The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Astros GM James Click Joins The Matt Thomas Show

Episode Date: February 20, 2020

Astros GM James Click Joins The Matt Thomas Show At Spring Training

Let's say hello to the brand new general manager. This has to sound really good. The brand new general manager of the Houston Astros. James, click with us here on the Matt Thomas show. James, it is Matt and Ross. First of all, congratulations. Secondly, welcome to Houston. You've been here, obviously, many, many times.

Third, I have to ask you to open up our conversation. When this job came open, you went to your bride and said, hey, we've lived in Tampa all these years. What do you think about me kicking the tires about going to Houston? What was her initial reaction? to be honest we didn't know that much about the town you know i've been here a few times with the team we came here during the uh their playoffs in 2019 but uh you know coming on a baseball trip isn't isn't really a good uh you know measure for what the towns really like and uh i mean her reaction

was was curiosity and excitement but the more that we learned about the town the more excited that we got about the culture and the diversity and everything the town has to offer I'm always curious about what kind of questions are being asked in high-level baseball or sports organizational meetings. Obviously, they want to know your approach and how to build an organization. How fast did you have to learn the Astros modeling system, or did you have a really good grasp of it even before this job came open? Well, I had a grasp of it just because we have to keep tabs on the other 29 teams and have a feel for all the players and the assets that they have.

but there's no substitute for being up close and talking to the coaches that are with these guys every day and talking to the front office staff that drafted them and developed them. So, you know, I have an outsider's grasp on it, but there's no substitute for the insider's grasp. All right. So you find out you get the job. When you took the flight over here, maybe you've had a chance of laying your hotel room. What's the very first thing you want to address beyond just trying to put together the 25-man roster to start the season? or is it really everything just about that right now? Well, and I'm having trouble with this too, but it's a 26 man.

26, I was just about to say. It's 26 now. It's really strange. Yeah. One extra decision. No, no, no. I'm having trouble with it, too. I say 25 all the time.

You know, the job on day one is going to be the job on the last day, which is trying to put this organization in the position to win as many championships as possible. You know, what that looks like specifically, it's going to be a lot of communication, a lot of help from the staff that's already here. The staff that I've met have all been tremendous. I've been really, really impressed with the group that they have, and I'm going to be leaning hard on them, and I've told them as much because they're the experts.

They know this organization inside and out, and I don't. Now, there's benefits to that outside perspective that I can bring, but, you know, day one, it's going to be, you know, just a lot of conversations with Dusty and the rest of the staff here. and trying to get a handle on, you know, what they see and what they think needs to be done. Astros GM, James Click here on the Matt Thomas show. And James, of course, when you heard about this job and coming here, obviously with everything that happened, one of the things that factor in

is the draft picks that have been taken away by Commissioner Manfred. Did that cross your mind at all? Did that matter at all or factor in? Or is it you're thinking more of the long term when he talked about becoming the Astros GM? Well, of course, it crosses your mind. I mean, every aspect of an organization has to cross your mind when you're considering taking a position like this. But that said, you know, the baseball draft is honestly famous for having, you know, players from the third, fourth, eighth, 31st, you know, rounds. Even guys you don't even get drafted at all, you know, can contribute at the major league level.

And so while it's definitely a challenge not having a first or second round pick the next two years, years, if we have the right processes in place and if we go out there and identify the talent and we line up the board properly, I think we have a chance to add a lot of really valuable talent to the organization, just like every other organization does when they do it right. And, you know, there's a reason the draft is 40 rounds and not two rounds. So we'll use the 38 picks that we have to grab as much talent as we can. James Click, General Manager of the Houston Astros with us here on the Matt Thomas show. James, we are always, have been accustomed to the last couple of years.

covering the team in spring training that there has always been a nice big contract announcement, whether it be JV, whether it be about Jose Al-Tube. How much will George be on the mind for you and for Jim over the next month or so? Well, I guess I'd have a question for you. I mean, does Dusty and me signing count as a big contract announcement? Let me tell you something, James. I've done my due diligence on you. You're a big time hire, my friend.

I'm not going to get around. I mean, you left, let me tell you, you know what you left? You left horrible highways in Tampa, St. Petersburg. You left the great, what's the name of the convenience store that has a good sub-samblages. You left that. For Tex-Mex here in Houston, Texas, you're already making the right decision. I appreciate that. No, I am really excited about it and the new opportunities.

