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MLB WINTER MEETINGSDecember 10, 2008Trey HillmanLAS VEGAS, NEVADA Q. Give me your quick thoughts. You've added some things since the end of last year already. TREY HILLMAN: Yeah, I'll kind of go with that lineup that you projected as far as the way I -- no, seriously, because I think it's a good way to go in order of kind of addressing what I think we have done with the potentiality of one through nine, depending on how first base and DH end up shaking out for us. I think Coco gives us a great advantage in the ballpark that we play in. I think he would be great in any ballpark, but it's especially good for us because of his athletic ability in center field, and the potential as a lead-off hitter and a switch hitter. I know as an opposing manager, when you're managing against clubs that have one or two switch hitters, it really affects the way you utilize your bullpen. I like the addition of the speed offensively as well as defensively. Hopefully Mike can continue to do what he did last year in his rookie season. David, I think, is arguably probably our best hitter, right on right and left on left, and hopefully he can continue that. Jose's production was outstanding. I think the addition of Mike Jacobs -- I'm not sure about first base. I know what the reports say, but I think a lot of people may not realize, fan-base-wise, that he really had to learn to play first base at the Major League level. I've talked to several people that have dealt with him. He's very excited. He's ready to work. Honestly not sure how the first base thing is going to shake out. Jake is in the mix there. Billy butler, Shealy, Gload, Teahan. Teahan and Gload have outfield capability; none of the rest of the guys do. Still a little bit left-handed dominant depending on how it shakes out. Down at the bottom, you all know that Olivo is going to get the majority of the catching time to start out. Hopefully he can capitalize on that. But I have every intention of continuing to use John Buck. Obvious needs here, and continued needs will be for us to try to shore up the back side of the bullpen. Ramirez and Nunez, to get what we have got, with Jake and Coco. So one through nine, I think we are running out with a potentially much better run-producing lineup, up the middle of the field, specifically with Coco in center. Most probably David to left, Jose in right, Mark wherever we need him on either corner, first, spell Alex at third. I don't know how that's going to shake. I really don't. I told our reporter yesterday, I don't think anyone is excited about eight weeks, potentially eight weeks of spring training. But, for our purposes, where we are right now, I think it's a good thing for us. It will provide, if we can't do any more movement-wise, it will provide us more opportunities for, along with the games that are scheduled, same games, to provide more opportunities for the guys that we do have that could fill those bullpen needs to throw the live hitters. Q. Second baseman? TREY HILLMAN: I still German's versatility. We have got several left-handers in our decision, depending on Ka'aihue's ability to produce offensively from the right side. He looked pretty good for that last month when he hit right-handed, but I like the availability of utilizing Germy, as well. Q. There was talk of getting another shortstop or another middle infielder. How would you assess Aviles as a defensive shortstop? TREY HILLMAN: I would say Mike did very, very well, and much better than any of us knew that he would. I'm not going to say that we put limitations on him. I just don't think any of us were prepared for him to be as consistent and athletic at that position as he was. I've always felt like, unless you had a sure thing with someone that's more experienced at the Major League level, that Mike would be in a position and that we should consider Mike being in a position to play himself off that position rather than saying he can't play that position. Because I think he showed us very effectively that he did play that position, and played it very well. Q. Well, if you would assign Kila for somebody else as an every day shortstop, would Mike be able to shift over to second base no problem, do you think? TREY HILLMAN: No problem whatsoever. That was -- spring training last year that was a statement that I made, and I certainly don't want anybody to belive that I knew Mike was going to help us as much as he did last year. But I did tell David fairly early in spring training after some of the backfield work, and especially some of the B games, that Mike Avilas was going to help us at some point in time. I wasn't sure when or where, but he's got a really good comfort level with all of the infield positions. I think he would actually