Bud Black joins Friar Territory

00:00:07
Speaker 1: The San Diego Patres have added Buddy Black and Will Myers. Welcome the twenty fifteen I am Marty Caswell. That is Kyle Glazer. We here on the Friar Territory Network, part of Fowl Territory TV.

00:00:19
Speaker 2: And that is.

00:00:20
Speaker 1: Harry Buddy Black, Buddy, how are you today?

00:00:23
Speaker 2: And my friend I am It's so good to see you again.

00:00:26
Speaker 1: I am shocked to see you back in this capacity, but welcome back to San Diego.

00:00:30
Speaker 3: Well, thank you Marty, Hi Kyle, it's good to be back. I'm excited, you know. I You know, when you spend time in an organization, whether as a player, a coach, a manager, you know, those organizations you know you have an investment in, right, there's a there's a piece of you that is part of them. And in coming back here obviously managing this team for you know, eight plus seasons, you know, a big part of me is a padre and always will be. So to get reunited with with the organization, it feels great. I think it's a good fit. I've had great conversations with a j and Josh Stine over the last couple of months, and you know, we got together formally, you know, over the last couple of months, and obviously it was announced yesterday. I mean over the last couple of weeks, and it was announced yesterday. So I'm excited to be back and help. And I think that you know, anybody in professional baseball who has a competitive spirit wants only one thing, and that's to get into the playoffs, get to the World Series, and ultimately win the World Series. So hopefully I can help and support and aid our organization in that endeavor.

00:01:57
Speaker 4: Buddy, it's a very small fraternity of managers who were former big league pitchers. Of course, you're a central figure in that fraternity. Craig Stamon is a new member. Yeap, What advice or words of wisdom would you have for Craig that are maybe specific to the picture of making the transition to managing.

00:02:14
Speaker 3: Well, I've been asked out a lot, you know, even going back to my days when I transitioned from Anaheim to San Diego as from pitching coach to manager. And I spoke with Craig a couple of weeks ago, and you know, I basically told them. Even hear this before from other people offering advice to to leaders, be yourself. I mean, I think you have to be as genuine and as authentic as possible. Major league players, you know, have a knack to sniff out somebody who's not real. And from everything I've been told about Craig, and even in our conversation, I can tell that this guy's a gym as well. Respect he's well liked. And if he just goes out there and be and be Craig Stammon, He's gonna be fine because I think he possesses the leadership qualities. He possesses what it takes, you know, to to lead a team. And I think that's been you know, that's been validated. I think the last couple of years that you know, he's come off the field and even later in his career as a player, you know all the things that I've heard, So again, he's gonna in this day and age. You know, there's a there's a big coaching staff. Coaching staff has coaching staff enlargement has been real. He's got great coaches around him. He's going to use them. I've told him to take advantage of those guys. He's definitely going to relate to pitchers. Half the team are pitchers, thirteen out of twenty six are are our pitchers. But you know, his relaylationship with the other thirteen guys I think will be solid because you know, he was a player, and I think leadership, you know, doesn't really reflect what position you played as a major league it reflects what type of person you are in that clubhouse.

00:04:16
Speaker 1: All that being said, though, what's the biggest challenge he is going to have? Not just I mean first not just the first time manager, a first time coach in major baseball.

00:04:25
Speaker 3: You know, I think with with Craig, I think the newness of all this will be the challenge. I mean, every day there'll be something new for him to you know, to handle. So uh but you know, for him, he's been you know, in a role with the Padres where he's been able to observe, you know, a lot of different things from his perspective, the front office situation, field personnel, interacting with players and and Craig's very astute and observant. So he's taken this all in the last three or four years since his retirement. Uh, but you still don't know until you experience it. Uh, you know what it takes to go through it, but you know it's a it's a full day. I mean there's you know, there's a you know, responsibility really from the time you wake up, you know, coming from a lot of different angles, whether front office, whether it could be ownership, whether it could be the media, whether it could be the coaching staff, whether it could be the players. You know, a lot of different forces upon you. But uh, you've got to be you got to be ready for it, right, You got to be ready for anything. And so I think the you know, the game of adjustments for a first time managers is probably going to be as big as challenge and be able to handle that tannel that on a daily basis.

00:05:55
Speaker 1: But you are the senior advisor to baseball ops. What exactly does that job in tell and how do you best describe how your relationship with AJ Proler has evolved since twenty fifteen.

