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Astros manager Joe Espada joins Crush City Territory · Foul Territory

0:05
Speaker 1: What's up? Everybody?
0:06
Speaker 2: Welcome into another edition of Crush City Territory. My name
0:09
Speaker 2: is Chandler Rome. Tyler Stafford's here and we have the
0:12
Speaker 2: most special guests that you can have. We have Astro's
0:15
Speaker 2: manager Joe Espada joining us. Joe it is. We're recording
0:20
Speaker 2: this on a Friday, so you're gonna head this. You're
0:22
Speaker 2: gonna head to West Palm Beach within the next three days.
0:25
Speaker 2: We understand that this is probably one of the busiest times.
0:28
Speaker 1: Of year for you.
0:28
Speaker 2: So can't thank you enough for taking a little bit
0:32
Speaker 2: of your time, uh to talk with us. What is
0:36
Speaker 2: I guess as you're preparing to go to spring training?
0:38
Speaker 2: How hectic is our things right now? Uh?
0:41
Speaker 1: They're they're busy, They're busy, consumed by It's like spring
0:46
Speaker 1: training planning, right We have pictures. Are catchers already joining
0:51
Speaker 1: us in the next couple of days, some of them
0:54
Speaker 1: out there already. They're trying to get some of those
0:56
Speaker 1: things lined up, you know, working through some meetings that
1:00
Speaker 1: we do prior to the workouts with the front office
1:03
Speaker 1: go over our players. So is busy and you know,
1:07
Speaker 1: I make trips to the ballpark and we have between
1:12
Speaker 1: twelve fifteen players there at times where the training and
1:15
Speaker 1: getting ready for the season. So it gives me an
1:19
Speaker 1: opportunity to start some conversation with the players and start
1:22
Speaker 1: talking about the twenty twenty five season. So yeah, I'm
1:27
Speaker 1: living Monday and I'm excited. I can't wait to get
1:29
Speaker 1: down to West Palm.
1:31
Speaker 2: We've you mentioned you get to you're going to the ballpark.
1:35
Speaker 2: I don't know that you guys wanted it out there,
1:37
Speaker 2: but there's been some videos from the ballpark circulating in
1:41
Speaker 2: the last week or so, watching obviously jose L Twova
1:45
Speaker 2: out out in the field, and I'm not we don't
1:47
Speaker 2: want to make this solely about that, but in general,
1:49
Speaker 2: can you give us a vibe kind of what does
1:52
Speaker 2: go on at the ballpark and what guys are there,
1:55
Speaker 2: kind of what you guys are doing leading into going
1:57
Speaker 2: to West Palm.
1:58
Speaker 1: You know, for example, today we had five live BPS, right,
2:02
Speaker 1: so pitchers are already stretched out where some of the
2:06
Speaker 1: guys who you know start you know, will start pitching
2:08
Speaker 1: in first game of screen training. We already have some
2:11
Speaker 1: of those guys already built up, you know, prepare for
2:14
Speaker 1: for those and you know there's batting practice. You know
2:18
Speaker 1: they are two ways, working left field, taking some ground balls,
2:21
Speaker 1: You're gone, He's been there for almost two months getting ready.
2:25
Speaker 1: He's knee feels phenomenal. Uh So, so, you know, is
2:29
Speaker 1: that energy of the excitement and you start talking about expectations.
2:33
Speaker 1: I start talking some of those guys about roles and
2:36
Speaker 1: some of the young players being around some of the veterans,
2:39
Speaker 1: what it's like going to the very first Major league
2:42
Speaker 1: spring training? What is it like? And you know, we
2:46
Speaker 1: get kids all the way from rookie level who live,
2:48
Speaker 1: you know, live in Houston, who we opened the doors
2:51
Speaker 1: for them to come in and be part of the workouts,
2:54
Speaker 1: and our players engage with them and they embraced them
2:58
Speaker 1: as like they know each other for a very long time.
3:01
Speaker 1: So the dynamic is it's great, and it's it's my
3:05
Speaker 1: favorite part of leading into spring training because there's a
3:08
Speaker 1: lot of good feedback that you get from the guys.
3:10
Speaker 1: Anybody's in a great mood. You feel like the guys
3:14
Speaker 1: are ready to start playing like tomorrow. So it opens
3:18
Speaker 1: the door for some really good conversations. So uh, you know,
3:22
Speaker 1: it's in a matter of days, you guys will see
3:24
Speaker 1: some of that eximement. When those guys take the field, Joe.
3:27
Speaker 3: We were debating yesterday with Josh Reddick, and you seem
3:31
Speaker 3: like the perfect person to ask. I was wondering if
3:35
Speaker 3: Altuve has his own outfield glove, yeah, or if he
3:38
Speaker 3: was borrowing it. Do you know who's was he using
3:41
Speaker 3: out there?
3:41
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's actually using your downs right now because the
3:44
Speaker 1: one mass is not broken in yet, so he's been
3:48
Speaker 1: he's been using your downs. Okay, that's good.
3:51
Speaker 3: That was our investigative journalism.
3:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's uh, he's doing he's doing a
3:56
Speaker 1: pretty good job. It's been fun, you know, getting him,
3:59
Speaker 1: you know, getting the working and you know, seeing if
4:02
Speaker 1: that's something that we can, uh that we can can
4:05
Speaker 1: you know explore and and and and be be a
4:08
Speaker 1: weapon for us these season. So we'll see how it
4:10
Speaker 1: goes the next couple of weeks.
4:12
Speaker 3: What what lessons did you learn from your first you know,
4:17
Speaker 3: spring training as a as a manager that you know,
4:20
Speaker 3: some changes maybe that you wanted to make this year
4:22
Speaker 3: or something that you really wanted to focus on, something
4:24
Speaker 3: that you know went really well, Like what how do
4:27
Speaker 3: you feel better prepared this year than maybe last year?
