Speaker 1: God, I'm swinging.
Speaker 2: That's hello, fans of the world champion LA Dodgers's.
Speaker 3: The world, Sir Flive.
Speaker 2: This is a special off season edition of Dodger Talk.
Speaker 1: There's a dynasty to be had here.
Speaker 2: Taking you behind the scenes with Dodger insider David Basse
Speaker 2: living out their dream to be a part of the
Speaker 2: show called eight six six not eighty seven two five
Speaker 2: seven and follow the show wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2: Now here's your host, David Basse.
Speaker 1: Welcome to Dodger Talk. It is a special podcast edition
Speaker 1: of Dodger Talk. Because we haven't had a show on
Speaker 1: A five to seventy LA Sports the last few weeks
Speaker 1: because of a lot of Clipper basketball, UCLA basketball, Monday
Speaker 1: Thursday night football. So I decided it was so much
Speaker 1: going on this week and so many, so many great
Speaker 1: interviews and information that is still coming out on the
Speaker 1: hot stove, I had to go the iHeartRadio podcast route.
Speaker 1: And that is the luxury of being here at iHeartRadio,
Speaker 1: the leading podcast distributor. We can do this Dodger talkstyle
Speaker 1: podcast edition. I can tell you this. The next time
Speaker 1: we will be on AM five seventy LA Sports will
Speaker 1: be on Saturday, February first, fan Fest at Dodger Stadium
Speaker 1: taking place. We will be live right here on AM
Speaker 1: five seventy LA Sports from eleven to three, So plan
Speaker 1: on that maybe twelve to three. Somewhere in that window,
Speaker 1: we are going to be live twelve to three. How
Speaker 1: about that. I am making that decision right now, twelve
Speaker 1: to three, February first, at Dodgerfanfest. You can get more
Speaker 1: information at Dodgers dot com. You can see it on
Speaker 1: their social media pages. But you will be able to
Speaker 1: hear from all the players, from Mookie Beds to Freddie
Speaker 1: Freeman to Sneil Zilla to Teoscar Hernandez from FanFest, and
Speaker 1: you won't have to wait that long to hear from
Speaker 1: some of the principles from this week's press conferences. I
Speaker 1: want to say thank you, a special thank you to
Speaker 1: Petro some Money for playing my full conversation with Andrew
Speaker 1: Friedman after the Suzaki press conference. We did not have
Speaker 1: a Dodger talk, but Petro some Money who they did
Speaker 1: something not a lot of afternoon drive talk show hosts
Speaker 1: would do. Any any talk show host would do, and
Speaker 1: that would be unselfish enough to play somebody else's interview,
Speaker 1: and I just want to say thank you to them
Speaker 1: for airing that Andrew Friedman interview, but you will hear
Speaker 1: it again right here on this Dodger Talk podcast. Also,
Speaker 1: as we are recording this today, it is Thursday, and
Speaker 1: I just got back from the Tanner Scott press conference.
Speaker 1: So coming up in our next segment in about fifteen minutes,
Speaker 1: you will hear from Tanner Scott and Brandon Gomes. I
Speaker 1: had exclusive one on one interviews with them. Later in
Speaker 1: the show, you'll hear that conversation with Andrew Friedman, and
Speaker 1: also you'll hear from Roki Sazaki's agent, Joel Woolf, who
Speaker 1: also represents, among others, Nolan Arenado. We'll get to that
Speaker 1: in just a moment. But I just don't believe the
Speaker 1: Dodgers are done. We are already hearing reports about Kirby Yates.
Speaker 1: It's not official yet because the Dodgers' forty manter roster
Speaker 1: is full as we record this on Thursday afternoons, So
Speaker 1: that's the reason why they haven't made it official. They
Speaker 1: have to find a corresponding roster move, and there's been
Speaker 1: reports the Dodgers are shopping high priced reliever Ryan Brasier.
Speaker 1: There's other ways to open up forty man roster spot.
Speaker 1: They could possibly designate for assignment a guy like Hunter Fiducca,
Speaker 1: because there's always a third catcher that you can find,
Speaker 1: because there isn't any stud catcher at Oklahoma City this year.
Speaker 1: But I love Hunter Fiducca. But if you do need
Speaker 1: a forty man roster spot for Kirby Yates, that's a
Speaker 1: route to go if you're not able to make a trade.
Speaker 1: And what else are the Dodgers going to do?
Speaker 4: Well?
Speaker 1: They still got to bring back Keike Hernandez, and they
Speaker 1: still got to find a way to make some roster
Speaker 1: maneuvers to make that happen. And they also have to
Speaker 1: bring back in the fold future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw.
Speaker 1: Now that's a formality. I've gotten phone calls from a
Speaker 1: couple of his former teammates asking me, are the Dodgers
Speaker 1: really going to sign Kershaw? They seem to have a
Speaker 1: lot of pitching, and I keep telling even these players, yes,
Speaker 1: they are signing Clayton kersher job. But the facts are
Speaker 1: he had two surgeries on his left leg back in December.
Speaker 1: He cleaned up something in his left knee, and then
Speaker 1: we all know the biggest reason for him not pitching
Speaker 1: after coming back from shoulder surgery was his left foot.
Speaker 1: Now that's a weight bearing extremity. I would imagine that's
Speaker 1: a little bit tough for him to get over the
Speaker 1: hump as far as an injury goes. But I fully
Speaker 1: expect him to be back with the Dodgers this year.
Speaker 1: I fully expect him to start the season on the
Speaker 1: injured list, So he's going to be on the sixty
Speaker 1: day IL, and once pitchers and catchers start reporting, you
Speaker 1: can start putting guys on the sixty day IL to
Speaker 1: open up forty man roster spots. And that's what's going
Speaker 1: to happen. Now. Remember last year, the Dodgers did not
Speaker 1: sign key Y Hernandez until well after Cactus League games
Speaker 1: had started. You know, with guys like Alex Bregman and
Speaker 1: Pete Alonzo still out there, I feel like the Dodgers
Speaker 1: are pretty safe. The Dodgers won KEYK back. KEYK wants
Speaker 1: to be back here, so it's just a matter of
Speaker 1: them having honest conversations and the Dodgers finding a way
Speaker 1: to maneuver their roster. Now, I know a lot of
Speaker 1: you think the most obvious way to do that is
Speaker 1: by getting rid of Chris Taylor. Easier said than done.
