Dodger Talk (1-10-24)

David Vassegh has all the latest "Hot Stove" buzz surrounding the Dodgers and talks with Adam Jones about being teammates with Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Japan.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Heiy just spectacular cat. Welcome ofthe dog to off season Dodger Talk.
I have a justic shot on ourstream on the iHeartRadio app. Your glimpse
inside the Blue and everything going onthis offseason with Dodger insider David Basset.
Listen to the show where you areanywhere, anytime, the Golden age of

(00:20):
Dodger Baseball. We love you,Dodger Nations. Just subscribe to Dodger Talk
on the iHeartRadio app or wherever youlisten. And now your host for off
season Dodger Talk, David Basse,Happy New Year. Great to be back
with you, even on the podcastformat of Dodger Talk. Twenty twenty four

(00:44):
looks especially bright for your Los AngelesDodgers. They continue to build a super
team. As reports are surfacing theyhave now signed one of the most coveted
free agent right handed hitters on themarket in taoscar Hernandez. We'll get to
that in a moment. Hope youhad a great holiday season. I know

(01:07):
the Dodgers made it special. I'msure many of you had some show hey
otani souvenir shirts under the tree.I mean it happened at the perfect time
for you to be able to receiveand give the Otani gift for Christmas.
I'm happy to be back. Wasable to take the family thanks to some

(01:30):
hotel points out to Maui after Christmas. I've never in my childhood or formative
years ever was lucky enough to affordMaui. My mom was trying to raise
two boys by herself, so Hawaiinever happened until I was able to make

(01:51):
it happen. I had only beenthere once, back in two thousand and
two. Went there with a coupleof my good friends. Went out to
Honolulu for that was epic. MadDog go see him at Dukes in Honolulu.
We had a great time there.Actually, I was there when the
All Star Game was played in Milwaukeeand ended in a tie. I was

(02:12):
sitting at Dukes in Honolulu when thatall took place. And now I was
able to Thanks to my wife andI we were able to bring our kids
to Maui, which was an extraspecial treat. And I know it might
be hard for you to believe,but the first day we were there at

(02:34):
the resort, I love the ocean. I just loved the tropical weather and
it inspired me to take my firstjob in quite some time. And as
I was taking that jog, whodo I see sitting at a table talking
to maybe his relatives or just someelderly fans. Former Dodger and current manager

(02:58):
of the Year in the National League, Skip Schumacher. How about that?
Skip Schumacher got to see the Vassashow on the beach running and it was
I'm sure a disappointment to him thatI was there crashing his family vacation,
but I was happy to see him, and unfortunately for Skip, I saw

(03:20):
him the next two subsequent days andI said, hey, I'm not trying
to make this a habit. Skip. I bothered you enough during twenty thirteen
with the Dodgers. I'm not tryingto do that now. But Skip's a
great guy. The Marlins are verylucky to have him, and I thought
him and Dave Roberts were the twobest managers in the National League last year,

(03:42):
and they got it right voting Skipthe National League Manager of the Year.
But I thought Dave Roberts certainly shouldhave been one of the three finalists
and maybe even considered to win theaward. But it was great to see
Skip Schumacher in MAUI not sure ifhe was as happy to see me,
but yeah, it was a goodtime to get away. But we're back.

(04:02):
We're rolling. Life is moving fastfor me, for you and the
Dodgers. Like I mentioned earlier thisweek, I believe it happened during one
of the Sunday NFL games. Iwas watching the NFL on Sunday and saw
Jeff Passen break the news about TaoscarHernandez signing a one year contract with the

(04:28):
Dodgers. We had heard rumblings thatthe Dodgers were interested in Hernandez, but
nobody thought they were going to reallysign another really good player this offseason,
and they did. And my understandingis Hernandez was being offered multiple years by
the Red Sox, but the Dodgerswent over the top and paid him twenty

(04:50):
three million dollars for one year,short term deal for a guy that was
the best available right handed hitting outfielderon the market. He crushes lefties so
much so that he is considered andthe stats prove it out to be one
of the best right handed hitters againstleft handed pitching. So he's not going

(05:15):
to be a twenty three million dollarplatoon player. He's going to get regular
at bats. From what I've beentold and the way I envision it playing
out is Mookie Bets playing virtually everyday at second base. I would take
the under on twenty games for MookieBets to be in right field this year,

(05:39):
unless something catastrophic happens to Jason Haywardor Taoscar Hernandez. So I believe
you're going to see a platoon ofHayward, Margo and right field with Hernandez
mixed into that when there's a leftyon the mound, and you're going to

