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January 10, 2011 The Week in QuotesJanuary 3-9EVENTUALLY THE RAYS PLAYERS WILL BE COMPENSATING THE ORGANIZATION FOR THEIR TIME
"It's not a reaction to another team's trade as much as we think if we got the right starting pitcher, the right first baseman and a little more bullpen help that we can contend again. That was the only goal... It's just a real good old-fashioned baseball trade that often doesn't get made with the volume of people involved and for the right reasons for both organizations."
"Major-league payroll is always going to fluctuate, but the key is maintaining a talent level that allows us to compete with teams that can go out and spend more than $100 million on a single player. So we need to be able to compete this year, and we need to be able to look out for the next several years and know that we're going to have the talent to compete in this division."
"We're not giving away the farm to try to win in one year. That couldn't be farther from the truth with a guy like Matt Garza. I want him just to keep improving, keep doing what he's been doing. Let's hope he has another league championship series MVP in him."
"It's essential for us as we try to maintain success in an increasingly hostile economic climate within baseball." MAYBE THEY CAN MOVE MICHAEL YOUNG TO BENCH COACH IN TIME FOR 2012
"We went to the outer limits of where we were comfortable... We're not going to be able to go out and get that ace. At least not right now. So how do we best position the club? Well, let's have the best bullpen we can have - we tried to upgrade there. Let's keep all our young arms and young talent."
"We felt like if we sat back and did nothing, other teams would pass us by. We have the utmost respect for the other top teams in the American League and we had to try to get better overall. We feel like this helps us do that."
"I said, 'Julio, there are traditions in the game, and I've got good news and bad news. The bad news is that the veteran player gets the number. The good news is that I am your advocate in negotiating with a very wealthy player to get you a very nice watch.'"
"It's clear that I want to play with the Rangers. That's the only part of how this is viewed that's important to me. I'm willing to make some pretty big sacrifices. This move is pretty significant in terms of my career path. How it's viewed is not going to be important to me in terms of my job. And now my focus is on how I can best do that job." GO GET US ANOTHER SLADE HEATHCOTT
"Once Cliff Lee came off the board, I called Damon and said, 'You're going to have your No. 1 pick, you're in the hunt for a first-round pick.' It's a strong draft and I'm going to leave that pick to Damon and his staff for another good pick. That pick is going to be a Yankee player."
"I will not lose our No. 1 draft pick. I would have for Cliff Lee. I won't lose our No. 1 draft pick for anyone else. Talking about somebody doesn't characterize a level of interest in any guy. And obviously this winter we've done a lot of talking."
"We never got off the dime, but strong impressions were that it would be something that would cost us more because we are in the division, kind of like Roy Halladay. We like Matt Garza and I had a conversation early in the winter and it was clear that what it would take would be more significant than I wanted to do. And there was also reluctance from them to trading within the division." JON HEYMAN IS FORCED TO TASTE HIS OWN SALTY TEARS
"I'm kind of a baseball geek. I love going on Baseball-Reference.com. I always looked at numbers, even as a young kid coming up. I admired Walter Johnson and Cy Young."
"It was something out of my hands. Last year, I was so close. This year, I expected to make it, but not with that many votes."
"It's been 14 years of praying and waiting. I'd like to thank the Baseball Writers of America for, I'd like to say, finally getting it right."
"I'm very, very happy for him. It's overdue. I'm not going to comment on why he didn't get elected the first time. But I forgave him. Maybe the rest of the world has." ANDRE DAWSON JUST SPIT OUT HIS FRUITY PEBBLES
"Guys like me are not going to get in real easily. They're good numbers, but I saw Andre Dawson wait years, and his numbers and mine are fairly comparable. He took that long to get in, which I think is absolutely disgusting also, but that's what's going to happen."
"Baseball has historically been held to a very high standard, right or wrong. There's a certain integrity required when it comes to baseball's highest honor, which is being inducted into the Hall of Fame. The character clause exists as it relates to the game on the field. The character clause isn't there to evaluate and judge players socially. It's there to relate to the game on the field. The voters should have the freedom to measure that however they see fit."
"I wasn't really worried about it. Guys are going to vote that way. It's just the way it is. I promise you: I am not disappointed. I'm happy to get that many votes. I've done everything that I can on the baseball field. I can't change people's opinions and how they see my career. I'm OK with that. I've done everything that I can on the baseball field. I can't change people's opinions and how they see my career. I'm OK with that. You can't ask for anything more than to get inducted into the Hall of Fame." THE OPPOSITE OF HIS APPROACH AT THE PLATE
"I'd love to see the percentage go up instead of down. That's not what you want to see in second year. I didn't have very high expectations. That's my approach."
"When you're in a plane, you're in the hands of the pilot. You have no control."
"It would be like a trophy, I guess, the final trophy. I'd be very honored to be there. But I've also got so many things to be grateful for and appreciative of. I think you've got to keep the big picture in mind, because you could let this thing take control of you. I've seen other guys say some things that I don't think they really even meant." THE REST
"There were definitely times when I thought, 'Am I just beating my head against the wall? Should I be going back to school? Should I be considering other options at this point? ... There were a couple of nights when I was lying in bed just trying to imagine myself in different uniforms. I just kept seeing myself as a Met, and I just had a really good gut feeling about it. The opportunity for me, and for the Mets, I think was just a really good fit right now."
"I have a hard time understanding how I've fallen so far off the map. I don't know too many people who could have done what I've done considering the circumstances. Seems as if I'm being penalized instead of applauded. It's not sour grapes. My place is more important to be here raising the kids, but for me personally, I wasn't quite done. My skills haven't diminished. The last three or four years of my career were wrought with a tough situation off the field. In retrospect, I'm actually amazed I was able to perform at all."
"He's one of the smartest guys I've met in baseball, and obviously he got a good educational foundation from Princeton. But he's more than just smart; he's logical, which in baseball can be much more valuable than just being smart. And he never rubs your nose in it that he went to an Ivy League school, which is so often the case."
"That's such an anti-gay environment, and it's always been. My first thought is, part of me feels horrible that Buck was in a situation where he couldn't be who he was, and the other part of me is, that he's such a pain in the ass that that's who he's always been."
"Everybody's so emotional up there. I feel like if you say anything, everyone reacts. I know that's what you're trying to do, but it's just like you see where I'm at down here." --- Alex Carnevale is a contributor to Baseball Prospectus. 6 comments have been left for this article.
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I take it that Schilling's comment (which comes across fairly ambiguously) means to say that Buckley was such a pain in the ass to be around because he had to suffer so much for not being able to be who he was. Maybe I'm being generous to Schilling.
I think it's a pretty interesting quote, I wonder whether Shilling's trying to figure out if he disliked the guy because he is gay, or because he was "such a pain in the ass," or whether, as you suggest, Shilling thinks he a pain in the ass as a reaction to the tough environment.
How about you guys listen to Schilling's call to the station from last week:
http://audio.weei.com/a/36130536/curt-schilling-on-what-steve-buckley-will-face-in-clubhouses-as-an-out-journalist.htm
It's pretty clear from what Schilling said that he doesn't expect Buckley to change regardless of his orientation and if players know. It might be good to know that Schilling and Buckley have a history of, lets call it, disagreeing on baseball matters. Buckley is tenacious and has written a few columns that ticked Schilling off. That's all he's referring to here in my opinion.