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MLB WINTER MEETINGSDecember 5, 2007Willie RandolphNASHVILLE, TENNESSEE Q. What was your reaction to this blockbuster deal sending two major stars out of your division? WILLIE RANDOLPH: Well, you can always expect something to happen, it's fast and furious, everything going on. Seems like a great deal for both clubs. Short term, Tigers look good with those two horses in there, and I saw the kid, the centerfielder, and he looks like he has a lot of talent, so that will play out in time I guess. But good to see something happening I guess, you know, over these meetings and everyone sits around twiddling their thumbs and once in a while it's nice to see some action. Q. How about the idea that you don't have to face these guys, Cabrera and Willis, that changes a little bit, 18 games against them. WILLIE RANDOLPH: Yeah, it does. Cabrera is still to me one of the top five hitters in the game. You talk about Pujols and Bonds and those guys all you want, but I do not like seeing him come to the plate at any time in the game. Yeah, it's good to get him out of the league. He's getting better and better. Great defensively, also. I was talking to Sweeney about him a month ago, and guys that don't see him every day, he's a special, special talent and good to have him out of our league and get in the American League and get out of my way. Q. Are you guys going to do anything? WILLIE RANDOLPH: Good question, man. Obviously nothing's going on. We'd like to do something. You've got to have a willing partner, and right now everything's pretty much slow. And if we can sneak something before we leave, great, and if not we have all off-season and Spring Training to get something done. Everyone addressing their pitching obviously, and I think that our every day lineup roster is pretty much for the most part pretty set. So everyone's looking for relievers, starters. No secret that everyone is trying to knock each other out of the way to get them. Q. The way the season ended, do you guys need as a team some sort of mental jolt or something that a big trade like that would bring into a team just for a new face, a new look, a new something? WILLIE RANDOLPH: I don't think so. I think that's overrated really. Whoever you bring in obviously has to produce. That's where it's going to be the jolt. So to go get someone just for the sake of doing it or just bringing the name in, that does nothing for us I don't believe. Again, you know, we have a team that did pretty well last year, the starters, they did pretty well and even though you want to add on to that and guard against injuries possibly, Duque went down last year and we used 24 different guys to kind of pick up the slack. And the guys we brought in just didn't get the job done. So, yeah, you can always add a starting pitcher here and there. There's not a lot out there, and if you want to go with a big fish, you have to give up a lot of prospects, so that's not an easy task. You have to be patient sometimes, and you can't overreact and not think about -- not just long term, but even just in the short tern. You can't just do something just for the sake of doing it and having to regret that later. Everyone knows who is out there. The big fish are out there. Santana is still out there. I don't think that we're necessarily out of the picture even though I think Boston and the Yankees get most of the play on that. Depends on what Minnesota wants, if they have what we like, that's something that might happen. Q. Are you comfortable with the team the way it is right now to start the season? WILLIE RANDOLPH: Like I said earlier, we won 88 games last year, and I'm always comfortable with my team because year-to-year it's a totally different game totally different situation. When you look around the league and different teams, everyone is kind of in the same boat when you get down to it. I'm a firm believer that every year you come to Spring Training there's always a sleeper and some guy who steps up and has a career year. Would we like to improve? Yes. But are we comfortable with the team at this point in time? Yeah. If we can add somebody that could help us, that's great. But I'm not sitting here feeling like, wow, we've got to do something and we if we don't we can't compete. We'll compete next year. Q. With no resolution to the Santana situation, has that impacted your club's ability to get something done secondarily? WILLIE RANDOLPH: We're all in the same boat. Santana is going to be the big -- obviously and for everyone, once he falls by the wayside not saying that we're waiting for that to happen, and I think everyone could probably speak to that; there are a second tier of guys who are probably sitting back waiting. So, yeah, I guess, obviously when Santana goes, wherever he goes, hopefully to us, then everything else will fall into place. Q. I know there are no givens other than Dave, Jose and Carlos being at their positions, but does the organization want Ryan church to be the right fielder every day? WILLIE RANDOLPH: Right now he's given the opportunity to be our right fielder. And I'm always very open with that, because I always believe that no matter who you are you have to earn a job in Spring Training, unless you are David Wright or an established guy. I think he's ready to step up and be an every day player. I'm sure if he did win the job, there will be times where I spell him here and there, because we have capable backups and Easley is going to play some outfield. So I don't believe that it's necessary to say he's the every day guy but he's going to get a great opportunity to win the job yes. He had decent numbers last year for what he did and the time he played. But you know, I was using my bench, you know that, I use my guys in left field and if he doesn't match up well against a certain pitcher, he'll get a break like everybody else will. Q. Where is Sánchez right now, how's his progress? WILLIE RANDOLPH: I think he's going to be pretty much on time on schedule to start Spring Training with us. We were hoping he could play a little winter ball, but I don't think