Speaker 1: God, I'm swinging. That's it.
Speaker 2: Hello, fans of the world champion La Dodgers.
Speaker 1: It's the World Series Winverlive.
Speaker 2: This is a special off season edition of Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2: There's a dynasty to be had here, taking you behind
Speaker 2: the scenes with Dodger insider David Basse, living out of
Speaker 2: their dream to be a part of the show called
Speaker 2: eight six six not eighty seven, two five seven and
Speaker 2: follow the show wherever you get your podcasts now. Here's
Speaker 2: your host, David Basse.
Speaker 3: Welcome to another edition of Dodger Talk from the Winter
Speaker 3: meetings in Dallas, Texas ninety two. Here and already we
Speaker 3: have breaking news as in Zino Zone, Max Freed signs
Speaker 3: a major contract eight years, two hundred and eighteen million dollars.
Speaker 3: It's the largest guaranteed contract in baseball history for a
Speaker 3: left handed pitcher. So congratulations to Max Freed. From the
Speaker 3: Sam Fernando Valley, Harvard Westlake, one of Reggie Smith's disciples,
Speaker 3: has hit it big with the New York Yankees. As
Speaker 3: we had reported all day long yesterday, it was not
Speaker 3: ti Oscar Hernandez that had a bidding war going on
Speaker 3: after Juan Soto signed. It was the Valleys, Max Freed
Speaker 3: that had the bidding war going after him, the Yankees
Speaker 3: going after starting pitching. They are expected to pursue Christian
Speaker 3: Walker to play first base for them, and they also
Speaker 3: are in the mix of talks with the Chicago Cubs
Speaker 3: for Cody Bellinger to play center field and probably even
Speaker 3: a little first base to be able to move Aaron
Speaker 3: Judge to right field. That seems a little further away,
Speaker 3: but everybody around baseball expects the Yankees to sign Christian
Speaker 3: Walker for the Dodgers. They made it official today Blake
Speaker 3: Trinin and Michael Confordo will be part of the twenty
Speaker 3: twenty five team. No word on ti Oscar Hernandez yet,
Speaker 3: outside of what Andrew Friedman had to tell us during
Speaker 3: his media session that he is still hopeful the Dodgers
Speaker 3: will be able to bring back Taoscar Hernandez.
Speaker 4: He had a really good year. He put himself in
Speaker 4: a great position, and you know, I know that he
Speaker 4: has talked about wanting to I know we have talked
Speaker 4: about wanting him to, So again, that's helpful, but it's
Speaker 4: not everything. And in his family get to go through
Speaker 4: the interest and figure out what makes the most sense
Speaker 4: for them, while we're hopeful. At the same time, if
Speaker 4: he ends up doning somewhere else, we have no choice,
Speaker 4: but you know, wish him well and on a personal
Speaker 4: level we'll be really happy for him, and professionally not
Speaker 4: so much.
Speaker 3: Also today Roki Sasaki officially was posted. There is a
Speaker 3: forty five day window now for his agent, Joel Wolf,
Speaker 3: to be able to come to terms on a deal
Speaker 3: with a major league team. Many around the league believe
Speaker 3: it's the Padres and Dodgers that are the favorites to
Speaker 3: sign Sazaki, and now that it is official that he
Speaker 3: is going to be posted, Andrew Friedman also was allowed
Speaker 3: to comment on the dodgers desire to sign Sazaki and
Speaker 3: join him with his team japan World Baseball Classic teammates
Speaker 3: sho Hey Otani and Yoshi Yamamoto.
Speaker 4: You know, we haven't learned more at this point of
Speaker 4: what the process will be, uh, but hopefully we'll get
Speaker 4: an opportunity to sit down and meet him and make
Speaker 4: our presentation. And Yamamoto is a benefit in kind of
Speaker 4: how he views things. Yeah, I mean, that's the hope
Speaker 4: because we do have Otani and Yamamoto. You know, obviously
Speaker 4: this was a question last year after we had signed
Speaker 4: Otani and how it was gonna effect Yamamoto, and I
Speaker 4: think the success that the Samurai Japan team had and
Speaker 4: winning the World Baseball Classic and how well that team
Speaker 4: came together, I think has changed that mindset a little bit.
Speaker 4: But like everything, it's an individual choice and so for
Speaker 4: some people, I think it's a real positive and for
Speaker 4: other people it might not be. And for us, it's
Speaker 4: about trying to understand that and you know, putting forth
Speaker 4: our best foot and selling the city, the market, the opportunity,
Speaker 4: the growth and development and all the things that we
Speaker 4: feel like we have to offer, just as I'm sure
Speaker 4: other teams will do the same.
Speaker 3: So the Sasaki sweepstakes are on. What Joel Wolf had
Speaker 3: to say earlier today was that he will start meeting
Speaker 3: with teams next week and after the holidays, Sasaki we'll
Speaker 3: start meeting in person with teams to make his decision.
