The Week in Quotes: July 6-12

“We have kept him from free agency twice, and I don’t think we have the resources to keep him from free agency a third time, so I have to investigate what is out there. But my gut feeling is no trade gets done because we value him as one of the five best players in the game, and I don’t think people will meet the price tag for that kind of talent.”

-Ricciardi

“We’ve gotten a lot of calls from teams, but none of them are telling us at this point what they’re willing to give up. If you’re coming at us with a B-list of young players, don’t bother. This is one of the five best players in baseball. It’s going to take a significant package of players for us to even listen. So as the teams call we’ll go through the ones we feel are the serious ones and then we’ll start scouting their farm systems to see if there’s anything we can do.”
-Ricciardi (Joel Sherman, New York Post)

THE PADRES’ OFFENSE BRINGS JOY TO FATHERS AND SONS

“We had a toast in the clubhouse after the game, and Sanchy said, ‘I don’t want to go to the ‘pen after this start.'”
–Giants manager Bruce Bochy on the aftermath of Jonathan Sanchez‘ no-hitter this week against the Padres.

“This is the first time he has seen me pitch. This is a gift for him. I feel awesome.”
-Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez, on his no-hitter being the first night his father Sigfrido Sanchez saw him pitch in the major leagues.

“I was going to go up and over and land on the other side of the fence if I had to, to try to make the catch.”
-Giants center fielder Aaron Rowand, on catching the second out in the ninth inning to preserve the no-hit bid in the 8-0 victory.

“It was f–king amazing. If you can print that, print it, because that’s what it was. He showed a lot of character, especially with all the movement he’s made.”
-Giants starter Tim Lincecum, on his teammate’s no-hitter. (Henry Schulman, San Francisco Chronicle)

HOPEFULLY JON DOESN’T TAKE A HALLADAY OVER THE BREAK

“He’s still just 21. If he can have success in this role, we’ve addressed a need internally, and he’ll be able to get innings to work as a starter this winter and again starting next spring. It’s easy to look at him, see the velocity and arm slot, and say ‘reliever,’ but we’re not going to give up on him starting down the line.”
–Rangers GM Jon Daniels on preparing prospect Neftali Feliz to pitch out of the bullpen on the major league level.

“It’s great that they like me. I definitely don’t want to get traded. I love the Phillies organization. I’ve been hearing a lot about the fans, and I want to meet them.”
-Phillies prospect Kyle Drabek, at this Sunday’s MLB Futures Game.

“It’s really weird, because that’s what everybody thinks, but talking to them, they like me as a shortstop, too. They saw me last year and liked what I did. They just want to see me pitch and see how I handle stuff and just kind of see which one they want me to do the best.”
–Red Sox prospect Casey Kelly, on deciding between his future on the mound and his option to become a position player. (Ian Browne, MLB.com)

EVEN BASE HITS ARE FAILURES AT THIS POINT

“When you don’t hit or hit singles, you’re a team that looks lethargic, and that’s what we are right now.”
–Mets manager Jerry Manuel, on his team’s struggles with Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, and Carlos Delgado out of the lineup.

“Counsel? Shoot, I need Gandhi and King. They went through some stuff.”
-Manuel, pondering if there is anyone he can turn to during these tough times.

“I think a fresh face, excited about coming here, that could really help. We feel that he’s one of those guys that can be an impact player. That could be huge for us at this point.”
-Manuel, on the acquisition of outfielder Jeff Francoeur.

“One thing we like about Francoeur is the amount of games that he plays.”
-Mets GM Omar Minaya, on one of the upsides that came with trading Ryan Church for Jeff Francoeur.

“Really, that’s what I reach out to-for me. Every manager has been through a similar situation. I’ve been through things in Chicago as well. This is a little different. This is different in the sense that there was great expectation, there’s great exposure, and everything is witnessed, so to speak. So it’s a different deal. I think as far as leadership goes, I think you have to kind of remain steady.”
-Manuel, on what he has in common with Gandhi and Martin Luther King. (Mike Fitzpatrick, USA Today)

ONLY BILLY WAGNER‘S WIFE KNOWS THE RIGHT WAY TO RUB HIM

“Maybe I get too comfortable sometimes around veterans, and I think that maybe might rub some people the wrong way. I’m just not the typical rookie guy who comes in the clubhouse and sits there quietly. I joke around. If you’ve been in the game 15 years or one year, I’ll mess around and joke with you. That’s just the kind of person I am. I like to communicate with everybody, Latins or whites or blacks, whatever.”

