MLB WINTER MEETINGS

December 4, 2023

Scott Servais

Seattle Mariners

Press Conference

Q. Obviously last night the big trade. From your vantage point, saying goodbye to three very well-known players, what can you say about that?

SCOTT SERVAIS: Yeah, at this time of year there's a lot of things that are going on behind the scenes that everybody's trying to figure out ways to make their team better. Anytime you trade away players and with us moving on from Genio Suárez and now Jarred and Marco and Evan, it's been tough.

You build relationships with players over time. What Marco has done in his time since I've been here is it's been awesome. Phenomenal. '19 and '20 when our teams weren't that competitive, that wasn't the case when Marco Gonzales took the ball and was on the mound. Did an awesome job for us.

Certainly with Evan, a young guy that we had a lot of high hopes for, and injuries kind of set him back. And as I talked to him after the trade was done, sometimes players just need a fresh start in other places.

And certainly with Jarred, kind of seeing his evolution as Major League player and the season he had last year when I thought he really kind of turned the corner, it's unfortunate when you trade guys that you become close to. I haven't talked to you guys since the Genio trade, but there's another one.

Again, situations come up, you try to give yourself options to get your club better, and moving on from those players frees up some things for Jerry and Justin, and we'll see what happens from there.

Q. (Indiscernible)?

SCOTT SERVAIS: I don't know. There's a lot that goes into those things. I think if you look at the trade and kind of where our team is at as we try to build it out going forward into 2024 and 2025, you needed some flexibility. That's probably what forced the trade as much as anything.

I say all that, and you guys know me, you've been around me enough, it's about focusing on getting better. Certainly we got a really good corps of players, good young pitching, center fielder, shortstop, catcher, first base, we got really good players. We need to add to that, and hopefully we can continue to work this off-season and add to our core.

Q. Jerry made it clear that you guys intend to do that by subtracting so many pieces. At this stage of the off-season, do you feel like you're in a little bit of a vulnerable spot now that you do need to go add and there's a lot riding on what you're able to add?

SCOTT SERVAIS: There is. I think as you go into an off-season everybody has limitations on the resources and how much money they can spend. We do need to add to our club. I talked about the corps that we have and which we really like. We got a ton of pitching, and we don't want to lose any of that or lose sight of who we are there. But we need to add offense, there's no question about that.

Q. With Jarred, do you ever -- you know him, you have a lot in common, you love his intensity. Do you ever go back and think, hey, second-guess anything you did with him to get him? He did all the work this last off-season. But there's such talent there, did you ever say if you had just done this it would have happened faster with that?

SCOTT SERVAIS: I think it's a fair question. I think with players, they progress and they mature. Everybody's different based on a lot of times the environment, the situation. They come into your organization, were they drafted, were they acquired through trade.

And just the maturation process of some players are ready to hit the ground running. Other guys, they're going to stub their toe. Everybody's a little bit different there.

In a perfect world, would it have been easy for Jarred, yeah, everybody wants it to be easy, just hit the ground running and take off at the Big League level. But that's not realistic.

I do think there's a lot of good baseball ahead of him. Very productive. The talent, the skills, they're all still there. He's young. Very young in his career. Again, you make trades, the other side's excited about getting players, we're excited about what this trade did for us. Again, hopefully we can add players because of the trade.

Q. Kowar, is he going to be a reliever?

SCOTT SERVAIS: Yeah, yeah. He's a reliever.

Q. Do you feel like you have a solid plan at third base?

SCOTT SERVAIS: Certainly Urias has played a bunch at third base, Rojas has played some at third as well. Again, we sit early December, we're a long ways away from March 28th, I think is Opening Day. We'll wait and see how the rest of the off-season plays out.

Urias has had stretches of being very productive. Certainly last year injuries got him and whatnot. Didn't have a typical year that he's used to. We're early in the off-season yet. I know everybody wants to see things happen right away, but it's a process. You got to work through things with other teams and free agents and whatnot, and that's what we're doing right now.

Q. Jerry said that you guys didn't have as many holes to fill, now you made some moves, how many holes do you think you really need to fill? He said multiple bats. What ideally, if you could pull the string and get some guys within reason, how many guys would you like to add?

SCOTT SERVAIS: I think we need a couple bats. Guys that maybe have history of or could hit in the middle of your lineup. Guys that are going to be productive, drive in runs, do all those other things. Certainly we lost some from last year's team between Teo and Genio and then now Jarred. Those guys have thump, they hit the ball over the fence. There's a lot of different ways to score runs, win games, but we need to add bats, probably a couple bats.

Q. Any position specific or right-hander or left-hander?

SCOTT SERVAIS: We lost a couple outfielders, for sure. So you want some guys that can go out there and defend and hold their own there. Again, it's about offense. I love our pitching. Defensively we've been very consistent in how we catch the ball and prevent runs. I expect that will continue. Got to score too.

Q. I'm sure you're not focused on this right now, but one of your predecessors, Lou Piniella, came so close, one vote again. From a Mariner family perspective, knowing what he means to the organization, what he did for the organization, what are you feeling right now about Lou?

