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MLB WINTER MEETINGS

December 9, 2009

Jim Leyland

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA

Q. What kind of effect is it on your team when you lose in a one-game playoff like last year? Can there be an effect coming into 2010?
JIM LEYLAND: No, I don't think so. I think first of all, I'll get that out of the way. I think there's no question, I think in a lot of ways we blew it. But at the same time, I think everybody has forgotten to give Minnesota credit. Without making any excuses, I mean, if Minnesota goes 19 and 5 gown the stretch, we win. They went 20 and 4. We beat them three of the four games. Did we blow it? Yes, but does Minnesota deserve credit? Yes.
I think there's no lasting effect. I think it was one of the great games of the season, and I think it was a very positive game for us, to be honest with you. It may not have looked that way at the time, but we got to a point where we were one game away from going to the post-season, and we didn't do it.
The excitement of that game in the Metrodome was unbelievable. I think it was one of the great games I've ever been involved in. It didn't turn out the right way. No, I don't look back on anything like that. It's a combination for me of saying that, yes, take the responsibility of saying we blew it, but also at the same time I think you've got to give a team credit when they go 20 and 4 down the stretch.

Q. How do you turn the page on something like that personally?
JIM LEYLAND: Well, I don't live my baseball career like that. I'm still living only because you guys ask me about it, I'm still living the dream, slide across home with Francisco Cabrera. That was 1992 or whenever it was. There's a winner and a loser in every game, and it was great competition and it's Major League Baseball and I've been a part of it. A lot of times I've been on the right side, sometimes I've been on the wrong side, but I don't worry about stuff like that at all.

Q. How do you replace Polanco for next year?
JIM LEYLAND: We don't. You have to be realistic. We're talking about a guy that had almost 600 hits in three years. So first of all, it's not fair. We're going to play a rookie at second base. I'm all for it. Certainly we wanted Polanco back. It wasn't going to work out. I think it's very unfair. Our plans are to play Sizemore. Now, obviously if he would spit the bit totally in Spring Training or something like that, then we may have to make some adjustments, and I'm all for that. But if you think that you're going to get Scott Sizemore to beat Polanco in his first season, that's not going to happen. You don't replace almost 600 hits in three years and also a Gold Glover. I mean, the Phillies got one hell of a man and one hell of a player to be honest with you.

Q. For people who don't see Curtis Granderson every day, what does he bring to a team when he's at his best?
JIM LEYLAND: Well, I think in my opinion Curtis Granderson is one of the things that's all good about baseball in today's baseball world. He is one heck of a player. He has a great face. He's very bright. He's very articulate. He's everything that's good about baseball. Not to mention a guy that did something that nobody in the history of the game did a couple years ago. Nobody ever. And he hit 30 home runs last year. He's the total package.

Q. His numbers dropped off a little last year, obviously. What was the difference last year?
JIM LEYLAND: Well, his home runs did not drop off. But in fairness, I think one of the things that happened was if you look at the American League last year, there was some real good left-handed pitching that surfaced in the American League last year. And he got thrown to the wolves because there was a stretch there where that's all we saw was left-handed pitching, and it was real good left-handed pitching. And that's his last hurdle, and he will hurdle that.
To me he's everything that's good about the game.

Q. How do you describe him as a fielder?
JIM LEYLAND: I think Comerica Park is probably one of the toughest center fields to play. I think that it's sometimes confusing, balls right at or over your head. I think side to side is not an issue, but that park is -- if you look at a lot of center fielders at Comerica Park, they had trouble with certain balls, and I think he's a very good fielder, to answer your question. And he's a good thrower. Not a great thrower, but a very good thrower. He's the total package.

Q. You mentioned Polanco's Gold Glove at second base. The Phillies will use him at third base. How do you feel like he'll handle going back to third after not having played it in quite a number of years now?
JIM LEYLAND: I think he'll be a really outstanding player no matter where he plays or where he goes. I like to use the expression he's like an old shoe. Every once in a while you might want to get a new, shiny one, but that one is still comfortable. That's how I describe guys like him. Real comfortable. It's over used when you talk about the ultimate professional and everything, but he's -- he went a season and a half without making an error, you know? Playing second and having 600 hits in three years, I mean, what's to say? American League most valuable player in 2006 when we went to the World Series? I'm a little frustrated right now because you guys are talking about players I used to have and you're not talking about anybody I've got. (Laughter).

