2 Days 'til Aggie Baseball: Weiner's authentic style impacting Aggieland

It’s that time of year! The Texas Aggie baseball team is set to open up the 2024 season on Friday against McNeese State at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park. We’re counting down the days with our 2024 Aggie Baseball Preview Series.

Why Max Weiner left his post as the pitching coordinator for the Seattle Mariners to join the collegiate ranks is not immediately clear.

Recognized by Forbes and The Athletic as one of the brightest young sports minds of his generation, the move to Aggieland represents another step in his meteoric rise.

It wasn’t for fame or recognition. Or to return home or even his alma mater. Or any of the “usual” reasons.

Rather for the chance to be his authentic self every day.

An opportunity coveted by the Miami native so much that he turned down several offers to stay in the MLB world during his transition.

“As long as you’re authentic, people can deal with whatever,” he told me over the phone last month. “I may not be the best coach at any exact moment — we all come out of character — but I think what players truly understand is the consistency of my care and authenticity.”

That’s Max.

A highly intelligent 29-year-old with a resume that far exceeds his youth. Weiner was brought to Aggieland in July to fill an opening left by Nate Yeskie.

This is his dream job.

“Literally every day is the best day, and that’s not hyperbole. It’s not bullshit,” he said. “Living in Aggieland is where I want to be. This is it. Between Torchy’s and Velvet and Fuego and Fuzzy’s, I know all the queso anywhere here in the Brazos, and I’m just going to keep trying to find more.”

In a 35-minute conversation, we covered topics ranging from queso to baseball’s tight-knit Jewish community.

Mostly we talked about pitching philosophy and leadership.

The former is a big reason he’s here. The latter is a big reason he’s here now rather than later in his career.

“Jim (Schlossnagle) is the leader that I wanted to work for, and I had an incredible, incredible leader in Andy McKay with the Mariners, who oversaw all the player development, and now he’s an AGM (assistant general manager),” Weiner said. “I find so much overlap between Jim and Andy.

“What I learn more and more every day is that Jim truly has a great balance of how he controls his thoughts, how he controls his emotions and how he plans for every conversation. He’s not off the cuff. He’s very intentional.”

That same control and intentionality Schlossnagle possesses can also be seen in Weiner, who’s nearly half his age.

Weiner is authentically himself in each word he speaks. Perhaps a trait acquired through being surrounded by strong leaders — professionally and personally — all his life.

“My dad is a really remarkable leader, and my brothers are really remarkable leaders and partners in every sport that we’ve always played,” he said. “We all went to the same military school called Riverside Military Academy.”

Max is one of four boys. Just like their father, Jeff, each attended Riverside, a small prep school north of Atlanta that closely resembles A&M’s Corps of Cadets program.

One week before his bar mitzvah, Jeff lost his own father. Shortly thereafter, it was off to Riverside.

Jeff credited the lessons and growth acquired at military school with allowing him to cope and succeed in life.

He became an attorney. As did his two oldest sons, Diego and Fernando.

Aaron Provencio, courtesy Max Weiner

Weiner was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 for sports in 2023 and The Athletic’s 35 under 35 in 2019.

Diego recently beat cancer. Fernando attended West Point and is an Army Ranger.

Jake — the youngest son— went to Harvard Law. He now runs wealth management for Goldman Sachs clients in sports and entertainment on the West Coast.

Surrounded by strong, successful individuals, Max applies his brand of leadership to sports and keeping young players on track.

“I don’t really get off on the Xs and Os of baseball that much. I really just love the people,” Weiner explained. “I love the empathy. I love the accountability. I love the focus of it. I love the collectivism. How do you get a kid from Pasadena, California, a kid from Philadelphia and a kid from Montgomery, Texas, to all believe in the same collective goal?”

The collective wealth of pitching knowledge is already growing in Aggieland. 

Case and point: This offseason, several big league pitchers descended upon College Station.

Not only to work with Bryce Miller — a Texas A&M product who enjoyed a historic rookie campaign with the Mariners — but to also learn from Weiner.

“Being a pro guy doesn’t necessarily mean that you have the best wisdom to share; sometimes that comes from a dad who never played baseball a day in his life,” Weiner said. “What is great about it is the community. It brings Aggies back. It makes sure that people love this place. It means that people are invested, and it gives our young guys hope of what can be and shows them how to pay it forward and how to be respectful.”

He’s been doing so since he was even younger than he is now.

“I’ve always wanted to coach,” Weiner said. “Truth be told, I had been spending my entire life preparing to coach, so when I was 15, I was reaching out to college professors on stuff. I was reading every sports psych book you could ever imagine. Learning about every facet of biomechanics and probably ballistic analytics. All the crap that has big words that just means trying to understand what the game is trying to tell us in a more simple way.”

That led him to create The Arm Farm — a player-development and research-development company — at the age of 19.

His successful entrepreneurial brainchild allowed Weiner to gain coaching experience while providing him the chance to speak to agents, teams, coordinators and directors in professional baseball.

By 22, the Cleveland Guardians hired him as a minor league pitching coach.

A year later, the Mariners brought him in as their pitching coordinator.

With Seattle, he helped their farm system complete a worst-to-first climb.

Big league proteges include 2020 American League Cy Young winner Shane Bieber, 2023 MLB All-Star George Kirby and Miller, who debuted with Seattle on May 2, 2023.

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

A 2021 fourth-round selection by Seattle, Miller allowed just eight base runners in his first three big league starts, breaking an MLB record that stood since 1901.

Miller’s debut ball sits on Weiner’s desk, a memento of a meaningful relationship that played a big role in leading him to the Aggies.

“Bryce is going to be great with or without anyone because Bryce is special. We’re very close,” Weiner said. “I think Bryce is forever an Aggie, and Bryce cares about A&M baseball. He cares about our current players. He has mentored a ton of them throughout this current fall.”

