Speaker 1: Welcome to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Guardians Radio Network.
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Speaker 2: Hi, everyone, welcome to Guardians Weekly. Jim Rosen house along
Speaker 2: with you as we join you for another of.
Speaker 3: Our hot stove shows.
Speaker 2: But those are starting to really wind down, as before
Speaker 2: you know it, we will have our shows emanating from
Speaker 2: the spring training complex out in Goodyear, Arizona as in
Speaker 2: eleven days. February the eleventh, the pitchers and catchers report date,
Speaker 2: although most are either on their way or already in Goodyear,
Speaker 2: and many have been for quite some time. The full
Speaker 2: squad reports on the seventeenth, first full squad workout a
Speaker 2: day later, and the first Cactus League game of the
Speaker 2: spring will be February the twenty second, when the Guardians
Speaker 2: take on the Reds, and we will have it for
Speaker 2: you right here the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network for
Speaker 2: the first pitch time of three to five Eastern.
Speaker 3: Can't wait.
Speaker 2: Should be a fun season and a good show lined
Speaker 2: up for you. Today we begin our annual off season
Speaker 2: look around the Central Division with broadcasters from the Central
Speaker 2: Division rivals of the Guardians and will begin with the
Speaker 2: opponent in the American League Division Series last fall. What
Speaker 2: a great series that was five games. It went against
Speaker 2: the Detroit Tigers, one of the surprise postseason teams in
Speaker 2: all of baseball last year, and their longtime broadcaster, Dan Dickerson,
Speaker 2: will stop by and join us. Have some good Cleveland
Speaker 2: roots too, so it's always fun to catch up with
Speaker 2: Dan and talk Tigers Guardians, which, as he mentions toward
Speaker 2: the tail end of our interview in the second half
Speaker 2: of our show today, it's rare that both have had
Speaker 2: successful seasons at the same time over the course of
Speaker 2: both of their lengthy histories. Charter members of the American League,
Speaker 2: they've been playing each other forever back since the early
Speaker 2: nineteen hundreds, but rarely have they both been good ball
Speaker 2: clubs at the same time. But they were a year ago,
Speaker 2: and the expectation for both is that they will be
Speaker 2: a So that's in the second half of our show.
Speaker 3: Coming up.
Speaker 2: Shortly after our break, we will visit with Jen Yorko,
Speaker 2: the general manager for the Lake County Captains. The teams
Speaker 2: or the Guardians Midwest League entry in their minor league system,
Speaker 2: their High A affiliate they won a league championship last year,
Speaker 2: and then some postseason hardware came Jen's way and also
Speaker 2: the team's way. And we'll talk to Jen Yorco about
Speaker 2: not only some great things that have happened for Lake County,
Speaker 2: but her role in baseball as a woman in a
Speaker 2: top spot for a team running a ball club, it's rare.
Speaker 2: It was a lot more rare several seasons ago and
Speaker 2: several years ago, but more and more women are making
Speaker 2: impacts on organizations throughout baseball, and Jen Yorco certainly does
Speaker 2: a great job. If you've had a chance to go
Speaker 2: to a Lake County game, you know it's a fun time.
Speaker 2: If you haven't had a chance, head on out there.
Speaker 2: You'll see some great baseball, good prospects for the Guardians,
Speaker 2: and also you'll have yourself a blast over the course
Speaker 2: of the summer too. And along those lines, before we
Speaker 2: get to our interview with Jen Yorko from the Lake
Speaker 2: County Captains, the Guardians did announce their player development staff
Speaker 2: assignments this week, and not too many surprises on the
Speaker 2: managerial front. Indeed, continuity has been a big key and
Speaker 2: when you look at the farm system for Cleveland, most
Speaker 2: of the development magazines, whether it's Baseballamerica, MLB dot Com,
Speaker 2: MLB Network, anyone who ranks farm systems has Cleveland in
Speaker 2: the top five among all Major League farm systems. Big
Speaker 2: reason why what they did a year ago. And then
Speaker 2: you look at top one hundred prospect lists and again
Speaker 2: there's many of them, but most have five, six, seven
Speaker 2: players from Cleveland in their top one hundred overall prospect lists.