Speaker 1: Chris Taylor is on the last year of that four year,
Speaker 1: sixty million dollar contract. He's owed about fourteen to fifteen
Speaker 1: million dollars. He's coming off a down season, even though
Speaker 1: his second half was better than his first half last year.
Speaker 1: Not a lot of takers for Chris Taylor at that
Speaker 1: price tag, considering not many teams have even signed a
Speaker 1: major league player this offseason. And that's another point I
Speaker 1: wanted to make here because we haven't been on the
Speaker 1: air for the last couple of weeks. The Dodgers are
Speaker 1: the defending World's champions, and they're as aggressive as if
Speaker 1: they haven't won the World Series in fifty years. There
Speaker 1: are teams out there that are complaining talking behind the Dodgers,
Speaker 1: back going anonymous rogue saying the Dodgers have are doing
Speaker 1: something unfair. It's not fair to the game, it's bad
Speaker 1: for the game. Really, Tanner Scott came to the Dodgers
Speaker 1: because they paid him. You're telling me other teams couldn't
Speaker 1: pay him or outbid the Dodgers if they really wanted him.
Speaker 1: Taoscar Hernandez was out there, Michael Confordo was out there.
Speaker 1: These teams chose not to top the Dodgers offer. There
Speaker 1: are teams, literal teams, including the San Diego Padres, who
Speaker 1: have not signed a player this free agent offseason to
Speaker 1: a major league contract. Now. I know the Padres are
Speaker 1: going through some issues with their ownership after the great
Speaker 1: Peter Seidler passed away, but the fact remains they haven't
Speaker 1: signed a major league free agent. Have the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Speaker 1: I mean, there are a lot of teams out there,
Speaker 1: and for as many teams that are over the luxury tax,
Speaker 1: there's even more teams that haven't spent at least one
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty million dollars on their payroll totally right now,
Speaker 1: there's teams out there that don't even have a total
Speaker 1: payroll of one hundred and fifty million dollars. So I
Speaker 1: don't want to hear the whining, the crying, the East
Speaker 1: Coast mad Dog saying this is bad for the game.
Speaker 1: If it's so bad for the game, outbid the Dodgers
Speaker 1: pay these guys more. Trust me, they would sign with you,
Speaker 1: all things being equal. Yeah, they're probably choosing the Dodgers.
Speaker 1: But if you're giving Tanner Scott eighty or ninety million dollars,
Speaker 1: he's probably going to sign with you. Now, Kirby Yates,
Speaker 1: the Rangers really wanted him, and the Dodgers swoop them.
Speaker 1: So the Dodgers have signed two of the top three
Speaker 1: free agent relievers. That leaves Dodgers all time saves leader
Speaker 1: Kenley Jansen out there, as well as Carlos Estevez. So
Speaker 1: the Dodgers have taken two of the three, two of
Speaker 1: the top four if you include Estevez. So that should
Speaker 1: bode well for their markets and shame on them if
Speaker 1: they don't get top dollar because other teams need relievers
Speaker 1: of that caliber. So I'm not feeling sorry for anybody.
Speaker 1: Now I mentioned Joel Wolf from Wasserman Agency. He represents
Speaker 1: not only Roki Sazaki, he not only represents Yoshi Yamamoto,
Speaker 1: he also represents Tyler Glass. Now he also represents Keike Hernandez,
Speaker 1: and he also represents Nolan Aeronato. Now, I know I
Speaker 1: dismiss just talk about Nolan Aernado and the Dodgers, but
Speaker 1: at this point, I'm not sure if you caught this.
Speaker 1: I guess the Cardinals had their FanFest or rally of
Speaker 1: some sorts in Saint Louis this past weekend, and can
Speaker 1: you believe the Cardinals GM John moze Loock was on
Speaker 1: the record as saying that it's priority number one. Quote,
Speaker 1: it's a top priority to trade Nolan Aernado before opening day.
Speaker 1: That is unheard of, especially in this day and age.
Speaker 1: Mozae Lock told reporters in Saint Louis, quote, I think
Speaker 1: a trade is still a flip of a coin, but
Speaker 1: I know it's a top priority for the organization and myself,
Speaker 1: so I'll be laser focused on it until it's not Unquote.
Speaker 1: You have a g basically saying Nolan Aernado, we don't
Speaker 1: want you around. And I gotta tell you the feeling
Speaker 1: is probably mutual from Nolan Aernado's standpoint, after what I
Speaker 1: heard his agent say at the winter meetings. So there
Speaker 1: is a huge split in Saint Louis. There are bad
Speaker 1: feelings right now between Nolan Aeronado and the Saint Louis Cardinals.
Speaker 1: We are just two weeks away from pitchers and catchers reporting,
Speaker 1: and the Cardinals have been very open publicly. Nolan Aernado's
Speaker 1: camp has been very open publicly that they don't want
Speaker 1: to stay together anymore, and Aeronado is owed seventy four
Speaker 1: ish million dollars over the course of the next three years.
Speaker 1: Here's the catch. The third and final year, he has
Speaker 1: only owed fifteen million dollars. Why haven't the Cardinals traded
Speaker 1: Nolan Aernado to anybody else? He's still there. As the
Speaker 1: days get closer to spring training, the leverage is less
Speaker 1: for the Saint Louis Cardinals. Here's another part of the
Speaker 1: Nolan Aeronado equation. Not a lot of people realize this,
Speaker 1: or it's been underreported, but I've been told that the Rockies,
Speaker 1: as part of the trade to Saint Louis, pay ten
Speaker 1: million dollars of Nolan Aeronado's salary every year. Here's the catch.
