MLB WINTER MEETINGS

December 6, 2022

Brandon Hyde

Baltimore Orioles

Press Conference

Q. What did you think of the Kyle Gibson signing?

BRANDON HYDE: I'm excited to add Kyle and talked to him a couple times and traded texts last night. And excited to bring someone with the career he's had and coming off playing with a World Series club, and somebody with his veteran aspects that what he brings is going to be huge for us.

Q. Mike mentioned you've been involved in a lot of the video calls that have been happening. What have those been like for you?

BRANDON HYDE: It's been a lot of fun. We haven't really been doing those the last few years, and now to speak with guys about our organization and how we feel we can help them and talk about our team, it's been a lot of fun to get to know a lot of these guys and a cool experience.

Q. What's that pitch you're making?

BRANDON HYDE: It's a lot of things, depends on positionally, too. But I think what we did last year, how we can build off last year, the talent that we have on our team. The talent that we have coming.

It's attractive place to play. And the division we're in and the type of talent we're going to have and now we've really turned the corner. We're proud of turning the corner, what we went through the last few years. Now we're in a different mode. Now it's a winning mode. Trying to add guys that can help us win.

Q. When you talk about building off last year, what do you want to change or tweak from last year that maybe going into 2023 is going to be the difference?

BRANDON HYDE: I think a lot of these guys had really valuable experience. We played games that mattered up until the last series of the year.

A pretty young core, pretty young group. Majority of the bullpen guys, one or two years in the bullpen or less. You've got Bradish and Kremer and (indiscernible) at the end, but those guys have not that much Major League time.

But I think getting more experience on the pitching side of being able to pitch in meaningful games, I think that was important. And for our position players guys that have been three, four years in the big leagues now continuing to improve and guys are getting better.

Q. Every time a guy was in the minors doing well we would ask you about him and you'd say that you like the guys you have here and all that. But now you kind of got, I wouldn't say a fresh look, but now it's winter and you can look, what is your wish list to kind of fill out the team, get where you want to go?

BRANDON HYDE: I think Mike's been pretty transparent about what we're looking for. And that's starting pitching depth for sure. I think some veteran presence is important. Possible just adding I think more experienced Major League players and seeing how they fit in our club.

I think that's going to be important to help our younger guys that don't have playoff experience, that don't have winning -- for me that's what our veteran guys brought us last year was an attitude of we're going to win. And we're better than how we're playing. And that we need to improve quickly.

And I thought our guys that had never won before changed the mindset of our club. And I think we just need to add onto that, honestly. I think now the guys know that we are good. We have talented dudes. We've got guys that have talent coming. And we just need top continue to play like we did, honestly, from June on.

Q. What's going to be your message to (indiscernible)?

BRANDON HYDE: Still working on that, Rich. I've got some time to think about it. But yeah, I have some time to think about it.

Q. But to make sure that they know that they're starting from zero, that they're not starting from 83 wins?

BRANDON HYDE: Right. It's a new year, no doubt, it's a new year. The teams in our division are only going to get better. We're going to improve also and we're going to sign some players and give guys opportunity.

But just because we're growing the talent and we're a little more exciting to watch, I think we still have things to prove. And we haven't been to the postseason yet. And the day's coming but we still have a lot of work to do to get there.

Q. As you guys potentially add some veteran type of players, how do you as the manager make sure that younger players, either those who have been there or who are coming, still have opportunities? How do you balance that as the season goes on?

BRANDON HYDE: I think it's pretty much who can help us win. That's the bottom line we're in the win now. The attitude has changed a little bit from the past of giving a lot of guys opportunities because we're trying to see who can stick in the big leagues.

But now it's about winning and about doing honestly what we did from June on was win a ton of series, beat some good clubs.

So I'm not going to -- you want to give young players opportunity, but at the same time we're not going to sacrifice our team's wins and losses because of that.

