Latest / Foul Territory / FT at Dodgers camp: Freddie Freeman, GM Brandon Gomes

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FT at Dodgers camp: Freddie Freeman, GM Brandon Gomes · Foul Territory

0:00
Speaker 1: There's guys that have been incredibly successful in their career,
0:02
Speaker 1: as any of them on a holiday tracts. The number
0:05
Speaker 1: one goal that when people step in here is to
0:08
Speaker 1: win a world series.
0:14
Speaker 2: All right, guys, welcome back. Frederick Freeman is joining, and honestly, honestly,
0:19
Speaker 2: it was because AJ wore him down to the point
0:22
Speaker 2: where he had no excuse but to come up here.
0:24
Speaker 2: These two were teammates ten years ago. Now, Freddie obviously
0:27
Speaker 2: MVP first baseman for the club. This is an exciting camp.
0:30
Speaker 2: AJ was starstruck when he walked into your clubhouse today.
0:34
Speaker 2: There's some star power in there. But that's something about
0:36
Speaker 2: this club, Freddy, and you can speak to it obviously
0:38
Speaker 2: more than I that you really believe in one another
0:41
Speaker 2: and it's a good group of twenty six guys that
0:43
Speaker 2: has one goal in mind.
0:45
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's very true. I mean it starts. It starts
0:47
Speaker 3: with you know, you got Kershaw in the clubhouse every day.
0:50
Speaker 3: And kind of the environment that we create is being
0:53
Speaker 3: able to welcome new paces in because we've had a
0:55
Speaker 3: lot of new faces, a lot of turnover the last
0:57
Speaker 3: few years when we lost JT and Cody. Familiar places
1:01
Speaker 3: you try and create the environment as fast as you can.
1:03
Speaker 3: That makes it a successful and easy environment to come into.
1:07
Speaker 3: I think we've done a good job of that. We
1:08
Speaker 3: care about another one in each other. If we don't get
1:11
Speaker 3: the job done, we just keep rooting for the next guy.
1:13
Speaker 3: It's always the next man up in mentality. And we've
1:16
Speaker 3: created a really good thing around here.
1:17
Speaker 4: By the way, no offense to you and Mooki. I
1:19
Speaker 4: got a hug from you and Mookie, but I got
1:21
Speaker 4: to shake show Hay in Rokie's hands, So like you
1:23
Speaker 4: guys are kind of news. Okay, we've played together, Mooki
1:29
Speaker 4: and I was. I was on the field when Mooki
1:31
Speaker 4: made his debut. We were teammates back when he was
1:34
Speaker 4: first came up, but he was the second baseman. That
1:35
Speaker 4: was when you were twenty fourteen.
1:37
Speaker 5: Yeah, a job. I'm so old now. I'm proud of
1:41
Speaker 5: him though.
1:41
Speaker 4: I mean, I listen, we had we've had Chipper on, yeah,
1:44
Speaker 4: and Chipper talked about Freddy and I've talked about Freddy.
1:47
Speaker 4: And I remember, I mean twenty fifteen when you were
1:50
Speaker 4: just a young little punk and me and Johnny and
1:52
Speaker 4: Frenchy and Kelly were trying to, you know, mold you
1:55
Speaker 4: the right way after Chipper ruined you, but you know
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Speaker 4: you turned out.
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Speaker 5: To be okay, So I he's just super proud.
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Speaker 4: I mean listen as a as a former player and
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Speaker 4: someone that obviously played with you, to see where you've
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Speaker 4: come and what the star you become in a better
2:08
Speaker 4: person than a star. I mean, it means a lot
2:10
Speaker 4: just to see, like, you know, little snippets of what
2:13
Speaker 4: you become.
2:14
Speaker 5: But now you're here with the Dodgers, yep, and you're superstar.
2:17
Speaker 3: I appreciate that. Thank you those kind words. That's what
2:19
Speaker 3: I think when you were as players, when you finish playing,
2:23
Speaker 3: it's always that one question you always get, oh how
2:25
Speaker 3: was he? You know, how was he as a teammate,
2:27
Speaker 3: And that's kind of what you hope everyone says, is
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Speaker 3: like he was a good teammate, good guy, because everyone's
2:32
Speaker 3: going to remember it, not really talk about the hitting.
2:34
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, he's a great player, but it's always about
2:36
Speaker 3: how was he? And that's where you like, as I've
2:38
Speaker 3: gotten older, you start to just try and affect people
2:41
Speaker 3: in different ways, and if it's on the field or
2:43
Speaker 3: in life of how you go about your business each
2:45
Speaker 3: and every day and you learn everything you're learning still
2:49
Speaker 3: every day, and you know when you have veteran guys
2:51
Speaker 3: like I had coming up, and it just shapes you
2:55
Speaker 3: in a certain way, and you want to you want
2:56
Speaker 3: to take little things from each player that you play
2:59
Speaker 3: with and kind of take it, put it into your
3:00
Speaker 3: own thing, and try and be a good person every day.
3:02
Speaker 2: We had a conversation earlier Freddie with Brandon Domes talking
3:05
Speaker 2: about how it is legitimately twenty six unbelievable players, some
3:09
Speaker 2: massive superstars, MVPs, Hall of Famers, future Hall of Famers.
3:12
Speaker 2: I really truly believe that, But sometimes there's a lot
3:15
Speaker 2: of ego in that and it doesn't seem like that.
3:17
Speaker 2: And again, I know I'm a home or get over it,
3:19
Speaker 2: but you know, it doesn't seem like that with this group.
