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MLB WINTER MEETINGS

December 5, 2007

Terry Francona

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

Q. Can you just give us your reactions on the Detroit trade and how that affects the American League?
TERRY FRANCONA: I don't know. I know it made their lineup better. Probably made their pitching staff better. But you know, it's December. How do you know? But I bet there are some left-handed pitchers that aren't too excited in the American League.

Q. But I would think that with the dominance in your division, Red Sox, Yankees, now this wild-card situation. For a long time it was the two of you guys; now clearly there's a whole lot more in the mix with Detroit and Cleveland and the White Sox even.
TERRY FRANCONA: Well, you might be getting a little ahead of me. We haven't given up on trying to win first place yet for next year. American League's got a lot of good teams.
And when you go through cities like Detroit, if your pitching is not in line, they can not just beat you; they can beat you up and hurt you for about a week because they just maul you. There's no letup. We do it with the Yankees. Anaheim is a little bit different the way they play but there's no letup in some of these lineups.

Q. How comfortable do you feel with your team compared to past winters where it seemed like there were some moves that you guys had to make, but it seems like this year you don't really have to do things as much.
TERRY FRANCONA: You know, it's not a lesser sense of urgency like, oh, we won. But I think it's a different -- we're in a different point than we were four years ago.
You know, Theo brought Lowell and Schill back, and the other guys, they are ours and we really, besides maybe fine-tuning the bench, we have our position players in place and basically our staff. So it is a good feeling.

Q. In the past obviously you kept an eye on the Yankees when they were winning and now you're winning. Do you still keep an eye on what they do?
TERRY FRANCONA: You don't need to speak for me. I really don't do that. We really keep an eye on what we're doing.

Q. But what do you think about the rivalry right now?
TERRY FRANCONA: Well, in December, it's not at its heighth. I'm not going to run over there and hit Joe Girardi. (Laughter.)
The games are enough for me. The talking about it doesn't really, you know, that's the party get a little tired of actually. The games are fun. It's just the extracurricular questions and everything that try to take it to an unnatural level that I really don't like.

Q. With the discussions with the Red Sox are having and just the interests that teams have in your ballclub, what does that say about the Red Sox farm system right now?
TERRY FRANCONA: I don't know. I mean, I know how I feel about it and we're proud of it, of the work that a lot of people have done and would he love our young players. I mean, when young guys come up not only help your team win but almost lead your team to win it sometimes, that's pretty impressive, and that's not going to go away.

Q. I know you probably can't talk about it specifically, but are you excited about the possibility of adding a pitcher that you guys have been in discussions with?
TERRY FRANCONA: Oh, I wouldn't -- I wouldn't even touch that. I think the best way I can answer that is I and we love our young players. There's so much stuff that seems to fly around that lobby; wow. It's interesting.

Q. Let me ask it this way. Do you feel you need to upgrade your pitching staff or you leave here and you'll be fine with the way it is right now?
TERRY FRANCONA: I bet you every team out here wants to upgrade, we laugh all the time, you think you have enough pitching, you go get more. Again, we like our guys. We've got some veterans, we've got some young guys, it's a good mix. Pretty happy with that.

Q. Does this remind you of the days when trades dominated the Winter Meetings rather than free agency?
TERRY FRANCONA: I understand your point. I don't remember when I was a player, trying to get through the Winter Meetings and find a job.
I understand your point, though, because of maybe the situation, free agency, trades may be more -- I don't know if efficient is the right word, but teams may want to lead towards a trade more than free agency. I'm sure every team is going to be different.

Q. What were your impressions of Phil Hughes last year when you saw him?
TERRY FRANCONA: You know what, I don't know that I want to rate the other team's pitchers. I don't feel good about that.
He's a great -- I don't even know if you call him pro secretary anymore. He got to the Major League level and got derailed a little bit with some injuries that won't affect his pitching. I think his future's pretty bright; how about that.

Q. There are only a handful of true No. 1 pitches out there, and you have one of them, what does that do for a team or manager every five days or come a playoff series Game 1, 4, 7?
TERRY FRANCONA: I think when you look at the playoffs, it kind of almost answers it for me. I mean, when Beckett went out there, that's a pretty good feeling.
During the regular season, it's a day where if you need to stop a losing streak or extend a winning streak, regardless of what you've done, the other team is up against it. You can accepted him out -- I remember the game in San Diego pitching against Peavy; that was a fun game to be a part of. But we felt like we had a pretty good chance to win. That's not easy.

