11-13-25 - 10am - TDS and Rockies Announcement

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, Mike or Michael. It could be worse.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
They could be talking about government run cafeterias.

Speaker 3 (00:05):
A Mackael Goober thirty three, thirty three here regarding Ms
Mayor who wants to keep the grocery stores open. You
really should laugh at the infirm.

Speaker 4 (00:20):
I didn't see that one coming. That was pretty good.
I was like, wait, wait a minute, is she infirm?
I don't, Yeah, she is infirm. Remember former Council Special
Council Jack Smith, the guy that went after Trump down
at Martin Lago and then for the January sixth insurrection. Well,
it now turns out he reportedly requested the personal cell

(00:40):
phone records of the then Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy,
who is number two in the line of succession to
be the president in case there's a capitation of the
of the executive branch. And then, in addition to that,
then Congressman Louis Gohmer, a Republican from Texas, during his

(01:01):
probe when he was probing the January sixth Capitol protests.
On May fifth, or twenty twenty three, the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, their Criminal Investigative Division, prepared what's called a
significant case notification.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
That's the document that the.

Speaker 4 (01:16):
FBI puts together to outline all of the details requesting
a subpoena, and in this case, it was for the
toll records from both Att and Verizon. Now, as you
would expect, Kevin McCarthy has come out and he's criticized
the effort. He calls it a blatant weaponization of the
Justice Department and then said, quote, perhaps no action underscores

(01:38):
this point more than the illegal attempt to access the
phone records of sitting members of the House and Senate,
including the Speaker of the House. Here's what you need
to understand about this. It was the Biden Harris administration

(01:58):
that launched the pro This is the investigation that we've
talked about before called Arctic Frost. They started it back
in April of twenty two. They were trying to get
the phone records from Republican lawmakers like Lindsey Graham.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
Wouldn't you like to know what Lindsey Graham's been talking about?

Speaker 4 (02:17):
Marshall Blackbom from Tennessee, Ron Johnson Wisconsin, Josh Holly from Missouri,
and a bunch of other and take Cruise two.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
I think so at and T revealed.

Speaker 4 (02:27):
That Jack Smith's team had suboenaed records for two congressional members,
including McCarthy, although AT and T, to their credit, ultimately
provided none because they actually went to court and fought it. Now,
I happen to be a T mobile customer and I'm
not looking to change and this isn't a advertisement a

(02:48):
spot for AT and T. But wait a minute, you
actually fought on behalf of your clients, your customers, and
said no, we're going to challenge this two cha to
AT and T. Now Chuck Grassley, the Senator from Iowa,
with a Republican Senator from Iowa and Ron Johnson now

(03:09):
starting an inquiry into this issue. Grassley's calling it a
phishing expedition that swept up Republicans in and out of
Congress from top to bottom. The point is this, These
disclosures have fueled intensified concerns over government overreach and the
weaponization under the Democrats, and of course obviously the breaches

(03:31):
of elected lawmakers privacy. Arctic Frost, I would like it somewhat,
not completely, but somewhat.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
You can like it.

Speaker 4 (03:38):
At the Watergate, it's costs taxpayers fifty million dollars so
far and of course, now we got a Congression of
review going on. It was authorized by Biden's Attorney General
Mary Garland and former FBI director Christopher Ray. I want
to make this point about it. It is this is
actually weaponization of the Department of Justice. That is separate

(04:03):
apart from Congress or the president, either one the executive branch,
and the Congress investigating past weaponizations of the Department of Justice.
You see, there's a fine line here. People say, well,
Trump's out there and he's weaponizing the Department of Justice.

(04:26):
Know what he's doing is he's trying to determine the
truth about what happened to him and to these lawmakers
during the Biden Harris administration. That's not weaponizing. That's conducting
a legitimate investigation. And here's why you need to understand that,
because have you heard and what is the claim that

(04:49):
any of these people were doing wrong?

Speaker 2 (04:51):
Nothing.

