February 14, 2008|By Roch Kubatko | Roch Kubatko,Sun reporter
Said Guthrie: "The way the team is going with the composition of players, I think he fits in real well right now. We have a few veterans, but for the most part, we have a lot of young players in their first years. And fundamentally, we can improve, and his focus on those things, the small things that help a team get better, definitely will benefit us. Hopefully, that becomes second nature."
Trembley seems convinced that the older players will buy what he's selling, that they'll spend the extra hours sweating through drills in relative seclusion. If there has been any grumbling since he took over, he's not aware of it.
"I didn't sense that. I didn't hear that," he said. "I always have the approach that I try to ask people what they think and how they feel, and if they don't like something, feel free to discuss it and I'll try to make it better. ... I'm willing to listen and adjust and tweak and make things as compatible for everyone as I can.
"We're not running a boot camp. I'm not going to put guys in a position not to enjoy coming to the ballpark every day. But I'm going to touch on the basics and make sure everybody is doing them the right way and make sure the commitment will remain like that. I don't think anybody can have a problem with that."
Reliever Jamie Walker, one of the team's senior members at 36, doesn't sound concerned that there will be division in the ranks.
"I think Dave Trembley will get us going," he said. "I respect him and he respects us. He seems fair. You're going to have to have some patience, though. We'll go down there and you've got to do things right from Day One. I know Dave preaches that. I think that'll be fun. I'm looking forward to it."
Well, most of it.
"I'll be running around with all those young bucks -- 24, 25 years old," he said. "I can't run with them like that anymore. The old man might have to spend more time on the bike."
roch.kubatko@baltsun.com
