There are a lot of other great players in the tournament of course in addition to Manny, which is one of the reasons Manny would probably want to play, with the talent at that level. But I haven't spoken with Manny himself, and, in fact, I think I spoke to one of his representatives as late as yesterday and he hasn't ruled out playing. What he decides is really ultimately going to be up to him though. |
There is actually a thought out there that the Korean who did test positive, tested positive because he failed to properly process a therapeutic use exemption. I don't know if that's a fact. Appeals come after the event. |
There was a time when people were saying, 'Will there be a next time?' Now it's a given. That's a tribute to the tournament and how it has been conducted. It is now a given there will be a tournament in 2009. |
There will be no split season. It's not a negotiating ploy, believe me. It's their decision and that's what we will do. |
This is Olympic-style-sponsored and WADA-sponsored testing. The International Baseball Federation would not sanction it unless it could have the same testing with the same frequency for the same substances in the same laboratories. |
This tournament is going to be a whole lot of fun. It's going to be fun watching Johan Santana in that uniform pitching against David Ortiz in his uniform. It's just going to be that kind of exciting event. |
We are very disappointed with the government's decision to deny the participation of a team from Cuba in the World Baseball Classic. We will continue to work within appropriate channels in an attempt to address the government's concerns and will not announce a replacement unless and until that effort fails. |
We don't believe the tournament is going to create any greater number of injuries than spring training itself would. |
We don't believe the tournament will create more injuries than spring training otherwise would. |
We don't want the world to know if a guy tested positive in out-of-competition testing -- that's part of the arrangement we made. If they're playing in the tournament and test positive, their removal will be an indication why they were removed. |
We had medical reports in which the doctors suggested the player was ready to play. I'm troubled by it. But you take me back to the moment I said Luis Ayala should be able to play, I have no doubt I made the right decision. |
We have a clock. We're not going to play this event without umpires. And I believe that the basic problem the WUA faces in our continuing discussions with them is that that clock may have stopped before they became more reasonable in their demands. And so my own view of the matter is that while we are still having discussions with them, it is going to be very, very difficult for them to now make a reasonable proposal that we can consider because the clock not only has been running, but the clock may have indeed run its course. |
We hope they come [to the talks] without a closed mind. |
We're delighted we could reach agreement with ESPN on what will prove to be, I'm confident, historic broadcasts of the sport. There is a style and intensity that ESPN brings to baseball that makes this agreement the perfect fit for the inaugural games. |
We've long known we have our work cut out for us in Europe, but this tournament represents a decent positive stride in Europe, in addition to the enormous success it has been elsewhere. |