Speaker 1: If the Cardinals trade Nolan Aeronado, the Rockies are off
Speaker 1: the hook of paying ten million dollars annually the remainder
Speaker 1: of these three years. So the Cardinals would have to
Speaker 1: take on I would assume more money. And I would
Speaker 1: assume right now, since they haven't been able to trade Aeronado,
Speaker 1: that they have not been willing to take on more
Speaker 1: money than what other teams are asking whether it's the
Speaker 1: red Sox, the Dodger, any team that they're talking to
Speaker 1: to this point. I'm sure the Cardinals have. I've been
Speaker 1: very stubborn, but they better back off of that because
Speaker 1: the league is not viewing it the same way they
Speaker 1: are viewing it. And I'll tell you this from the
Speaker 1: Nolan Aeronado side. I know people close to Nolan. They
Speaker 1: have told me this offseason he has taken a no
Speaker 1: day's off approach and he is determined to prove the
Speaker 1: Cardinals wrong and anybody else out there that thinks he's washed.
Speaker 1: All I'm saying is I have no inside information about
Speaker 1: the Dodgers even talking to the Cardinals back in December,
Speaker 1: I dismissed this completely, but he still hasn't been traded.
Speaker 1: I'm starting to change my tune a little bit, just
Speaker 1: changing it. And I can't believe the Cardinals GM is
Speaker 1: on the record as saying top priority number one is
Speaker 1: to trade Nolan Aernado. I can't. I just that's unheard of.
Speaker 1: Can you imagine Andrew Friedman saying that about any of
Speaker 1: his players? Number one, the culture would not be that
Speaker 1: bad where it would come to that point, But number two,
Speaker 1: I would never never even imagine Andrew Frieman coming close
Speaker 1: to say what John Mozelok said about one of his players,
Speaker 1: one of his superstar players. Incredible. Speaking of Andrew Friedman,
Speaker 1: we'll hear from him coming up later in the show.
Speaker 1: Had an exclusive one on one interview with him after
Speaker 1: the Sasaki press conference. But coming up next, you'll hear
Speaker 1: from the newest Dodger reliever, Tanner Scott right here on
Speaker 1: the exclusive Dodger Talk podcast week. Addition, we have no
Speaker 1: shows until February first. That's why I'm here with you
Speaker 1: podcast style on AM five seventy LA Sports and the
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app. Thanks for sticking with us on this Dodger
Speaker 1: Talk podcast exclusive right here on the iHeartRadio app. We
Speaker 1: do not have a show this week. We did not
Speaker 1: have a show last week, so I decided why not
Speaker 1: let's do this and keep you keep you updated on
Speaker 1: all the hot stove and share the conversations I've had
Speaker 1: with a lot of the newest Dodgers and with Andrew
Speaker 1: Friedman and Brandon Gomes. You'll hear from Andrew coming up
Speaker 1: in our next segment. But today was the Tanner Scott
Speaker 1: introductory press conference, and he will wear number sixty six. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's sixty six last worn by I think ya cel Puig.
Speaker 1: I mean, when I think sixty six and the Dodgers,
Speaker 1: that's who I think of, ya cel Puig. But I
Speaker 1: have a feeling Tanner Scott is going to make us
Speaker 1: think of sixty six. With Tanner Scott closing out games,
Speaker 1: and with the Dodgers signing Tanner Scott to a four year,
Speaker 1: seventy two million dollar contract, it just makes me believe
Speaker 1: that Tanner Scott has bought all into the fact that
Speaker 1: he will not be the ninth inning closer twenty four
Speaker 1: to seven. Yes, he's going to get a lot of
Speaker 1: operation tunities in the ninth inning, but there are very
Speaker 1: good chances you are going to see Tanner Scott in
Speaker 1: the eighth inning, in the seventh inning, facing the group
Speaker 1: of hitters the Dodgers feel are super dangerous and they
Speaker 1: need Tanner Scott to put out the fires. Also, I
Speaker 1: wonder if Sho Heo Tani sent Tanner Scott or Andrew
Speaker 1: Freeman to thank you, because if there is an Otani stopper,
Speaker 1: Tanner Scott would be that guy. Tanner Scott has shut
Speaker 1: down show Hao Tani in their matchups. Ten played appearances,
Speaker 1: ten times they faced each other, and Otani is just
Speaker 1: one for nine. Tanner Scott has made Otani at bats
Speaker 1: very uncomfortable. And it is huge that the Dodgers signed
Speaker 1: Tanner Scott. But it's also even bigger in some ways
Speaker 1: if the Dodgers did face off against the Mets again
Speaker 1: in the postseason, that Otani would not have to see
Speaker 1: Tanner Scott late in the game. Here he is the
Speaker 1: newest Dodger reliever. He had that big shape to that
Speaker 1: bald head. The beard was looking good. And here's our
Speaker 1: conversation with the newest Dodger reliever, Tanner Scott. All right,
Speaker 1: here we go. Three two man sixty six was a
Speaker 1: pretty popular number in LA. And you're gonna see it
Speaker 1: a lot when the Dodgers have a lead and they're
Speaker 1: trying to slam the door on opponents. That's because Tanner Scott,
Speaker 1: the most coveted reliever this free agent offseason, is wearing
Speaker 1: a Dodger uniform. Welcome to LA, and I know the
Speaker 1: Dodgers are really excited about that.
Speaker 5: Thank you, thank you. I'm I'm glad to be here
Speaker 5: and it's gonna be a fun year.
Speaker 1: What did it mean to you to hear Brandon Gome
Speaker 1: say that the Dodgers had tried a few different times
Speaker 1: to acquire you, but we're unsuccessful until now.
Speaker 5: I mean, it's always a good feeling that a team
Speaker 5: wants you. And then obviously this offseason went how it went,
Speaker 5: And I mean, I'm really glad to be here.
Speaker 1: Hey, I told you I wasn't just hyping you up.
Speaker 1: Back in the day when Kobe was playing, Ruben Patterson
Speaker 1: and other guys would be the self proclaimed Kobe stoppers.
Speaker 1: But it's well known in Major League Baseball that Tanner
Speaker 1: Scott was an Otani stopper. What does it make it?
Speaker 1: How do you feel here in that when people say
Speaker 1: the Dodgers wanted Tanner Scott because Otani was tired of
Speaker 1: facing you.
Speaker 5: No, no, no, no, I was tired of facing him.
