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MLB WINTER MEETINGS

December 5, 2007

Ned Yost

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

Q. You got to talk to Braun yesterday, Doug said he talked to him about maybe if you guys find a third baseman, moving him?
NED YOST: Yes, I did talk to him about it.

Q. What did you think about that move? Is it preferable to leave him at third and find a left fielder?
NED YOST: Whatever develops. I'm not one way or the other on the opinion. I know one thing; that we have to get better defensively, and I mean, that's really -- we have to get better defensively. Does Ryan have the capabilities to get better defensively? With time and hard work and effort, absolutely.
One way or the other we're going to get better defensively. Because one, he wants to. How does that happen? Do we do it -- does he do at third? Do we do it with him in the outfield? I don't know yet. We'll find out.
But come February, we'll have a pretty good idea what we have before us and what we need to do to continue to work on it.

Q. Is it just defense overall, the plays you're supposed to make, concentrate on those?
NED YOST: Yeah, just being consistent, making plays that you should make, you're right. And you know, I think if you can -- we kind of judge our defensive abilities by below average, average, above average defensive players.
I think Ricky two years ago was a below average defensive players, and Ricky, through hard work, sweat, perseverance has now upped his game to an average defensive player. And I think Ricky is going to continue to improve and that's what we need to do with Ryan. Prince is the same way, has gotten so much better defensively, and I think that our outfield defense has gotten better, which is very, very important, too, because you know, you miss a ball in the infield and you end up -- you've got a runner on first. You miss a ball in the outfield, you've got a runner on second or third.
These are all areas that we need to continue to improve in.

Q. With a guy like Suppan, is that a better defensive style?
NED YOST: You ever to be able -- a guy like Sup, what he wants to do, and what we want him to do is to pitch to contact, make quality pitches and have hitters hit the ball. And we want to be able to have our defender standing right there when he does.
But we also need him to catch it and throw it accurately, because we don't want -- and a lot of the problems that we ran into last year with our starters not going deep in the game with their pitch counts racking up, every time you make an error, the pitch count goes out of the roof now. Instead of a pitcher having to get three outs, now they are getting four outs, and sometimes that will add eight to 12 to 15 more pitches an inning.
So instead of him going seven innings, he's gone six innings or sometimes five and two thirds. And it really takes a toll on your starters and then it bleeds into your relievers, so now they are coming into the game earlier and it all revolves around catching a ground ball. People don't look at it like that.
But for us to be successful, we need to improve defensively.

Q. It's not been a huge splash here, but you took steps in getting better today with the acquisition of Riske, what does he bring to your team and your bullpen?
NED YOST: Watching film on him, I haven't had a chance to see him much, but looking at his numbers and everybody that I've talked to, he's a strike-thrower. He's a guy that probably will contend as it stands today right now for our closer, one of our spots or four closers. We'll have Derrick Turnbow and Guillermo Mota.
These guys will all have an opportunity to see who is going to close games, because right now, you know, we don't have a clear-cut one. Derrick will probably have a head start in it because he's done it before and has been an All-Star closer. You know, he just brings another really, really good arm to our pen and we need to continue to stack up as many good arms as we can.

Q. We've got a few hours left here in Nashville; can you characterize what your chances are of making another big move right before you leave?
NED YOST: Yeah, things happen fast. It's been my experience that you can be sitting here one minute, and two hours later, you know, something can really be going.
So we've been staying up late talking about a bunch of different things, and a bunch of different scenarios, and you know, stuff can happen fast.

Q. Is it exciting for you that you have so many interchangeable parts, maybe Hall can go to third, maybe Ryan can go to left? Are you excited to see how all this is going to shake out?
NED YOST: Not really. I'm past the excited stage. I'd like to see these guys be in a position where they can really focus on it. Again, I think that you have to take advantage of where you are in the time that you're in.
I think that we've got a very, very special group of young men that are going to be together for, you know, four, five, six years, and I think that you have to do everything that you can do now. I think we've got the ability to compete and we've got the ability to win, and you'd better take full advantage of it and put your best team out there every single day.
It bothers me a little bit that we had to take Ryan out of ballgames in the seventh inning with that type of bad last year. We don't want to have to do that anymore. We would like to have guys settle into their positions and become proficient at it and do a good job.

