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MLB WINTER MEETINGSDecember 9, 2008Jerry ManuelLAS VEGAS, NEVADA Q. You got to see be an opponent Francisco Rodriguez last year. JERRY MANUEL: A little bit, right. Q. What were your impressions watching him on TV, or whatever? JERRY MANUEL: Well, obviously he's a tremendously skilled closer. I was impressed with the energy that he had when he came out, and obviously along with that came some confidence. A very confident young man. He's an exciting guy to talk about. Q. Whether it was him or Wagner for a full season, would you have been there, or was the bullpen in such disarray that it wouldn't have done it? JERRY MANUEL: Well, I think with a guy of that quality, there would be no question because of the way in which we lost a few of those games. We lost a lot late, and those are sometimes the toughest ones to overcome. But we did a good job of overcoming them, for the most part. But still, they leave a tough taste in your mouth for days to come, but our guys were resilient and they bounced back and overcame those. So to have someone of that magnitude, or even like say Billy Wagner for the entire time, yeah, our chances would have been much greater. Q. We asked you every day who was going to close games for you. For a team as a whole going into the season and knowing that you have a reliable, say, theoretically record-setting guy back there for you -- JERRY MANUEL: Theoretically? That's the word on the street, right (laughter)? Q. But I mean, you mentioned his confidence, but does that as a team give you, not that invulnerable, but an extra edge going into this? JERRY MANUEL: No question. If you can acquire a person such as that, a player such as that, any time you acquire a person at that level, it raises the level of everybody else. It's almost the same as saying Johan is pitching. You see a different spirit with your team. To have a guy, a guy of that sort at the end of a ballgame is very important, very critical for us. Or for anybody. Q. People were talking last winter about Johan, about a loss of velocity. What have you seen with him? Does he look like the same pitcher he's been? JERRY MANUEL: I haven't seen him as much as obviously the people out here on the west coast or the American League, but I think any time you have a guy that crosses over to another league and has done it in the fashion that he has done it, the velocity and stuff like that doesn't really concern me. It doesn't concern me. I think what concerns me, especially about that particular role, again, is the confidence that a guy brings. That, to me, is half the battle. That's half the battle. Q. Was it even magnified more when you watched Lidge and what he did this year, your need for that? But to see what Lidge did in Philadelphia and what he brought to that team? JERRY MANUEL: Well, again, in the way that we lost so many close games late, I think that was critical for us to theoretically (laughter) address this thing here. We have addressed it very well. I mean, they say the word on the street is good (laughter). It's good. That's just the word on the street. We've got to get it written down. But I think, yeah, the way in which we lost games, and probably myself trying to interchange so many pieces late, I think that kind of wore on the players, as well. We didn't have many options, but I think that hurt us, also. Q. How do you think a guy like K-Rod would play in New York, a guy who's as emotional and as demonstrative as him? JERRY MANUEL: How do I think he would play in New York? Q. Do you think that fans would warm to him immediately because of that kind of personality? JERRY MANUEL: Well, I think so. You know, in New York you have to finish it out. You have to win. I think the way Johan responded through the course of the year -- and we feel that theoretically, if you've got a guy such as this, he'll respond the same way. I think that will play very well in New York, because New York is a passionate, very, very passionate, place for the sport. Q. Do you need to turn over the bullpen in a larger sense though, just a change of scenery? Do guys just need to go somewhere else and you need to bring in comparable guys? JERRY MANUEL: No, that wouldn't be fair to say at this point. Because as a manager, at this point, you consider what you have on your roster, and that's what you deal with. That's probably a better question for Omar. It would be unfair for me to say so-and-so go here, so-and-so go there, and then in spring training say, Adam Rubin wrote that you need to be here and you need to be there. No, I think the people that we have, and theoretically adding some folks, I think we can still be right there. We can still be good. Q. A lot was made last year of perhaps the emotions of the Mets aggravating other teams, and perhaps that hatred for the Mets is what fueled these other teams, especially the Phillies, to win the division. Is that something that you even worry about? Is it something that you're going to try to deter, or is it just something that is out of your control? JERRY MANUEL: No, that's a very good question. You know what? I really don't mind that. If you can back it up, that's fine with