Q. There's (indiscernible) leadership in the clubhouse because you lost some guys to free agency, (indiscernible) and others who were big in that area --

BRANDON HYDE: Yeah, I want to believe that guys are going to, with another year under their belt, will step up. Had some great examples of what leading in a different, three different ways. But being around them for a full season I thought that was going to be impactful for our guys. And take that next step.

Some guys are going to step up into that type of role and be more comfortable in talking in meetings and holding guys accountable easier now that they've got to play together and seeing what it looks like and what winning feels like, you want to believe some of these guys can take the next step in their career.

Q. Yesterday Mike was saying that he thought Urias would be playing quite a lot second base. Do you envision him as sort of a super utility guy this year?

BRANDON HYDE: You know, for me, Ramon is a great story from last year of -- we played him a lot at shortstop Spring Training. Remember, Mateo and him were splitting time at shortstop. Had no idea who our shortstop was going to be. Moved Urias to second, moved him to third. We knew he would be a good third baseman. Then it just fell into, Ramon is our everyday third baseman. He goes out and wins the Gold Glove.

I'm really comfortable putting Ramon in a lot of different places. He can do a lot of things well and play well at second base. I think he could stand in at shortstop and be consistent for us there also. But I think second and third -- he just proved that he could be an elite defender at third base. And I think he can be a good second baseman as well.

I think we're going to see where we are roster-wise and see what the fit is. That's what is so great about Ramon, the versatility. The more guys we can have like that can move around the field, that just benefits us and helps us from (indiscernible) from injuries and guys out, et cetera, being able to have more guys play in different spots.

Q. What kind of conversations have you guys had so far about Adley, playing time behind the plate, DH, whatever?

BRANDON HYDE: We haven't talked about it much lately. But I think that we're going to go into the year, it's one area we're going to, Mike and the group are looking at as backup catcher and who is going to be with Adley. So see how it goes, honestly. It's something we'll discuss is Adley's playing time this next year.

Q. You talked about pitching depth. Obviously John is probably not going to be back until midseason, summertime, whatever. How difficult would it be going into next season without an established top rotation top guy, a guy who is maybe a little bit above a Gibson or maybe kind of could show something to some of these other guys?

BRANDON HYDE: I think we'll see how -- we'll see where it lands here at the end. Still a long way to go between now and March. But I feel great about honestly the progress that some of these guys made last year and what Dean did in the second half, what Bradish did in the second half, and what Tyler did in the first half. Grayson is going to be a part next year.

And to me it feels good knowing we have some real starting pitching candidates that have an opportunity to be really good players. So we'll kind of go in next year, as it stands, the way it is right now, I feel good about our guys.

Now, if we were to add more, that's great. More depth the better. The more experienced the better. So we'll see what happens.

Q. (Indiscernible) is somebody you can picture being in your rotation, breaking camp or potentially a bullpen guy? Or do you look at him -- I know there's a lot of time starter also down below?

BRANDON HYDE: I think right now we haven't even talked about it, honestly, but probably right now if we go into spring we'd build him up to be at least a multiple-inning guy, then we'll see what the rotation looks like, what the bullpen looks like there.

Q. How good is it to have all those starting candidates, how nice is it to go into spring, from past experience the battles for rotation spots?

BRANDON HYDE: No, I think that -- we didn't talk about Austin Voth. He did a great job for us in the rotation, got an opportunity and ran with it. And what he did, with a at three-plus ERA, beating really good clubs. He's definitely going to be in the mix also.

To have the more depth you can have in the rotation obviously the better. We've been -- we've got to stay fortunate with injuries and you always worry about things in Spring Training. But right now the core guys we have rotation-wise had a lot of success that second half. And we want to see them build on it.

Q. How important is it to add first base depth just to help that Mountcastle doesn't have to be out there as frequently, get him off his feet a little bit?

BRANDON HYDE: I think that's a possibility. But I'm not worried about Mounty's durability, honestly. He's a young guy, athletic. I think he's going to be an impact, middle-of-the-order bat. And so to me it's not a huge priority.