Speaker 2: And for an example, the Athletic Keith Law does this
Speaker 2: every year on his top one hundred prospect lists. The
Speaker 2: organization has six players there and that's tied for second
Speaker 2: most among the thirty teams. So that kind of throws
Speaker 2: it into perspective there. So your managers this year, Andy Tracy,
Speaker 2: he's back with Columbus to manage that team for a
Speaker 2: sixth season. Again, continuity so important. At the Triple A level,
Speaker 2: Greg Decenzo is back at Double A akron Omir Santos,
Speaker 2: coming off that championship in the Midwest League for High
Speaker 2: Aid Lake County. He's back with the Captains next year,
Speaker 2: as is Jordan Smith. At the Single A Lynchburg level,
Speaker 2: the Guardians with many many increases in development staffs, both
Speaker 2: the full season clubs that we just talked about, but
Speaker 2: also throughout the organization, the roving instructors, the coordinators, all
Speaker 2: of that, they have filled that out, added more staff,
Speaker 2: brought in more really smart people who come from different
Speaker 2: aspects of baseball, not necessarily other organizations or pro BAWL already,
Speaker 2: but maybe outside that area, several from Ohio State. They've
Speaker 2: been builtfering that, and Brad Goldberg's a great example of that.
Speaker 2: The Guardian's former bullpen coach is now an assistant pitching
Speaker 2: coach for the team. They've tapped into that college pipeline
Speaker 2: as well as well as private enterprises that work with
Speaker 2: young players. So they've beefed up the farm system in
Speaker 2: terms of staff, and it's already been a farm system
Speaker 2: that has been so productive. Some of the notable names
Speaker 2: that you may have heard of before. Luis or Tez
Speaker 2: is back as a special assistant a player development on
Speaker 2: the hitting side. He had been with the organization for
Speaker 2: a couple of seasons back in twenty thirteen and fourteen.
Speaker 2: He's been with several major League staffs since then, including
Speaker 2: the Red Sox, Padres, Rangers, and Dodgers. He knows hitting
Speaker 2: and you can never have enough of that going around
Speaker 2: in your farm system. And Louis Orties is back with
Speaker 2: the organization, just one of many who have been added
Speaker 2: to that player development side. All right, we mentioned Jen
Speaker 2: orco Is, the general manager for the Lake County Captains.
Speaker 2: Stay with us, we'll hear from her about the twenty
Speaker 2: twenty four season. It'll be hard to top any season
Speaker 2: like they had in twenty twenty four over there at
Speaker 2: Lake County, and we'll talk to Jen about that next.
Speaker 3: Well, let's get ready for baseball.
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Speaker 3: Down the three to one Manzarda with a drive today
Speaker 3: right away, Back to go, Kyle man Sardo.
Speaker 1: What a joyous joint around the basis, no doubt about it,
Speaker 1: to run home run halfway up the lower deck in
Speaker 1: right and for the first time in the American League
Speaker 1: Championship Series, Cleveland's gotta lead at two to one on
Speaker 1: the first ever postseason home run by Kyle Manzardo.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to Guardians Weekly, and we are really happy
Speaker 2: to be joined by a great guest this week, someone
Speaker 2: who had a year to remember. As fun as the
Speaker 2: summer was for the Cleveland Guardians, it may have been
Speaker 2: more fun for the Lake County Captains, who won a
Speaker 2: league championship under longtime general manager now and longtime Lake
Speaker 2: County employee, Jen Yorko, who became the first female general
Speaker 2: manager to guide a team to a league championship. And Jen,
Speaker 2: thanks so much for stopping by. And I imagine you
Speaker 2: kind of want to hang on to some great memories
Speaker 2: from a year ago and keep those rolling into twenty
Speaker 2: twenty five.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Absolutely, thanks for thinking of me, and thanks for celebrating
Speaker 6: the team's success this year. Certainly a memorable one and
Speaker 6: one that we hope to repeat this year. You know,
Speaker 6: it's always exciting when we can come in and win
Speaker 6: the first half and then you know, as we move
Speaker 6: guys up to Akron and guys come here from Lynchburg
Speaker 6: and we get the that we had on field to
Speaker 6: come back and win, the whole thing was pretty great.
Speaker 5: And off the.
Speaker 6: Field we had a lot of really pretty great successes
Speaker 6: as well, higher attendance and some accolades that came our
Speaker 6: way in the front office. Hop that with Baseball America's
Speaker 6: number one Team of the Year is just a whole
Speaker 6: lot of successes rolled up into month by month accolades
Speaker 6: that we were able to celebrate, and we appreciate you
Speaker 6: highlighting us.
Speaker 2: And you mentioned that the Baseball America Minor League Team
Speaker 2: of the Year. What does that mean a minor league franchise,
Speaker 2: especially to not only yourself, but everyone else on that
Speaker 2: front office staff who puts in the countless hours to
Speaker 2: make things run smoothly.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think it really showcases the strong relationship that
Speaker 6: we have with the Cleveland Guardians, the coaching staff, player development,
Speaker 6: your front office. We've been close for some time now.
