MLB WINTER MEETINGS

December 5, 2023

Bob Melvin

San Francisco Giants

Press Conference

Q. You're following Stephen Vogt, by the way.

BOB MELVIN: I saw him on the way out. I used to use Stephen Vogt to end my meetings, a lot. So when you have team meetings, a lot of times it's what do you do at the end? So having him was pretty easy. I said you got two minutes at the end, do whatever you want. Make everybody laugh. So, yeah.

Q. (Indiscernible)?

BOB MELVIN: Well, I know what's going on. It's no secret that we're -- players at the top of the market. So, a little different from what I'm used to in the past, but it's exciting, so we'll see where it plays out. But a lot going on right now. I think until a lot of the first -- the high-end guys sign, then I think other things will probably happen a little quicker.

Q. (Indiscernible)?

BOB MELVIN: I can't and I can't confirm we had one nor deny. So no comment on that.

Q. (Indiscernible)?

BOB MELVIN: I don't know. I read about that too. At the end of the day, it's what's going to be the best fit for the player. Money, obviously, comes into play as well. So I think most of these guys have a pretty decent idea of what they want to do, where they want to go. But if it comes down to something, minutia or something like that, maybe the manager factors in. But I don't know how much really at the end of the day a manager does in those type scenarios.

Q. What are the biggest needs the team needs to address right now in free agency?

BOB MELVIN: Really, I think as Farhan said too, San Francisco's a star-power town. So I think we need some players, one, two or whatever, that the fans really identify with. Whether it was the Willie Mays days, the Barry Bonds days, Buster Posey, star power is important to San Francisco.

Now having said that, it's easier said than done. But I think we can start with that, then maybe a little better defense, a little more athleticism with the stolen bases last year, with the new rules and so forth, maybe try to enhance that a little bit.

Q. Since last time you spoke at the press conference, what have you learned about the roster since then? What do you like that maybe fans wouldn't even realize?

BOB MELVIN: The young pitching that we have. Pitching's obviously really important. So not only do we have some guys at the top, you expect some guys to -- Cobb get healthy, DeSclafani come healthy again now too.

Then some of these younger kids, the Harrisons and Winns and guys like that, I think that when you look at our organization a little bit deeper, it's the young pitching that you look at.

But you know what, I like the team as is. Now, I know we are looking to add and we want to add, but Michael Conforto is a year off a surgery now. Usually that next year is a little bit easier. A healthy Haniger is a really good player. Yastrzemski is a good player, Flores, Davis is a good player.

We have a lot of good players. So adding to that certainly makes us better, but I do like the group that we have here.

Q. How much of the roster have you got the chance to talk with?

BOB MELVIN: Most of. Met a few of the guys at Papago, some of the guys, Yas was there that day, Webb was there that day, Cobb was there. I was there for some meetings for a couple days, then talked to as many guys as I possibly can.

Q. Have you learned anything about those guys?

BOB MELVIN: Just you form opinions about guys from the other side, and if you're around long enough, typically you get a pretty good idea. I probably talked to Yas quite a bit, and we talked more about his walk-up song, his Led Zeppelin walk-up song than anything else, so that resonates with me.

Q. You obviously remember Pat Burrell as a player. What are your thoughts on him as a hitting coach, and how much have you talked to him about kind of the philosophies or things that might be worked on?

BOB MELVIN: Yeah, look, it's impressive for a big-time player like him to do everything in the organization for a long period of time. It's great that he knows a lot of these younger guys coming up too. We're really excited about the hitting group with J.V. too and Pedy. That's a really good group, it feels like, together.

Pat's done everything he can to not force himself in, but it's more about the group than one particular guy. I've said often it's important that you promote from within, and Pat's a guy within the organization, Garvin as well.

