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MLB WINTER MEETINGSDecember 4, 2012Mike MathenyNASHVILLE, TENNESSEE Q. How much different does it feel this year than last year? MIKE MATHENY: Last year, the only outside air I saw was when I did my interview like this. Besides that, I was locked in my bedroom with the rest of the staff trying to go through a pretty monumental negotiations. But what a great learning experience the first time out to have an opportunity to kind of watch all the pieces and how that really relates to everything else going on. But it was a good experience. This year we were able to get out a little bit more and network and still with the responsibility and opportunity to try to make the team. Q. Is there a way that Rosenthal, Miller, Kelly all make your staff for Spring Training? MIKE MATHENY: I mean, that's basically what‑‑ the assignment we gave them going into this winter. Show up to Spring Training ready to start and prove what you can do and have your arms built up to be ready to do that. Just kind of see how things play out. You look at what Kelly and Rosenthal did‑‑ Shelby was using a little less of a role, but still made a great impression with the opportunities he had. And Trevor couldn't have done more with what he had. And Joe Kelly showed his versatility. Obviously, they're all a piece of the puzzle right now. Q. Like, when you look at your position players, a lot of them are‑‑ I mean, most of them, if not all of them, were returning. As far as improving upon what you saw offensively, what do you kind of cling to? Do you look at getting better seasons from guys? Is there a position that you could see an upgrade? MIKE MATHENY: I think we're‑‑ you're always going to get the same answer, but the fact we're going to keep our eyes open and see how we can get better all the time. Lowe has been very conscientious about keeping his eyes and ears open. That's how you go into a situation like this when you have everyone under the same roof and the opportunity to hear everyone out. So those options are there. Now, how we improve, I think every one of those guys will go through their individual seasons and say that they could each be better. And the reason I can tell you that is I've had that direct conversation with Yadi, who had an incredible season, and the first thing he started talking about is how he could have a better one. So the rest of them down the line, they feel there's something else there. I think collectively, as a team, we're happy with being able to push things pretty far. Not content because we felt we were close enough to finish it off. And also not content with the fact that coming in as the second wild card team, I just don't believe that's the style. I don't believe that's the caliber of team we have. I believe we're a team that can win and win on a consistent basis. We showed some inconsistencies throughout the season, so it's just a matter of how to bring the talent that we have on the basis where it gives us an opportunity to really showcase the talent. Q. So it's not a situation where, if you bring back everybody, which is a possibility here, that you would expect more of the same? Just kind of with the offense and some of the issues you saw last year. MIKE MATHENY: I expect just what these guys expect, which is the winning components of baseball, to do it and do it right. Play the game the right way, respect the game, and then not ask these guys to do any more than what they can do best. They know that. They've got some high expectations to have on themselves and for each other. All the pieces are in place. Do I like their opportunities? Yeah, there are opportunities that need to be entertained, and we'll cross those when and if they become a reality. Q. Knowing what you know about Furcal's progress, how do you look at the middle infield? Do you feel like you have enough depth there and you're good? Or would you like to see an addition come to provide you some depth at the middle infield? MIKE MATHENY: I'm very excited about the reports we've had from the medical staff on Raffi. We didn't know. We were waiting till this time of year to evaluate and see how the rehab process was going and whether or not he's progressing. And he's answered the ball. So we know where our shortstop is, and we're excited to see him healthy again. And ready to go exactly what he did the majority of the season last year. Can't look past us being one game away from the World Series and going down the stretch with Daniel Descalso and Pete Kozma and what they brought to the table. It was an impressive run by those two players. Once again, we're always trying to do what's right for the organization and give opportunities where opportunities present themselves. Q. In your mind, there's no question at all. Furcal is the starting shortstop, ready to go from day one? MIKE MATHENY: That's the information we're getting from our doctors that he's healthy. With that being said, we're excited to have him back. Q. Mike, you took a small look at Matt Carpenter, the second baseman, to get his bat in the lineup, which I know you guys are excited to do. Are you going to look at him in the future to see if he's viable? MIKE MATHENY: That was his responsibility to get as many repetitions as he could. A baseball player is a baseball player. Matt is a ballplayer. He'll will himself to be a legitimate option at second base, and we'll see what he has when he shows up. Not putting any lofty expectations on him. Be anxious to see what he has once he