me. And you have to do that in a way that is somewhat respectful to the game. You know, if you're doing it -- let's term it "show boating," okay? If you're doing it when you're down 15-1, that's not the right time. If you're doing it up 15-1, that's really not the right time. But if there is a critical part in the game, in the flow of the game, in the rhythm of the game, and something happens good, express yourself. I have no problem with that. My expression might be different than yours, you know what I'm saying? And that's okay. But if it's in the right time, I'm cool with that. I don't have no problem with that. Q. Did you guys do it not at the right time sometimes? JERRY MANUEL: I think there were times when we were out of rhythm with what was going on. I think there were times. But regardless of what the opposition thinks, that doesn't affect me at all. It's good you don't like me if you're the other team, the Marlins, the Phillies, the Braves. That's okay; this is competition. And if that motivates you more than what you are when you're on the field to begin with, that's your bag, you know what I'm saying? I don't have a problem with that. Q. Going into next season, what would you do differently managing the bullpen no matter who was there theoretically? JERRY MANUEL: Well, it depends on what I have, you know what I'm saying? If I had the same situation where I lost a closer at that critical point, hopefully before I got to there I would have had much more information or confidence in the people that I was bringing in. But at the time that I took over, I had a closer, lost a closer. Now you've got to mix and match and do what you can do to make the best of what you've got. I don't know if I would have did anything dramatically different. The thing about a bullpen is, when the season gets late, you don't have time to say, This is my guy, and wait for him to below three games and change to somebody else. You have to make those decisions a lot quicker, because you don't have that much time to overcome that particular decision. Q. Even with whatever personnel you have, in spring training you're going to say, This is my eighth inning guy, my seventh inning guy. Are you going to put roles on these guys immediately? JERRY MANUEL: I'll tell them the same thing I'll tell you now. I don't determine the role, they do. If they get them out at the right time, they determine the role, not me. Once that time comes around and you say, Hey, I need a role; get your role. Now, theoretically speaking, if somebody already saved 50-some games... Q. 60-something. JERRY MANUEL: 60-something? And then, you've got a role. Q. Did you sign somebody that saved 50-something, also? JERRY MANUEL: Hey, that's good, too (laughter.) Q. Was it any less painful with the passage of time, what you went through? It was very hard at the time to go through the whole thing with every night not knowing what you were doing with your bullpen. Now that you've had a month or so to sit on it, is it still just as painful living through it, or could you put it in perspective a little bit, knowing what you went through? JERRY MANUEL: Well, for me it was probably a learning experience, a tremendous learning experience for me, because you had to manage the last out. You didn't have to manage for six or seven innings and say, boom, you've got it. So for me to have gone through that particular situation was a tremendous learning experience for me in the sense that I had to stay in tune to the very last out, and that's growth. As painful as it was, it was growth. Q. One you would probably rather not go through again, right? JERRY MANUEL: I've grown. I've grown. I'm good. I don't have to go through that, theoretically. Q. Regarding Pedro, could you imagine a scenario where he's back on your staff? JERRY MANUEL: That decision would be entirely up to (indiscernible.) But any time you have a pitcher of that greatness in this era, you always welcome that type of experience and that type of professionalism in a Major League uniform, especially a guy like Pedro. Q. What's your confidence that Daniel Murphy and Tatis can repeat what they did last year, or is it a big gamble that they are the left fielders? JERRY MANUEL: I feel pretty confident that they can repeat what they did last year. I've understood that Tatis is playing winter ball. I understood that Daniel Murphy was playing a little winter ball. But I do believe that the experience that they gain not being outfielders and playing the outfield at the critical time that they were asked to do it last year, I feel very confident that they can repeat. It would be different if they had started and then when times became crucial didn't play. But they played in a crucial time of the season, and that's probably one of the better times to evaluate. Q. At the end of last season it seemed like maybe you were concerned that Castillo was being affected by the reaction of the crowd and all that. If he's back, do you think that that's something he can overcome? JERRY MANUEL: Boy, that's a real good question, because you don't know what lies within a man, you know, how things affect him and how things don't affect him. I think what would be critical