Q. Two brief questions off-topic. You're in the National League dugout, are you happier you're not in the American League dugout when you take a look at the Tigers and who they acquired?
NED YOST: We played the Tigers last year and I think the year before. They are just a monster team for me. You watch the way that they play the game and with that talent that they have over there. And Jim Leyland and their coaches are fantastic, and they are -- yeah, I'm glad I'm not in that division and I'm glad I'm not in that league.

Q. Another big baseball topic that seems to be hanging over; will you be glad when the Mitchell report is out of the way?
NED YOST: I've got -- you know, for me, that doesn't concern me. I mean, right now, it might concern the GMs, but I don't care one way or the other to be honest with you.

Q. How do you see the Astros and the moves that they have done and just the whole division, do you think it will be a lot tighter, with you guys, a young, improved team?
NED YOST: I think that the Cubs are going to be very, very, very good again. I think the Astros are getting better. I mean, I think Coop going into it, from the beginning is going to be very, very good for that team. I think Hunter Pence is one of the best young players in the League. I think that Berkman and those guys, they build around those guys, they are going to be very good.
So I think that it's a tough league. I actually think that Pittsburgh is going to be better. I just think that it's going to be a tough division. Cincinnati has definitely gotten better. They have got one of the best closers in the game. I've got a lot of respect for Dusty Baker. So, I think that Cincinnati is going to be tough.
Yeah, I think our whole division got better.

Q. How big of a blow was losing Coco?
NED YOST: Yeah, it was tough. But I think I've been really lucky, and I hope that the streak doesn't end there, but you know, we've always found closers. We've always found a way to get a guy an opportunity to be successful. You know, we had Danny Kolb off Office a waiver wire and turn into an All-Star. We had Derrick Turnbow we got off of waivers and gave him an opportunity and turned him into an All-Star. And we got Coco and he was a setup guy and gave him an opportunity and he became an All-Star closer.
I think we'll find a closer. I think we'll find somebody that can come in and get the job done and guys that can get them -- get us to him, you know, through the eighth inning and the seventh inning.

Q. As you guys try to figure out your outfield maybe one spot, I've got e-mails from fans about Laynce Nix you look at him he always plays great in AAA and obviously he came up last year and went 0 for 12 for you, but fans want to know why he has not been given a better chance considering you guys traded for him in the Cordero trade.
NED YOST: Well, we always had good players in front of him, and I think that's the way it is in every organization.

Q. But why wouldn't he get a shot now?
NED YOST: Well, we still have some different scenarios working. But, I mean, our Minor League department and Doug, those guys -- and I'm not sure they designated him for assignment --

Q. That's what the release says. Doesn't mean you're necessarily --
NED YOST: I'm not sure. I don't really know what's going on there so for me to answer, I'm not sure. But just didn't -- it just hasn't happened. You know, a lot of times you get an opportunity and you have to take advantage of it.

Q. I know he got hurt right after you called him up last year --
NED YOST: No, it wasn't, the year before. Yeah, he hurt his foot. And we were at that time ready to give him more of an opportunity to play, but he couldn't. He hurt his foot.

Q. Do you need another outfielder?
NED YOST: Look, it's December. Right now, we've got a lot of things going on.

Q. By next season?
NED YOST: I don't know. Ask me that question in March. I'll let you know.

Q. Do any of the scenarios you guys have working involve moving Billy Hall?
NED YOST: I don't know. That's a question for Doug.

