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MLB WINTER MEETINGS

December 8, 2010

Jim Leyland

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA

Q. Can we just knock off a free-agent related question that you may not be able to comment on anyway?
JIM LEYLAND: What's the question.

Q. To the extent you can comment on a free agent, what are your thoughts on Hideki Matsui?
JIM LEYLAND: Well, I don't comment on pertaining to the Detroit Tigers, but I'll comment as a player. I think he's one of the better hitters and he's been a very exciting player for a long time and very professional hitter. I always admired him and had the utmost respect for him when I managed against him with the Yankees as well as the Angels. That pretty much sums it up. He's good.

Q. You have a DH/catcher in Victor Martinez --
JIM LEYLAND: I guess we are not going there.

Q. Hideki Matsui, what kind of fit.
JIM LEYLAND: That's exactly what teams do. They will sit down and feel if that is going to be a good fit for their team last year as the Angels did. That's what we all try to do, we try to get a guy that fits into our system and our lineup. Obviously he's been a very professional hitter for a long time.

Q. Rick Porcello took a step back after a really good rookie year, what do you expect this coming season?
JIM LEYLAND: I think he's going to be absolutely fine. I think people, he came in, he made a big splash and your second year, things catch up with you a little bit, the league knows you a little better, you know the league a little better. You have some trial and error periods and I think it was nothing more than that for Rick Porcello. He's going to be an excellent pitcher for a long time. He's only 21 years old, he won 14 games as a 19-year-old kid. This kid is a really good pitcher and I think that last year, you know, it wasn't too long ago that Verlander broke in with a big splash and all of a sudden there's a period where he got challenged a little bit.
Sometimes guys like Rick Porcello and those star young players like that, they have never had any adversity, athletically. All of a sudden you're in the big leagues you're going to have a little of that and I think it's important how you learn to handle it. I think that both Justin and Rick Porcello have handled it very well. You have to go through that and as a manager, you can't eliminate that. You can't stop it. You go through the time and everybody says, well, why don't you fix it. Sometimes it's like an injury, only thing that heals it is a little bit of time. I think that you have to be careful trying to force that. You're there to try to help them, you are there to support him, but at some point, when you're playing at this level, you're going to go through some adversity and the key is how you handle it. And I think they both handled it very well.

Q. Did you think you would see Terry Collins as a manager again, and based on your relationship, can you talk about what he's capable of as a manager?
JIM LEYLAND: Yeah, I can see him as a manager. He's going to being an excellent manager and he's a very intense guy like most managers are. I was just talking about earlier, he expects a good day's work for a good day's pay. He's a sharp guy, he's got energy, he's a very bright buy. I think he's going to be a good fit there, particularly if he's got good players. That's usually the way it works for us.

Q. When you heard he was wearing your number for you?
JIM LEYLAND: That was touching. I didn't really know anything about it until someone called me about it. That was nice. I brought him into the big leagues in Pittsburgh as a Triple-A manager and he never forgot that, and that's a nice touch. I'm proud of something like that.

Q. What's your thoughts on what degree you should look at increased video replay for the umpires?
JIM LEYLAND: That's a great question. I think what you have to do is, I think, one of the things that we have talked about is the expansion of video for me is a replay, I think that you have to be very careful with it. I don't want to make this a modern age computer game. But I think there are situations that should be replayed, and I think you just have to dissect which ones should you do it. You can't -- the NFL doesn't review every play. They don't review all plays, and I don't think we should, either.
I think to expand it a little bit probably would be good but I think the first thing you should do in that area is find out, what are the most difficult calls. What calls are the most difficult, and maybe get an idea from that, get some input on okay, if these are the most difficult calls, maybe those are the ones we should review. As an umpire what is the most difficult call for you? What is the toughest one you have? I'm not saying you should review all of them but if the umpires have some input to say, this is really a tough call, maybe they would like some help on some.

