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December 8, 2008
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
Q. How many meetings did you have?
CECIL COOPER: We had one earlier in the day and we are in the process of having one now. I excused myself to come see you guys.
Q. So what would you like to see happen? We talked since the season has been over, and a lot's changed just as far as the club philosophy with Randy Wolf kind of popping off the table and other things. How do you feel about it from a managerial standpoint?
CECIL COOPER: From a manager standpoint, we need to continue looking at pitching. That's our priority. Definitely look at pitching, trying to improve in that area, because that's the one area that we are, I think, a little bit short in. I think we'll all agree on that.
We need to improve our starting pitching in particular. Our bullpen is really solid with Byrdy at the back and Hawkins, and having Brocail resign, and then Geary and Sampson, that gives us a lot of strength.
When you add two left-handers, that's a pretty strong bullpen, and that was really the key for us last year. But we definitely need to improve our rotation. We led the league in giving up home runs, and we need to get better.
Q. You cannot possibly start the season with your starting rotation right now. You almost --
CECIL COOPER: You say that as --
Q. I'm asking.
CECIL COOPER: No. We could, very well. Those are the projected guys right now. We have to look at Wandy as being one, and also Roy. When you add Mike Hampton to it and then you have Brian Moehler and Brandon Backe, those are the names that we have at this point in time.
All of those guys are all quality Major League pitchers. But we are going to look to continue to improve. If those are the five guys that I start season with, those are the five guys I start the season with.
Q. What are your feelings about Brandon Backe, with his back?
CECIL COOPER: Well, the first year, having had the surgery, I thought Brandon was really strong throughout the season. It's just at the end there he missed a couple starts. He wasn't really the same pitcher that he was earlier in the year.
The only thing with Brandon is we didn't see any consistency out of Brandon, pitching more with his fastball. Once he starts to do that, I think then he has a chance to be a good, solid Major League starter.
That's one of the things that I think he has to work on as a pitcher, is get to a point where he's not afraid to throw his fastball or use his fastball. Here is a guy with 90, 91. That's an average Major League fastball. You have to use that.
He's got an excellent breaking ball, but you have to use your fastball to pitch. You need your fastball to use your breaking ball.
I thought he had a pretty good year when you consider he's coming off the surgery. He gave us a lot of innings. I think he's capable.
We talked about it in spring about him being a guy to really step up, and I thought he started the year out -- he was on track to get it done, and he got into the summer and things started to change a little bit.
Q. With Sampson, you're comfortable with Sampson?
CECIL COOPER: Well, those two guys, I think the key is our bullpen. You've got two guys who can pitch multiple innings, and I thought they were very effective. No concerns about the surgery that they had. Both were basically minor surgeries, so I expect both of them to be healthy and be a big part of our bullpen.
Q. With the uncertainty of the rotation, is there any temptation with Sampson?
CECIL COOPER: No, I don't think so. I think we are all kind of settled in that he is a bullpen guy, and he's most effective as a pitcher pitching out of the bullpen. He can pitch multiple days for us. I think that's big, if you don't have the quote, unquote, five aces, let's say.
You need a guy to come out of the pen that hits multiple innings and can be effective, and that's what Chris did for us in the second half of the year.
Q. Considering the guys out there in the Fall League, when you've heard from the Dominican Republic and maybe what's going on in Panama with I guess Carlos, he's healthy, how does your lineup shake out? You don't know what's going to happen, but if your outfield comes back healthy with Michael Bourn?
CECIL COOPER: Yeah, I have, definitely, on Michael's case. I know he played the Dominican. He played very well in the Dominican. He's a guy who actually cut down his strikeouts. Last time I looked, he had 90-plus at-bats and had 20 strikeouts, so that lends itself to about one in five. In the season he was about one in three. So he made some improvements there.
He had, I think, 14, 15 walks, so walks were up. On-base percentage was better. We've got to think that with a year of experience he's going to be much better. So I expect Michael to be a guy to finally step up and be the guy that we thought he could be.
Our lineup should be pretty solid. You talk about Carlos being healthy and being back in left and using Michael in center and then Hunter in right field, had two really good years under his belt and you add Lance and then a healthy Matsui to that and a Tejada, that's a solid lineup. I'm very comfortable with that lineup, and I think the guys will get better, speaking in terms of Hunter and also Michael.
Q. Not saying you are going to trade Wigginton, but just in case you don't have Wigginton, what do you see in the Arizona Fall League that might make you feel comfortable?
CECIL COOPER: Well, I was very impressed with Chris Johnson. I think he has the potential, power potential, to be a solid Major League hitter. He's just a young guy that needs to play more. He's got a little short taste of AAA baseball, so I think he still needs a little bit of experience. Hopefully he's a guy that can come to camp with us and give him some exposure and see where he's at.