SCOTT SERVAIS: Lou is a legend, certainly in Seattle, and has made his mark throughout the game. Really disappointed he comes up just short again. Certainly is very deserving of the Hall of Fame. Keep my fingers crossed he eventually gets in. Unbelievable career as a player, executive, managed a number of different clubs. Getting the opportunity to work out of the same office he did in Seattle, it's a real privilege. Keep my fingers crossed he does get in. Very deserving.

Q. What's the conversations you had with Stephen Vogt after he got the job?

SCOTT SERVAIS: I had a lot of conversations with him before and after. Really excited for him. Early on, even last year at this time, we were talking about bringing him on board our staff. It's pretty obvious that he wasn't going to be a coach for too long. He had aspirations to manage, and timing's everything. There's a bunch of managerial changes, and he was in the right spot, right time. Landed in an awesome organization, an organization that has the people around him that are really going to hold him up and support him as he goes through some bumps and bruises along the way.

The thing about him, he's a very open-minded. He asks a ton of really good questions. And that really started from Spring Training throughout the season, always coming into my office, asking me about different in game things or different conversations we had with players and whatnot. He's going to do great. He really is.

Q. What sort of lessons have you learned that you wish you could tell yourself as a first-year manager?

SCOTT SERVAIS: Oh, good question. I think it's something that I've impressed upon him too. I think when you get these jobs, you want to go out and make huge impact right away.

Oftentimes you want to do it hands on because you have come from maybe just coaching or a player development background, and I think in this job you really need to rely on the people around you, the coaches around you, and allow them to go out and do their job.

Maybe I didn't do a great job of that early on. I think now that the staff that I have around me, and I can't speak to his staff and I don't know his guys, but the group around me, I really entrust in those guys, try to empower them as much as I can.

I talk about it all the time, how much I learned from those guys. These are younger guys that have a different look at the game, and I'm learning from them, and hopefully they're learning a few things from me along the way. Maybe different perspective than I had seven or eight years ago.

Q. You said goodbye to a clubhouse leader, Marco also had a loud voice in that. How do you look at your clubhouse leaders moving forward?

SCOTT SERVAIS: I think we got a number of guys. I talked about our corps of players before, and for me it's our shortstop, certainly got big-time leadership ability in J.P. We saw what Cal Raleigh can do, and the voice that he's carrying in our clubhouse is huge. Julio, as he continues to mature, he's going to be one of those leaders. Robbie Ray is a big leader on your pitching staff.

Some of those guys. Those guys helped out some of the younger players that we have as well. Leadership is huge among our players. I will say, I think our group understands what our standards is. And they all buy into that. I think once they clearly understand, now other guys can step up and lead to maybe some new guys that will be coming into our organization or are just coming in right now.

Leadership is big. Players always listen to players more than they're going to listen to coaches. So those guys having a clear idea of what's important to us and how we go about winning, I don't see that changing a lot. The voices will change, but J.P. certainly is capable, as is Cal, and Julio is coming in that regard as well.

Q. When you bring in new players that you want 'em to fit in or they're gone, have you impressed upon Jerry and Justin about the guys you're going to bring in, they have to meet that standard right way to embrace what you guys are about? How important is that?

SCOTT SERVAIS: I think it's really important. Whether it's the vetting process on free agents or trades, you're talking to different people in the industry. You're trying to learn as much about those players as you can before you acquire them.

Big part of that is do they fit. Do they fit culturally, how are they going to fit into our environment. There's a lot of ways to get that information. We're doing all the vetting we can on players we bring in because you want the guys to hit the ground running and feel comfortable right away that they will buy into what we believe in.

Q. When Stephen left you, you were going to shift him to a bench role and move Tony. Where are you with your staff now? I know you want to add another coach to the mix.

SCOTT SERVAIS: We have gone through a bunch of interviews. We actually offered jobs to a couple guys. They have accepted. I can't announce it yet. It hasn't gone through all the HR stuff. We are really close to announcing that and really excited about the new hires, the new guys that will be joining us.

They have got different experiences and will really help us on the offensive side. That's where you're seeing the adjustments. Whether it's bench coach role and another hitting coach role, I think it will be well received by our players, and I'm excited for those guys to join our group.

Q. Did you go into the off-season thinking -- you mentioned that you guys needed a couple bats now. Did you go into the off-season thinking you needed a couple of bats, or is that just more development because of these opportunities to make the trades that came up?

SCOTT SERVAIS: Yeah, I would say right when the season started certainly or the off-season started we were disappointed. Obviously we did not get into the playoffs. Very close and not getting in. I think the things shifted maybe a couple weeks into the off-season on where we were headed and why, based on different circumstances that come up. Some of it is within our control, some of it is not within our control. How even to shape your team going forward.

I say all that, we have a really good team, we really do. I talked about our core group of players, the pitching that we have, we've got young players, guys that we know we can go forward with and grow with. How we have come to or how we will come to acquire those bats may be a little bit different than how we thought we would acquire them when the season ended, I guess is the best way to answer that.

