It's a better team than last year. It has better talent and makeup. But when you start out like this, everything is going to be magnified. That's the way it is. We may have been a little snake-bit. But the game doesn't stop, and nobody is going to feel sorry for you. |
It's tough to say. We'll send him to the Instructional League and see where he is in relationship to where he should be, game-wise, |
Just a case of [the hitters] not producing up to the talent level in our clubhouse. |
Justin probably shortened the time to really establish ourselves by two years because of his contacts and notoriety. |
Losses bother me. Jokes do not. The losses were tough. |
Makeup-wise he's a tough kid, a competitor, no excuses, holds himself accountable. Pitching consistent and down with his stuff are going to be big for him in spring training. |
Mike would still get time in the field. We are not thinking of doing anything else. |
Out of respect to him, I'd rather have him do that. |
People ask who our best prospects are. They're here. They're right here. Now we have a core group we feel are ready to move into the big leagues next season that were already here. |
Perception is reality until you know what reality is. When I met with them and asked if they had any questions, they had questions. The big thing with them was, 'If I sign, is it going to stop there?' They wanted a whole, detailed plan, and I was glad to be able to give them that. |
Play solid defense, show the ability to steal bases and just perform well. Offensively, he's got some power and runs some deep counts. When we acquired him we knew he could be a solid fourth outfielder. |
Right now, we'll send him out as a third baseman. |
That's not the case at all. |
That's when we start looking for more results. We had this year to go full steam ahead. Next year we're in that next phase where we're looking for more results. |
The alternative is to change direction. And that would be easy at this point, but it would be a mistake, so you stick with it ... Believe me, I understand that people are upset. I understand why they're upset. But you can't change the direction. |