Q. When you went to the American League Central Division, with the changes that occur from year to year, especially to this last year to 2010, do you like at it as a wide open division?
JIM LEYLAND: Yeah, I think so. I think if you look at all clubs, you see some strong suits and you see maybe a weakness here or there. I think that holds true with all the teams. I think it'll be wide open again.
If you look at the White Sox' pitching staff, it wakes you up. I mean, you can make a case for pretty much anybody. If you look at Minnesota, who has never seemed to get the credit -- like I said, everybody talks about Minnesota, how they do it, and I keep going back to two or three years ago when they had the Cy Young, the MVP and the batting champion on the same team, not to mention one of the best closers in baseball. That's pretty good.

Q. What about Scott Sizemore? What can you expect from him? What kind of a player is he?
JIM LEYLAND: I think you can expect a few home runs. I think you can expect him to make some adjustments offensively. I think he's a very good offensive player. He needs definitely to polish up his defense a little bit, foot work around the bag and things of that nature, a little bit of an awkward throwing motion at times. But I think you can expect a talented young player breaking in, which means that you're going to have growing pains and there's going to be some nights when you want to get him away from it, and you're kind of breaking in a kid that's a whole different scenario than talking about a veteran player.
Over my career, I've probably broken in as many young players as anybody, and I don't mean that talking about myself, I'm saying that I love young players. I mean, we took Verlander, we took Zumaya, we took Porcello, we took Merced and JosÃ© Lima, and I think it's great for the game as long as you don't have to break in too many at the same time. If you have to break in too many at the same time, it probably takes its toll on your wins your losses to be honest with you. But if you can sprinkle them in with a good club like we've got, it's great. I love it. Everybody talks about, I don't know if he's ready. Young players, if they don't get a chance, become old players.

Q. You mentioned Porcello. He had a great finish to the season, seemed like he got stronger. Where do you see him in the rotation?
JIM LEYLAND: I just want him to be himself. I don't want to put any more expectations. I don't think he went into the season saying he won 14 last year, he should win 16 this year. I don't think it works that way. You continue to bring him along. You continue to watch him. He's obviously mature beyond his years both mentally and physically. So I think you just let it happen. There will be some steps back once in a while. I think that's what you saw in Verlander a couple years ago. Everybody kept saying what's wrong with Verlander, and I kept saying nothing.
It's a matter of for the first time everything is not quite so easy and you've got to make some adjustments, and it gets in your head a little bit. It's a maturity thing. You can't rush that process. You have to let it happen.
So I expect Porcello to be very, very good. But the competition is very good up here. They make adjustments, you make adjustments. He'll be fine, but I'm not going to -- I never put on somebody, well, he needs to win 15 or 16 this year. I just want him to be himself, and when the 7th inning comes around hopefully keep us in the game. If he does that, I'll be very happy.

Q. What's your biggest concern with your ballclub right now knowing we're still a long way off from Spring Training?
JIM LEYLAND: Well, if everything works out, and we don't know that yet as far as what's going on here the last day or so, so I can't really speak about that, but I would say offensively right now we're probably a little bit too right-handed. That's a concern. If Sizemore and if things work out with the deal, if they work out, and I don't want to get into it, but if Jackson is our center fielder, that's another right-hander; Sizemore is another young right-hander. We're going to get a whole lot of production out of Laird, right-handed catcher; and Cabrera is right-handed; Raburn is right-handed. We're probably a little left-handed short.

Q. Do you have what you need on the club for them to produce better, or is there still something missing that you need to get between now and opening day?
JIM LEYLAND: Well, I don't think there's any perfect teams. I don't think there's any perfect teams anywhere. I think that's why people are here trying to better their clubs. I think it's a concern that we're too right-handed. It's a concern that it looks like we could be breaking in a couple young players, which going back to what I said, I love it, but you also have to understand they're not just going to tear it up.
My concern would be being a little lopsided right-handed, and also it looks like there's a possibility that we could lose Lyon and Rodney. They both did not except arbitration, but you're talking about a setup guy and a closer, so that's a pretty big concern.