Some might raise their eyebrows at his sudden rise from The Arm Farm to Seattle to Aggieland in less than a decade. 

But not Weiner. To him, the journey has neither been fast nor slow. He has carefully carved his path by “picking up lottery tickets” and cashing in on sincere relationships.

“My goal was never to be an entrepreneur. My goal was always to be a college coach and a college coach at the right place at the right time,” he said. “The Arm Farm was a really great way for me to meet meaningful people and to help kids along the way. Now, I get to do that, and I get to do it in Maroon instead of under my own banner.”

What’s different now is that he wants to be at A&M. A place that finally seems like home after traveling from city to city for the last seven years.

“The guy could be a Major League pitching coach. He has turned down two over the winter break,” Schlossnagle said. “He has always wanted to be in college baseball because of the competition, so I think he’s looking forward to that challenge. He has asked a lot of questions.

“There’s going to be growing pains, I’m sure, but no one will be more prepared than Max.”

That preparation can be seen in Weiner’s work ethic. It can be seen in his interactions with players, who are beginning to trust him.

It can especially be seen in his philosophy: Dominate the zone.

Weiner emphasizes maximizing strikeouts and limiting walks.

To do that, pitchers must get ahead, which makes winning 0-0 and 1-1 counts vital.

Live in positive counts and constantly work to advance it.

After all, that’s what baseball is trying to tell pitchers to do.

“I want pitchers to feel they can just go down the middle 0-0 and just say, ‘Screw it. I dare you to hit me. … I don’t give a damn. I’m coming right at you.’ It’s no frills,” Weiner said.

Of course, he can’t give me all the answers. Much of the state secrets remain locked far from my view.

Although not privy to all of his data and teachings, even a bad player-turned-average-writer such as myself can understand why that philosophy could work.

Still, Weiner took time to explain himself further.

He asked me if I played ball. “Of course.” 

Weiner responded, “You were a pitcher, right?”

Unlike Max — who pitched at FIU — my experience on the mound ended when I was 15.

That didn’t stop him from analyzing my baseball brain.

“Let’s do a scenario. You’re a pitcher. If you were going to go throw a pitch to a right-handed hitter in an 0-0 count, where would you throw the ball?” he asked. “Where would you try to target, in and around the zone?”

Citing my real-life lack of control and experience playing The Show, I answered that I’d pitch in. I was pressed to explain my reasoning. “I don’t want them to get extended.”

Max then transformed into the well-spoken coach he has already become.

“So as a pitcher, you’re prioritizing your strategy in like a negative mindset of ‘I don’t want them to do this. I don’t want them to damage me. I don’t want things to go badly,’” he said. “That doesn’t sound like a super fun way to pitch. That doesn’t sound like a super healthy way to compete.”

He explained the following:

“Instead, what if I said, ‘Hey, Big Shooter, here’s the reality: If you just throw the dang ball in the strike zone — anywhere in the dang zone, the middle, the corner, top left, bottom left, don’t matter where — if you just throw this white thing in the zone, it will be back in your glove with a strike or an out 94 percent of the time.’

“How would you feel?” he asked.

Less worried, obviously.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Since his arrival, Weiner’s “Dominate the Zone” motto has been featured on social media and is prominently displayed in the A&M bullpen.

“You’d feel a lot better, and you’d say to yourself, ‘Well, damn, why am I trying to go inside? Why am I trying to keep their hands from extending? Why am I complicating the game?’” Weiner said. “Here’s the real deal about pitching: If everything you’re doing isn’t in support of more self-confidence, just get it in the zone, you’re missing the boat, in my opinion.”

Just a few days from Opening Day, Weiner has passed along this (and much more) knowledge to his current group.

How each Aggie dominates the zone will be highly individualized.

For instance, hard-throwing righty Chris Cortez will no longer throw a four-seam fastball with a slider. Instead, he’ll combine a sinker with a firmer breaking ball.

His “priority list” will differ from Justin Lamkin’s or Isaac Morton’s or anybody who trots to the mound for A&M this spring.

There are different ways to find the same answer. To Weiner, that’s just baseball.

“The boys are doing amazing — doing amazing as far as culture, doing amazing as far as supporting their teammate, getting better at dominating the zone. That’s the ticket to the dance,” he said. “We still have to go do it, and we have to recommit to these same values over and over. It’s not that difficult in sports to have a good strategy.

“Basically, we have to focus on the process of throwing our best shape to our best location when our career seemingly hinges on the results. In the heat of the moment, when you cannot allow a run, how can you focus on doing your job in that moment? That’s where we’re at right now.”

Since Schlossnagle’s arrival at A&M, it’s no secret that pitching has yet to be elite. Or even competent, for that matter.

In 2022, the Aggies’ high-power offense covered up a lackluster 4.67 staff ERA as they slugged their way to Omaha’s final four.

In 2023, that ERA jumped to 5.67 as the Aggies shattered the program record for walks with 320 — a dubious honor previously held by the 1987 and 1991 clubs with 280 free passes.

“I think our pitching will be better than it has been in terms of strike-throwing ability and performance. Will it be SEC elite? Remains to be seen. I think that takes place over years,” Schlossnagle said. “I think Texas A&M was that in ‘15 and ‘16 when I was at TCU, having to face those teams. We have to get back to that point, and we will.”

With Weiner’s, curriculum, philosophy and leadership — combined with Schlossnagle’s clearly defined goals — improvement should be expected.

But how much?

“If the games were played in the bullpen or the office, we’d already be in Omaha, hanging out at the Drover, but we’re not,” Schlossnagle said. “You gotta play the games. To sit here and spout off about us doing this, that and the other, the games will tell us who we are.”