Q. Do you remember the feeling on the other side having to face the No. 1?
TERRY FRANCONA: It's tough. I remember back in Philadelphia the day Schill pitched, I thought we were a legitimately tough team to beat. But those other days, it was difficult.

Q. For the first time in your tenure with the Red Sox, your entire infield is returning; how nice is that for you?
TERRY FRANCONA: You know what, the more guys that are returning, with health, it's good.
I think it's kind of -- I think it gets misunderstood sometimes. The more you know these guys, almost the more work you can get done in Spring Training, because you know them, you know what they expect, they know what you expect, and it's easier to get your work done. You're not introducing yourself to people and explaining things, and you actually can get more work done.

Q. Have you had much talk with Coco this off-season, and how do you think he's handling his kind of uncertainty?
TERRY FRANCONA: You know what, I haven't spoken to Coco. I haven't spoken to a lot of guys, maybe some texting and hellos and how are you feeling. Some guys came through Boston last week.
Because we got finished, what, November 1, these guys need a little breather from me, too. But we get around the holidays, start checking in on guys, and the trainers do it all the time. But as far as me and the staff, we'll get around to that.
You know what, I understand your question. I don't know; everybody's different. You see your name in the paper; I'm sure everybody's different.

Q. Do you anticipate that the comfort level for Daisuke and Okajima is going to be higher coming into March, or is even one year not enough to really make that acclimation?
TERRY FRANCONA: I think it's very realistic that their comfort level will be dramatically increased.
I kind of marvelled at these two guys over the course of the year. I mean, what they were going through, there wasn't a lot of relaxing times for them. You know, for most guys standing out in the outfield during BP is a really relaxing time. You can talk to your buddy. For them, even that conversation was a chore. I thought they did a great job of making themselves good teammates.
I think a year under their belt in our -- not only in our system of maybe more Americanized baseball, what we expect, but our culture. I mean, just little things like food after the game. You know, it's different. They went through a lot of firsts, and I thought they handled themselves really well, and I think it will be easier for them, yeah.

Q. A couple of us were asking you while you were trying to win a World Series about Joe Torre's situation, and you said you hoped at some point you guys would connect. Did you ever end up talking to him?
TERRY FRANCONA: He left me a -- we played phone tag, and a couple phone messages both ways, but I never actually spoke to him live.

Q. As much respect as you might have for Joe Girardi, you and Torre sort of developed a kind of behind-the-scenes as strong a relationship as the Yankee/Red Sox rivalry continued these last few years. Will it be different for him to manage without him?
TERRY FRANCONA: I'm sure it will. Joe, I don't know Joe real well, I certainly know who he is and I speak to him, but a couple of our coaches are really good friends with him.
But again, sometimes you don't cross paths with guys at the same time. I'm sure I'll get to know him. It's impossible not to cross paths with everybody with the Yankees at some point whether you're, you know, yelling at somebody or fighting or whatever. It just happens.
But you know what, as far as Joe Torre goes, I just wanted -- I just felt like we deserved -- and we went over there, to be kind of at peace with what he wanted to do, and it seems like he's attained that. Now I'm thrilled for him. It's hard to -- it's hard to probably put it in words, but I have so much respect for Joe, but at the same time, you want to beat their brains out. And then with all the extra stuff that comes with New York/Boston, it gets a little over the top sometimes. I think we both felt that way.

Q. What's the most difficult part for a manager dealing with that rivalry?
TERRY FRANCONA: Well, trying to get wins is hard, but the thing that probably -- I don't know if the most distasteful is the right word, but innings one through nine are great. But before the game, after the game, sometimes you end up dealing with things that maybe are artificial, and it's just not what you want to deal with. You're putting our fires and things that maybe sometimes aren't even there, and that's part of it. As long as you can get to a point where the players can concentrate on the game, then you're okay.