Speaker 6: We work well together. Bounce ideas off of each other,
Speaker 6: and you know, strive to meet what we can do
Speaker 6: and strive what we can do better for the guys
Speaker 6: on field. And to have the level of talent that
Speaker 6: we had this year, all year long was incredible. I
Speaker 6: think it just it's a big celebration for everyone to
Speaker 6: be a part of it, especially right here in Cleveland,
Speaker 6: right in the Guardians backyard.
Speaker 2: So maybe along those lines, and maybe you're doing it
Speaker 2: right now, how much do you look as the season
Speaker 2: gets closer at the players in the system who might
Speaker 2: be coming a Lake County and then as you mentioned,
Speaker 2: the ones who may not start in Lake County but
Speaker 2: might be there at the end if you're going to
Speaker 2: win a title who could really help.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I don't spend a whole lot of time researching
Speaker 6: it ahead of time. You know, we spend a lot
Speaker 6: of time preparing for our fans and the business and
Speaker 6: making sure that we have everything ready for the players
Speaker 6: and the staff when they arrive here from Arizona, and
Speaker 6: then we get to know them when they're here. You know, generally,
Speaker 6: the coaches we have a long time history and we're
Speaker 6: very easy to work with, and as players get promoted
Speaker 6: in and out, it's really very turnkey. We love celebrating
Speaker 6: them when they get moved up and when guys get
Speaker 6: here from Lynchburg, we love to celebrate that they're here
Speaker 6: with us. And then, you know, as time goes, you know,
Speaker 6: as tug Boat was being highlighted for all of his
Speaker 6: strikeouts in the game, you know, we see that media too,
Speaker 6: and we start to talk to the player development team
Speaker 6: a little more so we can have an understanding of
Speaker 6: when they might be here, and so we're prepared. We're
Speaker 6: prepared to launch it in clubhouse but also to our fans.
Speaker 2: So a lot going on as the course of the
Speaker 2: season goes. And we're joined by Jen Yorco, the general
Speaker 2: manager for the Lake County Captains twenty nineteen, named general
Speaker 2: manager after starting her career there in two thousand and seven,
Speaker 2: and a couple of really good stories about that. Jen,
Speaker 2: you're a local kid who born and raised and went
Speaker 2: to high school in Painsville Lake Erie College and you
Speaker 2: get to work for the local team. What has that
Speaker 2: been like for you and maybe has been an advantage
Speaker 2: for you as you've grown in the organization.
Speaker 6: Yeah, what an honor.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 6: Not a lot of people get to work for their
Speaker 6: hometown team, especially at the minor league level, and so
Speaker 6: for me, I took an internship my senior year at
Speaker 6: Lake Erie College and it turned into a full time opportunity.
Speaker 6: And I have been really interested in the business of
Speaker 6: minor league baseball ever since and kind of grew into
Speaker 6: different departments along my tenure here. And when the opportunity
Speaker 6: in twenty nineteen in the fall presented itself to become
Speaker 6: general manager, I felt very ready and connected to gms
Speaker 6: in our league at the Midwest League level, and connected
Speaker 6: to a lot of people in Cleveland's runt office and
Speaker 6: on the player development side. So it was a pretty
Speaker 6: turnkey role for me to take over until COVID hit
Speaker 6: and the world kind of was upside down for a
Speaker 6: little bit, but we certainly came back stronger, adding to
Speaker 6: our facility capabilities and you know, doing a whole lot
Speaker 6: of improvements here at the ballpark, and so we were
Speaker 6: really excited to welcome back the team in twenty twenty one,
Speaker 6: and we've been growing ever since.
Speaker 2: And you mentioned some of the good things thereon and
Speaker 2: we've talked a lot about on the field. Your franchise
Speaker 2: has a reputation for pushing the envelope a little bit
Speaker 2: with your promotions and how do you know what's too
Speaker 2: far and what's still okay to try and see how
Speaker 2: it goes.
Speaker 6: Yeah, we are a minor league baseball team and we
Speaker 6: pride ourselves on doing a lot of fun things in
Speaker 6: the community. We love to elevate our partners and our
Speaker 6: fans and their brand. So I think you're probably specifically
Speaker 6: talking about Root Ruter Rowe, which was a highlight and
Speaker 6: it was up for Promotion of the Year with m
Speaker 6: ILB this year, so we were really excited to launch that.
Speaker 5: Our partner loved it.
Speaker 6: We saw engagements on ESPN Sports Center and across the country,
Speaker 6: so it was great. We have a number of those
Speaker 6: that we really kind of like to showcase, and that
Speaker 6: one really just took off because of its uniqueness. How
Speaker 6: do we know if we're toweling the line. I think
Speaker 6: Major League Baseball they know us, and if we're toneling
Speaker 6: the Lineville, they for sure let us know.
