December 16, 2002

The Week in Quotes

December 2-December 15

by Ryan Wilkins

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

"We felt unless we got a shortstop who could make the plays, we weren't going to win. We ended up acquiring Royce Clayton...He did make the difference."
--Doug Melvin, Brewers general manager

"I think I would be less of a competitor if I didn't have an attitude of...being successful and showing people they were definitely wrong in their assessment of Royce Clayton."
--Melvin

"I think this organization is heading in the right direction. They have a number of young players who are capable of throwing up tremendous seasons."
--Royce Clayton, Brewers shortstop

"In my 14th season, I'm kind of happy to become an everyday starter once again...I think I'm in the prime of my career, and healthy. My main interest in going to any team was to get out there and play every day. I think I've got a lot left. I'm nowhere near a fourth outfielder on nobody's team."
--Marquis Grissom, Giants center fielder

A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE

"My baseball people tell me we still have a very good team."
--Fred Wilpon, Mets owner

"No, I don't think it's a problem. I have never really seen these guys, but our reports on Robert Machado, Javier Valentin and Cody McKay are very good, and I am anxious to see them play."
--Ned Yost, Brewers manager

"I thought this was a real good situation for us because our people don't think these guys don't still have some baseball in them."
--Jim Hendry, Cubs general manager, on acquiring Eric Karros and Mark Grudzielanek

"I was asking my wife 'What's a guy gotta to do to stay with a team?'...I told (Oakland GM) Billy Beane I guess if I would have sucked you would have kept me."
--Billy Koch, White Sox closer, on being traded by the Oakland Athletics

GETTING IT DONE

"Sometimes guys in baseball are real slow. My problem is, I want to do everything overnight. I'm the worst. I'd rather get all our stuff done now. I'd rather go to the Winter Meetings and sit there waiting for the Patriots to play the Titans on Monday night."
--J.P. Ricciardi, Blue Jays general manager

"I don't know if we're going to get him, but another guy asked me the same question: Do I like Russ Ortiz? I said 'Yeah.' I like Todd Helton too. Can I get him? I don't know."
--Riccicardi

"It has almost become comical, in a lot of ways, Erubiel has been my Holy Grail...(Arizona general manager Joe Garagiola Jr.) can tell you. But he is our type of guy, our type of hitter. But my desire to add him to our team has been a joke."
--Billy Beane, Athletics general manager

PRIORITIES

"I have some priorities...Ideally, I'd like to get a veteran starting pitcher, so we can have two guys (C.C. Sabathia is the other) to go every five days without having to worry about protecting them with pitch counts."
--Mark Shapiro, Indians general manger

THE REST

"He didn't feel he was getting the same treatment as Clemens and the other guys, and I told him he was right, because he hadn't done what they'd done over here."
--Joe Torre, Yankees manager, on former Yankee Hideki Irabu

"We need him. I thought he looked great. He told us he didn't realize that good food can also taste good."
--Alan Trammell, Tigers manager, on first baseman Dimitri Young's recent weight loss

"The first impression I had of Theo when he became the general manager was that he named me to be his manager for next year, so naturally I like him."
--Grady Little, Red Sox manager

"[The Yankees] must be a lot smarter than we are, if you can guess what Hammy's going to do the next two years...God bless him, but I'm not smart enough to tell if he'll be the same guy he was this year."
--Frank Wren, Braves assistant general manager, on reliever Chris Hammond

If you would like to submit a quote, please email Ryan and be sure to include both the quote itself and a URL pointing to the quote.