I hope he doesn't take it personally, because it's nothing against him. It's not his fault. It's the coach's fault because they never called me. |
I know there's going to be a (bombshell) in Venezuela. 'Why isn't Melvin (going) to be in the Baseball Classic?' I have to explain to everybody: I'm not a center fielder anymore. I'm not an outfielder anymore. I'm a third baseman. I cannot go over there to look ridiculous in front of a million people to try to catch a fly ball and (have) the ball go over me. |
I respect Edgardo. I (am not saying) that I don't respect Miguel Cabrera, but I respect Edgardo because he's played a long time more than me as a third baseman. He deserves to play that position before me. |
I want to play with [shortstop Miguel] Tejada for the next four years, ... I'd like to stay in Baltimore, but I know this is a business, too. There are lots of teams that would be interested. But I'm going to give the first chance to Baltimore. |
I was just waiting for that. |
I was worried that he was going to leave. I wasn't worried about what he was thinking. He made his own decisions. That's his career. Would we miss him? Of course, but there's nothing we could do about it. |
I'd just like to have a little bit of respect. |
I'm trying to negotiate my contract. If I don't agree, I'm going to be a free agent as a third baseman, not as a center fielder. The Orioles are my family, and I need to prepare for the season. |
I've got a lot of fans in my country. They are going to ask questions. I don't blame them. I want them to understand that I'm a third baseman. |
It still doesn't stop my heart from hurting. I am behind Venezuela 100 percent. I love my country and want it to do well. Most people back there understand. |
It will be done after that. I don't want to keep talking about my contract. I am just going to keep playing. That's all I can tell you. I have a lot of games to play and I don't want to worry about the other stuff. |
It's a pretty nice feeling especially when everybody responds. I know Rodrigo needs some offense and we got it for him. |
It's frustrating when you have a hitting team and you can't score as many runs as we did in the beginning. There's been a lot of changes, a lot of new guys [since last year]. Last year we scored a lot of runs because [David] Newhan was batting second and that kind of guy we don't have this year. |
It's something difficult. I don't even know what to say. I think he's happy with the team but it's not easy to play for a losing team. |
Oh my goodness. That's a big thing. It's a big loss for the team if Tejada leaves. I never would have expected him to make such comments. |