Q. Are you open to that? Are you open to moving him?
NED YOST: You know, I'm not really going to discuss what we're doing right now. We've got some other stuff going on and things that we're talking about.
Do I think the world of Billy Hall? Yeah. Do I think Billy is going to be a bounce-back guy from the year that he had last year? Absolutely. Did I grow comfortable with Billy in centerfield? Yes, I did. And do I think that Billy can be an offensive force in that lineup? I do.

Q. And I don't mean moving him to another team. I'm talking moving in position.
NED YOST: Oh, is that what you asked me? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You know what, there's been -- I didn't understand your question.
There has been some discussions on that. But you know what, I think Doug and myself both really kind of feel that Billy is such an outstanding athlete that he is capable of doing that. I believe Billy can play third. I believe Billy can play short. I believe Billy can play second. I believe Billy can play left, right and center, and if you put a first baseman's glove, he can do that, too.
But it gets to a point where you'd better -- it gets unfair to him and you can't keep doing it. He's done everything we've asked him to do, everything. And it just gets to the point where, you know, you've got to say somewhere, you know, this has got to stop for his sake.
And would I consider moving Billy to third, yeah, maybe, but you know, it's just -- we have to be fair to him, too. It's not out of the realm of possibility, but it's borderline getting unfair to ask him to do this every year.

Q. As we speak, is he a better defensive centerfielder than hart, for instance?
NED YOST: No. I think they are both -- I think they are both on probably about the same level. Did you say Corey Hart?

Q. Yeah.
NED YOST: Corey hasn't played outfield that much. Corey started as a first baseman, moved to third and then to left and then back to right field, and Corey really started to get his feet underneath him last year as an outfielder.
The only thing he's going to do is to continue to get better and better and better, and the same way with Billy. For one of them, to say one of them is better than the other, I wouldn't say that right now. I would say they are both probably about even.

Q. The Devil Rays are talking about going with Longoria -- what you guys did with Ryan, can you explain what the thinking was, the benefits of waiting into the season to bring him up?
NED YOST: Well, I think that if Ryan Braun had a better spring defensively, you know, he would have broke camp with us as our starting third baseman with Koskie being hurt.
But again, we knew that he could handle it offensively. He had a great spring and I think led our team in most offensive categories coming out of the spring. We knew that he needed to, you know, get a little time under his belt at the AAA level, too, and just to allow himself to get comfortable defensively.
But it got to a point where we were struggling to score some runs and we needed his offense, so we brought him up. And when we brought him up, we brought him up fully knowing that we needed to have a little patience with this defense. Because these kids have all been -- I don't want to say they have been rushed to the big leagues, but they are so talented, you know, we bring them to the big leagues early. And they are making mistakes that they should be making in the Minor Leagues.
So you'd better be able to understand that and have patience with that and accept that. And if you can do that, then they are going to continue to develop and when they hit that level, they are going to be very, very special players, but that's where we were with Braunie. You know, Braunie could have used a whole year in a probably defensively, wouldn't have killed him a bit but his bat was so strong and evidently you look at what he did for us offensively. With Prince, it's very much the right thing to do.

Q. Is it getting more difficult to have that kind of patience when you see yourself as a club that's supposed to win a division?
NED YOST: Again, we do see ourselves as a winning club, we do. And as much as I hated to do it, and guys have known me know that I don't like defending for my players. I want them out there learning how to handle certain situations, especially when it gets tough. But we're trying to win games, too. I owe it to everybody else to try to not only -- the other 24 guys on our team but our front office people and the people that sell tickets, our fans, you know, try to make sure that we win every single game.
So we're at a stage where I had to do that. But you know, you still have to have patience with these younger players, these kids and continue to develop them and continue to work with them and be positive with them.