Sutton is another kid that played really well in the fall. Good offensive player. We always thought he would be a good offensive player, and I'm comfortable with him as a second base, third base kind of guy, possibly a guy that could play short a little bit.
Those are two kids, in particular, that are really impressive on the offensive side. I don't think that they are that far away from being Major League players, and that's a key for us. They are going to be key guys for us to hold onto those two kids.
I thought Brian played pretty well, too. I saw him play a couple of ballgames, and he's just learning how to play on the offensive side. He's spent, what, three years as a pitcher? So he just needs to play a little bit and get some exposure and get some experience as a Major League pitcher. Hopefully he'll get a chance to do it in spring training.
Q. Going back to Michael Bourn for a second, Lynch had success from day one; do you think that weighed, that the guy that he was traded for did well and he put more pressure on himself?
CECIL COOPER: No, I think we hit upon it earlier in spring training and it really played itself out. We talked about how Michael was playing the first time as a regular, in his hometown.
Really, the only real rookie in the lineup, as he didn't have a full year the year before, especially a rookie that's playing every day. Hunter Pence had played pretty much every day the year before, so you're talking about Michael being the only guy.
I think just having that situation all year, and then having to lead off and be the leadoff guy, I think all of that played into Michael struggling. That made him put a lot of pressure on himself.
So after a year of experience playing at home and all of that, I think he's going to grow up and be a big-time Major League player.
Q. Did you and your staff have to make any adjustments in his swing during the year?
CECIL COOPER: Yeah, we did, and that's another thing that played into it a little bit, too. We tried to get him to hit the ball the other way a little bit more and change his swing a little bit, and we worked on bunting and a lot of those things. That's a lot of adjustments for a young player to make. We didn't do what we anticipated he would be doing, but I do think that the ability is there, and I think he will eventually --
Q. The upside.
CECIL COOPER: Yeah, I think the upside is tremendous.
Q. Are you thinking, when it comes to the leadoff spot, maybe not putting him up there and maybe like a Matsui?
CECIL COOPER: If Matsui is healthy, I think I would probably start the year with Matsui as the guy at the top just because of the experience, just because of the success that he had a year ago this past year.
I think Michael, we will slowly work him into that scenario. He is the future of our club in that spot, but I think we have to back up a step and move slowly into that. I think this past year we put more pressure on him than we needed to.
Q. Are you hopeful that you can leave the Winter Meetings a better club?
CECIL COOPER: Yes, I think that's the hope for everybody. When you come here, everybody wants to get better and to improve. If we can make a deal or two -- and if we don't, I think that we will still be better just because we have some young players that have the experience.
But I think everybody wants to improve their club, and we are very excited.
Q. As far as an approach, do you come here with a priority list, or do you just wait to see what breaks?
CECIL COOPER: No, every club I think has -- you have like a shopping list, areas that you think you need to improve. You prioritize those and you start talking to clubs and you try to make those things happen. You could put a lot of irons in the fire, but you have to have a willing partner to make things happen.
Q. Any interest in sharing that shopping list?
CECIL COOPER: Well, I'll say this: I know pitching is the priority, and I know we would like to possibly add a veteran catcher. So that's primary, and we'll go from there.
Q. A lot of talk about the economics, especially in Houston, and Tejada's name has come up. Looking to cut the payroll by $10- or $12 million, how does that look if you cut two main parts of the team going into 2009?
CECIL COOPER: Well, you have Carlos and you have Lance Berkman and you have Matsui and you have Hunter Pence and you have Michael Bourn, you've got I think a very good bench. At least right now we have two very good bench players in Darin Erstad and Jeff Blum. That's a solid offensive core.
I think if we ended up losing a couple of players like that, of the quality and caliber of Tejada or Wigginton, you have to think in terms of the guys you are going to get back. But I don't think it would hurt us significantly, especially if you are looking to improve the pitching.
If that's the case and you weigh the two options, you know, I think we would still come out okay.
Q. So even at the end of the rotation, or the ends of the bullpen, if he was to be moved, do you think you have enough right now to fill that spot?
CECIL COOPER: Well, I would not say we are really actively looking to move him. I think if you had talked about those, one, two, three pieces, he would be far down the list of the three pieces we talked about.
We have talked about it, and I am well aware that we have to make some adjustments. I think every club has to make some adjustments. We are aware of that, and we have talked about it. Even doing that, there are still ways to improve.
Q. With those core offensive players you mentioned, pretty good players obviously, you were still 11th in runs in the National League, 12th in on-base percentage. Is that the result of having dead spots in the lineup, almost giving away six outs a game?
CECIL COOPER: I think a little bit, yes. And even Miguel Tejada had a good season, but yet his on-base percentage was in the .320s. So we only had one or two guys who had real high on-base percentage.
Q. Just the kind of hitters they have, you have to accept it?
CECIL COOPER: You have to live with some of that, yes.
