Mark Shapiro Team Quotations

The expectations for our team have been higher every year. Our players are ready for it. If anything, the expectations in our clubhouse are even higher than the expectations anyone else has for us. That's what you live for. You want expectations to be high like they are now.

I would have preferred to sign another impact bat to add to this team somewhere. Sometimes we're forced to be creative in the way we look at things.

His options situation is not going to be an overriding factor. His long-term ability to help the team will be a bigger factor.

He'll be a good major league player. It's just that the time frame didn't align with how this team has matured.

I think youth is not a panacea. In Eric's case, he had an understanding of what we're tying to do. He has good communication skills, an ability to understand and identify problems, an ability to teach and develop. Finally, he has a thirst and desire to not only manage, but to be part of a leadership team to help turn things around.

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.

I think he should get it (the Manager of the Year Award). The reason our team was able to withstand the adversity we had earlier this season was his belief in the team. That belief, when a lot of critics were doubting him, his consistency from day to day, and his communication skills, all of that is a big reason why we are where we are.

I think they recognized that not only were the very good last year, but they were also very fortunate, and they addressed it. They didn't bring the same team back.

We don't have a team that has a dominant component, like the Red Sox or Yankees. But we may have one of the more balanced teams.

We want to improve our readiness and preparedness for April. The core of our team is in place. If we feel it's easy, we want to make our decisions sooner.

We are committed to building and sustaining a championship team and Grady -- as one of the most talented young players in the game today -- is the kind of player and person that can help lead us to that goal.

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.

This was a complex transaction. It could have been no deal. But we feel strongly that our team will be in better position for the long haul.

What I've tried to do is just focus my attention on the team and feel if we keep winning, at some point it will happen,

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.

This is a very tough division. I'll be surprised if any team wins as many games as the White Sox did last year.

Dave has done a fantastic job of positioning that team to be good for a long period of time,

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.

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.

I didn't feel like we were going to keep up our end of the bargain of playing time that we had communicated to him. I didn't feel like we could and still put the best team on the field.

Grady sets the tone for the way this team plays and the way it wins.

The Colon trade was a decisive move, and every move after that was clearly in the direction of, rebuild with a foot on the accelerator, ... That's what it had been until maybe August last year. Everything since then has been, 'Let's see what we can do to try to finish off building the team within the constraints of the market.'

Andrew threw the ball very well and I would think that he and Fausto will contribute to the major league team at some point this season.