Bill Stoneman Quotations

We're not going to make the decision today. We're encouraged by both. Both are doing better than they were earlier. They both made progress. The real question to me is, will they be ready for the activity they are required to be ready for? Will they be ready in time for that first round? That's the real question.

This qualifies us to finish the job that we set out to do. It took a long time, a lot of games, a lot of aches and pains, a lot of ups and downs to get to the point we're at. If you really look at it, it's now only an eight-team race.

Shoot, he'll come in and take a shot at it. A little over a year ago, he had a couple of surgeries. What impact is that going to have? I think he's a realistic guy. If it isn't working, I think he's going to know it.

Sitting back and worrying isn't going to help anything. What we have to do is trust the people calling these shots to understand these players have six-month seasons in front of them.

One of the strongest parts to our organization is depth. It allows us to do a lot of things.

No one is closer to winning the starting job than the other and no one is calling Jose Molina the starting catcher. We'll see how it develops in Spring Training. There is no question about Jose Molina's defense -- that is the strength of his game. Mathis has a more balanced game. We'll see how it goes.

One way or the other, he is going to be playing the games and getting prepared for the season.

Maybe it was a little disappointing. But we took a shot at it. What are you going to do? We're going to be fine.

Now you've got Arte, who owns the club and is the guy you're dealing with,

My understanding is that they are going to ask for permission, but it hasn't happened yet. What I would prefer is that it not be a distraction, period. Our season is not over yet. It's common courtesy.

I wish he were here with the rest of the guys.

If we have an atmosphere here this year like it was last year ... wow.

Frankie's stuff and his poise enabled him to succeed, and he just did it at a time when nobody expected it because nobody knew who he was.

From a defensive standpoint, he is very close to being a starting catcher. We are very pleased with how he's developed and his ability to work with the pitching staff. That is why we signed him to a two-year deal.

From about maybe mid-August of '02, all through last year, this was a different atmosphere. Everything changed,

He was tired at the end of the year; he didn't get many days off. But he's fine now and getting ready to play for the Dominican Republic.

He had a tremendous impact on us right away. As did Steve Green.

He is capable of getting both left-handed and right-handed hitters out. He may be called on in certain situations, but I don't see him as a one-batter pitcher.

He is a guy that can play with pain. An injury to anyone is something you're concerned with, but I think he is going to be OK.

We're obviously going to be looking for a bat, and everybody is always looking for pitching. It's the typical stuff -- a bat and some pitching.

When he went out there, he was just lights-out. It was the combination of his stuff and the fact that he was throwing it for strikes plus the fact that he wasn't phased by any of the so-called pressure that you're supposed to feel in the postseason. He dominated.

He's always had the potential to do what he's done toward the end of this season. It's nice to see him do well.

He's earned this chance. He came on very strong for us in the second half of last season and moving Darin to the outfield opens this spot for him.

His second half is hopefully indicative of what he is going to become going forward. It takes experience to become a good pitcher, and he is making the most of his experience.

His versatility is very key. He has been asked to close. He has also been asked to start, although not last season. He is so resilient that you can have him in a key game tonight and chances are, he'll be in a key game again tomorrow night. He can go back-to-back and he doesn't lose his effectiveness.

He is such a competitor that if he can pitch, he will. But he's ready to go; he wouldn't start if he wasn't healthy.

Jose has been key to our depth at catcher. He has developed a good rapport with our pitching staff.

John has been a productive member of our pitching staff since his 2002 rookie season. We are thrilled to reach this multi-year agreement with him.

John has been an integral part in the success of our pitching staff. We look forward to another impressive season from him.

It is a great situation to have -- so many guys coming with so much talent. You don't like to have guys with high ceilings just sitting on the bench, but some times that happens. We'll see how it goes.

It is something we had interest in doing, but we couldn't come to an agreement.

Our hitting was inconsistent and we'll be looking at that. And like everybody, we'll be looking at pitching.

I think he is getting to know himself better and he is getting to know the league better. He is taking advantage of his experience, and that is important.

It all depends on what we need. Each of these guys offers something a bit different.

You always do that. Sometimes a guy looks real good and he's real stiff the next day. It will wait at least another day here. I still have some questions as to how this all works, and what this paperwork all means.

We don't think it is nearly the problem that all of you do. We have a number of players that we feel that can get the job done. The past isn't necessarily a predictor of the future. That is the way it is in sports. The talent is there.

We envision Hector as having a shot at our rotation. All that will be determined in spring training. Our scouts had good reports on him and they suggested him, in particular as a starter.

We have a lot of good players at a number of positions; we have so many of them coming. The challenge is to find places for them to play.

We were hoping for a better season from him, and I'm sure the Giants were hoping for a better season from Alfonzo as well. Neither had career years. I talked to Steve and I know he's working as hard as ever.

We had to make a decision real quick. The rosters had to be in by 10 a.m.,

We have not heard anything. But whatever he decides to do, we will support the decision.

