So, uh,
Speaker 3: he's a big advantage that we have in our organization.
Speaker 3: He's gonna play a similar role to what Joe did
Speaker 3: last year, is being around the team as much as possible,
Speaker 3: be a leader in the clubhouse and and mentor those
Speaker 3: young guys and you know, try to help us win
Speaker 3: on the margin.
Speaker 4: So Darvish is a big part of the padre still.
Speaker 5: By the way, he just needs to tell him to
Speaker 5: throw slider, because that was just kind of report when
Speaker 5: I caught him. I'm just gonna throw a slider. If
Speaker 5: you have you Darvish as slider, you can throw that
Speaker 5: picture every time.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I agree, I asked him. I said, I said you,
Speaker 4: why don't you ever throw fastballs? Three oh?
Speaker 3: He goes, well, my slider's better, So I'm gonna throw
Speaker 3: that three to oh two oh whenever.
Speaker 4: You know, you're right.
Speaker 2: I just threw it was all when I was catching.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and he still couldn't hit it.
Speaker 2: Before I let you go. You're from Ohio, correct, You're
Speaker 2: from Ohio. Right, you're a football fan.
Speaker 4: I'm a football fan the Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 5: So are you happy that Mike Tomlin just resigned or
Speaker 5: you do you want? Maybe he could go to Cincinnati
Speaker 5: and take over the Bengals because they haven't you know,
Speaker 5: Joe Burrow, but you know they haven't been great.
Speaker 4: Yeah that you know what, that's news to me.
Speaker 3: I did not hear that before I hopped on, But
Speaker 3: that's big news.
Speaker 4: That's big news. He's a great coach. If I remember right,
Speaker 4: he has never finished under five hundred. That's that's quite
Speaker 4: a feather to have in your cap, you know.
Speaker 3: I think being a Bengals fan, Washington play against the Steelers,
Speaker 3: you always felt like they had an advantage with Mike Tomlin.
Speaker 3: But I think the Bengals are in good shape too.
Speaker 3: Zach Taylor's a great coach. You got Joe Burrow, Jamar
Speaker 3: Chase t Higgins. I'll get that defense was playing a
Speaker 3: little bit better at the end of the year. Get
Speaker 3: a healthy Joe Burrow for a full season. I like
Speaker 3: the Bengals chances.
Speaker 5: That was a good breakdown, right, the true fan right there,
Speaker 5: Notice he's like the defense is getting better, right, I
Speaker 5: got to see.
Speaker 1: The time when news all right, Well, great, hope you
Speaker 1: enjoyed it, man, We really enjoyed the conversation.
Speaker 2: We were looking forward to. It's a really cool story.
Speaker 1: We're excited to see you during the season too, so
Speaker 1: thanks for stopping by.
Speaker 4: Man.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I love talking baseball with you guys. Thanks for
Speaker 3: having me on and we'll talk to