(06:00):
see Taoscar Hernandez virtually every day inleft field, and they may even just
leave Hernandez in left field. ButI could see Hernandez playing right field on
the days that lefties are on themound, and maybe Margot plays center field
on certain days because he's a guythat the Dodgers acquired in the Tyler Glass

(06:26):
Now trade and is much better againstlefties than he is against righty's. Or
he could just be that fourth outfielderand provide the Dodgers' depth as he comes
off the bench with Chris Taylor.Now. As far as platoons go at
shortstop, Miguel Rojas and Gavin Luxmay be platooning at shortstop with some Chris

(06:46):
Taylor mixed in. What this tellsme is the Dodgers' position player wise are
done. They're full. There's noother need unless the market bottoms out on
somebody they had some interest in.And I kind of feel like this shuts
the door on any possibility of theDodgers' interest in Jack Peterson. And I

(07:11):
hate to say it, but KeikHernandez probably is not coming back. I
don't know how he fits. Maybethere's a fit, but the Dodgers have
thirteen position players already making significant amountof money. Between Margo, Hernandez,
Taylor, Hayward, I just don'tsee the Dodgers really needing any more position

(07:36):
players. What this does leave theDodgers is still a need for another starting
pitcher, one more starter, provenstarter. You know. I laugh when
I see online and on social mediathem posting the Dodgers five starters and automatically

(07:58):
including Emi Shean and Walker. Ithink by now we've started to get some
indication that the Dodgers are going tobe very very careful with Walker Bueller coming
out of spring training, and theDodgers are going to be needing some depth
in the minor leagues after they tradedRyan Pepio, So I personally believe the

(08:18):
Dodgers go after one more veteran starterand have Emit Sheen as that guy in
the minor leagues that could provide depthfor the Dodgers as they manage innings.
For Yamamoto, for Glass, nowfor Bueler, I feel like that's how
he fits in instead of these socialmedia accounts just putting him in rock solid

(08:43):
as the Dodgers' fifth starter. Sothat's how I kind of see it right
now, Yama Moto Glass now forsure on opening day being in the rotation,
I feel like Walker Bueller being inthe starting rotation on opening day when
the Dodgers return from South Korea,that's a big question mark for me,

(09:07):
not because he's hurt, but becausethe Dodgers want him ready for October more
than they want him ready for April. And then from there you go to
Bobby Miller, and the Dodgers aregoing to be careful with him to a
certain extent, but the training wheelsshould be off Bobby Miller at that point
in time. So that's kind ofhow I look at the Dodger rotation.

(09:31):
And let's not forget about Ryan Yarborough. He was really valuable for the Dodgers
the second half of the season comingout of the bullpen, and also,
you know, being a spot starter, being an opener. He's a really
versatile guy. So I kind offeel like Ryan Yarborough's in the mix as
the Dodgers start the season in theirrotation. Now who else is part of

(09:56):
that? Exactly? That's why Ibelieve they need another starting pitcher and they're
still interested in Josh Hater. Ifthe Hater market doesn't reach what he thought
it would and they can get him, I think they're going to. And
I don't want to put a pricetag on it, because the Dodgers' payroll
now is over three hundred million dollarsfor twenty twenty four, so I'm not

(10:20):
going to say they're looking for hismarket to completely bottom out. But could
you imagine Josh Hater at the backend of the Dodger bullpen, even if
he's only going to pitch the ninthinning. The Dodgers have the bullpen to
support that. Evan Phillips, Brucedar Gradol, guys like that, Joe
Kelly, They don't need a guythat goes for six outs. They got

(10:45):
enough infrastructure there not to mention thepossibility of Blake Trinin returning in JP Fireheusen,
who they acquired last offseason with theintention of him being part of their
bullpen this year. So for thethose that are, you know, saying
Walker Bueller and Emmitt Sheen are inthe Dodgers' rotation on opening Day, they're

(11:07):
not really thinking it through and notlistening to what Brandon Gomes and Andrew Friedman
have said about Bueller And nobody hassaid or promised anything to Emit Sheen.
He was really good last year,no doubt about it. But the Dodgers
still need depth to be able tomanage the innings of a regular season,
and they certainly have done that throughoutthe last ten to eleven years using depth

(11:31):
not only at the major league levelbut at the minor league level with a
guy like Emmit Sheen and last yearRyan Pepio and Bobby Miller and all those
guys. So for me, onemore starter. Could it be Mike Lorenzen,
It could be? Could it beanother lefty out there that I can't
think of right now? Could be? But I feel like they still need

