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MLB WINTER MEETINGS

December 10, 2008

John Russell

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

Q. How do you feel at the start of this year, now that you've had a year to settle in and kind of get accustomed to what you have?
JOHN RUSSELL: Well, I think for everybody, in our organization, it's a lot more I guess relaxing. Obviously we have a better feel for each other. We've spent a year together, and a lot more, I guess, comfortable around each other, so I think that's the biggest thing, and coming here wasn't -- we were trying to feel each other out, as well as the meetings themselves.
A lot better this year as far as, I wouldn't say knowing to expect, but a pretty good idea of why we are here and pretty good idea of what we are looking for next year.
So I think that's the biggest thing after a year, other than the baseball side, it's the most relaxing part of it.

Q. You probably went in, if not knowing, it probably was in the back of your mind that Jason wouldn't be there when you got to the final couple laps of the season last year. This year going in, it's a little bit of a different picture, is it easier for you to make your strategy, plan for the entire season knowing that you may not be facing two big subtractions come July?
JOHN RUSSELL: No different. I'm not going to prepare any different this year than last year. That's part of the game we talked about when we got close to the trade deadline, is on the field, we cannot worry about that.
We can't try to plan for a trade and you can't sit there and think, well, this is what we need to do because we might trade somebody or this is what we are going to do because we are not going to trade anybody.
Since the season was over, Neal and I have been aggressively talking about what we want to accomplish next year as far as the organization. We are in constant contact of how we want things in training camp and spring training, so it's business as usual. We want to make sure we are prepared and focused and the intensity that we had last year and take it a step further. So back to your original question, no, I don't think it's going to be any different planning this year than it was last year.

Q. Right now, your team looks similar to what it did last year. Do you feel like you can be competitive?
JOHN RUSSELL: Sure. Obviously we have to do some things differently and we have to pitch well. The bottom half of our lineup has to be more productive. We lost two very good bats and put a lot of stress in the middle of our lineup and put a lot of stress on the lower half of our lineup.
We talked a lot during the season, we had a pretty good balance and it was a pretty balanced attack for us, and we would like to have had a little more speed early. But we are scoring runs. Most productive outfield in baseball and offensively, when things are going very well, we have to find ways -- like we said last year, we didn't know what we were going to do. Started talking about how we are going to score more runs and have to do that again.
Didn't pitch very well last year; that's no secret. When you look at the numbers -- we are anticipating doing better there. If we don't pitch better, it's going to be a tough go. I think the guys we had, had a bit of a struggle last year and they reevaluated. Joe Kerrigan is going to be a big influence.
We pitch better, the team we have now, we know we can play defense. We got faster in the outfield, so, yeah, absolutely, again, we have got to do some things better than we did last year obviously.

Q. Do you feel that if you look at the way your team shapes up now, I understand it's a long time before the season starts, that you maybe need a bat in the outfield, somebody with some pop besides Brandon, or in addition to Brandon?
JOHN RUSSELL: Sure. I don't think there's going to be a season that goes by that you don't look to better yourselves, and you can get -- I think if you went around each table and asked the manager if he would like a power-hitting right-handed hitter, he would say yes. I would like a power left-handed hitter. It's a rare commodity.
We are looking for good players. We are looking for young talent that we can infuse into our system to build a very sustainable organization. It's no secret and we have said that since day one and we are still looking to do that. We are not just going to go sign somebody to help us win ten more games this year. We want a situation where we are in the hunt every year and it's our goal.
So if there's a right person out there, and Neal and I have talked about it, as well as the rest of the group upstairs, we would like to go get something. But we are not just going to do it to do it and deter where we are headed for and set ourselves back more.
So, yeah, I would like to have a 20-game winner, a 50-game closer and a power-hitting right-handed hitter. It would be great, but those are tough to find.