3:22
Speaker 2: Have you found that? That's been an interesting thing to
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Speaker 2: navigate in that clubhouse, just trying to you know, everybody
3:27
Speaker 2: living up to the potential. But also you guys were
3:30
Speaker 2: the best at every level where you played, and now
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Speaker 2: you're all the best.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that's it's everyone knows everyone's a good
3:37
Speaker 3: baseball player in this clubhouse. So it's not like you
3:39
Speaker 3: have to carry anything. You know, everyone's got their little
3:43
Speaker 3: thing in the puzzle piece. And I think that's what's
3:46
Speaker 3: so good about this team is you have so many
3:49
Speaker 3: great players coming in and that great player that comes
3:51
Speaker 3: in doesn't feel like they have to do everything on
3:54
Speaker 3: that team. And then you have a lot of older
3:56
Speaker 3: guys that are that have been around a long time
3:58
Speaker 3: that that's what's so good. It's great players that have
4:02
Speaker 3: been in the game a long time that all they
4:04
Speaker 3: care about is winning. And when you care about winning,
4:07
Speaker 3: that's that's when you create the environment of caring about
4:09
Speaker 3: each other because you have to. It's not just the
4:13
Speaker 3: twenty six guys on this team. You're gonna use the
4:15
Speaker 3: forty man roster. There's gonna be guys that you're we're
4:18
Speaker 3: not right now that're gonna influence. You had Jack Flaherty
4:22
Speaker 3: come over in trades last year. There's so many guys
4:24
Speaker 3: that are gonna knock down big innings, pitching, take a
4:26
Speaker 3: huge at bats, and it's not just us. And that's
4:29
Speaker 3: why you have such a great organization because they go
4:32
Speaker 3: out and create the depth that we have and we
4:35
Speaker 3: just try and create the environment where the great players
4:37
Speaker 3: come in and don't feel like they have to carry
4:39
Speaker 3: the whole team all the time. Even though they can at.
4:41
Speaker 4: Anything, you can carry a team. I've seen you do
4:43
Speaker 4: it before. I want to know this because I've played
4:45
Speaker 4: with you with the Braves. I thought you were going
4:48
Speaker 4: to be Chipper Jones. It'd be a brave for life.
4:50
Speaker 4: And I know you went through an emotional thing. Looking
4:52
Speaker 4: back on her, you're like, this is pretty cool. I mean,
4:55
Speaker 4: you're you're a California I know you claim Canada, but
4:58
Speaker 4: you're a California guy. Okay, you're a California guy. I know,
5:03
Speaker 4: I listen, I know I get it.
5:04
Speaker 5: And and by the way, we talked.
5:05
Speaker 4: About one of the coolest moments before we get into that,
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Speaker 4: your dad, your son and you, so three generations of Freeman's.
5:11
Speaker 4: You know, you hit the home run, you go over.
5:12
Speaker 4: I mean, that's got to be top moment, top two
5:16
Speaker 4: moments in your career.
5:17
Speaker 3: Is probably say top moment. My grandfather was also in
5:19
Speaker 3: the stands. There was four free four generations of Freeman's
5:23
Speaker 3: for that Grand Slam, which is when you go through
5:26
Speaker 3: what we went through of not coming back to the
5:28
Speaker 3: Braves and coming back to southern California. That was what
5:30
Speaker 3: it is. I got to play in front of my
5:31
Speaker 3: family whenever they choose to come and make the forty
5:34
Speaker 3: five minute drive to Dodger Stadium. They can. And you
5:39
Speaker 3: don't know why you're in southern California coming to the
5:42
Speaker 3: Dodgers for a reason. Then you have Max get sick
5:44
Speaker 3: and he got to be at Chalk Hospital with the
5:46
Speaker 3: great doctors there and nurses and team there. So there's
5:49
Speaker 3: little things that you when you look back, you're like, Okay,
5:51
Speaker 3: this is this is why I was here. And I
5:55
Speaker 3: played the same way I did with the Braves. I
5:57
Speaker 3: try and every single night I lay my head on
5:59
Speaker 3: the pillow that I give everything I can to help
6:01
Speaker 3: this team win. I do the same thing every day.
6:04
Speaker 3: And to be able to play in front of my
6:06
Speaker 3: family now every day, that's that's pretty special.
6:09
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7:12
Speaker 5: When you were rounding the bases and you hit it,
7:14
Speaker 5: I mean you hit a walk off grand off, a
7:17
Speaker 5: lefty too, no right nester's old draw driving me try, Yeah,
7:21
Speaker 5: you got them traded. But I canna answer that.
7:25
Speaker 4: But like when you're running around the bases and all
7:27
Speaker 4: those things are going through your head, was that the
7:30
Speaker 4: moment when you're like I'm a Dodger now, and I
7:32
Speaker 4: because I know how hard it was for you to
7:34
Speaker 4: and I know that was years ago, but still, I mean,
7:36
Speaker 4: you're running around the bases and you got sixty thousand
7:38
Speaker 4: Dodger fans screaming your name. You walk over, you hug
7:41
Speaker 4: your dad, you hug your grandfather, you hug your son.
7:43
Speaker 4: That had to be the moment where you're like, you
7:45
Speaker 4: know what, I am a Dodger, and then when you
7:47
Speaker 4: go in the Hall of Fame, you're gonna have to
7:48
Speaker 4: make a choice.
7:49
Speaker 3: So oh, I think it's more of like I've been
7:53
Speaker 3: thinking about that moment this whole offseason when I came
7:57
Speaker 3: back from being away from the team with Max, came
8:00
Speaker 3: back to a standing ovation. I've been getting my name
8:02
Speaker 3: chanted for the all three years I've been with the Dodgers.
8:05
Speaker 3: It's every time I walk into that field. They have
8:08
Speaker 3: treated me like one of their own. And I've kind
8:10
Speaker 3: of looked at it now that it's almost like a
8:12
Speaker 3: thank you, because it was hard to come to the
8:15
Speaker 3: field that when Max was still going through it. Right
8:17
Speaker 3: after the hospital. It was tough, you know, leaving my
8:19
Speaker 3: family every single day, and then they would I would
8:22
Speaker 3: get to the field, and they just made me feel
8:24
Speaker 3: okay and good and that I was supposed to be
8:26
Speaker 3: at work, you know, And I don't. I feel like
8:30
Speaker 3: I've been a Dodger for a little bit. I mean,
8:31
Speaker 3: we it's my fourth season already.