(11:52):
a back end rotation guy. Allright, so you heard me about Josh
Hater, right, The Dodgers stillare in the mix Kenley Jansen. The
Red Sox are shopping him, accordingto Bob Nightingale. I believe that to
be true. The Red Sox haven'tdone anything that tells me they're trying to

(12:13):
contend this year, so why dothey need Kenley Jansen to be their closer?
And I'm not sure things ended thatgreat between ken Lee and the Red
Sox last year, so obviously theyare trying to find something in return for
a really good closer that made theAll Star team last year. But is

(12:33):
Kennley Jansen coming back to the Dodgers. I'm not sure about that. I
feel like that ship has sailed.I know Kenlee would love to come back,
but I'm not sure if it's theright fit. But who knows what
the Red Sox are asking for KenleyJansen, especially since the relief market is

(12:54):
very thin, so there's high demandand not a lot of supply. And
I'm sure that's part of the equationfor the Red Sox shopping a high priced
closer like Kennley Jansen, who nowhas more than four hundred saves and has
told me repeatedly he wants five hundredsaves in his career, and nothing tells
us that he's slowing down as faras Blake Snell. Snell Zilla, my

(13:18):
guy, Look, it's not happeningwith the Dodgers, at least it doesn't
feel like it. It feels likeit's happening my three picks. If I'm
going to handicap where Blake Snell signs, it's the Yankees, It's the Giants,
and it's the Red Sox and maybethe Angels, but they can't.

(13:41):
They don't really want to go longterm with anybody. It feels like until
the Rendoon contract is off the books. The reason why I believe the Yankees
are the favorites is because I knowfor a fact Blake Snell and Aaron Judge
are really tight. In fact,I tried to face time Blake Snell last

(14:01):
year and he ignored my call,which he has done multiple times before.
But let me know the reason whyhe did not pick up that particular time
was because he was at dinner withAaron Judge when the Padreser were in New
York taking on the Yankees. Andyes, players have tight relationships, no

(14:22):
doubt about it, and that nevermeans that that guy is going to sign
with that team. But what wehave heard is that Aaron Judge has the
ear of the owner, hal Steinbrenner. And if Aaron Judge is telling hal
Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman seim Blake Snell, there's a good chance they're gonna go

(14:45):
in deep to try to vet thingsout and make things happen. Also,
I know Garrit Cole is a bigfan of Blake Snell's as well, and
they share the same agent, ScottMoorees. So it would not surprise me
to see Blake Snell in pinstripes nextyear. All right, when we continue

(15:07):
here on Dodger Talk, we havea very special guest joining us from Paris,
France. That's fourteen year Major leagueveteran Adam Jones. And you may
say Adam Jones. Why Adam Joneson Dodger Talk. You'll find out as
we continue on this week's episode ofDodger Talk with yours truly, David Vasse.

(15:31):
You are listening to Dodger Talk withDavid Vase, and coming up in
our next segment, you will hearfrom fourteen year veteran in the outfield for
the Orioles and Mariners, and thatis Adam Jones. And you might say,
Adam Jones, why is he onDodger Talk. Well, Adam Jones
was teammates with Yoshi Nobu Yamamoto inJapan on the ORYX Buffalo, So we'll

(15:56):
get his thoughts on Yamamoto being adog, being teammates with Otani, and
his experiences being part of that wholeprogram out there in Japan in his final
two years of playing professional baseball,and he's going to join us from Barcelona,
Spain. So well, hear fromAdam Jones coming up in our next

(16:17):
segment before we get to that,and before we get to Max Munsey's very
interesting comments about former teammates. Iwanted to bring up Gary Sheffield's candidacy for
the Hall of Fame, and Ifeel like we do this every year at
this time. I'm not going toput Sheffield on the show again because we've
done that already. If you don'tknow why Sheffield should be in the Hall

(16:41):
of Fame, then there's not muchI could do to help you, and
putting him on the show is notgoing to help his case any further.
But he's making the case for himselfbecause he's starting to pull back the curtain
on the Mitchell Report, his involvementin it, and how it's been misrepresented

(17:02):
and why it's been misrepresented. AndI have told this story before over the
years, and I'll say it again. I got to know Gary Sheffield really
well when he was playing for theDodgers. And in the old Dodger Clubhouse,
when you walked in, it wasa narrow clubhouse. There were lockers
on your right and on your left, and there was probably thirty feet across

(17:26):
the aisle, And in the oldDodger Clubhouse, Sheffield's locker was the last
locker closest to going to the field. And if you've ever seen fit pictures
of it, videos of it,you kind of know where I'm talking about.
As far as geography goes. Hislocker was down there, and so
is Marquise Grissoms. Those two guystreated me really well and gave me a