4:30
Speaker 1: You know what I thought like when it comes like
4:32
Speaker 1: spring training specific I thought we had a really good
4:35
Speaker 1: spring training last year. For me, the toughest part was
4:38
Speaker 1: handing the keys to the or to the preparation to
4:42
Speaker 1: Jason Bell and Omar, delegating those responsibilities, getting the day
4:47
Speaker 1: to day things like plan and you know, I've been
4:50
Speaker 1: around uh, they've been around me for a couple of years,
4:52
Speaker 1: so they kind of know how I like screen training
4:55
Speaker 1: to be run. But I think they did a really
4:57
Speaker 1: good job. You know, this year, we have some younger
5:01
Speaker 1: players in camp. We're going to be competing for some jobs,
5:04
Speaker 1: so we're going to spend a little bit more time
5:06
Speaker 1: on some fundamentals early. I'm going to get those young
5:09
Speaker 1: players some playing time early. You're going to see some
5:12
Speaker 1: players playing back to back days right away. I'm asking
5:16
Speaker 1: them to come in ready to compete from day one
5:18
Speaker 1: because I want to give them significant amount of at
5:21
Speaker 1: bats for us to evaluate them. So you guys going
5:24
Speaker 1: to see that. But there's going to be a little
5:26
Speaker 1: bit you know, attention to small details something that I think,
5:30
Speaker 1: you know, for us to sustain winning when we're a
5:32
Speaker 1: really good team, we do small things really well offensively,
5:35
Speaker 1: defensively on the pitching side. So I was able to
5:40
Speaker 1: write some things down during the season that I think
5:44
Speaker 1: as a manager, I could do a better job emphasizing
5:47
Speaker 1: those things during spring training.
5:49
Speaker 2: Joe, you and I talked about this last year. You're
5:51
Speaker 2: a big journaler. You keep a journal, you write every day.
5:56
Speaker 2: I guess as this offseason kind of settled in and
5:59
Speaker 2: you moved away from the wild Card Series, did you
6:01
Speaker 2: go back and read that and how much did you
6:04
Speaker 2: kind of take away from your first year as a
6:06
Speaker 2: major league manager, maybe that when you had time to
6:09
Speaker 2: decompress and sit down and kind of really think about
6:12
Speaker 2: it from April to October.
6:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, so, so there was there was you know,
6:17
Speaker 1: when I keep my journal there, you know, have a
6:19
Speaker 1: little bookmark in certain areas by color, you know, some red, blue, white,
6:24
Speaker 1: you know, red meaning you know, things were heated and
6:28
Speaker 1: emotionally more than, you know than what would happening on
6:33
Speaker 1: the field. You know, there was moments where we were
6:35
Speaker 1: playing well and I was still trying to, you know, emotionally,
6:39
Speaker 1: keep keep myself, you know, lining you know, moving forward.
6:45
Speaker 1: So it's not it's not so much how things were
6:47
Speaker 1: going to baseball field. It's just more how can I
6:50
Speaker 1: control my emotions? How can I help my players? Control
6:53
Speaker 1: your emotions. So so I kind of cut those you know,
6:57
Speaker 1: book market and then I like to go back and
6:59
Speaker 1: read it things that I do that day, or or
7:04
Speaker 1: a Bible verse that I that you know, that I
7:06
Speaker 1: that I wrote that day that helped me get through
7:08
Speaker 1: some tough moments, conversation with players that were key, they
7:12
Speaker 1: were impactful that I think turn things around. You know,
7:16
Speaker 1: I do a little check mark this is something I
7:18
Speaker 1: could do moving forward, something that it worked that were
7:20
Speaker 1: for me between me and that player. So I do all,
7:23
Speaker 1: you know, I like doing those things. You know, it
7:25
Speaker 1: helps me turn the page. But also going back and
7:29
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, make changes, make adjustment, you know,
7:34
Speaker 1: for me moving forward, to for me to build my
7:37
Speaker 1: you know, put myself in a better position moving forward.
7:41
Speaker 2: I think a lot of fans see the role of
7:44
Speaker 2: a manager like they look at your in game decisions.
7:47
Speaker 2: They look at when you when you take the starter out,
7:49
Speaker 2: when you pinch hit, things like that, the tactical decisions.
7:52
Speaker 2: But and you can tell me if I'm right or
7:54
Speaker 2: wrong on this, but I think the job of a
7:56
Speaker 2: modern manager is so much more about communication and keeping
8:00
Speaker 2: in touch with your players. And Mike, what what I
8:03
Speaker 2: wondered this off season. There's a lot of stuff that
8:06
Speaker 2: went on this offseason just in terms of transactions that
8:09
Speaker 2: I don't think we would have thought was going to
8:12
Speaker 2: happen when the season ended in November, whether it was
8:15
Speaker 2: you know, trading Kyle Tucker, was trading Ryan Presley, it
8:18
Speaker 2: was signing Christian Waller. I guess how much are you
8:22
Speaker 2: are the players maybe contacting you in the offseason to
8:24
Speaker 2: kind of say, hey, Joe, what's going on here? And
8:27
Speaker 2: what were those conversations like when when two big pieces
8:30
Speaker 2: of the clubhouse and Kyle Tucker and Ryan Presley, Uh,
8:33
Speaker 2: you guys had to had to move on from them.
8:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, So you know, like you know, the first part
8:38
Speaker 1: of your question about you know, like the fans and
8:41
Speaker 1: and you know questioning my move decisions I make. And
8:44
Speaker 1: that's you know, that's part of it, right, That's the
8:47
Speaker 1: that's the part they see every day, and that's you know,
8:50
Speaker 1: that's what they pay for when they go to the
8:52
Speaker 1: ballpark is to watch their team play, right, and it
8:56
Speaker 1: what's your team play and win? So if their team
8:59
Speaker 1: is not winning, I understand that my responsibility. I'm going
9:02
Speaker 1: to take some of that heat because I'm the one
9:03
Speaker 1: who's riding the lineup on making some of those decisions.