You know, with regards to the previous question, you know, that's something that I would want to talk to the staff about. I mean, when you, you know, enter into a long-term contract with the player, it's not just about the performance on the field. It's about the player off the field. And, you know, I've heard good things about the players, but would want to do my due diligence before, you know, entering into any sort of negotiation with them for those reasons. Have you, in your mind, created a structure of how you want the baseball operations? Will they be moving pieces around that we will know, not know about? Will it be subtle? Will it be massive?

of how have you in your mind as you created your own department and you now have, how will that be configured, do you think? That depends on the staff that you have in place. You know, obviously at the raise, we've done things one way, and, you know, but that's as much a reflection of the personnel that you have there. I wouldn't want to bring that exact structure to the Astros because it's entirely dedicated on the people and their ability to do those jobs. And so, you know, for me, it's going to be a lot of listening and learning and talking to the incredible staff that we have here already and getting a feel for what they want to do and what they're capable of and what they're energized by and then trying to arrange the department and give them the support that they need to be as good at their jobs as they possibly can be.

James, one of the things that Tampa Bay has been known for is the opening pitcher, and that hasn't really been something that's done here. obviously going to Justin Verlander and said, hey, you're going to have an opener today. That's probably not going to fly. But have you thought about that strategy and possibly using it here? And also, can you help me? I think it should be, after the opener, you should call it the headliner instead of the primary pitcher. You know, somebody is going to come up with the right name for all these different pitching roles that people are coming up with. But it's not me.

That's not my strength is those kind of things. But, you know, the strategy itself was born out of necessity. You know, at the point where we started doing it in Tampa, we had, you know, one or at times zero true starting pitchers on the roster. We had just been decimated by injuries. And so, you know, it was a reaction to that. It was never a goal. You know, the goal is to get five starters that can go out there and, you know, that can get

the 27 outs or, you know, as many of them as they can. goal in the game is get those 27 outs as efficiently and effectively as possible. And, you know, with the staff that we have here, I think that, you know, that we could do that more traditionally. But it's also a situation where as the roster changes and as people's roles change and as, and as events come up, you know, injuries and the like, I would hope that we would be open to trying different things and seeing if we can get those 27 ounces as effectively as possible. Final question. What do you take away from your time from the raise? We were talking about how the history isn't there of spending big time on a free agency. Is it really good drafting? Is it staying with minor league prospects? What would be the one thing you would like to bring over from your days in the raise to say, hey, I think we've done it pretty well this way, and we can certainly add it to a team that isn't afraid to spend money when necessary? It's the culture more than anything. But that feeds back into all the successes.

that the race have had over the years. But if you are going to ask people to take risks, if you're going to ask them to innovate, if you're going to ask them to do things differently, you have to create a culture where they know that you have their back, and they know that the organization has their back. And that's what I'm hoping to bring here to Houston, is to create a culture where every employee knows that they are valued.

And when you create that, that's when the magic happens of people coming up with good ideas. And they're not afraid to speak out and say, you know, I think this is something that we could try that could help us win a few more ball games. And if you do that in scouting and player development and every other aspect of baseball operations, that's when you can really fire on all cylinders. And then championships come. And that's the goal. All right.

Nobody in Tampa's listening. So tell me, how much are you going to miss the trap? You know, it's going to be a weird experience going back to the drop in April and walking past the home clubhouse and having to go down there to say hi to Guy Gallagher and his crew in the visiting clubhouse. I know that trap gets a bad rap from a lot of people, but I've really grown to love it. There's something about that place. I mean, we saw it in the playoffs when it gets rocking, it's a lot of fun. And, you know, I know that they've talked about wanting to do something different there. But, you know, to me, there's always going to be something special about that.

Yeah, having Carver the series last year, my first trip to St. Petersburg for that, I will say, it got noisy. It was a lot more intimate. It wasn't as bad as it is portrayed on television. I just think you're getting a nice upgrade here at MinuteMade Park. James, it is a pleasure to have you on our city. Congratulations on the new job experience. We look forward to getting to knowing a little bit when we get to spring training in a couple weeks. Awesome.

Sounds good. Thank you. You got it. James Click joining us. The new general manager of the Houston Astros.