(17:51):
lot of trust. So at thetime I was producing Joe McDonald and Duck
Recoryan's show, and as I wasreporting for ESPN Radio at the time and
producing their show, I got toknow Sheffield and Marquise Grissom Grip is what
they called him. Really well,I would sit in their locker in between

(18:12):
both of them and you know,talk baseball, talk shop. And during
that off season, I have togo back. It was in between Sheffield's
first year with the Dodgers in hissecond year with the Dodgers, and I
called him during the off season.It was either November or December of that

(18:34):
year. And I'm looking it upright now what year exactly it probably would
have been. It would have beenbetween the seasons of two thousand and two
thousand and one when I called himto talk and ask him to come on
the radio show A Big Joe andDoug And at the time, he told
me during this phone conversation he hadjust been up there for a few days

(18:57):
working out with Barry Bonds up north, and he offered to me and he
said, I'm not feeling comfortable uphere working out with Bonds, so I'm
going to leave. And that wastowards the end of the week where he
had spent the first three or fourdays and when all this stuff came out

(19:18):
that he was using the clear thecream on his knee and was being linked
to Balco. I remembered that conversation, and I don't believe Gary Sheffield knowingly
used something that was a PED fromBalco and if he did realize it,

(19:40):
he stopped it because he was notaware of it and he had bad feelings
about what was going on wherever hewas training with Bonds for three or four
days and left and cut it short. So I don't believe he's in the
same conversation as Barry Bonds and SammySosa and Mark McGuire and all those guys.

(20:04):
I don't believe he's in that category, just based on that conversation we
had in the winter of two thousandgoing into the one season with the Dodgers.
So it doesn't feel like anybody hasa strong case that he was a
PED user to the extent of someof these other guys that we know.

(20:26):
And I got news for you.There are players that have been inducted in
the Hall of Fame that has hadsuspicion around them using peds when they played.
None of them has had any proofor been indicted, but there's been
suspicion surrounding guys that are already inthe Hall of Fame. So put Gary

(20:49):
Sheffield in the Hall of Fame.And if he doesn't get in the Hall
of Fame, I wouldn't be surprisedif he peeled back the curtain even more
on what was going on at thetime with Bud Sealing being the commissioner.
Very come door goal. All right, Now, let's get to Max Munsey
and the comments he made on theFoul Territory podcast that he goes on and

(21:15):
did go on during the season.It's a paid appearance and maybe the money
isn't worth the trouble, is myadvice to Max Munci. Here is what
Munsey had to say about the Dodgerroster clubhouse currently and some of the guys
that are no longer with the Dodgers. Everybody's focused on one goal and it's

(21:37):
not you know, people aren't focusedon trying to get their numbers. They're
not focused on you know, thingsthat don't really matter on winning the game.
It's you know, we've we've hadsome guys that kind of cared about
themselves a little bit and they've beenshipped out and it's I think that's just
a cool thing about it. Thisthis clubhouse, it's such a great clubhouse.
Every single year we have. Wehave a lot of guys, new

(21:59):
faces every year, and we alwaysjust meshed together. And that's something the
daughters also care about, is havingclubouse chemistry. That's something they've always been
focused on. When they bring innew faces, they like to do their
their homework and research on what kindof person they are, what kind of
person they are in the clubhouse,what kind of person they are off the
field, and it's you know,it's just it creates a really fun environment
and it's a place that a lotof people want to be. Ah.

(22:22):
That is so cringe because now alot of Munsie's former teammates, I'm sure
are saying, who are you talkingabout? Are you talking about me?
Because there has been a lot ofroster turnover since twenty eighteen and since Max
Munsei has been a Dodger, whichwas eighteen. So who is he talking

(22:44):
about? Who was so bad andso selfish in that clubhouse that we're quote
shipped out? To my knowledge,nobody's been shipped out. Trevor Bauer was
his own worst enemy, Julio Oriashad some issues off field. I would
believe Max Scherzer might be at thetop of that list, but When you

(23:06):
make a blanket statement like that,and you're Max Munsey, there's going to
be a lot of guys that youshared that clubhouse with that are going to
be wondering, Hey, why areyou speaking out of turn? And B
who are you talking about? Areyou talking about me? And C?
Is Max Munsey really the team spokesmanto be saying things like this on a