gets to spring. Q. You didn't give Jackson much time last year. What is your thought on his future? MIKE MATHENY: Every young player we have is given opportunities, and then you just kind of watch how they respond to them. Ryan came in with the couple of opportunities that he did have, he did a pretty nice job. What happened was we got into a position to a necessity, and as soon as Pete was given his opportunity, there really wasn't any turning back. So that usually is how it works out. A door opens, somebody's got to kick it in. And Pete Kozma did that. If he hadn't done that, it probably would have been a resolving door until we found what worked. Fortunately, we found a pretty good recipe at the end and stuck to it. Q. What happened to Furcal this season, with his history of injuries, do you think you'll be more liberal giving him time off in the preseason as a prevent? MIKE MATHENY: I think that's a fair statement. I think there's a couple guys, if not a few guys, that would probably use a little differently and force some extra rest on them. As we saw, a couple of our guys really struggled and labored through some different periods of the season. I was riding them hard. I was pushing them hard. And they kept answering the bell, and that's very admirable, and it's great for the health of our team, the fact that our leaders are stepping up and taking advantage of every day in the season. I can see how it did wear on them, and there's a fine balance there. Even as a player, you go through the same thing. You just want to play. There's a time for a manager to step in and do the right thing, which can help make an investment into the future of the season and that they'll finish as strong as they start. Q. Does Holliday factor in‑‑ Holliday one of those guys you think about doing more? MIKE MATHENY: Yeah, I think Matt, that's one that's really part of his greatness is his durability. He's certainly earned, through the way he prepares and works and the shape that he shows up in, he's earned an opportunity to go out and lead on an everyday basis by the way he plays and that he answers the bell every day. He's another that, a lot of times mentally as well as physically, physically he's in as good a shape as anyone in the game. And this game beats everyone down mentally. Sometimes you just need a break. There's a number of guys, if I just write their name in there, they'll just be there. If I ask them about it, they're going to give me the usual number, great, I'm ready to go, which I admire. But, again, myself and our staff needs to keep a closer eye on that. And it also gives our bench an opportunity to stay fresher. Q. Mike, what's your assessment of your own work? This season past. MIKE MATHENY: That's a pretty broad question, Michael. I'm proud of how our guys responded. All season long, I believe that they never gave up. Right at the end, I saw them push into a different gear to make it real exciting for our fan base and for us as a club. And the reason I bring that up is things‑‑ there has to be an atmosphere to allow that to happen. My philosophy going into this is to not get in their way. I think, as we look back and see we were one win away from the national pennant, that I must not have gotten them all the way. I think that's the best evaluation I can give. Q. Why are you mentioned in the context with Robin Ventura. He's a first‑year manager who did a remarkable job. Just looking at it, I know you're going to deflect whatever quip comes your way. MIKE MATHENY: And deflection is the right response here. I do believe our guys were very prepared. I do believe that we didn't miss a lot of opportunities. I know I made mistakes. But I also want to deflect to the coaching staff I had surrounding me. I'm certain‑‑ Robin and I haven't had this direct conversation about how he used his coaching staff, but I gave mine responsibility because I needed the help, and I believe that their expertise, I'd have been a fool not to take advantage of it. So a lot of the things that were done right, I know, was a group effort. For me to sit up here and to tell you that, as the manager, those were all buttons I was pushing all on my own, it would be completely false. It would be a completely false statement. Real proud of how our coaching staff came together, how they took the responsibilities and helped us move forward, helped me move forward, and then also in the same breath, the leadership we had inside our clubhouse, which is invaluable. We had some guys realizing that we have a manager that hasn't done this before. We've got to make sure we're placing inside this club house, and they did a terrific job of it. Q. Mike, your second year as a major league manager as the Winter League Meetings, is your role any different this year than it was last year? MIKE MATHENY: It's nice to see the natural progression where John Mozeliak and Bill DeWitt and Michael Gershon and the rest of our think tank, we've developed a relationship to where now they're asking my opinion more. You know, you've got to realize I walked into this thing last year about a week old into this position. So I knew my spot. And this year I have a better handle on our organization. I have a better handle on the status of our club, the need, and it's a spot that they believe that I bring some value to. And so I think that's how this thing is supposed to work. We all work together. Q. How would you characterize the discussions to date here in Nashville? MIKE MATHENY: They've been great. They've just been raw and