(Macha) did a fine job. We obviously had significant player turnover and injuries. The end result was good. It was great to see the young guys make the progress they did. |
[A's G.M. Billy Beane is suitably impressed by Mariners phenom Felix Hernandez.] There aren't too many 19-year-olds with those kinds of weapons, that kind of command, that kind of velocity, ... He's going to be a dominant guy in this league for a long time. |
[The impasse between the two sides was broken by a call from Macha.] It took a lot for him to call, ... We were receptive. |
After instructional league, he seemed so far away from being able to compete in a major league game. What a special kid. What a comeback he had last year. No one deserves this more. |
After instructional league, he seemed so far away from being able to compete in a major-league game. What a special kid. |
Almost like a car salesman, if a guy walks onto the lot and a salesman qualifies him on how he is dressed he may miss out on a hell of a sale, we try to open our mind and say it's not about perception or what you think you see, |
Assuming we're healthy, Kenny's not going to have his hands tied very often. |
At some point we need to move on. We need to start doing some things. That day is fast approaching, if it's not here already. Our prom dress has been on for over [a] year and we've been standing there, with a corsage, waiting. |
At this point, both sides have agreed to pursue other options. We were just too far apart. I don't think we were ever going to be able to bridge the gap. ... When you're so far apart, there's no sense going through the exercise. |
Both (Williams and Thomas) are highly competitive, highly successful people. It's temporary noise. |
But we've always been obsessed in Oakland with not being the cute small-market story that came and went. |
Certainly, you're not going to able to go and pull a Mark Mulder out of your hat somewhere, |
Deals are always ongoing things. So now, in that respect, Brad is part of the deal. But I'm not the reflective sort when it comes to that kind of thing. |
Do I wish everybody in baseball had the same amount to spend? Absolutely. At some point, the disadvantage of being a small-market team is that the inefficiencies will be weeded out. Having less than your competitor is never an advantage. |
Essentially this has been a business that's been around for over a hundred years and it really hasn't changed much so any time someone's doing something differently, its probably going to create some friction. |