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MLB WINTER MEETINGSDecember 9, 2009Mike SciosciaINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA Q. How big a loss is Figgins? MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, Chone is definitely a guy we want to see in our uniform next year, and he got a terrific opportunity in Seattle. He'll impact that team much like he did ours. I think he's as good a catalyst as there is in the game, and I think the way he played defense at third base is something someone ought to pay a lot of attention to. We've got some big shoes to feel. But with Maicer Izturis, Brandon Wood and possibly Erick Aybar, obviously Erick Aybar and Maicer Izturis be able to hit in the lead-off spot. We think we'll go a long way to bring some of that same production to our club. Q. Is that the choice, Aybar and Izturis? Would you consider (inaudible) in that lead-off spot? MIKE SCIOSCIA: No, I think Bobby is a guy that's multidimensional and you would want to set the table as much as you can as you expect Bobby to set the table. If anything, you can see Bobby possibly hitting three, but we would -- there's some templates we look at where we have Bobby hitting second, some third. But lead-off, I think Bobby brings too much as far as the ability to drive in runs that we would want to take more advantage of that than to just lead him off. Q. If it is Izturis, where do you find a spot for him? MIKE SCIOSCIA: You know, Izzy is a versatile player, so just like last year where he got starts at second, short and third, I think we could get him in the lineup enough on the defensive side where he would get enough at-bats to contribute. Now, obviously we have a young player in Brandon Wood that we're definitely going to look very closely at in Spring Training and hope that he will -- his growth will let him win a lot of playing time and possibly a winning position. But as far as our lineup goes, if Izzy is in the lineup, I think he's a natural to lead off. If he's not, then Erick Aybar would definitely be a guy who could lead off, and he'd get on base and set the table, maybe not at the pace that Chone did, but eventually he'll roll into that. Q. So Brandon Wood is not going to be your opening day third baseman, he's got to win it? MIKE SCIOSCIA: Do we have to put that lineup in now? No, any position player coming out has to, first of all, have the mentality he's going to go out there and win a position, and the reality of it is it's always a proving ground. I think especially with the young player Brandon Wood coming in Kemp. He has to have the mindset to come in there a win a position, and realistically that's what has to happen. He has to come out and win a spot, and we do have some depth that we'll use if it's going to make us a better team. But we definitely want to give Brandon every opportunity to show his talent because he's a very, very talented young player. Q. Have you reached out personally to Jason Bay at all just to gauge his interest in your club? MIKE SCIOSCIA: I have not reached out personally to him, but he has been in internal discussions that we've had as an organization. I think there are some more pressing needs that we have right now than what -- than the talent that Jason can bring. He's an extraordinary talent, but we definitely have to look for some balance in some areas, and that might not make Jason a great fit for our club. Q. What is your more pressing need? MIKE SCIOSCIA: We have more pressing needs. Obviously you try to be balanced and have as deep a club as you can, and with some of the things that we're looking at, we have an opportunity to get deeper, we might not be able to make that one big splash with that one guy that Jason is right now. Q. With the number of free agents that you have how important is the time dynamic in order to implement your plan going forward? MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, I think Tony Riggins has done a great job this year as he did last year with some different branches of how things -- how this off-season might take you. Last year Mark Teixeira was obviously a priority for us. We didn't sign him. He had other things that he had in place that made us in some regards a deeper club. Same with this year. Obviously Chone Figgins was a guy that we had one template for if he was going to resign with us; he didn't, so there are other directions you'll go. I don't think it has to happen quickly, but you certainly have to have some things happen in a timely fashion so you know where your team is going into Spring Training. We signed Bobby Abreu late last year. If something like that happens this year, then obviously we'll be ready when the season opens up. Some things are going to take a little longer to evolve, and you have to be patient with some things that happen in the free agency market. Q. With any team that gets John Lackey, what is he going to bring to the team? MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, John is obviously one of the top starting pitchers in our league. I don't know if there's many pitchers that are out there, certainly this year there aren't many pitchers that are out there, that would be available, that are going to combine the depth that he can pitch in an individual game with his ability to go out there and compete in any situation in any ballpark. That's what makes -- that's why we want him back in an Angels' uniform and that's also why other teams are interested in John. Q. There's talk about him wanting to stay out west. Can you picture him as someone who could embrace playing in New York? MIKE SCIOSCIA: John could handle playing anywhere. He could handle playing in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, any area. This guy is as focused as any pitcher I've seen with the ability to just forget about the environment he's pitching in and focus in on that catcher and what he needs to do in a certain situation against a hitter and execute it. A lot of guys have the focus, they just aren't able to do it. John is a special talent. We certainly -- we appreciate it, and hopefully we're going to see him in an