that's going to happen but's okay because the process he's made so far is pretty encouraging from what I understand. Randy Neiman gives us reports not daily but the reports have been very positive. I just want him to get back in the saddle and just see what he has. It's been awhile since he's pitched. Prior to that obviously he was a big part of our bullpen and you know it's kind of a question mark going in, but if he's healthy, that's going to be a huge advantage for us. Q. And you may not know that until March? WILLIE RANDOLPH: Yeah, until we get to Spring Training, see him throw a little bit and get him on a program to where we can stretch him out and get him back to some semblance of where he was before. It's a long layoff. It's not easy to bounce back when you're trying to get back in the rhythm of pitching. But he's a good athlete. He's in good shape, and again, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll be able to contribute this career. Q. I think we're learning a little bit about what other teams with major starting pitchers think about the Mets prospects in terms of starting pitchers, the youngsters. What do you think of these guys and their ability to make an impact in '08, an impact; not be on the roster, but make an impact. WILLIE RANDOLPH: I wish I could tell you that for sure. They have talent, obviously, and young kids have to step up. So I'm a firm believer in that if you challenge these young kids, they have an opportunity, so it's up to them to take it. You look at other prospects around the league, and they are, you know, they are pretty much in the same boat. Now the insides of what you're made up of is what's going to get you to the next level. I hope that my kids are tough enough and ready to take that challenge. Q. Do you think that Pelfrey toughened up at all after going through a very difficult beginning to last season? WILLIE RANDOLPH: He got better and I think he learned a lot. He's a young kid, out of college for a couple years going to go through growing pains that all the great ones do. And I was talking to Hudson about how he struggled early on, and it's part of the maturing process. I think he did learn a lot from last year. I think he showed progress in learning how to deal with getting out of jams and turning the page, and every once in a while when you get pretty hard, bounce back from that and that's all part of what he goes through. And I saw some steady progress. Q. What do you think the last month has been like for you to kind of help guys motivate your team? What do you want your players to think about, the end of last season? WILLIE RANDOLPH: Well, they should still be thinking about it. I'm still dealing with it and flushing it out. You do it in your own way. I've talked to my players briefly but we didn't address anything about last year. We'll get to that in Spring Training. But for the most part, we're not going to go into Spring Training harping on last year and thinking about, you know, what happened. We have to learn from that experience, get better from that and really just focus on the future. We all should have learned something from last year, and I think we will. Q. What do you say to Met fans who want to see you make a big trade? Do you feel you have to, or do you feel that your roster is good enough right now? WILLIE RANDOLPH: I've always been a firm believer that you can't get caught up into what the fans expect. Obviously we would love to do something, but you cannot make a hasty decision because of the fact that you have to do something to appease the fans. They have to know that we are working hard to improve our ballclub. They have to know that we are going to do what we feel is the best for the team and our organization and in a smart manner. And if we can do something, fine. But if we don't, you know, don't be discouraged by that, and we're still working to improve our team. Q. What do you think of Carlos Gomez? WILLIE RANDOLPH: Talent-wise? I don't know, it's hard to project. He's a young player, only 21 years old. So for me, you can't start projecting on what those kids can do. He's talented, great speed, obviously and shown some defensive skills, but he's learning how to hit. It's like we have a tendency to start to get way ahead of ourselves with young players. And I've seen when players take off, and I've seen young players become a flash in the pan. So we're hoping that he'll continue to work. And he's a hard worker but he's still very raw. All of these kids are very, very raw and you look at their swing pattern, and you like some things that you see and then you go, well, he needs a lot of work. That's what I see; improvement, and that's what you look for year-to-year with your players. Q. With Milledge, what does he need to work on to improve? WILLIE RANDOLPH: His total game; he needs to improve offense defense, running bases. Q. What's a couple of those things that you would say? WILLIE RANDOLPH: Defense. I mean, everyone can improve on defense, game awareness, understanding the game, playing the games, a feel for the game. And those are things that is very rare to have someone come in and have that now. So just because he has some talent, some skills, when you're in a winning situation, putting together a winning team, all those intangibles are very, very important. You can't look make mistakes when you're trying to win a championship. So it's too much to really expect a young player to have all that mastered. Some organizations can be patient with that, some organizations say, you know what, no, we can't afford to go with a guy at this point in time. He needs more seasoning. So people that have seen him, seen some of the things he can do, just like Gomez and with young players, but for me you have to make sure you don't get blinded by one asset, you have to look at the whole package. Q. What about Gomez, when you saw Gomez last year, incredibly gifted, and you saw him make some decisions that were not winning baseball decisions. At what age in your experience does a guy get it or he's not going to get it? WILLIE RANDOLPH: It depends on the individual. Some guys get it