|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
MLB WINTER MEETINGSDecember 8, 2008Bobby CoxLAS VEGAS, NEVADA Q. Were you surprised by John? BOBBY COX: Yeah, I was. I didn't think there was anyway he could throw like he did. It kind of brought some bumps on my arm because he was throwing so well, and I wasn't for sure if he was supposed to be that farfetched ahead or not, but he is. The Dodgers said go ahead and continue at that rate. You don't want to go backwards now and let scar tissue build up in there. He's way ahead of schedule, and Tommy is right on schedule. Tommy had his operation quite a bit later on in the season than John did. Q. There any doubts now that he could possibly come back as the starter? BOBBY COX: Yeah, John is hoping to go either way, try to win 15 or more. I've never seen John so fired up about something in my life. He loves challenges, and he's got a big one ahead of him. But what I saw for the very first time out off the mound was incredibly good. Q. Counting him out is almost foolish at this point? BOBBY COX: You can't count him. He's going to pitch, no doubt in my mind. Hopefully he's going to be with the Braves. And he wants to pitch more than one year. He's planning on at least two right then. Q. Are you disappointed by Mike Hampton? BOBBY COX: Yeah, we wanted Mike back, but I understand the reasoning behind choosing the Texas team. I think he really wanted to go to Arizona, be closer to the family. I understand all that. I saw Mike last night incidentally, and it was a nice, cordial meeting. Q. Do you have a preference for John? BOBBY COX: Right now it would be as a starter, yes. Our need is starting pitching. Q. How are the injured relief guys shaping up? BOBBY COX: I saw Peter Moylan about five, six days ago. He looks terrific. He's throwing really well right now. He's ahead of schedule. It was a big hit for us last year. We didn't have Gonzales when we opened, we lost Soriano basically the first week of the season, we lost Peter Moylan almost on opening day, and our three top guys were never there. So it made it a little tough. Q. You look at getting Vazquez and seeing Smoltz throw, it just makes you feel better? BOBBY COX: It gives me a real good feeling. We're after more pitching right now, as you know, and I've always felt if you have a lot of pitching, you need to go get some more because eventually you never have enough. Q. Frank had said that he was going to be very cautious about counting on John for next year, and he was talking about two or three new guys. Has that changed? BOBBY COX: Well, I think a GM has to go about his business planning on guys going under the knife, that you've got to go try to add some more guys. But the more this goes along, there certainly would be room for a guy like those two. Q. How about some of the guys like Tommy Hanson, some of the young guys? BOBBY COX: Well, I'm not so sure. Tommy, there's that thought of maybe pushing things too quick, and I'll have a much better eye -- I've never seen Tommy throw a ball, and we will see him this spring, and all indications are that he very well could fit in as a starter right now. We'll see. We don't want to do the wrong thing. But he's good, and Jo-Jo Reyes. We held onto our pitching, Morton and Reyes so far, which is a good thing. Q. I know you didn't see Tommy and haven't seen him, but just on the reports you've gotten on how he did all year long and how he did in Arizona, it's pretty exciting to have a prospect like this? BOBBY COX: Well, he's a very heralded guy right now, and the most in the pitching department for young kids. I'm glad we have him, let's put it that way. Q. How do you get Jeff Francoeur back on track? BOBBY COX: He's working hard right now. I think he's got some stuff he's working on, and -- you know, as bad a year as he had, he still drove in 81 runs, something like that, and it was a tough year on Jeff, that's for sure. But I look for him to bounce back and drive in 100. Q. All the Burnett stuff is obviously out there. If that pursuit was to be successful, do you think that would be the end of the search for pitching, or do you think that would be -- BOBBY COX: No, I think it still leaves room for pitching, whether it be Tommy, Smoltz or whatever. I think the budget still is open for another pretty good pitcher. Q. Is Peavy a dead issue? BOBBY COX: So far, after one day. We haven't really talked about that. Every team would love to have him, and we're no different. We'd love to have him. We gave away some of the pieces already for Vazquez. Q. What you saw out of Kotchman in the final three weeks, do you feel like that's more -- BOBBY COX: Yeah, I feel real good with Casey right now. He struggled a bit with his hitting when he got to us, and once he got back, his mother was very, very ill, and he was gone quite a while, and when he came back, just knowing that his mom was going to make it made a huge difference. He started hitting the ball really well, and he can really play first. He's a good line driver that's going to hit for an average and drive in runs. Q. Is he as good or as close to it as Teixeira defensively? BOBBY COX: Yeah, they're both very good. Tex is very good; so is Cox. Q. If you hold on to Kelly Johnson and Martin Prado, any chance Johnson will end up in left field against? BOBBY COX: Kelly is so good at second base, I don't think so. And we love Prado. Prado is on everybody's hit list down here. So is Kelly. They talk about both of them. Q. How about Yunel, are you concerned at all about him hearing his name, bantered about in trade rumors? BOBBY COX: I think he's a special talent and I certainly want him on our team. He's as good a shortstop as we've ever had here. He can do so much. He's going