8:33
Speaker 5: It's crazy.
8:34
Speaker 3: It feels yeah, it's going fast. I know it's going fast,
8:38
Speaker 3: but I obviously now I think when people kind of
8:40
Speaker 3: think about my career, it's the walk off Grand Slam now,
8:44
Speaker 3: and I'm going to be in a Dodger uniform when
8:46
Speaker 3: in a lot of people's eyes. But you know, I
8:50
Speaker 3: don't know. I'm proud of the fact that what I
8:52
Speaker 3: did with the Braves for twelve years and now I'm
8:54
Speaker 3: trying to do the same thing here with the Dodgers
8:56
Speaker 3: and win as many championships as I can.
8:58
Speaker 2: But you are, and Mookie said, and moshow Hey probably
9:00
Speaker 2: thinks it's easy. You just come to l a right,
9:05
Speaker 2: But I mean Mookie is like, we need you got
9:07
Speaker 2: nine more years of dominance and then when Movie's contract
9:10
Speaker 2: is up. But I mean, this is the team to
9:11
Speaker 2: do it right. How does a World Series Championship team
9:14
Speaker 2: get better?
9:15
Speaker 3: I think what Andrew and Brandon and our ownership kind
9:20
Speaker 3: of did you could usually go out and spend you
9:22
Speaker 3: get show Hey Yoshi, trade for Tyler Glass and Al
9:25
Speaker 3: and tay Oscar and do all these things and win
9:27
Speaker 3: a championship and be okay with that. And they went
9:29
Speaker 3: out and got Blake Snell. It just kept going, Michael,
9:31
Speaker 3: come forward, you get Rokie, you just re signed Blake,
9:34
Speaker 3: trying to get Key k back. It just it's a
9:37
Speaker 3: It's an organization that's trying to be the best at everything,
9:41
Speaker 3: and I'm just thankful to be a part of it
9:43
Speaker 3: and that I was one of the pieces that they
9:45
Speaker 3: believed in. And that's how you do it. It's this
9:49
Speaker 3: game is so unpredictable. Well, even if we can have
9:52
Speaker 3: this team and you don't know what's gonna happen this year,
9:53
Speaker 3: I'm obviously got a really good chance with the guys
9:56
Speaker 3: we have, but it's still once you hit October, you
9:58
Speaker 3: don't know what's going to happen. So ELF is a
10:01
Speaker 3: huge one. But we weren't healthy last year like we had.
10:04
Speaker 3: If you work no no, when you were playing on
10:06
Speaker 3: one ankle, Yeah, I had a lot going on, But
10:08
Speaker 3: it's you just try and do the best you can
10:10
Speaker 3: and once the season starts, you just try and be healthy.
10:12
Speaker 3: You're gonna hit speed bumps along the way. You just
10:14
Speaker 3: try and get over them and try and make it
10:15
Speaker 3: to the end and be healthy.
10:16
Speaker 2: We had a conversation with Max months earlier today Freddy
10:19
Speaker 2: in the clubhouse, and he was talking about how like
10:21
Speaker 2: going through that parade and you guys were all on
10:23
Speaker 2: like one leg and you know, trying to get through
10:25
Speaker 2: it and grinding, and most of.
10:26
Speaker 5: Them were intoxicated. Remember that part. Once it was over,
10:30
Speaker 5: like towards.
10:31
Speaker 2: The end of the season, like and during the playoffs,
10:33
Speaker 2: you guys are doing all this stuff to just try
10:35
Speaker 2: to get your body at the point where you could
10:36
Speaker 2: stand in a box and do that stuff. And then
10:38
Speaker 2: you go through the inebriated postseason run of the you know,
10:41
Speaker 2: the all the things.
10:43
Speaker 3: All right, think about it, because everyone is grinding and
10:46
Speaker 3: trying to get on the field. And that's also what's
10:48
Speaker 3: so great about Doc and like the manager, Like that's
10:51
Speaker 3: the true look of a great manager is when your
10:55
Speaker 3: players are trying to do everything they can to get
10:56
Speaker 3: onto the field for you and the organization and Doc's
10:59
Speaker 3: created a wonderful thing here and we were all kind
11:04
Speaker 3: of just band aiding ourselves together to try and get
11:06
Speaker 3: on the field, and we were able to do it.
11:07
Speaker 3: And that's what's so special when you win in those
11:10
Speaker 3: kind of scenarios, when everyone is grinding to make it
11:13
Speaker 3: through and you have to ultimately see the reward of
11:17
Speaker 3: the grind and you you host hoist that trophy up.
11:19
Speaker 3: There's nothing better.
11:20
Speaker 5: Were you involved in the Suzaki meetings and stuff?
11:23
Speaker 6: It was?
11:24
Speaker 5: Were you a big pitch man? I was there? Yeah,
11:26
Speaker 5: you were. What's your pitch? I want to know if
11:29
Speaker 5: I was Rokie, how would you pitch me to come
11:31
Speaker 5: to more of we?
11:32
Speaker 3: It was like BOOKI Me, Tommy, Edmund, will Smith and
11:35
Speaker 3: Show Hey were the guys that were there, and Show
11:38
Speaker 3: he was with him the whole time. Show he brought
11:40
Speaker 3: his dog. Because of course we we kind of we
11:44
Speaker 3: knew it. It was mostly like we just kind of
11:47
Speaker 3: hung around in a circle and just it wasn't about like, hey,
11:49
Speaker 3: come to the like it kind of speaks for itself.
11:52
Speaker 3: It's just more of showing him how the culture is
11:55
Speaker 3: between us guys that are already on the team, and
11:58
Speaker 3: showing him that he will be comfortable if you came
12:00
Speaker 3: to us. So I think there was more of just
12:02
Speaker 3: kind of just hanging around and where was that?
12:04
Speaker 2: Where'd you go?
12:05
Speaker 3: We went to Peter Grooper's house. Yeah, we had a
12:07
Speaker 3: great and then the fish was great. We had like
12:11
Speaker 3: a twelve course.