00:06:07
Speaker 3: Well, I'll start with the relationship first. You know, I got to know a j right when he came on board in the in the early fall of twenty fourteen. So the relationship started then. And you know, again the first time general manager, he had a lot going on. You know, I was managing the team, but he had to get his feet on the ground first. So and he had a you know, a front office to assemble. He had to meet a ton of people. You know, that is a you know, a general manager or president of baseball operations. That's a huge job. So you know, we obviously communicated, were in contact because that's the nature of his position in my position, so you know, everything was fine. And then when I got let go in May, you know, things obviously changed for both of us. He was still you know, coordinating everything he needed to do as a as a general manager and in building up the franchise. And then I moved on to Anaheim and moved on to Colorado. But in the in the years it followed, uh you know, we would our past would cross whether it was at Petco or cors Field or in the winter time, and the relationship was always very professional and cordial. And and getting to know him like I did early on, uh you know, I uh, you know, I really respected and admired his work, ethic, his passion for baseball, how much he loved it, how much he loved talking players, how much he loved scouting. I mean that was evident you know in the you know, in the months that we were together. And then you know, I was doing my thing in Colorado, he was doing his thing here. I mean we were just you know, two you know, two baseball guys in a in a in an industry that is, you know, in a lot of ways, a small fraternity of men and women. So with as it unfolded over the last few months, you know, talking baseball again and in the possibility of a comeback, it was very natural. Are are our conversations, you know, because we both share you know, common likes. We like to win, we like to watch players, we like to help players, and and ultimately you know, trying to get this organization into the playoffs again and advance to the World Series and ultimately win one. I mean that's that's a common goal. But and for me to help that, the role sort of entails, you know, sort of multifaceted things, right. I think, you know, to dive into the minor league system first, to you know, to see where the talent is of our you know, one hundred and sixty five minor league players, so all be into our system. I'll be in spring training, you know, both watching the big league team, but also on the lower fields, you know, watching watching our group of young players and what we have there, uh, you know, evaluating our major league team, helping Craig and his staff and talking to players and uh, you know, lending my support there. And as it relates to the draft, there's probably a component there of watching some amateur players along the way and helping our scouting department if needed, you know, to watch high school players, junior college players, college players as it relates to the draft. So multi pronged probably job description, but it's all. It all centers around the players and and what I can do to to help Aj and his group, to help player development and to help the scouting department.

00:09:53
Speaker 4: But I want to circle back to your answer to the previous question. We talked about Craig Staman and there's going to be a learning curve. That's always true whenever someone moves into position, but especially given that he has never coached or managed at any professional level of baseball before. How long of a learning curve from your experience will it be. Do you expect to be signed that I'll take months before he's kind of where he needs to be. What what's the timeline you expect?

00:10:18
Speaker 3: Well, you know that that depends I think, uh, And I'll go back to even though this is a new a new role for him, a new position and a and a new obviously big responsibility. Your days as a player sort of sets you up for this. Uh. I. I can only suspect that Craig as he grew in his career as a as a Washington National and a San Diego Padre, he was well respected in the clubhouse as a teammate. And there's a there's a natural leadership quality to two guys who get this position. Uh. And it's it's evident by those people around you, those people who watch you, and those people who end up making decisions on these on these hires. So I think Craig had it naturally to, you know, to maybe be in this role. And it started as a player. And I think as he got older and he got into his career and especially here in San Diego as a as a pitcher with service time and into his and pitching into his late thirties and players looking up to him as you know, a mentor, it all started there, so uh. And then transitioning to outside of being a player into his role you know, with with padres, with AJ, with player development and scouting. He learned a lot, but it goes back to the natural ability of who he is as a person, and uh, you know, some guys adapt awful quick. Some guys it takes a little longer. I'm not sure the timeline for Craig. I mean, all, you know, all be you know, hopefully uh you know, be a great sounding board for him to answer some questions. But uh, there's too many people that I've spoken to who feel, you know, this is a really good fit for him in this position. So you know, time will tell. I know, he's surrounded by some great coaches on the on the major league staff. He's got the support of the front office. They know him, They uh you know, vetted the process to him be the manager. So I'm sure they feel good about it. Uh. And now it's a it's a really it's a collective thing, you know. Obviously he's got to make you know, hard decisions in game pitching, moves, lineups, but that will all be collaborated with the coaches. But again, I think his uh you know, his natural ability to uh you know, to lead into to be the person that he is. Will we'll take forefront and all this, but.

00:12:59
Speaker 1: Where former players Will Myers is also rejoined the Padres as special assignment coach in player development. Is there anybody else coming back from your twenty fifteen team as well as Matt Kemp coming back to help in media relations?