Q. If you can change a catcher and if Michael continues, maybe your offense can be more productive.
CECIL COOPER: I think we can be. Even in our catching situation we'll be a lot better, because I think the young man, Quintero, has a chance to be a better hitter than possibly the guy who had most of the opportunities this past year.
But he has to improve, and I think he can. I think he showed flashes that he can do that, and I know Michael can be better. I believe just having a year of experience, I think Hunter Pence will be even better.
Q. Without having to guess, are you talking about J.R. Towles or Brad Ausmus?
CECIL COOPER: A combination, yeah. And I even throw Quintero in there because he played quite a bit as well.
Q. But you said Quintero has a chance to be better --
CECIL COOPER: J.R. got a significant opportunity early, and Brad had most of the opportunities later. But I do think Quintero has achieved, and will he do that? He's shown that he has the ability. We just have to hope that he improves.
Q. You've obviously been around the big leagues a long time, player, coach, and starting in 2007 as a manager; with your first full year as a manager, anything you learned that can help you down the road, or is it about what you expected?
CECIL COOPER: No, there were some things that I picked up that I think that I have to get better at. I have to learn to be a little more patient and not get as frustrated when things don't go the way I think they should go.
When you have some success at the Major League level, you think that everybody should be like that. It's a little bit more difficult when you've been a regular player and you've had success. You expect everybody else to do the same. There's a little bit of a frustration level, and I'll have to get better at that.
There are several other little things I won't mention. (Laughter.)
Q. You're looking right at me.
CECIL COOPER: Well, I didn't mean just you in particular. (Laughter.)
Q. You certainly did.
CECIL COOPER: Well, it took me a while to adjust, and I think I'm still adjusting to the media situations. I have to get better at that. Sometimes my frustrations...
Q. You love dealing with the media.
CECIL COOPER: No, I don't -- I do. I do. In a way, I do. I'm saying they have to learn how to -- like when things are not going the way they should be, I have to learn how to deal with that, and that's not an easy task. It comes with time.
Q. The majority of your playing was in the American League. Was managing in the National League an adjustment, too?
CECIL COOPER: No. I had been a bench coach for a couple of years, and I picked up on most of the things that you have to do. I was able to manage a little bit in the minors and had to do the same thing. Those are the things that you kind of pick up.
I think just dealing with the daily grind every day, I thought, those were the things that I have to get used to.
When I grade myself, you know, I thought I did okay.
Q. You were a contender.
CECIL COOPER: Yeah, yeah. Well, that's what I told my players when we finished the season. I said, You had to deal with a rookie manager and we did okay. I think it will bode well for us in 2009, and hopefully beyond.
Q. Talking about your starting pitching, you were near the bottom. Did that put strain on your bullpen?
CECIL COOPER: Yeah, almost every day, with the exception of your number one, Roy. I think Wolf pitched really well for us at the end there and gave us a lot of quality innings.
But other than that, we had to do quite a bit, bullpening it, so to speak. It will tax your bullpen after a while. That's why I say guys like Chris Sampson and Jeff Geary and, heck, even Doug Brocail for a while. They were pitching multiple innings. It kind of taxes you after a while.
Q. Starting pitching, how do you think you can fill that?
CECIL COOPER: True trades and possibly cutting payroll down. If you're going to shave off 10 or 15, whatever it is, probably the best way to do that is through trades, I would think. It's been talked about Tejada and possibly Wigginton being moved, but if you do that, and you make a deal, then you hope to get some young pitching back and possibly a Major League-ready young guy to help you in that regard.
Q. And another concern with Tejada, if he's still on the team next year, just needing days off. I mean, you mentioned at the end of last year, and it looked like Ed is really zoning in.
CECIL COOPER: Yeah, that's a focus. It's a definite focus. It would be great if we could do that in-house, but there are usually guys like that on the market.
This past year we had guys who could play shortstop. As it stands now, without doing anything, we have got the youngsters, Maysonet and Manzella, who are very capable if we didn't do anything else. I'm pretty comfortable with those kids.
And then Kata was just signed. He's a veteran shortstop. There's enough there. Because we are not talking about a guy playing a month. If that happened, you would have to go and make a deal someplace.
Q. It's hard though. He sort of needs to play every day. Is there any concern?
CECIL COOPER: You're not talking about doing this for three or four years. You're talking about possibly a year. And then as time goes on, unless we decide to add some years for Miguel, you're talking about doing it for a year.
I think more than anything, a young player needs consistency. You play and get some exposure and you learn how could be consistent. One of the things we preach all of the time about guys defensively is make the routine plays. That's why we led baseball in defense, is because we made the routine plays.
Young players sometimes can lose a little focus, and sometimes routine plays can be difficult plays for them. We have to get them used to doing that.
But that's stuff that you can talk and work with young kids and you can get them to that point. I would be comfortable with either of the guys doing that.
End of FastScripts
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