Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Right now, please to be joinedby the man who asked me on Cloud
nine, I would say, afterthe news, Cloud seventy one works as
well. Astros general manager Dana Brownhere with us on the Astros Fan Fast
coverage on news radio seven forty kT H. Well, h, Dana,
I guess the easy way to startthe conversation. You know, earlier
(00:22):
in the week, I'm like,all right, we're gonna ask him this.
We're gonna ask him this. Nope, we got to start, of
course, the Josh Hater deal.How did this come together? And you
guys get this done? Well,first of all, turn up the heat.
Yes, I'm with you on thata little cool. Uh So,
anyway, we kind of got ittogether in like seventy two hours. You
know, we were in the frontoffice. We were having meetings. We
(00:44):
were talking about improving the bullpen andyou know, which was part of our
you know, our target you knowfor the off season, you know,
get a backup catcher, try toimprove the pen, and so, you
know, we started looking at theprices of some of the relievers and we
just well, maybe we should justthink about Hater. And then we started
putting it together. We talked toJim Crane and then we really got it
(01:07):
going, and uh, you know, we got it done. So we're
really excited, you know, toadd them to the back end. How
much was that It happened of courseafter the Kendall Graven news and we knew
you guys were gonna have to replacesome people in the bullpen, a lot
of innings missed from free agents thatyou're having right now. Then Kendall Graveman
goes down. Was that something thatbecame a catalyst for this movie, No,
not at all. As I saidbefore, our targets were backup catcher,
(01:33):
bullpen help. Even before we heardabout the Gravemn news. You know,
we were talking about getting bullpen helpbecause we had lost theirs. You
know, we had lost Yeah Maytonand the static. So at the end
of the day, we were like, we got to improve this bullpen and
so you know, adding Hater tothe back end was really uh, you
know, it's exciting time, folks. I know you had a chance of
(01:56):
meeting with the media here already,something that we've been discussing since the moment
in this deal came together and he'sgoing to become a part of this bullpen.
Is you know the best postseason closerand maybe baseball history and Ryan Presley,
and conversations were held with Presley withmanagement a little bit about where this
might be headed. Is that accurate? Absolutely? You know, Presley is
outstanding. He's a true professional.He's done some great things in this organization,
(02:23):
closed out some big games in thepostseason. So you know, I
wanted to make sure I showed himthe respect to you know, give him
a phone call and say, hey, if this is what we're thinking about.
And as I said, he's atrue professional. He said, look,
if this is gonna help us andwe're gonna get better and we get
a chance to get back to theWorld Series, he was all in.
So he gave us his blessing.All in obviously has to happen from ownership.
(02:46):
And you know the way Jim Cranehas operated this team, there's been
a bunch of different moves that hesaid, let's go ahead and do this
over the last you know, timeof his ownership. Was this something that
took a lot of conversation or somethinghe was behind from the get go?
How did that build? Well,we got to we put it together probably
within seventy two hours. So wesat down with them. We told them
(03:07):
what this meant and what it coulddo for the club, and he set
them in and so we start,we got busy. We started talking to
the agent and uh, we gotto deal with them. I want to
go back to the to the tradedeadline, because there was a couple of
reports out from some Baseball riders thatyou guys were trying to look at some
San Diego starters and a and acloser obviously Blake Snell and I'm just assuming
(03:30):
Blake Snell pretty smart, and JoshHater. So when when Josh Hater's name
came back around over the last seventytwo hours, is that what we could
have seen at the trade deadline ifit would have been possible. Yeah,
if it was possible. I don'tthink they were sellers at the time because
they thought that they were you know, still had a chance to get in
and they did. They had areally good team and they were, you
know, pedal to the metal.And then when the off season came,
(03:52):
I initially called the agent, westarted to talk about Hater and then you
know, we were checking prices andthings like that, and so you know,
we put it on the back burnerand said look, this guy's you
know, probably gonna be expensive.And then as it as guys started to
sign, you know, it startedto you know, set the stage about
you know, what the price wouldbe, and so we circle back with
(04:15):
the agent and end up getting itthere. Yeah, and now as you
look across all of baseball, thereare a lot of teams with a lot
of perennial closers. But now arguablyyou have the best seven, eight,
nine, whatever combo Joe's body usesin all of baseball. Yeah, I
truly feel our three guys at theback end are in the top fifteen in
bullpen, you know, in thegame. So to have three guys on
(04:36):
one team at the you know thatare in the top fifteen, we feel
really good about that. And makeno mistake, all those guys can close
out games. So you know youdon't have to, you know, close
Hater three games in a row.You don't, you know, you don't
have to close Presley three games ina row. You know, they you
know you can give them. Yougive Hater two games, you can give
(04:59):
President actually a game or two,and before you know it, you may
have to give a Bradial game.So they can all close out games,
and when you have three closers atthe back end, it's pretty special.