honest. This is where we are. This is where we could potentially improve. These are some areas where we think that something could possibly be done. And let's be diligent with this. We owe it to the ownership group and the fan base to entertain everything and to just kind of look into the future. So it's going well. Just a better learning experience for me as well. Q. When you critique yourself from last season, is there one area that you think you can do a much better job in more than any other areas? MIKE MATHENY: Yeah, all areas. I truly believe that I could improve in all areas of the sport. I want my players, as they left the season, realizing they could most likely improve in all areas. That's the nature of competition. That's the nature of learning, the nature of this game. There's so much. I mean, I've said it many times now, but I can't think of a better analogy than drinking from a fire hose because that's truly what this can be with so much coming at you. And then in games there's so many things going on. But I felt I learned a great deal. I feel I have a great deal more to learn. And I also know that the people around me and I was on the phone Mike Aldrete a little while ago, and I was kind of keeping him up to speed. I know that he grew this year. I think I have that responsibility this year as well. Not just our players but our staff, to help them get better. What they're trying to achieve long term. There's so many different facets to this position. I know, if Jim Leyland were sitting right here right now and you ask him that question, I'm certain he would say that he wants to learn more, and I think that's just‑‑ that's the nature of the position. Q. Have you done this long enough to know that you'd like to do it a lot longer? Or you're not sure about that? MIKE MATHENY: No. I haven't made any question of it and no apologies. I love what I do. Without question. Now, whether it's the right place for me to be or not isn't always my decision. These sort of things kind of find themselves over time. But to me, I truly enjoy doing this. And getting a good taste of postseason play as a manager your first year is a great way to run it. You get a little bit of that reward that you realize as a player is so worth it. Excitement and the energy it brings into the whole organization and the fans makes it worth all the hours that you put in. And then being that close and coming up short also brings around the reality that it was really good but it could have been a whole lot better. Q. Does Lance Lynn go into the spring with a leg up on the rotation spot? Are all those guys in the same group competing? I know you said they're all coming in as starters. Specifically with Lance, how is he going to fit? MIKE MATHENY: I want every one of these guys showing up. I'd like Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter to show up, and I can use those two because I know how they're wired, and I know they've been fed all the right words to say, and the right word to say is I've got to prove myself. I've got to earn what I get. And there's no question that Lance Lynn, even though he had a terrific season with 18 wins, did a terrific job, he has some things to prove as he comes into Spring Training. I watch our hardest working guys, and I'll bring up Yadi again. One of the first guys to get there, out there doing his extra work. It looks like he's trying to earn the starting job behind the plate at Spring Training. You want to have a good long career, you'd better go about it that year. That's how I want our guys going about it. Q. Where are you in your search for an assistant hitting coach. What are you looking for in the characteristics? MIKE MATHENY: I'm just looking for talent. I'm looking for the right fit. That has a lot of depth to that definition because there's a lot of different variables. You have a first year head hitting coach for the second year manager. And just needs to be the right fit. Where we are, I think we're getting close. But it's been very encouraging to see the interest level, people with incredible, very impressive resumes, the interest of them being involved in this organization. And the first thing that comes up is I see a team that's about championships, and they want to be a part of it, and that's a huge compliment to what the organization's done and what we currently have in motion. So I anticipate that pretty soon we'll be finished with talking to everybody that we wanted to talk to and have a decision made. Q. Mike, how do you, going into spring, view second base? Do you see that as Daniel kind of won that position going out, or do you see a sort of list of guys that could compete for that? MIKE MATHENY: Much like I talked about with the starting pitcher, I think it's‑‑ even though I did say that Raffi is going in primed to be our shortstop, as we make our plans moving forward, it was a big question, if he wasn't going to be healthy or something came up on those medical tests and he wasn't going to be ready, we had some serious work to do. But with that being said that he is on the mend and things look good, it takes away some of that anxiety about that position. But as far as second base goes, we have some very viable candidates, and we just go give these guys opportunities without drawing up conclusions at the beginning, especially right now in the winter meetings. There's opportunities. We're going to give opportunities to all the players and just see how the pieces come together. Q. Mike, how close do you think wall is at second base? MIKE MATHENY: I haven't seen enough of Kolten. I watched him last spring, followed all the information closely. There are a lot of people that think he's very close. I need to see a little bit more.  