At the beginning of the year, we have a budget that provides for a call-up of 'X' amount of players, ... We're going to be over budget on that as it is. You can't call up 30 guys. |
Baseball is our way of life! |
Does he belong on the disqualified list? Our answer is yes. He is failing to perform his services. Never in the history of baseball has a player been able to pick his position. |
Had he gone into the training program that we had for him, we weren't going to pitch him in a game until March 25 or so. And all of this got accelerated for the sake of Mexico. We question their team trainers and how they handled our player. |
He just hasn't been a big trader. He believes more in development. He doesn't make deals unless he is satisfied that he will at least break even. |
Honestly, most people in baseball would tell you that he went into a bad situation. He had a lot of money committed to players who weren't performing. A lot of people I know feel like he needs more time to put his plan in place. |
I can't hold anybody back, ... We've told our coaches, our manager, our GM that if there's a job that is available to you and you want to interview for it, you should. It would be inappropriate of me to be denying permission for teams to speak with our people. |
I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Jim this past season and look forward to working with him over the next several months, |
I think he's done a good job, ... He's got a vision. He's got a plan, and he sticks with his plan. I think for all those reasons, and the fact that he's a very hard-working guy -- I'd stack him up with anybody in that GM's capacity -- he deserved this. |
I think that any new owner coming in here is crazy to try and change a general manager in the middle of a season. To be disappointed this quick, there would clearly be something wrong with the new owner. |
I was about to start having people call baseball |
I'm in a position where I have to react, not move forward, |
I'm motivated and he's motivated [to get a deal done]. We'll see. He would love to get a deal done before Opening Day, but I can't promise that is going to happen. I promised him one thing: I will not distract him with contract negotiations. I do think there's a way of continuing on after the season has started without distractions. |
I'm not going to say it's substandard right now, but I think if we go much further it'll be substandard. |
I'm the holdup, ... I didn't want people accusing me of being unrealistic by billing them for something we have no chance of and then saying, 'All you want is my money.' |