12:14
Speaker 2: Do you feel like this is a destination now for
12:16
Speaker 2: I mean, even when you signed here four years ago,
12:19
Speaker 2: obviously it's la It's the Dodgers, it's historic, it's you know,
12:22
Speaker 2: the organization and the history. But now it seems like
12:25
Speaker 2: this is it.
12:26
Speaker 3: It feels like it does definitely. I mean, it still
12:29
Speaker 3: was kind of the destination when I came over, but
12:30
Speaker 3: then you start getting show hey and guys like that,
12:33
Speaker 3: and and then what they do to our clubhouse. It's
12:36
Speaker 3: not just on the team, it's like you're trying to
12:38
Speaker 3: create the thing. We're flying differently this year too, so
12:41
Speaker 3: just from travel and then you've changed.
12:44
Speaker 5: It's so great you've changed.
12:45
Speaker 4: You've changed so much.
12:47
Speaker 5: But we fly differently now.
12:50
Speaker 3: Which is cool. And they're just pouring into the team
12:53
Speaker 3: and the organization, and other guys see it and and
12:56
Speaker 3: you hear about it. And when you become a free agent,
12:58
Speaker 3: when you work so hard to have the opportunity to choose,
13:00
Speaker 3: and then you have one of the best places of
13:03
Speaker 3: a destination to want you. It's very enticing to come
13:06
Speaker 3: and we do the best we can to bring the
13:08
Speaker 3: great players.
13:08
Speaker 4: I just have to know.
13:09
Speaker 5: Can you beat Mooki and anything? I don't think so nothing.
13:13
Speaker 3: No, we were we were teammates for Clayton's ping pong
13:18
Speaker 3: and we won it together.
13:19
Speaker 4: So oh we had a good partner and he's never
13:21
Speaker 4: had it since since we beat him. Wow, he quit,
13:23
Speaker 4: he quit on us. All right, before you go, before
13:29
Speaker 4: we let you go, we gotta get kersh out here.
13:31
Speaker 5: Yeah.
13:32
Speaker 4: First of all, thank you for finally joining us. I've
13:34
Speaker 4: been chasing you for two years now, and you couldn't
13:36
Speaker 4: You couldn't resist me once you saw me in person.
13:38
Speaker 4: I got the biggest hug. But I'm most important. I'm
13:41
Speaker 4: happy that your family is doing well. It means a
13:43
Speaker 4: lot to me. I've obviously known you before you had kids.
13:46
Speaker 4: Now you have chilling you see Charlie running around here, Max,
13:48
Speaker 4: So I am that's all I care about you. You're better,
13:51
Speaker 4: that's more important. So thank you for joining us. I
13:54
Speaker 4: love you, Pale, and I want you what you keep
13:56
Speaker 4: going on. Okay, everybody heard, everybody heard that we're not
14:01
Speaker 4: that bad.
14:03
Speaker 2: We appreciate you. That's luck, good health all the way.
14:06
Speaker 2: Looking forward to running it back. Please appreciate that very much.
14:10
Speaker 4: We have a GM of the Los Angeles Dodgers who
14:13
Speaker 4: gets to shake everybody's hand here, Brandon Gomes.
14:16
Speaker 6: Brandon, great to have you on. Thanks for the time,
14:18
Speaker 6: and you worked really hard this offseason. Now you get
14:21
Speaker 6: to see all of the talent that you've got in camp.
14:24
Speaker 6: Is this cool for you to walk around and be like, damn,
14:27
Speaker 6: we got some talent here.
14:29
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's been great.
14:30
Speaker 1: Uh, you know, I think the best part so far
14:32
Speaker 1: going to find wood somewhere. It's been an uneventful spring training,
14:36
Speaker 1: but getting to see the guys go out play, prepare
14:39
Speaker 1: for you know, our a couple of games in Tokyo,
14:42
Speaker 1: but you know, just as important watching them kind of
14:45
Speaker 1: get into the clubhouse, learn each other, become a unit,
14:48
Speaker 1: and start to mesh as soon as possible.
14:51
Speaker 8: It's been really cool.
14:51
Speaker 1: And you know, a big part of the process of
14:55
Speaker 1: when we're acquiring these guys is how well are they
14:57
Speaker 1: going to fit into the clubhouse.
14:59
Speaker 8: And it's been to seem transition so far.
15:02
Speaker 4: I walked in there to then I was starstra I
15:04
Speaker 4: mean Glassnew Snow, Suzaki Yamamoto. We're not even talking about
15:09
Speaker 4: some of the young guys you have. Kersh was in there.
15:12
Speaker 4: And then you get to the position players, Freddie Mookie Show. Hey,
15:16
Speaker 4: it's literally I'm like, man, I want to play for
15:18
Speaker 4: the Dodgers. I told a lot of I'm like, I
15:20
Speaker 4: think I could catch a game or two. I'd catch
15:22
Speaker 4: a heck out of some bullpens.
15:23
Speaker 5: I want to ring.
15:24
Speaker 4: It's got to be the best feeling as a GM
15:26
Speaker 4: to know that people want to come play for your organization.
15:28
Speaker 4: Right to me, that's the biggest thing is it's a
15:30
Speaker 4: Alta says it all the time. It's a destination LA
15:33
Speaker 4: now is a destination place that guys want to go
15:35
Speaker 4: to try to win a ring and play with.
15:37
Speaker 5: The best of the best.
15:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that's been the goal of ours for
15:40
Speaker 1: you know, the leading up to these past few years.
15:44
Speaker 1: But it's been, you know, something we've been striving for
15:46
Speaker 1: for a while. And obviously that that comes with the
15:49
Speaker 1: coaching staff and the players that we've had, building a culture,
15:52
Speaker 1: you know, Dave driving that train, and then an incredible
15:55
Speaker 1: amount of support from ownership. So none of those things
15:57
Speaker 1: can happen without our owners you know, really putting winning
16:00
Speaker 1: at the forefront of everything you do.