Q. Given the attendance drop and the fact that you need to shed payroll at this point, how much do you look into the Minor League system? What's the Minor League system look like as far as what it can produce for you guys?
JIM LEYLAND: We're very into the Minor Leagues, and when people talk about attendance dropping, we dropped down to about 2.6, and we were over 3, so I think it's -- I don't think certainly with everything that was going on in Detroit, I still think that was pretty good, to draw 2.6.
I think our system is very good. I think we have some very good young arms in the Minor Leagues that are -- I would not say real close, but maybe a long shot. I think we have a couple on our Major League team such as Porcello and Perry. I think we have some players. A kid named Boss, who was in Double-A and did well; a kid named Strebe, if he's healthy, he's a very good-looking hitter with power as well as a good hitter. So we're okay. We've got some players. I like young players. I don't have any problem. I think if you sprinkle them in with the right group, and I think we have a pretty good group, we'll be okay.

Q. On center field, if things work out, it would be either a rookie or a rookie probably starting out there. Is it like lie that in team might add some insurance on a veteran level for a potential center field vacancy?
JIM LEYLAND: Well, I think a lot of teams would -- I think when you get your base, and some of the big boys are gone by way of free agency or a trade that people talk about, then I think we're no different than a lot of other teams. We kind of wait until late and maybe catch lightning in a bottle with some guy at a reasonable figure that's a contributing player for you, I think that's a possibility. But I feel pretty comfortable with Raburn and Thomas. Raburn was very productive last year. Thomas is a kid that I really like. Some of our people think fourth outfielder, part-time player. I happen to think he's going to be an everyday player. Whether it's going to be this soon or not, I don't know. We've got some pieces, but I think you always look to -- I don't want to add a veteran player just to add a veteran player. If he's a veteran player that can help us, I'd like to add him. But if it's a veteran player, just because it spells veteran, that doesn't mean a lot to me.

Q. Assuming the trade does work out and everything goes as it seems to be going, do you think Curtis is the kind of guy who won't have any problems adapting and dealing with the whole New York scene? You know a lot of guys have that trouble of sort of making that adjustment to New York.
JIM LEYLAND: I think Curtis Granderson will adapt anywhere. I don't think that's going to be a factor at all. I think he'll adjust anywhere. He's got a lot going for him, great player, great looking kid, bright kid, great teammate. He'll adjust anywhere. I mean, New York might be a little bit of a shock to him to start with, but I think with the pros like they have like the Jeter's and those type of guys, that's not going to be an issue whatsoever. That's if this thing goes, and I'd really rather not talk about that, because that's not my area. That's Dave Dombrowski's area, and I'd rather not talk about that.

Q. What is Bonderman's status for you looking forward to 2010?
JIM LEYLAND: That's a great question. He came back last year toward the end. The velocity was almost totally there, not quite, the slider was not quite there yet. So we're hoping that early work -- as we speak, he's working. By the time Spring Training is over, we're hoping that we've got the total package back and that he can be one of our starters. Our plan is to have him in the rotation, and hopefully that'll work out for us.

Q. When you talked about your bullpen and the potential goals you might have, are there internal candidates that you're looking at to fill those spots?
JIM LEYLAND: We have to have right now because we don't have anybody signed. We have two of our guys, our setup guy and our closer out on the free market as we speak. That doesn't mean we're not interested in them or wouldn't try to pursue something with them, but this is their shot at the pot of gold, and God bless them. I want them to do what's best for them. But at the same time it leaves a void. You're talking about a guy that saved 38 out of 40, whatever it was, and you're talking about a guy that after the first month of the season was absolutely tremendous in Brandon Lyon. Would we like to have him back, absolutely. But can we whet their appetite, I'm not sure. So that's a concern. There's no question about it, that's a concern.
Everybody throws it around like you can just pick somebody, who's going to close, pick this guy or that guy. It doesn't work that way. It just doesn't work that way.
We will have somebody closing. Will it be a veteran presence or -- I think really one of the big keys for our club is, and knock on wood because the snow is on the ground so I don't put a lot of stock in it, but Zumaya is absolutely tremendous health-wise, and that's a big key if he would happen to come back. If we don't get Rodney or Lyon back and Zumaya would come back with a young Perry or the combination of a lefty here or there, then it could work out okay.
But right now we don't have any slam dunk, sure fire guarantee, top-notch closer as we speak.