Speaker 4 (04:53):
Nobody's ever been charged with insurrection. Which is why I
do not I refuse to call the January six riots
protests whatever you want to use. It was not an
insurrection because that's a very well defined legal term, and
not one single individual has ever been indicted, charged or

(05:14):
convicted of insurrection. Hey, you want a reason not to
live in Washington, DC. The Democrat dominated city councils adopted
the emergency tax legislation, and.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
Guess what they're trying to do.

Speaker 4 (05:26):
They're trying to block the federal tax code and those
changes that Trump made in the One Big Beautiful Bill.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
They're trying to prevent tax.

Speaker 4 (05:34):
Breaks for tipped wages and overtime pay. They're trying to
stop that from taking effect. There are thousands of restaurant
on hospitality industry workers in the Capitol that are going
to be impacted by this.

Speaker 2 (05:47):
Now.

Speaker 4 (05:47):
Obviously, if you remember, it allowed deduction up to twenty
five thousand dollars in tips in twelve thousand something, I
think in overtime pay for single filers.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
They're higher mouth.

Speaker 4 (05:57):
Obviously for a joint filer, but those deductions will not
be reflected into local tax returns because of the city
Council's decision. And it's even worse than that. They've ended
the six thousand dollars local senior bonus deduction and all
of the other business related tax breaks, all trying to
improve DC's finances. Wait a minute, you want to improve

(06:22):
DC's finances, I have an idea, which is really kind
of goes against everything I believe in. Hey, DC, go away,
narrow it down, cut it down to just say the
National Mall, in the federal buildings that are kind of
close to the National Mall, give everything back to Virginia
and back to Maryland, and then Congress you take it over.

(06:44):
Rarely would I suggest Congress take anything over. But if
they're going to do this kind of crap by saying,
oh no, you can't have those tax breaks because we're
all Democrats and we hate Trump, you're nothing but absolutely nuts.
Get a hold of Jesse Thomas, who's the producer for
the Rockies, who's down getting ready for the press conference,

(07:06):
because we're gonna take that press conference that the Rockies
have hired a new Let's see, what's his actual title
going to be? Uh, he's gonna be he's gonna.

Speaker 5 (07:21):
Be one president of baseball operations.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
Is that isn't you? Jesse?

Speaker 5 (07:25):
That's me?

Speaker 2 (07:26):
Well, sorry, you had to get up so early this morning.

Speaker 5 (07:28):
You know these are not my hours, Michael.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
You know that, I know, and I apologize.

Speaker 4 (07:32):
But checks in the mail. So he's gonna be director
of baseball operations, correct, So just you report to the
GM or somebody else.

Speaker 5 (07:39):
No, no, no, no, he is the man in charge.

Speaker 6 (07:41):
He will report to Walker Momfort will okay, yeah, all right,
that's it. So yes, the Walker Montfort and Paul D.
Potesta era starts today and after this press conference. First
of all, I'll tell you I'm coming to you live
from our radio booth up on floor two here at Corsfield.

Speaker 5 (07:58):
But you ought to be able to hear the press.

Speaker 6 (07:59):
Room underneath me as we await Walker Montfort, Paul D.

Speaker 5 (08:03):
Podesta, and Dick Montfort. They will be seated left to
right in that order. Real quick.

Speaker 6 (08:10):
I can tell the people who are listening if you're unfamiliar.

Speaker 5 (08:13):
With who Paul D. Podesta is.

Speaker 6 (08:16):
By now, most people have heard that he was the
inspiration for the Jonah Hill character in the movie Moneyball,
where Jonah Hill played Peter Brand. And he has been
an analytical front office figure in professional sports for quite
some time.

Speaker 5 (08:33):
Nineteen ninety six through nineteen ninety eight.

Speaker 6 (08:36):
He started with the Cleveland Indians as a player development
in turn and that's when Billy Bean stepped in and
poached him to become And I'm gonna go ahead and
throw this downstairs.

Speaker 5 (08:47):
Is here?

