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MLB WINTER MEETINGSDecember 7, 2009Don WakamatsuINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA Q. When you look at the team, is it kind of a work in progress? Is it hard to plan for next year when you don't really know a lot of spots and who's going to be where? DON WAKAMATSU: Yeah, I think this morning we started off the winter meetings with a meeting, and obviously tried to formulate some kind of game plan. But I think as I mentioned to a lot of people out there, it's kind of the domino effect, when you make a move, then I think several will follow. But it's kind of hard to plan for that right now. We're out there. I think Jack is doing the best he can. It's exciting for me to be here. I watched him work his magic last year, and not only him, but I know the staff is out there working their tail off to try to get us some new players. Q. Could you draw up a lineup today with what you've got? DON WAKAMATSU: No. You know, I think for me as a manager, you kind of get the pieces when you come out of here, and even as we go forward into Spring Training and then start to formulate at that point. I think nothing is really, I guess, set in stone until I get there and start to work a little bit. It's exciting for me to be able to know that we're out there looking for a lot of talent right now that can help us. Q. Have you talked to Junior since he signed, and now it's been a month. What do you see from him? DON WAKAMATSU: Junior calls me all the time. No, I've talked to Junior probably three or four times, and obviously he cares a lot about the club and what's going on. I think as a manager, when you talk to veteran leadership, I think it's important to inform them, too, so he has a heartbeat and he has a lot of influence in this game. He's doing good, and we have dialogue a little bit about the ballclub. Q. Involved players who are not here aside, how much have you thought of in the past year, even up to today, the possibility of putting Ichiro in the lineup and where might his strengths be? DON WAKAMATSU: I think we thought about him last year. If guys remember a little bit, we jug would the lineup quite a bit in Spring Training. I don't know, depending on the players we have, we'll probably do that again this spring, and knowing that opening day is our D-Day we'll do what's best for the ballclub. But there's a lot of information and a lot of research we'll have to do before the season starts to make sure not to jump at something that sounds good. That's the beauty of it, you get the whole Major League stuff there and you can talk about those things. In fairness to the players, I think until you can talk to them, it's not right to say where you're going to hit and what you're going to do with the lineup. Q. There's an assumption that he really wants to hit leadoff. Do you think he would be open to hitting anywhere? DON WAKAMATSU: Are you talking about Ichiro? I think Ichiro would do in a sense just about anything for the Seattle Mariners. I think he proves that by the way he plays. Again, I think those are things that would have to be discussed with him in private first. Q. Much was made about Felix Hernández' big turnaround last year. Can you talk about how he turned himself into somewhat of that rotation in the second half? DON WAKAMATSU: For us it's the little things, and the little things started controlling the running game, and when he took command of that, I think it made him a more complete pitcher. But also you saw him grow quite a bit because he understood that the stolen base here and a base hit here could cost the club a run. It was not really about our discussion, it was about the maturity that finally set in. That carried over and kept getting stronger and stronger, even to his last outing of the year where he pitched on short rest and gave this club everything. That's what I'm proud of. Even at the All-Star break to see how far he had come since Spring Training, and I've watched him since he got first in the league from the other dugout, so it was nice to see. We're looking forward to him coming to Spring Training. Q. He talked about last year he had a new training regimen. Has he continued that this winter? DON WAKAMATSU: Yeah, I think a lot of it is you look back at this year and you look at the amount of -- the volume that he's pitched, and we're going to make some adjustments probably in Spring Training. We'll look at whether we'll lighten the load there to protect him, or whether we'll change his running program. All of those things we'll look at right now. Q. What were your impressions of Hideki Matsui's performance in the World Series? DON WAKAMATSU: Awfully impressive. But again, as a manager and as a coach, I've seen him for a number of years. He's such a professional player, and he's such a perfectionist, it doesn't really shock you. I mean, obviously he had some great series against us this last year. That lineup is just so potent that -- he's a professional player and an awfully good one. Q. Is that the kind of professionalism you would want in a clubhouse? DON WAKAMATSU: Well, again, I respect him as a player. I think acquiring players, I'll leave that up to Jack. Q. Where are you in your assessment of that? Do you feel confident where you can kind of write him in, where you expect him to be next year? DON WAKAMATSU: Yeah, we've had some dialogues over this winter and we're going to get a chance to work prior to Spring Training a little bit. But the intangibles is what impressed me the most, how he can handle -- handled the pitching staff, his game calling. The physical part of it, whether it's the offense or whether it's blocking balls or throwing runners out, I think those are areas where he's going to continue to get better. But