Speaker 2: Ye and you are a female and a high ranking
Speaker 2: position with a minor league baseball club. How much responsibility
Speaker 2: do you feel toward younger kids, maybe they're in college now,
Speaker 2: maybe they're in high school who want to do what
Speaker 2: you do. How much does that come into play for you?
Speaker 6: Yeah, a good amount. I can remember being in elementary
Speaker 6: school and I was probably maybe around fourth grade, and
Speaker 6: everyone was talking about their careers and I had mentioned
Speaker 6: I wanted to work in baseball, and you know, I
Speaker 6: grew up going to a lot of games with my dad.
Speaker 6: He was a partial season ticket holder and so I
Speaker 6: was able to catch playoff games and a lot of things.
Speaker 6: And I really love that time that I spent with him,
Speaker 6: and I really, you know, love the game, the business
Speaker 6: of the game, the promotions, the outfield signs, and so
Speaker 6: minor league baseball was really a big fit for me.
Speaker 6: But when I was in fourth grade, my teacher had
Speaker 6: responded and said, there's not there's not jobs in sports
Speaker 6: for girls, or something along those lines. And so, you know,
Speaker 6: I had played on a boys, if you will baseball team.
Speaker 6: I have a twin brother, and so it was just
Speaker 6: a lot easier for us to play on the same team.
Speaker 6: And I was, you know, one of two girls that
Speaker 6: played in the league for those couple of years, and
Speaker 6: it was really pretty normal for me to get along
Speaker 6: with the boys. And you know, kind of very early
Speaker 6: on in my younger self. It was not different for
Speaker 6: me to be a part of something that maybe looks
Speaker 6: differently to other people. And I think over the past,
Speaker 6: you know, ten or fifteen years in my career, here
Speaker 6: I see more females applying for internships. When I was
Speaker 6: first in the game, we would get you know, very few,
Speaker 6: maybe one out of ten, you know, females applying for jobs.
Speaker 6: And now we're getting that a lot more. And it's
Speaker 6: my hope that baseball really continues to take off and
Speaker 6: build more opportunities or females see more opportunities for themselves
Speaker 6: in this game.
Speaker 2: Well, you have put a great culture and atmosphere in
Speaker 2: place at Lake County. I know twenty twenty four was
Speaker 2: a special season in so many ways. Jen Or, thanks
Speaker 2: a lot for come by and sharing with us some
Speaker 2: of the things that make the Lake County Captains tick.
Speaker 6: Thank you so much for your support and for having
Speaker 6: me today. We're looking forward to the twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 2: It's Jen Yorco, the general manager for the Lake County Captains.
Speaker 2: Thanks so much to her for her time earlier this week.
Speaker 2: Is again she's getting ready for a brand new season.
Speaker 2: It'll be here before they know it. But she'll make
Speaker 2: a trip out to Goodyear and be a part of
Speaker 2: the ring presentation ceremony for the Midwest League champion Lake
Speaker 2: County Captains before one of the games in spring training
Speaker 2: out in Goodyear. Stay with us when we come back.
Speaker 2: Dan Dickerson is standing by. He's the long time radio
Speaker 2: voice and now sometimes television voice as well for the
Speaker 2: Detroit Tigers, and he will give us a Tigers preview
Speaker 2: as best we can at this stage of the off season.
Speaker 2: With spring training right around the corner. We'll talk Central
Speaker 2: Division rivals, the Tigers and the Guardians with Dan Dickerson.
Speaker 3: Next. H Well, here we go.
Speaker 1: Cleveland, three ounces away from eliminating the Detroit Tigers in
Speaker 1: the American League Division Series. Depends straight three tall lock them.
Speaker 3: Up with a rare slider. Merely is out number one.
Speaker 1: Here's Riley Green one for three, a single, a walk,
Speaker 1: the pitch swing in a week chapter to first, Naylor
Speaker 1: gloves flips to class two. Down seven to three, Cleveland,
Speaker 1: ninth inning. Now the two to two delivery, a swing
Speaker 1: in a bouncing ball to Naylor at first, backs up
Speaker 1: long flip.
Speaker 3: To clause Bogger.
Speaker 1: And for the first time in eight years, Cleveland is
Speaker 1: headed to the American League Championship Series and this October
Speaker 1: to Remember will continue. Cleveland eliminates the Detroit Tigers today
Speaker 1: in Game five by a final score of seven to three.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to Guardians Weekly. Joining us now the voice
Speaker 2: of the Detroit Tigers, Dan Dickerson on time radio voice,
Speaker 2: and we'll do some TV as well. And always great
Speaker 2: to see Dan during the season and great to catch
Speaker 2: up with him as we begin our look around the
Speaker 2: American League's Central Division, the Guardians' rivals for the coming season,
Speaker 2: and Dan before you get into the Tigers. It's great
Speaker 2: to talk about the division rivals, especially after last year
Speaker 2: when when in the Central my goodness, the level of
Speaker 2: play was ratcheted up a bunch and were playoff teams galore.
