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Today's podcast guest is James Paxton, who's nice enough to join us for an interview. It feels a bit unjust to call some of these interviews podcasts, because they're a lot different than me blabbing on about 1991 Donruss for 15 minute stretches like I tend to do on some of the regular podcasts. Regardless, we're working hard to expand the role of what a blog can be in a constantly changing environment. Lookout Landing is not limited to snark, humor, and analysis - there's an opportunity to do more and things like this are a step in that direction.
While you can go onto other websites and read selected quotes built around the author's narrative, there aren't many places that post the entire conversation. There's more to interviews than pulled quotes taken out of context, and I want to give everyone the opportunity to hear people as they truly intend to come across, with no room for interpretation.
All that being said, here's my conversation with James Paxton. We discuss Scott Boras, his experience with the club, thoughts on Eric Wedge departing, what he looks for in a manager, the inevitable offseason trade rumors, his experience in the independent league, and his thoughts on inning limits and pitch counts. Enjoy.
The Lookout Landing podcast is available on iTunes or you can stream it here/download the file directly.
Lookout Landing Podcast Episode 13
Excerpts:
On whether or not inning caps are overrated:
I've always hated being taken out of ballgames and had my innings cut short because I don't feel like I get tired. I feel like I get stronger as the game goes on a lot of the time. A lot of times I'll throw my hardest fastball at the end of the game. The last pitch will be my hardest pitch, I feel like I'm getting more and more in my zone...I threw just shy of a 170 innings this year and I was still feeling great, arm was feeling good. I feel confident that I could easily throw 200 innings if I was needed to.
On being a Scott Boras client:
He has a lot of people below him in the Boras corporation that take care of everybody. You might not get a whole bunch of one on one time with Scott Boras, but he's got all the amenities you need, people to talk to, and all that kind of stuff. When the important things come up, like negotiations, obviously he's going to be the guy to take care of that stuff. When I had my debut, he was in LA to see me when I went there the first time and got to talk to him a little bit.
On Eric Wedge's departure:
You know, I didn't get a great opportunity to really get to know him in my time there. I only spent little stints in Spring Training and a little bit of time I had up there this year. He seemed great, I really liked him, but it's baseball, it's a business. Things are going to happen and we'll see who Seattle brings in to coach next year.