00:13:14
Speaker 3: Not that I'm aware of. You know, I just became of Will just a few days ago, and I again, I think, you know, just I haven't spoken with Will, but you know, reading some of his quotes over the last twenty four hours, it seems as though, you know, he's excited to contribute and to and to work with players. I think as a you know, as a as a ball player, you you feel comfortable around players if you have that ability. I think he does have that. You know. I made a comment about some time in the in the batting cage with some young players not known, not knowing whether he would enjoy it, but I guess he did, and it gave him some some fuel to, you know, express an interest in coming back and helping. So, uh, we'll see. But you know, uh, you know, Will's affable. Uh, he's he's communicative. Uh, he likes to talk baseball and there's a knowledge base there of hit of hitting. So we'll see. But I'm I'm I'm excited to see Will you know, along with you know, the list of other guys, uh you know who uh you know who are are helping the front office and player development, right Trevor, Uh you know Trevor's brother, Glenn Hoffman, Mark Loretta, A. J Ellis, Alan Craig, Scott Service. I mean there's a you know, a wealth of experienced baseball guys that are here, are here to help the players and here here to help the organization. And uh, you know, the growth never stops. It's always a process of trying to get better. And I think the group that Aj is surrounded himself with is a really really good group.

00:15:00
Speaker 4: Budd you obviously were a central figure in this organization from twenty thousand and seven un till twenty fifteen, eventually moved over to become the Rockies manager. So seeing them from the outside versus the inside, what was your impression of this team, of this organization from the opposing dugout during your time as the Rockies manager.

00:15:18
Speaker 3: Well, you know, you saw a building, That's the thing that you know. I think we all saw all across baseball, right from all of us in the industry, and I was able to see it a little bit up closer. Right, because being in the same division and even living here in San Diego in the off season, you know, momentum started and it just hasn't stopped. And that's you know, a tribute to AJ and his staff and the new ownership group that came in right around twenty fourteen when I was when I was leaving that you know, it just kept building and it was just a force that you know, was in a way relentless, right. I mean, that's that's how AG operates from you know, those first slew of trades and the winner of twenty fourteen with with Kemp and Norris and Shields and Myers and Kimberl and Upton Man. I mean, wow, right right off the bat, and then it just hasn't stopped, you know, from Hosmer to Machado and others along the way, and his resourceful resourcefulness out of the draft to really pick well, a tribute to his scouts on the amateur side and the pro side to acquire players through the draft and through trades and then as needed, making evaluation of those players and trading them off for you know, Sodo and Tanner, Spot and others. I mean, it's just it's you know, it's it's a he's been a force and you can see a building. And I think it's been noticed nationwide across the industry of baseball that the Padres are here, They're for real, They're not And you know, a lot of credit goes to, you know, the ownership backing AJ and and AJ being who he is to just to get after it and and it was all recognized by all of us in the industry.

00:17:20
Speaker 1: One thing about the San Diego Padres era under a J. Puller, it is certainly never boring. Buddy Black, it is so.

00:17:26
Speaker 2: Good to see you. I can't want to see you.

00:17:27
Speaker 1: Whether it's gonna be at fan Festa Pecka Park, perhaps will be in a San Diego Stea game at Via House Arena, maybe it'll be in spring training.

00:17:33
Speaker 2: But I am welcome back to San Diego. Really never left.

00:17:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you guys. It's good to be back. It's good to be uh back with familiar faces who you know, love the Padres, who care you know. It's it's exciting for me where I am and in my career and you know, hopefully I can like I said eight and help and support us get to where we want to go.

00:17:58
Speaker 1: All right, Well, good stuff with Buddy Black. Great catching up with him. He is now the senior advisor to Baseball OPS.

00:18:04
Speaker 2: I had to.

00:18:05
Speaker 1: Stop myself Kyle about twenty five times from excuse me from referring to him as the Podres manager. I know, I will slip up during the regular season, so we'll see. By the way, the one question I wish I had been to ask him, did this did the conversation, the dialogue with Josh Stein and aj Peler happen after Mike Schultzs resignation or before?

00:18:25
Speaker 2: I'm just curious. Yeah.

