As far as the pool of players in our farm system, although it's improved, we have a long way to go and you don't redo a farm system overnight. You have to do it one draft at a time. So it takes four to five years to get it back to where you wanted to get it.
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He takes the ball every day, he never complains and he gets the job done. He has nasty stuff. He warms up quick to get in a game.
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It's been the most 'un-fun,' and it's been one nightmare after another. It's like I'm working for the fire department, just putting out fires every day. But I've been through springs like that before, and the season starts, and then I'm in a pennant race all year. Hopefully that's what happens here.
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The doctors gave us the go-ahead to sign the player. They understood that it was a four-year deal with significant money. We wanted clearance and to make sure there wasn't a health risk. I would not have done the deal if the doctors didn't clear it.
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I'm not only proud of what Hector has accomplished at age 35, as far as learning how to pitch and making adjustments, but he has put his body in the best shape he ever had in his life. His makeup and character are at [such] a high level that it makes our clubhouse a better place to be.
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This is not something I want dragging on once our pitchers and catchers report [one week from today]. I don't want any distractions. We're either going to be able to sign him before then, or we won't and we'll go forward. We're hoping Sammy considers signing with us. If he doesn't, then we'll turn the page and go forward.
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Absolutely, ... If we didn't have the injuries, he'd probably be here today. But you got to be Tom Brady at the line of scrimmage and be able to adjust.
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He's not a player I'd like to have to compete on the free agent market for, because he's so special. So I think this is a deal that needed to be done. I don't think it could have waited.
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There is no truth that we are in trade discussions with Boston concerning Alfonso Soriano, Nick Johnson or Ryan Church.
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I don't want to be embarrassed, that's the only thing I ask. I don't have any criticism about effort. I have no criticism about the work ethic. I just don't want to be embarrassed, and I've been embarrassed the last two days.
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We support the commissioner's office, the minor-league drug program, ... We're disappointed in the violation that two of our players caused, but we support the system 100 percent. And hopefully, this will be a good experience for the players involved and it won't happen again in the future.
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Jamey was not going to make this team. And because of how strong our personal feelings were toward Jamey, we felt we owed it to him to make this move prior to the start of camp.
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This spring training has been the most bizarre spring training I have ever been a part of in my career.
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We've had some history with him. He's only 26 years old. So it certainly makes sense for us to take a chance on him.
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It depends on his history. If a guy has a history at all or lack of durability or those kind of problems, we do it, or if we see something in his arm action that says we should do that. We saw every single one of his starts the last couple months, and the player looked healthy.
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He made it pretty clear that he was not going to play. We hope that when he reflects on it, we hope that he changes his mind and plays left field.
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[Pitching coach] Randy St. Claire taught him a changeup, which was a phenomenal pitch,
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I thought it went very well. Obviously, both are highly intelligent people. They were very well prepared and asked good questions.
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