Q. When you look at the first four months of last season, setting aside the pitching, there were a lot of intangibles and stuff that you looked for. How do you get that back? Even the intangible part of it wasn't necessarily there the last two months the way it was the first.
JOHN RUSSELL: Well, the dynamics changed a little bit. The guys that we were sitting at this table with last year said the same thing about changing the culture and getting the players to be accountable and we did that.
We started out with some success, and I think the biggest thing is we thought we could win coming into spring training and then we went through a stretch and really felt we believed and we got close to knowing we could win and didn't get there. We really believed we could win. We made the trades, and it kind of fizzled to where we thought we could win.
It's not starting over, but we had a lot of new players come into our system, and it's just now, you know, we had a head start by having them the last two months of the year; that going into spring training, they will know what we are expecting and know what our plan is, what our daily routine is, and it will help us.
It is a very good, dynamic team, and I think everybody in our clubhouse really enjoyed our team.
We lost some guys that were part of that but we gained some players that we feel are good players and good people. They also came into a new team and are as comfortable as they will be coming into spring training. Like I said, start of the meeting, interview, will be business as usual for us and instilling the same work philosophy and the same accountability and the same structure and really making sure we learn.

Q. What's harder to fix with that pitching staff, physical things, with guys breaking down a little bit, or the mental side did the guys struggle with?
JOHN RUSSELL: I think there's got to be a combination of both. I don't think it's so much physical. I think a lot of it is mental and the physical. Lost some confidence. Inconsistent game plan, inconsistent approach, and gave up way too many runs in the first inning, so leads me to believe we were not quite prepared to go out to the mound.
We gave up a lot of runs -- pitch ability, and need to make adjustments. That's the big thing Joe will bring is our pitchers will be prepared and ready to go pitch and then also, the physical part of it, making sure that they are ready to go out and pitch.
You know, it was a tough year. We didn't do things that we are capable of doing. We had two guys very, very good the year before that struggled last year. Zach Duke had one month that really hurt him but other than that played very well.
We have to find a way to win, and it's just one of the things we started talking about last year, quality starts; that's great, but at some point, we have to start turning them into a win. It's one of the things we are going to try to instill in our pitchers that we need to win, to pitch well; and not just look in the paper the next day and say, "I had a quality start."

Q. Your conversations with Kerri, what do you think the philosophy was that he wasn't using last year?
JOHN RUSSELL: Well, he's very prepared. I was telling guys earlier, he's already got mini-camp mapped out and spring training mapped out.
So you know, I think that just the organization skills, I think the experience that he brings, the knowledge of the pitchers that he's worked with in the past; the knowledge of his advance scout that he's been doing, break down the team, break down the hitters and how we are going to attack them; and his basic overall philosophy with the pitchers is going to be invaluable.
Each time I talk to him, I'm more and more convinced and assured that we got the right guy and he's really going to make a difference with our guys. He's very excited about it. I think it's going to be a definite change. We have to see how far that will take us. Can't sit here and say everybody is going to win 15 games, but there will be a difference. Hopefully that will equate to wins.

Q. Brandon got here and then he had the funky at-bat when he got hurt and then he had to leave; same thing with Andy at third and never really got comfortable enough to really be productive. Do you sort of just write off those two months to a degree and say: Let's really see what they have got starting in spring training? Is there anything that you can take in those couple of months?
JOHN RUSSELL: You don't write him off. You can't. We've got to evaluate it, and just like we talked about evaluating some of the other players. Saw some very encouraging signs. Can't be so result-oriented at that time of year when you are trying to evaluate guys. But it helps. You know, they showed very good flashes, especially Brandon. Andy struggled; that's no secret.
But you saw signs of something that we can get out of it, and obviously they have done it in the past. I think they both came into a new atmosphere and they wanted to impress. They wanted to show us why they belong and why they get to play every day. I think they try to do too much.
But that's part of it. They have got to be able to make that adjustment to be more prepared when they come into spring training.
So, yeah, you can write off some of it, but we are not going to just give them a mulligan and say, okay, let's start over. We felt like they made some improvement in a lot of areas and our job is to continue that and not only to relax but to continue to improve into the kind of players we think they can be.

Q. You wanted Andy to go to work with Don Wong (ph) in Seattle, has that happened?
JOHN RUSSELL: Yeah, he just got back, three or four days. We'll have him back down in mini-camp so he can work with him there. Andy was very receptive. It was not a major overhaul, but just some things he noticed in his upper half and some things he noticed in his lower half, working, separated. Want to get him more in tune.
It's not a huge overhaul, but he has bat speed and power. We saw him hit balls really far and use the other side of the field. A lot of cases, you saw a very good two-strike approach. I think he got into a rut where he wanted to get five hits a game to prove that he's the guy.
Again, that's part of the growing process.