00:18:26
Speaker 4: Look, I mean it's saying where you know, we've seen some things and just conversations. Yeah, it was something that kind of came about after Buddy, you know, things ended with the Rockies. There are some I want to call him rumors, but there was some thought, you know, even toward the end of the regular season that you know, the Podres could bring him back in some sort of advisory capacity. So it did predate Mike Show a little bit. But look, Buddy Black's a great baseball mind. I think a lot of people look at some of the overall records and make judgments, but it's not correct. I mean, he was operating with the Potters team that had payrolls in the forty million dollar range at times. Then he went to the Rockies, an organization that we all know about their issues, and even despite that, he was nationally Manager of the Year at the Podres and twenty ten had a great season there, took the Rockies to back to back postseasons. So he's one of the most respected individuals in the game, both for his baseball knowledge and just who he is as a person. Having him back in the Potterys organization is certainly going to be a boost, a.

00:19:22
Speaker 2: Huge boon for Craig Stammon.

00:19:23
Speaker 1: And speaking of Craig Stanman, earlier this week, the guys from foul Territory TV had Craig Stanmon on the show and he talked about a variety of topics. Is there anything that jumped out at you in particular, because I know it.

00:19:35
Speaker 3: Did for me.

00:19:37
Speaker 4: Yeah, Craig Stamon definitely hit on a few topics that were notable for me. First and foremost, he talked about he's still in contact with Mike Shilt and we've talked about the style of play, the standard Mike Shilt said, and how that needs to be continued, and Craig Stammon really established that, yes, he intends to do that. That is very much something on his mind, which I think is really important. He talked about Joe Musgrove not being on any sort of coming off of Tommy John surgery, which I thought was interesting and again, we'll see how that goes as well.

00:20:05
Speaker 3: And at this.

00:20:06
Speaker 1: Point in his career, at this point in his career, there wasn't going to be a limit on Musgrove.

00:20:11
Speaker 4: Yeah, and understandably too, because you have to keep in mind Joe Musgrove has had extra rehab time a lot of times with Tommy John surgeries. They say twelve to eighteen months, actually thirteen to seventeen, but just with the timing of it and going into the off season, Joe Musgrove is going to be on the higher end of recovery time. So hopefully that makes a difference and just allows him to last a little bit longer. And he talked a little bit about Luisa Rise and just how valuable he is and what a valuable member of the Potters he was. Look, we've talked about on the show and lots of places talk about Luisa Rise is very, very very divisive. At the end of the day, he can hit. The hardest thing to do in Major League Baseball today is make consistent contact, and he does that better than anyone else in baseball. I always think it's funny people post like the stat cast, you know, green and red lines and showing him bottom of this, that and the other thing. It's like, yeah, but he's one hundredth percentile in the most important So we've talked about he doesn't fit the Potters and their needs. He will fit a lot of teams. The Angel should have signed them already. I mean they need contact in the worst way. And not to mention someone who actually can teach their guys how to make contact, which Luisa Rys does. Staman also talks about the impact Rise had on other guys. So that was all out to me. What about you.

00:21:20
Speaker 2: He's a great positive influence in that clipbhouse.

00:21:23
Speaker 1: And by the way, I saw from his ig that he's working out with Nelson Cruz get and getting some work.

00:21:29
Speaker 2: The Rise thing was good, I know.

00:21:30
Speaker 1: And by the way, just to set that up, I don't think that he wasn't asked do you want him back?

00:21:34
Speaker 2: Necessarily?

00:21:35
Speaker 1: You know, he was asking, you know, what's the scouting report on Luisa Rise? What does he bring to a team. So I know Padrey Fans's like, oh no, no, you can't have this guy back. We need some slug in for his base.

00:21:44
Speaker 2: That was interesting, though.

00:21:45
Speaker 1: The thing that seemed to really let people on fire was the idea that Craig Stammond's been in regular contact with Mike Schultz. And this is what I'll say about that. Number One, it's logical. He's not asking him to set his lineup. He's not asking him, you know, how to deal with the coaching staff. He's asking for his vice the first time manager, you know, how do you prepare for spring training? What are the things that you need to know? And whether you like Mike Schuld or you did not, or you're concerned about the rumors about you know, his relationships with the coaching staff and and previous.

00:22:11
Speaker 2: For James, he he won.

00:22:13
Speaker 1: He won with the Padres playoffs and back to back years, right, And the important thing is the players bought into him. He was very well liked inside that locker room by the players and he knew had to Forgeoe's relationships. So good on Craig Stammon.

00:22:28
Speaker 4: Were people who on Earth is upset about this. This is very standard and he should be doing that talk.

00:22:34
Speaker 2: You've been on social media? Have you heard of this thing called twitter or ax or whatever it's called.

