The Astros express elation over throwing a no-hitter, while the Yankees express their disgust; Roger Clemens is happy about getting his 300th win, but not so happy about the idea of going into Cooperstown as a member of the Red Sox (let alone Blue Jays); and Lou Piniella tries to connect to a younger generation. All this and much more in the newest edition of The Week In Quotes.
After a dozen seasons of tremendous baseball, of winning their division in
every full season, reaching five World Series and winning one championship,
the Braves were supposed to be done. Last December’s budget-paring decisions
to let Tom Glavine leave and to trade Kevin
Millwood to Philadelphia for aging catching prospect Johnny
Estrada were the final steps in the process. The Braves would be just
another team, owned by corporate penny-pinchers and run by a front office no
better or worse than most others. The Phillies would ascend, led by expensive
acquisitions and some homegrown pitching, and the transition–anticipated for a
number of years–would be complete.
Not so fast.
Oakland Athletics outfielder Adam Piatt knows the stretch of I-80 between Oakland and Sacramento all too well. He’s driven the stretch of road a dozen times in the past three years, going back and forth on the Sacramento Shuttle between the A’s and the Triple-A River Cats. Driving the 90 miles between Network Associates Coliseum and Raley Field means a lot more than wear on your car; it means the difference between being in the majors and being one of thousands who are trying to get there.
“I didn’t quite understand the process when I got to the majors,” says Piatt. “I figured they had brought me up to play. Then I got optioned down, and it was hard for me. But by about the fifth or sixth time I got sent down, I learned that it wasn’t personal, that it’s just how the system works.”
The rules that govern baseball on the field are complex. But there is another rulebook, one that governs the movement of players and roster management. A large part of this book details the world of options and waivers, and we’re here to try and make these often-confusing subjects as simple as we can.
The Marlins are getting star production out of Dontrelle Willis. George Steinbrenner seems intent on wrecking the Yankees. Reggie Sanders has shackled the Pirates with a world of suckiness. Plus more Prospectus Triple Play news and notes out of Florida, New York, and Pittsburgh.