quicker than others. Some guys you have to be patient with; depends on how receptive they are really. If you can afford to be patient with a guy for a period of time, then you know maybe the fruits will come to bear and you'll go, okay, glad we're patient. Every organization is totally different, depending on who you have behind you and in front of you, dictates how patient you can. There's no timetable for that and depends on the individual and how patient that organization is going to be with that individual. Q. What is it going to be like with Joe Torre not with the Yankees any more and in Los Angeles with the National League? WILLIE RANDOLPH: Joe, I don't know, I can't answer that question. I'm far removed from all that. I talk to Joe periodically, and he's landed on a great situation. It's not going to affect me day-to-day. Joe is going to do a fine job out there. I think that this is a great opportunity for him to go to another class organization and he'll do a good job out there. Talk to Joe briefly every once in a while just as friends, but we don't really talk about how he's feeling. Just that he's still in the game and still one of the best. Q. Any advice for Joe Girardi now that he's managing? WILLIE RANDOLPH: No. Same advice I got from Joe; just be yourself. Q. At the end of the season, you attributed Reyes' second half to just being a slump. Now that you've had some time to look at his season, is it still a slump, or were there problems that he ran into that he needs to be corrected, and have you spoken to him? WILLIE RANDOLPH: I've reached out to him a few times. A lot of guys in the off-season, I stay in touch with them. Play a lot of phone tag. But, yeah, it was just a slump at the wrong time. That's just what it boils down to. You know, we talk about how the off-season ended or whatever, and obviously you look at it and say we collapsed in some way. But you look at -- you were there. You look at the way things transpired. We just ran into some tough, tough situations, misfortune, injuries, which is a big part of it. And Jose ran into probably the biggest slump of his life at the wrong time. When you have your catalyst go into a funk like that; again, a young player that you can't expect just because he's a great player, that he's not going to go through that. He just picked the wrong time to go through a real tough growing pain. And that's how difficult it is to hit in the game, it's not easy. And he just couldn't find the rhythm and confidence to get back into his groove. So if anyone learned a lesson last year, it was him and how to deal with that adversity and how to make adjustments in the future. Q. With Jose, there's two ways he can go -- WILLIE RANDOLPH: I think he'll be fine. I don't think it will affect him, if that's what you mean. Jose plays the game with reckless abandon and is very confident in himself, but again I look at my players because I know them and I feel, you know, their pulse and their personality. And I don't think that he's going to let that, you know, bother him in any way. I think he'll be more determined next year and feel better about having gone through the experience because he'll know better how to deal with it now. When you get on your heels like that, and like a boxer backing into the ropes, when you watch a guy every day, you know that can happen with him; it happens. It can happen very easily, and it hasn't happened for him. But again, like I said, it came at the wrong time because he wanted to get the job done for us. There wasn't a guy on our team that didn't want to finish up strong and win. But again, that just shows how difficult the game is at times because even the great players sometimes can't find the handle sometimes. Q. Omar said the other day that you'll go to camp with seven or eight starters, and he mentioned Sosa is considered as a starter, but you're not using him as a starter. What is that about? Are you trying to get him stretched out so that he will be available for three innings here or there? WILLIE RANDOLPH: No, he'll be kind of a swing guy. The thing about Sosa is he can do short, long. I don't know what Omar said to you, but that's probably what he meant by that is he's going to use him pretty much as a jack-of-all-trades. He's very versatile and he's done everything we've asked him to do and he's done it before. So he's one of those guys that you need on the staff because he can do so many things for you. I think when you go into Spring Training and depending on how our team is going to be set up, he's a nice guy to have because you can always put him in different spots to help you out. Q. Do you have an idea of the lineup yet? WILLIE RANDOLPH: I really have not thought about it. Obviously we'll have six guys and be pretty set. A piece here, a piece there whatever, but I'm not ready to make a lineup yet. Q. Do you have a feel of the starting pitchers, who would be your starter if the season began tomorrow for Opening Day? WILLIE RANDOLPH: That's, again, just throw it up there. I haven't thought about that. We have guys -- your starting pitcher sometimes comes out of Spring Training. So we look at our guys in Spring Training and see who comes out strong. Obviously guys like Pedro you have to consider because he'll probably have a good spring and come out strong for us. But I really haven't thought about lineups, pitching, anything like that. Just trying to strengthen our ballclub. Q. What's a healthy Pedro going to mean? WILLIE RANDOLPH: Huge for us. Just being able to take innings and take the ball, one of the guys that's very comfortable stopping slumps and streaks and things of that nature. It's all about health for Pedro. And he came out last year and showed us that he's going to be healthy, and he's going to be strong next spring with four months of rehab and full spring. He'll be ready to go and having him at the helm will be huge for us. Q. And the personality, as well? WILLIE RANDOLPH: We have pretty much a team that pretty much goes about their business in a nice fashion. So we're not into and guys coming in and giving us shots and all that stuff like that. Pedro, we've