16:03
Speaker 7: I know, it's a full group effort when you go
16:05
Speaker 7: after guys like Rokie, when you court a guy like show, Hey,
16:09
Speaker 7: what's your role in it? Because certain guys have to
16:12
Speaker 7: step up and the click the button for the power point.
16:16
Speaker 7: Other guys have to refresh the croissants at the table.
16:20
Speaker 5: What is your role in it?
16:22
Speaker 7: And have you guys gotten better at that role the
16:25
Speaker 7: more you meet with every one of these superstars.
16:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of it is
16:31
Speaker 1: to so many people are involved in these these recruiting
16:34
Speaker 1: processes and trying to figure out where you can add
16:38
Speaker 1: value if there's a nugget that makes sense for you
16:40
Speaker 1: to drop based on personal experience or relationships that you had.
16:44
Speaker 1: So you know, as you're going through this, you certainly
16:47
Speaker 1: learn and get better, or that's the goal at least,
16:50
Speaker 1: and making sure that as you're figuring out what we
16:53
Speaker 1: want to hit on, what we want to make important,
16:56
Speaker 1: everybody kind of has their opportunity to touch on certain
17:00
Speaker 1: aspects of the organization and what's what resources we offer
17:04
Speaker 1: and you know, the experience that they would have, So
17:07
Speaker 1: it's kind of learning as you go. But understanding and
17:10
Speaker 1: rehearsing on the front end of who's going to take
17:12
Speaker 1: what when it comes to trying to relay everything that
17:15
Speaker 1: we can about the organization.
17:17
Speaker 2: Brannie, when you talk about the Dodgers, you always talk
17:19
Speaker 2: about culture, and I remember having many conversations with Andrew Friedman,
17:22
Speaker 2: Dave Robert Stankaston about the culture and the character type
17:25
Speaker 2: of guy that you want to bring in. And to
17:27
Speaker 2: AJ's point, when you walk in and you're starstruck and
17:29
Speaker 2: he's a Big League or World Series champion, he's walking,
17:31
Speaker 2: he's like, oh my gosh, look at who's around in
17:33
Speaker 2: this clubhouse? Are there challenges with managing superstar personalities? You
17:37
Speaker 2: talk to Tony LaRussa, you talked to Bruce Boscheet, and
17:40
Speaker 2: sometimes managing superstars is harder than managing, you know, the
17:44
Speaker 2: also ran guys. What challenges come with that?
17:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think obviously there's guys that have been incredibly
17:50
Speaker 1: successful in their careers or many of them on Hall
17:52
Speaker 1: of Fame tracks. You know, the number one goal that
17:57
Speaker 1: when people step in here is to win a World series,
17:59
Speaker 1: and guys shown it time and time again. Of Mookie
18:02
Speaker 1: going a short last year when we need it needed it,
18:05
Speaker 1: Freddy in the postseason being like, hey, I'm not as
18:08
Speaker 1: good as I can be.
18:09
Speaker 8: You should play somebody else first.
18:11
Speaker 5: Left.
18:12
Speaker 8: Like those types of things, you know, are what makes
18:16
Speaker 8: this group so special.
18:18
Speaker 1: And Dave does an amazing job of being able to
18:20
Speaker 1: handle the different personalities and communicating with them on a
18:25
Speaker 1: daily basis, which is really important because as you go
18:28
Speaker 1: through a season, you know, players are making assumptions or
18:32
Speaker 1: you know, I'm not.
18:33
Speaker 8: Really sure about this. The lack of clarity can't cause issues.
18:36
Speaker 1: I think, you know, as a staff and Dave and
18:40
Speaker 1: coaches in the front office, we're making sure we're staying
18:43
Speaker 1: ahead of any of that. But the biggest thing is,
18:45
Speaker 1: like we've talked about the guys that are coming in,
18:47
Speaker 1: we know they want to win. When that is your
18:49
Speaker 1: goal and you are trying to win as many championships
18:52
Speaker 1: as possible, everything else kind of falls into place because
18:55
Speaker 1: everybody's pulling for that ultimate thing.
18:57
Speaker 4: I have to ask this because I saw show Hey
18:59
Speaker 4: in there, and I know he's coming back from rehab.
19:01
Speaker 4: I want to know how is this going to play
19:03
Speaker 4: out because he can't go on to rehab assignment. Yeah,
19:05
Speaker 4: it's like you can say, hey, show Hey, we need
19:06
Speaker 4: you to go to double A. We need you to
19:08
Speaker 4: go to Rancho Kucamonga and throw four innings today and
19:10
Speaker 4: then be back in d H in the big league game.
19:13
Speaker 4: So how's that going to work as a picture rehab
19:15
Speaker 4: because you're either gonna have to have someone piggyback them.
19:17
Speaker 4: But how do you build a guy up they can't
19:19
Speaker 4: go in rehab.
19:19
Speaker 8: Yeah, we've talked about it a lot, and obviously it's unique.
19:22
Speaker 1: He's one of one at this point, you know, as
19:26
Speaker 1: he's getting in and making sure he's building a good foundation,
19:29
Speaker 1: and you know, because we obviously can't lose one of
19:32
Speaker 1: the best hitters in the game. We'll set something up
19:36
Speaker 1: where we can consistently get work in it. Call it
19:38
Speaker 1: once a week and whatever day we decide that is,
19:40
Speaker 1: and then in early work try to work through some
19:43
Speaker 1: type of like live BP scenario.
19:45
Speaker 4: And that's not an ideal secause you don't want him
19:49
Speaker 4: facing your big league guys because something God forbid, something
19:52
Speaker 4: happens right.
19:53
Speaker 1: Certainly on the table, and we've done that in the
19:55
Speaker 1: past for guys. Whether our hitters need work, they haven't
19:58
Speaker 1: seen a lefty for a while. We'll get somebody in
20:00
Speaker 1: and try to get creative with that to make sure
20:03
Speaker 1: everybody's getting what they need.