to hit right at .300, I think, every year. He's got the type of mechanics that allows me to say that, I think, stays inside the ball so well, and he's an extremely gifted shortstop, a pair of the best hands you'd want to see and he's got a great arm. And he's strong. If he wants to, he'd hit in the 20s, home runs. Q. Are you thinking about Josh Anderson as your center fielder? BOBBY COX: He's in the mix right now, you bet. Josh can go get the ball, he can steal bases, and we're going to try to work on his bunting a little bit more so he can be a threat there, too. But he came on strong. Blanco had a nice little year for us, nice left-handed speedster. Matt Diaz we didn't have at all last year hardly, and he's recuperated now. Q. Do you think Schreiber has got a good chance? BOBBY COX: We'll see. We'll let him play it out in spring training. I only saw him a little bit last spring, and he missed most of last season. Q. What are your expectations in terms of making some meaningful moves here in Vegas? BOBBY COX: Well, we already made one before we got here. Getting Vazquez is a big one for us, and if we don't, it won't be because of lack of work. Frankly, the guys have spent hours leading into these meetings doing everything they could to get something done. So hopefully, you never know. Q. In addition to Vazquez, will you be looking to rebuild any of the staff? BOBBY COX: Yeah, we're still looking for more pitching. The good thing is we've held onto our good pitching, Morton and Reyes, that was always bantied about in trades and rumors, and we've still got them, which is good. All kids struggle a little bit when they first come up, and you have to have some patience because as soon as you move them, they're going to be stars somewhere else. Q. If you did go to spring training and Jo-Jo and Charlie and Campillo and Murray, four or five or both of them, you'd be okay with that? BOBBY COX: If it comes to it, yes. I think they'll get better. Campillo is on overlooked guy, nobody talks about the job that he did. My God, we had a chance to win every time he went out there. We felt good running him out there, believe me. Q. The bullpen mix, with or without Smoltz, you look at Soriano, Gonzales -- BOBBY COX: A lot depends on Moylan and Soriano. If they're healthy our bullpen is going to be dynamite. Backed up with Gonzales out there as a closer all year, and you know Bennett really came on last year and had a good one, and the kid we got from the White Sox, Logan, reports are great on him. The other guy, O'Flaherty, I hear nothing but great stuff. If his back is good, we've really got something there. We tried to trade for him last year at this time, Winter Meetings. Q. You're still trying to sign Will Ohman? BOBBY COX: Yeah, I don't know if they talked to him today or not. Q. How odd would it be for you sitting on the bench if Smoltz wasn't with your team this year? BOBBY COX: It would feel funny, just like when Tommy left and Mad Dog left. It would be real funny. We want him pitching for us. Q. (No microphone)? BOBBY COX: I'm not sure. Not today. He wants to throw in front of Jeff Porter, our trainer, at the stadium. But he's going to throw that one more time and knock off about two weeks. Doctors were telling him knock off a month with the program, but he didn't want to do that, then the doctors relented and said, at the pace you're going, may as well not let the scar tissue tighten up on you. But all I can say, he was as impressive, as you could see. The first time after an operation off the mound. John says he's going to rewrite the medical journals on how to rehab. Q. Do you think he was surprised by how well he did? BOBBY COX: No, I don't think John is ever surprised, I'm really not. I think in his mind it was going to happen. Q. Is it going to be strange to be in spring training without Pete and Skip Caray? BOBBY COX: Yeah, it will. It was awful losing Skip, but Pete kind of shocked me, but he had been laying little hints here and there the last year or so. Pete is really, really good. He's a real pro. I hate so lose him. Q. Will you not know about Soriano until spring training? BOBBY COX: I don't think so. It will be spring. Q. And Smoltz, you'll kind of let him -- he'll let you know what he thinks will be the best role? BOBBY COX: He won't be very far behind. Q. But as far as his role? BOBBY COX: You know, there's never a right guess, which would be better for the player: relieving the load or pitching every fifth day. We've done it both ways with him. Q. As far as Glavine's timetable, you said he's a little behind Smoltz? BOBBY COX: I really can't speak, and I'm not absolutely sure right now. I haven't talked to Tommy in a while. But he just started playing catch like yesterday or something. Q. What about Moylan? BOBBY COX: Moylan? He looks good. I just saw him at the ballpark the other day, and he looks terrific and doesn't have any pain and he's throwing. He's in Australia as we speak. He was headed home. He should be ready to go in spring training. Q. Any timetable on Tim Hudson? BOBBY COX: He'll be out all season. Q. You're not even looking for an August return there? BOBBY COX: I don't think so. Timmy might. I mean, I'd love to see it. That would be a great scenario. But I'm not sure that's possible, rushing it. Q. (No microphone)? BOBBY COX: He had a rough year. Jeff is not happy with it, that's for sure. He still drove in 81 runs, I think, on a not-so-good year. There's a lot there. Jeff is a great kid, a hard worker, and he's been working all winter long. We'll see what happens. Q. What was the particulars, though, of why he struggled so much? Was it mechanics in his swing? BOBBY COX: I think, maybe, yeah. Just got in a funk. Just didn't come