 Welcome back to Yankees House. I'm Meredith Morales alongside Garrett Cole. Garrett, I thought for sure I would see some video today of you playing catch in the snow with Aaron Boone filming the whole thing, but I heard you managed to escape the cold weather. Yes, I did. We're out here for the holidays in California, spending time with the family, trying to catch up from a long summer away from everybody. Just how taxing was that season and that summer when you look back on it? Yeah, it was pretty, it was pretty tough. You know, first time dealing with all these things, not just for the players, but for everybody else. And I think we did the best we could and certainly came out better for it at the end. I imagine that's probably not the way that you thought your first year in pinstripes would unfold, but how do you sum up your first year as a Yankee? Yeah, well, ultimately we came up short of our goal. You know, so as a group, as individuals, we have some more work to do, which is exciting. And from personal standpoint, I guess, I felt I was throwing the ball well, you know, at the end when it counted most. So still gonna focus on making some improvements, but you know, showing up at the end was big. You mentioned making some improvements. You were pretty darn good down the stretch. What improvements specifically are you looking to make in the off season? I think now that we've kind of removed ourselves from the competitive environment, it's easier to, you know, kind of look at the big picture and take some things away from it and start to implement, you know, that stuff in the off season programs going into spring. Certainly it's easier to make adjustments in this environment where, you know, there's a little more certainty and you know, we expect to be on time. So that's helpful. And maybe some things we saw was some pitch sequencing and some pitch quality and some pitch usage. So there's, you know, some attributes across the board. I think we can improve on. And you know, it starts right now with just playing like catch and really focusing on your reps. I was gonna ask you, what does your off season routine look like? How does it generally go down? Yeah, I've started a little bit earlier this year. We just didn't have quite as much load, you know, for us, I mean, we threw, I can't remember the ending total, but it's probably close to about, you know, 50% of what, or maybe under, slightly under 40% of what, you know, we would normally throw. So I didn't see any sense and didn't feel any sense of, you know, needing to push it back. And so, you know, with the weather out here and having relatively not as many reps, it just took the opportunity to just start playing a little catch a few weeks earlier than I typically would. And, you know, it's been nice and the ball feels really familiar at this point. So that's a good sign. In your mind, because of last season, do you have to manage yourself any differently? That's a good question. I haven't put a ton of thought into that. I've just been, you know, kind of focused on getting out of the gates. I wouldn't anticipate it. No, I mean, I've done it quite a bit. I certainly haven't come from this few of endings, you know, back up to a normal situation, but, you know, 129 or 130, I think was one of the lows one year earlier in my career and then bounced back for 200. So, and I'm a lot older now and I've done it a few times. So I don't anticipate anything in the large scheme of things to change. Maybe, you know, maybe a just a conscious effort early to conserve and be smart about things. We saw a lot of young pitchers last year. We'll likely see them again in 2021. Was there anyone specific that stood out to you and what do you think about the talent overall when it comes to arms in the Yankees organization? Yeah, I mean, they all kind of stood out to me. You know, it was a really tough experience for a lot of them, you know, especially cracking into the big leagues in that environment and having to, you know, try to stay as sharp as they could down in AAA. I thought, you know, as a group, they did a great job. I thought as a group also, there's a lot of talent there and a lot of great different attributes. You can kind of see why each one of these guys is unique and, you know, the future is tremendously exciting when you see the talent level and you see how unique some of these guys could be. You know, there's some high ceilings out there. Look forward to playing catch and getting back after it as soon as we can. I know you're laser focused on what you need to do, but do you also really embrace and enjoy the role of teacher? Sorry, you cut out. Just can you say that one more time? I know you're really focused on what you need to do and the task at hand, but do you also really enjoy and embrace the role of teacher for some of these younger arms? I mean, you know, absolutely early in my career, I had a real blessing to play with a lot of veterans and, you know, the example that they said, some of the habits that I still have, I've learned from those guys and they've carried me throughout my career and they've, you know, they've helped me improve. So, you know, I think that was tremendously important for me, so I could imagine, you know, in New York, in the bright lights, coming up through that system, you know, there's an opportunity for guys to get better from learning from some of the things that I picked up from older guys a long time ago. So much was made throughout the course of the season. Who was catching you? Gary Sanchez or Kyle Lagashioka, I know you don't love the question, but is that something that you focus on in spring training, working with both catchers? I would assume so. You know, that's how it worked. The last time we were in spring in February, I think actually we got cut off maybe one or two days after the first time I had worked with Kyle. So, you know, we're fortunate to have two tremendously talented catchers in that regard for someone to be able to, you know, fill in at any time and bring some of their talents or some of their unique attributes that elevate the team as a whole, to have a dual weapon threat, or, you know, even if one guy's your primary guy and someone else is supplementing, players like that make a big difference, you know, towards the end of the season and in the most important games. So that's a blessing to have two quality guys like that. Now I know after the season, you had a dinner with Masahiro Tanaka and his wife and a lot of Yankees fans want to know, will Masahiro Tanaka be back? So do you have any insight from your friend and rotation mate? I don't have any insight. I mean, we had just talked about trying to get sushi. We're both sushi lovers and during the season, it was quite a bit, quite difficult to get good sushi and or go out. So, you know, we took the opportunity before I went back to Japan to just catch up one more time for the off season and kind of stayed away from, you know, blowing them up too much early because let's face it, we're all probably focused in on the holidays now and the market's been moving slow as it is. So there's probably not a whole lot to talk business there. So, but I anticipate circling back around with him in the new year and checking in on him and seeing how he's doing because, you know, he turned out to be a good friend. Is this off season just different for you? Are you more at ease this off season, knowing where you're going to be and not having to deal with free agency this time around? Yeah, certainly, I've been looking forward to that for, you know, quite a long time in my career. I've moved three organizations until I get to this point. And, you know, now there's no preparing for anything else other than, you know, being a Yankee for the next eight or nine years. And, you know, we're in, you know, we got solidified where we're going to be. And so that uncertainty is gone and that's been really nice. And I feel like, you know, time spent thinking about that has been overwhelmed now by time spent with my kids. So it's been relaxing off season. It's been great to see family and great to see Kate and grow. So... One guy that's thinking about that probably very much right now is DJ LaMahew. What impressed you about his approach and the way he showed up to the ballpark every day? I mean, you know, it's just true pros, pro, right? I mean, we talk about it amongst ourselves in the league, you know, who everybody's a big fan of, regardless if you're competing against them or playing with them. And DJ kind of sets the gold standard in that regard. He's not changed much. Since the first time I played with him in the Fall League, I was impressed with him back then, you know, the stoicism, you know, the deliberate, the way he goes about his game, you know. So it's nice to see him flourish, obviously, I think very highly of his talent and his skill level, but also hold in high regard, you know, the human being as well. And so, you know, this is an exciting time for him. He's done it once. Now he's doing it again. And he's looking to get a big chunk and a big chunk of certainty, I guess for the next four or five years, six years, whatever it may be for him. And so, you know, it's exciting as a player to go through that, so I'm happy for him.