9:06
Speaker 1: For me, I'll look at it more. I want to
9:09
Speaker 1: make sure the players understand the position that I'm in
9:12
Speaker 1: making those decisions, why I make those decisions. You know,
9:15
Speaker 1: being in a position of leadership, being the manager, sometimes
9:18
Speaker 1: you're going to make the tough decisions on people that
9:22
Speaker 1: you care about. You know, I care about all my players,
9:26
Speaker 1: but as the manager, I'm going to make decisions that
9:28
Speaker 1: they might not like. But my door is always open.
9:31
Speaker 1: We always talk about them. We have some heated discussion,
9:35
Speaker 1: and that's fine, that's welcomed. You know, in a healthy family,
9:39
Speaker 1: in a healthy relationship, there's going to be days where
9:41
Speaker 1: you're going to have those back and forth. And I've
9:43
Speaker 1: seen this team, been around them for eight years, and
9:47
Speaker 1: it has happened with every manager because these players are
9:50
Speaker 1: passionate and they want to win. So I knew coming
9:53
Speaker 1: into this job that just because it's me and I've
9:56
Speaker 1: been here longer than all the coaches, that things were
9:59
Speaker 1: going to be different. No ever expect that to be
10:01
Speaker 1: the case. I knew that that's their that's their character,
10:04
Speaker 1: and that's their personality. So I knew it was going
10:07
Speaker 1: to happen. I just knew how to absorb that conversation
10:11
Speaker 1: when he came that way, because I build some relationship
10:14
Speaker 1: with some of those players, and you know when he
10:16
Speaker 1: comes to conversation with the players when we're making those moves. Absolutely,
10:21
Speaker 1: these players are you know, their their family. These players,
10:25
Speaker 1: they play with each other for so long that they
10:28
Speaker 1: they don't want any of them to go ever go away,
10:32
Speaker 1: but they also recognize that it's going to happen. We
10:35
Speaker 1: have had incredible players. You mentioned Josh Reddick in the
10:39
Speaker 1: beginning of our conversation, Colos Correa, you know, one of
10:43
Speaker 1: the best, one of the best players I've ever coached
10:46
Speaker 1: on You know, this guy was the leader on the field.
10:50
Speaker 1: This guy he thought as you know, he think as
10:53
Speaker 1: a GM. He was like, he's super smart. Like when
10:56
Speaker 1: he left, there was a void left in our club,
11:00
Speaker 1: you know, Julie Gurriel, George Springer, all these great players
11:04
Speaker 1: have left the club, and our players understand that's going
11:08
Speaker 1: to happen. We were a good team then and we
11:12
Speaker 1: steal a good team now. So they know that when
11:16
Speaker 1: when that happens, opportunities up and up for some other
11:20
Speaker 1: younger players, and happened Carlos left. Here comes Jeremy Reddick Springer,
11:25
Speaker 1: here comes Tucker, Here comes to Jake Myers, like, we
11:28
Speaker 1: have this next way for players that have able to
11:32
Speaker 1: produce and and play well on major level for us
11:35
Speaker 1: to continue the success. But absolutely, phone calls, text messages,
11:39
Speaker 1: in the middle of the night, we go, I go
11:41
Speaker 1: to the stadium. What's going on? That's the first thing
11:43
Speaker 1: they asked me was, go, where are we with with Braggie?
11:45
Speaker 1: Where are we with this guy? This rumor is real.
11:48
Speaker 1: Channel Room is tweeting this, and I'm like, listen, I
11:53
Speaker 1: can you know, And I try to give them, you know,
11:58
Speaker 1: information that that as the manager I could give them.
12:02
Speaker 1: You know, there's other stuff that right that discussions that
12:05
Speaker 1: we have in the front office with that, I must
12:08
Speaker 1: keep that to myself. But I try to be transparent
12:12
Speaker 1: and honest with them because they they know that at
12:15
Speaker 1: the end of the day, we all all this together.
12:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, you mentioned, you know, with kind of some voids
12:23
Speaker 3: there that you know, the Astros organization has seen waves
12:27
Speaker 3: of young players coming in, and it feels like this year,
12:30
Speaker 3: you know, this is a time for another wave of
12:34
Speaker 3: young players coming in, whether it's you know Cam Smith, right,
12:38
Speaker 3: or Bryce Matthews or Zach Dezenzo or whoever. But as
12:42
Speaker 3: you're kind of prepping for the year, you're thinking about
12:45
Speaker 3: spring training and then the roster that you're going to
12:47
Speaker 3: build out, Like who are you looking at? Who are
12:49
Speaker 3: you really excited about that You're you know, you've got
12:52
Speaker 3: really high expectations for for this season.
12:57
Speaker 1: So you know those three names you mentioned, you know
12:59
Speaker 1: they are don't get opportunities to play a lot early
13:03
Speaker 1: in camp, and we expect those guys, you know, they're
13:07
Speaker 1: they're really close. You know you mentioned Ken Smith. You
13:11
Speaker 1: know we love his potential. I think this guy's got
13:13
Speaker 1: an opportunity to be an all start for for many
13:15
Speaker 1: many years. Same thing with Bryce Decenso Melton. You know,
13:19
Speaker 1: we have pieces that are that can turn into the
13:24
Speaker 1: next wave of players that can that can sustain, you know,
13:29
Speaker 1: and can allow us to continue to move forward and
13:32
Speaker 1: be smart about how we attack free agency and how
13:36
Speaker 1: we use our financial means to maintain this group to
13:39
Speaker 1: get you know, maintain winning together for a long time.