Speaker 3: So that's where things stand with Roki Sazaki, a kid
Speaker 3: that throws consistently one hundred miles an hour with a
Speaker 3: great split finger at fastball. Andrew Freeman did not hide
Speaker 3: his desire to sign Sazaki and to have three Japanese
Speaker 3: pitchers in his rotation to go along with guys like
Speaker 3: Blake Snell and Bobby Miller and Tyler Glassnell. We've got
Speaker 3: a great show for you tonight. We will be live
Speaker 3: with you tomorrow night taking your phone calls at seven
Speaker 3: o'clock and on Thursday taking your phone calls. But we
Speaker 3: wanted to serve the people. We all know your passion
Speaker 3: for the Dodgers, so I decided let's do a podcast
Speaker 3: from the lobby here in Dallas from the Winter Meetings
Speaker 3: Night two, and we had a chance to catch up
Speaker 3: with the former first base coach for the Dodgers, now
Speaker 3: newly hired in his first managerial opportunity with the Miami Marlins,
Speaker 3: Clayton McCullough. And we also had a chance to catch
Speaker 3: up with cy Young Award winner and two time World
Speaker 3: Series champion now doing it for the MLB Network, Jake Peevey.
Speaker 3: But first let's start with Clayton McCullough. Well, the Winter
Speaker 3: Meetings are in full go here, and I'm happy that
Speaker 3: a World Series champion can take the time out for
Speaker 3: the little people after being hired to be a major
Speaker 3: league manager with the Miami Marlins. And that is the
Speaker 3: one and only Clayton McCullough. Thank you claim for not
Speaker 3: forgetting the little people.
Speaker 5: Oh David, it hadn't been that long for me to
Speaker 5: forget about you yet.
Speaker 3: Come on, before we get to the Marlins and the
Speaker 3: excitement of you having this opportunity, what's it been like
Speaker 3: for you to enjoy finally getting to the mountain top
Speaker 3: with the Dodgers.
Speaker 5: It was the funny thing about it is everything here
Speaker 5: with the opportunity with this. The job with Miami happened
Speaker 5: so quickly after. You know, we had a few days.
Speaker 5: The celebration in La was terrific, you know, and then
Speaker 5: I mean it was almost you know, the next week
Speaker 5: we were you know, in it pretty good with Miami,
Speaker 5: and I mean one thing, probably didn't have a whole
Speaker 5: lot of time to maybe fully appreciate and celebrate with
Speaker 5: a lot of friends and family back home, because you know,
Speaker 5: it was a week eight or nine days after and
Speaker 5: you know, take this position and it was kind of
Speaker 5: you know, now it's gas down, you know, transitioning to this.
Speaker 5: So yeah, incredible the way things you know, finished up.
Speaker 5: Very proud of being a part of that and just
Speaker 5: really honestly, I've had a whole lot of time to
Speaker 5: reflect on it because things here have just been moving
Speaker 5: so quickly.
Speaker 3: Clayton, you were such a big part of the coaching staff.
Speaker 3: When you see some of the images of Game five
Speaker 3: or of the World Series, I know you said you
Speaker 3: hadn't had a lot of time to digest it, but
Speaker 3: just thinking back now, like is there a play, is
Speaker 3: there a moment? Is there something that stands out to
Speaker 3: you about that team and that run?
Speaker 5: I still don't know if I've seen anything as wild
Speaker 5: as Freddie in Game one, and you know, to kind
Speaker 5: of you know, to be that point and in a
Speaker 5: game a walk off, you know, walk off winner in
Speaker 5: a World Series? How crazy is but a grand and
Speaker 5: it was almost think everybody like just took the time
Speaker 5: standing around there like what you know that really just happened?
Speaker 6: Incredible moment and then you know, to go through.
Speaker 5: And I remember running out to first base, you know,
Speaker 5: top nine, Game five and how crazy that game was
Speaker 5: and looking up, going let's score some more runs. But
Speaker 5: we're three outs away from worlds, you know, being World
Speaker 5: Series champions, and like it's still kind of you know,
Speaker 5: get the goosebumps thinking about that and then for you know,
Speaker 5: for it to go down and for us to do it.
Speaker 5: You know, every team is different, you know, every year
Speaker 5: is different, but you know you'll always have that that
Speaker 5: group and that you know that twenty four season will
Speaker 5: you know, always be a special one.
Speaker 3: I'm glad you brought that up because top of the ninth,
Speaker 3: three outs away from being World champions. Players always talk
Speaker 3: about slowing the game down. Did you have to refocus
Speaker 3: as a coach for sure?
Speaker 5: I mean, like again, running out there, I'm you know,
Speaker 5: not gonna lie it between things like thinking about it
Speaker 5: and like, okay, but now let's, you know, get some
Speaker 5: guys on, let's try to push some runs across, you know,
Speaker 5: and then you run back in the dugout and it's okay,
Speaker 5: like just stay focused on like you know, ensuring that
Speaker 5: you know, my particular you know, with the outfielders, like
Speaker 5: we're in a good spot and things can change so
Speaker 5: quickly that you know, on top of you know, top
Speaker 5: of a potential you know, adjustment we need to make,
Speaker 5: you know, But it was hard not to be kind
Speaker 5: of split with you know, we got one out, you know,
Speaker 5: now you got two outs, and it's going on, like
Speaker 5: you can just feel it, you know, happening.
Speaker 6: But like you know, you still had like a job
Speaker 6: to do till it was over.
Speaker 3: And when Freddie Freeman hits his walk off Grand Slamm
Speaker 3: in Game one, outside of him looking back at his dad,
Speaker 3: You're the first friendly face he sees.