So, yeah, that was kind of an easy one after talking to him too. Kind of a different guy than when he played. He understands now too that it's not about you, it's about the players and you need to build relationships with these guys, there has to be trust. Doesn't hurt that he was a big-time player and they can look at the back of his baseball card and it resonates with 'em. So a lot of good things to like about him.

Q. When you were with the Padres, you worked with David Macias and Ryan Flaherty, and I'm curious what your experience was with them and whether you think that the fact that they were college teammates added to their plan?

BOB MELVIN: I had plenty of Vanderbilt guys, I know that's where you're going with that. Whether it's Sonny Gray and Tony Kemp and all those guys, look at the experiences they had in school, kind of brings them closer together, some big-time plays. They're all proud of going there.

Yeah, I think it helped David more than anything to have Flash, coming to the Big Leagues, not really knowing anybody on the staff, the players or anything, to have Flash who was there for a period of time before that.

So, yeah, all very students of the game. The skipper there is fantastic. He resonates with all the players that come out of there. I had an opportunity to meet him last year. He was at the ballpark in San Diego for a day. When you look at college programs, that's one right at the top.

Q. How do you see the center field situation? We've heard reports about the team having interest in names like Jung-Hoo Lee and Cody Bellinger. How do you see that situation right now?

BOB MELVIN: Look, we have some guys that can play there, but it's no secret that that's one of the positions maybe we're looking to upgrade, to get a little more athletic, a little bit more defensive minded. Yas does such a great job in right, and then Conforto and Haniger can move around a little bit, depending on the DH situation, can use guys there too.

So I think middle of the diamond defense is always important, so that's one we're looking at pretty hard.

Q. Would you prefer a lefty?

BOB MELVIN: Sure, a particular lefty, yeah, why not. Hey, look, really the Oracle plays different now than it did maybe three years ago with the gateways being closed out there. It feels like there's a jet stream to left center field even on nights when it feels like the wind's blowing in. It's 309 down the right field line, so if you pull it.

So it doesn't -- it's not the same ballpark it was a few years ago where you would score one up at night and you didn't feel like it was going anywhere. There are a lot more home runs there now.

Q. What do you know about Yamamoto as a pitcher? Have you seen tape on him? What's your feel for him?

BOB MELVIN: Look, it's really good. You watch the video and you can see why he has, puts up the numbers that he does. It looks like he's quite the competitor too. The split swing and miss, the heaters, upper 90s, curveball, slow you down, speed you up, he's 25 years old.

There are a lot of teams that are going to be in on him. He's one of those guys at the top of the market here, and probably until some of these guys sign, there's probably not going to be a lot of movement. He's one of the top guys in the marketplace, and whoever gets him's going to be lucky to have him.

Q. Unless I heard wrong, you said that San Francisco could maybe use some more star power?

BOB MELVIN: I did say that.

Q. You had a lot of that with the Padres. So from all your time as a manager, is it possible to have too much, quote/unquote, star power? Do you need more role players?

BOB MELVIN: Not necessarily. It just depends on the makeup. Look, in San Diego the year before we went to the NLCS my first year last year was a disappointing season. So I don't think there's anything to make of a poor year and saying there's too much star power. They have some really good players there; just didn't work out as well last year.

Q. Right, so basically as many good players as you can get is what matters?

BOB MELVIN: Yeah, and I'm big on incorporating -- I think everybody needs a role and everybody needs to feel like they're a part of it as well. It makes for a much better clubhouse, everybody feels like they're a part of it, and you gain a momentum. There's an enthusiasm to that.

So I think there's a place for both.

Q. You hired a pitching coach, Bryan Price. Logan Webb from there said -- went down a laundry list, there's nothing to stop these guys from throwing 200 innings apiece. You work for Farhan, and we know his (indiscernible) Kyle Harrison, almost too much last year in the Minors, but what's the philosophy of letting guys pitch 200 innings as a goal versus babying them like maybe so many pitchers have been?