13:42
Speaker 1: So we need player development. I think for me, player
13:45
Speaker 1: development is the foundation of a successful organization. Like it's
13:50
Speaker 1: player development, Like if you get these players coming and
13:53
Speaker 1: you get them in the winning culture and they know, okay,
13:56
Speaker 1: it's my turn. Here we go. You know, that's how
13:59
Speaker 1: we've done it as I've been here. So that's it's
14:04
Speaker 1: imperative that we continue to have this discussion front office,
14:07
Speaker 1: the coaching staff, me with the players, given them opportunities
14:11
Speaker 1: so we can really have an opportunity to evaluate, uh,
14:16
Speaker 1: these players. You know, this year, that's my first year
14:19
Speaker 1: and manager, right, I'm trying to win as many's game
14:21
Speaker 1: as possible. First month, first forty five fifty games to
14:25
Speaker 1: not go as planned. So I find myself where you know,
14:28
Speaker 1: here comes kids from don't like kids who have were
14:31
Speaker 1: not ready. You know, I'm not going to say they
14:34
Speaker 1: were ready, but they were not on our radar yet.
14:37
Speaker 1: We knew that there were a year or two away,
14:39
Speaker 1: but here to come. And I'm like, oh my goodness, okay,
14:44
Speaker 1: I'm digging video trying to get to know some individuals
14:48
Speaker 1: because adding that expect him to be there. So that's
14:51
Speaker 1: an adjustment that I'll make this year where you know,
14:54
Speaker 1: you have your a group and there's the potential if
14:59
Speaker 1: you know something into that second tier of prospects are coming.
15:03
Speaker 1: Let me make sure that I die you know, I
15:05
Speaker 1: dive in in case and emergency happens to a pitcher,
15:07
Speaker 1: reliever or an infielder. This is my next way. So
15:10
Speaker 1: let me go and get to know this kid a
15:12
Speaker 1: little bit more doing screen training. Let me go down
15:14
Speaker 1: to the mono league side and get to know some
15:17
Speaker 1: of these guys. Let me watch some more video. So
15:19
Speaker 1: that's something that I have made that adjustment, so you know,
15:22
Speaker 1: hopefully doesn't happen again, but if he does, I'd be
15:25
Speaker 1: in a better spot to make decisions and put those
15:28
Speaker 1: players in a position for them that could be the
15:30
Speaker 1: best versuse on themselves.
15:32
Speaker 2: You went down to Puerto Rico to see two of
15:35
Speaker 2: the three guys we just talked about, Zach Decenzo and
15:37
Speaker 2: Bryce Matthews. Two real quick, two kind of specifics on them. Bryce.
15:43
Speaker 2: We had Bryce on our podcast a couple of weeks ago,
15:45
Speaker 2: and he's he's a great kid, great to talk to.
15:48
Speaker 2: Really enjoyed the conversation we had with him. Defensively, where
15:52
Speaker 2: do you project him maybe at the next level defensively.
15:55
Speaker 2: I know we played a couple of different places in
15:58
Speaker 2: the minor leagues and in Puerto Rico, and then Zach
16:00
Speaker 2: Descenzo obviously left fields a place where you guys are
16:03
Speaker 2: gonna probably have to cycle through some some guys. How
16:06
Speaker 2: did he look in the outfield and do you think
16:08
Speaker 2: that's a place where he can contribute at the big
16:10
Speaker 2: league level next year?
16:12
Speaker 1: Yeah? So, you know, yeah, I took a trip to
16:14
Speaker 1: Puerto Rico and you know, got a chance to watch
16:17
Speaker 1: his two kids. I was there for four days, and
16:20
Speaker 1: they play. They play really well. The sense of play
16:23
Speaker 1: some left field in first base, you know, the senso
16:28
Speaker 1: in spring training will be playing, so we'll be getting
16:30
Speaker 1: some playing time in both corners, left field and right
16:33
Speaker 1: super athletic. I think, I think he's got the ability
16:37
Speaker 1: to do it. So we are going to explore this
16:40
Speaker 1: possibility on him being playing in the corner out fields
16:43
Speaker 1: for us. He's also going to be, you know, playing
16:45
Speaker 1: some first base. I don't want to abandon that, uh
16:49
Speaker 1: ability for him to to play multiple positions, because he's
16:52
Speaker 1: capable of doing those things. So I really love the bat,
16:55
Speaker 1: I love the makeup. But this kid super athletic, you know.
16:59
Speaker 1: So I'm excited about what Zach can can can do
17:04
Speaker 1: for for this team this year when it comes to surprise.
17:06
Speaker 1: You're right, he's a terrific kid, super humble, great too,
17:11
Speaker 1: he's great to talk to. You know, he's he's so
17:15
Speaker 1: he's so talented, he's so tools he said, he's hard
17:18
Speaker 1: to say. Okay, he could end up he's going to
17:21
Speaker 1: end up being here. He's going to end up playing
17:23
Speaker 1: there because he can. We just don't know. He did
17:26
Speaker 1: play some really good second base in Puerto Rico. That
17:29
Speaker 1: that was exciting because when I when I saw him,
17:33
Speaker 1: he felt like, Okay, that's home, like Atlanta, in a
17:36
Speaker 1: place where he was comfortable. He moved around with confidence,
17:41
Speaker 1: and he finished some plays where average who above average
17:46
Speaker 1: players might not be finishing in the big league levels,
17:49
Speaker 1: Like he's that athletic. And but he also plays some
17:52
Speaker 1: third base. He played third base really well. So you know,
17:56
Speaker 1: right now I'm going to bring him camp, I'm going
17:57
Speaker 1: to put him some second base. I'm going to keep
18:00
Speaker 1: him up the middle. But he's a tough one because
18:03
Speaker 1: he can. You know he can. He can do a
18:06
Speaker 1: lot of things on the baseball field, and you know,
18:09
Speaker 1: the back comes around. He's someone who's also nooking on
18:12
Speaker 1: he's knocking on the door.