Speaker 5: I mean, he's a he's a very special player, and uh,
Speaker 5: I can't you can't say I'm a Tani stopper. I
Speaker 5: had to face him so much and he's he's got
Speaker 5: a hit off me. So I mean, I'm glad to
Speaker 5: be his teammate. So yeah, I don't have to I
Speaker 5: don't have to face the one two three punch. And
Speaker 5: I'm really I'm really happy about that.
Speaker 1: What's it like to be on this side of things?
Speaker 1: The Dodgers, even though winning the World Series aggressive in
Speaker 1: signing you, Blake Snell, and Michael Confordo not to mention
Speaker 1: bringing back ta Oscar, extending Tommy Edmund, they just don't
Speaker 1: seem to ever stop.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's great. I mean they keep adding people and
Speaker 5: it's it's gonna be an exciting year and I'm ready
Speaker 5: for it.
Speaker 1: What's it like to be part of this bullpen?
Speaker 5: Right?
Speaker 1: Because it's a team within a team.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's I always call it a small family inside
Speaker 5: of a larger family, Like you always have your closer
Speaker 5: siblings and then you have your family. So the Bullpen's
Speaker 5: definitely definitely its own like family inside of a big family.
Speaker 5: So I'm ready ready to be a part of it.
Speaker 1: I was exchanging text with Evan Phillips, You're good buddy
Speaker 1: from Baltimore when the news came out that the Dodgers
Speaker 1: had officially signed you. How much did he play into
Speaker 1: just being a resource on how the Dodgers do things?
Speaker 5: I think I think my wife reached out to his
Speaker 5: wife quite often just just to get a feel out
Speaker 5: how the family was and I mean everyone, you never
Speaker 5: hear anything bad about how they treat the players, the families,
Speaker 5: and I mean that's a huge, huge selling point. I mean,
Speaker 5: you always want your family to be safe and well
Speaker 5: taken care of, so you don't have to worry about
Speaker 5: anything and you only have to worry about inside those lines.
Speaker 5: So he definitely helped. He definitely helped comfort. They definitely
Speaker 5: helped comfort my wife and in our our decision. And
Speaker 5: because i mean we were from Florida, so yeah, going
Speaker 5: from I call it one and into the world the
Speaker 5: other end, but yeah, it was it was awesome to
Speaker 5: have someone that we were in their wedding to help
Speaker 5: us talk about our decision. So it was cool.
Speaker 1: He told me, you played this very close to the vest,
Speaker 1: very quiet. You didn't let him know anything that was
Speaker 1: going on. Was that true?
Speaker 5: It was true. I did text him. I was like, wow,
Speaker 5: you guys signed you guys signed rookie and he goes
Speaker 5: Scott to the Dodger. I'm like, I'm like, Evan, Evan,
Speaker 5: I'm not telling you anything. My lips are sealed. And
Speaker 5: then obviously once the news came out, he was like,
Speaker 5: it's happening. So he's he's awesome.
Speaker 1: Was the free agent process everything you thought it would be,
Speaker 1: because obviously a lot of teams wanted you.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean I never knew what to expect in
Speaker 5: free agency, and I'm glad. I'm glad it went how
Speaker 5: it did.
Speaker 1: Evan also told me you both named your son's BO.
Speaker 1: He spells it a different way than your BO. So
Speaker 1: did he steal the name? Or did Tanner Scott steal
Speaker 1: the name? Are you guys it's that close where every
Speaker 1: child you have from here on out will have the
Speaker 1: identical name but spelled differently.
Speaker 5: No, No, we did not steal, steal, steal each other's name.
Speaker 5: It is they. They they they found, they found the
Speaker 5: liking the boat, and so did we. I mean they did.
Speaker 5: There's his e AU and ours is b O, and
Speaker 5: so ours is like my like a family name, So
Speaker 5: it was it was an easy decision for us.
Speaker 1: He also told me, you're upset that he bailed on
Speaker 1: being your throwing partner this offseason.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it made me probably maybe not talk to him
Speaker 5: about free agency process just because he left me and
Speaker 5: we were like ten minutes from each other, so now
Speaker 5: we're we're a couple of hours or flight away. So
Speaker 5: I hold a grudge against him in that way.
Speaker 1: Tanner, awesome to have you here. It'll be great to
Speaker 1: see you when Evan Phillips had that brotherhood.
Speaker 5: Definitely, we'll definitely be throwing partners. If if he says no,
Speaker 5: I'm forcing it, I'm forcing it. So yeah, it's gonna
Speaker 5: be fun.
Speaker 1: Awesome. Thanks a lot for the time, congratulations, and look
Speaker 1: forward to seeing you at fan Fest a week from
Speaker 1: Saturday and also spring training. Hey, breaking news, fan Fest
Speaker 1: is February first.
Speaker 5: Tanner did not know that until my wife told me yesterday.
Speaker 5: And I'm ready for it. I'm ready to meet everyone.
Speaker 5: I'm ready to meet everyone, and it's gonna be fun.
Speaker 1: Just to make sure they introduce you last, right, you're
Speaker 1: the closer. You gotta close a baby.
Speaker 5: Oh. I just I throw whenever the phone rings, I
Speaker 5: throw whenever the phone rings. I just want to win.
Speaker 1: Speaking of that, before I let you go, how much
Speaker 1: was that a discussion between you and the Dodgers as
Speaker 1: far as groupings of hitters and not so much being
Speaker 1: the ninth inning guy.
Speaker 5: I mean, I mean, right from the get go, I
Speaker 5: just told him I want to win. I mean, your
Speaker 5: whole goal in playing the sport is you want to
Speaker 5: win a World Series and whatever it takes, whatever it takes, awesome,
Speaker 5: think about it.
Speaker 1: I like that you should get a tattoo, whatever it takes.
Speaker 5: No, No, I think I'm done with tattoos. I think
Speaker 5: I'm done. I think I'm done.
Speaker 1: Thanks a lot for the time, and look forward to
Speaker 1: talking to you during the year.
Speaker 5: Thank you. It was great meeting you.
Speaker 1: I didn't blow it, did I No, No, not at all,
Speaker 1: not at all. All right, first impressions me and everything.
