Latest / Foul Territory / New Padres manager Craig Stammen
Transcript
- 0:02Speaker 1: Hey, we're ready for our next guest. He is the
- 0:04Speaker 1: new manager of the San Diego Padres, Craig Stammon, joining
- 0:07Speaker 1: us right now on foul Territory for the first time.
- 0:10Speaker 2: Craig, great to have you on here.
- 0:11Speaker 1: Congratulations on getting the role, and how has the off
- 0:15Speaker 1: season really your life changed over the past month and change?
- 0:20Speaker 3: Yeah, thanks a lot. Yeah, it's been definitely been a
- 0:23Speaker 3: life change. I'm a lot busier here in November, December
- 0:28Speaker 3: and January leading up the spring training and planning, you know,
- 0:32Speaker 3: everything in the off season and planning what we're going
- 0:34Speaker 3: to do in spring training. So it's been a fun
- 0:36Speaker 3: change though exciting put in a leadership role and testing
- 0:40Speaker 3: my leadership abilities.
- 0:42Speaker 4: So far, so good.
- 0:44Speaker 5: I'm just glad you didn't big league me, okay, because
- 0:46Speaker 5: I saw you at winter meetings and we talked, and
- 0:49Speaker 5: your family came up to mind and we have mutual
- 0:51Speaker 5: friends and family friends, and I text you. I had
- 0:55Speaker 5: to dig through my doldrums of my rolodecks to try
- 0:57Speaker 5: to figure out a way to get your phone number.
- 1:00Speaker 5: Got your phone number and you said that you would
- 1:01Speaker 5: come on after the holidays. So I am just here
- 1:04Speaker 5: saying thank you, thank you, for coming on. We appreciate it,
- 1:07Speaker 5: and we were not going to ask you how to
- 1:09Speaker 5: split the atom.
- 1:09Speaker 2: Okay, we might talk a little.
- 1:10Speaker 5: Bullpen or platoon advantages, but other than that, it's going
- 1:14Speaker 5: to be all ball and hopefully you get to have
- 1:16Speaker 5: a good time.
- 1:16Speaker 2: So thank you.
- 1:18Speaker 4: Yeah, you're welcome.
- 1:18Speaker 3: Hopefully that's you know, a foreshadow of the future that
- 1:22Speaker 3: I'm a man of my word. You know, good managers
- 1:25Speaker 3: are usually a man other word. And I'm glad we
- 1:28Speaker 3: could make it work that we get on the show. Sorry,
- 1:29Speaker 3: I couldn't make it happen in winter meetings, but all good.
- 1:32Speaker 1: Now, all right, so let's first get into the transition
- 1:40Speaker 1: period and the conversation that you've probably already had a
- 1:43Speaker 1: million times with others, but that one moment where all
- 1:47Speaker 1: of a sudden it switched from I'm interviewing people to
- 1:52Speaker 1: I'm one of them being interviewed.
- 1:57Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you know, aj I should have probably
- 2:01Speaker 3: gotten the tune the message a little earlier in the
- 2:04Speaker 3: off season, but he kept prying, and without really saying
- 2:07Speaker 3: it that he wanted me to be a candidate, just
- 2:09Speaker 3: kept asking, you know, do you want to do more?
- 2:12Speaker 3: You know, are you tired of being a special assistant,
- 2:15Speaker 3: and my wife and I had just talked about it,
- 2:17Speaker 3: you know, over the last few off seasons, because there's
- 2:19Speaker 3: definitely been a you know, a desire to stay in
- 2:21Speaker 3: the game and be a part of it in some capacity,
- 2:24Speaker 3: and the special assistant role felt comfortable with my family
- 2:27Speaker 3: and the situation that we were in with young kids
- 2:29Speaker 3: and just being able to get them into school and
- 2:31Speaker 3: get them situated back home, get them into sports, all
- 2:34Speaker 3: that kind of stuff, and so we just had a
- 2:36Speaker 3: lot going on and it was kind of just a no,
- 2:39Speaker 3: a casual note between me and my wife and like,
- 2:41Speaker 3: this just isn't going to work. And then when AJ said, no,
- 2:44Speaker 3: I really need you to think about this, and if
- 2:46Speaker 3: it takes me flying out to come see your wife
- 2:48Speaker 3: and answer all the questions and stuff like that, he goes,
- 2:51Speaker 3: I'm willing to do that.
- 2:52Speaker 4: And that's what I knew. He was really serious.
- 2:54Speaker 3: And when he was really serious, then I had to
- 2:56Speaker 3: start thinking about it and get really serious about it too.
- 2:58Speaker 3: And I guess, just like sitting down and actually like
- 3:02Speaker 3: mapping it out and thinking about it.
- 3:04Speaker 4: Do I really want to do this?
- 3:05Speaker 3: This is this an opportunity I want to pursue hadn't
- 3:09Speaker 3: really you know, I'd lightly thought about it, but not
- 3:11Speaker 3: seriously considered it until after those interviews. So odd timing,
- 3:16Speaker 3: I guess on that end. But I'd spent so much
- 3:19Speaker 3: time with AJ and Josh and most of the Padrey's
- 3:22Speaker 3: front office the last two years.
- 3:24Speaker 4: It was like they've been interviewing me for the last
- 3:26Speaker 4: few years.
- 3:27Speaker 3: So the interview process probably started back when I signed
- 3:30Speaker 3: as a minor league free agent back in twenty seventeen.
- 3:34Speaker 5: Did you feel like you had the answest to the
- 3:35Speaker 5: test already when they started interviewing you, because you you've
- 3:38Speaker 5: been through this, so you've sat in those interviews and
- 3:40Speaker 5: you've know what they like when Preller by the way,
- 3:42Speaker 5: we call him Preller because there's only one AJ on
- 3:44Speaker 5: the show, so don't anything with him, all right, And
- 3:47Speaker 5: by the way, I addressed way better also, but that's
- 3:50Speaker 5: a whole different topic. Did you feel like you had
- 3:53Speaker 5: the innswest to the test when they started asking you questions?
- 3:55Speaker 5: When they're coming up to you and they're saying, Craig,
- 3:57Speaker 5: well this, what would you do in this situation? You're like, remember,
- 4:00Speaker 5: three interviews ago, we had disc candidates. We didn't like
- 4:03Speaker 5: that answer, so I'm gonna go with the opposite answer.
- 4:06Speaker 2: How does that work? Because it seems like you already
- 4:08Speaker 2: know what to say.
- 4:09Speaker 3: Yeah, I could see how you could think that way.