Speaker 2: And what a great year it was in the division.
Speaker 7: It really was, and that probably made me the happiest
Speaker 7: of all four teams with a winning record that was
Speaker 7: phenomenal and it caught the entire league, I'm sure by surprise,
Speaker 7: and all the more impressive because you know, twenty four
Speaker 7: what fewer games in the division now, and that means
Speaker 7: that they did well outside the division, didn't just beat
Speaker 7: up on the White Sox, but you know, they showed
Speaker 7: that the Central is going to be a force. I mean,
Speaker 7: what Kansas City did to me was the most impressive.
Speaker 7: You know, Tigers in Cleveland going from below five hundred
Speaker 7: to above five hundred certainly was impressive, but what Kansas
Speaker 7: City did was just phenomenal.
Speaker 5: And that kind of.
Speaker 7: Gets me excited just because it means this division is
Speaker 7: going to be really competitive, I would think for some
Speaker 7: years to come around the league.
Speaker 2: All Right, I'm going to disagree with you because I
Speaker 2: think what the Tigers did not necessarily from the start
Speaker 2: of the season. But we were there in Detroit a
Speaker 2: series at the end of July, just as the trade
Speaker 2: deadline was approaching, and I can remember sitting in the
Speaker 2: media room listening to AJ Hinch talk about why they
Speaker 2: were not going to throw Jack Flaherty even though he
Speaker 2: was still with the club, but they pulled him from
Speaker 2: the start. They were well below five hundred going nowhere,
Speaker 2: and then we're playing each other in the postseason.
Speaker 7: What happened to off You see a team sell and
Speaker 7: then still ten days later, there was no obvious solution
Speaker 7: to the pitching.
Speaker 5: Problem at that point, meaning there.
Speaker 7: Were literally as you know, two starters scoobl and Montero,
Speaker 7: a rookie, and then three question marks, and so ten
Speaker 7: days later their eight games below five hundred, and then
Speaker 7: they things just came together so incredibly. I mean, it's
Speaker 7: one of the most amazing runs to finish the season
Speaker 7: I've seen, not just for the Tigers, but I was
Speaker 7: trying to find a comp in baseball history to go
Speaker 7: thirty one and eleven when you're fifty five and sixty
Speaker 7: three on August tenth and do it with two starting pitchers.
Speaker 7: So they come up with this Kakammy scheme to use
Speaker 7: everybody in every role, and they call it pitching chaos.
Speaker 7: And Scott Harris and AJ came up with this idea
Speaker 7: and it worked unbelievably well. And I think the thing
Speaker 7: that was really fun get thirteen rookies on the roster
Speaker 7: in September on this thirty one to eleven round, and
Speaker 7: it's just like they just played kind of care free,
Speaker 7: not care free, but aggressive. Joey Korra, the third base coach,
Speaker 7: challengeing was like, guys, we're gonna go We're more athletic,
Speaker 7: we're younger, let's go first to third. Let's force these
Speaker 7: teams into making mistakes, and it just seemed like every
Speaker 7: day it was a good brand of baseball. We saw
Speaker 7: a big defensive play or two or three that led
Speaker 7: to a one run win. They went first to third
Speaker 7: like a fifty percent clip in August, and it really
Speaker 7: was kind of their defining feature. They didn't have a
Speaker 7: great offense, but it was good enough. But it was
Speaker 7: the pitching that led the way. And it was something
Speaker 7: to see.
Speaker 2: From your perspective. When did it become more than just
Speaker 2: a good week and really turn into something real?
Speaker 3: And why.
Speaker 7: I think of, you know, they get back to the
Speaker 7: five hundred mark, it's like there were the five of
Speaker 7: the final. To me, you had to be above five
Speaker 7: hundred within I don't know five That was kind of
Speaker 7: my thinking. And they did that in early September. Then
Speaker 7: there was a series in KC. They did not match
Speaker 7: up well against Kansas City and they swept that series,
Speaker 7: and that to me was huge in September that that
Speaker 7: kind of made it all right, there's something good going on.
