Dave Littlefield
Dave Littlefield
David Littlefieldis a former Major League Baseball executive, who is currently the vice president of player development for the Detroit Tigers. Littlefield was employed as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, a position he held from July 13, 2001 to September 7, 2007. He took over as GM for Roy Smith, who had assumed the position on a temporary basis after the firing of GM Cam Bonifay on June 11...
few guys hard pop
It's going to be interesting, I think. There will be a few guys who will pop out of this thing. It's hard to say who it's going to be.
gives hope perform plug point position road stronger win
We're in a position where we can look years down the road and plug in other things. I think that gives us hope for a stronger future. Now, they've got to win and perform well and all that stuff, but you've got to get yourself to that point where we are now.
building days guys innings people start time year
We're just at that time of year where we've got 10 days or so left, and we need to get innings to the right people and start building up the guys who are going to be playing.
plays
We'll see how it plays out with Burnett's health, how he does.
based changes necessary playing regular spring surgery training
There were no significant changes in his MRI. We don't think surgery is necessary based on regular playing in spring training and no complaints.
excellent experience five game good guy jim league lots major minor six tracy worked
I was comfortable that Jim Tracy was an excellent choice. I'm confident, from having worked with the guy for five or six years, that he's a very good communicator, he understands the game well, he has lots of experience as a Major League and Minor League manager, and he's won.
five four next
I think we're going to be significantly improved. And I think we're very well positioned or the next four or five years.
decision fall felt last level meetings planning review starters talent
I think we made a decision last fall when we had our review and planning meetings that we felt comfortable with the talent level of these starters we had.
felt talent time
I think we've always felt Gonzalez had the talent to do it. We felt this was time to see what he can do.
concerns fatigue further sent specialist
Kip has had some concerns with some fatigue in his arm. Just as a precautionary measure, we have sent him out to see a specialist in St. Louis. They are now doing some further tests.
performance seen
His performance isn't up to what we've seen in the past.
He's going to be a very serviceable guy.
good obviously
He has a lot of poise. He's a good competitor. He obviously had a very good spring.
aware competition faced finishes spring
Certainly, we're well aware of Burnett's position. We'll see how he finishes spring training. He hasn't faced live competition at this point.