Speaker 5: You know, as soon as he hit it, like you
Speaker 5: just knew the trajectory, the way he hit it, his
Speaker 5: reaction like it was a homer, right, And then you
Speaker 5: know he's walking towards first you know, he's looking back
Speaker 5: at his dad. He's coming my way, and like, I
Speaker 5: don't even remember what I did or like it was
Speaker 5: just like you, I was so excited and happy and like,
Speaker 5: you know, cool that like could be there, as you said,
Speaker 5: like maybe the first guy to like, you know, give
Speaker 5: him some love on that moment.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And what he went through to be able to
Speaker 3: play for you guys as a manager now with the Marlins,
Speaker 3: I mean, does that go in the back of your
Speaker 3: mind and say, like this is the stand or if
Speaker 3: you if you really want to be a champion. That
Speaker 3: guy wanted it, one of the greatest wanted.
Speaker 5: It, you know, having the fortunate opportunity to be around
Speaker 5: you know, we're talking to know Freddie here for a
Speaker 5: couple of years and just how he always posted, you know,
Speaker 5: so the professionalism he brought and I think it also
Speaker 5: just you know the human side of things and like
Speaker 5: being in tune with you know, people, and there's things
Speaker 5: going on at times outside of you know, what's going
Speaker 5: on between the lines, and you know, him and his
Speaker 5: family dealt with so much last year and he did
Speaker 5: it so, you know, in such a great manner, and
Speaker 5: he came back. You know, so the difficulties every like
Speaker 5: just trying to be mindful that there are a lot
Speaker 5: of things going on with you know, people in their
Speaker 5: lives that affect you know, their work spot and being
Speaker 5: mindful of that as you know, as you know now
Speaker 5: sort of take on learning a new group.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and the new the new group is the Miami Marlins.
Speaker 3: You get your first opportunity, well deserved to be a
Speaker 3: major league manager. You were a winner as a minor
Speaker 3: league manager. You're a winner in the major leagues. How
Speaker 3: do you approach this opportunity?
Speaker 5: You know, very excited about you know, like what we're
Speaker 5: building here and what Peter Bindex, you know, our front
Speaker 5: office and the you know, the support from ownership to
Speaker 5: you know, get our infrastructure up and going. And you know,
Speaker 5: certainly a development model. Like you know, every team is
Speaker 5: looking to develop you know, players, and it's going to
Speaker 5: be really important for us, you know, to do a
Speaker 5: really good job with our players as they come through
Speaker 5: the system and then also as they get to the
Speaker 5: major leagues continuing.
Speaker 6: On with that development.
Speaker 5: So very challenging, but thus far, like the staff members
Speaker 5: that we brought in, those that were already you know
Speaker 5: in the organization, you know, it's been great so far.
Speaker 5: Like I think, we're all very much aligned and hungry
Speaker 5: for the challenge that we have.
Speaker 3: You always hear about the game being the same but
Speaker 3: the language being a little bit different. Working with Andrew
Speaker 3: Friedman and his staff and now going to the Marlins
Speaker 3: with you know, Gabe Kapler and Pete Bendix, two guys
Speaker 3: that obviously we're part of the Andrew tree, does it
Speaker 3: make the transition that much more seamless to understand just
Speaker 3: exactly the language, how they use it, how they use
Speaker 3: the information.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, you know, Andrew was big help in this,
Speaker 5: you know, his pribabor relationship with Peter, and he had
Speaker 5: nothing but great things to say about you know, Peter
Speaker 5: one as a person, and then just you know how
Speaker 5: smart he is and that you know, how well he's
Speaker 5: gonna look, you know, to build things. And my previous
Speaker 5: relationship working with Gabe, you know, I knew how Gabe
Speaker 5: was and how much he helped me, you know, as
Speaker 5: I got started over in LA. I think the commonalities
Speaker 5: are like both, you know, Andrew Peter. Culture is a
Speaker 5: big thing, the type of individuals and people that you
Speaker 5: surround yourself with, making making them feel important, and you know,
Speaker 5: so I think that's what we're you know, what we're
Speaker 5: shooting for here too, is just to bring in as
Speaker 5: many you know, amazing technical people, but also like those
Speaker 5: that can help push and move our culture forward.
Speaker 3: You were part of that with the Dodgers, Dave Roberts
Speaker 3: and the Dodgers don't win the World Series without coaches
Speaker 3: like yourself, Dino Ebul that are out there before anybody else.
Speaker 3: You kind of set the standard for what it takes
Speaker 3: to prepare. Is that the standard that you're gonna hold
Speaker 3: your coaches to that Clayton McCullough did as a Dodger
Speaker 3: first base outfield coach.
Speaker 6: I think that's it you're looking.
Speaker 5: I mean, just you do it because you want and
Speaker 5: you're there for the player to try to you know,
Speaker 5: you know certainly like get them better individually, help them
Speaker 5: in any way you can, not only for preparation for
Speaker 5: the game, but also to you know, improve in a
Speaker 5: particular area. And you just because that's kind of the job,
Speaker 5: right and you're not doing it for you know, your
Speaker 5: own self and your own ego. It's you know, player first,
Speaker 5: and this is you know, doing my part to help
Speaker 5: our team, you know, an aspect of our team to
Speaker 5: you know, give us a chance to win games. And
Speaker 5: I you know, as we you know, got through candidates
Speaker 5: and interviewed and now hire, like it's you know, very
Speaker 5: much cut out of the same cloth that like, you know.
