XX Sports Radio: Jed Hoyer Interview (MP3) with Darren Smith
- Hoyer just got back from the GM Meetings. The meetings are a little different this year, only the 30 GM's were invited. Many of the discussions are about the CBA and rule changes.
- There was a lot of discussion about the expanded playoffs. They aren't anywhere close to a decision. He joked that he wished they were expanded this year. He can't say which side of the debate he was on.
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Cameron Maybin is a guy the Padres are excited about. They'd asked about him in the past but he wasn't available. He's very athletic, his defensive numbers have been excellent and he's only 23 years old. He's always performed in the Minor Leagues, but his Minor League numbers haven't translated to the Majors yet. He strikes out too much. "We like the potential and we thought it was a worth while gamble." They gave up some real good bullpen arms, but they still have a surplus of arms. Maybin is out of options so he can't start the season in AAA.
- Theoretically they can have Anthony Gwynn Jr. and Cameron Maybin on the 25 man roster, but they haven't made a decision on Gwynn Jr. yet. They have a lot of outfielders on the roster right now and they're going to have to make some tough decisions.
- They added 7 players to the 40 man roster to protect them. They put Cedric Hunter on the roster because he's a player that another team would have taken in the Rule 5 draft. Hunter is a player they like a lot and he had a very good year in AA, but struggled a bit in AAA. Don't read too much into him being Major League depth.
- The bullpen is very important to the Padres because they play so many close games. He won't say he wouldn't trade another piece out of the bullpen if it filled a big hole. They are less likely than they were before the Maybin trade to trade out of the bullpen again.
At the GM meetings they have a lounge for trade talks. It makes it easier to discuss trades face to face. At the Winter Meetings it's chaos because of all the people. The Padres had discussions about 15-20 players. Hoyer will not say which player was asked about the most but it wasn't Adrian Gonzalez.
Yorvit Torrealba's agent called Hoyer apologizing for Torrealba's comments that were critical of the Padres. His agent said that Torrealba didn't say those things. Torrealba said that they offered him less money than he got before and that wasn't true. Hoyer didn't take them seriously because the context was wrong. They will still talk to Torrealba.
Hoyer still feels "very comfortable" with Nick Hundley being the lead guy. He'd still like to share the catching job with someone else. He thinks Brad Ausmus will really help Hundley.
Hoyer is working on replacing Paul DePodesta. He doesn't think Paul would have left for anybody else but Sandy Alderson. It was a good opportunity. Hoyer was bummed out for the Padres because Paul DePodesta found a lot of the underrated bullpen arms and championed many of the players on the team. "He's good at finding undervalued players."
Tsuyoshi Nishioka is a short stop in Japan. It was reported that the Padres name was linked to him. Hoyer isn't sure how they were linked to him. He can't comment on players in free agency. He had a great year last year.
The Padres have to make a decision on which players to offer arbitration by November 23rd. The players have until the 30th to decide.
Chase Headley is a Super Two this year because he beat the cut off by one day. "That was an especially lucrative day in the big leagues for him." He likes to see players compensated well. The Super Two cut off was 7 days lower than any other year ever.
The Padres have not made any other decisions on who they will offer arbitration.