Q. Talking to John Farrell last week, he said you have six starting pitchers on paper, you've had some thoughts of a six-man rotation; what do you think of that?
TERRY FRANCONA: I actually saw what he said and I don't know that he really said it like that.
I think that we're always trying to figure out ways to maximize everybody on our team; and whether it's production; it's health; and then last year, guys got kind of forced breaks. Beckett had the avulsion. Everybody had a little bit of a blow. And we spoke a lot about giving guys extra rest at times. There's a lot of ways to do that. Early in the season, give days off. But when you have a guy like Julian Tavarez; there's some flexibility there.
I think rather than talk about a six-man rotation, I think the point is of keeping guys healthy and productive through a long season; that's the goal.

Q. Are you open to sort of non-traditional ideas?
TERRY FRANCONA: Well, like what?

Q. Any sort of --
TERRY FRANCONA: I don't know -- when you say "non-traditional," if it stinks, no. I don't want to do something to make us lose. (Laughter.)
Say you talk about a six-man rotation. In theory, it can sound good. Again, we talk about all kinds of things, and it's good to do that. But then you also have to remember you're short in your bullpen; so there's always some give and take and what helps. And it's hard enough to find five good pitchers out there, let alone six.

Q. For all the talk and all the rumors, are you excited about what ultimately would be the final composition of your roster come Spring Training?
TERRY FRANCONA: We're in December. I'm very confident that when we go to that first day in Spring Training, we'll have a team that everybody's pretty excited about. Our guys do a great job of putting giving us a team where the people in uniform -- when we feel the responsibility to get them ready to play because they do a great job of getting players.

Q. What have these meetings been like for you compared to years past? Are they more hectic or are things on edge at all?
TERRY FRANCONA: The only thing that really put me on edge was the walk (laughter). I mean, I've been lost more than -- I don't know where I'm going. I don't think anybody else does. I've got blisters.
You know what, I actually -- when you kind of come down, you get excited because you know you're going to see people you haven't seen all year, and about two hours into it, it's like, you know what, I'm ready to go home. (Laughter.) I haven't been outside since I got here.

Q. Have you given any thought to the Mitchell report and will you talk to any players?
TERRY FRANCONA: You know what, I'm so caught up in the Watson report, I have no time to think about that.
You know what, seriously, I don't know. I really don't know -- I don't know if anybody knows what to expect. I mean, there's been a lot of -- what's the word -- conjecture. I don't know that anybody knows. It will be interesting.

Q. Speaking of Watson, have you bumped into Bob since you've been here?
TERRY FRANCONA: Yeah, I was just teasing him. I don't know if he appreciated it as much as I thought he would. (Laughter.) It won't be a big deal.

Q. You mentioned stuff flying around the lobby, and even though a team tries to improve itself on a daily basis, as a manager, do you ever seek resolution to think, okay, I just want to know that these are going to be my five starters, etc., etc. Or do you have to kind of roll with the punches, and if a change is made, a change is made?
TERRY FRANCONA: Well, here I don't pay a whole lot of attention. I mean, you take one trip through the lobby, your whole team is going to be different.
But that's just part of it. It's probably good for baseball. Creates interest and everything. Doesn't necessarily mean it's going to happen.
But also during the winter, I think you have to be patient, because like, you know what, if a team makes a move, you don't necessarily make a move that very next hour to compensate for, you know, fans that I that I want to see your 25-man roster right now. It doesn't always work like that. Our guys, they have got a pretty consistent approach with what they are doing. I don't spend a lot of time worrying about it.

Q. What's the wildest rumor you've heard about involving you guys?
TERRY FRANCONA: There's been a boatload.

Q. Any just off-the-wall, ridiculous?
TERRY FRANCONA: I don't like talking about -- I'm not comfortable talking about players that could be even talked about being traded. I understand it's part of the game, but from where I sit, I don't ever want them to think of themselves as -- somebody referred to somebody as a "poker chip" last night. These are our players. I can't talk about guys like that.