Speaker 6 (08:48):
Come Walker Montfort, Paul D. Podesta, and Dick Montfort. So
give them a couple of minutes to get seated here,
and it.

Speaker 7 (08:57):
Looks like we are going live. So here we go
your field, all right, Here we go the announcement with
a Paul de Podesta.

Speaker 2 (09:09):
What toughy one gets seated?

Speaker 4 (09:12):
All right?

Speaker 8 (09:13):
Well, good morning everyone, Welcome and thank you for joining
us for this very exciting day here at coors Field.

Speaker 1 (09:19):
I'd like to especially.

Speaker 8 (09:20):
Welcome Rockies owner Charlie Mofford in the corner, excuse me,
Rockies President Creig Fiesel, and the rest of the deep
Podesta family over here along the side. I'd also like
to welcome those watching on MLB Network, Rockies dot Com,
and the Rockies YouTube page, as well as those listening
on KWA Radio eight fifty AM and ninety four to
one FM. We're here today to formally introduce Paul de

(09:44):
Podesta as the Colorado Rockies new President of baseball Operations.

Speaker 1 (09:55):
Paul, We're thrilled to have you.

Speaker 8 (09:56):
And your family, some of whom, like I said, are along,
are along the wall here joining the Rockies family here
in Colorado.

Speaker 2 (10:02):
Welcome up on the stage with Paul.

Speaker 8 (10:05):
Or Rockies owner chairman and CEO Dick Wantfort, and Rocky's
executive vice president Walker Montford. Before taking questions, we'll get
started with opening remarks, and with that it's my pleasure
to turn it over to Dick.

Speaker 9 (10:17):
Yeah, thank you, Corey, and thank you all for being here.
I was going to get up and talk up there,
but I have this fear that one of these days
I'm going to fall off this thing, so I'm going
to just stay seated.

Speaker 1 (10:32):
But I do thank you all for being here.

Speaker 9 (10:35):
It's nice to see some excitement in this room. I'm
going to pretty much let Walker and Paul do this.

Speaker 5 (10:44):
I will hang.

Speaker 9 (10:45):
Around for questions, but I'll let Walker introduce and then
Paul do whatever you're going to do.

Speaker 1 (10:54):
All awesome.

Speaker 10 (10:55):
Well, first of all, like you mentioned, thank you all
for being here today. I think a few of you
may actually know Paul a little bit better than than
we do. After a couple of days in Vegas and
Grill and him, he got a good taste of what
it's going to be like here in Denver. But we
do appreciate those of you that made the trip getting
out there and and certainly just you know, helping us

(11:18):
tell the story. Even just a weekend, so appreciate that.

Speaker 4 (11:23):
Paul.

Speaker 10 (11:23):
It's great to finally have you here in Denver. It's
been a whirlwind since everything became public last Thursday, and
we're thrilled to officially welcome you, your wife Karen, and
your sons Alex, Evan and Trevor here today, and their
Rockies gear over here with with their York Space Systems patch.

Speaker 1 (11:44):
You know, we also.

Speaker 10 (11:45):
Look forward to meeting your daughter Talia here in short order.
When this process began just over a month ago, someone
asked me what we're looking for in this role, coming
off of the difficult season. My answer was simple. We
needed someone who could transcend, someone who could take us
beyond where we are today and help us reach new
heights as an organization. We began the search by reaching

(12:06):
out to trusted voices around the game, people who know
what it takes to do the job and who understand
both our market and our mission to win. Through those conversations,
one name quickly rose to the top, the gentleman sitting
right here next to us. Of course, it was a
name we recognized, but as we learned more, we realized
there was far more to his story than met the eye.