Speaker 1: I lived another day with Tanner Scott, a very intimidating man,
Speaker 1: especially when he's on that mound. All right there he
Speaker 1: is Tanner Scott. And yes, him and Evan Phillips bff
Speaker 1: from their days in the Orioles organization. Evan was texting
Speaker 1: me the day that Tanner Scott signed with the Dodgers
Speaker 1: how excited he was. And I'm sure Tanner picked his
Speaker 1: brain over the years about the culture with the Dodgers.
Speaker 1: You know, the free agency did not just sneak up
Speaker 1: on Tanner Scott, so I'm sure he was asking Evan
Speaker 1: what it was like being with the Dodgers when they
Speaker 1: were playing catch, and yes, it's playing catch, not having
Speaker 1: a catch So just think about the Dodger bullpen right now.
Speaker 1: Evan Phillips, Tanner Scott, Alex Vesia, Anthony Banda, Michael Kopek.
Speaker 1: Whether or not he's ready for Opening Day still remains
Speaker 1: to be seen. Blake trinin. So they are loaded in
Speaker 1: this bullpen and Tanner Scott's going to be a huge
Speaker 1: part of it, and also Kirby Yates on the horizon
Speaker 1: as well. We'll wait until that's official. Speaking of the making,
Speaker 1: and the guy that was a big part and making
Speaker 1: the Tanner Scott deal happen for the Dodgers was Andrew
Speaker 1: Freeman and also his GM Brandon Gomes. We had a
Speaker 1: chance to catch up with Brandon after we spoke to
Speaker 1: Tanner Scott. Hey, Brandon, you said during the press conference,
Speaker 1: you guys tried multiple times in the past to acquire
Speaker 1: Tanner Scott. How does it feel to finally land him
Speaker 1: and have him in your uniform.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we're we're really excited, I think, you know, especially
Speaker 4: seeing it up closed last year towards the end, it's
Speaker 4: just it's an at bat for our guys that just
Speaker 4: is not not fun at all. And you know, his
Speaker 4: ability to take the ball and post and you know,
Speaker 4: do whatever the team needs was something that always stood
Speaker 4: out to us. So, you know, the stuff in the
Speaker 4: stats speak for itself, but the total package of the
Speaker 4: player we're really excited about.
Speaker 1: You've read to find the culture of just being part
Speaker 1: of this bullpen not so much about inning roles or
Speaker 1: being the closer. It's more about groupings of him. There's
Speaker 1: how much of a discussion point was that to sign
Speaker 1: Tanner and how how much did you need to buy
Speaker 1: in from him to be able to make this happen.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean it's simply we talked about and you know,
Speaker 4: he's done it over his career. He's done a little
Speaker 4: bit of everything, so you know, it really stood out
Speaker 4: that he wants to win. And our anticipation, you know,
Speaker 4: is that there's gonna be plenty of opportunities towards the
Speaker 4: back end, but ultimately it'll be out doc you know,
Speaker 4: doc uses our guys and what puts us in the
Speaker 4: best position to win, and Tanner's open to do whatever,
Speaker 4: but I'm sure there'll be plenty of save opportunities as well.
Speaker 1: How many times did Andrew pull his hair out over
Speaker 1: the course of trying to land Szaki and yourself trying to,
Speaker 1: you know, close this deal with Tanner Scott.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he's been really focused on trying to plug different
Speaker 4: holes of the of the team, and you know, I
Speaker 4: think he's in a better place. We're gonna start seeing
Speaker 4: out how the hair comes growing in once the off
Speaker 4: season's done.
Speaker 1: I know how you guys play this, but do you
Speaker 1: feel like there's more opportunities to add veteran arms to
Speaker 1: the bullpen.
Speaker 4: There's the potential for that, but we're really excited to
Speaker 4: have Tanner, you know, officially part of the organization today.
Speaker 1: Obviously, Tanner and his body work speaks for itself. But
Speaker 1: how much of you guys going deeper than any other
Speaker 1: team last year and relying on your bullpen as much
Speaker 1: as you did. Was it a factor to bring in
Speaker 1: fresh arms, not just Tanner, but whoever else you may add.
Speaker 1: Was that a factor to the way you guys are
Speaker 1: constructing this bullpen?
Speaker 5: No?
Speaker 4: Not, It wasn't anything that was front of mine. I mean,
Speaker 4: I think a lot of it is about how do
Speaker 4: we continue to reinforce an already talented group, And as
Speaker 4: we've talked about a bunch like what can we do
Speaker 4: to not be going to market and looking to buy
Speaker 4: in July and just be as prepared with talent and
Speaker 4: depth as we possibly can be coming into the season.
Speaker 4: So you know, the obviously our bullpen took on a
Speaker 4: heavy workload in the postseason, but you know the additions
Speaker 4: are not solely because of that.
Speaker 1: All right, Brandon, thanks a lot for your time. Hopefully
Speaker 1: things continue to work when you guys transplant your way
Speaker 1: to camel Back Ranch.
Speaker 4: Thanks, Dave, appreciate it.
Speaker 1: All right. There you go, Brandon Gomes, Dodgers GM, And
Speaker 1: certainly I made it known yesterday on the Petros M
Speaker 1: Money Show, Andrew Friedman sniffed out my third trip to Bosley.
Speaker 1: So there were some pawns and some hitting comments there
Speaker 1: as Friedman was lurking in the background as I was
Speaker 1: talking to Brandon Gomes. Once Andrew sniffed it out, and
Speaker 1: he always seems to. There were certain there are certain
Speaker 1: guys on the Dodgers and around the Dodgers that always
Speaker 1: seem to sniff out any little thing that's going on
Speaker 1: with me. And Andrew sniffed it out, and I'm not ashamed.
Speaker 1: I am a I am a proud Bosly member and
Speaker 1: I'm going to look good this summer. So there you
Speaker 1: go Bosley, go see my friend doctor Deutsch. All right,
Speaker 1: we're gonna take our final time out on this Dodger
Speaker 1: Talk exclusive podcast. When we continue, you'll hear from Roki
Speaker 1: Sasaki's agent, Joel Wolf and also Andrew Friedman. Thanks for
Speaker 1: sticking with us. We got that right around the corner.