Q. Can you allow yourself to feel comfortable as a front-runner now?
TERRY FRANCONA: Oh, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. And we'll talk about that the first day of Spring Training, how we handle moving forward. Because that's what we need to do is move forward.
In '04, you know, we talked about it, but obviously none of us had been through it. And you try to answer the questions correctly, and I think you legitimately mean it. But still, you have a ring ceremony as the season starts.
So the people that say, can you fully put it behind you, I don't think you really can; but handling it, answering the questions, because inevitably there will be a ton of questions. But also realizing it will be a new year and won't win you any games is important.

Q. Is it different for you feeling that even though you are not necessarily chasing the Yankees every year --
TERRY FRANCONA: I don't know that I felt like that. I think we were chasing them when we're playing them, but I don't think we got real caught up in all of the other stuff.
The 86 years of frustration, I wasn't around. So we really -- I think our ballclub does a really good job of staying in the moment. So it's kind of like me saying, chasing the Yankees, it's not staying in the moment. We just try to beat who we're playing. Again, we have some pretty good players that seem to understand that and agree with that.

Q. What do you think when you hear guys like Schilling and Lowell leaving money on the table in free agency to come back to Boston because they enjoy that clubhouse that much?
TERRY FRANCONA: I'm thrilled. I think that's the first time Schilling ever left anything on the table (laughter). I'm sure he'll appreciate that, too. (Laughter.)
You know what, I'm thrilled. I think it says a lot for our organization. I think it says just as much about the players. It's good. Again, I think Theo and those guys do a great job of kind of walking a line. We all believe in loyalty and things like that, and as a manager, it's certainly important. As a general manager, I think maybe you can make mistakes out of loyalty. And Theo walks that line really well. You know, getting guys back, but at a price that works for everybody can't be very easy to do, and he does it great.

Q. What does it mean to have each of those two back individually?
TERRY FRANCONA: Real excited. Schill has not forgotten how to compete. He understands how to win.
It's our job as these guys get some more wear and tear and some age on them to keep them in situations where they can, again, stay healthy and productive.
Somebody asked me about a six-man rotation; that may not necessarily be the case, but I understand the question. And that's why we're always discussing things like that, because we have a little bit of a unique -- you've got Beckett that could probably throw every four days. You've got Wake that's pitched a lot of innings. Schill, same thing. And Daisuke wants to pitch every other hour. (Laughter.)
So there are some interesting diversities on our staff and we need to make it work.

Q. Do you get any updates on how the Schill diet plan is going in the off-season?
TERRY FRANCONA: I've texted him a few times, but I probably said enough when I said leave it on the table. I've had some fun at his expense.
I'm excited that he wants to do that. I think that's -- again, we talked about this last year, and not just Schill, but guys in general. When you get some age on you, you have to work harder to keep your level. And you know, sometimes with the money that these players make, sometimes they don't really want to do it. Their children are growing up, they have other interests, and I'm excited he wants to do that, because I think it will make him better.

Q. Where is Wake health-wise?
TERRY FRANCONA: Good. He was in Boston the other day. He looks terrific. You know what, and Wake is probably a great example of what I just said about the work ethic and having to maybe work harder to kind of keep the level that he wants to be. He's in great shape, and it's December.

Q. He shouldn't have any restrictions?
TERRY FRANCONA: None. He's not even restricted now. He tested out the other day great. By the time we got done playing, he was starting to bounce back on the measurements and stuff. We just had gotten ourselves into a little bit of a predicament, and we went through all this. He was probably able to throw once and it wasn't fair to anybody.

Q. Okajima wearing down at the end of last season, you guys knowing him, a year under your belt, do you have a better idea next year how to avoid that perhaps?
TERRY FRANCONA: Yeah. And John Farrell just had a great conversation with Oki the day before we got down here through the interpreter.
And I think -- again, there's some different cultural ideas, some different baseball ideas, and I think Oki has bought in a lot of the ideas that we believe in. And again, until guys actually buy into it, you can tell them all you want, but I think it will be very beneficial not only -- because he's a good pitcher, but to keeping him out there more and being able to use him. When you get pitchers like that, you want to use them a lot because they are good, but you don't want to run them into the ground.

Q. Do you look for Manny Delcarmen to step up more in the seventh and eighth inning even more than last year?
TERRY FRANCONA: That would be terrific. He's come a long way in a relatively short period of time. There's been some ups and downs along the way but he's grown up.
And he's another guy, you talk about being proud of, he's from, what is it, Hyde Park, he's a local kid and it's not the easiest place to probably be a local kid in Boston. And he handles it and he's done a pretty good job for us. And I think his better days are certainly ahead.