Q. During games when you feel like they go against you, what are the ones that get you up in arms, at the plate or first?
JIM LEYLAND: Normally calls don't get me up in arms, good or bad. The only thing that gets me up in arms is the attitude of an umpire on a call that's questionable. That's the only problem I have. If you look, we were involved in one of the most controversial calls in all of baseball last year. Okay, but to me, that thing was handled so smooth by everybody, not just us, but by everybody, because the umpire legitimately said he made a mistake. So what could you say? Who doesn't make mistakes? So you know, if that umpire in my opinion had said, no, I didn't miss it, I got it right, I didn't miss it, that would have upset me. But because of the way the umpire handled it, that caused everybody to handle it the same way and that eliminated a lot of animosity that would have been there that didn't have to be there.
The Tigers all got credit for the way we handled it and I'm proud of it but Jim Joyce handled it well, too. I think it's the defiance of an umpire once in a while when you really believe he missed a call and you know he missed a call, which we all know all the time, you would be surprised how right they are. They are good. But it's the guy that wants to argue with you about it.
Most of my problems are situations. If situations are handled by managers as well as umpires, if they are handled in the correct way, it usually prevents a lot of problems.

Q. Johnny Peralta had been shifted to third base before he got traded over to you guys, and I think some people believe that's really his better spot. What do you see in him that makes you think that he can handle playing shortstop again for a full season?
JIM LEYLAND: I don't think there's any question about it. I think what everybody talks about is the first thing they want to talk about about the shortstop is range. Well, that's fine. But Johnny Peralta is not going to have the best range of any shortstop in the American League. However, his range is fine, and he catches every ball and he throws it accurately to first base. And when you can do that day-in and day-out, that's good enough for me. Particularly when you knock in 70 to 85 runs, that's a pretty good shortstop. So I mean, the perfect shortstop, yeah, great range, great arm, accurate arm, great hands. But we are always looking for perfect players and there are not that many perfect players. He's a real good fit for us.

Q. His defense, did you have a feeling that that was the case before he came over or did you see that from him at the end of last year?
JIM LEYLAND: We felt he could play shortstop, but different organizations do things for reasons. So we certainly were not questioning why Cleveland did it, we were just saying, had we not felt that, we would not have traded for him. So we felt that he could definitely go back and play shortstop and be very good at it and I still feel that way. He's a very sure-handed guy, he's a very solid fundamental player and he's a very accurate thrower with a very good arm.
We are thrilled to have him.

Q. You were talking about Terry Collins earlier, and you know, him getting a chance after 11 years away. You came back into the game after being away for a while. What was different when you came back? What did you bring to the game that might have been different from your previous stint?
JIM LEYLAND: Well, I don't think I brought anything different. I was excited to get back. Actually a lot of people thought I was tired but I wasn't, I was working for the St. Louis Cardinals, went to Spring Training in uniform and helped Tony a lot and kept my hands in it a little bit.
But I don't know, I just felt rested with a lot of energy. I think the fact that it was the Detroit Tigers was very attractive to me, because I was with the Tigers for 18 years to start my career. I got as high as Triple-A manager for the Detroit Tigers and I always wanted to manage the Detroit Tigers but the late Sparky Anderson got in any way. He did pretty good.
I wasn't going to get that opportunity and I had to move on. But to think I was just talking today to think that I never thought I was going to end up being the Tiger manager, and all this time, I'm the Tiger manager and I've already been the Tiger manager for five years going on six. It seems like it just flew by. It's a thrill. It's great. It's great to be there. It's a great franchise with a lot of history, and I don't want this quoted because it doesn't sound right, but I feel like I'm part of that history because I was there 18 years as a Minor League guy. So as I was saying, I remember Mr. Fetzer and Mr. Monaghan and Hooty and all of those guys that go way back to the 60s, I was part of that.
So I've all felt kind of a part of it.

Q. Is there something you would tell him, I don't know if advice is the right word as far as coming back to the bench, you know, after a long absence?
JIM LEYLAND: I would tell him the same thing that I would tell any other manager, don't worry about what you have to answer after the game.

Q. Just go with your own --
JIM LEYLAND: Manage the game and don't worry about what you're going to have to answer afterwards because you won't manage good.