(12:29):
Throughout our conversations, Paul impressed all of us, me, Dick
and Charlie with his leadership style, his deep experience building
not just teams on the field, but a culture within
the front office, and his unique perspective on how the
game should be played and led. From our very first calls,
track record of success, his resilience through challenges, and his

(12:51):
constant drive to evolve and improve stood out. It became
clear that Paul isn't just a problem solver, He's a
visionary leader. He's a visionary leader who inspires collaboration and
conviction and everyone around him. After several more discussions, we
unanimously agreed Paul is the kind of leader that can
make an immediate and lasting impact with our staff, our players,

(13:14):
and throughout the organization. Now we all know it's been
a tough stretch here for the Rockies, say the least.
There are no excuses for that. But today Mark's something new.
Today is the first day of our future, and from
here on we will not accept anything other than progress.
To our fans, we know you're frustrated. You have every

(13:35):
right to be. We are too, and I can't express
how grateful we are for your continued passion and support.
I know you're tired of hearing words. You want to
see action. Bringing Paul on board to lead our baseball
team as our first move, and there will be many
more to come. It's the first move towards getting this
team back to where we know it can be and

(13:57):
where you are fans, deserve it to be. We hear you,
we feel your passion, and we share your belief in
what Rockies Baseball can be and should be. Our mission
is to get there, and we couldn't be more confident
that Paul is the right person to help restore pride
in our brand, re energize this organization, and build something
truly special here in Denver. Most of us in this

(14:22):
room have witness the electricity of the city when the
Rockies are full steam, and is our goal to get
back to that as soon as possible. We have our
work ahead, but we couldn't be more excited to begin
that journey with Paul today. With that said, it is
my pleasure to officially introduce our new President Baseball Operations,
Paul de Podesta.

Speaker 11 (14:41):
Take it away, Thanks very much. It's really hard to
express just how excited I am to be here and
I can't wait.

Speaker 1 (14:55):
To get started. Especially over the course of the past week,
I feel like.

Speaker 11 (14:58):
They've been trying to s start and then not actually
being able to do it.

Speaker 1 (15:01):
So I'm glad to finally get here in Denver and
get going.

Speaker 11 (15:05):
First of all, I want to thank the mom for
its really for entrusting me with this responsibility. It's been
a great process over the course of the past four.

Speaker 1 (15:13):
Or five weeks and getting to know them and getting
to know this market.

Speaker 11 (15:17):
I also want to thank that the has On family
and the Cleveland Browns just for the trusty they gave
me over the course of.

Speaker 1 (15:25):
The past ten years.

Speaker 11 (15:26):
And then even you know, their willingness to allow me
to entertain this and it's sort of an awkward time
in the middle of our season. Not everybody would do that,
and so it means a lot to me, and they've
meant a lot to.

Speaker 1 (15:37):
Me over the course of you know, the last ten years.

Speaker 11 (15:40):
And also my family, my wife Karen, my kids, Trevor, Tally,
Evan and Alex. They've they've been unbelievably supportive, you know,
through all these years.

Speaker 1 (15:49):
They've been great.

Speaker 11 (15:50):
Fans, even when they stacked their fantasy teams with Joe
Burrow and Jamaar Chase and other players in the AFC North.

Speaker 1 (16:00):
It's okay.

Speaker 11 (16:02):
Look, I've been I've been incredibly fortunate. Over the course
of the past thirty years. Right I was with a
CFL team, five different Major League Baseball teams, an NFL team.
I've gotten to see a lot. I've been on both coasts.
I've been in the Midwest. I've been in big market teams,
small market teams, mid market teams.

Speaker 1 (16:19):
I've sort of seen it all.

Speaker 11 (16:20):
And once you go through all that, you really start
understanding what it is that's important to you in an organization.
And it really for me, begins with ownership. And you know,
it's one of the reasons it was so hard to
leave Cleveland, as I thought we had terrific ownership there,
you know, with with the HASMS and the foundation, I
had ownership. When you're when you're looking at it, at

(16:42):
least from my perspective, is you know, is there a
really high care factor, you know, for.

Speaker 1 (16:47):
The organization and for the city.

Speaker 11 (16:51):
Is there patience you know, because these things don't always
happen overnight. And is it is it a partnership you know,
or are you just and employee that if you don't
get it done in year one, then they're just going
to move to the next person.