Q. How do you balance that patience? You guys had a real step-forward year for a young team.
NED YOST: I think for me, I think I have to balance it by just not paying attention to really what anybody else says. Because a lot of people want to -- a lot of people, you know, don't want to really see it, if you understand what I'm saying.
But I have a real firm vision of what we're trying to accomplish, and what it's going to take for us to get there. And I know that these kids have to go through adversity. I know that they had to go through what they went through last year. You hear about the difference between young special players and old players is experience. Well, that's what our kids garnered last year was that experience of playing with expectation, and there is a huge difference, believe me, a monstrous difference between playing with expectation and playing out expectation. And these kids learned how to play with expectations last year, a little bit.
You know, again, for me, the proudest thing I think that -- for me, all year long, was when we lost that Friday night the last weekend, the last Friday night of the season. My kids were heartbroken. I mean, they were heartbroken. You could see it in their faces, you could see it, in that locker room.
But they came back Saturday morning with nothing to play for and they played their hearts out Saturday and they played their hearts out Sunday. And that just shows you the type of young men that these guys are.
But the expectations playing with that was big, but you still also have to -- you know, I have to not go crazy when things are going bad when sometime other people --

Q. After you step back from that, do you have to really resist the temptation to overreact to, we've got to fix this or fix that because we had a bad stretch at the end and know you've got to stick with the program?
NED YOST: Well, I know what we have to do, and more than anything else is we have to become consistent. We would play so well -- we were just very, very streaky as a team where we were 20 games over .500 at home and 16 games under .500 on the road, and we have to find ways to even that out, too.

Q. You mentioned defense earlier. At the end of the year the way the team played, where do you see we need to be better at this --
NED YOST: Well, I think there's a bunch of things I think you can sit back and point at, what do we need to do to get better. And knowing that they have gotten better sitting on the couch this winter; and you do, you go home and you replay the season in your mind; and you think and you learn, and you show back up a better player the next year.
Again I just think that there were certain areas that we looked at that we needed to become better at and we needed to become stronger at and we needed maybe a little more character here, a little more ability there, and try to build it here at this place, try to get the players we want to get us to where we want to be.

Q. What are you going to have Teddy do for you?
NED YOST: Teddy is going to be the bench coach. Teddy is not only going to benefit me, but he's going to benefit Mike, he's going to benefit our players. Teddy's got an unbelievable vault of knowledge in his head. I mean, I have never seen anybody analyze the game of baseball like Teddy has and has done for years and years and years.
I was really shock when Teddy said that he would have some interest in this job. The first thing I thought of was, "Well, daggum, I wish I had known this five years ago." He's going to be a big part of our coaching staff.

Q. How do you see your starting rotation shaking out right now, you've got more than five guys who have started for you, could you prioritize that a little bit?
NED YOST: Not really. I mean, I don't know why we really need to right now, I mean, in December. To be honest with you, we've got eight guys right now, and again, I could leave this manager's lunch today and be totally different. I don't know.

Q. You have to assume if they are healthy and on your team that Suppan and Sheets are in there; that's not going to change?
NED YOST: No.

Q. Are there any other certainties is Gallardo certainty?
NED YOST: Yeah, he is, for me Gallardo is certainty. I was really intrigued with Manny Parra last year and he's going to get every opportunity to step up and see what he can do. We love Dave Bush's durability and his competitiveness. We think that, you know, he's a guy that's very, very durable, is going to give us 200 innings. We think that Chris Capuano is going to bounce back, you know, for us next year. I don't think Chris pitched as bad as, you know, people talk about. I mean, we did lose 22 of the last games he pitched in. But four or five times, he left with the lead and the bullpen gave it up or he would make a bad pitch here or a bad pitch there. So I look for him to be a guy that's really, really successful for us.
And Claudio Vargas just finds a way to win 10,11, 12 games every year.

Q. What you have now, it looks like there's going to be some competition. Do you see those guys sliding to the bullpen to help you out?
NED YOST: Definitely I think the guys that don't win the starting spots will definitely slide to the bullpen.

