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MLB WINTER MEETINGSDecember 5, 2007Dave TrembleyNASHVILLE, TENNESSEE Q. What has this been like for you? It's only your second one, I guess. Has it been a little much, a lot to take in? DAVE TREMBLEY: Well, you see a lot of people that you haven't seen for a long time. I think you really -- you really get to appreciate the magnitude that the game has not only here but worldwide because of the amount of people and the attention that is given during this point in time during the year. I think that's probably the thing that jumps out at me the most, is the interest that exists right now for baseball. It's a great time of the year for the fans, kind of gets you through the doldrums of the wintertime and no baseball and gets you talking baseball around the water cooler in the place of work or driving in your car, reading the newspaper. It's nice. Q. Dave, you told us that when you go home, you basically think about baseball all winter long. Have you had a chance to reflect on what went right and what went wrong for your team last year? DAVE TREMBLEY: Well, I think that's very -- I think it's true. I don't mean to make it sound one way or the other, but I think about the game all the time. I think what went right for us is that, you know, we have someone in charge now in Andy MacPhail. I think Mr. MacPhail has given us, you know, a sense of direction. There's a purpose and a plan important what we're going to do, and I believe we established some principles and foundations of how we're going to play the game and what our expectations are. I think that will be more clearly defined in Spring Training, but I think you're only as good as your pitching, especially in the division that we play in. I think you need to have quality starting pitching and the games that you have an opportunity to win, you have to have people at the back end of the game that can get you outs. It doesn't really matter how many runs you score or don't score. If you don't have good pitching to start the game and don't have good pitching to close the game out -- win streaks start I think by playing the game that way and losing streaks start like that. I think I really learned that. You need to get better. I think we'll get better with, you know, better preparation, you know, in Spring Training and everyone making a commitment to buy into how we're going to do things. Q. Can you get better with the same personnel? Would you get upset if you had basically the same team this year, or does this team need major renovations? DAVE TREMBLEY: I don't know if we need major renovation. We need to add some pieces to what we have and obviously, you know, there are some -- there's some gaps that need to be filled. We need a starting pitcher. We need a closer and a setup guy. We need better arms in the bullpen. I think the approach that we're going -- the approach that we play and how we play the game, I don't think is going to change. I like speed at the top of the lineup, and I like to run the bases. But it's pitching, it's pitching, starting pitching, quality of arms. I don't think there's any -- I think we need to get younger. I think the team needs to get younger and add some depth, not only to our Major League team but to our system, our organization. Q. Dave, was it tough that a lot of teams are doing things, you need to address the gaping holes in your roster? Is it tough waiting? DAVE TREMBLEY: Well, like I said earlier, I think everybody has their own timetable and agenda for how and when they're going to do things. Our process has been ongoing well before we arrived here. I think it started with organizational meetings in Florida at the end of the season, a gathering of information and data from all our personnel, scouting department, player development, and I believe Mr. MacPhail, you know, touched on all those things when he went to the general managers meetings. And now coming here, I think there's a lot of viable open suspicions and opportunities that are out there. It just so happens that at, you know, 4:35 or whatever it is on this day, it hasn't materialized, but I don't think that's any reason for people to think something is not going to happen. Q. Do you still think that you guys need to add a veteran pitcher? You just talked about getting younger, talked about needing -- DAVE TREMBLEY: I think our pitching, you know, I think you need to replace a Trachsel-type guy with that kind of guy. If you have Guthrie and Loewen in your rotation, I think you need a guy that can give you innings, kind of buffer Loewen coming back from missing a whole year. I think you do need a guy that has some experience in your five. Q. How careful do you have to catch Loewen coming back from a very abbreviated year? DAVE TREMBLEY: You know, the training staff tells me that he's going to be full go on day one going into Spring Training. I've talked to him a couple times on the phone. He has no restrictions on his throwing program this off-season. So I think myself personally, the less attention you give to it, the better, because it's just like him to come into Spring Training and feels as if he doesn't have to think he's looking over his shoulder. I already asked him, "Should we pencil you in there for that opening series or not?" He said, "No, I'll be in the opening series." That's kind