Q. Okajima obviously great last year. On the other hand, Kei Igawa really struggled for the Yankees and Daisuke was up-and-down. What do you think the perception is of Japanese players coming to the States, and do you think that teams are getting more and more comfortable with the idea of going after them?
TERRY FRANCONA: Oh, I know they are getting more comfortable with the ideas. I don't know what the perception is. I don't know Kei Igawa.
You know, again, baseball is baseball. If you can play, if you're good, you can play. I do think there are some hurdles, like we talked about earlier culturally, you're putting people in a different whole environment. And if you think it's just going to be without any bumps in the road, I think you're kidding yourself and you have to be prepared for that to help them.
And we try to be prepared for everything and we found out we weren't always. It's impossible but you try to stay ahead and help them because obviously the more comfortable they are, the better they are going to be able to play.

Q. How do you take that leap of faith that has to be there knowing that here is a guy who has never thrown a pitch to a Major League hitter before?
TERRY FRANCONA: Good scouts.

Q. All in the scouts?
TERRY FRANCONA: Yeah, I never saw him. Ship and Deebs did a great job.
Again, once the game starts, it's our responsibility to play the game the way we see fit, but you have to have confidence and faith in the people to do their jobs, and I think our confidence was rewarded.

Q. You said last year towards the end of the year that once those kids came up, you had the sense they were going to be there by the end of the year, do you think that next crop may be ready to come up this year?
TERRY FRANCONA: It's early. Those are meetings down the road. We'll start preparing, you know, for that, like you say that next group that's coming to Spring Training. But I don't know how realistic it is every year to expect -- we've got some pretty key -- we've got Pedroia, Ellsbury, young pitchers. I don't know how realistic -- if we go into camp with two or three or four holes, that's not going to happen.
But it's exciting. I thought our team actually started playing better baseball when the young kids got more involved. Our defense was better. Our baserunning was better. We seemed to have more energy. It seemed like the veterans got a little bit more energized with those guys around. It was a good mix.

Q. Do you recall the last instance when you were in town and someone didn't recognize you and didn't know who you were? Does winning this second World Series title reduce the number of people flipping you off going through the roadways?
TERRY FRANCONA: No, that has not been reduced. (Laughter.)
It really surprises me how people recognize you or they want to say something. The majority of the time, it's good. I had to remind a lot -- I had to remind a lot of people that it wasn't my obligation to sign players, and I would tell them right away, go talk to Theo. But there's obviously a lot of interest there and it's not going to go away.

Q. But is there some little old lady in a coffee shop that serves you that doesn't know you're the manager?
TERRY FRANCONA: I don't know. I love it when somebody just let's me get the milk and I can go home.
You know, it's funny, though. It's an uncomfortable situation -- give you an example, the other day at the drugstore. This lady is behind the counter and she goes, "I know you". Okay, so what do you say, just trying to pay for the deodorant.
And the guy next to her that's working there, he says, "That's the manager of the Red Sox."
She says, "No, it's not." I'm not going to argue with her that I am. (Laughter.) I'm more comfortable just going home.

Q. The Japanese fans are really excited about the game being played there season, what's your take on it and the performance of the Japanese players?
TERRY FRANCONA: I hope a good performance. You know, as far as going to Japan, I think we're all excited. I think we're a little bit -- what's the word, is trepidation the correct word? Because two of the games count, and our routine is definitely interrupted, we worry about things like that, how it will affect us.
You know, our job is certainly to not let it affect us, but as far as going over there, I think we're all excited. I've never been there. A couple of times I was supposed to go, I missed the trips. I'm sure Daisuke will be really excited, as he should be. But when the games count, it takes away some of the sight seeing aspect of the trips. You want to win games.

Q. As a team, do you think you need any special approach or preparation?
TERRY FRANCONA: Well, we'll have to make some decisions quicker, because I think we leave on the 19th. So we don't have that luxury of, you know, usually at that time you probably still have different guys in camp and we definitely won't be able to do that.

End of FastScripts

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