Speaker 1: David Vasse with you on Dodger Talk on this iHeartRadio
Speaker 1: podcast exclusive. Since we don't have any shows the next
Speaker 1: week or so, and we haven't had any shows in
Speaker 1: the last week or so, I wanted to talk to
Speaker 1: you reconnect as we get closer to petures and catchers
Speaker 1: reporting to spring training. The Dodgers are going to hold
Speaker 1: their annual FanFest at Dodgers Stadium. You can get tickets
Speaker 1: at Dodgers dot com and things are happening quickly here.
Speaker 1: After FanFest, the guys will be heading out to Camelback
Speaker 1: Ranch in Glendale, Arizona. The Dodgers' first spring training game
Speaker 1: is going to be on Thursday, February twentieth. You'll hear
Speaker 1: it right here on a five to seventy LA Sports.
Speaker 1: It's against the same team they will open the season
Speaker 1: against in Tokyo, Japan. The Chicago Cubs. So the Cubs
Speaker 1: Dodgers start the Cactus League on February twentieth. That'll be
Speaker 1: at Camelback Ranch. And then the following day, on Friday,
Speaker 1: the twenty first of February, the Dodgers and Cubs will
Speaker 1: play at Sloan Park. So the Cactus League schedule will
Speaker 1: start on February twentieth, and the Dodgers and Cubs will
Speaker 1: face off to get the season started in Tokyo, Japan
Speaker 1: on February or on March eighteenth and nineteenth. And it
Speaker 1: is going to be wild being there, with the team
Speaker 1: being there, with sho Hey Otani, Yamamoto, Roki Sazaki, but
Speaker 1: especially Otani. It is going to be like traveling with
Speaker 1: Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Lebron James, or the Beatles as
Speaker 1: the kids used to say. It's going to be quite
Speaker 1: an experience and I'm looking forward to it. Speaking of
Speaker 1: Roki Sazai, this week, the Dodgers formally announced his signing,
Speaker 1: and there's been a lot of talk obviously that the
Speaker 1: Dodgers had this in the bag. There was really no
Speaker 1: reason for teams to go through this process. But look,
Speaker 1: Joel Wolf, Roki Sazaki's agent, and Sazaki himself, who, as
Speaker 1: you heard at the press conference, is super respectful, is
Speaker 1: not going to waste eight teams time just to go
Speaker 1: through the motions. There was a real uncertainty from the
Speaker 1: Dodgers on whether or not having Otani and Yamamoto was
Speaker 1: going to work in their favor or not, and ultimately
Speaker 1: he chose the Dodgers because of the obvious reasons. Number one, geography.
Speaker 1: Number one, they are the defending World Series champions and
Speaker 1: have been really good since twenty thirteen. Number Three, the
Speaker 1: fact is the Dodgers have a great reputation of developing pitchers. Yeah, break,
Speaker 1: but it's unfair just to put that on the Dodgers.
Speaker 1: The Dodgers are really good at game planning, maximizing picture strengths.
Speaker 1: Mark Pryor, Connor McGinnis and the Dodgers sports science team
Speaker 1: has been excellent in that department, but specifically trying to
Speaker 1: help a player a pitcher game plan is the biggest
Speaker 1: thing I've heard from pitchers that have come through the
Speaker 1: Dodgers organization, and also helping them with different pitches and
Speaker 1: grips and things that can maximize already they're great arsenal.
Speaker 1: So those were the reasons why Sazaki I'm sure picked
Speaker 1: the Dodgers. And here's his agent, Joel Wolfe after the
Speaker 1: press conference talking to myself and a few other reporters
Speaker 1: about the whole process for Roki Sazaki.
Speaker 6: The Padres and Blue Jays made tremendous pitches, presentations. They
Speaker 6: left it on the field, and when they left Toronto,
Speaker 6: I felt like he could easily go to Toronto. When
Speaker 6: we left San Diego, I felt like he could easily
Speaker 6: choose San Diego. And when he came here, I really
Speaker 6: thought the entire process it was a coin flop. I
Speaker 6: had no idea what he was going to say when
Speaker 6: he ultimately said, okay, it's Dodgers.
Speaker 1: Where did he fall on the spectrum. As far as
Speaker 1: driving this whole process with some of the clients you've had,
Speaker 1: you know in your experience, how.
Speaker 6: Much I heard Roki drives the bus, Rokie directs traffic.
Speaker 6: He tells us all what to do, definitely, and I
Speaker 6: think you'll all learn that in the coming years.
Speaker 4: Angel.
Speaker 1: So there you have it, and Joel thought, I literally
Speaker 1: meant Roki driving from team to team.
Speaker 2: No.
Speaker 1: I heard Roki Sazaki was very much in control of
Speaker 1: this process, and I just wanted to get it on
Speaker 1: the record from his agent about how in control he was,
Speaker 1: And it just strikes me similar to a Lebron James
Speaker 1: or a Kobe Bryant, how they have these visions of
Speaker 1: their careers. And even Alex Rodriguez, I remember when he
Speaker 1: was coming out of high school. These guys have their
Speaker 1: visions of their career arc and they are going to
Speaker 1: do everything possible to make it happen. And Roki Sazaki
Speaker 1: has visions of being the greatest pitcher in Major League
Speaker 1: Baseball during his time here in MLB, and a lot
Speaker 1: of other teams believe, including the Dodgers, that he has
Speaker 1: the potential to be a Cy Young Award winner two
Speaker 1: three times over during the course of his career. But
Speaker 1: make no mistake about it, this is a long term contract,
Speaker 1: a long term play by the Dodgers. It's not just
Speaker 1: about twenty twenty five. So if you're expecting to see
Speaker 1: this pitch opening Day and go through all the season
Speaker 1: and throw two hundred innings, you're completely mistaken. He's probably
Speaker 1: only going to throw somewhere between one hundred and one
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty innings in my estimation, So it would
Speaker 1: be amazing to have Roki Sazaki and Yoshiyamamoto pitch those
Speaker 1: two games in Tokyo, Japan, and that very well might happen,
Speaker 1: but don't expect to see Roki Sazaki pitching on four
Speaker 1: days rest and making thirty starts this year. He's twenty
Speaker 1: three years old. He didn't throw a lot last year.