out of it. Q. How do you keep Chipper healthy all year? BOBBY COX: Well, if he can play 150, that would be nice. He's so good, you hate to rest him, but I've got to start taking the initiative and let's take two days off here. Q. Do you think with Francoeur and Escobar that that will solve some of the offense? BOBBY COX: Yeah, those two having big years. Jeff for sure. Escobar did hit very well last year. He's a real threat at the plate. But we need Frenchy back where he was the year before. Q. McCann's weight loss should help him, do you think? BOBBY COX: It had better not hurt his hitting, I'll tell you that (laughter). He's got a little bit of a bad knee and a bad ankle, so in that respect, yes. Q. If some additional moves were made to the rotation, considering what happened last year, what would that do for the overall team to have some solid arms in that rotation? BOBBY COX: Well, you can't win unless you have good pitching, and we lost everybody last year. We started without our three relievers, we lost four starters, and we made it difficult. So if we have the solid guys that go out there every five days, you know, it makes a world of difference. Q. Have you ever seen anything like what you went through last year? BOBBY COX: No, not that. We've always been able to overcome injuries. We always backed them up, and we did it. Last year it just mushroomed. It was just too much to handle. Q. What about your bench? BOBBY COX: Well, depending on if we make any more moves in the outfield or anything like that. The bench was good last year, I thought. Norton did a good job, Infante did a good job, Prado was tremendous, die as has always been a great bench guy. Q. And then you just signed a catcher, Ross? BOBBY COX: Yeah, Ross we like. We think he's going to do well for us, and we'll see. We think he's a quality guy to play behind Mac. Q. Hanson, everyone likes him as a pitcher. Is he someone that could come fast enough to be a second -- BOBBY COX: Earlier before you got here we talked about that. We don't want to rush him, but if he could win a starting job in spring training, we're open-minded about it. I've never seen him throw a ball yet. I need to see him. Q. Norton is still out there, a roster situation, are you guys still talking to him? BOBBY COX: He fits in, yes. Yes. He had a great year last year. You know, hitting the ball hard when he came off the bench. He lined out a ton of times, I know that. But he had a lot of big hits. Q. What about some of your middle relief guys like Boyer? BOBBY COX: Boyer is throwing, he's working out with Smoltz, and he's throwing, feels great. You know, he had a great first half and a bad second half. We're hoping he could have a good season. Q. How important is it for somebody like Boyer to work out with somebody like Smoltz? BOBBY COX: I think it means a lot, yeah, to watch them do what they do, and if you listen to Maddux's press conference, he makes it pretty simple. Master your fastball location and change speeds a little bit, and you've got a good chance of winning, getting hitters out. Q. Do you have any problem with guys in the WBC? BOBBY COX: No. I do and I don't. I'd rather have them, being selfish, but I've told every one of them that's even brought it up you've got to go. Vazquez I'm sure will be pitching for Puerto Rico, J.J. will be pitching for the Netherlands probably. That was a big hit four years ago -- four years ago? The guys loved it. Q. Should it be a different time of the year like November or something? BOBBY COX: I don't think there's any solution. I don't know when there's a good time for that. I know we get four off-days in spring training getting ready (laughter). Q. You mentioned J.J. How important is it for the veterans like Vazquez and some additional arms brought in for him to fall down a little bit in the rotation? BOBBY COX: He doesn't have to fall very far, that's for sure. He had a great year last year. I think he threw 188 innings and could have thrown more. We were careful with him. Q. Less pressure on him? BOBBY COX: He pitched on five days' rest nine times, and we gave him two breaks of ten days twice. Not because of any problem with it, but take care of him a little bit. He's a horse. He can go. Q. Do you anticipate that Mike Gonzalez is going to be back to the way he used to be with Pittsburgh? BOBBY COX: Yeah, for sure. He did very well last year, and now nothing but the upside coming up with him. Q. He goes in knowing that he's the closer, right? BOBBY COX: Yeah, oh, yeah, for sure. Q. And if Smoltzy were to go in the bullpen, then you could certainly work something out? BOBBY COX: Well, right now the interest with John and us is as a starter. Q. Edgar Renteria resigned with the National League. Do you find it puzzling at all? BOBBY COX: I don't know why. I don't know. All I can tell you, he was a really good player for us, Mr. Clutch, fielding and hitting. He did a little bit of everything, and a great leader on the team. He's got his work ethic. You know, it's precision down to the minute every day. I have no reason. Can't come up with one. Q. It's weird that it happened twice. BOBBY COX: Yeah, I know. I saw him in Boston and he didn't look real good. Q. Is it just the price of doing business when you look at A.J., what he's going to get after having one healthy year in a while? Do you have to kind of suck it up with whoever is going to sign him and pay it what it takes to get him? BOBBY COX: Well, you've got to do what you've got to do. We'll see. Q. You've seen him at his best, right? BOBBY COX: He's got a fabulous arm. He's a guy that could go out there on a -- when he doesn't have his good stuff and throw a no-hitter. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|