Interview with Peter Woodfork

This evening, I had the opportunity to interview the Assistant General Manager of the Diamondbacks Peter Woodfork. He has been with the Diamondbacks for three years and there is speculation that he will take over the GM spot for the Cardinals. For now however, he is working with the Diamondbacks, getting them ready for the off season. I want to thank Peter Woodfork for donating his time to the site, I really appreciate it.

ELI: How long have you been with the Diamondbacks?

PETER: It will be two years in November.

ELI: What are your day to day duties on the job?

PETER: I basically manage the information, people, and other things like that.

ELI: Do you talk with Josh Byrnes everyday?

PETER: Oh yeah, we talk several times a day.

ELI: Do most of the people in the Front Office have the same philosophy on the team?

PETER: I think we all have different opinions or perspectives, but we work them in to our payroll and how we determine the value of our players and everything. We have to work into our payroll because of the amount of money that goes around in the huge free agent market.

ELI: When Carlos Quentin went down, was there any other options than Justin Upton?

PETER: We looked in house and through trades and felt that Upton was the best option.

ELI: Was Carlos Gonzalez considered?

PETER: Yes, but we felt Upton was farther along than Gonzalez.

ELI: How important was it to sign Eric Byrnes?

PETER: Well we discussed a multi year deal last year when we went through arbitration, so a deal was definitely in sight. We like to sign guys that help our team and he is definitely a leader and comes to play everyday, so he is great to have in the clubhouse.

ELI: Livan Hernandez is set to hit the open market, have you talked with his agent at all?

PETER: Sorry, but I cannot discuss it at this time.

ELI: Is there anything you hope to focus on this off season?

PETER: Like most teams, I think it is pitching. We do not need to fill to many other positions so we will look to pitching.

ELI: Many teams are expanding their scouting to Australia, Japan, and Italy. Have you begun to do that?

PETER: Yeah. We have scouts in Japan and Australia and are looking to get bigger, but we are not as big as other teams.

ELI: Now where did you get your start in baseball?

PETER: I started in the Commissioners Office in the Media Relations department. I think I got more lucky than anything. I had some friends who were connected in baseball and they got my resume out there, so that is how it happened more than anything.