Speaker 7: And then they went to Baltimore took two out of three,
Speaker 7: getting out of a bases loaded, none out jam in
Speaker 7: the bottom of the ninth in the taigh game. To
Speaker 7: win the extras and you're just like, well, there's something
Speaker 7: going on here. And again it took some crazy place
Speaker 7: to get out of that jam, but it's just like
Speaker 7: every day something was going on that just you know,
Speaker 7: a brand Herder stepping up, a Sean Gunther, a journeyman
Speaker 7: stepping up, and you know it's like twenty three innings,
Speaker 7: but it was really key and bow Brisky and Tyler
Speaker 7: Holden of course. So it just I think that Kansas
Speaker 7: City Series was when I go back to that's when
Speaker 7: we're like, oh, there's something going on here. You sweep
Speaker 7: the Royals in case the way they were playing that
Speaker 7: was pretty That was special.
Speaker 2: Dan Dickerson joining US radio voice longtime radio voice for
Speaker 2: the Detroit Tigers and Dan, the playoff series between the
Speaker 2: Tigers and the Guardians really was, you know, of the
Speaker 2: two playoff series, Cleveland was fortunate enough to be in.
Speaker 2: I mean it was edge of your seed, excitement, fun
Speaker 2: and I know, obviously if you want the team he
Speaker 2: broadcasts for to win, but I'm what your thoughts on
Speaker 2: that series just from an entertainment and what you hope
Speaker 2: for in a postseason series and baseball standpoint, Yeah.
Speaker 5: It was. It was just so fun. Bolt ballparks are
Speaker 5: just jumping.
Speaker 7: In a live and you know, Carpenter hitting that home
Speaker 7: run out of closse a to get the series back
Speaker 7: to Detroit. It won one, and then Tiger's taking the
Speaker 7: two to one lead. They've got a lead going to
Speaker 7: last one. Seven outs of game four. Uh, and then
Speaker 7: the big home run.
Speaker 5: They gets the lead.
Speaker 7: Away off bow Brisk You've been so good, but just yeah,
Speaker 7: the back and forth, the energy, I just it was
Speaker 7: just so important for.
Speaker 5: A team that had maybe what one guy who to.
Speaker 7: Experience a postseason, to experience a postseason see what this
Speaker 7: is like. See you know, you win a series in
Speaker 7: the Wild Card Series on the road in Houston and
Speaker 7: that was not a small thing, and you're seven outs
Speaker 7: away from going on to the ALCS. You don't get there.
Speaker 7: But that's the kind of thing that I think fuels
Speaker 7: the off season work. And Scott Harris, the President of
Speaker 7: Baseball Operations, has made it very clear, you know, yeah,
Speaker 7: we're going to add, but the improvement has to come
Speaker 7: most from within because of the new way they look
Speaker 7: at the off season.
Speaker 5: It's a way to get better, not just stay in
Speaker 5: shape and be ready for spring training. You have to
Speaker 5: get better in the off season, and that.
Speaker 7: Certainly gets held that motivation that day to day. When
Speaker 7: you've been in the postseason, you know what it's like
Speaker 7: and as Aja said, once you've chased it, you don't
Speaker 7: ever want to miss it again.
Speaker 2: And you look at it from that standpoint. Two of
Speaker 2: the recent seasons for Cleveland, they've had surprising to a
Speaker 2: lot of people success twenty two and then last year
Speaker 2: based on expectations from the outside heading into the season,
Speaker 2: and you want to build on that, and they struggle
Speaker 2: to do that in twenty twenty three when a lot
Speaker 2: of people thought young team, they'll just take that next step.
Speaker 3: Is there some of that?
Speaker 2: Not concerned but awareness of that certainly going into the
Speaker 2: off season for the Tigers now based on what they
Speaker 2: did last year.
Speaker 5: Yeah. Scott Harrison made the point, you know, will there
Speaker 5: be regression? The answer is likely yes for some of
Speaker 5: these guys.
Speaker 7: And do his counter that by you know, kind of
Speaker 7: in different ways, by a making sure that these guys
Speaker 7: have a better off season of workout, development, strength and
Speaker 7: conditioning plan, you know, b By adding some talent from
Speaker 7: outside the organization and hoping that you know, the guys
Speaker 7: who might slip back a notch can.
Speaker 5: Be offset by the guys who are going to take
Speaker 5: it up a notch. He's very aware of that.
Speaker 7: I mean that as he said, that's the likelihood that
Speaker 7: with this really young rosters, some guys are going to
Speaker 7: slip back. Okay, then who can step up? And that's
Speaker 7: where you look at a Cole Keith who had a
Speaker 7: solid rookie season. But they believe there's a whole lot
Speaker 7: more in there, and I think they're right. You know,
Speaker 7: a Jay Young, Tray Sweeney. What do we know about
Speaker 7: Tray Sweeney? I think he can handle shortstop, but can
Speaker 7: he hit enough to hold down the mostly everyday shortstop position.
Speaker 7: So those are the kinds of things they look at.
