Hello all,

This is the first in our ongoing offseason series of Q%A sessions with former Chiefs.

Brad Meyers, a right-handed pitcher from last season’s team, was recently selected by the Yankees in Major League Baseball’s Rule 5 draft.  Because Meyers was taken in the major-league phase (as opposed to the minor-league phase) of the draft, he will only remain with the Yankees if he makes the big-league club out of spring training and remains there during the entirety of the 2012 season.  For a case study involving another ex-Chief, see Michael Martinez and the Phillies from last year.

I caught up with Brad recently via phone from his offseason home in California.

Jason:  How did you find out you got picked?

Brad:  I got woken up through a phone call from my agent at like 7 in the morning (pacific time), telling me I’m a Yankee.  I knew the draft was that day, I just didn’t know what time it was.  So, I just left my phone on and just got woken up to that.  It’s pretty cool.  I was excited.  I didn’t need any coffee that morning.

J: The next 15 minutes involved you going back to sleep or running around the house.  Which one was it?

B: My brother was getting up to go to work and I was up and at him.  I’m not usually up that early, so it was pretty funny.

J: Who’d you tell next?

B: I texted my parents first.  I kinda got blown up all day and spent a whole day responding back to people on Facebook and Twitter and text messages.  It was kinda funny.  It was a fun day.  Exciting.

J: Did you have any idea you were going to get picked?

B:  I had a little bit of an idea.  My agent told me a few teams were interested.  I wasn’t sure.  I was hoping that I would.  That was a big relief this year.

J: Hoping that you would because of the opportunity it presented to be in the big leagues?

B: Yeah.

J: Is there any pressure that coming along with [being selected]?

B:  Actually, no.  It would sound like it would be, but from going from not being put on the 40-man to having a shot at the Yankees’ big league team is a pretty big compliment to me, I think.  I thought it was great.

J: You’re a West coast guy.  Do the Yankees still mean something to you?

B: Yeah.  I was never a Yankee fan growing up, but it’s kinda hard not to now.

J: Do you know anybody with the Yankees?

B: Colin Curtis I played some summer ball with and [Double-A pitcher) Cory Arbiso is a friend.

J: Who contacted you first from the Yankees?

B: It was [scouting director] Billy Eppler.  He contacted me that day to say congrats and why they picked me.

J:  Why is that?

B: They liked that I throw strikes, not  lot of relief pitchers on the market, you’re not going to overpower people.

J:  What do you do in the offseason?

B: I was in therapy all year last year [due to injury].  I usually give myself a month or two, travel a little bit, then I lift and then start throwing usually in December.

J:  Did you go anywhere this year?

B: Vegas and Tennessee.

J: Do you own any Yankees stuff or is that bad karma?

B:  I do not own any Yankees stuff.

J:  You just don’t want to get your hopes up?  Or you haven’t made it out shopping yet?

B:  It’s just that I don’t know whether to think of it as a temporary thing or a permanent thing, ya know?  Obviously, guys get sent back but I’m really not looking at it that way.  I’m looking at it as an opportunity.

J:  Isn’t it weird to be on a team but not really be on a team?

B: It is weird.  It’s pretty difficult to explain to people.  Nobody knows how it works and it’s kinda hard to explain it.  I basically tell people it’s a tryout for the big team.  That’s it.

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If you have any former Chiefs you’d like to see us chat with, let us know at jasonbenetti@syracusechiefs.com or kevinbrown@syracusechiefs.com.

Jason