SAVE THIS FIRE FOR YOUR NEW TEAM
"I don't believe so, if I did it wasn't on purpose. I don't think it was like anything, I may have brushed up against him but nothing like you know pushing him, so nothing to the point of where I was trying to get physical with him by any means."
-Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon on his conflict with home plate umpire Tony Randazzo on Saturday.
"I more or less was just trying to get Salty out here and say, 'Hey, you know, come talk to me, let's figure out this zone so I know how to go about this.' 'Cause I had no idea what his zone was. I don't know, I guess he may have jumped to the conclusion that I was talking to him, and then I felt like he threw his arms up in the air, for no reason, towards me."
–Papelbon on why he was angry.
"If I stay the appreciation factor will increase year by year, but if I go it will be a situation where the fans—strictly the fans—will realize what they had and what they would be missing."
–Papelbon on his pending free agency.
"My dad always told me, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Sometimes people want to try and fix things that aren't broken, and sometimes they don't."
–Papelbon. (Evan Drellich, MLB.com)
WHEN IN DOUBT, MAKE AN ENEMY OUT OF THE WILPON FAMILY
"I'd like to see us back in the East. I think that's where we belong."
-Pirates president Frank Coonelly on his desire to realign the divisions.
"I know they've talked about it in connection with the collective bargaining negotiations. I wouldn't predict that it's going to happen soon, but I think there are some structural issues that should be addressed."
–Coonelly.
"If we're in the hunt and the club has needs, we have the financial flexibility to look for pieces to help the club win this year."
–Coonelly. (Rob Biertempfel, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
IF HE'S NOT MILLIONS IN DEBT, HE'S FINE WITH BUD
"He's been with me since I was born, and I love him very much. He'll be around for many, many years, well after I'm done playing baseball."
-Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez on his cousin, Yuri Sucart.
"There's no rules that are being broken. He stays at his own place. The team is fully aware that he's not on the team bus, he's not on the team planes, he's not in the clubhouse, he's not at the stadiums. We're complying with all the rules."
–Rodriguez.
"Everyone's kosher with it. There's nothing to investigate. Very kosher. Everyone's kosher with everything."
–Rodriguez.
"I know there's history there, and I think it's important that as people we don't turn our back on family. We've all had family members, or it could have even been us, who have done things that haven't necessarily been the right thing to do. But I don't think you turn your back on family. I really didn't think much of it. I just thought, 'Well, his cousin showed up.'"
-Yankees manager Joe Girardi. (Marc Carig, The Star-Ledger)
THE TELLTALE SHOULDER
"I'm pretty anxious. I want the process to be over with so I can go on with my personal career. It's been pretty bad lately, with everyone asking where they think I'll go. There's a lot of anxiety."
-Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon on his approach to draft day.
"It's a good year. I know a lot of scouting directors don't say that, they say it's a down year, but it's a good year this year," McNamara said. "There are a lot of good players. I'm pretty excited about bringing the right player to this franchise."
Mariners scouting director Tom McNamara on his view of the talent in the draft.
"The muscle won't heal until he gets enough rest. It might be something more, but it's not something they can't correct with surgery."
-Rice coach Wayne Graham on Rendon's shoulder injury. (Larry Stone, Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
THE BASEST EXCITEMENT
"It doesn't affect the way we prepare, because we prepare all the players in order and we don't know who's going to be there at 22. We don't know who's going to be there at 79 for our second pick. So we evaluate all the players as if we had a pick at every spot. But having just one pick, it's going to be exciting when we make the pick, and after that, even though we're not making any more picks that night, we're still excited to see who's going and to what team."
-Cardinals scouting director Jeff Luhnow on not having a pick in the supplemental round.
"There will be subtle differences. We've talked about that over the last six months. We'll look to get more physical, more balanced in our approach… The communication with our scouts is going to be enhanced. We're still looking for athletes, but we want to get more physical."
-Angels general manager Tony Reagins on his first draft with scouting director Ric Wilson.
"I've had kids that signed with Division I schools, but because they were under six feet tall, they won't get much play from major-league scouts. I had a kid who could touch 94 or 95 mph, and his ERA was 0.45, but when you're 5'10", you're not going to get much play with pro scouts. If a kid is 5'10" and fails, it's the scouts' fault; if a kid is 6'3" and fails, it's the kid's fault."
-Sherman, TX high school coach Art Senato on how scouts look at his players.
"There are some unrealistic expectations out there and it's permeating throughout the draft. What players and agents are looking for does not always match the talent. It's out of control and needs to be reeled in. Hopefully something can be done in the next collective bargaining agreement because we're not doing a good job policing ourselves as an industry. There needs to be a line in the sand."
-Phillies scouting director Marti Woelver. (Jim Salisbury, CSNPhilly.com)
THE REST
"He chose to be a hero in my mind, and if that's his flash of fame, then that's as good as it's going to get, pal. We'll have a long memory. I don't blame [Posey]. Why not be hard-nosed? If I never hear from Cousins again or he never plays another day in the big leagues, I think we'll all be happy."
-Giants general manager Brian Sabean on Marlins outfielder Scott Cousins. (Barry M. Bloom, MLB.com)
"When it comes to hitting, Rick doesn't leave anything out. He knows hitting from the ground up. He breaks down everybody's swing. He loves his job. He is very passionate about it. He is always there to remind you: 'You are a big-league hitter. Just because the numbers aren't there, they are going to be there.' I think Rick is one of the best."
-Nationals outfielder Mike Morse on the team's hitting coach, Rick Eckstein. (Bill Ladson, MLB.com)
"This is my 22nd year in the major leagues, and he's the best pure catcher, throwing-wise, calling the ballgame, receiving the ball, tagging the runners, that I've been with. I'm not saying he's Johnny Bench or anything else, but for a young kid to be able to grasp the things that he's grasped is quite a testimony to him."
-Orioles pitching coach Mark Connor on catcher Matt Wieters. (Kevin Cowherd, Baltimore Sun)
"I kept waking up last night thinking about different things and what might be causing me to stumble in my relationship with the Lord. I felt like chewing tobacco was one. So I got up this morning and threw it all away. So when it is time to take a dip, I pray instead. I didn't care. I'm human, I like to feed my fleshly desires just like anybody else does. But there comes a point when you realize those things aren't important or necessary."
-Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton. (T.R. Sullivan, MLB.com)
"It was that way with Hosmer. There were other players we passed on because we felt Hoz was going to be the guy who our fans would love to watch play and who would help our team win a championship. We selected him knowing full well that, while he was probably going to be a fast mover for a high school kid, there would be players who we were passing over who would get to the major leagues before him. That was indeed the case."
-Royals general manager Dayton Moore on the thought process behind his selection of Eric Hosmer in 2008. (Bob Dutton, Kansas City Star)
"I love it a lot, maybe too much. I've [listened to] a lot this year. Not baseball things. I need to close my ears, close my eyes. It's not easy. There's been a lot of stress this year. My wife has told me not to worry about it. I told her, 'Honey, I know, but it's hard to do it.'"
-Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo on his enjoyment of the game. (Associated Press)
—
Alex Carnevale is a contributor to Baseball Prospectus.
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