Katie Woo on Cardinals front office changes + Tony Vitello’s first words as new Giants manager

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Speaker 1: Oh, outside with the wind holding the phone. This is it from the Athletics joining us right now.

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Speaker 2: Katie.

00:00:10
Speaker 1: Great to see you, and I know you're covering the World Series, but we're going to start with the Saint Louis Cardinals. Yes, hair is flowing right now, So Katie, let's start with the changes that you wrote about the other day that are going on and how they could be a good thing for a team that was scaling back in some departments in the past.

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Speaker 3: Right.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, this is some real on side reporting.

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Speaker 3: Guys, bear with me from the not so sunny conditions in Toronto.

00:00:36
Speaker 2: But let's talk about a little Saint Louis Cardinals. Why not? Ahead of Game six of the World Series.

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Speaker 3: For those of you who just following along, it's been a quiet first month for Saint Louis, but behind the scenes, newly minted President of Baseball Operations High Bloom has been working to bolster the front office staff from a player development and scouting perspective. And we know this is going to be important because the Cardinals went out and said at the end of the season that they're going to be looking to do kind of a moderate rebuild. And when I say rebuild, I want a caution, this is not going to be a full tank and tear down in Saint Louis.

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Speaker 2: It doesn't need to be.

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Speaker 3: But it's more revamping the behind the scenes support staff because from Cardinals ownership down to the Cardinals coaching staff, that consensus is the same for Saint Louis to get back to where it needs to be a top the NL Central and needs to go.

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Speaker 2: Back to being a draft and development club. Well, how do you do that?

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Speaker 3: You continue adding support staff, You go when you expand your player acquisition process, you make some changes to pro scouting, to international scouting. All these changes aren't the additions rather than subtractions.

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Speaker 2: The goal is not cut positions here in Saint Louis.

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Speaker 3: It's to add staff, and we're seeing some of those changes start to take place all right.

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Speaker 4: From my inside man in the Cardinals, I have to ask, how the heck did they get to this spot? Was this a cutback or from what I heard, they just had like a skeleton crew essentially based on what else is going on in Minor League Baseball crossed the other twenty nine teams. So was it just MO and ownership not keeping up with the times. Was it complacency with success.

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Speaker 2: What was it? I think it was a little bit of both.

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Speaker 3: Right, when you're the Cardinals and you're winning consistently as they were over the past six seven years up till twenty twenty three, you can kind of get away with cutting corners, and that's what the Cardinals did with their player development staff. Skeleton is a great way for me to describe how those staff that staffing process looked up until the start of this season.

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Speaker 2: The Cardinals just continued to cut coordinators.

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Speaker 3: And it really wasn't fair to the staff that was still in the player development department because they were just asked to do so many things. For comparison, the Cardinals in twenty twenty three had five full time coordinators. In the minor leagues, teams like the Brewers, the Dodgers, the Mets they have about fifteen. So they were really cut very slim in the player development department, and at a time where free agency contracts and trades come with monumental value.

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Speaker 2: If you're a mid market team.

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Speaker 3: Like the Saint Louis Cardinals, you have to be able to draft and develop, and Saint Louis really got away from the second part of that.

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Speaker 2: The player development was very far behind the scenes.

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Speaker 3: It's Wyhein Bloom was brought in as an advisor in the first place, and ultimately getting his track record to Tampa Bay his track record in Boston why the WIT ownership tied him to be the next president of Baseball Operations. We're going to see the same kind of revamping, if you will, that the Cardinals did of their player development with their scouting. The thing here to remember with the scouting is not that they were bearing. I don't think the scouting was a problem. They just want to add more and this is good when you're the Cardinals and you're going to try to rebuild your organization from within.

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Speaker 2: The more staff members you have, the more scouting.

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Speaker 3: Directors, the more player development directors you have, the better chances you are of being able to develop that talent.

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Speaker 2: And that's going to be the goal in twenty twenty six.

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Speaker 5: Player development is fantastic. I think that's awesome, But there's also an emphasis on player acquisition this winner. Can you talk a little bit about where and what positions they're kind of looking for here As.