Q. Have you ever thought about going to a format rotation and not having to define closer?
JIM LEYLAND: Yeah, I've thought about it. I was one of the old school guys that talked about it, but I think what happened is it only takes one guy not to be able to do it, and that changes the whole thing. I think to be honest with you, in today's market of big time investments, long-term contracts, we all probably get a little scared of it. I mean, MRIs are pretty common nowadays.
Do I think it would work? In the right scenario, yes, I do. I think it would. But in today's baseball world, probably not.

Q. What's your opinion on expanding instant replay?
JIM LEYLAND: I don't know. I've thought about this long and hard. I've always said that I think they ought to change one thing. I think they -- I don't think you should be able to argue an out-safe call at first base. Talk about delaying the games and everything, and they talk about keeping the game going, I think if they don't allow you to argue that call -- he said he was safe, he said he was out, he never changes his mind, plus he's behind the plate the next night. (Laughter). So why go out and argue? I think the only time you would do it is if a player was involved and you got a little upset and you wanted to get him out of there.
But I do like the replay on the home run. I'm not sure how far you should expand it. I think one thing that I would do, I would get rid of the box for the strikes and balls.

Q. On TV?
JIM LEYLAND: It's no good. It's no good. I'm not sure the angles are always right, and all it does is put the umpire under, in my opinion, unnecessary pressure. You see one miss one that far off the plate, he's embarrassed and they make a big deal about it. Why? I think it puts him under unnecessary pressure. I think when you look at it and somebody says, well, gee, that one missed the box by that far, well, who in this room, including myself at 21 years of age, could necessarily call a 97 mile an hour pitch that missed by that far? That's bullshit, I can tell you that right now. There's nobody that good. So I think that there's got to be some margin for error there, and I think it puts them under undue pressure, and I think they should do away with that. That's one thing I would recommend. I just don't think it's good. I think most people can tell without looking at that if there was a ridiculous pitch. Most people really can't give you -- when somebody says -- if one of my hitters comes back and says, that was that far outside, I tell them, you're totally full of shit. And if it was that far outside, you should have hit it. If it was that far, I'll give it to you, but if it was that far outside, you should have hit it. (Laughter). Please.

Q. Without getting into the front office aspect, how much do you think the arbitration process has affected the game on the field with players and such?
JIM LEYLAND: Well, I think it's part of the game. I think it has affected the game. I think there's a lot of things that have affected the game. But I think the game is doing okay. I don't think we should be playing the World Series November 6th. I don't think that's good. I think that's ridiculous.
But you know, it's part of the process. It's just like a free agency. This is their chance to go out and merry Christmas, and God bless them. I mean, that's the policies we have in baseball. Exercise those policies. I have no problem with that. I have no problem with the arbitration. Has it affected stuff? Absolutely. Has it affected some guys getting non-tendered, absolutely. But it works both ways. It's a great -- it's just a great game, and no matter how much we try to screw it up, it still keeps going.
I mean, we drew 2.6 with 28 percent unemployment in downtown Detroit. That's pretty good. I think there are some things -- the replay thing is one thing to look at. I think there are some other things, but we're not going to cut down the number of games I don't think. But I think there's maybe -- I was talking to the Detroit guys earlier, maybe play -- have four or five scheduled double headers, regular double headers and maybe charge a little more for the ticket so somebody doesn't have to go twice. We were talking about that, and I think it was great. I think you make suggestions like that, I think it's a good idea. Cut it down a little bit, maybe start a little bit earlier and really look into the schedule. I know the schedule is a very difficult thing to make up. I couldn't do it, I know that.
But have warm weather teams and the dome teams open up and open up a little earlier and get it over with a little bit earlier. Not that you want to get it over with, but you should not be playing the World Series November 5th. I mean, you've got hockey, NBA and football going on November 5th, and we're still playing the World Series. That's not good in my opinion, unless you're in it, I guess.