- 4:11Speaker 3: I think I had the you could say I had
- 4:13Speaker 3: the answers to the test because I've been watching a
- 4:15Speaker 3: bunch of games with AJ and Josh and a lot
- 4:18Speaker 3: of the front office guys, and we think baseball. I
- 4:20Speaker 3: think that's why they hired me, as we think about
- 4:22Speaker 3: baseball in a very similar manner.
- 4:24Speaker 4: They hadn't you not much to do with the rest
- 4:26Speaker 4: of the candidates.
- 4:27Speaker 3: I think we're all good baseball men that were on
- 4:30Speaker 3: all those interviews, and everybody had a lot of good ideas,
- 4:33Speaker 3: and I thought like I had some good ideas that
- 4:35Speaker 3: I brought to the table, two that were unique and
- 4:37Speaker 3: different and thoughts that I had even that I'd probably
- 4:40Speaker 3: told AJ and Josh already from you know, just trying
- 4:43Speaker 3: to you know, navigate the last two seasons and help
- 4:46Speaker 3: our team be the best that they can be, So
- 4:49Speaker 3: you know, it wasn't an advantage.
- 4:50Speaker 4: I don't know.
- 4:51Speaker 3: I've sat on a bunch of interviews, you know, for
- 4:53Speaker 3: different roles, and in fact, like the very first year
- 4:56Speaker 3: out of being an off season.
- 4:57Speaker 4: Interviewed for being the bench coach.
- 4:59Speaker 3: So I just try to be myself, be as genuine
- 5:02Speaker 3: as possible, be a man of integrity, and you know,
- 5:05Speaker 3: hopefully that shines through on those interview processes.
- 5:08Speaker 4: And and you know, I am who I am.
- 5:11Speaker 3: You know, it's it's my character hopefully speaks for itself.
- 5:15Speaker 3: And that's, you know, kind of what I tried to
- 5:17Speaker 3: put out in those interviews.
- 5:19Speaker 6: All Right, you've been in it for two years and
- 5:21Speaker 6: you know, special assistant role. One of the things we
- 5:24Speaker 6: hear about Preller is he could be tough. He can
- 5:27Speaker 6: be tough to work with. Do you have a little
- 5:30Speaker 6: bit of like an insight into say, I get it, Aja,
- 5:35Speaker 6: Like he's calls you and I get it. You're gonna
- 5:37Speaker 6: be pissed about this, But let's relax. You know, we
- 5:40Speaker 6: set this ahead. You know, is there are you the
- 5:43Speaker 6: Are you the Preller Whisperer?
- 5:46Speaker 4: I'm not a Preller whisperer.
- 5:48Speaker 2: Uh.
- 5:48Speaker 4: That's funny.
- 5:50Speaker 3: I think that we we build a relationship when I
- 5:52Speaker 3: was playing, we build a relationship with me as a
- 5:54Speaker 3: special assistant. Obviously it's going to be a you know,
- 5:57Speaker 3: slightly different relationship with me as the manager. But so far,
- 6:00Speaker 3: it's been great to work with AJ. I've loved playing
- 6:02Speaker 3: for him. I love being a special assistant for him.
- 6:05Speaker 3: The one thing that it boils down to is he
- 6:07Speaker 3: wants to win and he's going to go for it,
- 6:09Speaker 3: and anybody that wants to go for it, I'm all
- 6:12Speaker 3: in on that too, because I want to go for it.
- 6:13Speaker 4: To you know.
- 6:14Speaker 3: That's you know, us as former players, that's all we
- 6:16Speaker 3: ever wanted every year, we wanted to show up to
- 6:18Speaker 3: spring training, but the chance to compete for the World Series.
- 6:21Speaker 3: And sometimes we've fooled ourselves into believing that when we're
- 6:24Speaker 3: on teams that you.
- 6:25Speaker 4: Know, weren't quite ready.
- 6:28Speaker 3: But you know, working for AJ, playing for AJ, and
- 6:30Speaker 3: now being a manager with AJ, you know, I don't
- 6:33Speaker 3: have to worry about that anymore.
- 6:33Speaker 4: We're going to show up the spring.
- 6:34Speaker 3: Training with a chance to compete, chance and win a division,
- 6:37Speaker 3: chance to make it to the playoffs. And you know
- 6:39Speaker 3: what more can you ask for from somebody that is
- 6:42Speaker 3: your boss and that has a you know, been a
- 6:45Speaker 3: great GM and is always going for it.
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- 7:50Speaker 6: Five minutes of your interview here, I've gleaned the words, integrity,
- 7:54Speaker 6: the relationships, all that stuff anytime before you became the man.
- 8:00Speaker 6: Because we hear about you're respected by the current players
- 8:04Speaker 6: as a player, and then as your role in the
- 8:06Speaker 6: front office, you're respected by preler. You mentioned Josh too.
- 8:10Speaker 6: Any time was there a moment in the last two
- 8:12Speaker 6: years where you were like, as a manager, I would
- 8:16Speaker 6: have done this differently? Or did anybody come to you
- 8:19Speaker 6: and say, hey, as a manager, would you have done
- 8:21Speaker 6: this differently?
- 8:23Speaker 2: Or as a bench coach would you have done this differently?
- 8:28Speaker 3: I think we all have our own ideas of how
- 8:30Speaker 3: we would do things differently. I think the last two
- 8:33Speaker 3: years in this role, Mike Shields have been our manager,
- 8:35Speaker 3: and he's a great manager. His track record speaks for himself,
- 8:40Speaker 3: you know, back to back ninety win seasons and before
- 8:42Speaker 3: that with Cardinals, same thing, always taking his teams to
- 8:45Speaker 3: the playoffs. So I think more so I learned a
- 8:48Speaker 3: lot from him on how to navigate through the season,
- 8:51Speaker 3: how to navigate a spring training, how to get your
- 8:53Speaker 3: team ready to play and get off to the fast start.
- 8:55Speaker 4: So I you know, I've.
- 8:58Speaker 3: Talked with him pretty regularly year since he retired, and uh,
- 9:03Speaker 3: he's giving me some great advice and he's kind of
- 9:05Speaker 3: helped me through this offseason and looking forward to my
- 9:07Speaker 3: next phone call with him to you know, pick his
- 9:10Speaker 3: brain some more, and you know, asking, hey, what should
- 9:12Speaker 3: I be thinking about right now? You know, three four
- 9:14Speaker 3: weeks before spring training? And you know what do I
- 9:16Speaker 3: got to get their guys ready for? What I got
- 9:18Speaker 3: to get the coaches ready for? So you know, there's
- 9:21Speaker 3: a there's you know, you could do little things here
- 9:24Speaker 3: and there differently, but overall, like our team has been
- 9:27Speaker 3: in a good spot for the last couple of years
- 9:28Speaker 3: and now it's just trying to get over that hump,
- 9:30Speaker 3: get hot at the right time and and hopefully get
- 9:33Speaker 3: to the playoffs and be the hottest team at that point.