Q. Health-wise, everybody make it through so far, okay? Any updates or anything about it?

BRANDON HYDE: Only positive. I saw a few guys in Sarasota that we -- saw Means. Means looks unbelievable. I saw Urias. He looks great. So everybody's on track to where they should be.

Q. Mateo at short, were you disappointed he wasn't in the finals for --

BRANDON HYDE: Very disappointed. But (indiscernible) got it right. Felt he should have been at least a finalist. Just the impact he made for us defensively at shortstop, he played, the work he put in, wanted to see him get rewarded for all the work that he put in. Never being an everyday player in the big leagues, playing every day at short, doing the job he did, it was outstanding.

For me, we got -- it's nice we're up the middle how we're looking right now, with Adley behind the plate and Mateo, the way he can play shortstop, Sev (phonetic), what he does at centerfield. Ramon, what he did at third base. Austin Hays, the defense he played in left -- our defense didn't get talked about enough about how much improvement we made defensively to help out our pitchers, but also the ability to get off the field and to stay in games. We did a great job defensively last year. These guys aren't old they'll continue to get better.

Q. How do you see Gunnar being used?

BRANDON HYDE: Add Gunnar the last month of the year, it adds another dimension defensively as well, a guy that can play both spots on the left side of the field and do them extremely well.

Loved the way he played third base. Didn't play short much because of Jorgie but when he did he really impressed. We're going to have some good problems in Spring Training potentially of some really good players that we need to play -- looking forward to play.

Q. Is there a possibility to move Gunnar to second or is that an experiment?

BRANDON HYDE: We haven't talked about that right now. That was probably unfair to him honestly when I did that. And it was mainly because I wanted to get all those guys in the lineup at the same time, and Ramon was playing so well at third base. And kind of put Gunnar in a tough spot, honestly.

He's already played two. To put him in a third, I wish that wouldn't have happened.

But I think it's hard enough to play defense in the Big Leagues at one spot. To ask him what -- what I asked him to do was challenging. But if he had reps he would be able to do it. He'd probably do it anywhere.

Q. You didn't get a lot of chance to look at Kyle Stowers the last part of the year, didn't get as much playing time. What are you thinking about in Spring Training for him, what's your outlook for him?

BRANDON HYDE: I think if the roster stays the way it is right now, he'll have an opportunity to win a Major League job. He did some impressive things late. Took some good at-bats, some big homers. Got great experience playing in the games we were playing in against our division, against Houston in September.

Kyle's got a ton of ability. We believe in him as a hitter. He's going to have huge power. He's going to make some adjustments at the plate and continue to improve. And he walks. And he's going to be able to play corner outfield defense. Like what we have in Kyle.

Q. Santander has gotten better every year. Do you think he's going to continue to build off that and next year take it to another level?

BRANDON HYDE: He had a great season. And bottom line with him was we were just trying to keep him healthy all year, knowing that he had that ability to, the ability to put the offensive numbers up that he did.

And that's why I DHed him so much, honestly, in the middle part of the season was I want him in the lineup. I wanted him to have four at-bats a night.

And really proud of how far he's come, honestly, as a pro. How he takes care of himself. The work that he puts in. How he's emerging into the a little bit of a leadership role. Going to continue to do that. Really proud of the year he had.

Q. What do you think of the new schedule, the fact that I mean that AL East meat grinder that you've had to play half your season against the whole time, now it's only 12 games apiece?

BRANDON HYDE: What do I think about it? I think it's a little more fair, yep. I think it's more fair for everybody and I'm looking forward to it. All the AL East is looking forward to it.

Q. Is it too bad it comes at this point in your cycle where you guys are on your way up?

BRANDON HYDE: I don't know. I think that it's going to be fun, too, playing everybody. I think that's going to be a fun part. I know it's going to be more travel. But I think to be able to play every single team is going to be enjoyable for everybody, which means playing some of the guys we play against all the time a little bit less. I think we're okay with that.