18:14
Speaker 2: I've laid my eyes on both of those guys, like
18:16
Speaker 2: watch them play so I have kind of a vision
18:19
Speaker 2: of what they look like. I've never seen Cam Smith
18:22
Speaker 2: play baseball. I've only seen videos and you know, I
18:26
Speaker 2: don't know if you saw the picture he took with
18:28
Speaker 2: Kyle with Kyle, Yeah, he trains with Kyle Tucker in
18:31
Speaker 2: the off season. They took a picture a couple of
18:33
Speaker 2: weeks ago and it kind of went viral. Tucker is
18:36
Speaker 2: not a small guy and Cam Smith is like.
18:41
Speaker 1: He is a big dude.
18:43
Speaker 2: Like, can you kind of if you've the what you've
18:47
Speaker 2: seen of him, how does he move for that size
18:50
Speaker 2: and can you kind of just give us a scouting
18:52
Speaker 2: report on what you guys have here in Cam Smith.
18:55
Speaker 1: Well, you know I have talked to him over the
18:58
Speaker 1: phone a few times. I've seeing those videos and we
19:01
Speaker 1: get a few more from him doing the workouts on
19:05
Speaker 1: our on our channel. So you know, he's he's got
19:11
Speaker 1: potential to be, you know, one of those you know,
19:18
Speaker 1: this guy can carry your team for years. He's got
19:21
Speaker 1: that potential, right. You know, I I like to be
19:25
Speaker 1: careful how I work this because I don't want him,
19:28
Speaker 1: you know, coming into Kim thinking that he's got to
19:30
Speaker 1: happen tomorrow. No, you know, we are going Cam Smith
19:33
Speaker 1: is going to let us know when he's ready to
19:36
Speaker 1: be the guy. Right But you know he can play
19:42
Speaker 1: he could play third base. I think he's athletic enough
19:45
Speaker 1: to play corner outfields. But right now he's going to
19:48
Speaker 1: come in. I'm going to play him at third because
19:50
Speaker 1: that's his natural position. You know, he moves so well
19:55
Speaker 1: for a guy his size that that's why you know,
20:00
Speaker 1: you just don't you just don't know right where he's
20:02
Speaker 1: going to end up, because he's going to tell you
20:04
Speaker 1: he's there's so much potential that I think we just
20:07
Speaker 1: got to go slow and let him tell us where
20:10
Speaker 1: he's going to end up. But the bat is special.
20:12
Speaker 1: It's right center field power. This guy knows his zone.
20:20
Speaker 1: He's you know, my conversation with you could hear the
20:23
Speaker 1: humility and how genuine he is about wanting to be
20:27
Speaker 1: part of you know, Diastros organization and uh you know
20:33
Speaker 1: his uh he's agent. He's saying Tucker agent. So it's
20:37
Speaker 1: there is all these things that I'm like, you know what,
20:39
Speaker 1: be nice. This guy just turned out just to be
20:41
Speaker 1: like a Kyle Tucker, you know, passionate about on to
20:44
Speaker 1: this young kids. When he comes to you know, production
20:47
Speaker 1: and but you know, I don't want us to be
20:50
Speaker 1: all the Ken Smith because you know, we want to
20:54
Speaker 1: give an opportunity for him to develop. It's not a
20:56
Speaker 1: faintished product. And and you know I have to make
20:59
Speaker 1: that very clear with them. Just you know, We're just
21:02
Speaker 1: going to go into spring training and I'm going to
21:04
Speaker 1: give you opportunities to play and relax and go show
21:07
Speaker 1: us what you what we fell in love with.
21:09
Speaker 3: Right, Yeah, there's a there's gonna be a couple of
21:13
Speaker 3: new guys that fans are going to see every day
21:16
Speaker 3: in the lineup too, in the infield, right with east
21:20
Speaker 3: Oparates and Christian Walker. Uh, you know, I know we're
21:25
Speaker 3: about to go to spring training where're gonna be able
21:27
Speaker 3: to see them every day.
21:28
Speaker 1: But what do you like about those guys? How do
21:30
Speaker 1: you think they're.
21:30
Speaker 3: Gonna you know, change the makeup of the team in
21:33
Speaker 3: the lineup this year?
21:35
Speaker 1: You know, immediately when when we when we acquire you know,
21:39
Speaker 1: when we signed Walker and Peretis, I immediately go to
21:42
Speaker 1: you know, their bat in our ballpark, it is made
21:46
Speaker 1: for minute may right, their pull power, how hard they
21:50
Speaker 1: hate the ball in the air. I also like the
21:52
Speaker 1: fact that they see a ton of pitches. You know,
21:55
Speaker 1: they they're not early swingers. You know, they have a
22:00
Speaker 1: pretty good idea of what equality of that looks like.