the maturity for a young guy was awfully impressive and his relational skills, he fit right in, and obviously it opened a lot of doors and gave us a belief system if we have to go that route we will. Q. (Inaudible). DON WAKAMATSU: Well, for us it's always going to be defense first. But he does have a lot of potential to swing the bat. I think that's what makes him exciting. Q. What are the chances that Rob Jones will be ready opening day? DON WAKAMATSU: Pretty good as far as the reports go right now. Again, he's had several surgeries, but the reports are extremely positive that they came out well and that -- I don't know if he'll be ready day one of Spring Training, but he should be fully functional within Spring Training. Q. On a national level, he is somewhat under the radar, José Lopez as a second baseman. How much does he mean to your lineup? DON WAKAMATSU: Well, I think a lot. Obviously we juggled him around in the lineup throughout the year, and he settled in well in that three hole and became almost a 100-RBI guy. The exciting thing, two things for him, is that he's 25 years old, and every year has been better and better. I think the goal is still -- it's almost a blessing that he didn't get 100 because I know that's going to be his goal and he's going to work that hard to get it. But he's a tremendous competitor, and we're awfully fortunate to have him. Q. And he's been great, but is there anything that you're looking for him to improve on defensively, offensively, anything there? DON WAKAMATSU: Yeah, I mean, I think there's some areas that he can improve on, and I think with the addition of Mike Brumley on our coaching staff, it's going to help, too, just getting a different angle. We look at positioning, we look at his defense, and I think he's improved every year in that aspect, too. So we're looking for positive things out of him. Q. Did you talk to him at the end of the year about the possibility of playing a different position this year? DON WAKAMATSU: No. Q. Looking at the offense once the season ended, if there was one area you could really improve, what would it be? DON WAKAMATSU: Probably some of the things we've talked about all year, and that's just trying to get a grasp on understanding how to get on base, flat-out. I think our on-base percentage struggled, but I think with that, there's got to be a methodology, too. There's got to be a plan and an individual one because I think everybody is a little bit different. But I think we set the focus and we'll continue to do that. I think Alan Cockrell has talked to just about every offensive player we have with us right now and is going to get together with several of them prior to even Spring Training to hone that in. I think from a manager's standpoint we did talk a lot to the younger players that have basically just made their debut at the Major League level of the importance of that, and we'll talk a lot more about that in Spring Training. Q. Will Ken Griffey, Jr. be your everyday, full-time DH? DON WAKAMATSU: I think that depends on Ken Griffey, Jr. Again, he had a minor surgery over the winter. A lot is going to depend on -- similar to last year how much he's going to play in the field. All that is going to depend on his ability. I think if he comes into Kemp in shape and he's moving well, I'll give him every opportunity for that. Q. What is in shape for him? DON WAKAMATSU: I think last year the big thing was watching how he responded after playing a couple days in a row or three days in a row, four days in a row, how much he had to run the bases. So that's what we'll look at in Spring Training, and if -- I think we have to push it a little bit and see where we're at in Spring Training, but that'll tell us a lot. Q. Have you said that to him? Have you communicated that to him that you'd like him to come back? DON WAKAMATSU: Yes. I told him I'd work out with him. (Smiling). Q. What were your impressions of Ackley and those guys? DON WAKAMATSU: I just got glimpse of those guys, but I think the most impressive thing for me was the ages of players competing at a level that's awfully advanced. You look at Treuenfeld caught my eye, I thought Ackley, his approach to the plate was awfully mature for a guy that hadn't played in a couple months, but also now he's been facing guys that have played in professional baseball for three or four guys, some of those guys, and the best talent. But I think some of the young arms, Fields and Amont (phon.) impressed me quite a bit. It was a good trip out there. Q. You talked about guys getting a grasp on how to get on base. Is that coachable like for a guy who's deeper into his career like a Jack Wilson that doesn't have a history of walking much? Can he actually improve that at this point in his career? DON WAKAMATSU: I think that becomes a technical question, meaning I think there's some guys that because of their mechanics and their swing have a propensity to want to expand the zone in those cases. Not necessarily. But that's what we were talking about some of the work that needs to be done from now until Spring Training is dissecting last year and looking at -- whether it's José Lopez, how can we make this guy even better than he is, and going back and looking at different counts and trying to give them a concrete game plan. So yes and no. I think that a lot of it does depend on the player and the discipline that we're going to try and instill in them. Q. Are (Inaudible) and Saunders ready to compete for an everyday spot? DON WAKAMATSU: Yeah, they're going to come and compete this year, yes. Again, I think you have to evaluate guys in Spring Training two ways. One, the beauty of it is we've seen them play at the Major League level this last year. Number two is that you have to be able to look through the statistical