Winter Meetings interview with Buck Showalter

Q. Buck, who is that Rule 5 Draft pick that’s going to change the season?BUCK SHOWALTER: We’ve had a couple. Got some, I think Joey is going to be a good one. Got one of the best utility guys in our league Flaherty. We’ll see. We’ve got to down to 12. At some point tomorrow morning, we’ll walk down — I think we’ll participate in the Minor League’s, too. I don’t know if there’s a better financial return for your money than the Rule V draft. A club with $650,000 for a guy that — that’s the price you pay for a guy in the draft, and this guy has already played college fastball at Alabama before you put him in the pros, ordinarily.Q. How do you react when you see deals being made here?BUCK SHOWALTER: Sometimes we have a selective memory, I try to, but this went on last year to some extent and the year before, whether it’s the Yankees or whether it’s the Red Sox or the Blue Jays or whoever. It’s part of the job description in our division. I was thinking about it today, it’s kind of like the tortoise and hare story. We’re kind of the tortoise in Winter Meetings. Sometimes they catch up to the hare, and they will pick us to finish last in the division, and we’ll take on that role again.Q. Dan’s been pretty clear that you guys aren’t going to look to add (indiscernible).BUCK SHOWALTER: After Batista? He says that tongue-in-cheek. He’s a good player.Q. He’s pretty clear starting pitching-wise that you are not going to add outside of the organization. What about some of those guys makes you feel confident going into the spring?BUCK SHOWALTER: We have six starters that are capable of starting and pitching well in the Major Leagues and have in the past. I hate saying that, we have four guys on the last year of their contracts because it’s a reflection that they didn’t put as much effort into the first whatever, and that’s not the case. But it’s obvious over the track record of people that they have a tendency to do that. We’re actually getting calls on our starting pitching because we potentially have a surplus, and you put Mike Wright and Tyler Wilson and some other guys in there — I was hoping to go to 26, that we might carry that 13th pitcher. We could also entertain going with six starters. We’re not going to give them away. We’ll see how Dylan is doing in the spring, about where he’s going to fit. We’re going to hopefully have a full season with Darren and have Donnie Hart maybe for all year, and those are two things that we didn’t have last year. We think Michael’s made great strides. He’s a guy we can trust. I like where we are pitching. And I know that will probably bring some eye rolls from a lot of people, but you look at Dylan’s progress and the way — probably our best pitcher the last month or so, and Miley finished up strong. A lot of our guys had their best months in September. I know what looks on paper, when you look at what the Red Sox are going to run out there and the Yankees and Blue Jays, but we’ll see. We’ll see.Q. You’ve got six starting pitchers, with the need to watch Dylan’s innings, is there a way to use them all in some way, shape or form during the entire season?BUCK SHOWALTER: I’m just going to say it again, I don’t see we’re going to do anything differently with Dylan that we wouldn’t with Gausman or Mike Wright or any of those young pitchers. He’s almost two years — you’ve got to tell me exactly how long he’s removed from that surgery. I was going to say, he’s probably healthier than some people who haven’t had that surgery yet. So inning-wise, I’m not going to penalize and let him get penalized for that to start in our rotation. I think he’s one of our five best.Q. Are you still set on Mike Wright developing as a starter?BUCK SHOWALTER: Yes. Yes, I think Mike, he’s always got potential to do both, but I want all of these guys to continue down that path because we’re going to need them. We’re going to need all of them. And a lot of guys that have done well in the Big Leagues have followed the path that Mike has followed where they had some struggles early on. There’s a guy pitching for the Cubs right now that had a very similar path to Mike Wright.Q. (Indiscernible) has really flourished. How much are you going to miss him?BUCK SHOWALTER: He would have flourished under anybody. Who knows what is going to happen with Matt and Trumbo and Mark and Pedro. A lot of people keep forgetting about Pedro in that whole deal. He’s pretty solid for us, one of the better DHs in the American League. Matt’s going to end up a good place, and I haven’t turned my back on the fact that he might be with us, because this market, like back to the tortoise and the hare, you have to be good at judging how this thing is going to fall when the chairs stop moving around who has a chair, but Matt’s going to have a big chair. He’s going to do well.Q. Trumbo is Colorado, now that’s done –BUCK SHOWALTER: He’s already done? He signed today?Q. He meant Desmond signed.BUCK SHOWALTER: In today’s world they might sign both of them, who knows. I don’t think Desmond is going to play first base.Q. Is the door open for Trumbo, as well?BUCK SHOWALTER: Oh, sure. It’s always been. We made a big point of emphasis to know who we are and who we are not. Trying to stay consistent with that. Every once in a while you do something that might just step out of what that is, but that’s not up to me. That’s up to ownership. We’ve got as supportive of owner for our market as any manager could possibly ask for. Been rock solid.Q. Do you think the current lead-off hitter is on the roster right now?BUCK SHOWALTER: I’m always going to look at it that way and it could be impacted by the Rule V draft tomorrow, I look at it like that, too. Could be — I could tell you more who it’s not going to be.Q. You told us after the season (indiscernible).BUCK SHOWALTER: I said I would — I always leave myself some wiggle room. Y’all know enough and seen enough. I’d really rather strongly not be. I would really rather strongly rather it would have been last year.Q. You talk about Dan being good and kind of waiting along –BUCK SHOWALTER: How did you like the tortoise and hare thing? That hit me as I was coming down here.Q. As far as catcher is concerned, is that a position where you like to kind of have an idea of what you’re doing?BUCK SHOWALTER: That market goes in a hurry. There’s times that we can see it, you don’t have to strike with it, but a person’s got to be there. I’m thinking the right person, you know, currently in-house, without getting into who that might be. We’re going to have some maneuverability on our roster. We’re only 36 now. We’re going to be able to move some things around, unlike a lot of these clubs that aren’t.Q. Is there a scenario where you would move Adam to right field?BUCK SHOWALTER: I don’t see that. The way we’re currently constructed, no, I’m not going to put that out there. Adam’s our center fielder and does a great job with it.Q. Last spring obviously started difficultly for Kim. If he does play in the WBC for South Korea, is that good for him, bad for him, given how Spring Training went last year?BUCK SHOWALTER: I’m real sensitive to the pressure those guys are under. I know a little bit more than what I’m going to speak about here about where he is …

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