Speaker 1 (17:03):
Where there's you know, there's loyalty. There truly is a partnership.

Speaker 11 (17:06):
And while I had that all those things in Cleveland,
you know, over the course of the past month that
I got a chance to spend time with with Dick
and Charlie and Walker and everyone here, I absolutely felt
that that they checked every one of those boxes, and
I felt great about the potential of moving here.

Speaker 1 (17:26):
The second thing, you know, I always look for is
the challenge.

Speaker 11 (17:30):
You know, thirty different Major League Baseball teams, they all
have their own challenges, and they're all interesting challenges. But
let's be honest, there's there's no challenge as compelling as
this one. You know, this is a unique environment and
there's a reason it's it's interesting to so many people,
not just in baseball, but even in sports. So to
take that on, you know, that was really exciting for me.

(17:53):
The other part of it, you know you start thinking about,
is is the venue and the geography, and look, there's
you know, for the last thirty years, this has consistently
been one of the best venues in all of baseball.
It's a great place to watch a game. Uh probably
better as a home fan than as a visitor, but
it's a it's a terrific place to be. And then again, geographically,
you know, this isn't just a city's team, this is

(18:14):
a this is a region's team. It's a you know,
a huge part of the United States that are Rockies fans.
So all of that was intriguing, and then it really
comes down to, you know, the last piece, which really
is the fans, right you if you're going to pour
yourself into something, you know, ideally you do it in
a place where it matters to somebody, or hopefully matters

(18:37):
to a lot of people. And while I know it
has been a difficult you know, few years here, the
fans support has been remarkable. I mean still lots of fans,
you know, in every one of these games the last
few years. I think everybody sort of dying for this
organization to get back to where it was.

Speaker 1 (18:55):
And I can tell you, you know, in.

Speaker 11 (18:58):
From two thousand and four to twenty ten, I was
in this division as an opposition, and in two thousand
and seven, in Game one sixty three, I was here.
I was in this building, right and so I know
what it's like when the Rockies are really good and
like you said, when they're when they're rolling. I know
what the electricity is like in this building.

Speaker 1 (19:18):
And that night.

Speaker 11 (19:20):
While I probably have a very different feeling and memory
of that night than most of the people in this room,
it made a mark like it made a mark on
me and.

Speaker 1 (19:28):
I just saw geez.

Speaker 11 (19:30):
You know, if you ever have the opportunity, I mean,
this is a this is a special place. So I'm
very anxious to get started and get back to that
point you know, where the Rockies are winning every year
and we can create that kind of electricity in this
ballpark because it's you know, it's special.

Speaker 1 (19:44):
So thanks again for having me again. I can't wait
to get started and excited to be here.

Speaker 2 (19:51):
Awesome.

Speaker 8 (19:51):
All right, Well, thank you Paul, thank you for Walker,
Thank you Dick. At this point, we'll go ahead and
take questions from those in the room. If you have
a question, please raise your hand, and Kevin or I
went from the Rockies communication staff, We'll pass you, Mike,
so please make sure to introduce yourself and state your
affiliation before your question. We'll go ahead and get started
with Thomas Harding first.

Speaker 12 (20:09):
Over here, Thomas Harding MLB dot com, Welcome to Denver. Okay,
when you've talked about Dick and Charlie and Walker, but
at what point in the interview process did you feel like, hey,
I'm going to have that I don't know if the
word is autonomy, but I'm going to be able to
put my vision in here and they're going to trust
me with it and maybe, you know, just kind of

(20:32):
defer to my thoughts and beliefs in this.

Speaker 1 (20:35):
Sure, Thanks Tomas.

Speaker 11 (20:36):
I think very early on, to be honest with you, look,
let's let's be candidate.

Speaker 1 (20:42):
I mean, for them to connect with me.

