GM Hoyer on Kyle Blanks: "He will perform in the Major Leagues."

XX Sports Radio: Jed Hoyer Interview (MP3) with Darren Smith

• Jed talking about Branch Rickey's words being viable today.
  
• Hoyer tries not to read baseball books because he does it all day. He just finished The Big Short and Too Big to Fail. The last baseball book he read was The Machine about the 1975 Reds. Hoyer looks back at old teams and how they are constructed.
• Hoyer is going to catch the LA game on TV and get some work done at the office.  Josh Stein is going to the game in his place.  He's not going to Seattle, Fred Ulman is going instead. 
  
• He reads scouting reports every day but he thinks it is dangerous for a GM to go out and see players.  You need a bigger perspective that might be changed by seeing a small number of players or games.
• The run differential says that the Padres should be a few games better than they are.  Hoyer doesn't believe that, he thinks we are about where we should be.
• Pitchers will not be able to maintain this ERA all year.  The hitters will have to pick up the slack. "We're going to have to hit for more power."  "We're going to have to score some runs by hitting consecutive doubles."
• "We definitely don't practice hitting singles." Randy Ready preaches hitting up the middle and to the big part of the field.  There are not a lot of extra base hits in Petco Park.
• Kyle Blanks is getting an MRI in his elbow.  "We're hopeful it's not serious."
• Last year Blanks struggled early on and worked things out. "We're confident given his Minor League track record that he can hit for power and average." "He will perform in the Major Leagues."
• "I think all our guys are Major League ready." Some guys are playing beneath their capabilities.
• Hoyer looks for outside options every day.  Other teams are reluctant to move players this early in the season.  "These are the guys we are going to sort of battle with."  He's confident that his players will bounce back.
• Scott Hairston will be missed because of his power and versatility.
  
• Chris Denorfia deserves to be a Major League player.
• Chris Young is out until the first week of June and on the 60 day DL. The best case scenario is that he gets better and helps the Padres in the second half.  Young is frustrated.
• Hoyer always thinks about the end of interleague play as a milestone.  You get a feel for how good your team is at that point. 
• His encounter with A.J. Smith was enjoyable.  His daughter works with the Padres.  There are things you can learn from people in other sports.
• The Padres will probably have Matt Stairs DH during interleague play.