- 9:36Speaker 5: All right, I have to ask you because this is
- 9:37Speaker 5: the one thing that when people people have asked me,
- 9:39Speaker 5: do you want to manage?
- 9:40Speaker 2: This? The one thing I always think about.
- 9:42Speaker 5: And you sat in the bullpend board a lot of
- 9:44Speaker 5: a lot of your time as a big league player.
- 9:46Speaker 5: But when you're in let's say, let's see you guys
- 9:48Speaker 5: training Peoria and you have to drive to I don't know, Mesa, okay,
- 9:52Speaker 5: and watch a Padres Athletics game and you're in the
- 9:57Speaker 5: seventh inning and it's the first week of spring third
- 10:00Speaker 5: week of spring training, and you have all number eighty
- 10:02Speaker 5: nine's out there all over the field. Are you going
- 10:05Speaker 5: to be bored? Because that's what I think about, Like
- 10:08Speaker 5: I'm thinner thinking like you know, as a former player,
- 10:11Speaker 5: like you were a former big leaguer pitcher, you pitching
- 10:13Speaker 5: the fifth inning, they'd be like, okay, great, go ahead
- 10:15Speaker 5: and go home. Right, So I'd play six or seven innings.
- 10:17Speaker 5: They're like, all right, go ahead and go home. But
- 10:19Speaker 5: now you're the manager.
- 10:20Speaker 2: You have to stay.
- 10:20Speaker 5: You have to take all the buses, you have to
- 10:22Speaker 5: do all these things. Get back to the field. It's
- 10:24Speaker 5: late at nine.
- 10:25Speaker 2: Then you have to have the lineups ready, Like are
- 10:27Speaker 2: you going to get bored? Or are you worried about?
- 10:29Speaker 2: Because that's the one thing that I always thought like
- 10:30Speaker 2: that would be boring sometimes.
- 10:34Speaker 3: You know, you know, everybody doesn't know those eighty ninees
- 10:36Speaker 3: and eighty eights and eighty seven's.
- 10:38Speaker 4: But unfortunate, you know, not Unfortunately.
- 10:40Speaker 3: Fortunately, the role that I had the last few years
- 10:43Speaker 3: was was a lot with the player development, and I
- 10:45Speaker 3: was able to go down to all those minor league
- 10:47Speaker 3: affiliates and see those guys and try to be a
- 10:49Speaker 3: mentor to them and somebody that they could count on.
- 10:51Speaker 3: And so I know those eighty sevens, eighty nine's and nineties,
- 10:54Speaker 3: and when they're in the game, I'm gonna be root
- 10:56Speaker 3: for them because this is their chance to prove that
- 10:58Speaker 3: they can be big leaguers. And to me, that's exciting
- 11:01Speaker 3: because we've been pushing, you know, those guys to get
- 11:03Speaker 3: better at their game, do this, do that, you know,
- 11:05Speaker 3: to make it to the next level. And you know,
- 11:08Speaker 3: finally they get their chance to prove it as a
- 11:11Speaker 3: as an eighty nine and a ninety.
- 11:13Speaker 4: And it's still a big league game.
- 11:15Speaker 3: It's still a big league stadium, a big league atmosphere,
- 11:17Speaker 3: and you know, be able to pat those guys on
- 11:19Speaker 3: the back, tell them they're doing a good job. And
- 11:22Speaker 3: you know, that's something I look forward to. It's gonna
- 11:24Speaker 3: be a fun. End of the game.
- 11:25Speaker 4: Will be different.
- 11:26Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, usually you're not staying for a full
- 11:29Speaker 3: game and spring training as a player and able to
- 11:31Speaker 3: sneak out of there and get eighteen holes around golf
- 11:33Speaker 3: in in the afternoon. I think as a manager, my
- 11:36Speaker 3: golf game is going to suffer in that respect for
- 11:39Speaker 3: spring training.
- 11:40Speaker 6: All right, Well, what Craig just said, and what he
- 11:42Speaker 6: really meant to say was AJ, you were a superstar
- 11:45Speaker 6: and you weren't a superstar, so you appreciate the little people.
- 11:50Speaker 6: AJ can't respond right now. So that's good. That's why
- 11:52Speaker 6: I said it. But that's why AJ would have hated it.
- 11:55Speaker 6: So that's why you're going to be a great manager.
- 11:57Speaker 4: Except yeah, I feel like I was pitching.
- 11:59Speaker 3: I was pitching in those seventh, eighth, nine games in
- 12:02Speaker 3: Mesa against the A's.
- 12:03Speaker 4: You know, I was like, that was like my jam.
- 12:05Speaker 3: I was trying to get out the eighty nines in
- 12:06Speaker 3: the nineties.
- 12:08Speaker 2: You were you were trying to prove it. You were
- 12:10Speaker 2: hanging on, you were grinding. AJ doesn't know about being
- 12:12Speaker 2: a grinder. It's okay, correct.
- 12:15Speaker 6: He already had six years in the big leagues by
- 12:17Speaker 6: the time you first got called up to the big
- 12:19Speaker 6: leagues at twenty five years old. So that's where he
- 12:23Speaker 6: doesn't connect. But you and I we connect, except on
- 12:26Speaker 6: this part. Can a pitcher, let alone a relief pitcher,
- 12:31Speaker 6: be a good manager.
- 12:34Speaker 3: We're gonna find out, you know, That's that's gonna be
- 12:38Speaker 3: the cool part about it. You know, us relievers were
- 12:41Speaker 3: usually you know, thrown over there, thrown out in the outfield,
- 12:44Speaker 3: in the bullpen, we're separate from the dugout, but we've
- 12:47Speaker 3: got our own team chemistry out there too, and we've
- 12:51Speaker 3: got to be a tight unit out there.
- 12:52Speaker 4: We've got to be a unit.
- 12:53Speaker 3: That picks each other up, you know, holds those inherited
- 12:56Speaker 3: runners on the board and you know they't usually the
- 13:00Speaker 3: The only thing a reliever gets on Sports Center for
- 13:02Speaker 3: is when you give up a home run. So that's
- 13:05Speaker 3: how managers get on get on ESPN or or on TV.
