He has really improved his command. |
He knows, like Manny (Ramirez), we're trying to deal him, but there have been no threats made to us about spring training. He's been pretty good on the phone, understanding our situation. He won 15 games and is a very good pitcher, so we need to get a very good deal for him. Generally, the conversations we've had with him have been very positive. He understands that we need to get fair value for him in the market. |
He's been outstanding the last two years. He has really improved his command. His strikeout numbers have been outstanding. |
I don't think you can worry about what [the Yankees] do. We need to make sure that we put together a very good team. If we do that we'll be right there with them. We need to add a center fielder and possibly add a shortstop. |
I think he understands he is a very good pitcher and we need to get fair value for him in the market. If we can do that, we'll move him to a West Coast team. He hasn't been impolite with us. He hasn't been too demanding. |
I think Manny knows that we have made a good faith effort to meet his ... request. |
I think the biggest challenge is trying to get the right player at the right price. I don't think it's a leverage issue. I think it's just trying to get the right player in the right deal and not pulling the trigger until we get that. |
I think the biggest thing is the pitching. I think last year we gave up too many runs. Our run prevention wasn't good enough. I think that's something we focused on. In addition to Beckett, there was strengthening in the bullpen. We need to get better at preventing runs. We led the Major Leagues in runs the last three years. We know we can score runs. The biggest question is preventing runs. That's what we're working on. We're still going to score runs. We're confident with that. |
I think we want to do the right thing instead of the quick thing. Of course, now we know Johnny won't be playing center field for us, so that hastens the process a little bit. But we're not going to rush out and do something quick. We're going to sit down and try to do the right thing. |
Mark didn't know this, but we've wanted him for a long time. Mark fits our style perfectly the way he grinds out at-bats. |
More teams have traded for or signed center fielders, so the market is clearer. Our absolute priority is to bring Johnny back. |
No question. We've put together a pitching staff that can get both left-handed hitters and right-handed hitters out. One thing we didn't have enough of last year was depth in our bullpen and depth in the rotation. I think we have that this year. We're very excited about that. |
Our reports are good. Keith will be ready to go. He had a down year last year and we expect him to bounce back. With the depth that we have in our bullpen, it becomes a pretty exciting proposition putting those guys together. |
The entire department is very excited. Not only is Theo a great friend, he is a great talent. Having him back only makes us stronger, and our goal is to have the strongest department possible. |
The rumors are that he is here, but we haven't seen him. |