20:04
Speaker 8: So I think that'll be a little bit of a like, hey,
20:06
Speaker 8: let's see how this goes. What do you need?
20:09
Speaker 3: And then you know, as he's.
20:10
Speaker 1: Ramping up and building up volume from the live VP standpoint,
20:14
Speaker 1: one of the major benefits is like if he comes
20:17
Speaker 1: back and throws two innings, like, that's okay.
20:19
Speaker 8: We don't have to make a roster move to do that.
20:22
Speaker 1: It is only additive at that point, which is obviously
20:25
Speaker 1: incredibly helpful. So we'll when we get to that point,
20:29
Speaker 1: you know, as we're approaching it, we'll map it out
20:31
Speaker 1: and figure out because we may be on the road
20:33
Speaker 1: which could complicate things, but making sure we have some
20:37
Speaker 1: type of consistent work. And then when we hit a
20:39
Speaker 1: threshold of volume, okay, is he ready to plug into
20:42
Speaker 1: a game?
20:42
Speaker 8: What does that look like?
20:43
Speaker 1: It's just easier than if you had to say, hey,
20:46
Speaker 1: now we're plugging this starter back into the rotation.
20:48
Speaker 8: We have to make a a counter move. We don't
20:52
Speaker 8: have to do that, So it's only additive, which is
20:54
Speaker 8: incredibly valuable.
20:55
Speaker 2: I mean, we could have a ten hour show on show. Hey,
20:57
Speaker 2: there's never a lack of show Hey, content, But I
20:59
Speaker 2: want to look at the clubhouse when I was downstairs Brandon,
21:02
Speaker 2: and you see obviously Roki Sasaki and Yoshinobu Yamamoto right
21:05
Speaker 2: next to show Hey, who has two lockers by the way,
21:07
Speaker 2: obviously as does Moki Bets, as they should. But what
21:10
Speaker 2: do you think those two guys, Yama in his second
21:13
Speaker 2: year with show Hey and then Roki Sasaki can learn
21:16
Speaker 2: and not only you know, from their countrymen, but just
21:18
Speaker 2: obviously how to pitch at this level in the United States,
21:21
Speaker 2: because you likely have Yama going game one, probably Sasaki
21:24
Speaker 2: going game two in Tokyo. What have you noticed in
21:27
Speaker 2: the terms of the development of those two guys.
21:29
Speaker 1: Wow, watching Yama, you know obviously from last year to
21:31
Speaker 1: this year, just the confidence and the just more of like, hey,
21:37
Speaker 1: this is a normal day. You know, he kind of
21:39
Speaker 1: came into his own. Really he pitched great for us
21:42
Speaker 1: and then really showed well in the playoffs. But you
21:44
Speaker 1: could see when he came into CBR this year for
21:46
Speaker 1: spring training, He's like, Okay, this is now, this is normal.
21:49
Speaker 8: I don't have all of these these new scenarios coming up.
21:52
Speaker 1: Plus trying to figure out how to navigate a major
21:55
Speaker 1: league season, so his level of confidence is incredibly high.
21:58
Speaker 5: Right now.
21:58
Speaker 1: He's looked so good in bo depends and gains his stuff.
22:01
Speaker 1: The execution is what really separates Yamamoto from a lot
22:05
Speaker 1: of guys have great stuff, but his execution is is
22:09
Speaker 1: as good as I've ever seen. So he's you know,
22:12
Speaker 1: coming into his own and understanding how to navigate the
22:15
Speaker 1: big leagues. And then Roki has come in and been
22:18
Speaker 1: incredibly open and worked with our group and you know,
22:21
Speaker 1: some different delivery drills and things that work in the
22:25
Speaker 1: weight room for prep work to make sure we're patterning
22:28
Speaker 1: movements that he wants down the mound beforehand.
22:31
Speaker 8: So he's been great.
22:32
Speaker 1: He's dope right in with our group, and you know,
22:34
Speaker 1: the first outing was obviously incredibly impressive, and we're looking
22:37
Speaker 1: forward to him continuing to grow. I think what's so
22:40
Speaker 1: impressive about him is as good as he's been, there's
22:43
Speaker 1: like so much room sure up to even get better,
22:46
Speaker 1: which is kind of scary.
22:47
Speaker 4: By the way, yamamotos smaller than I thought he wasn't.
22:49
Speaker 4: Roki's bigger than I thought he was when I saw him. Yeah,
22:52
Speaker 4: but I have to ask, is it breaking news? A
22:54
Speaker 4: lot of that Roki's throwing game too, and Tokyo because
22:56
Speaker 4: you said and he you didn't deny it.
22:58
Speaker 2: I mean it's not efficial as we sit here right now.
23:04
Speaker 2: I mean, y'all is throwing today and Rooki's supposed to
23:06
Speaker 2: throw tomorrow, and then you guys go to Tokyo, so
23:08
Speaker 2: it kind of lines up, well, kind of lines up.
23:10
Speaker 5: Okay, I thought we were gonna have breaking we can think.
23:13
Speaker 4: I think how many Japanese people you would excite if
23:15
Speaker 4: you said he's throwing game two.
23:17
Speaker 5: Yeah, we'll see, okay, Okay.
23:19
Speaker 4: Is he's out of the bubble of the lab like
23:21
Speaker 4: pitching wise, he threw great against the Reds the other day.
23:24
Speaker 5: How could can you be?
23:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I think that the stuff, the velocity,
23:29
Speaker 1: the splitter, I feel bad for catchers.
23:32
Speaker 8: I don't know how you would catch it.
23:33
Speaker 1: It does something different every time it's it's one of
23:36
Speaker 1: the you know, it's as unique of a pitch as
23:38
Speaker 1: I've ever seen.
23:40
Speaker 8: So as he's layering those that foundational piece.
23:42
Speaker 1: Those two pitches are obviously incredibly impressive, and then as
23:47
Speaker 1: he continues to refine the breaking ball, you know, I
23:50
Speaker 1: think you're looking at one of the best pitchers in baseball.