look as comfortable at third as he does at short, and I think probably second even more so than third. Q. Can you characterize the discussions of other teams to date here in Vegas? TREY HILLMAN: Well, you know, we always come up with different scenarios. The actual discussions I'm not in on. That's Dayton's deal as far as when he has communication with other clubs. Sometimes he gives us some of that information. Sometimes he does not. He picks and chooses, and he knows a lot more about the working pieces and how potentially they can unfold. But our discussions in our room, I always learn so much from him, because there are players that I'm not familiar with. So we get to hear our scouts' opinions. We are always looking to try to improve, but we have limitations with the availability to be able to do that. Q. You spoke about the bullpen. Would adding offense to the outfield be another primary objective? TREY HILLMAN: Adding offense to the outfield, I think we like where we are at. I really do. I think we like where we are at with the production of Guillen, Crisp, DeJesus, and the availability of Mark Teahan being out [,there |there,] as well. We view that as a very productive outfield and a very good defense. Q. There was some criticism regarding the Jacobs deal, right, wrong, or indifferent. How would you respond to some of that criticism? TREY HILLMAN: Well, I would respond by saying that that's a very productive first baseman, and Mike Jacobs is not at that level as far as years of production. It's very, very difficult to go out and get a guy that's hit 30-plus home runs for a right-handed reliever. It really changes the way a manager manages a ballgame, and the way a team feels about its chances of coming back when they are behind in the seventh, eighth, and ninth inning. If everyone knows, including the opposing team, they have the guy off the bench that can go with a three-run Jack or Grand Slam, or be in a position, if you can protect that bat the right way with the guy behind him, it really changes the complexion of the ballgame. Not only with what you can do, but also the managerial moves that they can make on the other side. We hope that in everything, prior to the trade, hopefully the deficiencies that we see with Jake's athleticism at first base, that we can improve upon. His work ethic is supposed to be off the charts. He's prepared to work as hard as he can, as is Billy Butler, as well as the other three that potentially could be there at first base. Q. On the lineup, you said last winter that probably wouldn't get into much of a one, two, three, four lineup at this stage of the off-season. But assuming Coco would be the logical lead-off guy -- TREY HILLMAN: I will say that he's the logical choice, no doubt. Sure. Q. Who would figure, like number two? TREY HILLMAN: That's a key spot, but I think we have options. We have options, depending on the productivity of Aviles and Callaspo. I think at this point, we will try to put what we consider as our purest hitter in the number three slot, and with the addition of Coco, that might lead you to believe that it's David. I think David probably is our best pure hitter, right now, today, especially in light of what he did statistically left on left last year. You know, some people might want a little bit more pop out of their number three hitter. But you know what? We play in a really big ballpark. If you play David in another ballpark, he might be a 15, 20 home run guy, instead of a 10 to 12. That's about as far as I'm prepared to go. You can mix and match. But I like the availability because of the inexperience of Mike going into his sophomore season, as people say. He's playing winter ball. He's concentrating specifically on working the count more. If he can continue to grow and develop and do a lot of what he did last year, then I feel comfortable with that. But if that doesn't work, then we have the potential for another switch hitter at the bottom of the order; or, number two. Any way you slice it, if Coco is leading off, you've got 9/1 switch hitter, switch hitter, or 1, 2, switch hitter, switch hitter. That, also, can really change the complexion of the game, and all of the game, specifically, with the seventh, eighth, and ninth and what they do in their bullpens. Q. Some people in the organization said that Butler and Jacobs, because of their splits could be an effective DH combo. That would leave Billy with about 220 at-bats. Are you ready to look at something like that for a guy who is 22? TREY HILLMAN: Well, we certainly would like to provide more than that, we really would. I'm not sure how it's going to shake out. But I would certainly like to provide Billy Butler with more than 230 or 300 at-bats, because we believe he's that talented. A lot of people think