MLB WINTER MEETINGS

December 6, 2022

Bob Melvin

San Diego Padres

Press Conference

Q. I know last year you tried to get to know guys. What's it like with communication with guys and things like that. How do you do it?

BOB MELVIN: I'm pretty easy until like January 1st. I let them kind of do their thing. They see me every day during the course of the season, and I'm probably the last guy they want to talk to early on in the season, in the off-season. So I give them through the holidays, and they'll start hearing from me a little bit.

I text certain guys. Had to give Musgrove a little grief here recently to make sure he had some Dramamine in him and stuff like that. For the most part, I kind of leave them alone.

Q. How do you view that trip that he took overseas?

BOB MELVIN: It doesn't surprise you that he did that. I know I couldn't do something like that, but it looked like he had a lot of fun with it. That's just Joe being Joe.

A little cool there. I asked him, Are you going to warm up before this hopefully? He said, I really don't need to. He said, Any pitch will probably break the record. I think he did warm up a little bit before it.

Q. About the rotation, last year you had six or seven first half of the year. I know you were a little skeptical going into that. What did you learn about how to sustain them through the season now with the group of starters?

BOB MELVIN: I'm not so much skeptical on the fact that you realize you need probably eight for five over the course of the season. It's just the quality we had and how are they going to fit in. But as you saw, we get down to the end, and there were three guys that we leaned on a lot. Nothing looks like it does at the beginning.

So give A.J. credit in the fact that he did put together a deep group, and they kind of ruled the day early on. The relievers kind of became a little bit more prominent in the second half of the season, especially down the stretch.

So you can never have too much starting pitching.

Q. Do you like these meetings? What do you benefit as a manager, in your sense, being here?

BOB MELVIN: Let me think about that one for a minute. I like this year because it has -- it's been a couple years since we've done this. But whenever the whole baseball world gets together in the same place, there's obviously a lot bantered about. Everybody's paying attention to their phones and news, immediate news, and I'm usually a guy that stays away from that, but even I during the course of the Winter Meetings are checking things on an hourly basis or so.

It's a lot of fun for everybody in the industry involved.

Q. What were your thoughts when you saw the report about Aaron going to San Francisco and then it didn't go through?

BOB MELVIN: I didn't see the reports that he did go there, so I'm still hopeful he ends up somewhere else. If he does end up going home, then he goes home. It's something we have to deal with.

Q. Reports that the team may be interested in adding a marquee shortstop. Do you like the idea of having potentially more of a team that has versatility like that or players that can play in different spots rather than we have a first baseman, here's the first baseman, in a more traditional sense?

BOB MELVIN: I think we're able to have guys, the so-called several shortstops if that was the case. Jake can play anywhere. He could move over to first if we had to. Fernando Ortiz is probably as athletic a guy that can play anywhere in the field, probably any sport.

So I think if there's a team built to be able to move some guys around, it would probably be us. Now, there are probably some tough conversations along the way as far as that goes, but I think with the athletes we have, we're able to move some guys around and make it fit.

Q. How can Campusano grab a market share (indiscernible)?

BOB MELVIN: It's probably about his time to get more of a workload. So the times we used him late in the season, he did well. He had one game in Arizona where he caught Joe. I don't know if it was a shutout or one-run game, he had a home run. So you're always looking for homegrown guys that you know aren't making a ton of money at a certain amount of time.

We have a lot of guys that are, so you have to support that with guys like him. And it's always nice to have guys from within the system because I've often said it's like a university for you. You're a freshman, sophomore, junior, you finally get to varsity, and there's a lot of pride in the organization when you come up in it.

Q. What did you see coming from Spring Training with Luis Campusano and seeing him at the end of the year, the progress that you saw and maturity and engagement?

BOB MELVIN: Yeah, I think there was quite a bit. I didn't know him going in, and because of the shortened spring, he didn't get much of a look either. At the time, we had Caratini as well. We could DH him at-bats, and it was tough to get him behind the plate.

Just followed him over the course of the season, had some contact with Triple-A guys, and it seemed like he matured as the season went on. Then when he was with us for the last stint, it's as much a part of the team as he's felt, and he was all in for us and did everything we asked.

Q. How important will it be for Juan to have a full off-season with this team, go into Spring Training with you guys, and be even more settled?

BOB MELVIN: Look, when you come in, especially with the late date for the trade deadline, you come in, and there's such an expectation level. I don't know that he put any pressure on himself as far as that goes, but you can't help a little bit knowing that this trade's made for you to come in and put the team over the top.

