Mark Shapiro
Mark Shapiro
approach discipline finish great guy needs plate progress quality year
I think he's made great progress from a year ago in his approach and plate discipline. The quality of his at-bats was significantly better. He's a guy that's coming. He needs to finish off some things offensively, but he's coming.
davis guys improve money opportunity original plan player playing role rotation saw signing slate spend spot team unable upgrade younger
Our original plan in the off-season was to slate the No. 5 spot in the rotation for a younger player (Jason Davis or Fausto Carmona) and to spend money to upgrade elsewhere. When we were unable to get some other things done, we saw an opportunity to improve the team by signing Jason. The young guys still could end up playing a role for us in 2006.
expected good guy
Jhonny's a guy that we expected to have a good year,
focus guys hope level
You just hope to get back to that level and get in. These guys don't need to focus on getting better.
depth easily fifth guy sixth starter teams
To have a guy as your sixth starter who could very easily be your fifth starter -- we want to be a championship organization -- and that's the kind of depth championship teams have.
bullpen deserve flux guys hopefully middle next safe settle state three
It's safe to say our bullpen is going to be in a state of flux for the next two to three days. We're going to look at some guys and hopefully find some who will settle down the middle of our pen. There are guys down there (in the minors) who deserve an opportunity.
accomplish both club fit franklin good guys largely prospect prospects spring
They will both be guys that you'll see a lot of in Spring Training. That's one of the things we want to accomplish this spring. Guys who fit into our plan, we want to get a good look at. Our Triple-A club is largely going to be a prospect club. Two of those prospects are Franklin and Brad.
ability guys versatile
We have a lot of versatile players. We have the ability to adjust. We have a lot of guys who could play a lot of positions.
aaron almost batting bunch care fell guys huge titles trying victor won
We have a bunch of young guys who really care about each other, and they were trying too hard, ... Victor Martinez won two batting titles (in the minors). He was going to hit. Aaron Boone fell into a huge hole. He's almost out of it.
felt guys improved multiple player positions production reasonable retain
There wasn't anything I felt significantly improved the production we're getting at those positions with a player we could retain for multiple years. There weren't that many guys who were a fit, and we weren't able to get those guys for what we thought was a reasonable price.
absolutely buffalo compete dominant guy last special wants year
This guy had an absolutely dominant year at Buffalo last year. He's come in here and showed he aggressively wants to compete for that job, which is great. We didn't take him lightly. This guy's year last year was a special one.
guys nice second third
They've all been impressive. It is nice to see that when our second and third tier guys come in, we're better than the other teams' second and third tier guys.
baseball deep guys healthy stay
Detroit's lineup is as deep as anyone's in baseball if those guys stay healthy and on the field.
confidence drove full guy handled hole mentally moved offer season slot talking
You're talking about a guy that got moved from the 9 hole very shortly to the 6 hole and then, in his first full season in the big leagues, being put in the 3 slot in the lineup. And he didn't blink. . . How he handled that mentally and emotionally, as much as what he did statistically, really drove the confidence that we had in making an offer like this.