23:54
Speaker 7: Are you guys feel pressure to start Yamamoto and Rokie
24:00
Speaker 7: in Japan because most teams would say, Okay, we're gonna
24:03
Speaker 7: start our one and two first two games of this season,
24:06
Speaker 7: and not saying you have to say there you're one
24:08
Speaker 7: and two, but just do you feel like there's a pressure,
24:11
Speaker 7: so okay, we're going over to Japan, we got to
24:13
Speaker 7: start them, because if that's the case, you would think, okay,
24:16
Speaker 7: you're one and two. Are going to like the Cubs,
24:18
Speaker 7: one and two will probably start their first two opening
24:20
Speaker 7: day games state side.
24:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the benefit of our rotation is that
24:26
Speaker 1: we have so many talented guys. It's tough to distinguish
24:29
Speaker 1: one through five or six or seven, however you want.
24:32
Speaker 5: To do it so for eight or nine, or ten
24:33
Speaker 5: or eleven.
24:35
Speaker 1: So I think a lot of it is okay, what
24:37
Speaker 1: makes sense for the Dodgers, what makes sense in the
24:40
Speaker 1: grand scheme of things for you know, baseball and how
24:43
Speaker 1: it all works, and you know, this is.
24:45
Speaker 8: If it continues to play out and things go that way,
24:48
Speaker 8: like we're.
24:48
Speaker 1: In a good spot where those guys could throw those games,
24:50
Speaker 1: And I think it's something cool for the game of baseball,
24:55
Speaker 1: and also like for us as an organization, we feel
24:58
Speaker 1: really good about being able to do that as well.
25:00
Speaker 2: Let's expand on that a little bit though, because you
25:02
Speaker 2: have such quality, talented arms, and we're talking about though,
25:05
Speaker 2: making sure everybody gets their innings right and building guys
25:07
Speaker 2: up to where they need to be. Obviously, you know
25:09
Speaker 2: injuries are a part of the game, but how do
25:12
Speaker 2: you look at it big picture wise to make sure
25:14
Speaker 2: that it makes sense with the talent that you have.
25:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I think it's a constant balance. And
25:21
Speaker 1: having done this last year, having gone to South Korea,
25:25
Speaker 1: we have a better understanding of how to navigate the
25:27
Speaker 1: exhibition games, those two games and how we come out
25:30
Speaker 1: of it. On the back side, our schedule when we
25:34
Speaker 1: get back home is helpful where we go three day off,
25:38
Speaker 1: three day off, so it allows us to kind of
25:40
Speaker 1: reset and make sure guys are continuing to build up
25:43
Speaker 1: to where we need it to be. So so much
25:45
Speaker 1: of this is making sure that guys are in a
25:48
Speaker 1: position for success short term, long term, and that with
25:51
Speaker 1: a unique build up of spring training, that our starters
25:54
Speaker 1: are still going to get to that pitch threshold to
25:57
Speaker 1: be able to take down real innings come a domestic
26:00
Speaker 1: opening day.
26:02
Speaker 5: You guys come back here or you go to LA.
26:04
Speaker 8: Back to LA. We have the Freeway Series, two real
26:06
Speaker 8: games and then.
26:07
Speaker 5: Back to That's so weird. It's so weird to me.
26:09
Speaker 4: I want to know about your career, your career path,
26:12
Speaker 4: because you were a middle reliever.
26:14
Speaker 5: Middle relievers need love to they do, but not Breslo
26:17
Speaker 5: right was a middle reliever. He's now the GM of
26:19
Speaker 5: the Red Sox. You're here GM of the Dodgers. What
26:22
Speaker 5: is that path like?
26:22
Speaker 4: Because you just don't see you know, you've seen position
26:25
Speaker 4: players do it. You've seen some pitchers do it, but
26:28
Speaker 4: it's usually the position players that can work their way up.
26:30
Speaker 4: So how did you, as a middle reliever get to
26:32
Speaker 4: be in charge of.
26:34
Speaker 2: The best team in the world.
26:36
Speaker 5: That's what I was as.
26:37
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's what the team that everybody wants to be
26:39
Speaker 4: a part of and everyone wants to see. I mean,
26:40
Speaker 4: you went You mentioned Korea last year, Japan this year,
26:43
Speaker 4: you guys might be who knows where you guys might
26:44
Speaker 4: be next year.
26:46
Speaker 8: Yeah.
26:46
Speaker 1: Like, I was really fortunate as a as a player
26:49
Speaker 1: to be exposed to so much of what the Rays
26:52
Speaker 1: did and always very curious about, you know, the analytical
26:56
Speaker 1: side of things, and then being a middle reliever and
26:59
Speaker 1: being like painfully average, like going up and down a lunch,
27:04
Speaker 1: being option, like understanding roster construction just from like how
27:07
Speaker 1: it affects me personally.
27:08
Speaker 8: So it's always curious about those things.
27:10
Speaker 1: So once you know it's done playing, started to reach
27:13
Speaker 1: out and obviously touch base with Andrew and then started
27:16
Speaker 1: on the player development side on the pitching front here,
27:20
Speaker 1: and then the following year became farm director, so got
27:22
Speaker 1: exposure to everything. I think that that job prepares you
27:25
Speaker 1: incredibly well for anything that's to come, and just kind
27:29
Speaker 1: of dove in and try to be, you know, learn
27:31
Speaker 1: as much as I possibly could on a daily basis,
27:34
Speaker 1: and like, fortunate enough for me, there's a lot of
27:36
Speaker 1: great people in this organization to soak up information, and
27:40
Speaker 1: I've been very fortunate on the way to continue to
27:43
Speaker 1: help out the organization anyway I can.
27:46
Speaker 7: You were the pitching performance coordinator, it sounds like a
27:49
Speaker 7: super crazy, awesome game.
27:52
Speaker 5: How close? How close are we?