- 13:09Speaker 4: Also is if they make a bad decision. So I'll
- 13:11Speaker 4: be used to that.
- 13:12Speaker 3: I'll have to have a quick memory, you know, forget
- 13:15Speaker 3: about the tough times and move on to the next
- 13:18Speaker 3: day and be the best. So I think being a
- 13:20Speaker 3: reliver reliever has shaped me for this position. It's not
- 13:23Speaker 3: common in our game, but there's been pitchers that have
- 13:26Speaker 3: that have been in this position. The Brian Price is
- 13:28Speaker 3: Bud Blacks, Roger Craig's of the world off the top
- 13:31Speaker 3: of my head. So hopefully I can carry on their
- 13:32Speaker 3: legacy and make all those pitchers and especially the relief
- 13:36Speaker 3: pitchers proud.
- 13:38Speaker 5: Okay, do you think you have an advantage running a
- 13:40Speaker 5: bullpen because you're a bullpen guy? You think that there
- 13:43Speaker 5: will be an advantage to you of matchups and when
- 13:45Speaker 5: to bring guys in and who's fresh, because as a
- 13:48Speaker 5: former bullpen guy, unvailable Skip I could pitch I've done
- 13:52Speaker 5: four days.
- 13:53Speaker 2: In a row, but I'm ready for that fit Dake.
- 13:54Speaker 5: Come on, do you think you'll have a better understanding
- 13:57Speaker 5: of the Bullpen's not only psyche, but when do you
- 14:00Speaker 5: use guys at certain times?
- 14:02Speaker 3: I should if I paid attention, you know, and and
- 14:05Speaker 3: note how knew how I feel?
- 14:06Speaker 2: And you know we dry hunt from Buck Craig. Although
- 14:11Speaker 2: Crats wants to bang on me.
- 14:12Speaker 5: I also know what you guys did because I used
- 14:14Speaker 5: to have to go out to the bullpen one days
- 14:16Speaker 5: I didn't start and catch, and I know those stupid
- 14:18Speaker 5: reindeer games you guys play out there.
- 14:20Speaker 2: Okay, we're flicking seeds and we're trying to see you
- 14:23Speaker 2: can get it in the cup.
- 14:24Speaker 5: Oh look look at that funny looking fella in the
- 14:27Speaker 5: hat up there behind me. Like you guys aren't always
- 14:30Speaker 5: paying attention, So that's just you know you should, But
- 14:34Speaker 5: I mean I would think you know roles and how
- 14:36Speaker 5: to define.
- 14:37Speaker 3: Yeah, well, you know you know you were catching behind
- 14:40Speaker 3: no play? Were you paying attention all the time too.
- 14:41Speaker 3: I'm sure when you were walking looking to the dugout,
- 14:44Speaker 3: you know, checking out who's sitting in the front or
- 14:46Speaker 3: front row, third row. You know that kind of stuff
- 14:48Speaker 3: that's baseball. You know, baseball is supposed to be fun.
- 14:51Speaker 3: Those reindeer games are kind of part of it.
- 14:53Speaker 4: You know.
- 14:53Speaker 3: Hopefully in the dugout, we're playing the game like ten
- 14:56Speaker 3: year olds and we're playing it the same way with
- 14:58Speaker 3: the same energy and enthusiasm that we had as little leaguers.
- 15:02Speaker 3: And you know, that stuff's all fun, and we've got
- 15:04Speaker 3: to be able to do that to bring some light
- 15:06Speaker 3: to the situation over one hundred and sixty two game seasons.
- 15:09Speaker 3: So maybe I can bring some of those reindeer games
- 15:11Speaker 3: of the dugout, but also be ready to lock it
- 15:13Speaker 3: in and focus when we need.
- 15:14Speaker 6: To position players. They love reindeer games too. Don't don't
- 15:19Speaker 6: let them. Don't let them get it twisted. You guys
- 15:21Speaker 6: just pitch in an area. But are you gonna have
- 15:24Speaker 6: Mason Miller in the bullpen? Or was it your or
- 15:27Speaker 6: is it would it be your objective to say, Mason,
- 15:32Speaker 6: can you start some games for us this year? Can
- 15:34Speaker 6: you be a starter? Because we see value in what
- 15:37Speaker 6: you could bring every five days.
- 15:40Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm not gonna put a limit on what he
- 15:42Speaker 4: can and can't do.
- 15:43Speaker 3: I just know that he's the best in the entire
- 15:46Speaker 3: world coming out of the bullpen. And when you're the best,
- 15:50Speaker 3: you know, it's hard to take somebody away from being
- 15:52Speaker 3: the best at what they're what they're already good at,
- 15:54Speaker 3: and we're looking forward to putting them in the game.
- 15:58Speaker 3: You know, got the back in for us in San
- 16:01Speaker 3: Diego because he's going to be dominant, just like he
- 16:03Speaker 3: was when we traded for him last year. And you know,
- 16:06Speaker 3: you got the picture of him, you know, getting ready
- 16:08Speaker 3: to pitch for the.
- 16:09Speaker 4: USA and WBC.
- 16:10Speaker 3: I think DeRos is pretty excited to have him too
- 16:13Speaker 3: on that squad.
- 16:14Speaker 4: But you know we couldn't.
- 16:16Speaker 3: You know, if you're making a phone call down the
- 16:17Speaker 3: bullpen saying get Mason Miller ready, that's a good phone call.
- 16:22Speaker 6: You are an ex player. You understand value, You understand
- 16:25Speaker 6: the length of a career. If Mason came to you
- 16:28Speaker 6: and said, yes, I want to do what's best for
- 16:30Speaker 6: the team. But Craig, I'm seeing what guys are making
- 16:34Speaker 6: as starting pitchers and seeing what guys are making as closers,
- 16:38Speaker 6: please give me a shot to start. How tough of
- 16:40Speaker 6: a decision is that because you were an ex player?
- 16:45Speaker 4: Yeah, I think, you know what.
- 16:46Speaker 3: I think it makes it an easier decision, honestly, because
- 16:49Speaker 3: when a player says I want to do this, that
- 16:51Speaker 3: means they're all in, and that means they're willing to
- 16:53Speaker 3: put the work in to do it.
- 16:55Speaker 4: You know.
- 16:55Speaker 3: The troubles when you get some guys that are like, yeah,
- 16:58Speaker 3: i'll do it if you want me to, you know,
- 17:00Speaker 3: and you kind of just get that fifty to fifty
- 17:03Speaker 3: you know, feeling from him.