22:04
Speaker 1: And you know, in the beginning of our season we
22:07
Speaker 1: kind of got away from that and it took us
22:09
Speaker 1: a while to get going. But when we are at
22:12
Speaker 1: dynamic elite offense, we bitch you in different multiple ways. Right,
22:16
Speaker 1: we can walk, we can hit for power. You know,
22:21
Speaker 1: we could you know, grind our backs and we can
22:22
Speaker 1: get a base it. I feel like we got down
22:26
Speaker 1: early in the year in the record and we were
22:28
Speaker 1: trying to do too much, trying to get down in
22:32
Speaker 1: the game early in runs, and we were trying to
22:34
Speaker 1: do way too much, and we got away from our
22:36
Speaker 1: identity who we are, what makes us great. But these
22:39
Speaker 1: two guys fit right in on our style, right, and
22:45
Speaker 1: we're gonna we see pitches we hit small, hard, passing
22:48
Speaker 1: the baton mentality. I think these two guys are capable
22:51
Speaker 1: of doing that. And you know, also like Walker's defense,
22:55
Speaker 1: I don't think you know, I know everybody's aware of
22:59
Speaker 1: how good he his difference being his defense has been
23:02
Speaker 1: four years. But I remember when when we had that, uh,
23:06
Speaker 1: that big run. We're winning all those you know, Championship Series,
23:09
Speaker 1: World Series. You know, we had to go globe first
23:12
Speaker 1: basement in Yulie and how better, how much better he
23:16
Speaker 1: made everyone around the infield and you could just catch
23:18
Speaker 1: the ball and just throw it over there because he's
23:21
Speaker 1: just gonna make you that much better, you know, right
23:24
Speaker 1: now are with you know, four of our five starters
23:27
Speaker 1: are our righties, so there's there's gonna be this this
23:31
Speaker 1: you know, lefty heavy lineup creation against some of our writings,
23:37
Speaker 1: you know, so having that right side of the infield
23:40
Speaker 1: sealed with Walker, it's important, right Uh So that's you know,
23:45
Speaker 1: one of the reasons why bringing like a coach like
23:49
Speaker 1: Tony Perrachica, who's an incredible infield instructor, just a different voice,
23:53
Speaker 1: just to make sure that we we're not losing anything
23:58
Speaker 1: when he comes to paying attention into details when he
24:00
Speaker 1: comes to our defense. And I think he was also
24:03
Speaker 1: another good addition for for our club.
24:07
Speaker 2: You this sounds odd when as of this recording you
24:12
Speaker 2: do not have the goal glove third basement on your
24:14
Speaker 2: roster that you had last year. Who knows that could
24:16
Speaker 2: change by the time this you hear this, that could change.
24:19
Speaker 2: Who knows? Do you feel maybe better about your in
24:24
Speaker 2: your defensive infield as it is constructed right now than
24:28
Speaker 2: maybe you did last year, even with losing or perhaps
24:32
Speaker 2: losing glove third basement.
24:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're right, you know, you know it would be
24:37
Speaker 1: be great if I'm landing there Monday, and you know,
24:42
Speaker 1: I go in my office and I'm drawing my lineups
24:44
Speaker 1: and right and but like you said, you never know, right,
24:48
Speaker 1: so we'll see what happens. But I do feel better
24:52
Speaker 1: because of you know, the pieces that I have and
24:57
Speaker 1: some of the young kids that we're going to bring
24:59
Speaker 1: to camp who are in case something happens like in
25:05
Speaker 1: field death. It's actually pretty good. Like we signed some
25:08
Speaker 1: guys free agent that I feel like, you know, something happened,
25:10
Speaker 1: something happens too, and Altuva paying your paradis like we
25:14
Speaker 1: do have pieces that we can you know, hold us
25:18
Speaker 1: together defensively. So but yeah, I do feel pretty good
25:23
Speaker 1: going to camp right now with with the guys that
25:26
Speaker 1: we have, you know, a Pennsylvani in our lineup.
25:29
Speaker 2: I wanted to ask you about paying you real quick,
25:31
Speaker 2: not about his defense because his is the aside from
25:34
Speaker 2: about that two week stretch last year where he was
25:36
Speaker 2: where he was going through it his defense has remained elite. Yes,
25:41
Speaker 2: everyone kind of saw what he did as a rookie, right,
25:44
Speaker 2: I mean, he did things that were unprecedented and perhaps
25:49
Speaker 2: set an expectation maybe publicly that it. I mean, when
25:53
Speaker 2: you win the World Series MVP as a rookie, it's
25:56
Speaker 2: really hard to live up to that expectation going And
26:00
Speaker 2: it's not as if he's been a disappointment by any means,
26:04
Speaker 2: but I wonder kind of you know, he hit twenty
26:06
Speaker 2: five homers as a rookie, and he's had twenty two
26:09
Speaker 2: in the last two seasons. The slug has not been
26:13
Speaker 2: where it was as a rookie, but the bats have
26:17
Speaker 2: looked better. He's swinging a better pitches. He's not chasing
26:21
Speaker 2: a ton of sliders. You see the maturation there, even
26:25
Speaker 2: if it's not translating to maybe the slug or maybe
26:28
Speaker 2: the batting average of the ops. Where are you looking
26:31
Speaker 2: for him to maybe take the next step offensively? Are
26:34
Speaker 2: do you? Are you okay with kind of the path
26:36
Speaker 2: he's traveling in his offensive game?
26:39
Speaker 1: You know what? I I think he you said a
26:43
Speaker 1: couple of things that I that I think the game
26:47
Speaker 1: changing aspect of his oh, his maturity, which is it's
26:53
Speaker 1: for me is about approach. I think he's still learning.
26:57
Speaker 1: He's swinging, and every player, every player goes through this
27:00
Speaker 1: the first three or four years of the bit because
27:02
Speaker 1: they're trying to I just learning their body, how the
27:07
Speaker 1: body moves, and you know, the pictures are making adjustment
27:10
Speaker 1: to him, you got to make adjustments. So for me,
27:12
Speaker 1: I think he's in the right path. I think if
27:15
Speaker 1: he continues to lay off the sliders, you know, being
27:19
Speaker 1: on time with fastballs. I think he swings sometimes because
27:24
Speaker 1: there's some movement. If he can continue to simplify and
27:28
Speaker 1: find a spot where he can start his swing and
27:31
Speaker 1: and repeat it for months instead of or I got
27:35
Speaker 1: it for two weeks and then all of a sudden
27:37
Speaker 1: doesn't feel right, and then it can. It takes him
27:41
Speaker 1: a little bit, a little bit longer to get back
27:43
Speaker 1: in there. But he's he's finding, he's finding, he's riddle.