Angels uniform next year. Q. You don't necessarily want to make just one big splash and have multiple needs, John would take a big financial commitment to bring back. How would that affect those other things? MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, I think that if you're talking about balance, there's a lot -- I don't think you can ever have too much pitching, so if you are going to make a financial commitment, certainly the pitching end of it is something you're going to consider. Artie is committed to giving us a championship caliber team, so if it's going to take one area that we feel very strongly and will make us better, I know he's going to consider it. And the fact that if we do sign John, I think there are some other things that can be done to give us a balanced team. Maybe not two big splashes, but certainly something that could make us a better overall club. Q. Could you talk about your DH situation? MIKE SCIOSCIA: Yeah. Do you want to talk about Matsui or anybody? Q. Anybody, whatever you want. MIKE SCIOSCIA: All right, good. I think there's a lot of things that we're looking for. We talk about balance on a club on the offensive side. There are some guys that are very attractive to our club that are out there right now. We have a possibility of -- we have Gary Matthews, who can be in that rotation. If it's not Gary, there are guys like Matsui who is out there, and some other ball players that are free that we'd certainly look at if it's going to give us balance on the offensive end. Last year I think what Bobby Abreu did to our club is as important as anything that happened. Bobby is a professional hitter. We signed him late. I know that that offensive depth is something that carried us last year and it's important to us, and I think we do have to put some priority in pre-establishing that. Some things are going to be contingent on the resources you're going to have to delegate to a certain area. Our lineup is definitely one that right now has some versatility, but in the DH role, I think it's one area that we're definitely going to look at and hopefully bring in a bat. Q. If John comes back, you'll have five, really a deep rotation. There's an option out there that might make you stronger at the front of the rotation. Would you prefer to have five guys that are really, really good -- MIKE SCIOSCIA: Is there an option? Q. There might be one, yeah. Would you prefer to be stronger at the front of the rotation, maybe a little weaker in the back? MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, I really think if you look at last year, I think it was an extraordinary team that played at a high level that beat us in the ALCS, and they pitched very well. I don't think we pitched that poorly. I don't think we had the team that certainly matched up and could have done a little better and moved forward. They had a great series, and they beat us. So I don't think there's a pressing need to say, hey, we have to go out there and you have to acquire a guy who's that, quote-unquote, number one. I think that what we have and what we had with John Lackey, John pitched as well as anybody in our league, and pitched as the No. 1 for us last year. If you did acquire, I think, or if John does stay with us, I don't think there's a pressing need to go out there and get that pitcher. And if John isn't -- does sign with somebody else, we have a terrific rotation, and we have every confidence that we can go with Joe Saunders, Ervin Santana and Jered Weaver and Scott Kazmir. These guys prove their capabilities there as good as any rotation as good as anybody in baseball. We would obviously go that way. Q. When you were talking about DH, you didn't mention Vlad. Is he door still open? MIKE SCIOSCIA: Vlad is a guy, absolutely, that we're still in contact with, and would be -- I would welcome an opportunity to bring him back. As we talk about free agency, the same thing with free agency that's out, the guys that we're talking to some guys that are on our teams that are talking to other clubs, it gets complicated, and how quickly it moves is different with every player. Vlad is definitely a guy that we have son some templates, if we work out a deal and bring him back. Q. The fact that his approach was say different from what Abreu brought to the club, that would be okay with you? MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think what Bobby brought -- I use Bobby as an example because we signed him late, and that might happen this year with us again. Bobby helped to set a tone that made an extremely talented lineup much deeper, and I think have a lad was a big part of that, hitting in the middle of our lineup, even though he missed some time in the middle of the season. I don't think it's exactly the same type hitter that Bobby is that I'm talking about, but that talent level is important to us. We've got some young bats that have to develop, but also develop young bats. You want to have some experience in your lineup and let those guys hit down lower and get some experience. We might need that luck again this year with Brandon Wood hopefully getting his feet on the ground and some other young players. Howey Kendrick is still moving forward, Mike Napoli, there's some young hitters in our lineup. Q. In that same vein, can you elaborate on the kind of thing that Matsui would bring to your club? MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think an offensive force like Matsui is going to be welcome in a lot of clubs, and certainly with our club he's an experienced hitter that can hit in the middle of any lineup. There are some other hitters we talked about like Vlad, there are guys like Jermaine Dye, there's Bay, there's a lot of guys that are able to hit in the middle of the lineup. I think Hideki is -- he's a unique talent that obviously overcame some injuries early to have an incredible season, and I think we saw what he did in the playoffs, and I think it's indicative of his talent. He's going to be -- he would help a lot of clubs that are out there, including the Yankees, if he would go back with the Yankees, because he's definitely a guy that -- I know he's been talked about internally in our organization, and he's a guy that we would definitely consider bringing on board. Q. Would you consider him only as a DH or would you consider him as an outfielder? MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, there's a lot of things you look at. First and foremost is the capabilities and abilities of the player. From what we hear about Hideki, he's certainly capable of still playing the outfield. At what depth or how long, how many days a week, is really going to be conjecture right now. Much like Vlad Guerrero for us is still capable of playing the outfield, but you would have to evaluate that as you move forward into the off-season and move forward into Spring Training. Q. So what is your wish list for this upcoming season? If you could have anything you wanted on your lineup? MIKE SCIOSCIA: Yeah, a manager's wish list is going to be a little different than a general manager's and owner's, I can guarantee you that right now. If you want my wish list you would be talking about a pretty expensive team. I just know the philosophy of our organization and what really makes us perennial contenders is really the attention to pitching and the defensive side of the organization. And the ability to stay in every game with the pitching and defensive side. We struggled with that a little bit last year, but we were able to have really I think an offensive season that might be difficult to repeat some of those runs that we scored last year. We scored runs at a terrific pace for a lineup that was in flux for a little bit. That's put a lot of pressure to think we're going to repeat that much offensively. If we do, great, but we definitely need to pitch at a higher level than we did last year and play defense at a level that is going to support that good pitching. We're going to pay a lot of attention to that area. Q. Forgive me if somebody already asked about him, but I wanted to ask about Ervin Santana. How do you feel about him going into 2010, and a follow-up, how do you feel about him pitching winter ball in general? MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, Ervin Santana, first of all, is very, very healthy right now. He proved at times as the season went on towards the end, probably in September, his stuff really started to come alive, and he was very close to what we had seen the year before when he was an All-Star pitcher. Winter ball is a tool for certain players that's important, and I think that for a guy like Ervin or Erick Aybar or guys that are used to playing some winter ball, it's definitely something that we know is an asset for them and something they need to take advantage of. How much they pitch obviously needs to be monitored. But for Ervin to throw some innings in winter ball, if he is in the shape that he says he is, that he feels, I think under the right dynamics, it would be a positive thing. Q. And do you have any specific number of innings that you'd like to limit him to in winter ball? MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, it depends. When a pitcher is really ready, I think sometimes the pressure of winter ball, these teams like the Dominican, when they start to get in the playoffs -- Q. And his team is going to be there. MIKE SCIOSCIA: There's a pressure of being right in the schedule, and what's really in baseball, you're ready because you're ready, you're not ready because of the schedule. What's really in baseball is you're ready when you're ready. If he's throwing now, which he is, and he is ready to go, it wouldn't be harmful for him to go out there and throw three, four innings a couple times a week leading up until the end of when that season would end. Q. Like end of January, something like that? MIKE SCIOSCIA: Yeah, when you're out there and you're going to start to crank, you first start going out there and throwing six innings and throwing 90 pitches, that becomes counterproductive. Q. Due to some of the big plays in the playoffs, instant replay has been heavily talked about. What's your opinion on instant replay? MIKE SCIOSCIA: I really think that umpires, when they get together and they make a call, they usually get it right. If they have to reverse it, I think that if things are far away or a fair or foul called on a home run, I think it's usual. I think a fair or foul call on a ball that's in play that was hit down the line where an umpire maybe didn't get a view of it because he was trying to get out of the way, could be expanded slightly in that role. But as far as bringing it into safe-out calls on the bases, safe-out calls at home or ball and strike obviously, I don't think it's anything that's necessary for baseball. These guys usually do a pretty good job. There are certainly some dark moments in the playoffs all the way through, but I don't think you need to rewrite the book. These guys do a good job, and the vast majority of the time, 99 percent of the time, they're correct. Q. Have you gotten any more feedback from the commissioner on the post-season schedule? MIKE SCIOSCIA: I've talked to Commissioner Selig a couple times, and I think it's something he's going to look very closely at and try to address. He wants to get feedback from managers, and I think he understands our feeling on it as an organization, and I think he'll look into it. Q. What are the options there? What could he really do? MIKE SCIOSCIA: Well, the 162-game schedule has to stand for more than it does right now, and the advantage of clinching in a timely fashion has to carry more weight than it does now. Right now you can go all the way up until Saturday and clinch or Sunday and reset your whole bullpen, reset your whole pitching staff to where you have the same advantage as a team that clinched a week before does. I think that's -- you have to put more weight on what happens in the regular season, carrying it forward into the playoffs. I definitely think that one day off should be the norm as far as having a Monday off after the season, Tuesday get right into these divisional series, and then move forward from there. There are some other things such as possibly