Mark Shapiro Quotations | Page 3

They will both be guys that you'll see a lot of in Spring Training. That's one of the things we want to accomplish this spring. Guys who fit into our plan, we want to get a good look at. Our Triple-A club is largely going to be a prospect club. Two of those prospects are Franklin and Brad.

Any time you lose pitchers that have been successful, you are concerned about their replacements.

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.

I hope we have built some (fan) trust through our decisions of the last three years. I say bear with me, hang in there and trust that we have a very bright future in 2006 and beyond.

I love his demeanor and the way he carries himself. He plays with a great sense of presence and confidence.

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 know we were certainly among the finalists. But, dollar-wise, we offered above what he signed for.

I had nothing to do with that. I was in the room, but I was the assistant general manager. I didn't make any of the calls.

In Andy we are acquiring a right-handed power hitter who is also a good defensive third baseman. It is difficult to acquire a player of Andy's caliber and skill set via trade or free agency and third base is a position of need in our organization.

I'm happy for him. We're disappointed it's not happening here, but that's just part of the game.

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.

I just think there was a disconnect when the White Sox got out to such a big lead.

I know he's 32 years old, but I think we're getting this guy on the rise. I'm excited about the signing.

I know I've got attractive players. We are also at an advantageous position to acquire a player off the waiver wire because teams lower in the pack than us are not going to put a claim in.

I had fans yelling at me every time I walked out of the ballpark,

His approach to the game is far beyond his years. He's completely exemplary of the kind of player we're trying to get. He's a good teammate, good person, reliable, and extremely gifted.

Hey, we're chasing the behemoths. I look up and watch Anaheim and the Yankees and Oakland, it's kind of funny. But shoot, Eric (Wedge, manager) is great at internalizing things.

He's so even-keeled and so unexcitable and so consistent in his approach. It's a trait you see in veteran guys.

He's extremely positive. Extremely motivated. Excited to come back here. He's conscious of what we're going through right now and wants to be a part of that.

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.

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.

He told me that at the end of last year. I guess it was supposed to make me feel better.

He's very young. We'll see where he is in five years.

He's an energy player, and he can impact the game on both sides of the ball.

He's a high-character guy, and when he's healthy, he wins. I just thought he'd be a great fit here.

If he's healthy, he hits. That's a given, write it down.

I called heads in both of them, and that's how it came up. Actually, we won with heads on all three, because the White Sox called tails, and it came up heads.

I doubt that Brandon will clear waivers, but it's not impossible.

He's one of the best catching prospects in the minor leagues. A good receiver, with an above-average arm, he's a leader and he hits with power. He'll come in and compete (with light-hitting Einar Diaz) for the backup catcher's role, but he's definitely major-league ready right now.

I called to tell him he was going back to Double-A after he'd been in Triple-A. That was one of my first tough calls to a player. I didn't necessarily make those decisions, but I was the one who had to give guys the news.

He brings a positive energy and leadership qualities, even when he's off the field.

He absolutely had a dominant year at Buffalo last year. And he's come in here and shown that he aggressively wants to compete for this job. We don't take lightly that year he had at Buffalo.

He phoned us and told us that he was unhappy with his role on College GameDay . He felt that he was playing second fiddle.

He phoned and said that he wasn't going to show up, ... And when he didn't he was in breach of his contract and we terminated him.

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

You can't take stretches of weeks off, especially coming out of the Indy 500, or you lose your momentum. TV promotes a week out. The IRL will be there when its season starts in April and ends at Labor Day.

The Colon trade was the start of everything, ... It started the change. That was the defining trade.

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.'

The guy we traded for is the guy we saw this spring.

A general manager is never happy, ... But I do feel that, from a big-picture view, we are on course.

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.

Andrew Brown is competing for a bullpen spot and displayed very good stuff. He's a guy who will contribute in Cleveland at some point this season.

The general managers are making an effort in an attempt to be more efficient in our drafting and development, ... As with everything new, we are aware there will be logistical challenges. But it is our hope that we can subtly reshape the system to work more efficiently for us as an industry.

The company is debt- and asset-laden, so part of the strategy will be looking at the entire portfolio.

Summer is the sweet spot of the movie-going season -- and it's also peak season for Six Flags theme parks.

Six Flags has to be a destination, but it's got to be a place that you want to go to every single summer and you don't want to go just for a roller coaster or a new ride. We have to sell the experience and sell the image: clean, safe, friendly and fun. The parks are not necessarily all of those attributes, but they will be.

There aren't going to be many easy nights at all. There are going to be a lot of people beating up on each other. The pitching of the White Sox and Twins is exceptional.