.

Dr. D has ta say, too, that this dude comes off as one of those 1%'ers that is totally impossible not to ... well, like.  Sort of along the lines of an extroverted Edgar Martinez or something.  Bill James always rued the fact that MLB GM's seemed to have a "natural grace about them" that he didn't have; he was probably thinking of Theo Epstein more than he was a couple of the local guys here lately.  But Jerry Dipoto definitely has it goin' on with the people skills, don't he?

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Q.  Robinson Cano one of the all-time greats.  But he does make a shipload of cash.  How do you go about spending the rest of the money?

A.  Well, that was a major point of the last two years.  We wanted young club-controls players to put around Robinson and Nelson (and Felix - Dr. D) and we have done that.  With the three young outfielders, with James Pazos (again?! - Dr. D) and James Paxton.

We've got players aged 25-27 who are making "closer to the major league minimum" and that balances our payroll.

..

DRDT:  This fine point hadn't quite occurred to Dr. D.  If you are going with saber heroes -- such as Gamel and Heredia who wiped out AAA -- as opposed to draft heroes like Hultzen and Zunino, you wind up with older, more developed, players making $500,000.  So, cool.

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Q.  Speaking to the Seattle fan.  Are you IN on Shohei Ohtani?  Can this guy really hit in the majors or is he more of a mistake hitter?

A.  First of all, technically, we've got to get through the posting process.  Along with 29 other Major League teams, we would be really lucky to have him.

"He's got a really unique skill set.  It's not too often you see a guy throw a 100-MPH fastball, and then hit a 500-foot home run in the span of two days."  So it's quite a skill set, one I haven't seen in a single player before.

"From a lot of angles" you can see the talent here.

...

DRDT:  the word "talent," used many times, is interesting.  It implies that Ohtani can be coached, that he can adapt and that he has upside remaining, or at least adaptability to the MLB game.  That was most certainly true of Ichiro, who tweaked his game for less power (no leg kick) and more contact.

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Q.  How do you fit in a player doing both things?  CAN you?

A.  Sure you can.  We've watched the Nippon Ham Fighters do it.  There's a lot of creativity in the major leagues and somebody's going to figure out how to do it.

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BABVA,

Dr D