The Killer B's: Joel Blank & Jeremy Branham
Triple A National Champ Manager Mickey Storey Joined The Killer B's
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I mean, I think, I think, you know, you leave spring train every year and you get a roster. You write your first lineup and, you know, the expectations are always high. But the continuity, the cohesiveness, the group just seemed to be so engaged, you know, on a daily basis. You know, enjoyed each other's time. You know, cherished, you know, wind, you know, took offense to, you know, criticism, you know, played with a chip on their shoulder, had something to prove. You know, all those things you hear about, you know, teams that end up having special season, the team seem to have it. And we kind of noticed that pretty early on. Mickey, it's, I'm curious from your standpoint, the challenges and the extra challenges when you've got a team like the Astros so close and they're bringing guys up with injuries and everything so frequently. I mean, you were challenged all the way to the end in terms of bringing up guys to the Major League team right before you went to Vegas and who your pitchers would be and how that extra added kind of challenge for a manager in that position is. Yes, it's definitely a challenge because, I mean, the ultimate goal and the objective is to feed the Major League team the best we got, you know, our job is to get them prepared and have them ready to contribute at the big league level. And at times, that means we lose our best guys. So the season, the season kind of goes through those moments where you may have all your guys at one time and you may have none of those guys at a point. And down the stretch, it seemed like we were losing guys at a rapid rate. Well, we got, you know, we had guys from double A come in and spill in and we had some guys who were kind of staples there in Sugar Land all year really step up, you know, and then at the end, we made some switches. We lost gusto, but we gained Shay Whitcomb, we lost the Zenzo, but, you know, got big outings out of, out of, you know, other guys. It was just your quintessential guy stepping up at the right times that made this team, you know, be undisputed and be undeniable, you know, winning the most games and then running for the playoffs and ultimately winning the championship. So many guys had a hand in it. It was, it was very, very much a, a full team effort. Mickey Story, manager of the Sugar Land Space Cowboys National Champions of AAA. You mentioned take offense to criticism and the criticism we kind of heard some of the players take offense to were minor league rankings and these prospect list and the MLB pipeline and all of that. Having the perspective of being a minor league manager, what do you have to say about prospect rankings? And what is it about the Astros that, you know, they don't always have guys on prospect rankings, but you look at a yiner, a Jeremy Peña, a Fromberg Valdez, they're always able to develop their own, even if they weren't highly touted. Yeah, it's, you know, prospect rankings are one of those things that, you know, it's part of the games, part of business, but it doesn't define the player at all. It kind of just put, it puts it out there that this is what we got and a great deal of prospect status has everything to do with, you know, what round you were drafted in, what your signing bonus was, what, you know, what scouts in baseball America and all the, you know, pretty much what they think you could be instead of what you actually are. And at any given moment, you can, you can put yourself on the map and the Astros seem to have a great deal of those players throughout my tenure here that, you know, play above their status and become performers. And really at the end of the day, you just want performers, you don't need prospect. You know, if you want, if you want to wow baseball rankings, then with prospects, that's one thing. But if you want guys to perform and get results, that's a whole different thing. And they don't always go hand in hand. You know, the Astros have had a great player development system versus some time now, and we've seen to get the best out of guys that aren't overly, you know, ranked high in those prospects by ranking. So it's kind of a testament to, you know, player development or scouting, you know, finding these diamonds in a rough player development, you know, implementing things that weren't there when we got them. And then ultimately the player being able to buy into what we were trying to accomplish. And like I said, play with a purpose and improve people wrong. We've had a number of players that were prospects get to the big leagues and be very impactful players. I was going to say how gratifying is that for you when you see it, also kind of the pit it leaves in your stomach with a trade like for Kakuchi. When you know, well, you know, Joey's been up and he's been up and down and and you had Will Wagner and you had, you know, Bloss, all these guys that were contributing to your squad, then they were up and down, but you kind of knew they were going to be around. And then all of a sudden in one fall swoop, there are three, some of your main cogs that go away. But then you see them actually progress and flourish once they get to the big league level, even if it isn't within the organization. Yeah. And honestly, those are the players that it's extra special to see because when you have, you know, players like Kyle Tucker and Yoran Alvarez, who I had in the minor league, you know, what's going to happen there. Like, you know, that they're going to be major league players at the bare minimum. And then the field is all stars, MVP, Hall of Fame, like the sky's the limit. But when you have players that that that script's not written for, but you see something in them, you know, like a Will Wagner or a Loper Fido or Zach DeCenzo, where they're, you know, middle of draft guys or even back into the draft guys. And then you see the day in day out, you know, the makeup of the player. And then you see the production. You know that, you know that as this is going to be a major league player. Now, to see it come and go, that's part of it, you know, but to see Will Wagner in low, you know, get traded for a piece like Kakuchi. Yeah, it hurts because you're putting in work with those guys and you know what they're capable of. But that's, that's, sometimes that's what's best for the player and what's best for the organization. And, and that's what the straight take place. You know, you make a relationship with those players. And, and all you want them to do is maximize their careers. And that's, you know, they're, they're definitely on pace on doing that. But, you know, it's, it's one of those love hate things. Like I said, you put in a lot of time with the guys and, you know, you, you build a relationship and you, you want it to be with us. And ultimately, you know, we're in this game to help players get better and reach their goals. So it's whether