Speaker 6: Just come out here.
Speaker 5: You you know, you come into work every day, you know,
Speaker 5: attack that day trying to move the group forward, and
Speaker 5: then hey, the next day we just start that back
Speaker 5: over again and like create a culture for our players
Speaker 5: where they do that each day.
Speaker 6: I'm gonna come here. It's gonna be a welcoming environment.
Speaker 5: Staff member is gonna be prepared, you know to try
Speaker 5: to you know, to help me out, and then we
Speaker 5: just roll onto the next day and keep pushing the
Speaker 5: ball forward.
Speaker 3: That's amazing, Clayton, You're gonna be a rock star in Miami.
Speaker 3: It feels like you're going to be part of something
Speaker 3: that grows into something special there.
Speaker 5: That's an exciting part is we have a real opportunity here,
Speaker 5: a special time, and we believe Miami Marlin's history to
Speaker 5: you know, kind of start and paint this canvas how
Speaker 5: you know, how we see fit and you know, every
Speaker 5: circumstance is unique and we have our own challenges, you
Speaker 5: know here in Miami, you know, in our division.
Speaker 6: But I think like we're up.
Speaker 5: For that, and you know, we're looking, you know, hoping
Speaker 5: we look back at this time, you know, whenever it
Speaker 5: is and go, you know what. Wow, it was really
Speaker 5: cool to kind of you know, be here, you know
Speaker 5: at the start of this.
Speaker 3: All right, only one condition. You can't take Keik with you.
Speaker 6: Oh, Enrique, I love him. Huh what a guy he
Speaker 6: can do it all.
Speaker 1: What a guy.
Speaker 3: What a guy. Clayton mccullay is so happy for you. Clayton.
Speaker 3: You put in a lot of time, a lot of work,
Speaker 3: a lot of preparation. You're a champion of a person,
Speaker 3: and I think everybody that knows you and understands the
Speaker 3: impact you had with the Dodgers understands that this is
Speaker 3: a great opportunity for the Marlins to take advantage of
Speaker 3: what you bring.
Speaker 5: Yeah, thanks David, and my my wife, my family, and
Speaker 5: I will always you know, ten years in LA between
Speaker 5: player development and on you know, Dave's Major League staff,
Speaker 5: nothing but fond memories. And I wouldn't have been in
Speaker 5: this position or you know, be standing here right now
Speaker 5: with this opportunity without so much support and help from
Speaker 5: you know, our group in LA players staff and you know,
Speaker 5: fans were amazing. So it was you know, a really
Speaker 5: terrific time in chapter, like in my personal and professional life,
Speaker 5: and you know the exciting part to start a new one.
Speaker 6: You know, with what I got going now.
Speaker 3: Before I let you go, it just popped in my head.
Speaker 3: Is it true that Otani sent you an autographed photo
Speaker 3: of you two?
Speaker 5: He didn't send it to me like it was. I
Speaker 5: I had something and I was, you know, waiting like
Speaker 5: a time when like you know, season was going, everybody's
Speaker 5: grinding through and we got to the end and it
Speaker 5: was just something I had. Do you know what I'm
Speaker 5: gonna I'm gonna see if show, will you know sign
Speaker 5: this for me something to keep? And uh, he was
Speaker 5: certainly gracious enough to do that kind of between the
Speaker 5: end of the regular season and the start of the DS.
Speaker 5: So yeah, you know, I have a few pieces of
Speaker 5: things from guys, and that was a special one, you know,
Speaker 5: and certainly enjoyed a you know, the year I had
Speaker 5: with with show.
Speaker 3: Hey, that was a lot of headbutts over there at
Speaker 3: first base. How did they check to see if you
Speaker 3: have concussions over there? I know there were a few.
Speaker 5: I look back and I'm like, man, take it easy, right, like,
Speaker 5: like how much bigger you are than me?
Speaker 3: Huh?
Speaker 6: Come on? Show? But I love him, you get it.
Speaker 6: He excited to get me fired up.
Speaker 3: That's awesome. Did he write a special note or how
Speaker 3: big is this photo? On picturing it in your office
Speaker 3: on the wall?
Speaker 5: You know what, I don't think it'll be something that
Speaker 5: I'll have in the office in the wall. I think
Speaker 5: it'd be something you know, we'll keep it home, we
Speaker 5: were you know, we'll decide, you know, a cool spot
Speaker 5: to you know, maybe display it at home.
Speaker 6: And it's just a kind of a poster size, you know.
Speaker 5: And he, you know, he just signed it and again
Speaker 5: like trying it to ask him or the guys for
Speaker 5: a whole lot. But it was it was a cool
Speaker 5: uh photo, and he was again kind enough to you know,
Speaker 5: sign it up for me.
