BRADENTON, Fla. -- There is a renewed sense of vitality in Bradenton, both among the Pirates players and the fans in attendance. That is due to in large part to Bob Nutting's new leadership core of president Travis Williams, general manager Ben Cherington and manager Derek Shelton.
Williams has been in Bradenton for the workouts, and he sat with me a 15-minute one-on-one Wednesday to talk about spring training, the new regime, his role and the future of the ball club.
Here is a full transcription of our conversation:
Alex Stumpf: Are you enjoying spring training so far?
Travis Williams: I am. This is my first spring training. I never came down here as a fan because, with hockey season, it didn't really line up with the end-of-the-season run. We were pretty focused on other things. But this has been an awesome experience to come here. The first day I walked out of the clubhouse and out on the fields and you can hear the mitts popping, I get chills. It's pretty cool and pretty special.
AJS: Especially after an eventful winter, I think we can call it.
Williams: A couple things were going on, yeah.
AJS: How do you feel about the structure after that winter?
Williams: I feel really, really good and excited about the direction we're headed, and it's in large part because of the team that's been assembled.
Obviously, Ben is terrific. He brings to the table not only championship experience, but I think he excels in the areas in which it's going to be important for us to be successful. As we've talked about, cracking the code and figuring out ways to win in markets like Pittsburgh. Where we're identifying, acquiring, developing and deploying talent. As the leader of the baseball operations side, I think, number one, that's absolutely fantastic that we're able to bring somebody into the organization like that.
And then to be able to get someone like Derek, who brings a whole different dynamic in terms of clubhouse culture and developing that aspect of that side of baseball operations. I think that all is solid. I had the opportunity to go to dinner with the coaching staff. Bob hosted a dinner for myself, our GM, our [assistant] GMs, our major-league coaching staff. We all went around and talked about our families and things like that to get to know one another better, but we also talked a lot about what drives us, what motivated us to come around the table and be here. What struck me was these guys were all interacting with one another like they've been together for 10 years, which is a pretty neat dynamic when you're talking about a combination of guys who've been here prior, and a group that has come here and been added to it. Sometimes you can have a feeling where some feel left out, one versus the other. So the way they've come together and the camaraderie and the respect and relationships that they've developed, I'm really pleased and impressed with how that's developed.
I think that'll be a solid foundation, and probably more importantly than that is how that's translated into how the players' experience has been in spring training. A lot of my focus when I came was, number one, how did that all come together, and number two, at the end of the day, how that translated into the player experience and their expectations and their perspective on things. I had the opportunity to get to know a lot of the guys in and around spring training, and had several conversations, and they all were really enthused and excited about the direction. And I think that starts with Derek in terms of what he's done, but I think it's a credit to all the other parts of the staff around him.
AJS: What you were saying about Ben and Derek and how it seems like they've known each for 10 years, I get that vibe, too, but that's just who they are around people. It's genuine.
Williams: Very authentic. Very original. They're good people at their core, which is always a great place to start. I believe that's the most important quality because you can't teach that, and you can always find great skill sets that are around that. They have unbelievable skill sets at what is going to be really important for this team to continue to develop, in both the short term and the long term.
AJS: Speaking of long term, in the Starling Marte trade, you get two young, talented kids who have very high ceilings, but are a good couple years away. Solomon Maguire, the Australian player you signed, and Shalin Polanco down in the Dominican Republic who is most likely coming in a couple months. So many of these moves look like good moves, but they're going to be a couple years away.
Not saying you're punting away 2020, but with Ben and Derek, this is going to be a multi-year process? The goal is to get better in the long term?
Williams: Well, first thought, I'm not going to talk specifics around plans in terms of building the team. I'm going to leave that to Ben. I think Ben's more than qualified. I can tell you though that Bob and myself have spent a lot of time with Ben as he's been developing and evolving that vision and plan, and we're 100 percent comfortable and supportive of that direction. I don't want it to sound like Ben's doing that and we're not in the loop because we certainly are, but Ben's going to be the one who can speak to that in more detail about timing and in terms of the cycle.
All I'll say is two things.
One is we want to build something that is sustainable, both in the short term and the long term. But also, from a short-term perspective, we're excited about the good, young core of talent that is here already. That's why we've been very intentional about not saying 'rebuild,' because it's not tearing it down and building it back up. We're already building around something that's really good and is going to continue to get better the next several years, and we feel like that's something we can really build around. For us, what we look at in terms of 2020, what I'm excited about is we've got a young, fun and exciting team that's going to come to the ballpark every day and try to put a W in the win column. For me, I think that's what our fans can be proud of, and I think that's what Pittsburgh fans tend to respect. That they're working hard towards getting better and trying to win. I think you're going to find that when we go north, you're going to see that out of this team.