Kind of reminds me in twenty fifteenwhen Kansas City had those big the three
headed monster at the back end.They were really good. So it's an
exciting time. Astros manager Dana Brownwith us here on news radio seven forty
(05:21):
k terror h and our Astros fanFest spectacular as we call it. So,
now you mentioned the backup catcher,bullpens, outside stuff. How are
you feeling about the club right nowas far as as we head into spring
training and things you're looking at asfar as potential needs, or you're feeling
pretty good, feel really good aboutthe club right now. You know,
(05:43):
we still you know, have someguys that we're gonna look at, you
know for that fifth sixth inning inthe middle. You know some of those
innings where Maytime was pitching and thensome of those innings were standups you're pitching.
We feel like we have some internalcandidates are pretty good. However,
we're still in the market. Ifwe can improve this club somehow, something
comes up. If we get createdand try to improve this club, we
(06:05):
will do it. So, youknow, we want to get back to
the World Series two of the guysthat we're at it. You mentioned backup
pitcher was obviously a focus. Curious, tell me behind the additions of both
the Dylan Coleman acquisition for the bullpenand what maybe your expectations are with what
you guys can work on with himbecause of what his pitching assets are,
and obviously adding Victor Karattini. Yeah, we were looking at the twenty twenty
(06:29):
two of Coleman. He threw reallywell. And you know, our guys
are really good. Our pitching guysare really good. You know, I
give them credit, Josh Miller andMurph those guys are really good at getting
figuring out from a data and informationstandpoint, what can this guy do to
improve And we feel like they couldmake some adjustments with Coleman, and so
(06:49):
that's why we went after him.And just getting a guy like Karatini.
You know, this is a guythat can actually start on some clubs.
So you know, if we getto a point where you know, we
need the rest of Diaz for twodays, we can do it. You
know, if the has get bangedup on a foul ball or a foul
tip, you know what, hehas to sit out for four or five
days. Keratini can play every day. You know, he's a switch hit
(07:12):
and catcher and he's pretty good.So we felt we felt really good about,
you know, the two big piecesthat we added, backup catcher and
also improving the pen. Yeah,I'm talking about the catching position with jan
Your Diaz. One of the interestingthings that I'm looking forward to, just
from a fan perspective is what he'sgonna look like with Justin Verlander fromber Valdez
a Christian hobby. Are those threecats last year obviously preferred Martie Maldonado.
(07:34):
They have a really good chemistry.But now Yanire Diaz, he's the catcher,
like you said in the presence andwell yeah now and the president.
That's really really exciting to see.Yeah, And you know, I think
Diaz earned, you know, thestarting job. I mean he you know,
he learned behind Maldonado. You know, he learned a lot about you
(07:54):
know, what to call, youknow, make sure you call a good
game. He performed when he wasgiven the opportunity, and so I think
he's earned it. You know,you go out and hit twenty three home
runs, you got an eight tofifty ops or wherever it was right in
that area. You know, you'reready to go. And so, you
know, I love when those youngplayers seem to pop and you get him
(08:15):
in there and get them some morereps and we'll see where it goes.
But we're excited for sure about Dazin this future and the bat and the
powers GM Dana Brown with us beforewe get you out. We did see
the comments earlier talking about the extensionswithout two of it. Bregman, you
haven't started those conversations. Do youexpect those to starter or what Brown spring
(08:37):
training? I guess yeah. Imean, those guys are pillars to this
organization and we'd love to you know, we'd love to keep them. You
know, so at some point wewill start having the conversation about what does
it look like for you guys tostay here, and you know, we'll
get it going. We haven't startedthat yet. We're still in off season
mode. We're trying to look formore avenues to try to improve this team
(08:58):
to get back to the World Series. But at the end of the day,
we'll start having some of those conversationsabout the future and the other guys
that will fill in some of thegaps. Lance mccollor's Luis Garcia. Everything
still as you've said, over theoff season on track roughly July. Potential
return for those two, Yeah,late July, we feel good about.
You know, maybe at that pointthey'll go out for a minor league rehab
(09:20):
or something like that, and youknow, but they're they're on course.
I've been watching watching them throw,I've been watching the video, I've been
talking to the trainer and there oncourse. I really feel that m colors
was finally healthy and Garcia, youknow, you had that surgery where you
know TJ. You know, mostof the guys come back from that anyway,
So uh, adding those guys backto uh, the rotation, it's
(09:45):
gonna be fun. It's gonna bea fun ride towards the end. So
yeah, I guess you could kindof treat those as as deadline deal acquisitions.
I'll just say at that point,all right, absolutely Astros manager A
general manager, Dana Brown, andthank you for the time as all.