Q. With the injuries that you got hit with last season in the middle of the season, looking back now, do you almost think of it as like the team didn't get a fair shake, like you would like to start all over again?
JIM LEYLAND: We all have a tendency to focus on our team when you have an injury. You don't think about Monroe being out at Minnesota and Nathan being out at Minnesota and somebody being out with the White Sox. So from that standpoint we kind of get selfish and we don't really ever talk about the other team has the same issues. But that's just part of the game. No complaints, no excuses. You know, we ended up doing okay.
Do I think we would have been better had we not gotten hurt? Sure. But the Twins probably would have and the White Sox would have, too. You can't complain about that kind of stuff. That just goes along with the game. That's just part of it. You understand that, you accept it, and you do the best you can with what you've got. That's the only way you can look at this business. Give me the players, I'll manage the players you give me and we'll do the best we can with them. Injury is a part of it.

Q. There was a time there, though, when it was kind of getting ridiculous.
JIM LEYLAND: Well we lost three guys within about 48 hours. Probably our third hitter, our fifth hitter and our seventh hitter. I mean, I wasn't the most pleasant person to be around for a few days if that's what you're getting at. (Laughter.) But I didn't see too many people feeling sorry for me.
I don't really worry about stuff like that. We are gung ho and work hard and whatever I've got healthy that day and available, we are going to work hard and go at it.

Q. Now that Konerko is back with the White Sox and they have added Dunn, how does that change for the caliber of their lineup?
JIM LEYLAND: The best way to answer that is, I'm very aware of who has what. But I'm concerned about the Tigers. I'm only concerned about a lineup that I can have something to do with. I don't have anything to do with the White Sox lineup. God bless them, it's a very attractive lineup. It's a very good lineup. There's no question about it. The Minnesota Twins are about the same, they are both good offensive clubs and really good players, but I'm worried about the Tigers. I'm not concerned about the other teams. That's not any of my business and I don't have any control over it.

Q. You've had to challenge, especially after Guillen got hurt, and having to put Boesch in an important lineup as a rookie; could we still be looking at a situation where some of the young guys are going to have to step up in pretty critical positions?
JIM LEYLAND: When I first put Boesch there, in that spot with Cabrera, and he was unbelievable, I looked real smart. The second half, I looked pretty dumb. So he was a Jekyll and Hyde.
Speaking with a couple other guys earlier, you have to believe that he's somewhere in between there and I like him a lot. But yeah, you know, we started five rookies at a time a lot last year. That's a lot. Nobody talked too much about that. We played more rookies probably than anybody last year. Started four or five a night in a lot of games, and that's okay. They got some valuable experience and hopefully that will benefit us this year, moving along, and Boesch could certainly be a big piece for us. There's no question about that.
If he can get somewhere close to what he did when he first came up, he would be a big piece for us. You know, if what happened to him the second half later on, obviously he would not be as big of a piece. We are going to have to look at stuff like that in Spring Training and make a decision, but I think you can talk about everybody that you've ever seen in the history of baseball breaking in, I can't remember too many breaking in better than he did for that short period of time. It was unbelievable. You know, you can take them all. You look back at guys that broke in, that was unbelievable what he did. And that's when we were really rolling.

Q. Given Victor Martinez's ability to play first base and the fact that you also have the DH spot available, do you foresee him catching a hundred games or so?
JIM LEYLAND: No, I don't think he'll catch a hundred games. I think Victor will be in the lineup every single day either by way of catcher, DH mostly, and when people say first base, let's face it, we have Miguel Cabrera he's our first baseman.
Now, there may be a night where I decide to let, say, Miguel DH tonight, take a little off your legs and play Victor at first. Victor's versatility is a big factor, but we have got Victor because he can hit. I mean, you know, and he's an unbelievable guy on a team. He's a winner. He's everything you want in a professional. I was talking to Terry Francona today about him. We are just thrilled to death to have him. This guy has got a track record. It's in the book.
So you know, we'll have some flexibility with our team like everybody else. How many games will he play at first? I don't know the answer to that. He's going to be in the lineup every day.