Speaker 7: But I think that when you head into the offseason
Speaker 7: with that mindset, there's going to be regression.
Speaker 5: How do we offset that? That to me, you know,
Speaker 5: helps going into twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2: You mentioned the pitching chaos that got you to the postseason,
Speaker 2: and you can't do that for one sixty two six months.
Speaker 5: You just don't.
Speaker 2: So improvement in starting pitching. What are you seeing there
Speaker 2: from from outside and then also from the inside.
Speaker 7: Yeah, and it's they've got some depth but you've got
Speaker 7: kind of concerns. You've got scooball. To me, it's like
Speaker 7: scooball Olsen. They signed Alex Cobb, who you guys know,
Speaker 7: which the solid signing. You've got Jackson Joe, the rookie
Speaker 7: likely in the rotation. I got Casey is probably is
Speaker 7: the number five starter, and then you got you.
Speaker 5: Know, Monte.
Speaker 7: You can't ignore what he did, but he was kind
Speaker 7: of up and down, and then you know, the list
Speaker 7: goes down to brand Herder and Kenseomai Aida and Sawyer
Speaker 7: Gibson Long.
Speaker 5: So when you look at that top five, you have
Speaker 5: to immediately.
Speaker 7: Think, well, Resultsen had an injury, Alex Cobb obviously injuries
Speaker 7: shortened seasons, is sixteen innings, Jackson Joe is going to
Speaker 7: probably be on a pitch for an innings limit. That's
Speaker 7: three of your five guys, and so it feels like
Speaker 7: they still might add another starter or because they feel
Speaker 7: like they have the depth, they know they can cover
Speaker 7: the innings. So I would say that I'm pretty happy
Speaker 7: with how that top five looks, because I do think
Speaker 7: Casey MYI is a former one one. He increases velocity,
Speaker 7: he was a better pitcher in terms of stuff, and
Speaker 7: now he just has to kind of figure out how
Speaker 7: to use it, right, He has to develop that splitter,
Speaker 7: get it to the point where it's a swing and
Speaker 7: miss weapon and.
Speaker 5: Stuff like that.
Speaker 7: So so those are the kinds of things you think
Speaker 7: about with the rotation. I don't think they're going to
Speaker 7: add anybody, But to me, it's kind of like it
Speaker 7: looks good on paper, but the innings and the injury
Speaker 7: history with some doesn't worry me just a little bit.
Speaker 2: Aj Hinch one of the top managers in the game,
Speaker 2: a lot of great accomplishments. Last year his best work,
Speaker 2: you think based on everything that happened.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I do. I do, And I think every year
Speaker 5: he could be manager of the Year no matter what
Speaker 5: the one lost record is, just.
Speaker 7: Because of how he he runs a team and how
Speaker 7: out and how he helps players develop.
Speaker 5: And he's just got a touch, right.
Speaker 7: I mean, it's just it's the knowledge of the game
Speaker 7: and always always always recognizing it's it's played by people
Speaker 7: and human beings and you know, and it just that
Speaker 7: leads to the day to day and he gets them
Speaker 7: to buy into the message of we can only talk
Speaker 7: about today's game because that's the only one on the
Speaker 7: schedule today.
Speaker 5: And the more that these and he talks about.
Speaker 7: This all the time with young players especially. One of
Speaker 7: the biggest things I have to do is learn a routine.
Speaker 7: You know, you hope you learn in the minor leagues,
Speaker 7: but it's going to be different at the major league level.
Speaker 7: And learn that routine. What does it look like to
Speaker 7: prepare to win one game? And he makes fun of himself,
Speaker 7: He's like, I know, it's coach speak, and yet all
Speaker 7: the things that leads to are kind of what we
Speaker 7: saw down the stretch last year. So anyway, I just
Speaker 7: think the world of him. I think he's he's got
Speaker 7: to touch. It's the mental side of the game. It's
Speaker 7: understanding where the weaknesses are, how do you improve.
Speaker 5: He's got a staff that can help guys, and he's
Speaker 5: just he does a.
Speaker 7: Terrific job every year, and this year give him the
Speaker 7: pitching and no obvious solutions after the train to flirty
Speaker 7: and they had a two seventy era the last fifty games.
Speaker 5: With this crazy plan.
Speaker 7: It was.
Speaker 5: It was pretty masterful.
Speaker 7: A lot of the credit goes to, you know, the
Speaker 7: players and the staff as well, but it is kind
Speaker 7: of led by by.
Speaker 2: AJ and that leads to an offseason. I'm sure of
Speaker 2: great expectations in a very good baseball city. We've always
Speaker 2: said that about Detroit, but they've struggled one loss record
Speaker 2: in recent seasons prior to last year, and it just
Speaker 2: seemed like the fans, the fans were struggling to buy in.