Speaker 11 (20:45):
You know, this wasn't going to be the most traditional hire.
I mean, it showed me right away that there was
a real open mind in this here, there was a
willingness to, you know, to do things differently and to
try some things. So, you know, from the beginning, I
think in our very first conversations, I got that sense
that hey, we we know we've done you know, we
know we've done things a certain way for a while,

(21:06):
they haven't worked the way we wanted to. We're ready
for a change, and we're ready to bring someone in
here to affect that change. So I felt that right
away and then throughout the whole process.

Speaker 13 (21:19):
Hey, Paul, I guess this is for your packgram associated
press you. No, course field is a unique venue, as
you know, it's you know, the splits that are different.
How do you how do you turn course field into
an advantage? I mean, we're some of the ways you
can make that an actual advantage for Rocky.

Speaker 1 (21:33):
Well, you know that's certainly the goal.

Speaker 11 (21:34):
I mean I can tell you again as as an
opposing team here a number of times through those years.
I mean, we'd look at the schedule in March and
you'd circle these dates, you know, and you dread them.
You think, geez, we've got to go in there for
three days. No lead is safe. We don't know how
we're going to get through this with our pitching. We're
going to need to be thinking about how we're going

(21:56):
to set up our pitching for the series after this.
That's what I want this to be. That this has
a chance to be. I think that, you know, the
best home field advantage in all of baseball. So that's
our goal and that's what we that's what we want.
I'm not going to get into the details of exactly
how we plan on doing that, but that's certainly the
goal here. I see it as a you know, potentially
huge advantage.

Speaker 2 (22:18):
Quest.

Speaker 14 (22:18):
Patrick's owners Denver Post Walker have a question for you.
Can you, in a nutshell explain to us how the
hierarchy now is going to work, from your dad to you,
to Paul, to who he hires underneath and just just
your hierarchy of how this is going to work.

Speaker 10 (22:34):
Yeah, of course. So obviously everyone reports upward to our
chairman and CEO, my father Dick, and basically from there,
I'll still be responsible for oversight of the of the
entire organization. So Paul will report to me, those that
he hires will report to him. And like I told

(22:54):
Paul when we were going through this process, I mean,
I'm I'm very much behind him as it relates to
his experience in the sport. I think my goal is
to learn from Paul and others that he brings in
on a daily basis. But you know, and beyond that,
it's it's partnering with him and you know, really being
part of the same team. But that's how it'll be organized.

Speaker 15 (23:19):
Paul, Welcome to Denver trot Rak from the Denver Post.
When the Rockies have had issues through the years. Part
of it has been identified as the infrastructure. It's not
just at this level here. Do you feel confident you'll
be able to hire enough people to change how you
do things and inherently because you were a data guy
at the forefront of it twenty years ago, to where

(23:40):
you can create a philosophy that runs through the organization
with people where it's consistent. In other words, do you
feel you'll be empowered to create that infrastructure?

Speaker 1 (23:47):
And Walker? Can you speak to that?

Speaker 3 (23:49):
Will? He will?

Speaker 15 (23:50):
Will you have a chance to bring in X number
of people to you know, create the change you guys
are looking for.

Speaker 2 (23:56):
I'll let you start.

Speaker 1 (23:57):
Sure.

Speaker 11 (23:58):
Yeah, absolutely feel really good about the possibilities in terms
of what we can do here as we continue to
sort of build out the baseball operation.

Speaker 3 (24:06):
You know.

Speaker 1 (24:06):
That being said, the first thing I want to.

Speaker 11 (24:08):
Do is really get to know everybody here that's already
here and understand the capabilities that are already in place.

Speaker 5 (24:13):
I think it's.

Speaker 11 (24:14):
Probably beyond what maybe some people think. But I want
to do that before I start thinking exactly about how
we maybe want to.

Speaker 1 (24:21):
Supplement that with with additional people or additional skills.

Speaker 11 (24:25):
But but no, I've been given assurance is that that
there's actually a there's not just an appetite, there's like
a thirst to build this out and you know, to
make it a real strength for the organization.

