Billy Beane Last Quotations

When Frank is healthy, he is a huge right-handed presence. And that's been a big issue for us the last couple of years.

There are very few winters we're going to go, 'Hey, we're set' a day after the season. That being said, this is not going to be nearly as traumatic and exciting as it was last winter.

We've made a proposal to Kenny. We talked to him for the last couple weeks. We've expressed a desire to have Kenny back. Given his status as an up-and-coming manager, he has options and we are respectful of that. We'll see how it goes. I wouldn't expect it would be a long process. It would be one that should come to some sort of resolution relatively quickly.

After instructional league, he seemed so far away from being able to compete in a major league game. What a special kid. What a comeback he had last year. No one deserves this more.

This is the first time since I've been here that we haven't spent the off-season replacing what we've lost. We felt like we were very competitive last year. . . . In particular, when we were healthy, it was a very, very good team. So the idea that we were adding to this group . . . it's a first for us since I've been here as the general manager.

This is ultimately what we were trying to do during the season and in the days after it. Unfortunately we weren't able to do that and we parted ways last week. This is the outcome we wanted.

I hope not. There will be very few winters we say, 'We're set.' There's always decisions to make. That said, it probably won't be as dramatic as last off-season.

This is a guy whose skill level and his presence in a lineup is undeniable. Even last year, if you look at the impact he had in the brief time he played, his skills are still there. Frank Thomas is a presence.