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Speaker 3: You move forward, it's going to be more about pro scouting and international scouting. Assistant General manager Scouting director Randy Flores, his job will remain mostly unchanged.

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Speaker 2: The goal is to just get him more support.

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Speaker 3: Like we talked about, the more positions you have, the more people you have on site, the better your overall program can be. So the Cardinals are going to go back to having a more firm emphasis in scouting in Latin America, and our assistant general manager voices Rodriguez, this is not something that they've lacked on.

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Speaker 2: They just want to add more people, more eyes.

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Speaker 3: When we talked to Heim Bloom in his introductory press conference at the end of September, you're seeing a lot of organizations kind of shipped away from pro scouting in general and lieu of models programming all the analytics, right, But the.

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Speaker 2: Cardinals decided to retain all seven.

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Speaker 3: Of their pro scouts and him has said that he would like to ultimately combine both the analytics and the actual on site evaluators in a way to hopefully get the Cardinals in edge back and scouting at the domestic level and at the international level. There doesn't seem to be too big of a concern with amateur scouting. The Cardinals have done really well in terms of the MLB draft, and they also have been aided by two top ten picks in the last two years. So now the goal is to approve the acquisition process from the major league level in pro scouting and go back to being a force in Latin America, especially as you see you guys, most of these teams playing in October have a strong Latin American presence in terms of scouting.

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Speaker 4: All right, I have obviously some mo questions, but I got a first ask. You're talking about players. Forty two million dollars left on Aeronauto's contract. The biggest conversation from last offseason gets rebooted for Katie wou for this offseason. Does he get traded before December?

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Speaker 2: Yeah?

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Speaker 3: I'm thinking about just republishing all of my stories from last trade deadline and just changing the date because it's going to be pretty much the exact same storyline.

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Speaker 2: I'm not sure. I do think the Cardinals will trade Nolan Arnatto this offseason, and I know I said that last year and it didn't happen. But this is different.

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Speaker 3: Because so many different things are at stake here. One Arnaut himself is more open to different landing points. Last year, remember he had just five teams that he would be open to waiving his no trade class for it did not mean that he would say it for sure as the experience and also Cardinals ownership is going to spend a lot or a significant more money and eat more money in that trade, So two things helping the Cardinals and Ronado in that favor there. I don't think it happens before December, though, because what's the rush. The Cardinals have all off season to kind of look and find a suitor. And it's going to be complicated because, like you mentioned, forty two million dollars left on that deal, a full note trade clause, and teams have to be able to find what I believe to still be an elite third baseman. But there has been some obvious signs of decline offensively. He spent most most of the second half hurt, so there are going to be some performance concerns there. Do I think the Cardinals can find a match for Arnado, Absolutely. Do I think it's going to be one of the first trades they make. Probably not, But I would be very surprised, at the risk of repeating myself, very very surprised if he was back with the Cardinals comes from training in twenty six.

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Speaker 4: Wow, we're in a time machine, Katie Wu dressed up as a time machine. We just went back to December twenty twenty fourth. Thank you for reporting to us, Katie Wu. My question is five years from now, your time machine goes five years ahead? Is Jamozlak a Hall of Fame GM? And have Cardinals fans gotten away from the recency bias and actually looked at his entire tenure for what this man has done for Cardinals baseball?

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Speaker 2: I would hope. So.

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Speaker 3: I understand the Mo fatigue, and I'm sure Cardinals fans that's probably the last name they want to hear right now. I do think there is some genuine excitement over him blue, even if the fan base maybe not doesn't necessarily understand fully what this reval process is going.

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Speaker 2: To look like just yet.

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Speaker 3: But it will all come down to, I think, how the Cardinals do over the last five years, which is ultimately not fair to Mow because he will be a part of it. But when you look at his overall tenure for the Saint Louis Cardinals and what he accomplished, not just as an executive in Saint Louis, but as an executive in baseball that I think is a it's at least a Cardinal Red jacket worthy career, and he's done so much for this organization. It's hard to see that right now, given where the current state of the Cardinals stand. But five years from now, I do think that the recency bias maybe will be a little more tempered and we can overall, we can look at his ten overall and say, you know what, that's a pretty good run he had here in Saint Louis.

