RailCats manager Greg Tagert Discusses Goals for 2008
The 2007 Northern League Champion Gary SouthShore RailCats will see some changes to the makeup of their club as they look to 2008. Since the end of the 2007 season, five RailCats players have moved on in one fashion or another and two other players are currently free agents. The club will also see some changes on the coaching staff.
RailCats broadcaster Tom Nichols recently talked with manager Greg Tagert.
TN: Greg, what your comments on former RailCats hitting coach Andy Haines being hired by the Florida Marlins and subsequently, RailCats 2007 hitting coach Brian Nelson being hired to replace Andy as manager of the Windy City Thurnderbolts?
GT: I couldn't be happier for both Brian and Andy. I know both guys are excited. I have spoken to Andy nearly every day since he got the job and have been on the phone with Brian quite a bit and both guys, just as I imagined because of the types of personalities they are, are going to be very successful. They are ready to go to work. Brian has already started on the process with the Thunderbolts in trying to continue the great job that Andy did there. So it is a great transition for the Windy City club and the Marlins, not that the Marlins need the RailCats to have success, but they have gotten some good people with Andy and (RailCats all-time victories leader) Willie Glen and (former RailCats outfielder) Anthony Iapoce. It was a great opportunity for Andy Haines. I know it was tough for him to give up the Windy City job but it is a great opportunity.
TN: The RailCats hitting coach job is now open. Are you going through a similar search process as you did last year and do you have a profile in mind for the type of person you are looking for?
GT: The search is probably going to be a little bit more narrowed than last year. I thought last year we would have that position filled by January and it ended up taking an extra several weeks and we filled it in late February, early March with Brian Nelson, and fortunately we made the right choice. Brian was a great transition for us from Andy Haines because they had similar backgrounds, similar work ethics, similar ideas how to relate to players. Really some things that mesh well with me and (RailCats pitching coach) Jamie Bennett. It is important to me that the person take lot of responsibility and be someone I can trust with that. So the search will probably lead us to some people similar to Andy and Brian. That has been successful for us. That is not to discount anybody. Some clubs are looking for more name recognition, and that just won't be a factor for us. What works best is finding a guy who is trying to build his own career as well.
TN: Do you have any goals over the next six weeks? The search for players is ongoing, but you also have some pending trades to complete with Windy City and Sioux Falls, who still owe the RailCats players to be named later in previous deals.
GT: The priority is to wrap those deals up before the first of the year. I have been in continuing talks with Sioux Falls and now with the transition in Windy City, there is now (laughs) not a conflict of interest, but now with Brian, who went from wanting to help our club out, now he certainly doesn't want to see the Windy City roster depleted. We have some things in place and an understanding with those clubs and we also have a player coming from Rockford (Frontier League). We have some deals that we do need to finalize and get some players in here or some considerations that can help us down the road. If we can't agree on a player that we think can come in and make our ballclub, then we may look to do some things, maybe trade those rights to another club. We think we have a nucleus that we can build on for 2008 along with some people that we will acquire from these other clubs and players like Stephen Spragg and Omar Padilla who we've recently signed, and there will be several similar players that we will sign in the next few weeks.
Editor's Note: The RailCats are owed three players from Windy City as players to be named later in 2007 trades that sent Mike Coles and Ryan Brandt from Gary to Windy City. The RailCats are owed one player from Sioux Falls as the player to be named later in a 2007 trade that sent Kris Regas from Gary to Sioux Falls.
TN: Josh Habel and Steve Haake are free agents. Would you like to have those two players back?
GT: The RailCats baseball club will be a lot better if we can have Haake in the starting lineup and Josh Habel starting opening night. I have been in touch with Steve several times this off-season as he is weighing his future and what to do, and it is that time of year when players such as Steve and Josh are thinking about their baseball future and also their personal future in terms of what they are going to do in life. I would love to have both guys back. Josh Habel, what he meant to this ballclub is a little underrated just because of the success Willie (Glen) had but everybody inside the RailCats organization knows what Josh Habel means and it will make our club a lot better if we have both of those guys.
TN: When you build the roster for 2008, what fundamental difference would you like to see from 2007? In other words, would you like to see more power, or are you comfortable with the emphasis on pitching and defense, continuing to play the Steel Yard style of offense?
GT: We would love to get a guy in that lineup that is a presence, that every other club respects and has a need to worry about, especially when we go on the road to parks like Kansas City, Joliet, Fargo that are a little bit more of a hitter's park. It would be nice for us to have a guy like that and we will look for that player, just like we have every year. But I always keep in mind that with the success we've had, it would be tough to say, 'well, I want to change things this year.' (laughs) so we will continue to try to be the best defensive ballclub, fundamentals, preparation, things we always pride ourselves on here. We will continue to do those things in the same way. That usually leads to a balanced ballclub. If anything, there is a chance we will be a little younger this year. We have had a couple of (older) players that are going to move on from their RailCats career and we will be a little younger. Opportunities for players like Nate Price may come as more of an every day player. What I would love to see us do is have that high energy level from day one all the way through the post-season and try to build on the success we've had with players that will benefit their careers as well.