Speaker 1 (24:38):
How would you answer really that walk in the Yeah.

Speaker 10 (24:42):
I mean one of the things that we talked about
through through the conversations with Paul was we do have resources, right,
I think we did. We did a study where we
looked at a number of other teams that are you know,
sort of our size, mid market type teams, Center of
the country type teams, and what we found is, you know,
it's it's not necessarily that we're not spending enough money.

Speaker 1 (25:05):
We do have resources.

Speaker 10 (25:07):
We have comparable resources to those other clubs. But one
of the things that I think Paul will be tasked
with is figuring out how to allocate the dollars right,
where are we missing? Where do we need to add?
What can be done different with those dollars to provide
you know, long term a greater return on investment. So
we're going to be supportive of that where we look

(25:29):
forward to having his thoughts on what needs to be done.
And again, I think there's going to be plenty of flexibility.

Speaker 1 (25:37):
I want to just add one more thing to that.

Speaker 11 (25:39):
I think it's also not always just about this sheer volume.

Speaker 1 (25:42):
Of people or volume of information.

Speaker 11 (25:44):
It's how you're actually utilizing and it is it impacting
your decision making? Is it impacting your player development.

Speaker 1 (25:50):
You know, et cetera. So there is a point.

Speaker 11 (25:53):
We're not there, but there's a point where there's diminishing
returns of just adding more and more people are more
and more data. But we need to figure out exactly
what that right line is for us so that the
things that we're doing can really move the needle, you know,
for the major league team.

Speaker 16 (26:08):
Paul, congratulations and welcome to Denver ed Henderson with Crawford
Media Group. I wanted to ask you, I'm sure right
now you're drinking from the fire hose and will be
for some time, but if you can identify maybe one
or two of your top priorities as you move through
this process.

Speaker 11 (26:23):
Well, I think you know, the first is just to
get to know everybody here, like I said before, and
understand the capabilities that are already in the building. But
then there's some real decisions we have to make. Certainly,
the manager is a is it you know, first and foremost,
I think in my mind, and then from there it's
setting the entire major league staff. We also have, you know,

(26:45):
some some pitching jobs that we need to we need
to fill, including sort of the top pitching jobs, and
that that's not just hiring a person, that's actually establishing
a pitching philosophy for the entire organization. So those are
I think those are sort of front and center in
my mind. There will be probably some front office transactions
and obviously this are off see, we've got to go

(27:05):
sign some players, and you know, fortunately that's already been happening.
We've had some waiver claims, there's some some free agents
we've been out there trying to sign, so that'll be
happening at the same time or concurrently.

Speaker 1 (27:15):
But but yeah, I.

Speaker 11 (27:17):
Think, you know, the personnel here within the building, you know,
starting with the manager is probably the first order of business.

Speaker 17 (27:25):
Yes, Hey, Paul mark Kiz led Denver Gazette, like you
two decades ago and oh seven, I was in the building.
So I have two questions for you. Number one, did
Matt Holiday touch home plate? Number two, how long does
it take to go from last place the first place?

Speaker 11 (27:46):
So I actually was going to purposely try to avoid
this question. But I'm not sure he's ever a touched
home plate, but he just my perspective.

Speaker 4 (27:55):
You know.

Speaker 11 (27:56):
I actually got a chance to connect with with Matt
late last week, so I'm sure it'll be a topic
for us, you know, at some point.

Speaker 1 (28:03):
But you know, in terms of timing, you know, I've
talked about this before.

Speaker 11 (28:09):
I as I've moved to different organizations, oftentimes when you
go to an organization, there's a need for some change,
right things haven't been going great. That's why these jobs
are available. So I've been through this now a handful
of times. I still don't know exactly, you know, the timeframe,
because I think each situation is a little different, and
I don't know enough at this point to tell you

(28:30):
exactly when that would be.

Speaker 1 (28:31):
But I'll tell you this.

Speaker 11 (28:32):
I think what we're actually trying to achieve is this
like fundamental change of state right within the organization. And
that's both the talent on the field, it's also the
culture and the.