Speaker 3: Hey, you were part of history in a lot of
Speaker 3: different ways in that game in Miami. So it's more
Speaker 3: about the bond you build with these guys.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's the part there, you know, you really enjoy
Speaker 5: and you take. We spend so much time together, player
Speaker 5: and staff going through the course of a season. The
Speaker 5: amount of time you know, everybody, you know, you get
Speaker 5: to watch what goes on, you know, during the game,
Speaker 5: but it's so much of that time is spent you
Speaker 5: know in the clubhouse, in the batting cage, behind the scenes,
Speaker 5: you know, traveling together. So those are the real connections
Speaker 5: you make in the memories that you know, you kind
Speaker 5: of you know, you.
Speaker 6: Roll on with so special time.
Speaker 3: All right, look forward to seeing you back at Dodger
Speaker 3: Stadium as a major league manager. Clayton McCullough. Thanks a
Speaker 3: lot for the time. And you look great, suited and booted,
Speaker 3: ready to go.
Speaker 5: I know, I'm actually having to style my hair a
Speaker 5: little bit, David. This is I know this is a
Speaker 5: new me, but hopefully the same guy.
Speaker 3: You gotta look good on South beach.
Speaker 5: Clayton, Oh, I don't know about at least at this event.
Speaker 5: I gotta try to look respectable, all right.
Speaker 3: I gotta let you go. I can't hold on to
Speaker 3: you forever. So looking forward to all the success you're
Speaker 3: gonna have out there, and we certainly are gonna miss
Speaker 3: seeing you every day at Dodger Stadium.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Well, thanks a lot, David, and take care of Barnsey.
Speaker 3: Well, Barnesy's jealous that snell Zilla's in the house now.
Speaker 5: I know you're gonna take up more of his airtime,
Speaker 5: aren't you.
Speaker 3: Barnes is jealous. I have to balance my bromance with
Speaker 3: snell Zilla.
Speaker 5: I know he he was your guys, and now you
Speaker 5: get more time with him.
Speaker 3: Thanks Clayton, and appreciate the life advice.
Speaker 6: Okay, David.
Speaker 3: Thanks there. He is the new Marlins manager. Clayton McCullough
Speaker 3: very excited to get this opportunity. He has wanted to
Speaker 3: be a manager, and certainly he found the right to
Speaker 3: people to hire him and Gabe Kapler and Peter Bendix.
Speaker 3: So it'll be a big adjustment for Clayton mccullugh, no
Speaker 3: doubt about it, going from a World Series champion to
Speaker 3: a rebuilt situation with the Marlins. He was a big
Speaker 3: part of Mookie Betts making the transition from right field
Speaker 3: to shortstop and then shortstop to right field. Him and
Speaker 3: Dino Ebol worked tirelessly every single day, hours before first
Speaker 3: pitch to get superstars and players ready to go for
Speaker 3: each and every game. And he is going to bring
Speaker 3: that work ethic to his job with the Marlins as
Speaker 3: their new manager. Hey speaking of working with players and superstars,
Speaker 3: and I know it's been a Joel Wolfe type of
Speaker 3: show so far. With the news of Roki Sazaki. He
Speaker 3: held a press conference today to talk about Sasaki, but
Speaker 3: he also peeled off after that to feel questions about
Speaker 3: Nolan Aeronado, and I was shocked how transparent the Cardinals
Speaker 3: and now Nolan's agent, Joel Wolf have been about the
Speaker 3: fact that Eronado wants out of Saint Louis and he
Speaker 3: wants to be on a winning team, a team that
Speaker 3: has a chance to win. I asked Joel Wolf whether
Speaker 3: or not Aeronado and Wolf have given John Mozelock the
Speaker 3: Cardinals GM a list of teams that they would accept
Speaker 3: the trade to, because Eronado does have a full no
Speaker 3: trade clause, but he said there is no list. It
Speaker 3: is a fluid conversation between mozey Lock and Joel Wolfe
Speaker 3: about the teams that are interested in making progress on
Speaker 3: a deal that would suit the Cardinals to trade Aeronado.
Speaker 3: Whether or not the Dodgers are part of that mix
Speaker 3: still remains to be seen. But from what I've been
Speaker 3: told by two other sources close to the situation, from
Speaker 3: the Eronado side of things, it's going to be complicated
Speaker 3: to me make the money work and to be able
Speaker 3: to find a trade with the Dodgers. And Brandon Gome
Speaker 3: said yesterday Max Munsey is expected to be their starting
Speaker 3: third basement on Opening Day. It just shows you that
Speaker 3: it may be tough to work out a deal with
Speaker 3: the Cardinals. The Dodgers may have needed to bring in
Speaker 3: a third team. So I know everybody wants Aeronado and
Speaker 3: has wanted Aeronado if you're a Dodger fan wearing Dodger blue,
Speaker 3: but feels like the teams that lose out on Alex Bregman,
Speaker 3: whether it be the Yankees or the Red Sox, may
Speaker 3: be able to consummate a trade with the Cardinals for
Speaker 3: Nolan Aeronato Jake Peavey has a lot of answers. We
Speaker 3: had a chance to catch up with the two time
Speaker 3: Cy Young Award winner and MLB Network analyst. We had
Speaker 3: a chance to ask him about the Dodgers and also
Speaker 3: some of his free agent predictions. And by the way,
Speaker 3: the Max Freed prediction came about an hour before Freed
Speaker 3: officially signed with the Yankees. In the heart of Texas
Speaker 3: with one of the great guys you'll ever meet, a
Speaker 3: two time World Series champion, a Cy Young Award winner,
Speaker 3: one of the best pitchers of his generation for the Padres,
Speaker 3: the Red Sox, the Giants, and he now is lending
Speaker 3: his expertise and sharing everything he knows with us on
Speaker 3: MLB Network. That's the one and only Jake Pevey. Jake,
Speaker 3: great to do this in person.
