AR: Good evening folks, and welcome to The Fast Track, your source for all the news from the world of the Pittsburgh Greyhounds. I'm Andy Russell, and with me as always, Dale Spencer. It's an exciting night here on The Fast Track... Dale, what do we have for the fans tonight?
DS: Well, Andy, the big question, of course, is who will be calling the shots for the Greyhounds this year, and today we got our answer, as Ian Baxter* was introduced as the general manager by team owner Alfredo Aguirre. Baxter's a bit of a baseball outsider, a Pittsburgh native, and... what ought to matter to you viewers most... is joining us in our studio tonight. Mr. Baxter, welcome to the program!
*Ed.= Ian is my son, Baxter is my dog. Now you know...
IB: Thanks, guys. It's great to be here. And let me just say I've always been a big fan of your show. You've always had some of the best sports talk around.
AR: There you go, Dale. I told you we actually had some fans out there somewhere. Somebody make a copy of that tape, OK. Anyway, Ian... I guess the most obvious starting point is the player dispersal draft coming up next month. You've got, basically, the entirety of major league baseball to choose from. How do you wrap your brain around all that, and what sort of gameplan do you have at this point?
IB: It's a challenge, but very much a "kid in a candy store" opportunity to have all these great players to pick from. Right now, I think we want to strive for balance. On one hand, you want to build an organization to last, so you don't necessarily want to just go Christmas shopping and throw a bunch of money at names -- you want to really build a team. On the other hand you do have to be mindful of the fact that we're this new unknown commodity and those names might be what encourages fans to give this new team a chance.
DS: Fair enough. But when it comes down to putting a team together, what are you going to be emphasizing? Pitching, defense? Give us your thoughts on that.
IB: Well I'm a firm believer that it all starts with your starting pitching. This game gets so much easier if you've got guys who can take the ball and give you six or seven strong innings, and it gets so much harder if your guys can't carry that load. That said, I don't think we're going to limit ourselves -- I think you have to have an open mind and take the best player available when your slot comes up.
DS: Fair enough. But how about giving us a dream list, even if it's just, say, one batter and one pitcher. Two guys who, if you came out of the first two rounds with those guys, you'd be in a good mood.
IB: Well, for the batter, one of my favorite players is Dale Murphy, who was playing for the Braves before the work stoppage. He's just a player who can pretty much do it all on a baseball diamond. On the pitching side, it's hard not to like Fernando -- that kid seems like he's primed to do some amazing things. That said, we might look at a guy with a little more of a proven track record like, say, a Mario Soto.
AR: With the team name being the Greyhounds, are you going to be drafting for speed?
IB: Well, yes and no. We're definitely believers that speed plays a role in winning baseball and will want that reflected in our roster, but not particularly because of the name. And the name itself has multiple meanings -- it was also meant as a tribute to the Homestead Grays of the Negro Leagues. Greyhounds was a way of honoring that tradition here in Pittsburgh while also looking toward a future.
DS: What are your impressions of your new boss, Alfredo Aguirre?
IB: I think we can work well together. I think there's a meeting of minds on a lot of our goals. One thing I like is he's in this for the long haul and willing to be patient and give this thing time to grow (
Ed: "Lenient"). I have noticed he takes a strong interest in the financial side of things (
Ed: "Economizer") but I didn't get the sense it drove everything. I think he'd still be willing to make the investments needed to make this team a success.
AR: Is a long term focus practical? Couldn't major league baseball come back tomorrow and throw all those plans out the window?
IB: I look at it that the long-term view is the
only way to look at it. They could be out a day, a week, a decade. That's not really my responsibility -- Mr. Aguirre and the other owners will have to monitor that situation and decide what to do if that happens. At my level, I have to prepare our team to win today, win tomorrow, win next season. So my mission is to build an organization to last as long as it needs to, and as far as the big picture... whatever happens happens.
DS: Before we go, any message for the fans?
IB: Only that I'd ask them to give us a chance. Pittsburgh is a great sports town. We like guys with character and heart, and we've got a recent history of champions. Our aspiration is to carve out a part of that legacy for ourselves and reflect those same Pittsburgh values. We hope you'll be part of it.
AR: And on that note, we'll have to wrap up. Thanks for joining us, and I hope you can come back after the expansion draft when we have a roster to look at.
IB: Anytime, guys. Thanks for having me.