Speaker 1 (28:42):
Clubhouse, the culture and the building. And even as I've
gone through these different organizations.

Speaker 11 (28:48):
And experienced that, I still have never been able to say, oh, yeah,
that was perfectly predictable like three years ago it was.
You know, I remember even when I first got to Oakland,
for instance, my first spring training there, it just felt
different than had when I'd come from Cleveland. Like Cleveland,
it was a situation where they just expected to win

(29:09):
every single day, and in Oakland that was lacking for sure,
you know, that first spring training, and then it sort
of evolved to, hey, we think we can compete with
these guys, and then it evolved to, hey, we think
we can you know, compete with anybody, like even the
best teams, and then it evolved to we know we

(29:29):
can win, it doesn't matter who's in the other dugout.
And that's a process, right, and it does take time.

Speaker 1 (29:35):
I'd love to speed it up as quickly as we could.

Speaker 11 (29:40):
But I do think you have to sort of hit
each stage in that process, and not each one is
a year. You know, sometimes those things happen over the
course of an individual season. But look, I don't want
this to take, you know, a bunch of years. I'm
anxious to get going and you know, as Walker said
at the beginning, you know, start showing some progress right
away and and move to where we want to be.

(30:02):
But I think we'll I think we'll start to feel
it before it necessarily shows up, and uh, we'll start
feeling that that progress toward that fundamental change of state
you've worked for, the ev a.

Speaker 17 (30:14):
New empire, working against how big a challenges are.

Speaker 11 (30:19):
Yeah, I mean, you know, when I left the Dodgers,
I went to the Podrace, so it was you know,
I've been in the I've been in this boat before.
I've also been in you know, New York when I
was the Mets and they were the Yankees, like right
across the street, even with the Aids.

Speaker 1 (30:36):
The Giants were right across the street and had some
great teams. I just don't get caught up in those things.

Speaker 11 (30:41):
I think we have to worry about ourselves and not
worry about what anyone else when out anyone else in
the division is doing. There are some great teams. There's
some really really competitive teams in this division.

Speaker 1 (30:51):
Uh that's okay.

Speaker 11 (30:52):
We plan to, you know, hopefully be one of them
at some point here relatively soon.

Speaker 6 (30:58):
You know.

Speaker 11 (30:59):
I also started back in the day where there were
eight playoff teams like they're now twelve. There's room for
all of us. So I think for you know, my
goal is we got to be playing in October, and
I'll take my chances against anybody once you get there.

Speaker 18 (31:13):
Christian final first and Christian line will be on the
new Denver seven. This question is for Dick. Dick with
the Walker as executive vice president and now Paul as
President of Baseball Operations, what were what specifically will your
role be on the baseball side of the operation moving forward?

Speaker 9 (31:34):
I think they're sort of pushing me out. Doesn't it
feel that way?

Speaker 3 (31:38):
No?

Speaker 9 (31:38):
I mean, hey, much has been said about what I
do and don't do. I'm here to support Walker. I'm
here to support Paul. I'm here to support everybody in
this building. And you know, we we have to have

(31:59):
the resources to make all this work, and that sort
of always has been part of my responsibility too. But
I'm here to support people. I'm I'm not as bad
as anyone thinks I am.

Speaker 1 (32:14):
I do care.

Speaker 9 (32:15):
I think that's where it sort of gets foggy. I
care about you know, winning, I care about our players.
I care about our you know, the entire staff that
work here. They work extremely hard, and so you know,
I defend them and I support them, and but you know,
really it's Paul's job, It's Walker's job, and I'm there

(32:37):
to support them. And like I tell people, I'm the
overhead around here.

Speaker 4 (32:42):
You've been listening to news radio koa's eight fifty coverage
of the announcement by the Color A Lot of Rockies
of Paul de Podesta to be the new director of
Baseball Operations.

Speaker 2 (32:53):
Hanging tight, We'll be right back.