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.
august building clearly colon decisive direction finish foot last maybe move rebuild since team trade until within
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.'
addition good hoped mental physical trade whether
He was everything we had hoped to see. The things you don't know when you make a trade ? the mental approach, whether he will be a good teammate, were the most encouraging things, in addition to his physical tools.
acquire acquiring agency andy base caliber defensive difficult free good hitter player position power skill third trade via
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.
guy saw traded
The guy we traded for is the guy we saw this spring.
attractive calls deals dozen leaked offered point potential prospects shop teams tempting trade winter word
At no point this winter did we shop Coco. But once word leaked out (about the potential trade with Boston), we got over a dozen calls from other teams about Coco. We got offered some very attractive prospects for Coco, and some of the deals were tempting to make. But this was the only one we wanted.
colon defining start trade
The Colon trade was the start of everything, ... It started the change. That was the defining trade.
effect good side trade
It's an undesirable side effect of a good trade.
clearer deal easier heading might next value year
It might be an easier deal to do next year because we'll have a clearer sense what the value is heading into the first year of arbitration.
validation
I want it for us , ... not as any validation for me.
breakout help hopefully last terms year
Last year was a breakout year for him in terms of command. Hopefully he can help us during the year at some point.
eighth moved ninth offense player responsibility rough sixth year
Our offense got going after he moved to third. We moved him from ninth to eighth to sixth to third, which is a rough responsibility for a player in his first year in the big leagues, and he hasn't blinked.
fit good style
He's a good fit for us as a person and a player. His style is different from everyone else in our rotation.
blink confidence drove handled mentally move
He didn't blink and how he handled that move mentally drove our confidence in making this offer.