Q. Looking back, how big of a challenge was it for Galarraga, just the onslaught of attention that continued for a while, and the disappointment that he could not carry it over and have a breakthrough year.
JIM LEYLAND: It was tough because he pitched so much better and only went four games, he really did. That was kind of a shame.
I don't really think that perfect game thing ever game the circus that everybody thought it might become. I think it was handled pretty well by everybody, Galarraga, the media. You know, he had his day and he had his week or two to talk about it and discuss it, and people that wanted to be mad were mad and all that stuff, but I thought that was handled tremendous by both the media and Galarraga and I thought that got over pretty quick.
Internally did he put extra pressure on himself because of that? I can't answer that, you would have to ask him but I thought that whole thing was handled tremendous.

Q. Can you talk about Phil moving into the rotation and --
JIM LEYLAND: To be honest I haven't seen anything. What I've seen is I love Phil Koch, and to tell you how this all started, I think Phil Koch is a very talented guy. He's got very good stuff. He was a starter in the past, and that's how this got started. When we acquired him, there were several of our scouts that said, this guy can be a starting pitcher for you. I didn't know him very well, it fit better for us last year in the bullpen, he had not done it for a while. I didn't want to just rush him back into the rotation.
As it turned out we got thinking about it during the course of the year, more so later in the year, and everybody is always looking for pitching, maybe we can come up with one from within and that's what we were trying to do with Phil Koch and I think it's going to work out fine.
There were several scouts that thought he was just as good or better as a starter and from what I understand, I don't know if this is true or not, but from what I understand, he was starting very successfully in the Minor Leagues with the Yankees but they were in such a need of a left-handed reliever they brought him up and put him in the bullpen. To the best of my knowledge, that's correct.
I think it's going to work out fine. He's got good stuff. I think we'll have to tone him down a little bit. He's kind of a hyper guy. I think as a starter you'll see a little bit of a different personality than you saw as a reliever probably but this guy has got really good stuff, and he's got three pitches, three good pitches. I think the thing with him is, he's going to have to channel some of adrenaline because he's pumped up. It's a little bit different coming out of the bullpen in the 8th inning with guys on second and third than it is starting the game.

Q. What are your thoughts about innings, how many can he throw transitioning?
JIM LEYLAND: Innings?

Q. Correct.
JIM LEYLAND: Well, any more.

Q. Presumably not 350.
JIM LEYLAND: Well, no, but not many guys pitch 250 anymore. If he can get me into the sixth inning on a consistent basis, I would be really happy. You know, six and a third -- I should say seven innings, six and a third. You know, six and a third, six and two thirds, every once in a while, maybe eighth innings; if he can do that, I would be more than happy. And I think he's capable of doing that.
He's one of the strongest guys we have on the team. He's built a little bit different but he's also one of the guys who is in the best shape on the team. Sometimes it doesn't appear that way to you because of the way Phil is built but he's in really good shape and is really strong. I don't think endurance is going to be a problem, once he's built up and back in Spring Training, he's done it before, I think he'll be fine.

Q. He was so good out of the bullpen for you last year, are you worried at all about the void that will create in the bullpen with him going into the rotation?
JIM LEYLAND: No, I'm not worried about it but it will be good topics for you guys if he doesn't work out as a starter. It will be a field day for you, and I can see that coming.
But no, because I think sometimes you have to make some moves and you have to develop your own. If we didn't have Phil Coke starting this year, who is in the rotation? We didn't have any left-handers. We do play against Minnesota that is stacked with left-handed hitters and everything, so it's nice to have a guy, and this is a quality guy with three Major League pitches. There's not going to be many starting left-handed pitchers next year that have a lot better stuff than Phil Coke. Now, I can't tell you how that's going to turn out, yeah, Sabathia and David Price, but if you look at other left-hand pitchers in the rotation around the league, his stuff will match up just fine.

Q. Staying on the bullpen, Ryan Perry was your eighth-inning guy, last year and the year before. You bring in Benoit, Perry is not going to have that role as much. What do you expect out of him this year?
JIM LEYLAND: Perry?