We'll talk to you expairam training.Appreciate you guys, alright, I appreciate
it. Alrights General manager Dana Brownhere on news radio seven forty k t r H
Right now, please to be joinedby the man who asked me on Cloud
nine, I would say, afterthe news, Cloud seventy one works as
well. Astros general manager Dana Brownhere with us on the Astros Fan Fast
coverage on news radio seven forty kT H. Well, h, Dana,
I guess the easy way to startthe conversation. You know, earlier
(00:22):
in the week, I'm like,all right, we're gonna ask him this.
We're gonna ask him this. Nope, we got to start, of
course, the Josh Hater deal.How did this come together? And you
guys get this done? Well,first of all, turn up the heat.
Yes, I'm with you on thata little cool. Uh So,
anyway, we kind of got ittogether in like seventy two hours. You
know, we were in the frontoffice. We were having meetings. We
(00:44):
were talking about improving the bullpen andyou know, which was part of our
you know, our target you knowfor the off season, you know,
get a backup catcher, try toimprove the pen, and so, you
know, we started looking at theprices of some of the relievers and we
just well, maybe we should justthink about Hater. And then we started
putting it together. We talked toJim Crane and then we really got it
(01:07):
going, and uh, you know, we got it done. So we're
really excited, you know, toadd them to the back end. How
much was that It happened of courseafter the Kendall Graven news and we knew
you guys were gonna have to replacesome people in the bullpen, a lot
of innings missed from free agents thatyou're having right now. Then Kendall Graveman
goes down. Was that something thatbecame a catalyst for this movie, No,
not at all. As I saidbefore, our targets were backup catcher,
(01:33):
bullpen help. Even before we heardabout the Gravemn news. You know,
we were talking about getting bullpen helpbecause we had lost theirs. You
know, we had lost Yeah Maytonand the static. So at the end
of the day, we were like, we got to improve this bullpen and
so you know, adding Hater tothe back end was really uh, you
know, it's exciting time, folks. I know you had a chance of
(01:56):
meeting with the media here already,something that we've been discussing since the moment
in this deal came together and he'sgoing to become a part of this bullpen.
Is you know the best postseason closerand maybe baseball history and Ryan Presley,
and conversations were held with Presley withmanagement a little bit about where this
might be headed. Is that accurate? Absolutely? You know, Presley is
outstanding. He's a true professional.He's done some great things in this organization,
(02:23):
closed out some big games in thepostseason. So you know, I
wanted to make sure I showed himthe respect to you know, give him
a phone call and say, hey, if this is what we're thinking about.
And as I said, he's atrue professional. He said, look,
if this is gonna help us andwe're gonna get better and we get
a chance to get back to theWorld Series, he was all in.
So he gave us his blessing.All in obviously has to happen from ownership.
(02:46):
And you know the way Jim Cranehas operated this team, there's been
a bunch of different moves that hesaid, let's go ahead and do this
over the last you know, timeof his ownership. Was this something that
took a lot of conversation or somethinghe was behind from the get go?
How did that build? Well,we got to we put it together probably
within seventy two hours. So wesat down with them. We told them
(03:07):
what this meant and what it coulddo for the club, and he set
them in and so we start,we got busy. We started talking to
the agent and uh, we gotto deal with them. I want to
go back to the to the tradedeadline, because there was a couple of
reports out from some Baseball riders thatyou guys were trying to look at some
San Diego starters and a and acloser obviously Blake Snell and I'm just assuming
(03:30):
Blake Snell pretty smart, and JoshHater. So when when Josh Hater's name
came back around over the last seventytwo hours, is that what we could
have seen at the trade deadline ifit would have been possible. Yeah,
if it was possible. I don'tthink they were sellers at the time because
they thought that they were you know, still had a chance to get in
and they did. They had areally good team and they were, you
know, pedal to the metal.And then when the off season came,
(03:52):
I initially called the agent, westarted to talk about Hater and then you
know, we were checking prices andthings like that, and so you know,
we put it on the back burnerand said look, this guy's you
know, probably gonna be expensive.And then as it as guys started to
sign, you know, it startedto you know, set the stage about
you know, what the price wouldbe, and so we circle back with
(04:15):
the agent and end up getting itthere. Yeah, and now as you
look across all of baseball, thereare a lot of teams with a lot
of perennial closers. But now arguablyyou have the best seven, eight,
nine, whatever combo Joe's body usesin all of baseball. Yeah, I
truly feel our three guys at theback end are in the top fifteen in
bullpen, you know, in thegame. So to have three guys on
(04:36):
one team at the you know thatare in the top fifteen, we feel
really good about that. And makeno mistake, all those guys can close
out games. So you know youdon't have to, you know, close
Hater three games in a row.You don't, you know, you don't
have to close Presley three games ina row. You know, they you
know you can give them. Yougive Hater two games, you can give
(04:59):
President actually a game or two,and before you know it, you may
have to give a Bradial game.So they can all close out games,
and when you have three closers atthe back end, it's pretty special.