of the direction we're going with him. Q. Dave, could you guys move Markakis to centerfield, or is he set in rightfield? DAVE TREMBLEY: There's always a possibility of doing that. I don't think we're at that point where we want to do that. I think he's pretty good darn rightfielder. He hit 300, drove in a hundred runs. I think his arm got better playing out there because we had him on a throwing program. I'd rather leave Nick out there. He could play centerfield, but I prefer to keep him in right. Q. Dave, we've heard a lot that a pretty much anybody is available for the right deal. In your mind, is there anybody untouchable, anybody you want the make sure are with you? DAVE TREMBLEY: I believe Mr. MacPhail said that, that because of our past history and, you know, where we finished last year, that we owe it not only to ourselves but to our fans and the future of this organization to listen to any and all offers and commerce, but obviously you certainly wouldn't want to trade some of the younger players you have. I don't think guy like Markakis is a guy that you particularly entertain offers for. I think Loewen is probably in the same coming off surgery. I don't think you would do that. I don't think that would be fair. Q. Any other names now that you can think of, those two? I know Guthrie is a guy. Who else? DAVE TREMBLEY: Guthrie, I think he will be there. Q. What's the story on Cabrera? Does he have a guaranteed rotation slot? DAVE TREMBLEY: I finally got a hold of Daniel, which was an interesting experience for me. Got his e-mail at the end of the year and kept e-mailing him. Got his cell phone number. Kept calling him on his cell phone, and the people that were picking up on the other end couldn't understand English and I couldn't speak enough Spanish to get them to understand who the heck I was. But Daniel himself called. He didn't have his agent. Daniel himself called Mr. MacPhail and asked if we would consider letting him pitch in Winter Ball. I asked him before he left at the end of the season if he would consider doing that because I thought he needed to go down there and get his confidence back and his opportunity to do that would come by pitching. He had Dean working out. We have a winter program down there, the Orioles do, and he had been working out and throwing to those young kids and kind of inter-squad games and this and that, but he wanted to take the opportunity to pitch in some more games in the Dominican Winter League. I talked to Mr. MacPhail about it. We talked to Rick Kranitz about it, and he basically wants to see if he can get himself straightened out with his mechanics and his change-up. We're going to let him pitch in games three times -- three games this month and two games in January and limit the amount of pitches and innings that he throws, and right now we have him slotted into being our starting rotation. Q. Would you be surprised if he filled some other role for your team? How long is his leash as a starting pitcher? DAVE TREMBLEY: I believe that, you know, the opportunity that he's going to have and take advantage of in the Winter Ball is going to get him straightened out and going to get him some confidence. He's going to come into Spring Training. I don't want him to think about that he's going to pitch in the bullpen. I want him to have the mindset he's going to be in the starting rotation and go from there. Q. What are your thoughts on a closer at this point? Is there anybody available within your 25, 40-man roster that you think can handle this position, or do you think it's going to be someone else? DAVE TREMBLEY: Presently the guys that we have, I think you'd have to do it by committee. I don't think you could do it with one particular guy, and so I think that's been an area that, you know, is trying to be addressed here at these Winter Meetings. Q. Dave, couple of your players have angered fans in Baltimore for different things. The Huff situation, there you guys were talking about this disciplining it. Do you know where that is at this point? Have you guys enacted any discipline, whether it's a fine? DAVE TREMBLEY: That has not been addressed for discipline. I don't think that's presently something that has been under consideration while we've been here at these meetings. That's more an administrative thing with Mr. MacPhail. Him and I, we talked about it, but I think that's more an organizational administrative thing that should be addressed. Q. Did you cringe when you found out what he said and where he said it and why he said it? DAVE TREMBLEY: Just let you know that people are different. Certainly the way I do things, not everyone is going to agree with. Certainly the way other people do things, I don't always agree with. So I think that's what makes the world go around. It doesn't mean you have to like it or accept. You just have to understand that's the way it is. Obviously I have a 17-year-old son, and I expect when he gets a little bit older, the decisions that he makes would be a little bit more positive than that. That's probably as best I can put it. I'm not trying be disrespectful to Aubrey Huff. I like Aubrey Huff. I don't think any of us have been, you know -- we've all made mistakes. Q. How about the Millar situation? DAVE TREMBLEY: The mistake I made, and Mr. Stetka was kind enough to point it out to me, I said "No