Speaker 7: You're not supposed to mention all those teams. The Red
Speaker 7: Sox didn't, you know, won a World Series out there.
Speaker 7: The Giants and Padres aren't too well liked. I'll tell
Speaker 7: you this, I never got a chance to play for
Speaker 7: the Sorry about that, shaking Craig Council's hand right. It's
Speaker 7: winter meetings like a family reunion. I never got to
Speaker 7: play for the Dodgers. Obviously, I was a hated rival
Speaker 7: being in San Diego, being in San Francisco, Dodger Stadium
Speaker 7: was my favorite venue to play in home or away.
Speaker 1: I loved Dodger Stadium.
Speaker 7: I seemed to do okay there and then now have
Speaker 7: close friends with Dave Roberts being the manager who I
Speaker 7: played with for many years, and on down the line,
Speaker 7: Mark Pryor Josh Bard was my catcher side Young Award year.
Speaker 7: So many ties to the Dodgers, and it's hard to
Speaker 7: dislike it at all.
Speaker 3: Well, you're a hard guy to dislike as well. Trust me,
Speaker 3: we're all well aware of how big of a thorn
Speaker 3: you were in the side of the Dodgers. Jake.
Speaker 7: Look, I was lucky that they didn't have lineups like
Speaker 7: they have now. I will tell you that I had
Speaker 7: to manage through in the early days. It would be
Speaker 7: Sean Green and Eric Carros and dodge around those guys.
Speaker 1: And keep the ball on the ballpark.
Speaker 7: But now just what a venue Dodger Stadium was, and
Speaker 7: look on full display this year being World champions.
Speaker 3: Hey, Jake, I remember our conversation in the middle of
Speaker 3: the summer, and you really were stressing that la needed
Speaker 3: to appreciate this team and Dave Roberts especially. Do you
Speaker 3: feel like after the way he managed not only Game
Speaker 3: five of that World Series, but the entire postseason, there's
Speaker 3: a greater appreciation for how good he is.
Speaker 1: I think so. I think.
Speaker 7: You know, this year everybody got to see who Dave
Speaker 7: Roberts was.
Speaker 1: Could he rally the troops?
Speaker 7: You know, we'd always talked about the Dodgers, you know,
Speaker 7: albeit the twenty twenty season and World champions there were
Speaker 7: that asterisk that people wanted to put on it. It was,
Speaker 7: you know, horseshit if you ask me, it's a World championship.
Speaker 1: But there was just some stigma around it.
Speaker 7: So and then the path that the Dodgers took. You
Speaker 7: saw how good the Padres were. We saw that our
Speaker 7: back against was against.
Speaker 1: The wall with a bullpen game. We hear about him
Speaker 1: calling out Walker.
Speaker 7: Buell Er, not in a malicious way, but a way
Speaker 7: that gets the best out of him. You hear Mookie
Speaker 7: Betts speak of Dave Roberts and what he means to
Speaker 7: all of them on.
Speaker 1: And off the field.
Speaker 7: I tried to convey that when we talked Midsummer, because
Speaker 7: I know all this to be true, I'm so happy
Speaker 7: Dodger fans. The front office I know knows it, but
Speaker 7: I think the fans saw that he certainly rallied the
Speaker 7: troops and had them ready to play with their back
Speaker 7: against the wall. You win Game four, elimination game, you
Speaker 7: win Game five, and the rest is history.
Speaker 3: When a manager goes out like Dave Roberts did in
Speaker 3: Game five and Freddie Freeman is shit them away from
Speaker 3: trying to take out Blake, trying in in a pivotal moment,
Speaker 3: he talks to try and looks in his eyes, gets
Speaker 3: the feel that this guy can get what the batters
Speaker 3: that he's talking about. What does that say about him
Speaker 3: and what does it say about the players respect for
Speaker 3: him moving forward?
Speaker 1: Well, it says that he's got a feel on the game.
Speaker 7: And we'll listen to the guys who've been around. You know,
Speaker 7: the one thing that's kind of happened in baseball is
Speaker 7: players with years of experience, in decades even.
Speaker 1: Are almost like not valued, like their opinion.
Speaker 7: Should matter in the moment or in prep or decision
Speaker 7: making in general. So, you know, the best in the
Speaker 7: game I know, and the best I've been around, Bobby
Speaker 7: Cox and Bruce Bouchie and on, So Dusty Baker, Tito
Speaker 7: Francona could keep going on.
Speaker 1: There's all a.
Speaker 7: Measure of feel that they have within the organization. They're
Speaker 7: certainly leaning on the front office and all of the information,
Speaker 7: but there's also a game feel and knowing what your
Speaker 7: players are going through that day, they feel if they
Speaker 7: want it bad enough. So it was fun to see
Speaker 7: that the Dodgers, who take so much slack for being
Speaker 7: very analytically driven and making those decisions, Dave proved that
Speaker 7: they have feel as well.