- 17:04Speaker 4: But when they say, hey, I'm all in, this is
- 17:06Speaker 4: what I want to do. I know I can help
- 17:07Speaker 4: the team win this way.
- 17:08Speaker 3: I also know I can you know, help myself, my
- 17:10Speaker 3: career and my family in this way too. You kind
- 17:13Speaker 3: of got a side with the player in that and
- 17:15Speaker 3: give them the opportunity, and you know, obviously you give
- 17:18Speaker 3: them the opportunity, but you put guardrails around it to
- 17:20Speaker 3: protect them and hopefully that you know, they have a
- 17:23Speaker 3: long lasting career that goes beyond ten years and play
- 17:26Speaker 3: as long as they want to and they get to
- 17:27Speaker 3: retire when they say hey, I'm done. But you know,
- 17:31Speaker 3: it's I think it makes a decision much easier when
- 17:33Speaker 3: the player says, Hey, this is what I want to do,
- 17:34Speaker 3: and I know I'll be good at it, you know,
- 17:37Speaker 3: And in our conversations with our players, we ask those
- 17:40Speaker 3: questions and they give us those types of answers, and
- 17:43Speaker 3: that's how we make decisions, right.
- 17:45Speaker 5: You know, how I know Mason Miller's not starting for
- 17:47Speaker 5: you guys because he's pitching for Team USA, and if
- 17:50Speaker 5: he was starting, there's no way you guys would let
- 17:52Speaker 5: him go do that. Okay, Well, that's how I know
- 17:54Speaker 5: he's not starting for you guys. As soon as I saw,
- 17:57Speaker 5: they're like, huh, he's going to the bullpen because there's
- 17:59Speaker 5: no way you guys will be like, hey, Mark de Rosa,
- 18:01Speaker 5: you go use Mason Miller for three or four innings.
- 18:04Speaker 5: You decide, don't worry, We'll be good over here in
- 18:07Speaker 5: Peoria playing the Mariners every other day.
- 18:09Speaker 2: Okay. So as soon as I saw that, I knew.
- 18:11Speaker 5: What I want to know is how many of these
- 18:13Speaker 5: players you'd mentioned your communication with Mason and other players.
- 18:16Speaker 5: Have you reached out to all the players Manny Machado's
- 18:18Speaker 5: and er boguards. Have you reached out to these guys
- 18:21Speaker 5: Cronin were and had conversations about what their roles are
- 18:26Speaker 5: and what you need to see out of them this year.
- 18:29Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 18:29Speaker 3: I mean, I think I've been on my phone more
- 18:32Speaker 3: in the last two three months, and I think I
- 18:34Speaker 3: have in the past two to three years, you know,
- 18:36Speaker 3: just talking to all the players, talking to all the staff,
- 18:38Speaker 3: and trying to create that culture and that attitude that
- 18:42Speaker 3: we want to bring to spring training.
- 18:44Speaker 4: So far, those guys have been working their tails off this.
- 18:46Speaker 3: Offseason, which has been pretty cool and I'm proud of,
- 18:50Speaker 3: you know what, the effort that those guys want to
- 18:52Speaker 3: put in and the sting that they felt from losing
- 18:55Speaker 3: to the Cubs in the playoffs last year, and so
- 18:56Speaker 3: I think that's motivation for them going into the offseason
- 18:59Speaker 3: and going into this next season. I think the other
- 19:02Speaker 3: part of it is, you know, we've I've been in
- 19:05Speaker 3: the locker room with those guys, have you know, tried
- 19:07Speaker 3: to take this team to the World Series. With those guys,
- 19:10Speaker 3: they know what it's about, we know what it's about,
- 19:12Speaker 3: we know what it's like with each other, and so
- 19:14Speaker 3: me being in the seat as a manager is definitely different.
- 19:16Speaker 3: But we can also partner together and we can have
- 19:19Speaker 3: real conversations about, you know, how to make this team
- 19:22Speaker 3: better and how to get over the hump, and and
- 19:23Speaker 3: they've been great conversations and the guys seem very motivated
- 19:27Speaker 3: and what we've seen from them the off season has
- 19:29Speaker 3: proven that.
- 19:30Speaker 4: And excited just to see them in spring training.
- 19:32Speaker 3: And get to prove to the rest of the world
- 19:34Speaker 3: that you know, and show every by the rest of
- 19:36Speaker 3: the world, you know, the work that they did put
- 19:37Speaker 3: in and how they're ready to play this year.
- 19:40Speaker 2: Mine's kind of a two part question.
- 19:42Speaker 6: First, what type of what type of role did you
- 19:46Speaker 6: have in roster acquisitions, trades, you know, in your previous role.
- 19:55Speaker 3: With AJJS to to get the opinion of the entire room.
- 20:00Speaker 3: So he made all of us within the organization, within
- 20:04Speaker 3: his front office group feel like we always had a voice.
- 20:07Speaker 3: I always felt like I had a voice. I could
- 20:08Speaker 3: state my opinion whether it was what he agreed with
- 20:11Speaker 3: or not. He would kind of take all that into
- 20:14Speaker 3: consideration and then and then make his decisions. So I
- 20:17Speaker 3: felt like the curtain was pulled back from when I
- 20:20Speaker 3: was a player. I got to see, you know, how
- 20:21Speaker 3: things ran. I got to see, you know, how AJ
- 20:24Speaker 3: likes to think about, you know, constructing the roster and
- 20:28Speaker 3: then what he's thinking about at the trade deadline. And
- 20:30Speaker 3: I think, you know, one of the coolest things, you know,
- 20:33Speaker 3: and what why AJ is so great at his job
- 20:35Speaker 3: was last year he was talking about the players he
- 20:38Speaker 3: wanted to trade for in April and May, and then
- 20:41Speaker 3: traded for those exact same players at the end of
- 20:44Speaker 3: July at the August trade trade deadline. And you know,
- 20:46Speaker 3: I asked him, I said, is it always Are you
- 20:48Speaker 3: always that smart? Has it always worked that way? And
- 20:50Speaker 3: he was kind of like, you know, some trade deadlines
- 20:52Speaker 3: go the way you wanted to go. Sometimes there's a
- 20:55Speaker 3: few curve balls, and he goes, you know, this one
- 20:57Speaker 3: was exactly the way I wanted it to go, and
- 20:58Speaker 3: it felt like we did a good job.
- 21:00Speaker 4: And so just knowing being a part of that, I
- 21:02Speaker 4: was quite you know, I wasn't.