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Speaker 4: Katie, I set you up, though. Sorry, I am grew and I definitely am very sneaky with my questions. In five years, is John Mozelack actually a GM for another team?

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Speaker 2: Ooh, you know, I don't. I don't know.

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Speaker 3: I think there's he's always going to be a part of Major League Baseball. I think he's gonna take this well deserved er off. But some guys are baseball lifers, and most trucks me as one of those guys. And he hasn't necessarily said that he would not entertain another job in baseball. I think he'd actually be a really good fit working for the league or in the commissioner's opposite. That's something that he'd like to do, whether it's overseen in another baseball organization. I find that hard to see right now, but hey, sometimes you have to be away from something long enough to really start to miss it. My inclination tells me now. But I do think we'll see him back in baseball in the next five year.

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Speaker 5: You're in Toronto switching gears here a little bit. Do you see these Blue Jays team closed in the door? Did the Dodgers come away with Game six er or Yamamoto on the mound?

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Speaker 3: I think the Dodgers saving grace is that Yamamoto is on the mound right now. When you look at that Dodgers offense, I think when you've been looking at Los Angeles maybe it's like just a casual fan, you'd be surprised to see.

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Speaker 2: This offense the way there it is.

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Speaker 3: But this is something that the Dodgers offensive struggled with throughout the season going into.

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Speaker 2: These really just dismal lack of production here.

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Speaker 3: Yamamoto, though, is the guy that you want to start if you're the Dodgers tonight because.

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Speaker 2: He has been.

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Speaker 4: Did our Canadian internet.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I think the Dodgers will, uh, we'll pull this one out.

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Speaker 2: But that offense, that's a that's a big concern.

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Speaker 3: Guys.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure, we got a little we got a little bit of a bump on the Canadian internet. There you're outside internet at the Lulu Bar. Hurt us a little bit. One more, one more world serious question for me, is there a scenario where this game tonight doesn't end in a walk off for the Blue Jays? Do you think the Blue Jays come out and play this as like, oh yeah, we can just we can get to Yamamoto, we can like to me and we've talked about and you've mentioned it. Yamamoto has been dominant and he has he is gonna be the Dodgers saving grace. Is there a scenario where the Blue Jays cake walk to a World Series here tonight?

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Speaker 3: You know, I didn't think Blake Snell threw poorly in Game five, but they ambushed him pretty quickly off the start. I don't see them doing that with Yamamoto, just because of what he looked like his last two appearances.

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Speaker 2: But this Blue Jays team.

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Speaker 3: As someone who didn't really watch a lot of American le ball this year up until the postseason, they have really surprised just how relentless, resilient, and they have all the energy and all the momentum here.

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Speaker 2: So it'd be tough because all Yamamoto has done at this.

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Speaker 3: Point in his career again, whether it's Statesha or in Japan, is delivering big moments like this.

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Speaker 2: But this, this Blue jay Is team has.

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Speaker 3: Shown already they should be absolutely taken seriously. They have power, they have ways to get on base. They when they get hot, they're hot. And this is exactly where they are right now. So I've said this to a compelling game. They had been pretty much from the start. But I still think it goes seven guys, and I think the Blue Jays win it in seven.

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Speaker 4: Katie, thank you for all your coverage of the Cardinals this year, but now you're coverage of the World Series. If you were to dress up as somebody for Halloween, who would it be?

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Speaker 2: Oh, I don't know, something warm because I'm freezing out here. I don't know.

00:11:38
Speaker 3: If I would have known this with a Halloween episode, I would have fowned something on.

00:11:40
Speaker 2: So give me a heads up next time, you guys.

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Speaker 4: Okay, next time, next time on Halloween, we will give you a heads up. But we appreciate you braving the cold outside in Canada, and good luck and join the World Series.

00:11:53
Speaker 2: Thanks guys, we'll talk soon.

00:11:56
Speaker 1: The old card experience was a slow burn, long grind. Right, find the box, find the pack you want, open the pack. Most of the cards?

00:12:09
Speaker 3: Nah?