BOB MELVIN: Right, look, you have a lot of the topics now, you have so much invested in 'em that you're trying, you're careful with 'em to try to get to the Big Leagues. My first year and Bryan was my pitching coach in Seattle, we had five starters that all pitched 200 innings and never missed a start. I don't think that's happened since, probably won't again. But that's the group that we had.

So, look, if there's some guys that haven't -- you get to the Big Leagues and you haven't thrown more than a hundred innings, you're certainly not going to make somebody throw 200 innings. It's how you use 'em, what you think they're best suited to do, and you have to kind of map out the entire season to try to get the best out of 'em.

When we had Jesus Luzardo, and I'm not saying this is the way that some of these guys are going to be used, but when we had him in Oakland, we brought him up to the Big Leagues, he was pitching five innings in Triple A, and we were kind of how do we best use this guy to factor into the outcome of a game.

I remember his first game was Brett Anderson pitched five innings, and then he pitched the next three. And we brought in our closer, and that's how we used Jesus the entire season. I don't think we lost a game that we used him in that type of role.

Now, the next -- once he got his innings up, he went back to starting the next year. But depending with younger guys, maybe there are ways to try to get creative to use 'em in, and potentially they factor into the outcome of a game.

Q. What would a successful free agency look like for you?

BOB MELVIN: Look, you know what, I'm always going to tell you I'm fine with the team we have. So you don't want to get disappointed. I think the fact that we are shopping at the top of the market is pretty cool. How it plays out, there's only so many guys, and this year's free agent class, you know, isn't extreme as far as the top-end guys.

So, shoot, if we get one at the top end I would be happy; if we don't, I'll be happy with the team we have and maybe some add in a little differently, maybe not the top two or three guys.

Q. There's some talk about bringing a little bit more pushback to analytics. Probably going to play out more on the field. But have there been any experiences so far?

BOB MELVIN: Well, I spent 11 years, 10 plus years in Oakland, which is very analytic, and we did have -- I mean Billy Bean is great about encouraging pushback. So he always wants to try to get to the right place. So the traditional baseball guys who have played and analytics guys, there's the right place to be. And that's the way Farhan is too here. Myself, Bryan Price, Matt Williams, bringing in some coaches that might be a little bit more I don't want to say old school, we're just old (laughing). And we have been doing this for a while. So I think you're always looking for the right balance. I think Farhan did this for a reason.

Q. You worked with Mike Shildt, now he's getting his shot after leaving the Cardinals. What did you make of what you saw in him, and how prepared do you think he is to be a manager again?

BOB MELVIN: Oh, he's ready. He was ready from the day he got let go. So we were lucky to have him in the organization, and for me it was just a matter of time.

Q. Can you talk about your staff, you inherited some coaches including Alyssa Nakken. What's your association with her, and I think the first time you met her is when you crossed paths on the field?

BOB MELVIN: I might have been the first one to congratulate her, and I was happy to be able to do that because I follow the Giants, I've always followed the Giants. So I thought it was really cool that she was broke ground like that.

Q. Talking about coaching first base?

BOB MELVIN: Yeah, yeah. Getting to know her now and communicating with her, man, she's trying to make everything as easy on the coaching staff as possible. Especially the guys that have just come, whether it's putting together with the analytic department, scheduling stuff, we're already talking about Spring Training, and she's -- that's a role that she's, you know, been part of and will be with us.

She's just a great resource for especially the guys that haven't been here to kind of make 'em feel comfortable and this is the way we do things here, put 'em in touch with the right people. She's on everything.

Q. She helped with the outfielders and the speed game?

BOB MELVIN: Yeah.

Q. The running game?

BOB MELVIN: And she will continue to do that.

Q. Any other new roles?

BOB MELVIN: Until we actually get together as a group, we got -- we've had a few here and there, we had a pitching little summit for a couple days at Papago, but we haven't had the entire staff together in person yet. We'll talk about that a little bit more. Well, she's pregnant, so I'm not sure what the timing of that is going to be.