Mark Shapiro

Mark Shapiro
almost hard point
It hasn't been very hard at this point. But from this point forward, almost all (of the cuts) are going to be hard. If not, we're in trouble.
hardest
That, ... is the hardest thing in the world for a GM.
factor hard maybe point quality season throw
We want him to throw quality strikes, not just hard strikes. He's going to be a contributor for us this year. Maybe not from day one, but at some point this season he'll be a factor for us.
cleveland either general hard inside last outside people skepticism standing waiting
I think there's been a general skepticism in the game, a lot of people inside and outside of Cleveland waiting for us to collapse. It's been so hard for people to believe. But if we're still standing by the last weekend, either race, it doesn't matter.
background character check conclusion extensive found great hard isolated jason mistake plays police report talked
Character is very important to us, so to say we did an extensive background check on Jason would be an understatement. What we found is that he's a great teammate, he plays hard and is great in the clubhouse. We read the police report and talked to everyone involved. Our conclusion is we feel it was a mistake on Jason's part, but it's an isolated incident.
approach fits hard love plays short team
I love his approach to hit. He's short to the ball, plays hard and fits in very well with our team and our culture.
clean consistent game played turned
We just played consistent in between the tackles and turned out the first downs. It was a pretty clean game for us.
club spring training
We're very comfortable going into spring training with the club we've got right now.
classic context defines espn historical history news proper sports thirsty
ESPN Classic is going through a transition. They're thirsty to put today's news in its proper historical sports context ... History defines sports. Without that context, today's news wouldn't be as grand.
anybody august coming contending last late looking spring team time year
Every time we go through something, it's a young team and we're going through it for the first time, ... Last year, it was contending late in the season, in August and September. This year ... coming out of spring training, it was the first time anybody was looking at us.
finished good improve left product swing
There's some things left in his swing that he could still improve upon, but nothing dramatic. He's not a finished product right now. But he's going to be a good player.
backward boston depth extremely farm good impressive period pitching players point productive run short small step system
Boston is positioned extremely well for the future. They have a good farm system with upper-level players and a depth of pitching talent. They've rebuilt the farm system from a dilapidated system to a productive one. If they take a small step backward this year, at some point they will go on a run that will be an impressive run. They're a short period away.
good question
Brandon Phillips is going to be a good major-leaguer. The question is when and where.
bob next pitch wants
Bob is an option. We know he wants to pitch next year.