Terry Francona:
For all the talk and all the rumors, are you excited about what ultimately would be the final composition of your roster come spring training?
Terry Francona: We're in December. I'm very confident that when we go to that first day in spring training, we'll have a team that everybody's pretty excited about. Our guys do a great job of putting giving us a team where the people in uniform—when we feel the responsibility to get them ready to play because they do a great job of getting players.
What have these meetings been like for you compared to years past? Are they more hectic or are things on edge at all?
Terry Francona:The only thing that really put me on edge was the walk (laughter). I mean, I've been lost more than—I don't know where I'm going. I don't think anybody else does. I've got blisters. You know what, I actually—when you kind of come down, you get excited because you know you're going to see people you haven't seen all year, and about two hours into it, it's like, you know what, I'm ready to go home. (Laughter.) I haven't been outside since I got here.
Have you given any thought to the Mitchell report and will you talk to any players?
Terry Francona:: You know what, I'm so caught up in the Watson report, I have no time to think about that. You know what, seriously, I don't know. I really don't know—I don't know if anybody knows what to expect. I mean, there's been a lot of—what's the word—conjecture. I don't know that anybody knows. It will be interesting.
Speaking of Watson, have you bumped into Bob since you've been here?
Terry Francona: Yeah, I was just teasing him. I don't know if he appreciated it as much as I thought he would. (Laughter.) It won't be a big deal.
You mentioned stuff flying around the lobby, and even though a team tries to improve itself on a daily basis, as a manager, do you ever seek resolution to think, okay, I just want to know that these are going to be my five starters, etc., etc. Or do you have to kind of roll with the punches, and if a change is made, a change is made?
Terry Francona: Well, here I don't pay a whole lot of attention. I mean, you take one trip through the lobby, your whole team is going to be different. But that's just part of it. It's probably good for baseball. Creates interest and everything. Doesn't necessarily mean it's going to happen.
But also during the winter, I think you have to be patient, because like, you know what, if a team makes a move, you don't necessarily make a move that very next hour to compensate for, you know, fans that I that I want to see your 25-man roster right now. It doesn't always work like that. Our guys, they have got a pretty consistent approach with what they are doing. I don't spend a lot of time worrying about it.
What's the wildest rumor you've heard about involving you guys?
Terry Francona: There's been a boatload.
Any just off-the-wall, ridiculous?
Terry Francona: I don't like talking about—I'm not comfortable talking about players that could be even talked about being traded. I understand it's part of the game, but from where I sit, I don't ever want them to think of themselves as—somebody referred to somebody as a "poker chip" last night. These are our players. I can't talk about guys like that.
Can you allow yourself to feel comfortable as a front-runner now?
Terry Francona: Oh, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. And we'll talk about that the first day of spring training, how we handle moving forward. Because that's what we need to do is move forward. In '04, you know, we talked about it, but obviously none of us had been through it. And you try to answer the questions correctly, and I think you legitimately mean it. But still, you have a ring ceremony as the season starts.
So the people that say, can you fully put it behind you, I don't think you really can; but handling it, answering the questions, because inevitably there will be a ton of questions. But also realizing it will be a new year and won't win you any games is important.
Is it different for you feeling that even though you are not necessarily chasing the Yankees every year --
Terry Francona: I don't know that I felt like that. I think we were chasing them when we're playing them, but I don't think we got real caught up in all of the other stuff. The 86 years of frustration, I wasn't around. So we really—I think our ballclub does a really good job of staying in the moment. So it's kind of like me saying, chasing the Yankees, it's not staying in the moment. We just try to beat who we're playing. Again, we have some pretty good players that seem to understand that and agree with that.
What do you think when you hear guys like Schilling and Lowell leaving money on the table in free agency to come back to Boston because they enjoy that clubhouse that much?
Terry Francona: I'm thrilled. I think that's the first time Schilling ever left anything on the table (laughter). I'm sure he'll appreciate that, too. (Laughter.) You know what, I'm thrilled. I think it says a lot for our organization. I think it says just as much about the players. It's good. Again, I think Theo and those guys do a great job of kind of walking a line. We all believe in loyalty and things like that, and as a manager, it's certainly important. As a general manager, I think maybe you can make mistakes out of loyalty. And Theo walks that line really well. You know, getting guys back, but at a price that works for everybody can't be very easy to do, and he does it great.
What does it mean to have each of those two back individually?
Terry Francona: Real excited. Schill has not forgotten how to compete. He understands how to win. It's our job as these guys get some more wear and tear and some age on them to keep them in situations where they can, again, stay healthy and productive.
Somebody asked me about a six-man rotation; that may not necessarily be the case, but I understand the question. And that's why we're always discussing things like that, because we have a little bit of a unique—you've got Beckett that could probably throw every four days. You've got Wake that's pitched a lot of innings. Schill, same thing. And Daisuke wants to pitch every other hour. (Laughter.) So there are some interesting diversities on our staff and we need to make it work.
Do you get any updates on how the Schill diet plan is going in the off-season?
Terry Francona:: I've texted him a few times, but I probably said enough when I said leave it on the table. I've had some fun at his expense. I'm excited that he wants to do that. I think that's—again, we talked about this last year, and not just Schill, but guys in general. When you get some age on you, you have to work harder to keep your level. And you know, sometimes with the money that these players make, sometimes they don't really want to do it. Their children are growing up, they have other interests, and I'm excited he wants to do that, because I think it will make him better.
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