The numbers probably didn't look like they did on the back of his baseball card, but when we really needed him to be there with the big hits and in the postseason, he was. I think settling in, getting a full season, getting Spring Training with his team now, he understands how we do things here. He's embraced by his teammates.

Spring Training is always important for a first-year player to get to know his team. He didn't have that. All the firsts are out of the way for him, and he can kind of settle in and do his thing.

Q. Bob, Nick Martinez, his versatility was obviously really important to you guys in the second half of the postseason. With him being back at this current moment, how do you view his role and what you'd like to see from him in Spring Training and the other part of the year?

BOB MELVIN: Right now he's a starter. We lost some guys. He came in last year as a starter as well. He opened up the season as a starter.

The great thing about him is he's about as versatile a pitcher as I've been around at this point, and he'll do anything to help the team. I know he's happy about being back. I know he's excited about getting a chance to start again. We'll see how the season goes and where the needs are.

As he showed you last year, he's open for anything he can do to help the team.

Q. A.J. said the two biggest things are starting pitching and corner outfield. How urgent is it that you guys address those needs this winter wheeling and dealing, or is it something you can address as the season goes on?

BOB MELVIN: I think we could potentially plug it in later too. We have a really good core group here and a team that's coming off a pretty good season and tasted the postseason, got to National League Championship Series. A lot of our core guys remain.

So it's a hungry team. As we sit here right now, I like our team if we were going to Spring Training tomorrow. But it allows you not to have to have urgency here at the Winter Meetings to try to do something to plug some of those holes because we really don't have that many.

Q. It's kind of expected, but how difficult is it to lose a guy like Josh Bell?

BOB MELVIN: Look, Josh came in and did a nice job for us. He fit in really well. For a guy that we're used to playing every day, he had to at times look at a reduced role, come off the bench. A guy who was used to playing first base every day. He was doing a lot of DH'ing.

It was a difficult scenario for him too, but he got along. He was all in for us. Really if you got to know him, he's just a terrific gentleman. It was never a problem, never complained about whether he was in the lineup or not or whether he was DH'ing. He was there to try to push us as far as we could go, and he certainly helped us do that.

Q. Ha-Seong Kim, the unsung hero of this Padres team, how much does he endear himself to his teammates?

BOB MELVIN: Well, his performance. It starts with performance. I think he was as consistent as any shortstop in the league. A guy with a team that offensively we were pretty deep, not only did he contribute on the offensive end, but defensively he was fantastic for us and was the key to our defensive prowess last year.

After a year of him kind of getting settled in the States, not getting to play a whole lot, was thrust into the lineup and did a fantastic job for us.

For me, a Gold Glove-caliber type guy for us and really solidified our defense.

Q. Darvish announced that he's going to participate in the WBC. Are there any concerns or something as a manager?

BOB MELVIN: Not with Yu. You know what he's going to do. He's going to prepare like he does. He's going to compete. He came in last year and might have thrown two or three innings his first time out for us in a shortened spring.

Really with starting pitching, you don't worry too much about that because he's going to get his innings in. It's relievers, how much are they going to get in the WBC and how consistent that's going to be.

I don't worry too much about him based on how hungry he is to compete every year and how prepared he is to do his job all the time. Just be another feather in his cap, and I'm proud of the fact that he wants to represent his country.

Q. Is he going to play from Japan qualification or when Japan comes here?

BOB MELVIN: I don't know. I just found out about this too, so I don't know the details.

Q. What kind of impact can a deep play have on the team the following season?

BOB MELVIN: A real impact. They get a taste of not only getting to the playoffs, but winning two series and winning against two really good teams. And then being so close to potentially getting to a World Series, that's tough to get out of you. You really want to push that to the next level the next year.

It was exciting for everybody. It was fun for everybody. It ends really dramatically when you get that far, and it just gives you that much more incentive to take it to the next level.

Q. With the full Spring Training, are you going to approach this new Spring Training any differently than you did with the shortened?

BOB MELVIN: Now we have the WBC this year, so we'll have quite a few guys, is my guess, that won't be with us. That's a whole different dynamic that you have to get used to as you go along, see how many guys are there. It gives you a chance to look at some younger guys.

It's not going to be a normal spring again. We haven't had a normal spring in quite some time, and based on the fact the WBC is involved this year, there are going to be some hurdles and some things you have to deal with out of the norm.

Q. What about this off-season? Have you had a chance to recharge your batteries, step away, go somewhere and kind of step away from everything?

BOB MELVIN: As much travel as we do during the season, I try not to travel a ton. At some point in time I will, but just kind of rest, relax, stay at home for a little bit, get used to that. Do a little hiking, a little biking, golf and so forth. Yes, it's easy to recharge.