Q. Do you think Andrew McCutcheon is ready to make the jump?
JOHN RUSSELL: At some point, yes, I don't think he's too far away. There's some things that I believe and the organization believe he needs to continue to improve on. He's made some progress but I still think he has some things he needs to improve to be the type of player we want him to be.
Could he come up and play in the Major Leagues right now? Sure. But we want him to stay. We want him to come up and struggle a bit, and he's not quite ready and we have to send him back. When we call him to Pittsburgh, we want him to be ready. I'm not saying it's not out of spring training. We'll evaluate as we go through spring training.
As an organization, we want him here quickly as possible because he's a very good player. And we also want him to be ready for the challenge, understanding that your first year in the big leagues, we are not expecting him to be -- we want him to relax and succeed and let his God-given talent come out.
We are excited to have him obviously and very much looking forward to him being in Pittsburgh, whether it be going north with us out of Bradenton, or some point during the season.

Q. It seems like Nate would be the last guy that you have to worry about, his success last year, did that affect in any way? Has to be a good feeling going into spring training that you don't have to worry about him wanting too much --
JOHN RUSSELL: Nate's very level-headed. He's a great teammate. He's great in the clubhouse. He's one of our guys. Ryan Doumit is the same way. We expect both of them to come into camp ready to go and I don't see any reason why they won't; Paul Malone.
It's a big message we sent last year, and I think guys are really committed to coming in ready to go. I think we were in good shape last year, but we identify we need to be in battle in some areas. It's no secret, if they are not in shape, they are not going to go north with us. I think that's been not only a statement from me but from the general managers, a general push this winter to be ready. Nate has always been a good worker and a good attitude, and that's why he's an All-Star.

Q. Last year at this time, going off what they had done the year before, it seemed logical that four spots in the rotation were set before you ever stepped foot down there. Now it's a lot different. How much do you think this is going to help to have so many guys kind of pushing each other from the start of the spring to try to win the job?
JOHN RUSSELL: I guess you could say it could help. But it's going to be up to the individuals, No. 1, what they are doing now, getting ready for that.
And No. 2 is just to be able to go out and do what they are capable of doing. You look at all of them, they are very capable of being very good Major League pitchers. We saw Zach throw very good games and we saw Ian throw very good games and we saw Karstens throw very good games. You could go down the list. They all pitched well at some times. We just need the consistency more that Paul showed, throughout day-in and day-out, every fifth day on the mound, and the consistency to go out and do that. And they are all capable of doing that.
The competition, yeah, should separate themselves, and it has been said that Paul is really the only one that's basically inked into our rotation and we'll see how the rest shakes out.
We have a good idea and we know what these guys are capable of, and if they do, the rotation will set itself on its own.

Q. In this situation, there was no ifs, ands or buts, it's going to take some patience and you're going to have some growing pains with guys coming in and out. After being a big league manager for a year, how difficult was it to be patient sometimes when you're a competitive person by nature and want to win every night?
JOHN RUSSELL: There are different forms of patience. Not winning, yeah, it grinds on you. It's no fun. I don't like to lose.
But understanding what we are going through as an organization, understanding what we are accomplishing with the players, is still very exciting on a daily basis. The frustrating part is you look back, we have got two starters that pitch the way we thought they were capable of. The second baseman, first baseman started off hitting, got ice cold for the first two and a half months of the year. Could have been a different story, but ifs and buts, you can always look at it that way.
I'm very optimistic and try to be very positive. I have my moments, but all in all, I think it was a good year for us as a growth, as an organization. And we have talked about it from day one that we are not satisfied where we are. We are not satisfied with .500. That's not a goal. It's a very average team if you're .500. We don't want to be average. We want to go above that.
We'll strive every day, the staff and I and the players to continue to excel and not be complacent and not be happy with where we are at. Until we get that exactly headed in the right direction, that's not going to happen and that's why we are stressing the hard work. We saw a lot of progress with it last year.

