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MLB WINTER MEETINGSDecember 7, 2016Andy GreenNational Harbor, Maryland Q. So first I wanted to ask you about, you're obviously one of the younger rosters in baseball, no players over 30 right now. What is your philosophy on a veteran that you would be interested in bringing in? It's not like sign a veteran for the sake of signing a veteran? ANDY GREEN: I think we're looking for guy who will provide us some stability, some leadership within the clubhouse, some guys that can eat some innings from a pitching standpoint as we look across the market, looking for guys that can kind of solidify the rotation to a degree. Any kind of veteran presence that fits into the leadership role that Jon Jay had as part of the club and really invest in our younger guys, because we have a contingent of younger guys that we believe are going to be very good in the foreseeable future. But it's great to have those guys that have been through the grind before and know what it takes, and I think those guys would be a real value add for us for the guys like Hunter Renfroe and Margot just showing up on a Major League level for the first time, so that's the type of people we're looking for. We have our list, going through it, trying to see who fits in that group, though. Q. You mentioned Renfroe, Margot, Hedges have come up and shown some things at the Major League level. Do you feel like there's a chance these guys could be impactful, not just two or three years down the road, but this coming year, having a chance to really make an impact? ANDY GREEN: I think so. I think Austin Hedges in particular, it's going to be as much about the work that he does behind the plate than the work he does at the plate with the bat in his hands. We've looked at him for a very long time as a catcher of the future for us. That time looks like it's arisen at this point in time, and he will have every opportunity to solidify himself as our catcher for the future. He's a guy from a framing perspective is good, game calling perspective is good, block, catch, throw perspective is very good. I think the industry has looked at him for a long period of time as one of the best defensive catchers in the Minor Leagues. So to bring that guy up, and also a guy that's .320 with over 20 home runs in the PCL last year. So there's some offensive punch there as well. And we got a quick glimpse of who Hunter Renfroe is last year at the Big League level. First guy ever to hit one on top of the Western Metal Supply building. Any time you say "first guy ever," that's a pretty impressive accomplishment. Grand Slam, hits over .370 with that short look that you saw, the raw power that exists there. You see a guy that anybody can look at and say 30-plus home run potential on that bat right there. He's going to fight for a job, and I think Manny Margot is about as exciting as any prospect arriving in the Major Leagues, the ability to defend the field, get on base, steal bases. He fits into the mold of guys you want to defend the middle of the baseball field, steal bases. He does a little bit of everything. Carlos Asuaje, he'll fall into that mix with Ryan Schimpf, Cory Spangenberg, alongside Yangervis Solarte, kind of vying for third base, second base job. I think Solarte is the leader for one of those jobs. What he did last year was incredibly impressive, especially when you factor in what he went through on a personal level. Goes into this about .280, .290, 15 home runs, and was constantly leaving the team to deal with some very difficult family issues. And it was impressive, incredibly impressive. I think those other guys are vying for that other spot, and I think there's excitement in those guys. We are still out there looking for the shortstop of the future now and haven't located him. Luis Sardinas is the frontrunner for that. And all of that circles around Wil Myers as our cornerstone guy. Offensively, you look at it, you're excited. Bullpen, there's reason for excitement. You look at the rotation, we got our work to do right now. There's going to be opportunity and opportunity for guys to establish themselves. Q. How do you see the Cactus League transformation? ANDY GREEN: When I played, I was driving from Tucson up to Phoenix. That was the long drive, and now that the union has got two seats for every player, that would have been really exciting at that point in time. Now it's right there in the greater Phoenix area, and with the addition of the newer renovated parks, Mesa where the Cubs are and Salt River, those are beautiful Spring Training parks. I think the Cactus League, as a pure baseball fan, that's the first place I would be going. You get such close proximity to the players and you get right up close to our guys in Peoria and get a great feel for us. It's just a great atmosphere all together. Q. You mentioned spots in the rotation. ANDY GREEN: Yeah, Walker is a guy that he went through multiple levels last year, three levels last year and was a guy that at one point in time was something to be expected and fell off the radar and came back with a vengeance and moved across the system. His sinker he relies on and he's a guy that is going to have an opportunity to compete for the rotation, and he'll be thrown into the mix along with some free agent acquisitions we'll make. Walker is right in the mix. Lamet is a power fastball and power slider. Some people think he projects better for the bullpen. We'll give him every opportunity to start, especially