–Pirates outfielder Lastings Milledge, on why he’s been traded twice in his young career.

“I think that rubbed people in New York the wrong way. I know I rubbed Billy Wagner the wrong way. But that’s who I am.”
-Milledge

“The Pirates know I have a really high ceiling. But all of that is really irrelevant unless you put the work in.”
-Milledge (Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

MARTY FOSTER’S IMPROVISATIONAL UMPIRING IS THE RAGE OF THE NEW YORK COMEDY SCENE

“I have not had a chance to talk to Marty about it or what was specifically said, but I will. We’ll talk about the situation, what exactly happened, how he handled it, and what he said, because it’s important. Getting a play right is one thing, but how you handle it and things you say are equally as important.”
–Umpire John Hirschbeck on Derek Jeter‘s unsuccessful steal of third when umpire Marty Foster called him out despite the fact that he wasn’t tagged.

“It used to be if the ball beats you, you’re out. It’s really not like that anymore. You have to make a good tag.”
-Hirschbeck

“I was told by the umpire that I didn’t have to be tagged to be out.”
–Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter

“In my 27 years in the big leagues, he might be the classiest person I’ve ever been around in uniform. I do think, ‘Wow, that’s unusual,’ and I did at the time… We try to get everything right. Sometimes you just miss plays and you have to go in and look at the replays. You’re human, and you miss it.”
-Hirschbeck, on Jeter’s emotions after the call. (Jesse Sanchez, MLB.com)

THE REST

“Well, if I’m being completely honest money is more of the issue now. We expected a little more support than we’ve gotten.”
–White Sox GM Kenny Williams Jr., on whether he has the flexibility to make deals to improve his team at the deadline. (Melissa Isaacson, ESPN.com)

“I didn’t want to throw even more fire. I just walked away. I only play five innings, so I was leaving anyway.”
–Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez on getting tossed from a game at CitiField this week. (Ronald Blum, The Daily Breeze)

“My wife actually said to me, ‘Didn’t Haren and Upton make the team? They didn’t mention a word about them. It’s been fun, though. I enjoyed it.”
-D’backs third baseman Mark Reynolds on being a part of the final vote to let an extra player into the All-Star game. Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino was chosen in the National League. (Barry M. Bloom, MLB.com)

“I thank the Nationals for giving me this opportunity, and I’m sorry that things didn’t work out as expected. It’s normal for the manager to pay the price when the team is not doing well.”
-Former Nationals manager Manny Acta, on his being fired by the team after weeks of speculation. (Bill Ladson, MLB.com)

“I’m not a big fan of it. Nothing pops there, nothing pops. … It’s a beautiful scoreboard, but they have the radar gun readings at the very top of the scoreboard with the pitch count. Fans want to know how hard the pitcher’s throwing, for instance. You come to the game, you want to see, ‘Yeah, Brandon League‘s on the mound, he’s throwing 90-what?’ You don’t want to have to look around the stadium to find it, and this is at the very top, a very little scene up there with your miles per hour, where most stadiums have them above the dugouts on the second tier of the second deck so you can kind of see it easier. You know, it was hard to read what the guy’s hitting for the batting average. It was tough to find certain things.”

-Blue Jays first baseman Kevin Millar, on the new Yankee Stadium. (Tyler Kepner, The New York Times)

“We can’t go to the plate with them, and we can’t be in an earplug like the NFLers do, tell the quarterback what play to run-OK, now you bunt, right now. We tell them, and they have to walk up to the plate and try it. Something’s getting lost between here and there.”
–Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, on asking his players to bunt during a game against Yankees starter CC Sabathia. (Kelsei Smith, Pioneer Press)

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Alex Carnevale is a contributor to Baseball Prospectus.