comment." When I said "No comment," I meant like, you know, gosh, darn, big deal, but it was misconstrued that I was upset because a lot of times people will take what you say and look at it from the worse side instead of seeing it from the other angle. I didn't particularly have a problem with it as long as Kevin Millar spoke to Mr. MacPhail about it and cleared it, and, you know, the decision was made by Mr. MacPhail that it was okay. I have no problem with that. Q. Dave, Bedard's name has been widely talked about. DAVE TREMBLEY: Who? Q. You guys need to upgrade the team. How tough is that the decision to make whether you move him or whether you keep him, build around him? DAVE TREMBLEY: That's why you have guys like Mr. MacPhail that are running this organization. They've made those kinds of decisions before. You know, those decisions are well thought out. Opinions are asked from a lot of different people. Discussions are made, and decisions are then determined based upon all the information and the best interests of the Orioles. I think, you know, whatever happens it will be will be done in the right way and be okay with me. Q. Dave, the Mitchell report comes out next week. As a manager, how much concern do you have with what is going to happen both Major League Baseball-wise and the Orioles are implicated? DAVE TREMBLEY: I'm like you guys, Buck, Bill, everybody here, we all love the game. I think we all have concern about what affect that's going to have on our game, especially at a point in time when it should be a joyous occasion -- Christmas holiday, goodness sake, we're killing people in foreign countries and the price of gas in Daytona gas is 3.27. I'm buying milk, it's 4.29. That's the nuts and bolts of life. I'll be -- from a positive standpoint, if the information comes out, I told Bill this the other day, I'll be glad it comes out now and doesn't come out the first day of Spring Training. Let's give it some time to get this out of the way, and let's start 2008 on a positive note, and let's put on the front page of the TV stations and all this stuff, baseball in a more positive light. I don't like all the negative stuff. I don't think it's good for people in the wintertime and holiday season that might be less fortunate than you and I to have that kind of stuff. I don't think it's good at all. I worry about what effect it's going to have on the game in the long run. Q. Do you worry at all about what effect it might have on your team, plus the suspensions, more bad publicity on something that's already there? DAVE TREMBLEY: You reap what you sow. You know, if you put yourself in a position where you should be disciplined because you've done something that goes against the rules of the game, so be it. That's the way I look at it, so be it. Q. Has there been much talk about it like when you're out there talking to different people and planning on next year and everything else? Is it something that's tangible or just in the back of your mind? DAVE TREMBLEY: I think one good thing about being here at these meetings is that that information from my perspective has been kept under wraps. I don't hear it out there. I don't think there's a lot of leaks. I don't think there's a lot of speculation. People obviously have opinions on it, but I don't really -- I don't think -- you know, to be honest with you, I don't think a whole lot of people want to talk about it. I think people are interested in it, you know, but I don't think people want to talk about it because it just -- it doesn't give you a real good feeling, doesn't sit very well. I don't know. The nail has already been driven in. How much further are you going to drive it in? Q. Take you a little longer this year to let go of your season, to let go of your team? DAVE TREMBLEY: I don't know if I've let go yet, to be honest with you. I don't know if I have. You always think you can do better. You always think you can maybe tweak things a little bit differently or maybe do something a little bit different to make it a little bit better. But, you know, you learn from it and you move on. You learn from it and move on. You try to use that experience to maybe set yourself down a course of direction that perhaps is a little better. Q. Did you learn anything specific that you can let us know, or is it just how to deal with more adversity? DAVE TREMBLEY: I tell you I learned a lot about -- I learned a lot about people and I learned a lot about, you know, respect and appreciation. I learned a lot about those kind of things. I learned a lot about reinforcement of the importance of doing things right. There's no substitute for doing things right. I don't think you give in, and I don't think you change and alter your course because you're winning or losing. I think you have a plan and you stick with it and you do your darnest. I have to do a better job at it. You do your darnest of not letting it know when it bothers you. Q. Dave, if there's no major serious trades made with the nucleus guys on your team, do you envision Tejada as your 3rd baseman or leftfielder, or at this point would you be surprised if he's back? DAVE TREMBLEY: I think the conversations that I've had with Miggy and the conversations that Mr. MacPhail had with Miggy is Miggy feels as if he not only can but wants to play shortstop for the Orioles. I think depending upon what