(23:30):
podcast. I know it just hasn'tsat well with a lot of his former
teammates, and I'm sure in springtraining he's going to have to clarify.
Maybe the next time he goes onthis paid podcast, he's going to have
to clarify because I'm sure he's heardthe buzz and maybe some teammates have texted

(23:51):
him already and said, Hey,what are you talking about? Who are
you talking about? You talking aboutme? You talking about me? People
want to know. But I've neverknown any Dodger team in the last five
or six years that have acknowledged MaxMunsey as team spokesman, certainly on clubhouse

(24:14):
chemistry or guys that are selfish.Everybody's focused on one goal and it's not
you know, people aren't focused ontrying to get their numbers. They're not
focused on, you know, thingsthat don't really matter on winning the game.
It's you know, we've we've hadsome guys that kind of cared about
themselves a little bit and they've beenshipped out. And it's what I got

(24:37):
news for you. Everybody, includingMax Munsey, cares about their numbers.
So I like Max a lot.I'm not going to crush him over this,
but I'm just letting you know.This definitely raised eyebrows with a lot
of his former teammates, and he'sgoing to have to be accountable for what

(24:59):
he said. He you're on thispodcast, all right. Coming up next
Adam Jones, former teammates with YoshiNobu Yama Moto in Japan with the ORYX
Buffaloes. Stay there, all right. We are joined right now by a
fourteen year Major league veteran who tookhis talents to Japan with teammates with Yoshi

(25:26):
Yama Moto and now is traveling theworld with his family, joining us from
Paris, France right now. Theone and only Adam Jones, thanks a
lot for the time. Adam,appreciate it anytime. It's a lot better
than Paris, Texas, so nodoubt. Yeah, I'm just joining join
the retirement and yeah, is that'swhat he wants to go by now Yoshi

(25:49):
instead of Yoshi noobu is as heannounced that. Well, see, you
are going to help me a lotbecause I just took a liberties right there
by getting a little too uh toocool for school just calling him Yoshi?
Should I not do that? No? I think, I mean it's probably
gonna be a lot easier, youknow. I mean people are probably just

(26:10):
gonna call him Yamamoto. You know, I'm sure the nickname will come for
him. You know, Tony showHey, Showtime, Masa. Taka Yoshida
just wanted to go by Masa.It's a lot easier than pronouncing an entire
name. So, uhday whatever whateverfloats is, but whatever works out for
him. Well, you were teammateswith him in Japan for two years with

(26:33):
the ORGS Buffaloes. What was yourinteraction like with him? It feels like
he's got a great personality and adesire to fit in in Major League Baseball.
I mean I got to spend twoyears with him every day, see
has work ethic, see his personalitylike you said, and just see him
grow up. You know, hewhen I first got over there, they
said this kid is just this thenext stud and I'm like, okay,

(26:57):
let me watch. I've seen alot of baseball, and him and Yoshida
stuck out like sore thumbs. I'mlike, well, these guys just are
different. And just by talking tohim, he wanted to learn English.
By that that means he wanted youwon't want English, that means you want
to go to the United States andplaying MLB. So it was apparent early

(27:18):
that he had a desire to comeplay in MLB. And I'm just excited
to see him live first out,lived out his first part of his dream.
And again I know he's excited toget on the mound for the Dodgers
and see what he can do inMLB, because you know, when you're
the best in any league, youwant to continue to prove that you can
get better and better. And Ithink he's had some fantastic mentors with Shohei

(27:41):
darvish Tanaka to Mata and to beable to teach him and help him understand
the American way of playing baseball,the preparation, the in between starts.
Everything's going to be a little bitdifferent for him, but I think he
has the right guys in his cornerto help him. Is that gap?
You know how major league players are, They're always skeptical about guys and almost

(28:06):
everything until they have to see itover and over again. Were you skeptical?
When did you? When did heprove to you that he had the
goods? I mean it was everystart it was the same. It was
seven at least seven and two thirdsand it was just shoving. So it
was just one run, two runs. When he started, we just knew,

(28:30):
get him two runs, we're gonnawin this game. And I think
it was one time, there maybe two times, and it was against
the best team in the league,you know at the time Soft Bank,
where he gave up three or fourruns, and you know the manager would
rather stick with him over even theAmerican bullpen guys. So it just showed

(28:53):
that, you know, when he'sin the game, he's the best pitcher
no matter what. And again it'shis preparation because he's still threw growing ninety
five to ninety seven in the seventheighth inning, and people always want to
talk about his frame. He's notthe biggest guy, but if you're still
throwing ninety five ninety seven. You'restill doing something correct. And I don't
care how big you are. Pedrowasn't the biggest guy, and he maintained