he is. Q. How much of a concern is the first base defense between him and Jacobs? I know you said there was some circumstances, but still, performance at this point, has it been -- TREY HILLMAN: Honestly I'm not jumping up and down and saying, You have to be a better defender than Billy Butler, before I even have a chance to see Mike Jacobs. There is certainly more athleticism between Mark and Billy, and there is more defensively with Mark. And it's not a slam on Billy, but we are not going to throw Billy into third base and Mark jumps back over there and does a really good job for a month period or whatever it was for Alex. It's just something we are going to have to continue to play out. And as I said earlier, eight weeks will be to our advantage, because somebody else may need another first baseman. Everybody knows we've got five candidates over there right now, and I think Brian greatly helped his value with what he was able to do in September. Big Man moves pretty good. Ross, everybody knows what you've got there. The nice thing about Ross is the ability to play both corner outfield positions. I'm really not that concerned, but I think it will shake out. I simply can't tell you how it's going to shake out. Q. You mentioned Teahen at third a couple of times. Gordon is the third baseman? TREY HILLMAN: Yes. Q. So is that four out of seven, or what type of thoughts are going into that? TREY HILLMAN: It depends on his performance level. But at a minimum, to make a commitment that he's going to get the majority of the time, would have to be at least four out of seven, and it could expand from there. And then after a period of time it could decrease. I know Johnny has been working really hard to put those two guys' offensive production numbers together. That's pretty good. Johnny is working hard. He's already worked with Seitzer, some, and I believe he flew into Kansas City about a week ago and worked with Kevin. That will play out, too. I think the big advantage for us there is two guys that both want to be starting catchers, and I never would have imagined that they would have got along as well as they did. Just simply from a competitive standpoint. Nothing about their characteristics. They are both competitive Major League professional athletes. They both want to play. John Buck was tremendously unselfish, tremendously unselfish with helping Miguel. Q. Get a good look at Bryan Payton? TREY HILLMAN: Absolutely, from a security standpoint, absolutely. And with the injury to Tupman, we do project Tup to be okay. If his rehab goes smooth and he gets the reps we believe he'll get, with his program for spring training, he'll be ready to go for the season. But you always want to be covered. That's another switch hitter in the mix, and, you know, as I've said before, it can make a big difference. And Bryan swings the bat a little bit from the right to left side. Q. He's got a lot of options, so if he doesn't stick with you in spring, a chance you'll lose him, and you have a battle at catcher? TREY HILLMAN: Yeah, we have a battle at catcher, three guys for two. But hopefully we are covered there with Tup. Still like Tup. Q. In regards to the news this morning with CC signing, what type of domino effect do you think that will have with other free agents? TREY HILLMAN: You know, I don't predict that. But the atmosphere here at these winter meetings, and I'm still very much a rookie at these things and I'm out of my box even talking about this, because general managers, the money crunchers, really have to worry about these things. But the thing that I've noticed is that everyone seems to be very careful because of the economy. And I know that a lot of people are waiting for some of the cards to drop with the big free agents, and now CC's dropped. Honestly, I don't know what that's going to do. I know that with us and our market, I've got a peripheral knowledge of the numbers that we are dealing with. I don't know how it's going to affect the rest of the game, I really don't. Q. In regards to the economy, were you surprised at the amount that he signed for? TREY HILLMAN: Again, I'm speaking out of my box, but not really, just because of the dominance that he can bring to the table. Q. And what about the balance of power now in the American League East? TREY HILLMAN: Well, it depends on how these guys perform. You get the top guys, if they go out and perform to their capabilities without incurring any injury, then a guy like that going out there every five days, I'd say the Yankees' chances went up considerably. Q. When you're here, obviously you hear all of the rumors. Do you find yourself getting caught up in it a little bit? Do you find yourself rooting? Obviously there's rumors with the Royals, and obviously you're in it, but you're also