Speaker 1: His fastball velocity was down, so he's an unfinished product,
Speaker 1: as Joel Wolf said, and the Dodgers are going to
Speaker 1: handle with care because he's twenty three years old and
Speaker 1: they're not going to just push him and redline him.
Speaker 1: They're going to treat him very carefully, and similar to Otani,
Speaker 1: they want these two guys ready for October, not ready
Speaker 1: for April. And the man that makes all these moves,
Speaker 1: a man that obviously has built an amazing culture with
Speaker 1: the Dodgers, unprecedented sustained success since he has taken over.
Speaker 1: The one and only Andrew Freeman, who I believe is
Speaker 1: destined to be an executive in Cooperstown one day, enshrined
Speaker 1: in Cooperstown, one day, joined us moments after he introduced
Speaker 1: Roki Sazaki. Andrew Freeman a big day, a big smile.
Speaker 1: I know there's been a lot of sleepless nights for you.
Speaker 1: Can you exhale now? Yeah?
Speaker 7: I mean there were definitely a lot of knights upulling
Speaker 7: our hair out and worried about, you know what kind
Speaker 7: of decision he was going to make, and we felt
Speaker 7: like we put our best foot forward. It was so
Speaker 7: many different departments and people contributing to ensure that. But
Speaker 7: obviously there are a lot of great teams out there.
Speaker 7: And until I actually got the text from Showhy that
Speaker 7: said we got him, who eat the agent to the punch?
Speaker 7: But until that moment, we weren't sure.
Speaker 1: When you got that text, did you believe it? Was
Speaker 1: it similar to the feeling you had last year when
Speaker 1: you got the news that Otani had chosen the Dodgers
Speaker 1: as well.
Speaker 7: Well, A knew show he wouldn't mess with me, just
Speaker 7: not his personality. I had to like clear my eyes
Speaker 7: and read it again because I didn't expect it to
Speaker 7: come from Show Hey. But when I saw it, kind
Speaker 7: of did a double take and then realized what he
Speaker 7: was saying, and just pure excitement. We had a bunch
Speaker 7: of guys around the office and everyone was just fired up.
Speaker 1: We've heard so much about the courting process, about having
Speaker 1: the dinners about Otani and Yamamoto having a dinner with him.
Speaker 1: How much do you believe that comfort led to him
Speaker 1: choosing the Dodgers.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean I think you know, obviously his prior
Speaker 7: relationship with Shohei and Yoshinobu definitely helps. They were able
Speaker 7: to talk to him through this and not an salesman
Speaker 7: type way, just be honest with their experiences and how
Speaker 7: they think it would help Roki, which I think was
Speaker 7: incredibly valuable. And then even beyond that, just the number
Speaker 7: of guys we had either in person or send in
Speaker 7: a video, and the video was guys saying how well
Speaker 7: we take care of players, take care of players families,
Speaker 7: and help make guys better. And it was almost to
Speaker 7: a man, We didn't script it with anyone, and almost
Speaker 7: to a man, that's how.
Speaker 1: All the videos came back.
Speaker 7: So the reason we wanted to do that was for
Speaker 7: Rokie as he's making this decision and he's thinking, Okay,
Speaker 7: I like the Dodgers, I like what they're about. I
Speaker 7: think they can help make me better. But I wonder
Speaker 7: how it would be received in the clubhouse. I just
Speaker 7: don't know that we had the vast majority of our roster,
Speaker 7: either in person or on video, tell him how much
Speaker 7: they want him to be their teammate.
Speaker 1: What's this about the home assignment? How accurate is that
Speaker 1: that he was asking the Dodgers and other teams how
Speaker 1: he can get better, how he could get his fastball better?
Speaker 1: And how comfortable were you sharing what your thoughts would be.
Speaker 7: Yeah, there's a couple of things in that one. When
Speaker 7: we got the question from Joel Wolf. At first it was,
Speaker 7: oh my god, our meetings in four days. We have
Speaker 7: to scramble and you know, put this together. The second
Speaker 7: was I thought it was really smart. His velocity was down.
Speaker 7: It was stuff that we had talked about, and for
Speaker 7: him to solicit opinions from other teams coming in a
Speaker 7: speaks to his curiosity and desire to be great, but
Speaker 7: also gives him real insight into how an organization works together,
Speaker 7: how they think through things, what kind of technology they
Speaker 7: have access to, which we feel like is in our
Speaker 7: sweet spot. So we were really excited about that opportunity.
Speaker 7: And we're able to talk through from training room to
Speaker 7: weight room to mound, from our pitching coaches to our
Speaker 7: performance coaches to our training staff, how connected they are.
Speaker 7: The reports that are generated after a start, because the
Speaker 7: point was there were some changes in his delivery, and
Speaker 7: our point was about how we're on things like that,
Speaker 7: either end game or the next day after a start.
Speaker 7: So we would never let something go that long without
Speaker 7: addressing it, and so we were able to speak to
Speaker 7: what we saw as the differences how we would proactively
Speaker 7: go about addressing it. And again, I think just the
Speaker 7: way everyone is so connected from our front office, performance
Speaker 7: science group down into our clubhouse and the way everyone
Speaker 7: works so well together really came through.
Speaker 1: How do you manage a pitcher like him? He's so unique,
Speaker 1: twenty three years old, you got a full one sixty
Speaker 1: two season. We saw there's an adjustment period. How do
Speaker 1: you what vision do you have as far as the
Speaker 1: way you may deploy him?
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean for us, we need to be around
Speaker 7: him more to have a better feel for that. We
Speaker 7: don't have a great feel right now for how he
Speaker 7: recovers and what is routine is between starts. It'll probably
Speaker 7: be different here. He's still learning that, and so it's
Speaker 7: one of those things that we're gonna partner with him
Speaker 7: and we're gonna help him figure out what makes the
Speaker 7: most sense. He's gonna have some great guys to look
Speaker 7: around the clubhouse and pick their brain on it as well,
Speaker 7: and we'll figure out that in between start routine, and
Speaker 7: then we're gonna let him go, and then we'll figure
Speaker 7: out as we get into the year how he's doing,
Speaker 7: how he's maintaining his stuff. But this guy is incredibly talented,
Speaker 7: but there's still real development left, and his desire is
Speaker 7: to be the first Japanese pitcher to win a Sai
Speaker 7: Young Award. He definitely has that ability. And you know,
Speaker 7: between his ability, the curiosity, the work ethic, the determination,
Speaker 7: and our staff, we think there's a chance for really
Speaker 7: special things to happen.