(29:15):
that velocity, so he must bedoing something right. And again he's gonna
get bigger and stronger with the Americancuisine American weight training. But what he
has going for him already is alreadyspectacular. Hey, speaking of his pregame
routine, I heard about, youknow, the way he throws a javelin
and how flexible he is, likedoing these yoga poses. Did you witness

(29:37):
any of that or were you toocaught up and doing what you had to
do to get ready for the gameAt that point, I was caught up
in everybody else's seeing what everybody elseis in preparation. And seeing him stretch,
I mean he just just goes likea baby just went for in me.
I'm just like, this is allI could do, and he's just

(29:59):
like yeah, it just does this, pulls his leg over his head.
I mean, he's just incredibly flexible, and again he works on it.
He has a process. And again, the Japanese players are very, very
into their routines. And when Iseen him throwing the javelin. I had
to try it. I had totry it, air darts, whatever you
wanna call him, I had totry it, and I couldn't get it
past thirty feet. And he's throwingthese things one hundred, one hundred hundred

(30:22):
and thirty feet and it probably fartherthan that. But it's just impressive what
he does. And you know,I think he's going to take his routine
over to the Dodgers organization and againhe has Show Hey there who can again
help him with especially the first yearadjustments into you know, the hitters and
all that. He's again he's goingto face all new hitters and you can

(30:45):
go over scattering reports all you want, language barrier will always be there.
And when you eliminate the language barrierby having show hate right here, even
though Show has has he paid andhe's going to have his own interpreter also,
but having Show hates mental right there, it's going to be I think
that's gonna be the biggest deal breaker, and that people aren't really paying attention
to. It's having one guy thatjust completely understands him and where he comes

(31:08):
from and the dynamics of the languageand the culture. So I think he's
in a win win situation. Ithink if he went to a lot of
other teams, it would be different. I think if he went to the
Mets, obviously having Singer there wouldhave been huge, went to the Cubs
having Suzuki there would have been huge. But I think he's in the perfect
place with having arguably the best playerin the game and just you know,

(31:30):
some of the most with the Dodgers. You know, obviously it's one of
the best organizations in all of baseballover the last decade. So you know,
I think he's in a win winsituation. It's funny you brought that
up Otani being there for him,because at the o'tanni press conference, I
talked to Harold Reynolds and we wereactually standing right in front of the Jackie

(31:52):
Robinson statue, and he said thesame thing. He said, you know,
Jackie obviously paved the way, butit was great for Jackie when you
started to get guys like Roy Campanellaand Don Newcomb to be there, people
that he can identify with. Andhe said, don't play down that same
thing for Otani, maybe he wantsa guy like Yamamoto to be there for

(32:15):
him as well. Under I meanagain, representation is one is you know,
just important. It's incredibly important.If you see someone uh passion that
you have and you know someone lookslike you, You're like, oh,
well I can do this is again. You got President Obama, you have
Tiger Woods obviously, you know,and things that are not generally for black

(32:37):
folks. Have two of the youknow, two of the Ohio, you
know, the President of United Statesand golf, and you know it's representation
golf. Tons of black players golf, tons of people in general golf,
but the African African American community haspicked up golf, and since Tiger Woods
has played, it's just the sheernumbers. You know, basketball and football

(33:00):
don't need any help. But Ithink when it comes to show, hey,
he has the power. And Ithink by him playing on the WBC
team, it showed that, youknow, he brought out He made all
the top guys in Japan play again, they're gonna play anyway, but he
brought it out. And I justthink that having that Tokyo La connection,

(33:20):
that's just simple economics. That's economics. I'm an economic major, but I
I know what I know how howfruitful that can be. I know again,
I've been to Tokyo so many times. I know how unbelievable that is.
Now you have, you know,show Head up north, and then
you got with Yamamoto with the KobeOsaka down the south, you got you
know, that's you know, talkingabout basically the whole country, you know,

(33:43):
talking about almost a hundred and somethingmillion people that are really just gonna
turn the Dodgers fans. I know, some are still gonna stick with Godzilla
and the Yankees, with Matsui andTanaka, but the vast, vast majority
of Japan right now is going tobe wearing the Dodger blue. And that's
marketing and that's money. And thenagain, the Google Diemen Group didn't invest
a billion dollars in two players justbecause they're good. They're not. These

(34:05):
guys are investors. They didn't justbecause they're good. No, they can
afford it and they're good. Soyou see that vision, you see their
vision. It's a great business decision. A billion dollars is going to make
them one three to four, youknow, weird. So it was a
fantastic business decision. And again alot of people's like, why can't my

