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MLB WINTER MEETINGSDecember 5, 2007John McLarenNASHVILLE, TENNESSEE Q. Can Kansas City fans, what can they expect from Jose Guillen? JOHN McLAREN: Passion, great arm, clutch hitter. I loved Jose. He was one of my favorite guys I've been around the whole time. I thought he did a great job for us. He will speak his mind, and I never had a problem with him. I think he's good not only as a player but good for the young players. He does want to win. He's got a passion. He'll keep you guys entertained, but he'll also have something to say. Q. How about your comments regarding that big deal yesterday. The American League has certainly changed. JOHN McLAREN: Seems like the American League is getting a little stronger. Pretty big trade. Some young talent went from Detroit down to Florida and I'm glad Cabrera didn't go to the Angels. So that's one thing I'm glad about, but Dontrelle I had him during the World Baseball Classic. He's a joy to be around. He's a fun guy, good pitcher, and I also watch him with great interest. All those guys from the classics. I hope they don't do well when we play them. I thought it was a good trade for Detroit. I actually took a flight with one of the Detroit scouts. He said I'm going to try to upgrade our bullpen a little bit. I guess they expanded it a little bit. Q. Two full days in, going on the third day, can you characterize what you think your chances are of getting something, maybe not major but something done before you get out of Nashville? JOHN McLAREN: There's a lot of talking going on, and there's a lot of deals that they're considering and crisscross deals and so forth, and one deal leads to another. So I guess we're just waiting for -- I thought the Cabrera trade yesterday might start the domino effect, but it hasn't started yet. We've done a lot of talking, and we're still doing a lot of talking, and we'll see how -- we're all trying to improve our ball clubs, of course, and we have certain pieces that a lot of people are interested in. And for us to trade those pieces, we have to get exactly what we want, and there's a lot of scenarios out there. We're looking for starting pitching, and there's some starting pitchings out there, and I think everybody in baseball is looking for starting pitching. So there's a lot of competition. There's a lot involved. Q. How do you make up the six games behind the Angels that you finished last year? JOHN McLAREN: I think getting a little better starting pitcher is a good start. We like our team on the field. We need to beat the Angels. That's one thing. And I think last year we talked about this, you guys, our local guys is they played so well in interleague, and they played well against us. So you got to beat the teams in your division, and the Angels are the top team right now, and you got to beat them. Q. Starting to feel some pressure, or do you sense pressure in the organization that if these other teams like the team in front of you are getting better by X, you got to get better by X plus one to catch them and nothing is breaking yet? JOHN McLAREN: No, I don't think we're panicking or anything. We have a lot going on, and we're just waiting for the phone to ring. Got a lot of meetings left, and we have had some interest in some of our players, and we're just trying to get the right fit because there's only a certain amount of pieces that we have to deal. So we have to make sure that it's the right deal, and we're still looking for the right deals. Q. After you met with Kuroda over in Japan, how did you come away from that meeting? Do you feel like you're in the driver's seat there? JOHN McLAREN: I don't think we're in the driver's seat. I like our chances, but I was very impressed speaking with him. And I think one thing that impressed me about him was he put a list in front of us, questions, and they were about his family more than him. It shows what kind of player he is. We know he's a bulldog, he's a control guy, fierce competitor, and we like his ability. He's well scouted, we've had him well scouted. This shows the other side of him. He cares about his family, and he's got great character. Q. Is this something -- JOHN McLAREN: I don't care who is the frontrunner as long as we get him. That's the bottom line. Q. I mean hypothetical, but if you do get him, where do you see him? Is he a number 2 guy or number 1 guy? Where would you slot him? JOHN McLAREN: Be at least 3. He's so attractive because he's an innings guy. He asked me could he pitch late in the game. I says, "You can pitch as late as you want. Hand the ball off to JJ, and we'll be a happy crew around here." Q. John, you have a lot of experience with international baseball. How do you explain the translation of pitchers, Japanese pitchers to the U.S.? JOHN McLAREN: They have