Mark Shapiro
Mark Shapiro
atmosphere country excited game meaningful pitching pressure
I'm excited to see him do well in a meaningful game with the pressure of pitching for his country. We could not simulate that kind of atmosphere here.
concerned lose pitchers time
Any time you lose pitchers that have been successful, you are concerned about their replacements.
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.
bob next pitch wants
Bob is an option. We know he wants to pitch next year.
needs pitch starters
A lot is being made about our bullpen, but what needs to get better is our starters. Our starters have to pitch more innings.
five pitch
We want him to pitch every five days.
add bring excited grew paul pitcher pleased starting
In Paul Byrd, we are excited to add an experienced starting pitcher to our rotation. We are pleased to bring Paul back to the organization he grew up in.
add both build excited pitcher represents starting team trying
We are excited to add an experienced starting pitcher to our rotation, one that represents the team we are trying to build both on and off the field.
add arthur club jason pitcher quite taken though trade work
We probably would not have done that if not for the other trade, though we like Jason quite a bit. But we would not have taken Arthur off the club if we couldn't add another pitcher to work in an eighth-inning role.
average fastball lots major paul pitch
Paul had an average fastball and average curve. He was going to pitch in the major leagues, but there was nothing that would particularly distinguish him from lots of other guys.
bullpen dominant last pitchers
I think if you look what he's done over the last two seasons, he's been one of the most dominant bullpen pitchers in the American League.
above among certainly offered signed
I know we were certainly among the finalists. But, dollar-wise, we offered above what he signed for.
both core happening players run signed similar team together
It's similar in that both times we signed core players who we wanted to keep together for a run of championship baseball. That's what's most important about what's happening here now. We want to keep this team together.
situation
It's not a situation where we have to see everything right away. We just want to get him acclimated to this environment.