(34:27):
team do that? Well, yourteam could afford it. It would eat
a lot of their payroll and they'renot probably not going to recoup on the
backside of it. The Google Tymgroup they're winning. This is free.
So you got too of the bestplayers, We got the generational talent.
And you know, Yamamoto is yetto be proven in the major leagues,
but again I foresee him being avery very good pitcher, hopefully at All

(34:50):
Star a couple of times. Andyou get that basically, you know that's
not costing you that much. Socoming together on the field, I mean,
once you're in that clubhouse, thebusiness stuff doesn't mean anything. How
do you see all of this comingtogether with Otani, Kaoskar, Hernandez now
mixing them in with Freddie Freeman Glass, now all those guys, how do

(35:13):
you feel like it's gonna all cometogether? Well? I think, first
off, it's a fantastic to keepsigning guys and people are wondering how to
keep signing. Look, owners,your owners have the money to do it.
Your owners can do it. No, Honestly, I still think it's
it's it's you know, I can'tsay it's exactly whose clubhouse it is,
but I will go and say it'sBett's, Freeman's, Mounsies, Will Smith

(35:37):
Kershaw. If he comes back,I know he's a free agent. I
still think it's their team. Soyou know, obviously Otani is gonna be
the frontliner, he's gonna be onall the billboards, but he's still gonna
have to fit in. And that'sbeen great for him his entire career because
as soon as he comes to theMLB, he gets our best player,
Mike Trout, so he's been perfectlyjust fitted in. I think LA is

(35:57):
probably gonna open him up a littlebit more personality wise, because there's more
lights on you. You're getting fortyseven thousand every night. There's it's LA.
It's not an on. Yeah,there is a difference differ, you
know, it is a difference.I just think that again, since he
has security, he's locked in,he knows he's going to be in one

(36:17):
place for a long time. Ithink he can open up his personality.
Obviously, his focus is on thefield, and it should be. But
I think that, you know,like how Mooki went. Once Muki got
over to LA, you know,you get to see his personality and I
think he was the same exact guy. He was in Boston, but Boston
doesn't allow. They don't want youto have that personality as much, rightfully,

(36:39):
so they want you to, youknow, do your talking between the
lines. But I think we loveMuki even more because again he does what
he does on the field. Ithink that is just part of who he
is. But his personality and gettingto see his interest, getting to see
his fashion, getting to see himin the home run, getting to see,
you know, all these different things. I think that that would open

(36:59):
up the doors. And you knowwhat's crazy he is, how smart Mooky
is. You're gonna see Mooky onbillboards in Japan. Watch Watch Wow Wow
that that see that opened up hisbecause he's already big in La, he's
gonna be in Japan. Mookie sign. That's awesome. Oh man, Adam

(37:22):
Jones, I always want you tobe a Dodger. Was it ever close
to ever happening? Did you evercome close to being a Dodger? No?
Only the closest ever came to doinganything at Dodger Stadium was seven.
I was seventeen years old. Hehad a tryout or like some some showcase
at Dodger Stadium. It didn't itgot canceled and they moved it to Anaheim.
But no, it was never ahnever if nothing, but it would

(37:47):
have a great Dodger connection. Isthe manager Dave Roberts. Me and him
go back to AAU Baseball when hewas still playing. He used to come
back in the off seasons and helpcoach out coaches in in our AAU team.
We have a good mutual friend.But Smith who introduced us years ago,
and uh, every time we gettogether, it's, you know,

(38:07):
obviously he's the coach and he iscrazy because he's now the SIMPI because he's
you know, you know Japanese terms. You know, he's been, he's
been, he's been awesome to watchand he's been inspiration. And every time
we see each other, it's justa big hug and just all mutual respect.
He played the game hard and uh, you know again I tried to
play the game the same way andjust happy for all the success. So

(38:28):
we do have a doctor. Wehave to have that connection. And again
just for their success a little bit. Because again I'm a Padres fan.
Let's not forget I grew up.I grew up down down the road and
down on the five. Okay,but you know again seeing what the growth
of baseball, obviously going overseas andplaying and seeing how important the growth of
baseball is, seeing how big Otaniand Yamamoto signing is going to be.