- 21:03Speaker 3: A part of every conversation or every little detail, but
- 21:06Speaker 3: you know, I had a pretty good synopsis of what
- 21:08Speaker 3: was going on with the team.
- 21:10Speaker 6: Do you have a bigger seat now? Do you have
- 21:12Speaker 6: a larger say now as the manager than you did
- 21:15Speaker 6: last year as a special assistant.
- 21:19Speaker 3: I don't know if I have a larger say. I
- 21:22Speaker 3: definitely am in a lot more of those conversations, and
- 21:25Speaker 3: he's in AJ and I are talking more often, so
- 21:28Speaker 3: naturally he's asking my opinion more often on all those things,
- 21:32Speaker 3: and probably know a lot more about the you know,
- 21:35Speaker 3: some of the things that you know don't get got
- 21:38Speaker 3: down to the special assistance. You know that weren't you know,
- 21:41Speaker 3: on the edge of decision making. So I would say
- 21:45Speaker 3: my voice is similar, but I just know a lot
- 21:48Speaker 3: more that's going on.
- 21:50Speaker 5: Okay, can we get Preller to come on the show please?
- 21:53Speaker 5: I've asked him. He says he doesn't watch. Okay, I
- 21:56Speaker 5: see him in San Diego. I'm like, hey, we'd love
- 21:57Speaker 5: to have you on Talk Padre's Ball. He goes, well, well,
- 22:00Speaker 5: I don't really know your show. I don't really watch,
- 22:02Speaker 5: but I've seen you say like these ten things, so
- 22:04Speaker 5: somewhere there's a disconnect here.
- 22:06Speaker 2: So I'd love just to talk to him. I know
- 22:08Speaker 2: he doesn't sleep.
- 22:09Speaker 5: He doesn't sleep, so I know if we need to
- 22:11Speaker 5: get him on at three in the morning out in
- 22:13Speaker 5: San Diego when I'm just waking up and he's just
- 22:15Speaker 5: now winding down from the game, I'm happy to interview him.
- 22:19Speaker 5: So just pass that message along to him from me,
- 22:22Speaker 5: from one AJ to another. He's been ducking me for years,
- 22:25Speaker 5: so I just love to talk to him. He did
- 22:26Speaker 5: sign me one time in Texas, so and we do
- 22:28Speaker 5: have a little connection.
- 22:30Speaker 4: Yeah, you need to go. You need to go play
- 22:32Speaker 4: some hoops with him. Go play some hoops. Bill Little.
- 22:35Speaker 5: I feel like I could post three, because he's he's
- 22:38Speaker 5: like little, you could post.
- 22:39Speaker 2: I feel like I could just post.
- 22:40Speaker 5: Him up and just back him down like Shack did
- 22:42Speaker 5: to like some of those people like I would be
- 22:44Speaker 5: shocked and he would be like Muggsy Bogues. I just
- 22:46Speaker 5: back him up, back him up, and oh layup he will.
- 22:50Speaker 4: He will shock you.
- 22:51Speaker 3: And how good he is at basketball, it's it's surprising.
- 22:54Speaker 3: It's surprising he can he can play. So but that's
- 22:57Speaker 3: that's the way it was hard, That's the way it
- 22:59Speaker 3: was Hart.
- 23:01Speaker 1: Hey, Craig, I want to ask you about a specific
- 23:04Speaker 1: player who you've been able to watch for years and
- 23:08Speaker 1: might not be a part of the mix for next year.
- 23:11Speaker 1: Tell us about how unique Luisa rises as a player.
- 23:15Speaker 1: It's a name we haven't heard a ton about in
- 23:17Speaker 1: rumors yet this offseason, but just wanted to get your
- 23:19Speaker 1: scouting report on his value. And if you think that
- 23:23Speaker 1: advanced metrics are being too harsh on.
- 23:26Speaker 4: Him, Louise is a great player.
- 23:30Speaker 3: He was a great addition to our team the last
- 23:33Speaker 3: few years, just in a culture standpoint, and even like
- 23:37Speaker 3: an attitude that he had brought to the hitting group.
- 23:39Speaker 3: He was always working, one of the hardest workers on
- 23:43Speaker 3: the team, and always caring about his craft and he
- 23:46Speaker 3: takes took his takes his craft series. As we know,
- 23:48Speaker 3: we've seen him play and you know, multiple multiple season
- 23:52Speaker 3: batting champ Uh. He brings a unique skill set to
- 23:56Speaker 3: the to the team, skill set that not many players bring.
- 23:59Speaker 3: Doesn't strikeout, makes a lot of contact, not a ton
- 24:03Speaker 3: of power. But you know, honestly, the last few years,
- 24:06Speaker 3: there wasn't too many people I'd rather have up at
- 24:09Speaker 3: the plate, you know, two out situation runner and scoring position,
- 24:13Speaker 3: because you know he was gonna put a good a
- 24:15Speaker 3: bat on. You knew he was gonna put the ball
- 24:16Speaker 3: in play, and he just had a unique ability of
- 24:19Speaker 3: just shooting the line drive over the shortstop and scoring
- 24:21Speaker 3: that runner from second. So you know, RBI is kind
- 24:24Speaker 3: of a stat that the analytics departments don't value as highly,
- 24:29Speaker 3: especially to out RBIs. But I think that was his
- 24:32Speaker 3: specialty and and he kind of he struggled a little
- 24:34Speaker 3: bit with it at the at last year. But you know,
- 24:37Speaker 3: some of that was a little bit of bad luck,
- 24:39Speaker 3: and some of that was just you know, the you
- 24:41Speaker 3: know state of the seasons. We all have good seasons
- 24:43Speaker 3: and bad seasons, good luck and bad luck. And you know,
- 24:46Speaker 3: I think Luis is gonna have a great season next year.
- 24:48Speaker 3: He'll probably be right up there in the batting race
- 24:51Speaker 3: and probably win another one here coming up shortly. So
- 24:55Speaker 3: he'd be a good addition our team. He'd be a
- 24:56Speaker 3: good addition to you know, the rest of the teams too.
- 25:00Speaker 3: He was great for us the last few years in
- 25:02Speaker 3: San Diego.
- 25:04Speaker 5: Be careful now because you're you're you're a manager now,
- 25:06Speaker 5: so you can only talk. You can't really talk about
- 25:08Speaker 5: you know. So I like what you did there. He'd
- 25:10Speaker 5: be great on our team, but also all twenty nine
- 25:11Speaker 5: other teams too, So that was that was very nice.