Speaker 1: How many man hours have you put in trying to
Speaker 1: scout him be prepared for this moment? Andrew, this was
Speaker 1: not a few weeks or a few months, This was
Speaker 1: a few years.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I don't know how to answer that, but I
Speaker 7: know that Galen Carr it would have been cheaper had
Speaker 7: he just gotten an apartment in Japan. You know, he
Speaker 7: spent so much time over there just watching him and
Speaker 7: obviously we couldn't have contact, but I think he could
Speaker 7: feel our presence, he knew the teams that were there.
Speaker 1: He knew that a vice.
Speaker 7: President from the Dodgers I think was there, and it
Speaker 7: was a sign of respect, but also our strong desire
Speaker 7: to partner with him at some point and the potential
Speaker 7: upside that comes with that. But there were a lot
Speaker 7: of people, you know who Rokie's been on the radar
Speaker 7: for years now, and then even just this process, just
Speaker 7: a number of people who stepped up and contributed, from Sue,
Speaker 7: Joe and Hunter helping us put together videos and anime,
Speaker 7: you know, to obviously our QA group and our performance
Speaker 7: science and our scouts and just the whole group, Tyrone
Speaker 7: and Kristen in the kitchen to talk through that. Just
Speaker 7: every different department had their fingerprints on this to ensure
Speaker 7: that we were putting our best foot forward.
Speaker 1: That doesn't sound like and Andrew Friedman that thought he
Speaker 1: had Roki Sazaki in the bag two years ago, three
Speaker 1: years ago.
Speaker 7: Yeah, you can ask my cardiologists. We definitely did not. Yeah,
Speaker 7: I mean, there's gonna be noise. It's so ridiculous.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 7: The funniest for me is people who said before the
Speaker 7: process started, oh, he's going to go to the Dodgers,
Speaker 7: and then he went to the Dodgers, and like.
Speaker 1: See the fix is in.
Speaker 7: It's like, no, the reason you thought he was going
Speaker 7: to come to the Dodgers were pretty compelling reasons, and
Speaker 7: he agreed and felt like we would be the best
Speaker 7: place to partner with our city, our fans, our ability
Speaker 7: to help make players better, friends, and familiar faces that
Speaker 7: he already knows. There are so many reasons that we
Speaker 7: felt like, and obviously we were biased that it made sense,
Speaker 7: but we weren't sure how it was going to land.
Speaker 7: With a twenty three year old and having Yoshinobu and
Speaker 7: Shoh We're either going to be incredibly helpful or the
Speaker 7: exact opposite, and we weren't sure which one.
Speaker 1: Andrew, you've been the most aggressive GM Baseball Operations department
Speaker 1: all off season along it feels like even though we're
Speaker 1: just a few weeks away from pitchers and catchers reporting,
Speaker 1: it still feels like the wheels are turning and you
Speaker 1: still feel like you could make this roster just fit better. Yeah.
Speaker 7: I mean we talk about this a lot. We can't
Speaker 7: find the off switch. We're always looking for opportunities to
Speaker 7: make this team better. Sometimes it doesn't line up and
Speaker 7: work out, sometimes it does, but it will never stop
Speaker 7: our effort and trying to figure out things that make
Speaker 7: sense for us to make us better.
Speaker 1: You clean up really nice for these press conferences. Man.
Speaker 1: I wish I could have seen you two weeks ago
Speaker 1: see what Andrew Freeman's life was like.
Speaker 7: First of all, there are some pretty heavy bags under
Speaker 7: my eyes. Second all, I gotta return this suit by six,
Speaker 7: so we gotta get going.
Speaker 1: Thanks a lot, and congratulations to not only you, but
Speaker 1: your scuting department on the Pacific RIM because I know
Speaker 1: you give them a lot of credit. You don't do
Speaker 1: it all by yourself, So congratulations to the entire organization.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 7: And that's what's most special. It's just how many different
Speaker 7: people played a part in this. And I don't know,
Speaker 7: but I feel like if you take out any one
Speaker 7: of those pieces, it's like a Jenga or it just
Speaker 7: falls down. So for us to all be and together
Speaker 7: and do this together and get to this outcome is
Speaker 7: really special.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm glad you got a full head of Harry.
Speaker 1: You didn't pull it all out. We'll see you in
Speaker 1: spring training.
Speaker 5: Thanks Dave.
Speaker 1: Appreciate Andrew Freeman for that exclusive one on one interview
Speaker 1: after the Rokie Sazaki press conference. It was a very
Speaker 1: joyful day at Dodger Stadium, a lot of man hours,
Speaker 1: not only Andrew but obviously his Pacific Rim scouting staff.
Speaker 1: Very happy for all of them, so congratulations, and obviously
Speaker 1: it just made a lot of sense for Rokie Sazaki
Speaker 1: to be in LA. That'll do it for us. On
Speaker 1: this exclusive podcast edition of Dodger Talk. We'll do this
Speaker 1: again next Wednesday. How about that. I'll give you another
Speaker 1: Dodger Talk next week leading up to FanFest on February first.
Speaker 1: You can follow me on social media on x at
Speaker 1: the Real Underscore DV and on Instagram at officially Vassa.
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us and spending time with us. Hope
Speaker 1: you're safe and we will talk to you next week.
Speaker 1: See us.
Speaker 3: It's true time saving away, time saving not till then
Speaker 3: tell youself and the season to turn the gel the
Speaker 3: door by six seventh. They just darn it. I'm well,
Speaker 3: just tell more'll make.
Speaker 1: Me so silly, So just child, make it. You'll never
Speaker 1: un stand me.
Speaker 3: Let's just standing in my shoes.
Speaker 1: You see nothing. I hate the sault, say.
Speaker 3: The seven of the field, but the next was all
Speaker 3: so fast, the lion able to see the deal's n
Speaker 3: saving away the time I was like that away the
Speaker 3: time I was
Speaker 4: Mm hmm