had some pretty good success, you know, and that was one of our selling points is we have a great tradition of Japanese players starting with Mac Suzuki. Mac got hurt but with Kaz and Hasegawa, of course, Kenji and this other guy, Ichiro, yeah, we feel like we have a lot to offer. And Seattle has got a great Japanese population, got a great ballpark, and we feel like, you know, we're a good fit for a Japanese player. Q. You were a catcher. What does it mean for a guy to be able to catch for a guy like Kenji? JOHN McLAREN: The first pitch is history and the thing about Ichiro and Kenji, they can help him because they've had to go through the transition themselves and they can help him in all fronts and then, of course, the language difference. Kenji going to the mound, there's no problem at all. Q. When you talked to him, did he seem kind of excited? JOHN McLAREN: They have some history. They played on the Olympic team together. Those two do have some history, and having a player of Ichiro's prominence, probably the best player in Japan, was and could be the best player in the United States arguably. He's a pretty good guy to have on the team that can give you advice and everything. Hasegawa is advising he Kuroda. Shigatoshi is there. He's got history in Seattle, also. Q. You talking about history, are you talking about Kenji has had history with Kuroda? JOHN McLAREN: He played with him on the Japanese Olympic team. Q. Have you spoke with Ichiro now in the off-season? JOHN McLAREN: I had dinner with him. Q. What was he up to? JOHN McLAREN: Ichiro. We met with Kenji and him in Tokyo and had dinner with them and had a nice dinner, and they're excited about the chances of getting Kuroda. They know what he means to our ball club, what a difference he can make. Q. Have either of them reached out to Kuroda that you know? JOHN McLAREN: I hope so. We'll take anything, you know, to help us, believe me. Q. Did you ask them to? JOHN McLAREN: I didn't, no. I'm sure they've spoken. I don't know that, but I'm sure they have. Q. Who ordered at the dinner? JOHN McLAREN: I think Ichiro did. We walked out of that restaurant, and it was a nice hotel. I don't remember the name of it. I mean the heads stuck up like this (indicating). We were following the rock star, and he was walking out and everybody's head was going up like this (indicating). I thought it was kind of cool. I thought it was kind of cool. Q. Who paid? JOHN McLAREN: I didn't. (Laughter). I don't remember. The bill didn't get to me. So I don't know who paid. Q. You postponed your trip to Venezuela. Are you planning to go there next week? JOHN McLAREN: Maybe. Maybe. It was a lot of things involved, Jeff. I've got a lot of history down there, and I don't mind going down there. We just thought it was best, you know. We had some things going on here, and I was going to miss this little event right here. So -- I would like to go down, but I don't know if it's going to happen or not. Morrow has done well. He's pitched three times I believe, pitching again tomorrow night, five innings each time. Got his pitch count up to 81, and he's doing what we want him to go do there and accomplish. Rowland-Smith did alright. That's the main thing for these guys to be in position to compete for a starting job, just to have an option depending on what we do here at the meetings and what we can put together. We have two more guys that we have options on. We think Brandon is going to be special no matter how we use him, starting or in the bullpen we're looking at him as a starter. Q. You kind of been around the building and the things that have been happening here. Are there things on the front burner that get you real excited as a manager to think about if it comes through? JOHN McLAREN: There was a few pitchers's names that really got my heart beating. I hope they all come through. Q. Some examples? JOHN McLAREN: No. We know Kuroda is one for sure. There's a couple other pitchers we're in the mix for, and that's our goal is to try to get a couple starting pitchers. Q. Is that what you think from being -- you may considers yourself a legitimate contender now. Will two starting pitchers do it, do you think? JOHN McLAREN: I think it upgrades us quite a bit. What I think it does especially, we get a couple guys that can eat some innings up, it makes our bullpen stronger because we don't have to use them as much so they can eat some innings up for us. We think Kuroda brings that to the table for sure. Some of these other people we're talking about, we think they're like that, too. Q. One of the things you were supposed to do in Venezuela was visit with Jose Lopez. What would you say to him, or what do you expect from him? JOHN McLAREN: I'm a Jose Lopez fan. A few things got kind of turned sideways last year. We just want him to play with passion