Q. Yes.
JIM LEYLAND: I expect him to take another step forward. I expect him to support Benoit on days that he cannot pitch the eighth inning that I need to take care of. I know Joe Maddon did a tremendous job with him last year and pitched him one inning and that's totally my intention. I'll watch him very close.
Perry is a key for us. Taking another step forward, I would not be afraid to pitch Perry in the ninth inning if somehow Benoit or Valverde needed a day off. I would not be afraid to do that at all. We got him up here so fast, he has to continue take those baby steps to get better. He does not have to go from the bottom row on the ladder to the top one. He just has to keep climbing that ladder. If he does that, he's going to be one heck of a Major League pitcher. You have to remember with Coke, Benoit is good against righties and lefties. For me, that eliminates the eighth inning where Coke would have been anyway. So it's going to be six or seven getting it out. I think we can find someone to do that.
I think the combination of Phil Coke starting and finding a guy to do that will work out better. Because Benoit is going to pitch the eight inning because he gets righties and lefties out. It's not like on most nights you're going to get a match up lefty/righty, Benoit is going to be in there.

Q. How much does it help that Zumaya can still --
JIM LEYLAND: That's huge. That's huge for us. And you know, if you look at it, you can make the case for a lot of teams with arms that they bring out of the bullpen, they talk about the Padres and the Giants, if you are bringing Benoit, Zumaya, Perry, and Valverde out of the bullpen, that's pretty good.
Now if he can return to close to what he was in 2006 and stay healthy, I mean, what a big advantage that is for us. You know, that's huge. So you'd be surprised sometimes when you lose one little piece, how much it affects the other pieces. So if we can get a healthy Zumaya along with acquiring Benoit and Perry and Valverde and whoever down there, whoever, that's pretty good. I mean, arm-wise we won't take a back seat to anybody. I'm talking about arm strength. I'm not talking about maybe pitch ability at all times but arm strength, we won't take a back seat to anybody. That's pretty good.

Q. Porcello, he had a great rookie year, did not encounter many problems and then last year, is that going to be good for him?
JIM LEYLAND: It's called life. That's the way it goes. You don't tear this league up, it's not that easy, but the key is to make adjustments. That's what this league is all about. That's what the Major Leagues are all about. The talent is so good up here, these guys are so unbelievably good that you have to learn how to make adjustments and the guys that stay here and have successful careers are the guys that learn how to make the adjustments. He'll be fine. This kid has won 24, 25 games. He's 21 years old in the big leagues. This kid is good.

Q. Is it a matter of hitters figuring him out to some extent?
JIM LEYLAND: I think it was a matter that he got bigger, physically, and he started throwing a little harder, lost a little feel on his sinker and changeup and he paid a price for it. I think he's probably going into that body a little more this year and I think he'll be absolutely fine. In fact, I think he'll be really good.

Q. Back to Zumaya really quick.
JIM LEYLAND: Okay.

Q. It seems like when he started out healthy, he's shown progress of being able or trying at least to throw those secondary pitches and get them more consistent. Then the injuries happen and he has to start back from square one. How much do you think the injuries have hampered his development?
JIM LEYLAND: No question it's hampered him a lot. He's fought so hard -- my heart aches for the kid. Without sounding sarcastic, he's been healthy in December but not in June, you know, and that's what we have got to get over. And I don't mean that sarcastically.
The reports now are coming along good, everything is right schedule and he's feeling good and going to be okay to go. The problem is going to be keeping him healthy. But any time that you miss so much time, it does set you back. It does set your development progress back. You know, there's no question about that, so it's nothing but a figure factor for him. If we can keep him healthy and keep him rolling. We'll make a lot of progress, but we have not been able to do that for whatever reason, and his have been freak things. That's just the way it is.

Q. What Phil Coke is doing -- I'm trying to think of another example of a guy who has done that, pretty much, you go to the bullpen, you don't come back as a starter now.
JIM LEYLAND: The game comes full circle. Years ago they took guys up, put them in the bullpen, broke them in a little bit and then eventually made them starters. So that used to happen. And to me, this is no different than that, plus this guy was a starter in the Minor Leagues. It's not like he's never started. He has been a starting pitcher. So I don't think that's a factor. There will be no excuses. I'm not going to -- it will be, like I said, it will be a field day for you guys to second guess if it doesn't work. But to me this is not a second guess situation, it's a common sense thing. He's been a starter, he has three pitches, why won't you give him a chance, particularly when you don't have somebody in that spot. And particularly a left-hander, so to me, this is -- now, as it turns out, the way the club is, it's a no-brainer. Is it going to work? I can't answer that. I don't know. I think it will but I can't sit here and tell you for sure it's going to work.