that's with us or, or with another team, you know, it's, it's one and the same. It's great to see, you know, Mickey Story joining us on the HR and P guest line champions with the Sugar Land Space Cowboys and AAA this past season. You hear and see the revolving door of minor league coaches and maybe the Astros are going through this a little bit right now. You get a general manager that might want to do things a little bit differently. What are the challenges of that for these minor league coaches? And then for also for the decision makers at the big league level, whenever you have this revolving door and this turnover when it comes to minor league coaches in the organization. Yeah, it's one of those things that you got to deal with when you are a perennial organization. We, you know, seven ALCS is, you know, this the first year we've come up a little short in the playoffs, but this is still a team that's been a playoff for what eight of the eight last previous eight years. It's, or in nine years. And when you have that much success, everybody wants secret sauce. So with that coaches are coming and going, you know, other teams are trying to pluck them while they're trying to do that. Other coaches, you know, have ambition to, you know, potentially see what they could do elsewhere. It's, it's tough, you know, it's tough. But you don't, when you, you have something so good for so long and then you have some change that the dynamic could possibly be a little bit different in coaches come and go. It's, it's just like players. It's, it's not a whole lot different in sense where, you know, coaches have career aspirations also. They want to get to the big league. They want coordinated roles. Maybe they want for an office role. Maybe they want to change the scenery, you know, and, and, you know, it, it, when the contract stuff comes up, you know, it's, it's something I'm not too familiar with because I've, I've always been, you know, taken care of for the most part and then, you know, some other, you know, on the other side for the front office, it's who they want to retain, who they see is a good fit like that. That's completely their call. So it's, it's hard to say, but it's, it's definitely, it's, it's tough because you, you want to continue to build with what we have. But at the same time, you know, over this, this good run, we've, we've lost a ton of coaches. So it's a challenge for sure. Mickey, at the end of the year, you know, you just said you had tuck and you had yorked on. And now you're looking at this squad and you're looking at guys that kind of catch your eye. Can you tell us a little bit about a guy that we've heard really climbing the system quite quickly and Matthew's in the fact that he can play multiple infield positions and that he was a high draft pick. But what do you see in that kid? Yeah. So obviously, I mean, I hadn't seen him much. So I saw him in spring training. He came in and filled in a couple big league gains. I got to spend a little time with him there. But obviously, he didn't get to see him play a ton. So, you know, he had a, he had a good run, third year high A play well in double A. I mean, they're in, in like we spoke of, there were times where we were losing players to the pretty, pretty rapid face to the big league team. We lost Shay Wickham. We lost Leon. We lost the Zenzo. And I was kind of wondering, man, is there a chance that we get Bryce Matthews up here just because it's getting thin. And I know he's having a pretty good year. So when we got a chance to get him, I wanted to just play, you know, I didn't want to try to, you know, fix things and what I heard and what he needs. I wanted to just see him play. And John was that Bryce is a guy that is, he's a, he's a tool deep player. He's got, he's got some real raw ability. He's young in his career, but he likes to play the game. Like he has a real passion to play the game. And, and he's going to be a really, really solid player. He just, he just needs to figure out pro baseball. It, it happens fast. You know what I mean? Like, this guy I dropped last year before you know it, he's going to triple a playoff, you know, playing every day. He's playing shorts. He's playing third base. You know, he's in big situations with a team that was, it was as close to playing, you know, major league caliber playoff baseball as, as any team I've been around in the minor league. Like it was, it was really, really a big deal for that club. And he fit right in. Like he, he did miss a beat in which was a great experience. So I, I, I love, I love woods the head for Bryce. The makeup's really strong. He's a, he's a ball player. He's gonna, he's gonna continue to work. You know, I think, I think winter ball was in the plans for in this offseason. They kind of continue to fine tune some things, but he's a really, really nice young man. He's, he's a good looking player. He's, he's one that we're excited about. Can he handle the hot corner at the big league level skip? Yeah, I think he can. I think he can. That's kind of where he ended up settling in with us down the stretch. Mostly because of the way it shaped out for us and line of construction on my end. It wasn't, it wasn't necessarily by, by any other than that was the way it worked best. But I think the third base looks good on him. I think the shortstop will continue to play. Third base, sure. I mean, it, it definitely going to be a left side of the infield with a potential to play second base. Maybe if need be, however, it fits with us, obviously second base isn't as much of a fit because of the whole favor we have. But if, you know, if he needs to play third day shortstop, you know, the, the kid's an athlete, he's, he's utility. I know we've tried to make, you know, guys well rounded. I'm sure, I'm sure he could put on an outfield glove and play out there if need be. One thing is bright as a heck of a ball player. So he's gonna find a way to get on the field. We really appreciate the conversation. We'll keep that line of construction conversation to a different time. But I enjoyed the chat. Thank you for the insight and congratulations again on putting that national championship. I appreciate it, guys. Mickey Story, the manager of the Sugar Land Space Cowboys Triple A affiliate, of course, with the Houston Astros, national champions of Triple A, and you can catch the Space Cowboys once they get back to playing some baseball on ESPN 92 5. Enter at careerbuilder.com to win a trip to Jingle Ball in New York City and discover your earning potential along the way. Careerbuilder.com knows that your skills are superpowers and employers need you now like never before. Careerbuilder.com specially designed tools to help you move up like career builder co-lab. Try the resume builder. Learn what recruiters are looking for. Search salaries and more. You'll be amazed at the skills you already have to build your future. Register to win and find full rules at careerbuilder.com. 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