every night. He's got good ability. The rap on him was his defense, and I think he was one of the top defenders at 2nd base fielding percentage-wise, and we were very happy there, and we just want to get maximize his concentration at the plate and in the field to make him the best player he can be, which is going to make us a better team. That's the only thing I'm going to convey to him. I like him personally a lot, and I think being a young player, you know, sometimes you need a stern talk, and I don't want to start a rift between him and myself or the organization and him, but we want him to pick it up. We want him to play with passion, which he's capable of doing and he has, and it seems like sometimes -- you know what, let's put everything on the table here. He had a tragic loss with his brother last year, and that had something to do with it, and we're just -- I want him to know there's no reason why he can't be consistent over a whole season, not just three-quarters of a season, whatever. That's what our message to him is. Q. During the year you talked about how young Felix is and how much expectations s were. Twenty-one now. Lopez is 22. Do you think people lose track of that? JOHN McLAREN: I said that about Betancourt, also. We take it for granted because these guys are in the Big League and doing a real good job, but they didn't have that much experience in the Minor League, and, you know, when you start your job on the top level, you know, sometimes, you know, there's some problems. We just want to make them the best player possible. I have some thoughts on Betancourt and of course Lopez, and I want Betancourt to steal more. I want to try to incorporate more speed. We had some injuries last year in September, and we couldn't run the way we wanted to run, and I would like to run more, but I'm not going to force the issue and have guys that can't run try to run. We can hit and run and start runners, but as far as stealing bases, when you have guys that don't have the capability of stealing bases, it doesn't make sense to steal bases. So we try to hit and run and -- but I think Betancourt has got the capabilities of being a 20-plus stolen base guy, and I know Adam Jones does, too. I know with Ichiro and -- I'm going to see if we can get more stolen bases. We had a pretty good percent last year, 81 and 30. We need to get up in the 120s. Anaheim has more speed than us. We have to utilize our speed more. Q. Can Ichiro, how many bases can he steal a year? JOHN McLAREN: Let's just say 80 to start with. Let's go there. Q. Is that a maximum or minimum? JOHN McLAREN: Minimum. There's not anything Ichiro can't do. I kind of mentioned him last Spring Training, and I don't remember the exact number, but it was in the teens. He had 262 hits. I put it to him like if you had I'm going to say 15 -- it was somewhere around there -- if you had 15 more bunt hits, you would have hit 400. He looked at me. He was thinking hard, and if there's anyone capable of hitting 400, it's Ichiro. You know, Ichiro is such a structured player, and I'm just not trying to change it. I'm saying you've got the capabilities, you know, of dropping a few more bunts down, and I'm not saying he can be a better player. He can't be much better than he is, but I just kind of planted the seed last year, you know. Q. Did it blossom? JOHN McLAREN: He bunted on occasion. He bunted on occasion. It brings the infielders in, too. Lot of things involved there. Q. Get being back to Jose, how difficult was it for you to kind of bench him for that stretch? Was that to send a message maybe to him or to send a message to everyone or just -- how difficult was that for you? Or easy? JOHN McLAREN: You know, I just did it. I just felt like at that time it was the best thing to do. You know, it wasn't to embarrass anybody. But to get the best out of somebody, you got to do what you got to do. And I would like for him to look back on it like I did something to help his career, and in the meantime he helps our ball club. He looks at it any different way. He's not looking at it right because, I mean, personally I like the guy a lot. There's nothing personal in it at all. I'm not embarrassing any players unless they didn't hustle. I just want him to maximize his ability. He's got a chance, you know, to be an All Star 2nd baseman, hit with a little power, and he's labeled as an offensive 2nd baseman. His fielding percentage was pretty darn good last year and him and Betancourt, young guys, great futures. Just trying the make him a better ballplayer. Q. You sort of got thrust into this role unexpectedly in the middle of last year. JOHN McLAREN: You think? Q. You said all along "I haven't really had time to process this or think about it." Now that the season is over and you've had time to reflect, what's the experience