00:22:41
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just it's logical and what kind of a woman think, Kyle? For what it tells me though about Craig Stalmmon is the guy wants to learn everything. He doesn't have a huge ego where you know what it's going to be about me, I'm leaving the ship now, it's my way. He is someone who's going to be a sponge and taken as much information as he possibly we can to give the Padre's just you know, the biggest edge and himself.

00:23:04
Speaker 4: Sorry everyone, this is standard. New manager comes in, there's a very tight fraternity within the managerial ranks. This happens everywhere. This is I am stunned. People got upset over this. New manager comes in, talks to old manager to just hey, pick his brain on you know, certain players, certain relationships, and especially a first time manager like Craig Stamon and a first time coach like Craig Stammon again has never coached or manage at any level of baseball, reaching out to Mike Schilt, who is one of the most respected and experienced baseball men in the industry right now, has held every role imaginable, climbed from rookie ball coaching staffs to a major league manager. That is a tremendous, tremendous resource for information. Anyone who's upset about this, I'm sorry, Like this is this is so standard, and it's exactly what Craig Stamond should do, and the fact he is doing it a shouldn't be surprising and b is a really really, really good thing. If you're upset about this, you need to find other things in life to be upset about, because this is so similar. It's not one of them.

00:24:11
Speaker 1: The only thing I don't want Stammon asking Shult about is how to ask how to answer a question when your line up a second guest, or you talk about someone going into a slop. That's it, that's it, just it's all stuff great, the post game, the pre game, Craig Stalmon, go ahead and do your thing.

00:24:28
Speaker 4: And there's so many there's so many things that people don't think about. That's just kind of you know, routine. Hey, when in the day should I do this? What's the right time to do this. These are things that go a long way into having a functioning coach player relationship. That are pretty mundane, but if you've never done it before, you really need to understand how to do it, at least to the level expected of a big league manager. So again, this is a good thing. I'm shocked and just maybe I shouldn't be, because Twitter being what it is, I still call it Twitter. But yeah, I thought it was a really, really insightful interview. I encourage everyone to check it out on foul Territory and another Big Potter's interview. Mason Miller joined the show as well. He had some interesting things to say, particularly about his decision to remain a reliever and Marty. We talked about this, that's where he's best, that's where he's comfortable, and that's what he's going to do in twenty twenty six. I thought it was interesting. He noted he's not closing the door for future years, which is saying Stammon did as well, but in twenty twenty six, this is the best role for him for the Padres and that's what they're going to roll with.

00:25:30
Speaker 1: It was good stuff you and I would encourage you to go back and find the entire interview with Mason Miller, who also talked about being teammates with Clayton Kershaw and the WBC. He is changing his walk up music. I think he's narrowed it down to two songs. It's not going to be nickelback that was so so so so last year. Actually it's actually longer than that.

00:25:48
Speaker 2: And what else. Oh, in one important part he thought about he talked about the edge.

00:25:52
Speaker 1: He thinks that the pictures are going to have having Craig Stanmon as a manager.

00:25:56
Speaker 2: So I encourage you find that entire interview on Foul Tara Tory TV.

00:26:01
Speaker 1: Do not forget, by the way, Padres fans to like and subscribe to this show. We didn't have time today because we went along with Buddy Black, but send your questions and your Padres questions in for the next mail bag. One last thing, if I'm may Kyle, I was cleaning out my Tacoma it's a two thousand and six and I came across these miniature fridge bobblehead magnets, Khalila Green, Jake, Peeve, Buddy Black, the Blue Padres Man.

00:26:30
Speaker 2: Things have changed since then.

00:26:32
Speaker 4: That is perfect. I was cleaning out my garage the other day and went through some old boxes and found a chase heavily bobblehead circa of like twenty twelve maybe, so yeah, no, there's there's always some goodies to be found. But that's perfect timing finding that little mini. So I don't remember those, I mean I was, you know, do I mine?

00:26:50
Speaker 1: We're still yeah, mine were still like they were still in the box. It was they were wrapped. They hadn't been opened yet. I don't remember this, but they are. They are fig fridge mannuts, fridge magnets.

00:26:59
Speaker 3: They work.

00:26:59
Speaker 4: I'll say one, maybe see what you can get on either. I feel like those are rare enough they might actually be worth something. You never know.

00:27:06
Speaker 1: I agree. All right, Kyle, A lot of fun today. Thanks again to Bud Black and the Padres. We really really enjoy the interview. Have a wonderful weekend. I'm already Caswell, that is Kyle Glazer. You are watching Friar Territory on the Foul Territory TV network. Have a wonderful weekend and we will talk to you next week.