Q. Now that you've had a couple months that think Magglio is here, how could he at that age have the first half that he had and then got the bat speed back the way he did the last six months?
JIM LEYLAND: The more and more I thought about it, I just really feel that there was a lot to be said that he got a bad start, a late start, the world things and everything, he got no practice really. They can tell you they do, but they get a little batting practice. His wife had a cancer issue, I think that worked on him. I think he just got in a rut, and I think he had a lot of things on his mind. And I think when you come to the ballpark, if you've got other things on your mind besides performing and playing, and it was not his fault, you just don't respond the same.
And I think things fortunately turned out right for Mrs. OrdoÃ±ez. She's doing well. I think that was a load off his mind. I think he got back in sync a little bit and we've got signs of old Magglio, and I think that'll show up in Spring Training.

Q. Even at 36?
JIM LEYLAND: I think so. I think he'll be absolutely fine, I really do. I've already gone on record as saying he'll knock in 90 for sure, and I believe that.

Q. If you have to look for another lead-off hitter, how much of a challenge is that going to be among the guys you have?
JIM LEYLAND: That's going to be a big one. That's going to be a big one. I'm not sure if, as you say -- "if" is still a big word in this situation, but if it turns out that we have a Jackson and we have a Sizemore, I don't have any clue right now who I would lead off. I have no idea to be honest with you. We're going to have to be a little creative. But these meetings aren't over, and you have a lot of time before the season, so you have the rest of the winter. And you have Spring Training to maybe look at a player and maybe pick somebody up that would, you know, fit that bill a little bit more.
But if not, you improvise. You do the best you can, and you make the most sound decision you can with the team that you have, and you go from there. There's a lot of truth to the fact that, I mean, he really only technically leads off once for sure.

Q. Is that even -- is lead-off even less of a factor in the American League with the DH?
JIM LEYLAND: Yeah, I think so, and I'm not into the -- as most of you guys know, I'm not into the on base stuff as much as some of the other guys. I think during the course of the game there's enough guys on base. I like the guys that can score in first and knock them in. If you look at a nine-inning game normally, the combination of both teams, there's been enough guys out there. The key is to get them home, you know. Stopping at third is not going to score obviously.

Q. Even though a young player might be best equipped to be the lead-off hitter, is it too much pressure, say, on a rookie?
JIM LEYLAND: I don't think so, but this guy was an exception to the rule, but I did it with Barry Bonds. I lot of people criticized me, but I wanted him to see the pitchers move. He had speed, he got some walks, so he wasn't going to get killed. A guy who is more of a free swinger and doesn't have quite as good an eye and everything, you might bury him doing that, you might get the kid into a situation you don't want to get him into. But in Bonds' case it worked out great. He might hit a fastball and he could walk, so I thought it was a good situation for him, but I doubt very much whether that would be a good situation for Sizemore. I can promise you today that Sizemore will not be our lead-off hitter.

Q. Or Jackson?
JIM LEYLAND: I mean, unless we trade him for Grady Sizemore -- (laughter). I'm just kidding. That's tampering, so don't say anything about that.

Q. How much do you think health will impact Brandon Inge if you can get him ready for the season?
JIM LEYLAND: I think that's going to be huge. I think if you look at last year he finally was making the necessary adjustments offensively. He's always been a great defensive player, but he was making the adjustments offensively that looked like it was finally going to get him over the hump. He was hitting some homeruns, he was off to a great start. Both knees were bad. I had the doctors tell me there was hardly any player that would have been playing with what he had. And I think it also affected him defensively. Brandon Inge I believe led the third basemen in errors, and that won't happen, I can promise you that. He's a great third baseman. Highlight play after highlight play for the three or four years I've been here. It affected him defensively, as well, it affected his throwing and planting, so I think that's going to be a huge factor.

