Mark Shapiro

Mark Shapiro
abruptly created farm good instead letting naturally players run traded
We were at the tail-end of a championship run. Instead of letting that run naturally just play out and transpire, we abruptly traded good players and artificially created an upper-level in our farm system.
calls guys tough
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.
acquire attempts guy liked multiple played trying
He's played very sporadically. He's a guy that we have liked for two years now and have made multiple attempts trying to acquire him.
acquire attempts guy liked multiple played trying
He's played very sporadically, ... He's a guy that we have liked for two years now and have made multiple attempts trying to acquire him.
expected good guy
Jhonny's a guy that we expected to have a good year,
confidence drove full guy handled hole mentally moved offer season slot talking
You're talking about a guy that got moved from the 9 hole very shortly to the 6 hole and then, in his first full season in the big leagues, being put in the 3 slot in the lineup. And he didn't blink. . . How he handled that mentally and emotionally, as much as what he did statistically, really drove the confidence that we had in making an offer like this.
felt guys improved multiple player positions production reasonable retain
There wasn't anything I felt significantly improved the production we're getting at those positions with a player we could retain for multiple years. There weren't that many guys who were a fit, and we weren't able to get those guys for what we thought was a reasonable price.
guys nice second third
They've all been impressive. It is nice to see that when our second and third tier guys come in, we're better than the other teams' second and third tier guys.
baseball deep guys healthy stay
Detroit's lineup is as deep as anyone's in baseball if those guys stay healthy and on the field.
absolutely buffalo compete dominant guy last special wants year
This guy had an absolutely dominant year at Buffalo last year. He's come in here and showed he aggressively wants to compete for that job, which is great. We didn't take him lightly. This guy's year last year was a special one.
guy saw traded
The guy we traded for is the guy we saw this spring.
bullpen deserve flux guys hopefully middle next safe settle state three
It's safe to say our bullpen is going to be in a state of flux for the next two to three days. We're going to look at some guys and hopefully find some who will settle down the middle of our pen. There are guys down there (in the minors) who deserve an opportunity.
andrew brown bullpen cleveland competing contribute good guy point spot
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.
davis guys improve money opportunity original plan player playing role rotation saw signing slate spend spot team unable upgrade younger
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.