Mind matters: Gabe Kapler on changes to Winter Development Program

Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

New Dodger director of player development Gabe Kapler said that the focus of this year’s Winter Development Program for select Dodger prospects will be more on the mind than the body.

“I think in the past, guys have had opportunity to display their athletic prowess,” Kapler said in a conference call with reporters today. “We have leaned against that this year, in favor of creating a more mentally inviting environment. We wanted our players to stay on their offseason programs … and not ramp up in the middle of winter to impress physically. Rather, we wanted them to be open-minded and flexible and nimble of thought.

“We believe stronger and more well-adjusted men are more confident men, and more confident men equal better baseball players, and better baseball players equal a more championship-caliber team,” Kapler added.

Kapler said that numerous people from organization informed the selection of players coming to Dodger Stadium this week, and that the criteria for determining who would come to the camp was “probably different from the traditional Winter Development Programs you see around baseball,” though he notes that the Dodgers did want to bring in many of their top athletes.

“We also wanted men who would be open to helping us share philosophy and be strong contributors to discussion,” Kapler said. “This was really about how the personalities were going to mesh in the room … and how they would pull the best from each other. Certainly, there were some guys who weren’t able to make it, and we will share the philosophies with them.”

The most notable name missing from this year’s attendees is Corey Seager, but for good reason.

“The way his mind works is exceptional,” Kapler said. “He and I had a conversation, and we determined collectively that he had a bit of a long year (including the Arizona Fall League), and what was best for him was to stay in North Carolina and go through his strength and conditioning program.”

Not surprisingly, Kapler offer no timeline for pitching prospect Julio Urias’ next promotion, but he wasn’t shy with praise.

“Tremendously talented, electric arm and makeup off the charts,” Kapler said of Urias. “A guy that I believe has extraordinary leadership capabilities. … We want to see him in camp, we want to see him during the season, and we’ll make (more of an) assessment down the road.”

Kapler was also asked about the expansion of the minor-league coaching staffs to include a fourth member, and said that the key was to enhance the players’ communication and comfort levels.

“It was very important to us that we have a Spanish speaker at each affiliate,” Kapler said. “Tremendously important at the lower levels, but even at the upper levels, because cultural assimilation is as important as any element of player development. When I went to Japan in 2005, the baseball was the same, but I was very out of my element because I was used to communicating in the clubhouse.”

Hard at work since the day he was officially hired two months ago, Kapler has little time to rest but plenty of ability to savor his developmental mission.

“I’m ecstatic at this point – it’s been hard to wipe the smile off my face last couple of days,” he said. “It’s a ton of work, but it’s also inspiring and invigorating. At end of day, every person in player development is super, super tired … but we are creating a culture where we are inspired to come to work every day.

“We are inspired to ask the question why – one of the things that is frustrating is doing things the way they’ve always been done, just for the sake of tradition. We want to do things because they make sense.