when you look at where upper-level starting depth is. We've got work to do in that area. Really excited about the guys we have going down from a starting pitching perspective, led by Anderson Espinoza and a Cal Quantrill and Eric Lauer, we are excited about those guys. But I think you look at what we have at the upper levels, it's Walker, it's Lamet, it's them getting an opportunity to fight for Major League jobs. Q. How much rotation spots would you say are open now? Is all five of them? ANDY GREEN: Yeah. We're going in wide open. You look at the team right now, you've got Christian Friedrich coming back. He's probably the most probable bet to be in the rotation. Luis Perdomo is right up there with him. Paul Clemens and Jarred Cosart are two guys that we picked up last year, and both showed flashes of really good things. I've talked to them consistently through the off-season, and there's still more development ahead of both of those guys. And if they are going to lay hold of those positions in the rotation, they have got work to do. Vargas is in México pitching better. But it's as wide open as you could imagine a Major League rotation being. Q. How do you expect left field to play out? ANDY GREEN: We'll see how that dynamic plays out. You might just go left center and right center and five outfielders. They are pretty special athletes. It's going to be as much of how they fit and how they perform in those particular spots, like who excels in which spot, because they are top-of-the-game center fielders, without question. You ask anybody in the industry, they will say those two guys are as good of defensive center fielders as anybody in the game. It's really how the dynamic unfolds. We'll probably bounce them around in Spring Training and get a feel. Alex Dickerson is firmly in the outfield mix. Before he had the nasty collision on the warning track last year, thought he was playing much better left field than people gave him credit for. That's a five, six-hole in the order potential. His walk rate was up and power production. When we look at it from an outfield perspective, there's five guys we genuinely believe are legitimate Major League outfielders, and that's a point we feel really good about. Q. Are you comfortable with, I don't want to call it a platoon, but working them in day to day throughout the week, or would you like to establish starters? ANDY GREEN: My early expectation in December would be going with four out of five of those guys and one of those guys ends up in the Minor Leagues. They are all optionable outfielders. I think one of the things that happens in their first Major League seasons is the guys get out there and they get 500, 600 at-bats and I think they are going to be more productive at the 500, 550 level. I think you get four or five of those guys and cycle through them. You're able to get guys some matchups and give them rest. I believe all of those guys are starting outfielders in the Major Leagues. Q. (Indiscernible). ANDY GREEN: Not sure if you're supposed to talk that highly of another rival -- he's a tremendous person and he worked incredibly hard and he had a very upbeat attitude, and the bravado that you see on the field is -- you get an opinion of him on the other side, and close proximity to him, you're blown away by his authenticity. I'm excited that he gets another opportunity, but not excited he's in our division. Q. In San Diego, the multiple rebuilds and very rarely have they resulted in what they wanted to. How do you combat that skepticism in the fan base? ANDY GREEN: Skepticism is fair. They have been waiting since 1969 to win a World Series. You see a team get rebooted in the middle of the season and you had veterans, names that the industry knew, and they are not there anymore. It probably has to a lot of people the "here we go again" feeling, we're rebuilding but are we getting somewhere. I don't think there's a point in time where San Diego has made such a radical investment in the future. You look at the money that's been spent in the international market, and it's still counting. That becomes an historic investment because of this new CBA, no team is going to spend 60 to $100 million and finding international talent and developing it. I don't think at any time has a system been so stocked with lower-level talent. I think that's where the bulk of our talent resides and it's reason for optimism. It takes a discerning fan to look at it from a 30,000-foot view -- you ask for patience, but you understand that the organization and fan base has already been very patient at this point in time. So asking for something that's already been given, there's no other choice at this point in time. For me internally, I don't care what the external expectations are, but the group of guys we bring together in a Padres uniform for 2017, my expectation is we compete every single day and we go out thinking that's what's going to happen. And whatever is thought of externally, that's fair, people are entitled to those opinions, and we'll do our best to change those. Q. What is Jankowski's strength and weakness? ANDY GREEN: Elite speed and defense. It's fair, our guys get hit on, and every team calls and asks about guys that are good. Travis is elite speed, elite defense, it's continuing to go progress offensively in his approach and continuing to progress in his bunt game. I think he had nine bunt hits which was second in the league last year, and he still could take enormous strides in that area. There's a