- 25:14Speaker 2: That was very nice. You're learning managers speak as we
- 25:17Speaker 2: go here.
- 25:18Speaker 4: On the fly, learning the learning.
- 25:21Speaker 2: The I love it.
- 25:22Speaker 5: No one ever accused you of not being an intelligent
- 25:24Speaker 5: fellow that's why you're a manager.
- 25:26Speaker 6: Now.
- 25:27Speaker 5: Can you guys compete with the Dodgers, the two time
- 25:30Speaker 5: defending World champions? Everyone knows their payroll. There's a rivalry
- 25:34Speaker 5: between San Diego and LA. I don't care what anyone says.
- 25:36Speaker 5: If you haven't been to an La Padre game, there
- 25:39Speaker 5: is a different atmosphere, especially at pet Goo. You guys
- 25:42Speaker 5: knocked him out a few years ago. You guys keep trying,
- 25:45Speaker 5: You guys keep pushing. I love that going there. Can
- 25:48Speaker 5: you guys compete with LA the way your team is
- 25:51Speaker 5: assembled right now, and can you knock them off again
- 25:53Speaker 5: like you did a few years ago.
- 25:57Speaker 3: Yeah, we're gonna compete, There's no doubt about that. You know,
- 26:00Speaker 3: we're gonna give them our best shot. That's what we'll
- 26:02Speaker 3: do every year. That's what we've done every year. They're
- 26:05Speaker 3: a great team, two time defending World Series champions. They
- 26:09Speaker 3: got a lot of great star players, future Hall of famers.
- 26:12Speaker 3: We feel good about our roster too. We feel good
- 26:14Speaker 3: about our team, We feel good about the attitude. We've
- 26:17Speaker 3: definitely had a lot of battles with them. We know
- 26:19Speaker 3: what it's like to play in Dodger Stadium. We know
- 26:21Speaker 3: what it's like to play that Petco and how exciting
- 26:24Speaker 3: that atmosphere is. So we're looking forward to those battles
- 26:28Speaker 3: this season. They're a tough team, they're a great team.
- 26:31Speaker 3: But there's nothing better than in the big leagues than
- 26:33Speaker 3: playing against the best. You know, it's us against them.
- 26:37Speaker 3: You know, we'll stand on the mound and we'll throw
- 26:39Speaker 3: pitches and see if they can hit them, and we'll
- 26:41Speaker 3: do the same thing. They'll stand on the mount and
- 26:42Speaker 3: throw pitches and see if we can do some damage.
- 26:45Speaker 3: And then and then the best team will win. It's
- 26:47Speaker 3: been some good battles over the last few years. They
- 26:50Speaker 3: got us last year, but you know, hopefully we can
- 26:52Speaker 3: turn the tide this year and put our best foot
- 26:54Speaker 3: forward against them.
- 26:56Speaker 1: Hey, Craig, I brought one that you can fully talk about,
- 26:59Speaker 1: nice and easy. Ready, sun Moon Song signs with the Padres.
- 27:03Speaker 1: That's already been official, the whole deal. I think we
- 27:06Speaker 1: don't know a lot about him. So this is actually
- 27:08Speaker 1: an off season where there were a number of players
- 27:10Speaker 1: coming from overseas, some US pictures of course that went
- 27:12Speaker 1: over and then came back ABO, np B et cetera,
- 27:15Speaker 1: many NPB stars. But this is one that I think
- 27:17Speaker 1: flew under the radar and for some reason the timing
- 27:19Speaker 1: of his signing too. There was just a lot going on.
- 27:21Speaker 1: So what can you tell us about him and the
- 27:24Speaker 1: role that he'll be going for in spring training?
- 27:27Speaker 3: Yeah, Sun Munsong great addition to the Padres. We had
- 27:31Speaker 3: a lot of success with his you know friend hasan Kim.
- 27:36Speaker 3: We kind of know how that process went bringing Kim
- 27:39Speaker 3: over from Korea, and we feel like we can implement
- 27:42Speaker 3: that same process with Song and so he's going to
- 27:48Speaker 3: be kind of in a little bit of a super
- 27:50Speaker 3: utility roles kind of where we see him. He's a
- 27:52Speaker 3: natural third baseman, can play second base. We're going to
- 27:55Speaker 3: try him out at first base and left field also,
- 27:58Speaker 3: so you know, he's a left handed bat. It's gonna
- 28:01Speaker 3: fit in well. We need to get Manny a dhday
- 28:03Speaker 3: or Manny a day off. You know, he can slip
- 28:05Speaker 3: right into there to the third you know, put him
- 28:07Speaker 3: in against a tough ridy you know, get some good
- 28:10Speaker 3: left handed bats in. He's he's a player that's got
- 28:14Speaker 3: some speed, also has got a little bit of power
- 28:18Speaker 3: that he's shown over the last few years. We feel
- 28:19Speaker 3: like his body's transformed a little bit here in the
- 28:22Speaker 3: last couple of years he's got into the weight room,
- 28:24Speaker 3: so we feel he's very well equipped to make the
- 28:27Speaker 3: jump from the KBO to major league Baseball. And you know,
- 28:32Speaker 3: we're gonna try to bank on that success we had
- 28:34Speaker 3: with with has On Kim and and and you know,
- 28:36Speaker 3: Sung Monsong is gonna do the same thing, and we're
- 28:39Speaker 3: excited to have him and just another player, a great
- 28:42Speaker 3: player that we got for a very favorable contract that
- 28:44Speaker 3: we feel can can make a good impact on our team.
- 28:48Speaker 6: Last one for me, Joe musk Grove update and also
- 28:52Speaker 6: update on how you guys, if he's healthy, if he's
- 28:56Speaker 6: ready to go on the date that you guys have
- 28:58Speaker 6: him ready to go, how far you'll push him coming
- 29:02Speaker 6: off of his entire missed twenty five season.
- 29:06Speaker 3: Joe's in a great spot right now. He's been throwing
- 29:10Speaker 3: bullpens regularly. He's he's ramping up for spring training. Uh
- 29:15Speaker 3: so far, so good, on schedule with everything. As you know,
- 29:19Speaker 3: Joe is, you know, as good of a teammate as
- 29:22Speaker 3: you could ever have. He's as hard a worker as
- 29:24Speaker 3: you could ever have. Some would say works too hard,
- 29:27Speaker 3: which I don't know if there is such a thing,
- 29:29Speaker 3: but he's a leader in our clubhouse, a leader within
- 29:32Speaker 3: the whole organization, leader in the city of San Diego,
- 29:34Speaker 3: and so we're.
