Gerry Hunsicker Quotations

Most people looking from the outside in don't expect a whole lot from this club, but that's where we can sneak up and bite some people.

I can't remember a year when there's been this much parity in baseball, when so many teams are still in contention. This could be one of those unique years where everyone stays in contention until the end of September. But, chances are, as we get into the middle of August, some teams will start to fall to the wayside.

I can't honestly tell you there has been a time in recent years where I've been this fired up, this excited. It's like I'm, well, 28 or 29 again,

He's pitching as good right now as he probably has in the last few years. It's just been a tremendous boost to the franchise, to the team, to the city. He's just lifted everybody's spirits.

I think as much as anything, this has raised the confidence level of our players. I don't think there was any question this was totally unexpected by everyone, including the players ... To see the excitement on their faces in the Clemens press conference ...

I think that's more a factor for the national media than it is for the players that play here. If you do a statistical analysis of this ballpark since then, it's settled back to the middle of the pack, ... It certainly wasn't the offensive Mecca that some people thought it was.

I'm here to support what Andrew wants to do.

We all realize that this is, in all probability, the last year that a lot of these guys will be together, perhaps the last time they will be able to do something special. The clock is ticking.

But then I realized that it wasn't because the interest wasn't here and the value wasn't appreciated. We're just very fortunate that the ownership we have in place not only is committed to a strong player development plan, but is willing to go above and beyond to see it done.

We have a chance to do some things here that quite frankly don't exist anywhere else in baseball, ... Namely, the support of an owner that has the trust and confidence in us to say you guys tell me, you guys chart the course, you guys tell us where we need to go and how we need to get there. That's exciting. It's like having a blank canvas if you're an artist and letting your imagination run wild.

With (Reiner) in place and the plans we have to establish a presence in Latin America, this will allow the Devil Rays to be a major force in acquiring and developing Latin American talent.

At this point, things couldn't be any better. But, in reality, you don't win pennants in January and February. Reality will set in in another week or two.

Any pitcher you sign to a long-term contract is a risk ... You do your homework and make your decision.

Bagwell did one interview that suggested that management did their part, now it's up to us to do our part. That's a pretty profound statement, especially here where the criticism has been that we haven't always done what we needed to do to put a winner on the field.

This past year I had an opportunity to sit on the sideline and reflect on where I was in my life and my career. You really wonder what the next chapter might hold. I knew the competitive juices were still there. I knew I wanted to get back into baseball. But I wanted to make sure I got back into baseball for the right reasons.

It's not so much how much money you have to spend, it's how you spend it. How effective can you be in allocating those dollars, ... Obviously we don't have the margin for error like the Yankees do, but I think we're on our way here.

Taking another GM job was not high on my list. But from the standpoint that it was Philadelphia - that made for a special element.

It's critical. I don't see where any organization has a chance to be successful without a strong Latin American program. Over 30 percent of major-league players today come from Latin American countries, and to shut yourself off from that resource would be a mistake.

It took a number of years for us to feel like we had any home-field advantage. For the first three years we didn't play well at home. I think that it was all still a work in progress, a transition. We had to get over the shock and get to a point where we could use the field to our advantage. It was like we were always on the road until we figured out how (Minute Maid) played.

This is like acquiring a major free agent. This is a grand slam home run for us as far as the development of our international program. Nobody had produced the kind of talent he has over the past decade. It immediately gives our efforts credibility and in my eyes it assures that the Devil Rays will be a force in international scouting and player development in years to come.

In my mind, this is a special opportunity that we have to do something great. But, like any year, a lot of things will have to go your way.

The main factor for Craig was that he was being asked to move to a new position in the last year of his contract. We had empathy for that and we wanted to show what he has meant to the Astros over the years.

Baseball doesn't seem very important on a day like this...When you live in the United States and you think it's the greatest country in the world, you feel somewhat protected and immune. You read about [terrorism] happening in other parts of the world. A day like this makes you rethink. A lot of us really have a false sense of what the world is really like.

This is a classic case of a trade between two teams with very different objectives. I understand that today there will be a lot of questions about the closer role in 2006. That will resolve itself in the coming weeks between now and Opening Day. We've got some good arms in our bullpen to choose from. We obviously don't have an experienced closer. But I'm confident that we'll be OK there. That wasn't the objective of this trade for us.

Andres is the most respected man in the industry when it comes to international scouting and player development. This addition is a major step in our commitment to expanding our international program.

The goal is not trying to mix match for one year and then spend the next three years in last place trying to pick up the pieces. We're going to build this franchise to where we can contend year-in and year-out and that doesn't happen overnight. Sometimes you've got to sacrifice present for the future. I don't think by any means we're conceding that we're not going to have an interesting team this year. We will.

The challenge for teams like us is you are so dependent on your farm system for long-term success -- and yet nobody really cares about the future in this business, ... You have to balance the two. You can make some trades to jumpstart the club, but you have to be careful about it. That could really set us back long term. It is really a difficult situation to be in.

The first major step is that we need to establish operations in, primarily, the Dominican and Venezuela. So, to be able to enter into an agreement where we can begin in an existing facility, and one that is among the finest in the Dominican, gives us a head start on our plan. This allows us to be up and running immediately.