XX Sports Radio: Josh Byrnes Interview with Darren Smith
- All the decisions on the 25 man roster has been made but they won't be announced until after the last game on 4/3.
- Darren said that Anthony Bass and Micah Owings tweeted that they made the team. [Note: Owings took issue with Darren's comment. Though I think it was an honest mistake because Owings original tweet was misleading enough that he had to clarify with another tweet.] Byrnes has never been on Twitter but says they haven't told any of the players if they've made the team yet.
- Spring Training went very smoothly. A lot of minor league players made good impressions on the major league staff. Bud Black was the stand out by the way he ran the club. He did a fantastic job getting the team ready. He's very observant and open minded. He has a strong desire to win.
- Every team wants to exceed expectations. Byrnes doesn't think that there is a huge gap between any of NL West teams. The Padres need to get off to a good start. They are are right in the mix. They will make a big effort to win now.
- The health of the roster at the end of camp isn't ideal. The team is going to miss Carlos Quentin because he's a big part of the line up. Byrnes isn't sure if Mark Kotsay will be put on the disabled list before Opening Day with his calf strain. The pitching staff has been surprisingly healthy except Tim Stauffer who will miss the opening day start with tricep tightness.
- Edinson Volquez will get the Opening Day start instead. He's a cool customer, he didn't have much reaction when he was told. He had a good Spring.
- Byrnes says that it's in the Padres best interest to buy out player's years of free agency. They really like Cameron Maybin, Cory Luebke and Nick Hundley. The reason why Chase Headley has not been given an extension yet is that the Padres system is deep at third base and they want more time to evaluate.
- Byrnes says that structurally there hasn't been any change since Jeff Moorad resigned as club CEO. He says baseball is a volatile business. He's focused on the games and doing his job. Byrnes has talked to Moorad, "obviously people will focus on our relationship".