for him -- the start would be more critical for him than the team. He'd have to get off to playing well and doing a lot of things well, somewhat regardless of the outcome of what the entire team is going through. It would be critical for him to play very well individually. I think that's going to be big for him. That has to be big for him. Q. Are you thinking that he's going to be your second baseman? JERRY MANUEL: As of now, yes. I mean, as we speak here, December 9th, he's the second baseman. And as a staff we've got to do everything we can to help him get off to a good start. We've got to do things -- I mean, in thinking now, December 9th, there's a possibility that we could experience with him in the lead-off spot, drop Jose down, do some different things, to help him, put him in the best possible situation to get off to a good start. Q. You alluded earlier to how well Johan adapted to New York, and I think in his case and the case of the guy you're theoretically adding, talking about guys who really want to be in New York. How important is it in your town to bring in people who really want to be in New York? JERRY MANUEL: I think that is probably, probably, along with talent, the utmost criteria that you can have. I think you sometimes have a tendency to bring people into New York who are talented but don't really want to be there, and it somehow becomes affected and you never see the talent you thought you were bringing into that situation. So if you have a guy that wants to be there and is very good and that stage just only enhances that ability, you've got a special player. It takes special people to function and operate in New York, and it's because of the passion. The passion is unrivaled. And it's not prejudiced, either. They'll hate on anybody (laughter.) Q. By the end of last season, how confident were you in Perez? JERRY MANUEL: I was very confident in Oliver Perez. I thought Oliver Perez had become very consistent. I thought he was able to repeat his delivery for the most part, and Oliver Perez also enjoyed the big stage. When big games came, he pitched very well. He is a guy that also, from a manager's point of view, when a guy comes to you and says, Hey, I want to pitch on two days' rest, I want to pitch on three days' rest, you've got to fight for that guy. That's the way I feel about Oliver Perez. Q. Do you feel you have a big four for most of your time? JERRY MANUEL: Yeah, we've done very well. I think we went through one streak there right before the All-Star Game, All-Star break, where we won ten games, nine games in a row, and at that point Oliver Perez was untouchable. He was a very good pitcher at that point. Q. This is going to sound silly, but it's exciting to be moving into a new ballpark, but you guys don't know how it's going to play. JERRY MANUEL: True. Q. How are you possibly going to determine if it's a hitters' ballpark, if it's a pitchers' ballpark, where the winds are going to go? It's just by opening day you're going to have to learn on the job? JERRY MANUEL: Yeah, that's a part of it, and I don't know if we'll quite know until we get to probably the All-Star break to really know what you have and what you're dealing with. And then sometimes in cold weather things change. It might even take us a year. Q. Is it something you worry about? JERRY MANUEL: No, not at all. If you've got good pitching, and theoretically good closers, you're in good shape. We don't worry about that. Q. Going into next year you may have Jon Niese as your No. 5 starter. That one month that you saw him, do you feel he's really Major League ready right now? JERRY MANUEL: Well, I think that was a great experience for him. I think he pitched in some great games, which again is a good time to evaluate. Again, you don't know the growth that he has from here until there. But that experience that he gained was very important for him. So do I think that he can start the season as a fifth guy for us and be consistent enough where we can keep him there? I feel very confident about that. Q. Will spring training have to determine that? JERRY MANUEL: No, not necessarily. Not necessarily. Q. As currently constituted, if you guys don't make a move for a player that would theoretically go into the everyday lineup, do you feel confident in the offense that you have? I mean, Omar was saying upstairs he feels like it's a pretty good offense as currently based on last year, and you're looking at a lot of the same pieces this year. Do you feel the same way? JERRY MANUEL: Yeah, I feel pretty confident. Just like anybody, you come here and you think that this piece, that piece, that piece is going to make a difference. But, again, you have to deal with what you have at hand. I think the personnel that we have at hand, considering all things, and obviously having the years and the history that they have behind them should be enough. It should be enough. I think -- again, our issues were late in ballgames. Our issues were also -- maybe not getting in that extra run, which is something that can be addressed and something that we should be capable of doing. So I think that is it. End of FastScripts |
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