Speaker 3: It sounds like you're describing what Blake Snell described at
Speaker 3: his press conference when they asked them about Dave Roberts
Speaker 3: his relationship with him moving forward. He said, I want
Speaker 3: to invest in a relationship with Dave and the coaching staff,
Speaker 3: but I also expect them to invest in me as well.
Speaker 3: It sounds like that's the biggest part of this marriage,
Speaker 3: this new marriage with anybody. Yeah.
Speaker 7: No, Look, I don't think to try to put what
Speaker 7: a manager does every day in perspective. A manager's got
Speaker 7: to get to the field, prep for the game, make
Speaker 7: sure all of his coaches are ready to go, talking
Speaker 7: to all the front office and the strategy and all
Speaker 7: of this. Meanwhile, he's got twenty six players that he's
Speaker 7: got to talk to and connect for maybe two to
Speaker 7: five minutes each guy, twenty six guys on every day,
Speaker 7: you're trying to check in on him. Is everything all
Speaker 7: right at home? Is everything okay with their family? Down
Speaker 7: to you know, that's where the feel comes in. You
Speaker 7: know who's in a good mood, who's in a bad mood,
Speaker 7: or things going good off the field not so good.
Speaker 7: You have a feel for your players. It is an
Speaker 7: exhausting job. You go talk to the media, you know,
Speaker 7: and then you go down and you grind through a game.
Speaker 7: As soon as that's over, you have to walk, you know,
Speaker 7: in None of the other coaches have to do this.
Speaker 7: The manager has to go in and now face the
Speaker 7: media and talk to him, answer all the questions. And
Speaker 7: that's on a daily basis for you know, one hundred
Speaker 7: and sixty two games over one hundred and eighty plus days.
Speaker 1: So the manager's job is exhausting.
Speaker 7: The guys who do it well are incredible communicators and
Speaker 7: know exactly what I just told you and try to
Speaker 7: do that, but try to manage it's talk to forty
Speaker 7: plus guys that you're leading on a daily basis.
Speaker 1: It's a a big charge, you know, it's a big task.
Speaker 3: You ever get that guy out Raoul Labanya.
Speaker 6: I think get him out much, I'll tell you that.
Speaker 1: And he still looks like you can jacked.
Speaker 3: Hey, how much do you love the marriage and the
Speaker 3: fit with Blake Snell on the Dodgers and in this
Speaker 3: rotation I'm been a big advocate of his. I'm curious
Speaker 3: from your standpoint a fellow sy Young Award winner, what
Speaker 3: you see with Snell as a Dodger.
Speaker 7: Well, the Dodgers do it again, they go get the
Speaker 7: best guy.
Speaker 1: On the market.
Speaker 7: Blake Snell's I love Corbin Burns and I love Max Freed,
Speaker 7: Love love Max Freed. In some other arms Valdi Blake
Speaker 7: Snell when he is right, forget about it. And and
Speaker 7: the Dodgers saw that, they understand that they've dealt with
Speaker 7: it firsthand, and watching San Diego come up and deal
Speaker 7: with it, the Dodgers also fit what Blake Snell has
Speaker 7: been accustomed to do in five or six innings or so,
Speaker 7: and then you know just what they've been able to
Speaker 7: get out of their players. And then you start to
Speaker 7: win a world series like they did this year just
Speaker 7: become the most a desirable place to play on Earth.
Speaker 1: And look, you're in southern California. Does it get any better?
Speaker 3: No, it does. Jake Pevy, you know all about that.
Speaker 3: Jake Peeve a great star for MLB Network. Yesterday, Brandon
Speaker 3: Gomes announced to all of us Jake PV that Mookie
Speaker 3: Betts is preparing to be the shortstop again. What was
Speaker 3: your reaction when you first heard that.
Speaker 1: I was a little.
Speaker 7: Taken back, you know, just because I think I was
Speaker 7: taken back because of how valuable you saw him be
Speaker 7: in the outfield in the postseason, the plays in right field,
Speaker 7: cutting off of the balls that dive in, plays.
Speaker 1: That was on full dis way. So to see that
Speaker 1: they're gonna move him.
Speaker 7: I haven't talked to MOOKI other than congratulations, and I
Speaker 7: haven't really talked to anybody in the Dodgers organization other
Speaker 7: than Dave Roberts just a little bit.
Speaker 1: We didn't get in any of this.
Speaker 7: It's just congratulatory stuff really, but Mookie can do anything
Speaker 7: he wants to do, and I think with him having
Speaker 7: a full season. Dave said it last night to offseason
Speaker 7: to prepport mentally and understand what he's gonna do work
Speaker 7: on the arm angle and stuff like that. Mookie's the
Speaker 7: best athlete I've ever been around, top to bottom, the
Speaker 7: best athlete I've probably ever.
Speaker 1: Had a chance to be up close and personal with.
Speaker 7: So I don't put anything passing my expect him to
Speaker 7: win an MVP at shortstop.
Speaker 1: I like that.
Speaker 3: Jake Peevey, all right, before I let you go, since
Speaker 3: we are in the lobby of the Winter Meetings where
Speaker 3: all the deals are made are come close to being made,
Speaker 3: I'm gonna give you some names rapid fired. I'd love
Speaker 3: to hear your prediction on where you think they end up.