data in Spring Training and say, has that swing been shortened, are their defensive skills a little bit crisper. A lot of it depends on how hard they worked over the winter and the motivation that they have. Q. Would you be willing to sacrifice a little defense in your outfield to improve the offense? DON WAKAMATSU: (Laughing) I think that depends on the rest of the club, it really does. I mean, how this thing slots out, I don't really ever want to sacrifice anything. Q. How pressing is the need for a real power bat when you look at your lineup? DON WAKAMATSU: I think any manager wants power in their lineup. You know, I think, again, the next couple days will probably dictate who's available and what's out there. Again, I'll trust Jack in acquiring those players. There's different ways to produce runs obviously. You look at, for me, a Bobby Abreu, the impact that he had on Anaheim, and I don't know the statistics, but they ended up scoring 100 or so more runs than they had in the past because maybe they're patient. Speed helps. So I think if you can't get one then you look at the other, but power never hurts. Q. Is it exciting to be one manager or one of the few clubs that seems to be aggressively shopping this winter? DON WAKAMATSU: I think it's a credit to Jack. That goes with work. I mean, if he's out there looking and trying to look under every stone, we're going to be involved in a lot of different deals. He did it last year, so it doesn't surprise me. But yes, I'm extremely happy to be a part of that. Q. What have been your impressions of Jason Bay, playing against him? DON WAKAMATSU: Impact bat. Obviously to watch him, the effect that he had with Boston is awfully impressive. But again, professional. This guy had a tremendous year, and he was helpful for the Boston Red Sox. Q. Does it mean anything to you when you hear the reports that he would like to play in Seattle, it's his home town? DON WAKAMATSU: No. Again, I think I'll wait and see how this turns out in the next couple weeks, see how it turns out, and again, if there's a possibility at all of those guys, Jack will take a look at it and he'll share it with us. Q. What would impact the club on a more immediate basis, an impact bat or an impact starter? DON WAKAMATSU: Again, I think that's hard to say without looking at the whole puzzle. But I think we went down the road last year with pitching and defense, and I think we can't lose that. We have to be able to defend to keep the games in hand. So I don't want to really, I guess, classify what type of team we're going to be. But I don't think in today's game that you can sacrifice pitching and defense. Q. Your club took such a major step forward last year. How close do you think you are to taking the next step up and being right there at the end with a chance to win? DON WAKAMATSU: I think it's twofold. Number one, I think that we gained valuable experience with a lot of young players, and some guys are going to be with our organization for a long time. That's imperative. But on the same note, I think there's a lot of holes to fill, so it's a different club in that aspect, too. So again, we won't know until Spring Training. But I do feel that we've established a lot of things going forward in the style of play, and we've talked about the clubhouse and different things like that. Q. Did WBC have an impact on the team, not having the players there those weeks, not just in losing them but that time to kind of get to know them and get them into the system? DON WAKAMATSU: A positive. I think it's twofold. It was an awfully long Spring Training. But for a first-year manager, I loved it for the fact that we did get to maybe break down and have more individual meetings and spend more time with guys to get to know them. But a lot of those players had to go through that grind on the other side, and we had several of them. The length of the Spring Training was more of a benefit to me. Q. Last year you were coming off 100 plus season. No one expected much. This year there will be higher expectations. Is that going to be something you have to deal with and manage, your expectations? DON WAKAMATSU: No, I think we had the same expectations -- we'll have the same expectations as we did this year, and that is trying to win every ballgame. I think we'll look at last year and just try to improve on things we didn't feel we covered as much, but also how we can improve and maybe stay with some of the things that we felt were successful. But I don't think we're going to change coaching-staff-wise. There's some guys we acquired towards the end of last year that I'm really excited about getting an opportunity to spend that much time with and trying to, I guess, continue their education. Q. You talked about teaching plate discipline. Is that what makes guys like Figgins or Bay even more appealing to your team, kind of the object by Abreu impact like with the Angels? DON WAKAMATSU: You look at a Mike Young comes to mind, a player of that caliber, being with a player that long, getting to watch him play every day. The neat thing about it is the effect it has on the rest of your lineup, and it's contagious. If you can get a couple of those guys, and whether they're -- whether it's innate or it's learned, it's always going to benefit. This game is about wear and tear and can you get a starting pitcher out in the fifth inning. If we can work the count, and it's not that easy. Every team out there is trying to do that. The rest is trying to come up with a better game plan in Spring Training to educate these guys and trying to make them improve. I do believe we've made some improvements from the start of Spring Training until now with these guys, and we'll continue to do that. 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