00:12:10
Speaker 1: Right, you got one that's worth something, Now send it in for grading. I mean, the list goes on and you want to sell it now, you got to put it up. Then you got to ship it out. There's one solution for that, and.

00:12:21
Speaker 5: It's called Arena Club and it's just on a click of a dime. You get on your computer, you type in get the Arena Club app. Go on there, type in, put some money in and type in exactly what kind of cards you want and while la. It's a great experience, and I think that's what people miss nowadays, the experience, the excitement of getting a new card. You never know what you're gonna get, an autograph card, anything you could think of, really cool stuff.

00:12:44
Speaker 1: You can get twenty percent off your first slab pack or card purchase at arenaclub dot com. Slash foul. See what gets Todd father so excited when he gets that digital slab pack. It's like butter Baby.

00:12:58
Speaker 3: Todd.

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Speaker 4: Tony, this is the manager of the San Francisco Giants. I don't think we've had you on since he was announced as the hiring. I think it was a first of all, what is your opinion of bringing on a big league manager as or a college college head coach? I was mixed up head coach and manager. To be a big league manager, I think.

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Speaker 2: It's pretty cool.

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Speaker 5: I gotta be honest with you. He's paving away for some of these college coaches to undoubtedly get a job in the major leagues. Now, this is going to be a huge step for these guys to get this opportunity. Tony's the guy like this is the stepping stone here. If this doesn't pay off, then we don't know what's gonna happen next with college coaches. I mean it's unheard of. You don't see this very often, if not before. The guy talks about vision, and I think people hear that word vision. Oh, everybody has a dream of vision. But when you have a vision and goal and aspirations not only be a manager, but to be a really good man. We've seen his track record, it's pretty dark good. We've seen his energy. He's gonna bring it every day. And I'm one of those guys that used to talk all the time. Cratty and the Doug you know me, we played together there. I always kept telling myself three hours of havoc RecA it, you know, talk bring energy to the boys. And I think this is what's gonna happen. There's gonna be a couple of innings where they're not doing well. He's gonna go to the guys, let's go pick it up. Some guys might take that the wrong way, just because they're pros pros, but guess what some teams need that they need a kick in the button, a boost. And I am, you know, seeing some of the quotes here, I was like, you know, in this one, Vytla, you may get the opportunities, but I don't know if you'll have a boss like Buster Posey. I thought that was pretty cool. First year guy in Buster Posey, I played with him. How exciting of a guy he is too. He talks about vision, he's a winner. He's a winner, and I honestly can't wait to see if he changes his coaching techniques as he moves forward, you know, during spring training coming up next year.

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Speaker 4: The beauty of a big league season is one hundred and sixty two games he play. I think they had seventy three games the year they won a National championship, including regular season in postseason, but I could be wrong. I thought that's what it said. They're gonna know if this press conference where he said all the right words he said, you know, I was dissecting and consuming a lot of ideas and the words that came to me, like all that stuff is gonna get washed away. All I've heard about Tony Vittello is what a great guy he is, and that's from ex players, that's from other coaches, But nobody really likes competing against him, which is a positive thing. But one hundred and sixty two games plus six weeks of spring training, you're gonna know what this person really is. I think that's where some managers that have been managers recently and fallen off and really haven't re emerged as managers, they kind of put this front out there. So if I were to give in advice to Tony Vittello and tell him what the big leagues is like, the big leagues is like a grind. The big leagues is like a relationship, with your wife, with you know, somebody that you're committed to, because at the end of one hundred and sixty two games, you want to make the playoffs. You want to get the most out of every one of your players. He's not going to take a single at bat. He's going to have to believe in the stuff that he's telling them, and he's going to have to have hard conversations with guys. To me, I think it's one of those things that he has no big lead experience, but he has a lot of people experience and a lot of baseball experience. So my hope is that the two words that he came up with from his press conference, risk and challenge. He's willing to risk, you know, being humbled in situations, but he also needs to challenge people. So I think it's something that I like the press conference. I thought he seemed very genuine and ultimately he could really suck. But if Buster Posey picked him.

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Speaker 5: I'm on board with yeah, and I totally agree. Only time will tell.