- 29:36Speaker 4: Just looking forward to getting Joe back on the field.
- 29:38Speaker 3: As far as the inning limits go, you know, he's
- 29:40Speaker 3: at a stage in his career. I don't think he's
- 29:43Speaker 3: willing to entertain any innings limits. But we're gonna be
- 29:47Speaker 3: very cognizant of his recovery, how he's feeling after every outing.
- 29:50Speaker 4: I'm not gonna put a number on him.
- 29:52Speaker 3: You know, I've seen We've seen players come back from
- 29:54Speaker 3: Tommy John and and go through a full season pitching
- 29:57Speaker 3: the playoffs. Adam Wainwright comes to mind, you know, coming
- 30:00Speaker 3: back from Tommy John and then pitching.
- 30:01Speaker 4: Two hundred and thirty innings the very next year. So
- 30:03Speaker 4: no limit on Joe. He can. He's he's a stud.
- 30:08Speaker 3: You know, We're gonna, you know, take him as far
- 30:09Speaker 3: as he's willing to go, and we're going to be
- 30:11Speaker 3: smart about it too. So you know, is any range,
- 30:14Speaker 3: could could be any number of things, but you know,
- 30:17Speaker 3: it'll be more of like a week by week, month
- 30:19Speaker 3: by month, start by start process with him and making
- 30:22Speaker 3: sure he's feeling good and then peaking at the end
- 30:24Speaker 3: of the season, so that we've got him, you know,
- 30:26Speaker 3: for that playoff atmosphere, because when we get Joe in
- 30:28Speaker 3: the playoffs, there's probably nobody better.
- 30:31Speaker 5: All right, before we let you go, have two more
- 30:33Speaker 5: quick ones. One you Darvish update, where's he at? Because
- 30:36Speaker 5: I've seen things where he at one point some people
- 30:38Speaker 5: were saying he was contemplating retiring.
- 30:41Speaker 2: Have we do we have a U Darvish update?
- 30:43Speaker 3: Yeah, Darvi Darvish had uh Tommy John surgery at the
- 30:47Speaker 3: end of the season, so he's gonna be rehabbing this
- 30:50Speaker 3: whole season. He won't be playing, he won't be pitching.
- 30:54Speaker 3: You know, we'll see what that recovery timeline looks like.
- 30:57Speaker 3: But he's been around the organization a lot already this season.
- 31:00Speaker 3: He's got great relationships with some of the pitchers on
- 31:02Speaker 3: our staff, especially the young guys like Randy Vasquez. Those
- 31:05Speaker 3: two have turned into quite the pair and best buddies,
- 31:09Speaker 3: and they're constantly you know, Darbish is constantly pouring into him,
- 31:12Speaker 3: trying to motivate Randy and and get him, you know,
- 31:15Speaker 3: learning how to do scattering reports the way you son
- 31:19Speaker 3: has kind of done those throughout his career. So, uh,
- 31:22Speaker 3: he's a big advantage that we have in our organization.
- 31:24Speaker 3: He's gonna play a similar role to what Joe did
- 31:26Speaker 3: last year, is being around the team as much as possible,
- 31:30Speaker 3: be a leader in the clubhouse and and mentor those
- 31:32Speaker 3: young guys and you know, try to help us win
- 31:34Speaker 3: on the margin.
- 31:35Speaker 4: So Darvish is a big part of the padre still.
- 31:38Speaker 5: By the way, he just needs to tell him to
- 31:40Speaker 5: throw slider, because that was just kind of report when
- 31:42Speaker 5: I caught him. I'm just gonna throw a slider. If
- 31:45Speaker 5: you have you Darvish as slider, you can throw that
- 31:48Speaker 5: picture every time.
- 31:49Speaker 4: Yeah, I agree, I asked him. I said, I said you,
- 31:51Speaker 4: why don't you ever throw fastballs? Three oh?
- 31:53Speaker 3: He goes, well, my slider's better, So I'm gonna throw
- 31:55Speaker 3: that three to oh two oh whenever.
- 31:57Speaker 4: You know, you're right.
- 31:58Speaker 2: I just threw it was all when I was catching.
- 32:03Speaker 4: Yeah, and he still couldn't hit it.
- 32:08Speaker 2: Before I let you go. You're from Ohio, correct, You're
- 32:10Speaker 2: from Ohio. Right, you're a football fan.
- 32:14Speaker 4: I'm a football fan the Cincinnati Bengals.
- 32:20Speaker 5: So are you happy that Mike Tomlin just resigned or
- 32:23Speaker 5: you do you want? Maybe he could go to Cincinnati
- 32:26Speaker 5: and take over the Bengals because they haven't you know,
- 32:29Speaker 5: Joe Burrow, but you know they haven't been great.
- 32:31Speaker 4: Yeah that you know what, that's news to me.
- 32:32Speaker 3: I did not hear that before I hopped on, But
- 32:34Speaker 3: that's big news.
- 32:36Speaker 4: That's big news. He's a great coach. If I remember right,
- 32:41Speaker 4: he has never finished under five hundred. That's that's quite
- 32:44Speaker 4: a feather to have in your cap, you know.
- 32:47Speaker 3: I think being a Bengals fan, Washington play against the Steelers,
- 32:50Speaker 3: you always felt like they had an advantage with Mike Tomlin.
- 32:54Speaker 3: But I think the Bengals are in good shape too.
- 32:55Speaker 3: Zach Taylor's a great coach. You got Joe Burrow, Jamar
- 32:59Speaker 3: Chase t Higgins. I'll get that defense was playing a
- 33:02Speaker 3: little bit better at the end of the year. Get
- 33:04Speaker 3: a healthy Joe Burrow for a full season. I like
- 33:06Speaker 3: the Bengals chances.
- 33:09Speaker 5: That was a good breakdown, right, the true fan right there,
- 33:11Speaker 5: Notice he's like the defense is getting better, right, I
- 33:17Speaker 5: got to see.
- 33:18Speaker 1: The time when news all right, Well, great, hope you
- 33:21Speaker 1: enjoyed it, man, We really enjoyed the conversation.
- 33:23Speaker 2: We were looking forward to. It's a really cool story.
- 33:25Speaker 1: We're excited to see you during the season too, so
- 33:28Speaker 1: thanks for stopping by.
- 33:29Speaker 4: Man.
- 33:31Speaker 3: Yeah, I love talking baseball with you guys. Thanks for
- 33:33Speaker 3: having me on and we'll talk to