been like? JOHN McLAREN: It's been great. It's been more than I envisioned. I like this being involved. This is what I've always wanted. This is the way, why I've gone to Columbia and Venezuela. Yeah, I'm a baseball guy. I enjoyed my experience when I went to Japan with Tampa Bay, and I had a chance to go to recruit Kuroda. I'm all aboard. I had no problem going to Venezuela. I like being involved. I like pulling my end of the bargain, and I've always been a worker and I'll always be a worker. With that said, you know, I know one of the big jobs is talking to the media and dealing with everybody everyday. I enjoy that. I enjoy that. Lot of managers that I've been around and talked to, they didn't enjoy it at all. Some of the questions -- Q. Don't look this way. JOHN McLAREN: No, Jim. They're trying, especially when you hear the same thing everyday because the scenario is the same everyday. When we went through the losing streak, the questions were more or less the same. I would think my answers are more or less the same coming back at you. But, like I said, it's part of the job. I enjoy it, and I think I'm growing into the position. I'm looking forward to Spring Training. I've got a lot of ideas for Spring Training. I like a lot of individual work, and we're going to do some things different, and we had a good Spring Training last year, and we're going to have a better one this year. I feel like when you want to win, you do it in Spring Training. You get things structured in Spring Training to come out of the gates, and it's always been our thoughts is to have the best Spring Training you can and come out of the gates, you know, you think start to finish. That's what you try to think. We got a great coaching staff, looking forward to working with them. We'll have some meetings in January in Seattle and the anticipation starting to build, especially with some of the deals we're talking, and we get some things done like we think we can. I'll even be more excited breaking down the infielders -- Eddie is going to have the outfielders. Jimmy Riggleman is going to have the base runners. Of course, Mel and Norm and Lee Elia, he's going to have a big role for us. He's going to do like he did before as a consultant, coming around once a month whatever, helping out in Spring Training. And I've got some ideas for Lee, couple individual players I like for him to sit down with and get to know and help out and so on and so forth. Q. Are you going to work with the catchers? JOHN McLAREN: I think Roger is going to be the main guy in Spring Training. I'll help out. Q. How important is it to this team for Richie Sexson to bounce back? JOHN McLAREN: Fair question. I look for Richie to hit 40 homeruns. There's nothing physically wrong with Richie. I think he's a hundred percent, and I want him to feel good about himself. I said that all along. I think we showed confidence in Rich. He went through some tough times last year. He went through things he's never been through. It's something that is hard to take when your home crowd boos you. It's a tough experience. It's over with, and I'm going to sit down with Richie and get a game plan for Spring Training and let him have a great year. We need him because losing some offense with Guillen and with Adam in rightfield, Richie comes back being Richie, it takes a lot of pressure off Adam, and it helps us out a lot. And Richie has got something you can't teach. That's power and hitting the ball out of the ballpark. It would be a good sign, seeing him do that again. Q. Do you have a spot in the lineup, you have Adam pegged for? JOHN McLAREN: I've written down several lineups. There's a lot of different scenarios. It's the bottom of the lineup trying to break him in, I think. It's not a slight on his part. Just trying to break him in. Q. Guillen is gone now, and do you have time to put Joe in your lineup? JOHN McLAREN: Where am I going to put Joe? Is he going to swing at strikes this year? Q. Or Ichiro? JOHN McLAREN: You know what? We're going to try to stress for the first day of Spring Training just to work the count. You know, I mean, I'm not big into taking pitches and all this, that, and the other. I want to get him in a hitter's count and take advantage of it. We can do that, we're going to be so far down the road, it will be helping -- we'll be such a better ball club. When you have a 2-1 count, 2-0 count, use it to your advantage. If you look up some of the stats of the hitters on like a 2-0 count, couple of them are pretty ugly. These counts should be hitter's counts and they should be hitting higher batting average. 