I'm excited to watch him in Spring Training as well and give him a little bit of an extended look, as well as Oscar Taveras and a Martinez. These are guys we haven't had an extended look at. And with the WBC, we should have an opportunity to give some of these younger players a little bit better look. Kolten has earned that by how he's gone about it. He's done everything right, and he goes about it as a professional. Had a long season, probably was his first real long season, goes home, rests, comes back, and has a strong fall league, that says a lot about him. Oscar having the longest season of his life as well and heading over and tearing up the Dominican league right now, that says a lot about him. They're taking advantage of opportunities. Q. The lefty Seigrist looked really well, really, really good. I don't know if you've had a chance to see him. MIKE MATHENY: No. Absolutely, I have. We had a pretty good look at him in the spring. He's young. He did have a good fall and sort of there. There's a couple‑‑ the pitcher Sam Freeman was doing a nice job before he came up hurt. I think definitely some kudos need to go to our development system and our scouts. We've got electric arms that everybody got to get a taste of a little bit through the postseason. But there's some better ones along the way and some young talent like a long and Taveras and Adams that we didn't get to see that much of who's had his surgery and seems to be coming along very well. There's opportunity for the young players in our spring camp to show what they can do. Q. What do you look for from that position? We saw you kind of from second base? See you kind of go through guys last year, decide offense, defense, middle. What do you kind of look for in that position? Like you mentioned having Furcal healthy and an offensive sort of player at that position allow to you do at second? MIKE MATHENY: What I'm looking for, first of all, is the right piece. And sometimes it has different looks. I mean, for those of you here that follow us every single day, we realize our offense looks like we could throw anybody out there and we just need some defense. There are other days we needed a jump start from somebody. You had to take some chances on some players. It did turn into a revolving door at times. Just what we're looking for is for that position to be taken. Opportunity has to be there. We have talented guys on this club that can do it. It's just a matter of putting them in position to where they can show what they can do and take advantage of the opportunity. Q. We talked about Carpenter and Daniel as an incumbent. Does Kozma, what he did, do you throw him in the mix? MIKE MATHENY: Absolutely. That's the group. Jackson too. These guys have all shown that they can compete at the major league level. Except for Wong. The rest have made it very clear they need to be considered. So we'll watch and see what we get. Q. Do you see that as a possible, when you look at the scope of 2012 and where you could improve, I mean, if you get consistent production from that position, it seems like that would be sort of a jolt that wasn't part of last year. Is that too much to say? MIKE MATHENY: I think at times it was. At other times‑‑ as far as the consistency, I think it goes across the same lines as our club as a whole. There were other times we had good production and other times when we had to try something new. We all‑‑ every manager that walks through here would love to have every position with consistent production. Whether it be defensively, offensively, combination of both. Yes, we need somebody to step up and be that guy there. There's no question. Q. Having gone through the analysis of all those hot and cold streaks last year, have you found any, identified any common factors that you think could change that? MIKE MATHENY: No. Believe me, we stayed up nights at times trying to figure it out when we saw an offense throw 15 runs up and then go three games in a row without scoring a run. It's frustrating. It's frustrating for them. It's frustrating for our staff. It's frustrating for our fans. But what we do is we watch the control variables‑‑ their effort, the scouting report, what they're doing to prepare. All that's in place, we know we've covered our bases. There's human error in this thing. That's how it works. It's a hard game. No one needs to remind me how tough hitting is. So I get it. I thought Mark McGwire did a terrific job, just terrific. You look at the superstar player, not very often do you see that superstar player be able to be a superstar coach, but Mark McGwire was, and he was able to relate with everybody across the board from our 3 hole hitter to our last position player on the roster. He individualized and spent time with each and every one of them. I also saw John Mabry do the exact same thing. So I know we're in great hands. But I do know, going back to your question, we had the right approach. We did. We spent a lot of time, a lot of video work, a lot of reviewing of statistics to give us a good approach on how to have success every night. It's just a hard league to do it in. But I know our guys believe, as I believe, we're better than what we showed all the time. Q. Do you think that Chris Carpenter will be a lot better in spring than in fall? And you wonder if everybody, Carpenter