Q. You appear to have the rarest of commodities, a surplus of starting pitching.
NED YOST: Yeah, and I thought that it would be -- I thought that you know coming into these meetings that our phones would be ringing off the hook looking for them, but you know, there's been some interest in our guys but not what you thought it would be.

Q. There will be some dominos that get tipped and over that could change; the Santana thing and some free agent guys. When they land, there's still two months to get phone calls, right?
NED YOST: Mm-hmm.

Q. What's your ideal bullpen?
NED YOST: In terms of names, you're asking about?

Q. In terms of types of pitchers. Is it the hardest thing to put together on a team?
NED YOST: I think it is. To put together a bullpen and keep everybody in their roles, I think depending on the whole pitching staff, you know, the starters.
But what I like to try to do is I like to try to keep everybody -- I like to let everybody know what their role is. You know if you're a five-, six-, seven-inning guy, if you're an eighth inning guy, if you're a ninth inning guy, and we've had that in years past. We were really successful with it the first part of the year last year with Coco closing, Turnbow in the eight, and Villanueva was a very strong six and seventh inning guy. We could use him there, and Matt Wise was a six-, seven-inning guy. And those guys knew exactly when the situation was coming up; hey, this is my spot and they are ready for it before it even happened.
We just never really got to get really, really deep in the games with our starting pitching, and it kind of -- they got a little extended in the pen. Kind of throws you off a little bit.

Q. I know he's a ways away, but did you get a chance to see Matt play?
NED YOST: I have not but the reports on him are excellent.

Q. Beyond Riske, do you need another arm?
NED YOST: I don't think you can have enough arms down there to compete. You know, it's like you say, competition for starters is good.
I think it's the same thing in the bullpen. I've got to find out now -- like I said, Derrick Turnbow has done it before. He's closed and he's been very, very successful at it. You know, the thing for me, if Derrick can command his walks a little bit, he's going to be all right, because you look at Derrick's numbers, he's got a chance to be a dominant guy. They just don't see the ball coming out of his hand.

Q. But with a guy like him, though, like you got to stretches last year where Franky was almost automatic and he did have a little spell, but with Derrick not knowing from day-to-day if he's going to walk the ballpark or strike out all the guys he faces, do you feel like you're on a high wire without a net if you commit to him as your closer?
NED YOST: The thing about it, I don't know how many appearances he had --

Q. 77.
NED YOST: 77 appearances. You break it down, how many bad outings, did he have, 12? Did he have that many?

Q. Eight or ten.
NED YOST: Eight or ten bad outings, and the other 65, 63, were pretty darned good.
I am realistic enough to know that there's not many perfect people left in the world. So for me to look for one in a closer or a stopper, I'm not going to find it.

Q. But very few people commit to closers who they can't trust to throw strikes.
NED YOST: I think they do it all the time.

Q. Name one.
NED YOST: How many guys do they talk about guys being top-steppers that you're sitting there, you just close your eyes, you throw them out and they are a closer? Tell me somebody who is lights-out besides Cordero and Rivera.

Q. But they don't get beat by walking people.
NED YOST: Turnbow, eight times, because he walks people -- the eight times out of the 77, we can't nitpick these guys like that.

Q. I guess what I'm asking you is: How comfortable can you be with a guy like that?
NED YOST: Comfortable enough to throw him out there and let him have it.

Q. Do you think he got beat down mentally at the end?
NED YOST: I think he did a little bit, yeah. You know, to be honest with you, it's questions just like that. And I know you guys a lot, but come on. He had eight bad outings out of 77 and we're going to sit here and dwell on the eight?
Go back and look at how many -- I guarantee you, Coco might have had more than he did. But Coco was lights-out when he was lights out. Derrick, you know, Derrick would make it a little more exciting.

Q. But you never think Cordero might throw ten straight balls.
NED YOST: No.

Q. Derrick could do it easy.
NED YOST: But he could also get the next two guys out and we come in happy. They didn't say that the job is supposed to be like smooth, easy going. Get it done.