Those are some of the players we have discussed offering multiyear contracts to.

We'll go on and adjust. We had to make a decision real quick. Rosters had to be in by 10 a.m. (Tuesday). This is something that was sprung on us at the last second. The best-case scenario was he would not be available this series.

We'll go on and adjust, ... We had to make a decision real quick. Rosters had to be in by 10 a.m. (Tuesday). This is something that was sprung on us at the last second. The best-case scenario was he would not be available this series.

We had an opportunity to sign Guerrero in January '04. I called him and literally in a minute I had a response from him. So it wasn't one of those things where you say, 'Hey, we're going to commit 70 million bucks here; let's go think about this.'

We're dropping out of the Paul Byrd chase. We have not really been in the chase for Jarrod Washburn.

Tim's going to have a heck of an opportunity to find out if his body's still good to go. There's just something about getting out on the grass and being able to run around with all the other guys that has its attraction.

We'll see how he does. He is going to be a very good offensive player.

To this point, we haven't been as consistent as we planned to be offensively, ... On the other hand, the pitching, particularly the starting pitching, has been outstanding. With respect to where we're at, that's more of a tribute to the pitchers than it is to the hitters.

When you play the way they did and pitch the way they did, you deserve to win.

We've been asked in the past for others and we've always granted permission, but never while we're playing.

To my knowledge he is healthy right now. The decision belongs to Santana.

When you lose Colon, you lose a guy that's going to give you innings. Yan, we feel, is best equipped to give us innings.

We expect the best effort he can give us, ... He's as competitive a guy as you'll ever find.

Both Maury and Lou were very smart. Lou would say: 'I want to get there as fast as I can.' But Maury, who wasn't quite as fast as Lou, wanted to make great slides that wouldn't allow them to tag him out.

I used to be part of that group. But you just don't see that any more.

I've stated pretty clearly that we've got real good young players coming up, (and) I'd like to be in a position to give each one of them an opportunity. I'll leave it at that.

The talent is here, ... The production hasn't happened. If these guys produce, the answer is yes.

A year ago we had a pretty good reason not to make any changes. We had some needs at the end of '03 that we thought we should address. After the '02 season, we didn't really see those same needs.

A year ago we had a pretty good reason not to make any changes, ... We had some needs at the end of '03 that we thought we should address. After the '02 season, we didn't really see those same needs.

You never like to see a guy bothered by any discomfort, but on the other hand, we recognize that when you heal from a small tear or something like that, scar tissue then builds up. Sometimes, you've got to work through it. He's going to be going through some rehab so he can pitch again. He's got to get through some scar tissue.

This has been a resilient club for an entire season. There is really no reason for that to change. The club has the right attitude to absorb bumps in the road.

They played better. It was the same teams in the same ballpark, but the opposite result. They just played better.

There were a number of factors. I'm not going to get into any details.

A strength of this club is our flexibility and we're able to make these changes because of the players that we have here now and coming up.

It is the emergence of Mathis and right behind him Mike Napoli. I didn't want to throw up a road block that would possibly impede Mathis or would impede Jose Molina.

I told them, 'Have a good winter, shake this thing off, and we'll come back stronger next year,'

It's not the glitzy thing that makes headlines, but giving an opportunity to your younger players is the best way to go for the long-term health of the organization.

It looks to me like we're going to try to help the offense by adding a bat.

You try to get all of your players signed to contracts instead of going through the arbitration process. It is not a particularly appealing process for us and it is not a particularly appealing process for the player. I don't think anybody likes going to arbitration, but it is there if two parties aren't getting to a deal.

That is not something you ever want to do. Given what the figures are, it looks like something that should be resolvable.

It was an opportunity to get a guy with a real good arm, and it gave us a chance to balance our club a little bit.

They can both play center. That gives us a few ways we can go.

These two pitchers have really solidified our bullpen the last few years. They have continually responded to late-inning pressure situations.

I'm not opposed to longer-term deals, but both parties have to see eye-to-eye,

In some ways it was a successful season, but we didn't get what we wanted,

I really don't think we have what you would call a weakness. I'm confident we've got the talent to win our division. The one thing that all clubs are concerned about, in terms of wins or losses, is health.

He told me that it would be O.K. to go north of what we had planned.

He's not a guy we're trying to trade. If I wanted to, I probably could, but that is not something we're looking to do right now.

He's now completed about a year and a half of superb performances. For him to be knocking on the door at 20 wins really shouldn't surprise anyone.

He's got a body that looks different than most athlete's bodies, but he's more athletic than most athletes.

He really changes the dimension of our infield. He is so steady. And the amazing about him that I only noticed when I got the chance to see him play every day is how well he does with the rockets hit right at him. Most players do not catch many of those; he seems to catch all of them. He's fearless.

The early signs say that he probably will be able to come back then; that's what it looks like. We're certainly hopeful of that. You don't even know for sure. The information I've gotten, to this point, I view as positive. There's nothing new in there and nothing that's torn.