27:47
Speaker 1: I think it's off season. He's starting to make adjustments
27:49
Speaker 1: where he understands, you know, we have conversation with him
27:52
Speaker 1: about this is what twenty twenty four look like, this
27:56
Speaker 1: is what twenty twenty five should look like. If you
27:58
Speaker 1: make you know, does adjustments the key for Penya. He's
28:03
Speaker 1: so coachable, he's he's someone that listens and and I
28:07
Speaker 1: think is eventually is going to happen. I was actually
28:10
Speaker 1: talking to someone the other day and they they asked me,
28:13
Speaker 1: who's going to be that player that you pick is
28:16
Speaker 1: going to have? Like I could see who's like you
28:20
Speaker 1: pick to click and for me is for me is
28:23
Speaker 1: you know? I told the person Jeremy Penya, because I
28:27
Speaker 1: think he's the next guy that I also see stepping
28:29
Speaker 1: up and being kind of the bucal leader in our club.
28:32
Speaker 1: You know, he's that guy that when we are doing
28:36
Speaker 1: our meetings and we're walking around the clubhouse, he's he's
28:41
Speaker 1: he wants to be the guy say you know, but
28:44
Speaker 1: but he sees the breakman's and he sees the other
28:47
Speaker 1: guys as being there longer. But I think if you know,
28:51
Speaker 1: not if Briakman does not return, I could see Jeremy
28:54
Speaker 1: being a little bit more like, you know, hey, maybe
28:57
Speaker 1: we could we try to do this because he's done it.
29:01
Speaker 1: But I think you could probably see him kind of
29:04
Speaker 1: taking that next step forward in that leadership for a
29:06
Speaker 1: role in the clubhouse, and it'd be phenomenal because you
29:09
Speaker 1: know that shortstop middling fielder, you usually are the ones
29:12
Speaker 1: who are have that that personality and a zene there.
29:17
Speaker 1: So I could see him being that dude this year
29:20
Speaker 1: where he's having a monster year on the field, and
29:23
Speaker 1: also we're talking about having conversations about you know, you know,
29:28
Speaker 1: conversation he's had with some of the players are standing
29:31
Speaker 1: up and and having like a little team meeting, you know.
29:34
Speaker 1: So I could see Jeremy being being that guy.
29:37
Speaker 2: You make a lot of difficult decisions every day, but
29:40
Speaker 2: I think that if I'm just looking at the roster
29:43
Speaker 2: you have, I think next year, maybe one of the
29:45
Speaker 2: more difficult ones you'll have earlier in the year is
29:47
Speaker 2: how to configure your outfield on a daily basis. We've
29:51
Speaker 2: obviously we've litigated the L two A left field stuff enough.
29:55
Speaker 2: I guess I'm more I'm more fascinated by Chas and
29:59
Speaker 2: Jake what they need to do to take the next
30:03
Speaker 2: step to really solidify a spot. And with that, how
30:08
Speaker 2: much is Jacob Melton knocking on the door to maybe
30:12
Speaker 2: provide some pressure or some competition there.
30:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know what, I can't. I think that it's consistency.
30:20
Speaker 1: I think those guys, they you know, they show what
30:24
Speaker 1: they're capable of doing for you know, for Spurs, and
30:28
Speaker 1: you know he's in there. I just want him just
30:30
Speaker 1: to be more consistent when he comes to offensive approach.
30:35
Speaker 1: And if they do that, you could see solid production
30:38
Speaker 1: out of those guys for you know, throughout the whole
30:41
Speaker 1: entire season. So it's just a matter of just you know,
30:44
Speaker 1: confidence making the adjustments that we ask them to do
30:48
Speaker 1: this offseason and if they do, you know, getting the
30:53
Speaker 1: getting the chats that we saw in twenty two and
30:55
Speaker 1: twenty three, it's super important for our club. Yeah.
31:00
Speaker 3: And then you know, finally you mentioned you know, those
31:03
Speaker 3: in game decisions where you know, even though that's not
31:06
Speaker 3: the majority of what you do as a as a manager,
31:10
Speaker 3: it does play a huge role kind of in game right,
31:13
Speaker 3: And and the bullpen's going to look different this year too.
31:17
Speaker 3: You've got you know, kind of your back end of
31:19
Speaker 3: the bullpen solidified. But as you're looking to this year,
31:22
Speaker 3: who are who are the guys that you're you know,
31:24
Speaker 3: outside of you know, Hater and Upbrad, you that you're
31:28
Speaker 3: really looking and needing to rely on in the bullpens?
31:32
Speaker 3: You know, how do how do you configure that kind
31:34
Speaker 3: of going into the year.
31:36
Speaker 1: Well, you know, those guys will get they'll get some
31:38
Speaker 1: opportunities in spring training. Uh, you know guys who've done it.
31:43
Speaker 1: Last year. I tell Scott he had he has big,
31:46
Speaker 1: some big innings for us last year. He you know,
31:49
Speaker 1: he's a guy that I trust him in high leverage spot.
31:51
Speaker 1: You know, Brian King, I thought he threw the ball
31:54
Speaker 1: really really well. He's going to be also big getting
31:57
Speaker 1: some good looks and and for me, the guy that
31:59
Speaker 1: I I'm excited about, and he's been coming here to
32:02
Speaker 1: uh the stadium the last couple of weeks, it's fors Whitley.
32:05
Speaker 1: You know, his arm looks really good and hopefully he's
32:08
Speaker 1: he's he's ready and and he's able to showcase and
32:11
Speaker 1: perform the way we've been we've been see it, you know,
32:16
Speaker 1: viewing for for the last couple of years. So you know,
32:18
Speaker 1: we'll we'll get a we'll get a good look at
32:20
Speaker 1: those young kids in spring training. But they're all going
32:23
Speaker 1: to have to step up and get the ball and
32:25
Speaker 1: some big spots because they we we needed to step up.
32:28
Speaker 1: It's time for them to to do, you know, take
32:30
Speaker 1: that role and and and and help us win some
32:33
Speaker 1: some games.