Q. What happens when you call him in to close the first time and he fails and the fans boo his ass out of the ballpark? Won't that crush him?
NED YOST: Yes, I'm sure it might, but --

Q. It looked like it got to him last year.
NED YOST: I'm sure it did. There's a kid out there giving everything that he has, having a relatively, you know, relatively good year, and it's like his first bad outing, it's like, you know --

Q. But it's well-established that he's the lightning rod on your team.
NED YOST: He is.

Q. Other than you.
NED YOST: Just have fun with it. That's what I tell him. Forget it. Have fun.
But I don't know what to tell him. Just go out and do your job. Don't worry about that stuff. I'm not worried about it, so don't you worry about it.

Q. Might he relish the opportunity?
NED YOST: I hope he does. I hope he does.

Q. Going back to Braun for a second. Did he benefit from time down there, did he come up with more confidence?
NED YOST: I don't think he could come up with more confidence. (Laughter.) He believes in himself.

Q. Does it help him not just defensively but adjusting?
NED YOST: It always helps, even special players, you always know, you kind of feel in your heart that you can play at the Major League level. But until you get there and go through it, you don't really know. And he's been past it now and he knows he can compete at a very high level in this league, and it's just natural for them to come back with a lot of confidence.

Q. Can he extend the confidence over into the defensive portion of the game?
NED YOST: Yeah, it takes work. It takes work. He was a college shortstop, too, and to move a position and to move as rapidly as he does, he didn't really have a chance to get his feet underneath him either at that position.

Q. When they brought him in for the Rookie of the Year thing, somebody asked, are you worried about the confidence or errors -- those are us who knew him better go, "Doug. We've never really been too concerned about his confidence."
NED YOST: I'm telling you, they are all great kids. But he's a lot of fun to be around because he is a confident player, and, you know, it's fun kind of just making sure that you hang on to that but you can't go too crazy with it either.

Q. He gave Prince a lot of credit for helping him out; sometimes tough love.
NED YOST: It was. There were times, you know, where Prince -- the funny thing is we had kangaroo court, and Prince wouldn't wait for kangaroo court and he would say you owe us 50 bucks and he goes. No, give me your wallet and take the 50 out and throw the whole -- here, going into the fund. He would make him pay right then and there. Give me your wallet, now.

Q. McClung still there?
NED YOST: Yes, did he a very nice job for us last year.

Q. Where do you see Riske fitting in, a shot at the bullpen?
NED YOST: Yeah, we'll see, see how it all comes out.

Q. What do you like about him?
NED YOST: I liked the numbers on the white piece of paper they put in front of me when they told me he signed. I liked him on video.
Our guys say that he's very, very deceiving, throwing 91, 92, but it's the hardest 91, 92 you'll see. Guys swing and miss a lot. They have trouble picking up the ball, very solid reliever, very good guy, all the reports are very good on him. We'll see how it all plays out.

Q. What did you learn some things about how you can and can't use Derrick? It looked like men on base was a definite no-no.
NED YOST: I think that was anomaly last year. That can't be. It can't be. That can't be --

Q. Almost every one he inherited scored.
NED YOST: I know. But I think that was just something that -- I think that was something that hopefully we'll only see last year. He can be a valuable guy, especially if he ends up winning the closer's job. There's going to be times where he's going to be asked to come in in a tight situation with the eighth winning two outs. That can't be something that's going to have to be a limitation on him. So I just think that -- I don't remember that happening in the beginning of the year when he started struggling. It was an issue with him.
What Derrick does so well is they don't see the ball off of him. They swing and miss at balls that bounce five feet in front of the plate because they don't see it. His deception is really, really good and he has really good stuff. He needs to learn to command his tempo and delivery and repeat his mechanics to the point where he can throw more strikes. And if he does that I think he's going to be an All-Star closer again. That's just me in December.

End of FastScripts

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