And then, for me, it's about building around that for the overall experience for the fans outside of what's on the field. Building around that in terms of the fan experience, in the ballpark and where fans engage with us elsewhere. That's how what I hope the fans are thinking about, the overall outlook for the next several years as we build towards a championship caliber team.
AJS: Just to touch on your role a bit, Frank Coonelly was in a unique situation where he had one foot in the business side and another in player ops. Just to be clear, you don't have that in player ops? You're mostly business, fan relations?
Williams: I oversee baseball and business operations. I take a different approach, maybe is the better way to say it.
AJS: That's probably a better way to word the question, too.
Williams: I'm not saying that approach was wrong or right. I still have the same role that Frank did. I just may approach that role differently. For me, I'm not going to be the one diving deep into spin rotation and arm slots and exit velocities and swing planes. I am certainly going to be involved with Ben in making sure that as he develops that vision plan for baseball operations, it fits in with the overall organizational plan and that it's something we're all aligned on, from top to bottom. From Bob on down.
That's really the role I'll play. I'm a resource to Ben. To make sure as we're making decisions on trades or drafts or acquisitions in the international market, that those are things that we're thinking about that fit within in the context of that plan. And then I'm there as a resource to support him in any other way that I can be helpful around improving the baseball operations side. Because as you've heard Ben say, he wants to continue to get better.
Now, I am focused a lot on the business operations side. I think there's a lot of great things going on there happening already, but as I always say to our staff, we can always continue to look at things, improve on them and get better, so I will focus a lot to do deep dives on that side as well, to make sure we're doing that. But I'm more of a 'what is our overall mission vision' guy, and how are we going to make sure we get there, in both the short term and the long term.
AJS: The fan experience. Obviously there are going to be a couple renovations to PNC Park. What else is being done to help rebuild that relationship with the fans?
Williams: First and foremost, I think the most effective way to get to know what the fans want is to sit down and listen to them. I've done a lot of that around here. I've spent a lot of time in the clover leaf (the area between the four fields adjacent to each other in Bradenton), just to listen to them and talk to them. Starting here, I've done a lot of it in Pittsburgh around season-ticket holder events or our premium customer events or fan events that we're doing. I've been out there as much as possible. Obviously, I was limited a bit with back surgery, FanFest and the Care-A-Van, but others will attest, I was constantly on the phone, asking, 'What are the fans saying? What are they thinking?' For me, it's that direct interaction with them and getting out there and caring as much about that as possible.
The other part is we've done a lot of good work before I got here and since I've been here on doing fan surveys and fan focus groups, really to truly understand and dive deep on certain aspects. From there, driving our entire business operations team to focus on the ballpark experience, that ranges from security to transportation. Through concessions, both lines and food options. That ranges to our merchandise and the different options we have. Our customer experience program. Making sure we've got the right program in place.
We're evaluating and taking deep dives across the entirety of all of these areas and more, to make sure we really enhance and improve that experience. We'll make some changes going into this year. You alluded to a couple with seats and netting. There will be more that we'll be making as we continue to look at that. This is not a one-year outlook. It's multiple years ahead of how we can continue to enhance that overall fan experience.
And then outside the ballpark, for those who can't get to the ballpark for whatever reason -- whether they live too far away or they have other reasons they can't make it in -- we know people are still engaging with us on television, radio and social media. For us, it's making sure we're working with AT&T SportsNet to make sure that broadcast is helpful, insightful, engaging and entertaining. Make sure that the content packages we're developing for social media are engaging with fans. It's across the entire spectrum, and across the next 20-30 days, as we're getting closer to the start of the season, we'll be rolling out a little more detail about what's new for 2020.
AJS: When we're all still in Florida. We'll have to send the B-team.
Williams: *laughing* Send DK.
AJS: You have to ask anytime you get an executive about payroll. Ben said he is confident when the team wins, the major-league payroll will increase. Is that faith justified?
Williams: Again, I'll go back to what I said earlier. Ben and his team have worked with Bob and myself toward a vision for how we're going to make sure we have a sustainable winning team. A championship-caliber team. Bob and I are 100 percent comfortable and supportive of that vision and that plan. I'll let Ben speak more to that at the appropriate time in terms of how that unfolds.
I am 100 percent supportive and comfortable with the approach that we're taking, and how we're going to get to that point, and Bob is, as well.