happens at these meetings and we go back home and start preparing ourselves for Spring Training, we have to look at the personnel that we have and then start trying to formulate where people are going to play and what roles people are going to have. Q. If Tejada is not your shortstop, would you mind going with a defense only guy at that position? DAVE TREMBLEY: No, I wouldn't mind that. Q. Can you survive that way in the AL East? DAVE TREMBLEY: If you got good enough pitching. Q. Can you talk about how Bedard progressed during the season to turn in one of the best pitchers in the American League? DAVE TREMBLEY: What Bedard did -- I wasn't privileged to be there in the past, but what I saw and just looking at the numbers and everything, what he did was he learned how to command his fastball on both sides of the plate. His pitch counts were down. What he had the capability of doing is a unique knack that a lot of people don't have. He could come up with the big pitch with guys in scoring position in less than two outs. He had a put-away almost two -- almost two different kinds of breaking balls and he was 19 and 9. I think we were 19 and 9 when he started and he gave you the intangible of when he pitched, you felt like were you going to win. That's what he did. He just had a tremendous season. It's unfortunate that it was cut short. Q. Dave, Andy said he would be disappointed if there isn't a significant move made this week. Do you share in that feeling? Do you expect something in the next day or so? DAVE TREMBLEY: Got that machine going right over here. I know that Mr. MacPhail and the people that are up in that room are considering every possibility to make our club better and to move forward in the right direction. Q. Can I get a follow-up on that? DAVE TREMBLEY: (Laughter). Go right ahead. Q. What about the disappointed part if nothing happens? I know it's relatively -- we're still in early December here. DAVE TREMBLEY: If something doesn't happen tonight or doesn't happen before everybody leaves here and goes back to Baltimore or wherever they're from, it doesn't mean that the trade is still not going to happen. That's why I said about agendas and time tables and all that. I think if you lock yourself in and you set -- draw lines in the sand and all that, I think now you're looking for disappointment because you tie yourself in, barricade yourself in a corner. I don't think Mr. MacPhail is going to do that. I think the door is open, wide open. Q. Dave, if you don't sign a pitcher, is Hayden Penn the next day or how has his off-season gone? Who are some of the other guys? DAVE TREMBLEY: We got good reports on Hayden that he was healthy, one. Two, his work habits improved. I think you look at almost a committee of guys. You would like to think that after an off-season, guys like Olson, Hoey, Liz, those guys would all the come back more mature, learn from the experience that they had. I think somebody will always surprise you in Spring Training. I think there's always one or two guys that maybe you're not counting on that will step up and surprise you. That's what I fully expect. Still have some options there with Burres, whether he's going to be in the rotation or be a long guy. That's why they have Winter Meetings. That's why there's someone like Mr. MacPhail in charge. That's why you sit up there in that room and mull all those possibilities over. Q. Do you use Spring Training as a tie breaker? Would you like to have your rotation figured out before Spring Training? DAVE TREMBLEY: What I like to do in Spring Training is give people an opportunity to show what they can do, and I think obviously you like to have a nucleus, and I don't think you want your Spring Training to be a try-out, but I think you want people coming into Spring Training feeling as if they're going to have the opportunity not only to contribute but to make your team. Q. Melvin Mora. Are you looking at him as a rover next year? Is he locked in as a 3rd baseman? DAVE TREMBLEY: You know, he received permission to go to Winter Ball and play some left field and 3rd base, which I think bodes well for Melvin and for us if that's what we need to do. I think it's great that, you know, he would do that to make our team better. I think that's the bottom line. If it makes our team better, I'm all for it. Q. Would that present problems for you in finding places for him to play if he did become a utility guy? DAVE TREMBLEY: I don't think we're at that point where Melvin is a utility guy. He's played too long and been too productive for me to even think about that right -- to say he's a utility guy. I think it's more in tune where he's probably looking at if he had to go out there and play one, two days a week or, you know, two games every two weeks or something, he'd be able to do that. I think what you have to keep in mind is, you know, it looks like we're going to have some guys that, you know, we can move around somewhat and play more than one position. We have a lot of those kind of guys. Q. Deza. Is he exclusively a reliever? I heard talk last year maybe a couple people thought maybe stretching him out. DAVE TREMBLEY: I went to the organizational meetings. I did not hear that. I did not hear that with him. I think, you know, his future with us is later guy in the game. 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