(38:52):
It's going to be, you know, globally changing the game. So as
a baseball fan and as a baseballperson who wants to pass the game,
continue to elevate this game. This, what they're doing is is great and
it's just unfortunate for some teams thatare just gonna have to deal with that
line up. Good gracious, Godbless you. You're Padres. You gonna
have to see this steave a lot, a lot. I think it's even

(39:15):
better that now that the schedule isbalanced, so you only got to see
him twelve twelve is enough and seethem and then hopefully see them down the
road in the postseason. Hey,any tips for me when it comes to
dealing with Yamamoto. I know,Tani, since you know the Japanese culture
way better than I do, Ican make a fool of myself. Well,

(39:37):
the first thing you want to sayis ejimi my state. That's just
the start. That's just like introducingyourself and saying, you know, hello,
and you know what they're they're justvery private. Yamamoto definitely a little
bit more open obviously. Maybe yeah, you know, just his personality,
maybe he might want to talk tothe media more. I don't know.

(39:59):
Otan obviously you've seen he has notuh again when it came to Anaheim is
he was not available often, Ishould say, yeah, or not made
available again. The Dodgers, it'syou know, it's like Baltimore, New
York. When I first got toBaltimore, where you know, we're in
our clubhouse, it's six to sevenmedia people. We go to the Yankee

(40:20):
Stadium, there's twenty five and we'rewondering, Hey, who the hell is
this? Well, just everybody needssomething, and like so, I think
it's gonna be a cultural change,you know, in terms of the media.
And he's just gonna have to He'sgonna have to he's gonna have to
talk to him. I just thinkthat just being being nice, being cordial.
You know, they're baseball players.They love their routine. I think
the best thing is learned their routine. If you can learn their routine,

(40:42):
like in the American you know,the I say the Americans, just the
western born players, you know we'resporadic. Some days we're doing this,
some days at different times. TheJapanese players are a little bit more on
there on a schedule. So ifyou learn the schedule and always just find
the time to, you know,get him when he's in a little bit
of a down, I think thatthat always works for the player. Thanks,
Adam, and awesome to have youon the show. I know you're

(41:07):
traveling the world with your wife andyour kids. It's so special to have
you join us on Dodger Talk.And I know you're still doing not only
interviews, but you're still very connectedto the league and being an ambassador on
that side of the world. Youwere just on a conference call with the
bat Organization, one of the charitableorganizations for Major League Baseball. What's your

(41:28):
role with that and what are theyplanning for the new year. Well,
I appreciate that. I've been onthe board of director since twenty eleven and
it's just something I've been very passionateabout former players, umpires, coaches,
front office. We're a baseball family. We're in it together again. Life
happens and unexpected things, and youknow, we just want to be a

(41:50):
bridge to the former players and overstaffedthat you know there's somebody here for you,
you know, and to get toughtime happened, but there's a bridge
and there's a organization for you.We're one of few in all of professional
sports. So we take real pridein that the Commissioner, Rob Manford has
been one of our biggest supporter obviouslygoing back to Commissioner Selig. So the

(42:15):
league is behind us and it's justgreat to be able to help out the
guys and the gals who behind thescenes help us out. So it's been
something I've been proud of for thelast it's going on thirteen years, so
hopefully I continue to go on andmaybe one day be the president. Hey,
you would be a great president nomatter what you did, because you

(42:38):
have a you have an open mindobviously, and it's awesome to talk to
you and share you with Dodger fans. And what's for dinner tonight? In
Paris? I gotta ask what's fordinner tonight? You're taken a romantic dinner
by the Eiffel Tower, or like, where's Adam Jones taking his bride tonight?
Well, we had lunch at verylowly conreef you know that. No,

(43:00):
I don't, it's only it's justamazing. And uh we had for
dessert early dessert for dinner. I'mnot sure, but we're here for the
Cavs and Nets NBA NBA Paris series. All right, Adam Jones awesome to

(43:22):
join us from Paris, France.Adam Jones actually lives full time in Barcelona,
Spain, so appreciate him coming onwith us. Yes, we had
to do it via a video interviewstyle, and I'm not going to lie.
I have not used the platform alot that we use here at AM

(43:43):
five seventy and the last part ofthe interview of saying goodbye how much he
loves me was cutoffs, but wegot we got the meat of what Adam
Jones thinks about Yoshi Yamamoto about theDodgers, and whether or not I should
continue to call yam Yoshi for shortYamamoto. Maybe I should just go back

(44:05):
to Yoshi Nobu Yamamoto. I'll haveto navigate that once I get to spring
training. But appreciate Adam Jones forcoming on the show. We'll keep you
updated on my social media at X, at the Real Underscore DV and on
Instagram. At officially vassay what theDodger Talks schedule is looking like, in

(44:27):
addition to you finding it right hereevery Wednesday on the iHeartRadio app or wherever
you download podcasts. Have a greatrest of your week. We'll talk to
you soon. See you