Q. When you look at Alex Avila, when we saw him some up, we saw a good hitter, a kid that could swing the bat, nice stroke, he had good plate judgment, he's got pop, are they going to come up and find the holes on him and make him look like he might have to go back?
JIM LEYLAND: Sure, yeah. They'll work him over a little bit after awhile, but that's okay. He's got a loud sound in his bat, he's a good hitter. I think the decision we're going to have to make on him is he could be possibly the best guy to take for us on a temporary basis, but not the best guy for us to take to really get him to be the player that we think he's going to be. He's probably going to be the best selection, because we say, well, having a left-handed hitting catcher would probably be better for this time, but is that really going to be better for us over the long haul? I don't know the answer to that at this time. I really don't know that answer. But he is a keeper, and he will catch in the Big Leagues for a long time, and I think he'll be a regular catcher in the Big Leagues for a long time.
But are we doing him a favor, even though it might help us win an extra game or so early on as opposed to maybe winning a whole bunch of games down the road in a year or so? He needs to catch. He definitely needs to catch more. I mean, can you camouflage that by playing him against some guys once in a while? Yeah, you can get by with that. But I'm not sure that's the best thing to do. But I also don't want him reading where he's got no chance to make a team, because we want him to get more experience, because I don't know that that's the truth. I think it's a situation you have to look at and say, okay, what's best for us, what's best for him, but most importantly, what's best for everybody overall.

Q. Do you put a lot of stock in the pitch counts?
JIM LEYLAND: That all depends. If you looked, I watched real close with Verlander the first couple years, but this year I took him to 130, he's a horse, he can handle it. I watched it with Porcello this year. A couple of years from there, if I'm still there, I doubt that I would worry quite as much about it. I think you worry about it with some pitchers but not all pitchers. I think you learn it's just like your bullpen, you learn the guys that can pitch three days in a row and the guys that can only pitch two days in a row. I think it's something that there's some merit to it. Does it hold true for anybody? No. I'm an old school guy and I believe in the old four days and all that kind of stuff, and I still do. But I think what happens for me is I think, at least in my case, with the team I'm managing, we've brought up some young pitchers such as Verlander and Porcello.
So you have to understand that trying to get the outs at the Major League level, pitch count does become a factor because those outs are more strenuous than they've ever been for them before, you know what I mean? It's different than the Minor Leagues. You go out and get a couple quick outs. Up there the stress on the pitchers is a little -- particularly young pitchers I'm talking about, is a little different than it is trying to get outs down in the Minor Leagues or in college or something.
So I think you do have to watch it with some guys at a young age, particularly if they've got great futures and have a chance to be a consistent pitcher for ten years. Like I say, you try to eliminate anything bad on your rÃ©sumÃ© as a manager as far as pitchers getting hurt. I don't want that to happen. But I did extend Verlander this year because I thought it was the right thing to do. I thought he was ready for it. I did not extend Porcello, but he was actually in the same boat Verlander was in a couple years ago. We watched him really close.
To answer your question, I think the pitch count is a factor with some pitchers, not all pitchers.

Q. Have you seen Justin becoming a mentor Porcello and maybe some of the other younger pitchers just like Kenny was to him?
JIM LEYLAND: Well, there's not many Verlander's. There's just not that many guys. I think that -- I think it's good for guys to watch a guy like Verlander and stuff like that and talk to a guy like Verlander, but there's not many guys that have Verlander's stuff and can pitch like Verlander. Not many guys can take that pounding out there, they can't go out there throwing 130 until the ninth inning, there's not many guys that can do that. I think it's good, yes, but I think you have to try not to become a clone to somebody that you're not even in the same category with as far as your make up or your arm or whatever it is. I think you have to be careful about that. Everybody can't pitch the same.

Q. What's the next step on Porcello in that regard?
JIM LEYLAND: Well, I'm going to watch him again this year. I'm going to watch him again this year.

Q. Will you watch him as closely or take the reins off a little bit at times?
JIM LEYLAND: It all depends, and a lot of that goes back to what I just said a couple minutes ago. A lot of that depends on how many quick, easy outs does he get. You know, if he's getting some of those, then the pitch count won't be up as high, but if he's not getting those and the pitch count gets up high, I'm going to watch him. I'm going to watch him real close.

End of FastScripts

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