Q. You got off of Twitter, but have you seen the video of Ty working out at Driveline, any thoughts?

SCOTT SERVAIS: I actually I drove down to Driveline.

Q. To watch Ty hit?

SCOTT SERVAIS: I heard he was down there hitting, no, I knew he was down there hitting. I got a chance to talk with him on Friday. He looks great. I know many people didn't -- doing all of the biomech stuff when he had all the markers on and he didn't have the shirt on or whatever. But Ty can hit. He's taking his off-season very seriously. Traveling back and forth between California and Seattle spending time at Driveline.

J.P. was also up there with him on Friday. So our guys are getting after it. Left with a very sour taste in our mouth tend of the season. Certainly in our division watching those two clubs battle it out to go to the World Series and the Rangers actually winning it, you know you're that close and we got to figure a way to get over the hump there.

Q. Do you have a favorite story of a time you played a hunch, maybe went guess the book with a move and it worked for you?

SCOTT SERVAIS: (Laughing). Yeah, there's always things that come up. Against the book, going with a hunch, whatever you want to call it, every manager does. There's so many decisions that are made throughout the course of a game that nobody ever realizes.

At this time of year, everybody's watching football and it's very open. And UW's having a great season, Washington is, and I have built a relationship with their coach. And I texted him when he went for it on fourth down on his own 29th yard line, I said, Nobody appreciates how challenging that call is as much as I do. Maybe it's the decisions or calls that you don't make, sometimes maybe are the best ones.

Q. Perception of fans is that the manager today, every decision is taken out of his hands.

SCOTT SERVAIS: It's not true.

Q. What is maybe the hardest decision that comes up for you every game or every day?

SCOTT SERVAIS: Biggest decision is when to pull the starter. I think you saw it play out -- again, I think regular season games are managed so much differently than postseason games. Obviously the limelight, the people that are following the postseason games, it's ten-fold than what you get in the regular season.

But you saw it play out, you see it every postseason. Do you leave him in too long, is he riding the hot hand too much, does he need to go to the bullpen.

Nobody knows their team better than a manager of that team. So when you jump on board and try to second-guess, it's crazy. It's fun to do, and I get that that's part of being a fan, but I certainly respect the decisions that are made and know how hard they are to make.

Q. Earlier today you saw another team sign, the Brewers sign one of their top prospects to a long-term deal. You guys did something similar with Julio. How beneficial can that be for a young player to have something like that shored up, doesn't have to worry about it; and for the team as well, knowing that that player is going to be there for the long haul?

SCOTT SERVAIS: I think it does a lot for the team, the organization. I think in our situation -- can't speak to the Brewers, understand he's a super talented player. I never seen him before, but I've seen our guy play a lot. I think that certainly the security that brings to the player where he can settle in and focus on just being the best player he can be maybe not get caught up in maybe trying to meet expectations where it's tied to the contract the contract is done, okay, and often talked about players going through different stages in their career, it's about getting to the Big Leagues and it's about getting established, and it's about making money. Somewhere along the line winning comes in. Well, when you have taken out the first three and you're that talented -- and with our guy, Julio, it's about winning. He shows up every day with, what can I do to help the team win. And being young and talented as he is, he can impact the game in so many different ways, I think the contracts are really beneficial for the team, and certainly there's not too many young players that are going to turn down an opportunity like that. So, it's good, it's good for baseball.

Q. You guys have cleared a lot of salary in the last little bit. Is it your understanding that you're clearing salary to cut payroll or because there's a move coming that will bring some of that salary back?

SCOTT SERVAIS: I mentioned earlier, we need to add some more offense to our team. So, hopefully, the salary that we have cleared allows us to go out and whether trade or sign a couple maybe free agents to help out. That's where we're headed with it.

Q. Do you expect most of that?

SCOTT SERVAIS: I don't do the books (laughing). I coach the team. But that's my understanding is that we will, we need to get better, our lineup is not complete right now, and we need to have the ability to compete with the teams in our division as we stand today. I say all that, we have a really good team, but it's early December, it's not early April.

Q. You talked to the fans often and say, Hey, come out, support this team. Right now, fans are a little skeptical where you guys are at. What is your message to fans as you try and move forward going into the season because right now there's a lot of skepticism?

SCOTT SERVAIS: There is. There is a lot of skepticism. I think, looking at our club, expectations have risen dramatically the last couple years on our team. I said it last year, that's a good thing. We do have a young team, that is exciting. We do want to take the next step to win and, again, we're trying to do the best with the cards that we've been dealt. I guess that that's the best way to say it. I say all that and the two other teams, I talked about the Astros and the Rangers and what they have done. Certainly their payrolls are higher than us, but at the end of the day when you line up and play, nobody checks the paycheck. We just got to figure out a way to beat 'em. I love our young pitching, I love the core of players that we have. We do need to get better. There's no question about that. I'm hoping over the next few weeks we continue to add.