Kind of reminds me in twenty fifteenwhen Kansas City had those big the three
headed monster at the back end.They were really good. So it's an
exciting time. Astros manager Dana Brownwith us here on news radio seven forty
(05:21):
k terror h and our Astros fanFest spectacular as we call it. So,
now you mentioned the backup catcher,bullpens, outside stuff. How are
you feeling about the club right nowas far as as we head into spring
training and things you're looking at asfar as potential needs, or you're feeling
pretty good, feel really good aboutthe club right now. You know,
(05:43):
we still you know, have someguys that we're gonna look at, you
know for that fifth sixth inning inthe middle. You know some of those
innings where Maytime was pitching and thensome of those innings were standups you're pitching.
We feel like we have some internalcandidates are pretty good. However,
we're still in the market. Ifwe can improve this club somehow, something
comes up. If we get createdand try to improve this club, we
(06:05):
will do it. So, youknow, we want to get back to
the World Series two of the guysthat we're at it. You mentioned backup
pitcher was obviously a focus. Curious, tell me behind the additions of both
the Dylan Coleman acquisition for the bullpenand what maybe your expectations are with what
you guys can work on with himbecause of what his pitching assets are,
and obviously adding Victor Karattini. Yeah, we were looking at the twenty twenty
(06:29):
two of Coleman. He threw reallywell. And you know, our guys
are really good. Our pitching guysare really good. You know, I
give them credit, Josh Miller andMurph those guys are really good at getting
figuring out from a data and informationstandpoint, what can this guy do to
improve And we feel like they couldmake some adjustments with Coleman, and so
(06:49):
that's why we went after him.And just getting a guy like Karatini.
You know, this is a guythat can actually start on some clubs.
So you know, if we getto a point where you know, we
need the rest of Diaz for twodays, we can do it. You
know, if the has get bangedup on a foul ball or a foul
tip, you know what, hehas to sit out for four or five
days. Keratini can play every day. You know, he's a switch hit
(07:12):
and catcher and he's pretty good.So we felt we felt really good about,
you know, the two big piecesthat we added, backup catcher and
also improving the pen. Yeah,I'm talking about the catching position with jan
Your Diaz. One of the interestingthings that I'm looking forward to, just
from a fan perspective is what he'sgonna look like with Justin Verlander fromber Valdez
a Christian hobby. Are those threecats last year obviously preferred Martie Maldonado.
(07:34):
They have a really good chemistry.But now Yanire Diaz, he's the catcher,
like you said in the presence andwell yeah now and the president.
That's really really exciting to see.Yeah, And you know, I think
Diaz earned, you know, thestarting job. I mean he you know,
he learned behind Maldonado. You know, he learned a lot about you
(07:54):
know, what to call, youknow, make sure you call a good
game. He performed when he wasgiven the opportunity, and so I think
he's earned it. You know,you go out and hit twenty three home
runs, you got an eight tofifty ops or wherever it was right in
that area. You know, you'reready to go. And so, you
know, I love when those youngplayers seem to pop and you get him
(08:15):
in there and get them some morereps and we'll see where it goes.
But we're excited for sure about Dazin this future and the bat and the
powers GM Dana Brown with us beforewe get you out. We did see
the comments earlier talking about the extensionswithout two of it. Bregman, you
haven't started those conversations. Do youexpect those to starter or what Brown spring
(08:37):
training? I guess yeah. Imean, those guys are pillars to this
organization and we'd love to you know, we'd love to keep them. You
know, so at some point wewill start having the conversation about what does
it look like for you guys tostay here, and you know, we'll
get it going. We haven't startedthat yet. We're still in off season
mode. We're trying to look formore avenues to try to improve this team
(08:58):
to get back to the World Series. But at the end of the day,
we'll start having some of those conversationsabout the future and the other guys
that will fill in some of thegaps. Lance mccollor's Luis Garcia. Everything
still as you've said, over theoff season on track roughly July. Potential
return for those two, Yeah,late July, we feel good about.
You know, maybe at that pointthey'll go out for a minor league rehab
(09:20):
or something like that, and youknow, but they're they're on course.
I've been watching watching them throw,I've been watching the video, I've been
talking to the trainer and there oncourse. I really feel that m colors
was finally healthy and Garcia, youknow, you had that surgery where you
know TJ. You know, mostof the guys come back from that anyway,
So uh, adding those guys backto uh, the rotation, it's
(09:45):
gonna be fun. It's gonna bea fun ride towards the end. So
yeah, I guess you could kindof treat those as as deadline deal acquisitions.
I'll just say at that point,all right, absolutely Astros manager A
general manager, Dana Brown, andthank you for the time as all.
We'll talk to you expairam training.Appreciate you guys, alright, I appreciate
it. Alrights General manager Dana Brownhere on news radio seven forty k t r H
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.