32:34
Speaker 2: Force Whitley is one of the very few people, uh
32:37
Speaker 2: coming into camp that pre date you in this in
32:40
Speaker 2: this organization. He was here before U, before you were
32:43
Speaker 2: Joe one final one before we sign off. Because Tyler
32:47
Speaker 2: and I were talking about this on a on a
32:48
Speaker 2: previous episode and when when everything about al Tuove being
32:52
Speaker 2: willing to change positions came out, you know, we talked
32:55
Speaker 2: about Tyler and I that al Tuove is in an
32:58
Speaker 2: echelon where he could very easily just say, you know,
33:01
Speaker 2: and I'm not I'm not moving off second baby, like
33:03
Speaker 2: I've done. He could point to the nine All Star teams,
33:06
Speaker 2: to the MVP, to everything he has done for this city,
33:09
Speaker 2: for this franchise, and he could, for lack of a
33:12
Speaker 2: better word, be a diva. He could say that's my position,
33:15
Speaker 2: I'm not moving off. But we talked about it, and
33:19
Speaker 2: he's probably the most team first athlete I think I've
33:23
Speaker 2: ever been around, and Joe, you've been around a lot more.
33:26
Speaker 2: I mean, you worked in New York for a long time,
33:28
Speaker 2: You've been in a lot of organizations, been around a
33:30
Speaker 2: lot of different people. How how how accurate is that?
33:34
Speaker 2: Like how team first is Jose Altuve? And how rare
33:38
Speaker 2: is that from a guy that has accomplished as much
33:41
Speaker 2: as he has accomplished and made as much money as
33:43
Speaker 2: he has made.
33:44
Speaker 1: Yeah, and people don't Yeah, and people don't talk about that.
33:48
Speaker 1: You know. For me, you know, I turn a TV
33:50
Speaker 1: on and I listened to some of the reporting going
33:52
Speaker 1: on in some of these networks and stuff, and you know,
33:56
Speaker 1: suggesting that a Tui should not be doing this, should
33:58
Speaker 1: not be doing that. He's a Hall of Fame player,
34:00
Speaker 1: he's doing you know, and they're not in one of
34:03
Speaker 1: those comments they think about the team, like he's doing
34:08
Speaker 1: this for the team, Altuov. He is a Hall of famer,
34:12
Speaker 1: but he wants to be known and he wants to
34:16
Speaker 1: go down, you know, want to finish his career on
34:18
Speaker 1: a winning club. So he's like, Joe, I'll do it
34:22
Speaker 1: if he's going to help us win. So that right
34:26
Speaker 1: there just tells you the character and the individual and
34:28
Speaker 1: the leadership of Osel tub you know. So I, you know,
34:35
Speaker 1: seeing it, you know, I'm not surprised by it. But yeah,
34:40
Speaker 1: like he could have easily said, Joe, you know what,
34:41
Speaker 1: I don't think it's a good idea. I don't think
34:42
Speaker 1: this is what's best for me. And I'm not going
34:44
Speaker 1: to do it. And but before we kick the tires
34:48
Speaker 1: on this, we sat down with him and said, oh,
34:49
Speaker 1: what do you think about possibility you're playing some outfield
34:52
Speaker 1: and opening you know, second base to getting some guys
34:56
Speaker 1: in there some playing time. Not I mean you dying
35:00
Speaker 1: left field for fifty sixty games. And he's like, Joe,
35:04
Speaker 1: that's what makes us better. I'm I'm all in. So
35:08
Speaker 1: we down that path and we see how he goes.
35:11
Speaker 1: He did.
35:12
Speaker 2: Uh, it's the season hasn't even started yet, but he
35:14
Speaker 2: did probably deliver the best quote of the season at
35:16
Speaker 2: fan Fest when a reporter asked him if he had
35:19
Speaker 2: ever played outfield before, and he just worked back. Have
35:22
Speaker 2: you seen me?
35:23
Speaker 1: Yeah? That And you know who asked that question?
35:28
Speaker 2: I did not It was not me.
35:29
Speaker 1: It was not me.
35:31
Speaker 2: It was actually, I don't know who it was someone
35:34
Speaker 2: standing behind me. So I didn't turn around and look.
35:37
Speaker 2: But he handled it. He handled Yeah, he doesn't show
35:40
Speaker 2: it a lot, but he's pretty funny.
35:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, no, he is. He's got it. He's got
35:44
Speaker 1: a sense of humor. He also got a little it's
35:46
Speaker 1: got a little red as in him too. You know,
35:50
Speaker 1: you don't want to see him get pissed off. He's
35:52
Speaker 1: got a little bit of you know, anger to his
35:55
Speaker 1: to his personality when he disliked something or something happens
36:00
Speaker 1: that it tipped him off, he's got a little bit
36:02
Speaker 1: of he's got a little bit of anger at him.
36:04
Speaker 2: Well, hopefully that doesn't Hopefully that doesn't manifest itself this year.
36:08
Speaker 2: Hopefully it's hopefully it's a better start, and hopefully hopefully
36:12
Speaker 2: you guys don't have to see jose L two VA's
36:14
Speaker 2: red ass come out. But again, we really appreciate you
36:20
Speaker 2: taking some time to be with us, and we know
36:22
Speaker 2: this is such a busy time of year for you.
36:24
Speaker 2: And safe travels to West Palm Beach where I will
36:28
Speaker 2: see you on Tuesday. I believe I know you're excited
36:31
Speaker 2: about that. So again, thank you to everybody that's watching, listening.
36:37
Speaker 2: Please rate and review us on Apple, Please subscribe on YouTube.
36:40
Speaker 2: We will be back next week, like I said, we'll
36:43
Speaker 2: be in West Palm Beach, Florida with pitchers and catchers
36:46
Speaker 2: reporting on Wednesday and their first workout on Thursday. Thanks guys,
36:50
Speaker 2: all
36:50
Speaker 1: Right, thank you appreciate it.