separate from it. Do you find yourself emotionally kind of getting a little bit fired up about it? TREY HILLMAN: Well, you know, that's a great question. I try not to get emotional, but I try to have a preparedness; so when I hear anything of what the Royals might be doing and my opinions get asked in meetings, then it's a great thing to play with on paper. You can say, well, we were able to add that guy in our bullpen or add that guy, one through nine, what would that do to the members that we know that we have? From that standpoint in rotisserie dream baseball, you play with it from a business standpoint. But emotionally, do you get caught up in it? No, you really don't. Because as you know, there are a lot of things that have to go right. And especially with us, talking frankly, with our budgetary constraints and knowing pretty much where we need our payroll to be at, we can talk about a lot of things and we can dream a lot, but I try not to let my emotions get involved there and just keep it business. Then when you start putting those names down and you go right and left and you match that up with that, you've got to slap yourself in the face and say, Well, that's a lot of what ifs. That's a lot of dreaming there. So emotionally, I really don't get tied up in it. Q. But you do have fun with it? TREY HILLMAN: Sure, yeah. With the sleep deprivation that goes on for all of us here at the winter meetings, I think you'd better find a way to have fun if you're not a big gambler, and I'm not sitting at the tables very much. Q. Who is your setup guy? TREY HILLMAN: Well, I like -- again, back to the eight weeks, I'm really impressed with what Robinson Tejada was able to do last year. We posed the question, and I'll ask it before somebody else might: Will we look at him as a starter or as a reliever? First thing I would say, with the holes we need to fill, we need to consider him with one of those slots that Leo and Ramirez vacated. I believe that Bob helped Ramon Ramirez. We got him last minute with what I think was really good scouting, and in effect, one year later, we got Coco Crisp. I think that was a great deal for us. I hated losing him, because you all know, who follow the club every day, because if we did not have Ramon Ramirez, we would not have won the games that we did. So I think Robinson has to be looked at very closely for that. Carlos Rosa has to be looked at very closely for that. The other thing that I feel may be more comfortable about when people look at our roster and say right and left, Ronny and John Buck both handle right-handed hitters pretty well. Jimmy, he's more of a left-handed specialist. As I've noted before, his numbers are inflated because two different times, two different specific games, he was the freshest arm to keep everybody else healthy. And those numbers were very much my fault of Jimmy facing too many right-handed hitters. So those would be the key guys. But guys on the cusp of maybe being able to do it that a lot of people might not typically throw into the mix, Peralta. I know he was not as effective last year, but Joel can do multiple things. He's resilient and maybe he gives a right-handed guy just a break once a week to keep everybody fresher. Brandon Duckworth, I won't count that guy out. He came and took the ball, and I know it was September, but you know what? We were still playing some teams in September that still had something to play for. I know I'm leaving some guys out, but all of the guys that contributed, I wasn't excited about losing Pocino (phonetic.) Well, that's a serviceable, maybe 11th or 12th guy, that once again, I believe can help. Robinson, it will depend if he throws enough strikes, if he were to be in that role. If it lines up left, left, left and you want to make a move, then probably Jimmy. Q. What did you learn last year as a manager? Are you a different guy this year? TREY HILLMAN: I better be. Yeah, because if I'm not, then I didn't learn anything. You know, I made a lot of the same mistakes. I think we all make mistakes, but I made a lot of the same mistakes that I made my first year when I went to Japan. But as I critically self-evaluate what I did as a manager, I think first and foremost, I was so locked into needing to change our atmosphere and the expectation level within the clubhouse and on the field; I'm glad I made some of the mistakes that I made. Would I like to go back and do it over? Sure. I wouldn't have made near as many. But in making those mistake, hopefully I've learned from those. I need to enjoy myself more, because I know that permeates in the clubhouse and on the team, but I don't want to lose the edge. I don't want to lose the edge that people so often tell me that I have of the intensity and want to win, because I think we need that. I've