00:00All right, welcome back to Newswire here on Sports Grid.
00:02Pitchers and catchers reporting this week in Major League Baseball in Florida and Arizona.
00:08We thought we'd do a little preview to get around the league a little bit.
00:11We'll check in on the Cincinnati Reds.
00:14Gosh, this is hard to say.
00:15Cincinnati Reds.
00:17My guy, Dane Myers, formerly the Marlins traded to the Reds in the offseason,
00:20is going to spend his first Arizona in spring training.
00:24Dane, it's great to have you here on Newswire.
00:26How are you, man?
00:27Yeah, I'm doing well.
00:28Thanks for having me on.
00:29Good to see you again.
00:31Yeah, it definitely is.
00:32All right, so this has been a very eventful offseason for you.
00:37You have the same routine the last few years, reporting to Jupiter,
00:41going to spring training, playing with the Marlins,
00:43and then you find out a couple of months ago you're traded to the Cincinnati Reds.
00:47So this, I'm sure, may have caught you a little bit by surprise.
00:51I know that you were in some trade rumors even at the deadline last year,
00:54but what did you make of the deal when you heard about it?
00:55Yeah, it was a little surprising.
01:01Obviously, it's the business of baseball, and each team's trying to get better.
01:04So I can't fault Miami for trying to make a move that they felt helps the organization.
01:11But leaving a bunch of my guys and leaving the organization that I made my MLB debut in
01:19and leaving a good group of fans, leaving all those things behind is tough.
01:25But I'm looking forward to the opportunity I got in Cincinnati for sure.
01:30Yeah, and I think that's really the key is opportunity in the big leagues.
01:33And, Dane, I think for some people who may not know your backstory,
01:37I mean, definitely not a clear path to the big leagues to say the least,
01:41changing positions and doing things differently in order to get to make your Major League Baseball debut.
01:46For those unfamiliar, catch them up on the path that you made to get to the big leagues
01:51because it's certainly very unusual.
01:54Yeah, coming in or in college, I was a two-way guy.
01:59So that's kind of why I chose Rice because they were going to give me the opportunity to do both as long as I wanted to.
02:07And I was drafted by the Tigers in 17, and they felt my path to the big leagues was going to be as a pitcher on the mound.
02:15So I believe that as well.
02:19I think deep down in my heart, though, I knew I was a position player and knew I wanted to play every day.
02:26So I think that kind of poured over into my pitching performance a couple years in
02:32and didn't really go how I wanted to on the mound.
02:36And I found myself thinking about hitting again a couple years into it.
02:41And fortunately, the Tigers thought the same thing.
02:45And for them to give me the chance just to kind of change positions and go back to hitting after two or three years
02:54and not really having too much success right off the bat in our inter-squad games and practices
03:00and them still giving me a shot and eventually making it to the big leagues was pretty special,
03:07something I'll always appreciate.
03:09But, yeah, hasn't been an easy journey.
03:14I know being the old guy in low A and in extended spring training wasn't easy for me,
03:19kind of expecting to be in the upper level of the minors or the big leagues at that point in my career.
03:27And kind of restarting was tough, but put my head down, got to work, and it worked out.
03:35Yeah, and I guess my follow-up to that, Dane, would be, was there ever a point,
03:41and you just mentioned it, being the old guy with all these young bucks coming up trying to steal your job,
03:47was there ever a point where you thought to yourself and said,
03:50you know, this dream that I had growing up thinking that I was going to play, you know,
03:54minor league ball, maybe major league ball, you mentioned college playing at Rice,
03:59was there ever a point where you're like, ugh, let me go on LinkedIn here,
04:02see what else, what else is out there?
04:06Was there ever that moment at all that creeped in?
04:10Yeah, for sure.
04:11Maybe not as far as creating the LinkedIn account,
04:14but definitely some, definitely some thoughts about possibly having to get a real job.
04:22I remember my first, like, actual full spring training, and it was just after COVID.
04:28So I made the switch right before COVID happened, and then COVID happened,
04:33and obviously that was kind of like another year that I, I had lost.
04:38So showing up to spring training that next year and then going to,
04:42not making a team out of spring training and going to extended spring training,
04:46I felt like my chances were pretty low of continuing to play,
04:51but just kind of had some people around me and some people in the front office in Detroit
04:56tell me that they believed in me, and that's kind of all I needed
05:01was a little bit of extra support to believe in myself as well.
05:03So I kind of took that and ran with it.
05:06Yeah, and ran with it with the Marlins, you know, to say the least.
05:10You had a nice run with them, without a doubt.
05:13Of course, fighting for playing time in Miami, making your debut, doing fantastic.
05:19You're the talk of the town in Miami there for a few weeks.
05:22But inevitably, all things do come to an end.
05:25And I will miss you here in South Florida,
05:27but I'm excited for your opportunity in Cincinnati.
05:30What have they told you thus far?
05:31What is Terry Francona?
05:32What is the organization?
05:33Have they given you any indication as to sort of where you fit in,
05:36or is it very similar to the course of your career, fight for playing time, et cetera?
05:42Yeah, I mean, we haven't spoken on roles too much.
05:47I know we've got a good team.
05:49I know we've got a good outfield, in my opinion.
05:52And I know we just signed a big bat in Suarez,
05:56so he's going to take up a spot in the lineup that somebody else was probably going to have.
06:00But I'm excited to be on a team that wants to compete.
06:04I think it'll probably be like the rest of my career and compete for playing time.
06:09But in my opinion, that's a good thing.
06:11That's when it kind of brings the most out of myself.
06:14And I want to win.
06:16So I'm not necessarily worried about if I play 162 or I play 100 or 110.
06:22I just want to win, and I'm ready to contribute to whatever role I do have.
06:27Yeah, we've got a minute left, Dane.
06:29You've taken pride on being super fan-friendly,
06:32which is why I've always been a fan of yours,
06:34seeing you interact with fans, especially at the games,
06:37signing as many autographs for the kids as possible.
06:39Where did you get that from?
06:40Yeah, I think it kind of goes back to feeling like my career was over at one point,
06:49feeling like I got a second chance at a career.
06:53And I always tell people the game's been good to me,
06:56so I try and be good back.
06:58And you never know who you're going to inspire
07:01and change somebody's day in a positive way.
07:04So I've always tried to be that player that fans enjoy to be around.
07:09Dane, good luck with the Reds.
07:11Great catching up.
07:13Thanks, Craig.
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