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MLB EXPANSION DRAFTNovember 18, 1997Mel DidierPHOENIX, ARIZONA Q. Could you talk about Karim Garcia, please? MEL DIDIER: I've known Karim since he came to the Dodgers, and as all of you probably know I came here January the 1st from the Dodgers. He's got a lot of ability. He's got some great ability and he has a chance to be a real good player. I talked with Fred and them after we took him. And, of course, they had the problem of trying to protect 15 guys and Karim, having had an arm operation, a shoulder operation, they felt people may pass him. And knowing him like I've known him, I think the guy has a chance to be an impact player. He may not be. I think only God knows that, but he has that opportunity, because he has the ability to do it. He can run. He's a little above average running. He's got the ability and pride, I think, that makes great players. I knew his daddy in Mexico a long time ago. His dad was a manager both in the Mexican Summer League and the Mexican Winter League, and Karim grew up in the ballpark, so to speak, he was sort of a ballpark rat, like you have gym guys that stay around the gym. And he knows how to play the game. I know that the Dodgers had a little problem with him one time, but I can't tell you the problem, but you'd have done the same thing, too, and I would have too if I were a 19‑year‑old kid. And he's a hell of a young man, and we look forward to him having a lot of good years here. Q. When was that operation, Mel, and is he a left fielder? MEL DIDIER: You know, he played center field when he came to us, because he's got good speed, he gets good jumps on the ball. They've used him in left field and right field and the reason the Dodgers put him in left field is so that he could learn how to play, because there's a guy by the name of Mondesi that was sort of a young player, and they felt this guy would be the guy in left field. And eventually, Hollingsworth, who's had some problems, would move to center field, with Cedeno and it would be a mixture there. I guess those things haven't worked out. But all in all, Karim, I think, has a chance to be an excellent power hitter. He's going to strike out some, but I think he's the kind of guy that will hit for average and he also will show you some power, pull power. It will be interesting to see, I think he'll be a great favorite here, and we're hoping that anyway. But we didn't take him because of that, we took him because of his pure ability to play the game. Q. Could you assess the second round, how you think you guys did? MEL DIDIER: Well, I really ‑‑ I've been in and out so much during the time, because we've been talking and people have just, I guess, like Tampa, probably have knocked the walls off trying to do deals, and I'll say this about Buck, he's kept his cool. He knew where we were going, and we didn't let anybody interfere with a lot of that. The only that would have happened, if somebody hit you with a trade that would knock your eyeballs out, then we talked about it. But there were a lot of people coming at us with little odds and ends, if you do this, we'll do that, so forth. And let me tell you, Buck and his scouts, his five guys and his coaches, have really worked their butts off for two years. And we feel very strong about the players that we got. We think we know them well. There's going to be some failures, there's going to be a lot of successes, we really believe that strongly. Q. Mel, there was a lot of pitchers taken, was that a matter of who was available or was that a strategy going in? MEL DIDIER: That was a little bit of both. The strategy was to get good arms. And you can't have enough. And we feel like we have an outstanding pitching program. I think our pitching program is second to none. I've been around a few years, like 45 in professional baseball, and our whole set up in our pitching from the very top to the bottom, and all clubs like to think their place is the greatest place, but Mark Connors, and Gil Patterson have set up a program that I think is second to none, and I've been in the greatest pitching organization in the world for 17 years, and I think this is second to none. And I really believe that we can take some of these arms, and as we all know, you've seen the phenoms from Class A and Double‑A and they don't quite make it in the biggies, and that's what you've got. It takes a lot of good arms to make a few good pitchers. Q. Mel, two of your early picks, Alvarez and Garcia were from the State of Sonora, at least natives of Sonora, and that's the state the Diamondbacks have targeted for fans and relationships and player development and everything else, did that play any part in that or was it just their pure ability that got them picked? MEL DIDIER: Strictly on ability. This organization is going to be an organization that goes after the players that can play, and that's what we do. Q. Do you know Omar Daal and he's with the Dodger organization, and what can you tell us about him? MEL DIDIER: I know Omar very well, he's from Venezuela, he pitches in Caracas and he's pitching there now. He's been a soft toss left‑hander that has a little below average fastball, a real good curve, but the big pitch that he's come up and we see is he may have a great screw ball. And he reminds me of some other people, a guy like Mike Cuellar, that came up with a screw ball late in his career. And this guy has a great feel for pitching and he's tough, doesn't throw real hard, and I'm not a gun man, because all I want you to do is get them out, and I know that's what Buck wants, but he does have a real feel for pitching. I think his role is as a starter, not as a reliever. When you relieve with him, you shut him off from his good change up, because he's against a left‑hander. He's throwing mostly breaking balls, a few fast balls, he has a great feel for pitching, and I think that's where he'll best suit us. End of FastScripts |
