Mike Rizzo Quotations

I think absolutely there is a hard deadline here. Even though we retain his rights if he goes the junior college route, it retards his progress and our chances of getting him out there playing in Instructional League or the (Arizona) Fall League and getting the kid some at-bats.

We're hoping to be able to offset the price of fuel ... by having more passengers ride ... instead of having to raise fares,

We're trying to reach out and get some dialogue going and get some momentum towards a deal going.

Those decisions are down the road, if we make them at all. We drafted him as a shortstop. We believe he can be an impact major leaguer as a shortstop, so there's no plans in the near future to move him off short.

You can tell right now that he commands the position of shortstop. He's going to be a solid shortstop who can really hit. If you get J.D. Drew 's production when he's healthy, with a solid defensive shortstop, you've got an All-Star.

I'm optimistic we'll get the player signed. I think it's a good fit for the player and the organization. But it's important that we try and get this done as soon as possible. I don't think it's unreasonable. We feel the offer we have on the table is a very lucrative and very fair offer.

You've got a guy with outstanding physical attributes. You couple that with a great baseball acumen, a very grounded family background and a blue-collar workmanship-like makeup, it's an extraordinary toolbox to be working from.

He'll have to get on his own program.

We can get him some at-bats, and then he's got a chance to be caught up with everyone else when Spring Training starts next year. This kid needs some at-bats. He needs to play.

It's a very special package and a very unique tool package. You've got a guy with outstanding physical attributes. You couple that with a great baseball acumen and knowledge of the game and a very grounded family background with blue-collar-workmanship-like makeup, it's an extraordinary toolbox to be working from.