just got to do a better job of balancing that in the atmosphere that I'm in now. And it was an adjustment that I had to make five years previous, and I made a lot of the same mistakes. But as I said, I'm glad I made some of those mistakes, because it will provide a better base for me with my relationships, with everyone that I deal with: players, the front office, coaching staff, media, with everybody, and a year from now, we'll see how much I learned last year. I made a lot of mistakes, but I'm glad I made some of them. I think it turns up the learning curve. But I do think that we did raise the expectations, and I believe that that's one of the reasons that I was hired as the manager. Q. Rotation at the moment? TREY HILLMAN: Everybody is in the mix. You know, thankfully Hochevar has healed up well. Really pleased about what Kyle Davies did in September. That provides a lot of hope for me as a manager, and I'm sure for Kyle and his confidence level in finishing the season. We all know Banny did not have the year that he wanted him to have, wins, losses, ERA. But you know what? Look at the innings pitched. You need those starters to be sucking up 180 to 200-plus, if they can, and he did that. So when you evaluate the whole career, Banny still kept us out of our bullpen, from trashing our bullpen, most of the time. He had some rough spots, but I think he can be better. Still, in a perfect world, you would like the availability of getting a left-hander into that rotation in the American League Central. Not sure if we are going to get to do that or not. But we are not going to explore John Bale again. That's not going to happen. He's going to be in the bullpen. There's nobody else that we have left-handed, immediately, that we think is going to be impactful to the possibility of that. So it's the same guys. Q. So there's not an obvious six guys jump into that mix? Not that someone couldn't emerge. TREY HILLMAN: Yeah, someone could emerge but nothing -- Q. Meche on April 6? TREY HILLMAN: Can't go there, buddy. I'm surprised I went to one and two, possibly three; I don't know. We are going to have an early pitcher's camp probably February 5 or 6, somewhere in there. That's a long time. Q. Overall, you're pretty optimistic as you look ahead with the personnel you have and late last year? TREY HILLMAN: Yeah, what I'm hopeful of -- and no one has any guarantees -- but I'm hopeful that atmospherically, in the clubhouse, even with the roster guys that came up. I'm very hopeful that we collectively -- I know I did, and I'm hopeful everyone else did, had as good of a taste in their mouth at the end of September as I did after what we went through in part of July and all of August. I think we are in a much better position. Q. Have you had a look (inaudible.) TREY HILLMAN: Just had a nice, long conversation with his agent two nights ago here. I have no reservations telling you what we talked about because I have always talked about cultural things. Don Omura (phonetic) and I have had an association since the Yankees. The ball, Yabuda never made excuses, but Don and I both agreed that the ball had to have made a difference, and just the confidence level in filling up the strike zone. And I'm not trying to bash Cleveland or Kobayashi, but I had less of a comfort zone facing Yabuda pitching for Bobby Valentine's Marine's, than I did hitting against Kobayashi. And the reason was, Kobayashi did not pitch ahead in Japan as often as gentleman Buddha did. Gentleman Buddha got ahead in strike one, unless you're lucky. We can afford to work the count more on Kobayashi. Q. And he didn't do that last year? TREY HILLMAN: Just didn't do that. Didn't attack the strike zone. Max helped him a little bit. A lot of times, Japanese pitchers are reluctant to throw two seamers. And if you pitch on the back end, you have to have that in your pitch repertoire unless you throw in the mid to upper 90s. Yabuda is a four-pitch guy, football, slider, plus change up and a split, and I don't believe he ever got really comfortable with the confidence level and the ball doing what he felt like he had the ability to do, or what he felt like he still has the ability to do. I told Don, please communicate to him, that he's going to come in here and have to earn a spot in that bullpen. But to do that, he's going to have to pitch ahead the way he did in Japan. Q. This comes up every so often, so I can't, closer, there isn't some thought of looking at him in the rotation? TREY HILLMAN: It's not even come up this year, it really hasn't. I'm hopeful that it doesn't, because I would not want to put any conflicting thoughts in his mind. I don't think it would bother him, but I don't want to take the chance. End of FastScripts |
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