That wasn't the plan. The plan was if you win 88 [in the AL Central], you're in the mix. Not win 93 and be out of the playoffs. |
That, ... is the hardest thing in the world for a GM. |
That's a good job by [farm director] John Farrell. One of John's jobs is to utilize our scouting information to find guys who can help us. |
That's something Eric (Wedge) and I have already talked about. |
That's the best-case scenario. We're hoping that will happen. |
That's why you go get more. |
The best option is when a player picks it up himself by his level of performance. He genuinely has a passion for the game and plays on a daily basis like he enjoys it. That is representative of the attributes we want in our players. |
The bottom four in the lineup have to be more consistent and a little more productive. |
The Colon trade was a decisive move, and every move after that was clearly in the direction of, rebuild with a foot on the accelerator, ... That's what it had been until maybe August last year. Everything since then has been, 'Let's see what we can do to try to finish off building the team within the constraints of the market.' |
The Colon trade was the start of everything, ... It started the change. That was the defining trade. |
The company is debt- and asset-laden, so part of the strategy will be looking at the entire portfolio. |
The expectations for our team have been higher every year. Our players are ready for it. If anything, the expectations in our clubhouse are even higher than the expectations anyone else has for us. That's what you live for. You want expectations to be high like they are now. |
The general managers are making an effort in an attempt to be more efficient in our drafting and development, ... As with everything new, we are aware there will be logistical challenges. But it is our hope that we can subtly reshape the system to work more efficiently for us as an industry. |
The guy we traded for is the guy we saw this spring. |
The makeup of our bench will be determined as we go. Most likely, it'll be one [extra infielder]. A lot of things can happen with these guys competing, so we'll see. |