included, pushed a little too hard to get him ready to pitch in the postseason last year? MIKE MATHENY: I thought the timing was impeccable, and I was very, very proud of how Chris went about it, and the fact that he knew we needed a jolt. He was just pushing. He pushed as soon as he walked out of surgery. I knew he was going to be pushing. I don't know if he realized how perfect the timing was going to be, that he'd be ready to start throwing some bullpens if we start pushing in September to where our guys could say, hey, if we get him back, if we just stay close here, and that's exactly what it turned into. The first part of your question is I expect a healthier Chris Carpenter, as I'm watching him right now going through his workouts. He's in terrific shape, and I hope that his arm continues to cooperate. Right now he looks great. And just the thought of a healthy Carpenter and a healthy Wainwright side by side, I think would make any manager pretty happy. Q. Mo was telling us last night how you would like to improve the bench and specifically a veteran player on the bench. With some of your options late in the games, how do you look at the bench, and would a veteran presence have the home run threat and the power threat to help boost you guys? MIKE MATHENY: I think a veteran presence could help in a number of ways. You look at oftentimes, what our bench looked like, it was a lot of young players. The whole bench player, it's its own culture. As the game goes, these guys really have to come together to figure out how they're going to do their own‑‑ be prepared, one, and, two, put into the piece about swinging that particular night. Without somebody that's done that before, it's difficult. John Mabry did a great job of being that guy before, of keeping these guys prepared, but it's different. Just like I tell you, the leadership within the walls of the clubhouse is something that has to happen. Same thing on the bench. You need veteran players that can kind of keep an eye on the way things are going. How big of an impact was it last year? We're usually pretty well covered with left‑handed bats coming off the bench, and we have been this past season. Moving forward, you see an opportunity, we're going to continue to be strong on that left side. Right‑handed hitting, behind Shane Robinson, who did a nice job pinch‑hitting, but we're always looking to see, once again, how we can be better. That veteran presence is something that we're entertaining, but we also realize with every year these guys gain that experience and could potentially make us better next season. Q. Taking away nothing from Tony and Shane, but specifically from the right side, particularly with power, if you had someone that could be a home run threat or power threat, that would be a nice addition? MIKE MATHENY: I'm not opposed to power. I'm not opposed to a more experienced power hitter. But I don't throw the success or failure of our club on that. It's something that's exciting to talk about and think about. Just kind of see how that plays out. Q. Mike, for you with the World Baseball Classic and the possibility of not having Yadi for several weeks of Spring Training, how does that change things for you? How do you feel about that? What he means to the pitchers and their development during that time. MIKE MATHENY: As far as Yadi being ready, I'm not even a little concerned. The advantage that a lot of our young pitchers would have from having Yadi around, that would be a plus that we may not have. That's legitimate. But we also have plenty of voices around there that can help these guys develop. But I‑‑ I'm a big proponent of taking Spring Training to see what we have and to put a pressure on a Trevor Rosenthal like we did last year, put him in quite a few different situations. I felt comfortable when we made that call, even though he's in AA, I felt very comfortable from what we did in Spring Training, that he'd be able to handle it. A lot of people say you don't put too much stock in Spring Training, to me, I get to see him firsthand. I get to watch him in between the games. I get to watch him, how they compete, watch him close when the heat does get turned up. I think you can see a lot. So when these guys step off to the WBC, which I'm happy for them‑‑ I know it's a big deal to represent your country‑‑ that presents great opportunities for the other guys. We're going to give them those opportunities. Q. How does the length of Spring Training change things? You kind of laid out some of the things you wanted to work on in spring, but do you have to maybe, like the veterans we were talking about getting rest, do you have to kind of situate their schedule just because of the sheer length of Spring Training this year? MIKE MATHENY: We have kind of reverse engineer everything, like everybody else. Have a good idea of how much work we want to get each guy and not to exceed that only because it's a little longer. Good opportunity for guys to get rest. And some guys go to the WBC may not play as much as they would if they were with us. So might have to kick it in a little bit more. So it's going to be on an individual basis. But I think we've done a nice job opening up the lines of communication, what do you need? Most of our veteran players are pretty good about letting us know if they need more or need a little bit of a break, and we keep our eyes open and help them make those decisions. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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