a wild card team only getting one home game as opposed to being on the same footing as a divisional winner. If you're a divisional winner without the best record, you're on really the same footing as a wild card team because you're going to go into a series without home-field advantage most likely, but yet giving two home games to a wild card team. So I think there are some things that I know the commissioner will consider, and we'll see how that thing moves forward. Definitely tidying up some of the off-days within series. In the League Championship Series, we played two in New York, had a travel day, played two in southern California, and then had an off-day for whatever reason, and then we played game five again. All that just breaks the continuity of what our sport is about. It's going out there and getting after it every day, the depth of a team becomes much more important when the template is like we're trying to get it to as opposed to what it is now. There's certainly a lot to be said for the depth of a team and how you're going to perform during the season and into the playoffs. Q. You guys have always placed a great emphasis on having a very sound defensive team. Do you think the industry as a whole is valuing defense more highly than it has in the past? MIKE SCIOSCIA: We're not reinventing the wheel or anything. I think it's just baseball fundamentals of what's going to help you win the game. I think over the course of time there have been some philosophies that are really weighing into just the offensive side. We're just going to mash, and we'll worry about stopping the other team at some point, but we want to be an offensive team. I know that we really, from my experience coming from the Dodger organization as a player, my philosophy is really designed around the ability to pitch well, and the art of pitching well in defense is supporting them with making the plays behind them. I think that template is very, very important if you want to have the long-term success of being a perennial contender. I think on years that we've done well, that's been alive and well. There was some year that I think we had the most runs in baseball and finished out of the running. So that has an impact on how our team performs. We believe that very strongly, so we put a huge emphasis on that. Q. What did you think of the Mariners hiring Wakamatsu and do you see them as more serious World Series contenders? MIKE SCIOSCIA: There's no doubt they're contenders. They're obviously a team that as a good blend of some veteran players, some good young players, some power arms, and the pitching staff. Chone is going to bring an incredible amount of depth to their offensive lineup for the fact that he's a very versatile player who can play a lot of places. You're always going to have that presence at the top of the lineup when Chone is available to play, and there's no doubt it makes them stronger. They had a terrific season last year and made a huge turnaround, made a huge push in our division, and they're obviously -- they're positioned very well to be a very, very strong contender in our division, and we're going to have to play well. Q. If Don decides to keep Ichiro, do you see Chone as a good No. 2 hitter? MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think Chone has the ability to hit a lot of places. I think he could hit -- in some templates he could hit first, second or third. He certainly has hit ninth for us when he was younger just as the lineup would come back around. I think when he's on base, you definitely want him in front of guys that can drive the ball. You know, Wak is going to have a lot of options to look at. I don't think whether it's Ichiro and Figgy or Figgy and Ichiro, or however Wak is going to line them up, they're going to be a deeper offensive club because of what Chone brings. Q. Do you think Figgy would be equally comfortable at second or third? MIKE SCIOSCIA: Playing defense? Absolutely. He's equally comfortable at second or third, he can play either corner of the outfield, and he's a very solid defensive shortstop, too. His versatility is -- that's going to give them a lot of things they can do. I mean, you can very comfortably be a 12-man staff because Figgy is in your lineup. You've got your utility guy already playing somewhere. He's playing maybe third or somewhere. But in heartbeat if someone would get injured in a game, he could move somewhere or if someone days a needs off. He's valuable. Q. Will Kazmir benefit from being with you guys from the start for a full season? MIKE SCIOSCIA: We hope so, but I know what -- I know what the program was down in Tampa. I know what Kaz tries to do in Spring Training. I think it's going to benefit us more than maybe Kaz, because our evaluation process is going to be easier as we see a guy from start to finish during the season. But some of the things I think that Butch connected with Scott at this when Butch was back in Tampa, it's a small window really to just give him one month to make any huge adjustments in a Pennant race. I think some of the things that are going to make Scott a better pitcher next year are already in place this winter with what he's doing working out. But also what's going to happen is he comes into Spring Training and has that six weeks of just practice time to try to get some of these concepts into his game. Q. Back to the Matsui question again, people say that he's a good RBI guy and that he can make pitches work. What do you find especially appealing to you? MIKE SCIOSCIA: I think what you said. I mean, he's obviously a guy that, like I say, internally we've talked about for the reasons you're bringing up. He's a veteran hitter. He's obviously -- he has the ability to hit in the middle of a lineup and be a very, very good run producer. His plate discipline is also important to, I think, any club. You know, there's a lot of guys, I think, out there on the offensive side that are on the free agent market. They each have a little different talent, and his is -- his stands up with any one of those guys. End of FastScripts |
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