lot to like about him. I think deployed as a weapon late in the game, he could steal a base for you, make a game-saving catch or game-winning catch and he can just wreak havoc on the base paths. Q. Enough arm for the corners or center? ANDY GREEN: Without a doubt. It's not his strongest attribute, but not a lagging one either. Q. Teams need, quote/unquote, impact players. How do you define an impact player? ANDY GREEN: I think like an organization, we look at Wil Myers is that, a guy that has the ability to drive the ball on a consistent basis, get on base on a consistent basis, do things that actually help you win baseball games. Wil, inside of him, he's got the .300, 40-home run, 40-stolen base potential. It's there. It's a matter of tapping into that every year. And those are the kind of guys that win you games. It's a guy you can look at for 200 innings and a guy you can look at to get through games consistently and give you a chance to win every time they take the mound. I think we have some impact guys in the bullpen, but we are still searching that in the rotation and anchoring it around Wil Myers offensively. Q. So Travis Jankowski wouldn't be a good example necessarily, but his (indiscernible) is a lot a lot higher than a lot of people realized? ANDY GREEN: Travis Jankowski is a winning baseball player. He's a guy if you want to win baseball games, he defends the field and takes hits away, and he gets on base at above average clip. Q. You guys came out with four guys in the Rule V draft last year through trades and your own picks. This year you have a lot of roster room as well. Is there an expectation that another big splash will be made tomorrow in the Rule V draft? ANDY GREEN: I know our scouts are looking through that list right now and trying to determine who the right person to take a risk on is. Last year we took four picks, three of them we returned at the end of Spring Training. So even if you take a couple guys, I don't think it's like a guaranteed roster spot. Nobody gets scholarshipped in. We accept Luis Perdomo because we saw a guy that was going to be impactful for this year and the future, and we kept Jabari Blash. We were able to keep him in the organization, even though he did not stay on the Major League roster all year. I know our guys are searching every avenue to acquire impact talent for the future. Q. Luis Perdomo, how close would you say he is to a rotation pitcher? What does he have to do? ANDY GREEN: I think the expectation now is he's in the rotation, but it's like short of the commitment to him and coming out and saying publically that he is in the rotation. I think that is the expectation. He has growth ahead of him. Like for me, when I look at him, there's a lot of times he gets impressive sink on his fastball, and there's a lot of times he gets arm side run on his fastball. His next level of development is understanding how to harness each one of those and how to use those at the appropriate time and not just have -- it comes out sinking and it comes out running. I still think he's at his development cycle where he is -- he's not quite sure which one he's going to get when he throws the baseball. In order to tap into that consistently, that's going to catapult him into the upper echelon of starters because he does have that kind of arm. Q. You mentioned deep outfield, and second base is also deep. Is there a sense, people talk about Jankowski as a trade piece. Is there a chance that second base, you could make some proves to acquire pitching? ANDY GREEN: It's a spot we've been asked about because other people like yourself look at it and say, maybe we have some surplus there and people like our second base crop. We do get questions about those guys, but we're not in a hurry to move those guys and thin out our talent. Right now, the guys are competing for the job at second base. I'm a big fan of Luis Urias, tremendous feel for the barrel, great feel for the game of baseball. Really exciting and I think he's going to continue to compete and continue to get better. We do have that depth and it's nice to have, and we do have needs obviously. So as the off-season unfolds, we'll see how that plays out. Q. Spangenberg has only made it through a season healthy once in six professional seasons including his Minor League career. Last year he was out for most of it. What can you guys do to help him stay healthy? ANDY GREEN: Yeah, it was a tough loss for us this year, Opening Day, second baseman, batting second in the order and you lose him for 95 percent of the season. He's a quick-twitch athlete, like the body really moves. He flies. Like that type of an athlete, has the propensity to get hurt from time to time. From an evaluation standpoint, we have done everything possible to look at his body, makeup, the way he moves functionally to put him in a position to better. We've worked on some of his movement patterns to improve them. And he's, for me, impactful on a baseball field. So we have to figure out how to keep him on there. We are extremely hopeful going into this year that he finally sheds that and plays consistently for us. Q. What Minor Leaguers who did not play last year will have a chance? ANDY GREEN: Maton has got a chance. Obviously he's a guy, he's a high-spin rate guy that got a ton of guys out in the Minor Leagues and we've identified as a guy we really, really like. He's off the roster now going into the season, so there's always the roster questions of how he fits and when he should start his