Speaker 2: But what's that excitement level been around a city that's
Speaker 2: really going through a great sports renaissance right now?
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think it was great that, you know, you
Speaker 7: don't milnd the fans for kind of staying away and
Speaker 7: not really getting on board until the end, and it's like, well,
Speaker 7: we hadn't really given them a.
Speaker 5: Whole lot too.
Speaker 7: Reasons to come to the ballpark, and then toward the
Speaker 7: end they're like, oh, yeah, we got that's something going
Speaker 7: on here. The best part was that the players got
Speaker 7: to see, yeah, this is a baseball town. Of course,
Speaker 7: it's a football town with how the lines have been playing,
Speaker 7: but this is a baseball town. And I remember talking
Speaker 7: to Parker Meadows Spencer Torkelsen right as they were leading
Speaker 7: under that clinching game the final Friday of the regular season.
Speaker 7: Tork was like, yeah, I had to, I said, you know,
Speaker 7: just looking around at a full stadium. I had like
Speaker 7: get snap myself back into Hey, hey, pitch is about
Speaker 7: to be the liver. They said it was Parker Metals
Speaker 7: out in the center field. He's like, I'm just looking around,
Speaker 7: going this is unbelievable. So you could tell it impacted
Speaker 7: the players. They loved seeing it, and I think because
Speaker 7: of the way they finished, you know, I think it's
Speaker 7: going to be bigger crowds right from the start this year,
Speaker 7: and that means the world.
Speaker 8: And I just you know, you know how it is
Speaker 8: the crowds start coming out and the energy in the ballpark.
Speaker 8: I love going to the ballpark every day, but when
Speaker 8: those crowds start building, it just become so much more fun.
Speaker 5: Than the players.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, the games between the Tigers and the Guardians have
Speaker 2: always been fun, regardless of how each team's doing. And boy,
Speaker 2: they didn't get any better than that division series a
Speaker 2: year ago, and I imagine the season series this year
Speaker 2: is going to be special.
Speaker 3: I love that.
Speaker 7: Cleveland and Detroit are good at the same time because
Speaker 7: really it hasn't taken place many times in their long,
Speaker 7: long histories, right, and to.
Speaker 5: Me, it's such a If they're both good, that's that's
Speaker 5: great for both cities. It's good for baseball to have
Speaker 5: that rivalry going in. Yeah, this is gonna be a
Speaker 5: good one, no question.
Speaker 2: Well, Dan, I appreciate you working us in. How are
Speaker 2: the dogs doing on their walk?
Speaker 5: Dogs are doing great.
Speaker 7: There's a beautiful chili morning, but the sun is shining
Speaker 7: and they're enjoying every bit of this walk.
Speaker 2: Well, you enjoy your time down in Lakeland, Florida for
Speaker 2: spring training, and we will see you at that first
Speaker 2: meeting of the regular season.
Speaker 3: Thanks so much.
Speaker 5: As always, all right, Rosie, always great talking with it.
Speaker 2: That's Dan Dickerson, long time broadcaster for the Detroit Tigers.
Speaker 2: Stay with us, We'll have more to come after this.
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Speaker 3: From back.
Speaker 2: It's our final segment of Guardian Weekly. Jim Rosenhouse along
Speaker 2: with you as we continue with our Hot Stove shows,
Speaker 2: and again you can hear our show each week on
Speaker 2: these Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network stations, the flagship WTAM
Speaker 2: in Cleveland eleven hundred seven am Saturday morning, also same
Speaker 2: time in Mansfield on WMAM and in Marion on WMRN.
Speaker 2: And on Saturday you can hear the show in Youngstown
Speaker 2: at eleven am on WKBN. Again that's in Youngstown, and
Speaker 2: of course, shortly after it airs, it is turned into
Speaker 2: a podcast and you can listen to it whenever you want.
Speaker 2: Just download it at the spot where you always download
Speaker 2: your favorite podcasts. We're coming up on the season. It's
Speaker 2: getting here quick. We'll be headed out to spring training
Speaker 2: in time for the first broadcast, and we'll have some
Speaker 2: shows for you from Goodyear in the not too distant future.
Speaker 2: But another Hot Stove show coming your way next week.
Speaker 2: Will meet the new farm director for the Cleveland Guardians,
Speaker 2: Stephen Oster, among other things on next week's show. Until then,
Speaker 2: thanks to Brian Motsey as always, great job putting together
Speaker 2: the show each week by Motts. This is Jim Rosenhause
Speaker 2: reminding you that you've been listening to Guardians Weekly on
Speaker 2: the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network.
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