27:54
Speaker 7: Because we looked at the Dodgers as like the most innovative,
27:56
Speaker 7: the most ability to spend money in certain areas, How
27:59
Speaker 7: close to being able to start to curtail some of
28:03
Speaker 7: these pitching injuries because you want the most out of
28:06
Speaker 7: your pitchers. Yea, and I heard somebody from the Dodgers
28:09
Speaker 7: told me that you guys are starting to put more
28:13
Speaker 7: into that. Obviously we've been doing it for a while.
28:15
Speaker 7: But how close are we or does it not really
28:18
Speaker 7: matter We're just going to get ten starters and here
28:21
Speaker 7: we go.
28:22
Speaker 8: No, it always matters.
28:23
Speaker 1: I mean, we've spent a lot of time and this
28:26
Speaker 1: is not like a oh, we just started thinking about it.
28:30
Speaker 1: We've put things in place along, you know, along the
28:35
Speaker 1: past few years that we felt like we're helpful to,
28:39
Speaker 1: you know, mitigating injuries, and as things have played out,
28:42
Speaker 1: we haven't done a great job of that.
28:45
Speaker 8: It's hard to decipher exactly why that is.
28:48
Speaker 5: But so this.
28:48
Speaker 1: Offseason kind of re examining what we were doing, what
28:51
Speaker 1: we were solving for, and trying to rethink how to
28:56
Speaker 1: prepare our younger guys for when they get to the
28:59
Speaker 1: big leagues. And you know, we've had multiple group meetings,
29:02
Speaker 1: gotten a lot of input from a lot of different people.
29:04
Speaker 1: So this is you know, we've we've implemented a few
29:06
Speaker 1: things in the minor leagues. This here that we hope
29:08
Speaker 1: will start to help that, and then as those things
29:11
Speaker 1: play out, continue those conversations, uh, and look to improve
29:15
Speaker 1: upon that again throughout the or throughout the season, come
29:18
Speaker 1: the off season, and making sure that we're not you know,
29:22
Speaker 1: we're not happy. Even if this helps with injuries, continue
29:25
Speaker 1: to make sure that we're doing everything we can because
29:27
Speaker 1: performance is great, health is obviously paramount, and you want
29:32
Speaker 1: those to to merge. So we'll continue to learn. We're
29:35
Speaker 1: far from perfect on it, and the industry is obviously
29:40
Speaker 1: not great with it either, So you know, it's something
29:43
Speaker 1: we'll we'll keep striving for and look to get better.
29:45
Speaker 1: You know, each and every year.
29:46
Speaker 2: The Dodgers obviously have a quality front office that you're
29:49
Speaker 2: a part of, but you have a pretty successful and
29:51
Speaker 2: special guy in the in the dugout and in the
29:53
Speaker 2: clubhouse with Dave Roberts. He's done everything that this club
29:55
Speaker 2: has asked him to do. He wears a lot of
29:57
Speaker 2: different hats. It's not just the you know, the game
30:00
Speaker 2: plan of the day, it's everything off the field as well.
30:02
Speaker 2: What do we need to do to get Dave this
30:04
Speaker 2: extension before we get on that plane and get to Tokyo,
30:06
Speaker 2: write him a check.
30:07
Speaker 5: You better get out that check you call the Guggenheimers
30:09
Speaker 5: and get him.
30:10
Speaker 2: To give you the check back up that bricks truck.
30:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, obviously for us, and you know, we worked so
30:16
Speaker 1: closely together and the impact that he has on and
30:19
Speaker 1: off the field is.
30:21
Speaker 8: Immense.
30:21
Speaker 1: So yeah, we feel really good about the place that
30:23
Speaker 1: we're in and hopefully, you know, when we have something
30:25
Speaker 1: to I.
30:26
Speaker 5: Can get a lifetime Kershaw deal.
30:27
Speaker 1: Lifetime deal when we have something to announced, hopefully here
30:30
Speaker 1: in the next couple of days.
30:32
Speaker 5: We got about thirty six hours.
30:36
Speaker 2: If you want to do it with us. Remember I
30:38
Speaker 2: was here for seven years. I mean, okay, all.
30:40
Speaker 5: Right, okay, all right, all right, just checking.
30:43
Speaker 4: So as Kratz knows, and we kind of have a
30:45
Speaker 4: running joke whenever we have GM's on, they all have
30:47
Speaker 4: the quarterszip on. So he lived up to the hype
30:50
Speaker 4: today with the quarters up. Yeah, I mean neand Or
30:52
Speaker 4: though I said, had a hoodie on. Dana Brown was
30:55
Speaker 4: like slacked up, all nice like Peter Malar golf shirt
30:58
Speaker 4: like loafers. But every other GM quarter zip it's standard
31:02
Speaker 4: GM ware.
31:03
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's very easy get it done.
31:06
Speaker 5: When you walk in. Does the equipment guy have just
31:08
Speaker 5: a different quarter zip's here close. I love it.
31:14
Speaker 2: Your outfit, So you just put a quarter zip on
31:16
Speaker 2: if you don't like what.
31:16
Speaker 4: You'reip on and it helps who critiques your outfit?
31:22
Speaker 5: Then okay. So you have like a full mirror in
31:25
Speaker 5: your office and you're like, no, no, no, I don't
31:27
Speaker 5: know about today. Okay.
31:28
Speaker 4: I was like, I don't I don't know about today.
31:29
Speaker 4: So I'm gonna throw the quarter. I thought I would
31:31
Speaker 4: say World Series Champion on it.
31:33
Speaker 2: It's on the back.
31:34
Speaker 5: You just can't say just two times, two time World
31:37
Speaker 5: Series champ.
31:39
Speaker 6: It's inside the sleeve. Brandon, appreciate the time. Thank you,
31:45
Speaker 6: appreciate it.
31:46
Speaker 4: By the way, one for one off them. We check
31:48
Speaker 4: the stats, Crotch one for one off. Yeah, I'm sorry about.
31:52
Speaker 8: It, about it?
31:53
Speaker 6: Thanks, safe travels out to Japan.
31:57
Speaker 3: Appreciate it.