Q. How much discussion was there of doing that last year?
JIM LEYLAND: That's a great question. When we were talking in the room about the trade and everything, there was some scouts that talked emphatically that he could do this if he wanted to, and there was other guys that felt like he should probably go to the bullpen, he could do either one and it was discussed quite a bit. We just decided not to -- let's break him in with us, get his feet wet with us, this is what he's been used to doing the last year and so let's just break him in with us, see what he's got and see what it looks like and then we can always go back to that. But yes, there was a lot of discussion about it.
But there's not one person in the room, we just talked about this recently, but there has not been one person in our room at the Winter Meetings that thinks it's a bad idea or thinks he can't start. Now there are some that say, boy, it would have been nice if he had this guy and still had Phil Coke in the bullpen. That's a no-brainer but doesn't work that way. Sounds good, but it doesn't work that way.

Q. Are you getting any reports out of Weinhardt, winter ball, how he's doing?
JIM LEYLAND: I haven't heard much at all to be honest with you.

Q. That's one of those things where you will look and see if his slider is coming along a little bit and if he has the slider to go with the sinker then you have a guy that's a candidate.
JIM LEYLAND: Put it this way, and I'm knocking on wood, because I don't want to sound discouraging, but if with we have got Zumaya, Benoit, Perry, Valverde. There is not going to be a lot of spots. He is certainly a candidate. Because ideally you would like to add one more righty which would make five and you would like to have two lefties. If it works out, great. We might have one righty and six lefties. He is definitely going to be in the mix, but I mean, if those guys pitch the way we think they are capable of pitching, he certainly won't be at the forefront of the bullpen but he will be a very valuable piece as like I said, all 12 pitchers are.

Q. I think you saw Schlereth, development and maturity, it looked like he finally --
JIM LEYLAND: I liked what I saw but the only thing that concerned me a little bit and we raved about him and he did very well, when he came back he did very well and he looked like a different guy. I liked what I saw. The only thing that concerned me a little bit, like the last day of the season, the curveball, with great rotation and great breakthrough it but was in the dirt and they were swinging at it. Well as you get to know a guy, that won't happen too, too, long. I still want to see better command of the breaking ball within the strike zone.
But yeah, he was throwing good. I did like what I saw. I didn't really see that as much in Spring Training. But I really liked what I saw with him. He should be a no-brainer, should be a very, very good left-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball at some point and hopefully it's now but he's got the equipment to do it.

Q. When you have a strong player for half a dozen years or more like Michael Magglio and a lot of players you've managed over the years, how difficult is it over the off-season, if he's going to be back.
JIM LEYLAND: I don't worry about that. I'm one of those guys that that's life. I can't do anything about that. That's the system that we have in today's baseball world. You know, sometimes we are the beneficiaries of it and sometimes we are the victim of that, whatever it is, Dave is going to give me 25 players and I'm going to manage them.

Q. Scherzer last year had such a hard time coming out of Spring Training, he had the struggles obviously, goes back down to Toledo to start and comments back, lights-out basically the rest of the year, how do you try to go about making sure he's on track coming into the season?
JIM LEYLAND: Well, he's going to be on track. You have to remember something, things happen fast: New team, new manager, new league. This stuff -- a new town. Making adjustments to everything that goes on. Those things are all big parts of this business.
You can't just rush everything. You have to let things take its course. So Scherzer was one of the better pitchers in baseball last year after he came back. He's a tremendous young pitcher.
So I mean, you just stay on top of things and get your work like you all do and get yourself mentally prepared. If he doesn't do any work ask doesn't pay attention and thinks he's home free, he'll get burned. But knowing Scherzer, he's got it figured out and knows what he needs to do. He's a regimented guy and proud guy and I think he's one of the better pitchers in baseball. Does he have to continue to work at it? Yeah. But you know, we were talking about Oliver, you know, AA, Triple-A, Big Leagues, Fall League, he was 20 different places. That's all adjusting stuff. Getting into pro ball at all is an adjustment. And when the kids go through all of that different kind of stuff, it takes time.

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