Major League career, is there more in his development cycle. There are other guys, Brasoban has a little bit of a health question now, but when he's healthy he's an impact arm in the bullpen. Jason Jester did a really nice job in AA. We like the high spin and breaking ball. There's a group of guys that we think have a chance to help be depth pieces for our Major League pen. I think you look at our pen right now, you like those guys. You like Carter Capps coming in and being at the back end along with Brandon Maurer and Brad Hand and Ryan Buchter. I think the industry can look at our bullpen guys and really like it. Q. Maurer, just where he is now? How would you assess (indiscernible)? ANDY GREEN: He's a dynamic arm. We've analytically looked at him and talked about pitch patterns and sequence and usage and identified things we think he can improve greatly on. He went through a month stretch that was rough for him last year but if you look at the end of a season, he was incredibly good, and he's a 97-mile-an-hour fastball with a slider and good feel for the changeup, too. Q. Can you take us through your coaching search and what are you looking for? ANDY GREEN: It's different in every role. We've got two of the three guys identified, I don't want to announce them all at the same point in time, so I don't think we are going to come out and publically say it at this point in time. We've been on that search for the better part of a month. Last year we moved quickly through that search. This time it's much more deliberate of a process, talking to a lot of people, getting a feel for the guys we want. At first base, you're looking for somebody that can impact the game from a baserunning standpoint. You are looking for some help in the hitting department to be in the cage, and you're just looking for presence, competitive advantage, leadership ability, and you're looking for an all-around good person, too. I don't think we're scared of the fly ball. I think we're pretty well proven at this point, the more guys get the ball on the ground, the more successful they will be. You look at Ryan, I think he had the most extreme fly ball rate in the game and still wildly successful at Petco. You don't shy away from it, but you are cognizant of how that does impact the game at Petco. Q. Are you still looking for bullpen? ANDY GREEN: I don't think it's at the top of our list of needs right now. I think starting pitching and shortstop is at the top of our list of needs, but we won't shy away from any person who can improve our club. Q. You mentioned the international investment. Is there a sense that you have the financial room to make those additions? ANDY GREEN: Ownership made an unbelievable investment and continue to do so. I think they are giving us room to add pieces at the Major League level that will make us better going into the season. I think it's fair to say as we look forward going into the future, the bulk of the investment will impact us in the future, but that's not a bad thing. It's a prudent thing. Q. Did you see Otani's pitching? ANDY GREEN: I've seen his pitching. I've seen him hit it through the roof of the Tokyo Dome. I've seen him in the Japan Series. We're very well aware of who he is and how good he is. He's going to be a very impactful Major League baseball player when the time comes, and he's as good a player as anybody on the planet right now. And he's a guy that I had firsthand opportunity to watch take batting practice in Spring Training last year. Doesn't take a genius to realize how good he is. Q. World Baseball Classic is coming up. What's your feelings about guys playing the WBC and extending their season by a month or so? ANDY GREEN: The WBC is good for the game. There's so much excitement about it coming up, especially our Latin countries that are such a huge part of Major League Baseball. Don't worry about it too much, because everybody is doing that, so it's not a competitive disadvantage by any stretch. Every team is having a longer Spring Training because of it, and I think the excitement fostered by the event is good for the sport. Q. In your first year as manager, was there anything -- I know you've been around the game a long time. But is there anything that surprised you maybe as a Big League manager that maybe you think will be such a big deal or maybe more than you expected, different? ANDY GREEN: Obviously the media obligation was there, so that didn't shock me by any stretch but there's a number of off-field obligations that occupy not only your time but your attention and intellect and take you away from the team and you have to be cognizant of that and recognize what's most important. So the off-the-field demands, I don't think anybody knows it until they actually sit in the seat and go through it. I don't think it was shocking, but you know, I have a greater awareness of what it is right now. Q. Have you found a way to deal with it? ANDY GREEN: Yeah, I mean, I just usually tell A.J. Cassavell I can't talk (laughter). What I have in ownership and in A.J. and in this organization -- not A.J. Cassavell but A.J. Preller, what I have in those guys is guys that are incredibly supportive and guys that are incredibly inquisitive and guys that want to know what's going on. I have a group of people behind me and behind the coaching staff that are doing everything possible to make us successful for that in the future. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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