300-plus when you've got a hitter's count because it should be a pitch you're looking for. We tried to do some things last year and maybe try to present it to them a different way. It's -- we do some things that don't make sense. We don't walk much, and we don't strike out much. It's not a good combination. We want to work the count more, and it does a lot of things, you know. It makes the other pitcher work harder and maybe get him out of the game earlier and so on and so forth. Lot of times we let pitchers off the hook early in the game and all of a sudden they get their rhythm and pitch a good game against us. If you could have gotten to the guy in the 3rd inning and gotten to the bullpen, it sets the stage for the whole series. That's what you got to do. You got to take advantage of situations, and we're going to try to approach it that way. Q. Is that across the board all the players or -- JOHN McLAREN: No. Q. Is that one plus all the other players? JOHN McLAREN: One of them has got a hall pass. Q. But you'd like to see everybody? JOHN McLAREN: I laughed last year when someone mentioned, you know, about Ichiro swing at bad pitches. I think I said, "Well, when you hit 360, you swing at bad pitches, too." Ichiro is a different hitter. He's got the ability -- he's got such body control, bat control. He can do things that other guys can't do, and he's not really your prototype leadoff hitter because he's not one to sit up there -- now, when you say work the count, he's got the ability, and he did it many times, and I think it set the tone with him leading the game off by having a 10, 12 pitch at bat. When it's really good when you know the pitcher on the other side has got a real low pitch count and he knocks 12 off. There was somebody pitching last year coming from an injury and he had like 70 pitches and Ichiro row grabbed about 13, 14 off the bat. I'm like thanking. Q. Wasn't it Oakland? JOHN McLAREN: Yeah, it was. Pretty good, Jim. Q. He's got seven years of 200-plus hits. Do you see him reaching -- is he at a peak, or is the mountain still climbing for him? JOHN McLAREN: Consistency at its best. Ichiro is such an intelligent player. He still studies the game. He's still learning the pitchers. He's been in the league, he still studies the game. Like I told you, I was very happy because I think Ichiro reached out for his teammates and his teammates reached out for him last season. I thought that was a huge step. I think -- before I think maybe the players were afraid to approach Ichiro because Ichiro is a private person. They felt they couldn't approach him. I think now they can go out with him, have a cheeseburger and -- because he likes cheeseburgers and so on and so forth. They like sushi, so it's a good combo. Q. Is Kuroda more like him or more like Kenji? JOHN McLAREN: I don't know. You have to ask the Japanese press. I would say Kenji -- because Ichiro got a little rock star in him. I don't think Kuroda does. He's more on the conservative -- the way he was dressed, he doesn't dress like Ichiro at all. When we had dinner with Ichiro he had a pink tie on. "How do you like my tie, Mac?" I Said, "Very nice." I was making fun of his shoes one time. they looked like Converse All Stars. He said cost little more than Converse All Stars, $2,300. Q. With or without laces? JOHN McLAREN: No, they had laces. Q. How do you think that came about, because he seems more at ease with his teammates? JOHN McLAREN: I think he's hitting a comfort level, and there's no reason why he can't speak up and say something on his mind. He can converse. Probably speaks better English than me. I know he doesn't like to talk to the media in English, but he speaks fine English. I think there for awhile in his early years with Boone and Mark McLemore when he talked English, it was more like -- more or less in type of a funny manner to be funny. But I think when he has something -- because he's such a smart baseball player, when he has something on his mind, there's no reason why he can't go up to his teammate and tell him. It speaks volumes. When your best player can go over and speak to you, you know -- I think you guys know better than me, the Japanese press. He likes to be asked more than him going out and suggesting. I think that's the way he is because I've talked to him about it. I can't remember what it was I asked him, "Why don't you say something?" He said, "No, I would rather have him come ask me and I'll be glad to tell him." It's a respect thing. He's a very respectful man. Q. How did you like his performance in centerfield last year, and is there any thought to moving him back to right now that Guillen is gone, Adam Jones is coming up? JOHN McLAREN: He's a Gold Glove in right, center, and he's an outstanding centerfielder, and our plans are to leave him in centerfield. Q. Did you ask him where he would like to play? JOHN McLAREN: I might have done that. No, I didn't. We like him in center, and we like Adam going to right. End of FastScripts |
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