Speaker 7: Alex Bregman, I think Alex Bregman back ends up back
Speaker 7: in Houston. Houston's gonna give it one more go with
Speaker 7: that cast of characters they have.
Speaker 1: I think he ends up back there.
Speaker 3: Max Freed from my area of LA the Grade one eight.
Speaker 3: Where do you seeng Max Fried going?
Speaker 1: I Max fred is gonna I see he's going to
Speaker 1: the Yankees, all right.
Speaker 3: Corbyn burns.
Speaker 1: I think Corbyn burns.
Speaker 7: Corbyn's a tough one on where he's gonna land.
Speaker 1: I think you might land in Boston.
Speaker 3: Fucker freaking Bueller.
Speaker 7: I think Walker Buhler may end up in Boston with
Speaker 7: him breaking my heart. Look, I can't see Walker coming
Speaker 7: back with the surplus of arms, and that's.
Speaker 3: Just doesn't have to be Boston, no, right.
Speaker 1: Look, I mean it's better than New York, right, all right?
Speaker 3: One other, this one for the Dodger fans out there,
Speaker 3: give them hope tai Oscar Hernandez will find his way back.
Speaker 1: My gosh, I certainly hope.
Speaker 7: So I don't know how with what all we know
Speaker 7: and have heard about ta Oscar and who he was,
Speaker 7: I don't know how you don't make that happen. I'll
Speaker 7: tell you this, when the man has the postseason he did.
Speaker 7: When he has the season, all the other teams hear
Speaker 7: what they heard.
Speaker 1: About the teammate and what kind of guy he is.
Speaker 7: It just and he's in free agency. He's getting bombarded
Speaker 7: in the price to retaining is going up.
Speaker 1: But again it seems like the Dodgers are okay financially
Speaker 1: and can do it. I don't see him letting him
Speaker 1: get out of town.
Speaker 3: All right, Jake, thanks a lot for doing that. Man.
Speaker 3: Awesome to meet you and spend time in person, your
Speaker 3: first class. You know why everybody loves Jake Peevey, thanks.
Speaker 7: A lot, very good to see, always good to be
Speaker 7: on with you. We'll see how the n O West
Speaker 7: plays out this year.
Speaker 1: Gonna be a big win.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's like Yankees, Red Sox on the East coast,
Speaker 3: Dodgers Padres on the west. N O West is.
Speaker 7: The new Jugger not you know, I know Colorado's rebuilding.
Speaker 7: The other four teams are very competent and can get
Speaker 7: in and win the World Series any given year.
Speaker 3: There he is, Jake Peevie, one of the good guys
Speaker 3: out there. Always great to catch up with him. You
Speaker 3: can catch him on MLB Network. And I thought some
Speaker 3: of his predictions are more educated guesses on some of
Speaker 3: these free agents, so great to get that insight from him. Hey,
Speaker 3: speaking of free agents, don't forget about keyk Hernandez. There's
Speaker 3: not been a lot of buzz about keyk Hernandez, but
Speaker 3: it feels like with so many other players that are
Speaker 3: coming off the board, the Dodgers may turn their attention
Speaker 3: to Keik as well as continuing to pursue common ground
Speaker 3: with tay Oscar Hernandez to bring him back, as well
Speaker 3: as far as Walker Bueller goes. As I reported yesterday,
Speaker 3: there are three ALS teams, in fact four ALAS teams
Speaker 3: that are interested in signing Bueller, the Yankees, the Red Sox,
Speaker 3: the Orioles, and even the Toronto Blue Jays. So now
Speaker 3: with Max Reed coming off the board, the next two
Speaker 3: starting pitchers that may get a lot of interest are
Speaker 3: Corbyn Burns and Walker Buehler. Like I said, Andrew Freeman's
Speaker 3: in a tough spot, not sure if he can bring
Speaker 3: back Walker Buehler at whatever these other teams may try
Speaker 3: to sign him for. And speaking of Andrew Friedman, tomorrow
Speaker 3: night on our live Dodger Talk from Dallas, you will
Speaker 3: hear from the future Hall of Famer Andrew Freeman, the
Speaker 3: President of Baseball Operations, and also Dave Roberts, who many
Speaker 3: now are tabbing a Hall of Famer as well. So
Speaker 3: everybody loves everybody, everybody's a champion, everybody's a Hall of
Speaker 3: Famer now according to the media here and Dallas. But
Speaker 3: certainly the tandem Andrew Freeman and Dave Roberts rivals that
Speaker 3: of Brian Cashman and Joe Tory, Bobby Cox and John Schuerholtz.
Speaker 3: There's no disputing that. So those two men will join
Speaker 3: us tomorrow night on our live Dodger talk show from
Speaker 3: Dallas here at the Winter Meetings. That'll do it for
Speaker 3: us tonight. You can follow me on social media at
Speaker 3: the Real Underscore dv on X and on Instagram at
Speaker 3: official Levassa. And you know where to get all your
Speaker 3: Dodgers content right here on the iHeartRadio app and on
Speaker 3: a five seventy LA Sports. We'll talk to you tomorrow.
Speaker 3: See 'm sure playing