Walt Jocketty
Walt Jocketty
Walt Jocketty is the President of Baseball Operations of the Cincinnati Reds. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he attended the University of Minnesota where he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration. He was the General Manager of the St. Louis Cardinals from October 14, 1994 until October 3, 2007...
achieved came central class degree entire few gives great greater guys memphis obstacles overcoming reflection role win
This was a win achieved by the entire organization, not just a few central players. You look at the role players, all the guys from Memphis (the Cardinals' Class AAA affiliate) and what they did. Everyone came up and contributed in some manner. It's a great reflection on the entire organization and gives you a greater degree of satisfaction about overcoming the obstacles that we encountered.
based depth past pitching priority provides purpose signed
We signed him with that purpose in mind, based on his past career. It provides more depth to our rotation, more depth to our pitching staff, and that has been the priority of our off-season plan.
bob likes nine worked
Bob likes the way we've done things in St. Louis. I told him I've worked with Mo for nine or 10 years, and he's been a big part of the operation.
backed baseball believe beyond burnett business effort financial point strong took
Believe me, we took a strong effort at Burnett and that was going to be a very significant financial obligation. It got beyond the point where we thought it made baseball sense and business sense to go for it, so we backed off.
chance deserves everybody mean provide second
Everybody deserves a second chance and we're here to provide that. That doesn't mean we're going to let things slide, either.
advantage best plays team
There's no advantage for the team that plays the best during the season.
build healing injury strength takes time
There's nothing you can really do to expedite the healing process. It takes time to heal, and it takes time to build the strength up. It's something he hasn't had before. I don't know if we've had an injury like that.
bring dave example help next perfect pitcher type
I think Sidney is a perfect example of the type of pitcher that we feel Dave Duncan can help get better and bring him to the next level.
great job time turn
We just didn't feel that was appropriate or something we wanted to do. Reggie did a great job for us for two years but we thought it was time to kind of turn the page.
balance games gave good needed pitching rotation starter talent veteran wins
What we got him for was to balance out our rotation and to give us another quality, top-of-the-rotation guy. Pitching is what wins championships. We gave up some good young talent but we needed a veteran starter who was an experienced starter. Who was a top-of-the-rotation guy. Who was used to pitching in big games like this.
might series won
If we had won that game, ... the whole Series might have been different.
both career clear committed himself huge life quality return strides talent tremendous trying turning
Sidney has made it very clear to us that he is committed to turning both his life and his career around. He's a tremendous talent who has made mistakes, but he's been making huge strides in trying to return himself to a much better quality of life.
benefit credit doubt eventually few last level number trust
There are a number of holes. But there also should be a level of trust with what we've done the last few years to give us some credit and benefit of the doubt that eventually we'll get this thing put together.
coaches players
There hasn't been that much said about it because Tony, the coaches and the players have made it look so easy.