Q. Did you sense your guys bought in, I know when the new manager comes in, there's always a feeling-out period on everybody's part, but it seemed like you guys bought into what you wanted to do fairly quickly. Did you have that sense, too, that your guys were pretty much on board with what you are trying to do?
JOHN RUSSELL: I think as a staff, we didn't give them a whole lot of opportunity to do it another way. It was very structured. Not that we baby-sat them, but spring training was very structured and that's the way we had it planned. There was no standing around or downtime. Same way when we went into the season, pregame, how we prepared for the game.
So that's the only way I know how to do it and I think they liked it because I really believe it's the right way to do things. Other people have different ways of doing it. But I think the end result is how you get them to do the right thing, and Tony La Russa -- he's sitting over there; they do it different ways, but they do it right. Other managers in the league have different ways of doing it, and they do it right.
My style of doing it, as long as we play hard and continue to try to do things the right way, good things will happen. We had a very exciting season, and it was funny, I was talking to Tony and Lou Piniella the other night, they said they didn't like playing us because you never new; our extra-inning record was really good. Our one-run record was really good, and that's a good compliment. We would get late in the game and we would usually win.
A tough year in a lot of ways but it was a very rewarding year in a lot of ways. I'm looking forward to it.

Q. I know you prepared yourself for a long time, was there anything easier than you thought would be or harder than you thought it would be?
JOHN RUSSELL: Dealing with you guys. (Laughter.)

Q. Pittsburgh media is brutal.
JOHN RUSSELL: It's nothing overwhelming. I think just the demand on your time is the biggest thing. And it still feels like that. You don't feel like you have that downtime where you can go do something without worrying about baseball. And it's not worrying about it, but the commitments or things that you have to do or phone calls; I think that was the biggest adjustment.
The next one was the adjustment with having that many coaches on your staff and you have trainers and you have strength guys and guys that you have to not lead them, but be there and know what they are doing.
So I think it's just the flood of information, the demand on your time, and then the amount of responsibilities in other areas that you don't have, but you learn how to deal with it.
After the first couple of months, each month, it got easier, and now, I was telling some of our guys upstairs, it's much easier being here this year. It's more relaxing, more comfortable.

Q. If you could have five lefty bats in your every day lineup, is that an advantage?
JOHN RUSSELL: A lot of times you could say it would hurt when we face left-handers. If you get a good left-hander coming out of the bullpen, it ties you up.
But what I liked about some of our lefties last year, they hit left-handed pitching pretty well. Delman (ph) did a great job when he went to the right side. He had a very good year right-handed. Nate hit left-handers okay. Adam when he was swinging the bat like Adam can, he was okay.
No, it doesn't bother me that bad. You would like a little more balance. Again going back to our lineup, I think it was a very balanced lineup, we had left, we had power, not as much speed as I think we would have liked but there was some balance to it.
Now, you get the lefties, it can get a little lopsided. Especially you've got some younger hitters, they are okay for a stretch, but then you bring in the real good left-hander out of the bullpen, you can have some trouble. But it doesn't affect me that much. Now, if each of our lefties hit .120 versus left-handers, then we have a problem. But they seem to hang in there pretty well.

Q. I know it's not mentally healthy to look at things this way, but when it was all over and you had a little time to reflect, do you think, if you pitched the way you thought you would pitch coming into the season, the way you got more out of the offense than on paper it looked like; did you ever afford yourself to think that when it was all over and think if it could have been different?
JOHN RUSSELL: All the time. If you can't dream, it's no fun. Sure.
You think we pitch better, the way we were hitting; yeah. But it's ironic, sitting here last year: 'You guys can pitch, but you can't score and your bullpen is going to be terrible.' It was totally opposite and we hit. Hopefully we ran both cycles and next year we'll do both.
It's going to be fine. Everybody says, well, the Pirates are this and that. You know what, we are going to have a very competitive team. You look at the team we have now, we still have a batting champ winner at second and All-Star shortstop and a catcher that was in the top three catchers in baseball. We have a power-hitting first baseman; speed now in left field or center, whichever, if he gives Nate a break. But you have speed in left and we have the back end of the bullpen still. There's still components. People look at our left-handed young pitching and they look at our young right-handed pitching now, with Snell and Karstens and McCutcheon coming.
Yeah, there's optimism and we could theoretically look at the team now and be more excited than last year because we have more depth at starting pitching and we have a little bit more speed. I think looking at it that way, if we were sitting here today last year with this team, we would have been pretty excited about it.
Yeah, it could be interesting. We could surprise some people. I don't like to say that and I don't say it very often, but we'll see what plays out. But I don't mind being the underdog.

End of FastScripts

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