been without him a lot the last two years and we've been successful without him. So him coming in and his personality is all part of the mix more than anything. Q. Do you feel like the organization needs to add a starting pitcher, even if it's like a Livan Hernández to eat innings to offset Glavine, or is that good enough to log in innings? WILLIE RANDOLPH: You feel more comfortable if you have someone that you can really count on to give you those things, yeah. You don't just take that lightly when you think about the team and injuries and things that go on in the course of the year. We don't want to just do it just to do it, like I said earlier. But I think that it's important that we look to find someone that we can -- that's dependable that we can put in that spot. So regardless if they give us five, six, seven innings, take the ball every turn and have dip into your surplus and hopefully let those young kids kind of ease their way into what they are going to do. Pelfrey needs to step up next year. We talk about easing that in; I might have mentioned that a second ago, but we still need those young kids to step up to the forefront. But this summer, Pelfrey, I'm looking forward to watching pitch this spring because he did a nice job last year. All those kids have to look at the situation and feel good about the opportunity to possibly, you know, make some real, you know, just make impact in some way. Q. If you did at one more guy would they actually fit, unless you put El Duque in the bullpen, they wouldn't fit? WILLIE RANDOLPH: Depending who that player was we could use him how we see fit. There's so many guys out there who are kind of in the middle, you know, middle guys that you know they come to our ballclub they might end up being long guys or something like that. You don't just put them in and throw them in the mix. You have injuries in Spring Training, you have maybe the kid's not ready yet so you get guys that are going to give you -- it's important to strengthen your bullpen and get guys who will give you innings. You can always mix-and-max. Q. Realistically, what do you think Schneider will mean to the maturation process? WILLIE RANDOLPH: From what I understand, the people I've talked to they say he's a real cerebral guy, take charge behind home plate, someone who takes his catching seriously. And it's nice sometimes when you bring someone fresh to kind of form a relationship with these young players. Talking to Manny and a few of the gays that had him, Frank Robinson, they say that's very important to catching. Solidifying the pitching staff is something he takes a lot of pride in, and that's really something I'm happy to hear. Sometimes starting out in a new environment in relationships, getting guys to trust you and communicating what you want can be a real positive for you. Q. You admittedly loosened the reins last year a little bit -- WILLIE RANDOLPH: No -- Q. Do you have to come out this year -- WILLIE RANDOLPH: No, I don't think I loosened the reins. When you get to know your players, you get to trust them. So I have trust in my players to understand what I want and what we need to do to win. I don't think I loosened anything. Obviously when we were winning, we were winning a lot last year; we were in first place. And there's always the feeling the players are doing well and playing well, so just keep playing. My approach to players has always been the same from day one, it's just that sometimes it looks that way, and when things are going well for you, the perception that that's the case. Q. I don't know if I want to use the horse and whip analogy, but do you think from the start that you might have to ride these guys a little more from the start; whether it's more assertive, I don't know what the word is exactly, but maybe something you learned towards the end of last season? WILLIE RANDOLPH: No. My approach with my players is going to be pretty much the same again. Obviously a lot of what I do is behind the scenes and one-on-one. No, I don't believe that you need to get up on top of the desk and crack the whip or anything like that. We have pretty much a veteran ballclub. There might be a little more attention to detail and things that go on, but that's with every spring. I'm not going to take this experience and change and try to go into a person I'm not. I think the big key for me is knowing my players better now, knowing my players better and what I deal with my players knowing that I know how to communicate with them better and tweak what I need to tweak. Q. How important is it to get off to a good start to restore equilibrium? WILLIE RANDOLPH: It's important from a media and fan standpoint more than anything else. I think our players understand that getting off to a good, fast or slow start is not going to really make a difference in the big picture. Obviously we want to get off to a good start. That's important for any team, but we're not going to panic, overreact if we get off to a slow or sluggish start, because we know that this year was a perfect example of that. We got off to a fast start, played great baseball all year until maybe the last month of the season where we sputtered around. So we are going to keep things in perspective. We understand that again in our division, it's imperative to get off to a good start, but we're again going to make sure that we just play the game and not take anything for granted no matter what part of the season it is. Q. Do you have the same patience now or is the focus just to get the players? WILLIE RANDOLPH: In this town, it's important. You want to win. I'm not concerned about job security or anything like that if that's what you mean. Since I've been here with my staff, we know what to expect and we go out every year looking to win a championship and be in the playoffs for sure. One part of you is thinking the long term, but then obviously it's the immediate future that's really the most important part of it. So we're going to look forward to just doing what we have to do now and this year to get it done. End of FastScripts |
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