Doug Melvin Quotations

Working with Mike Maddux, Dan had great success for us in the past and he adds to the depth of our relief. We think that he has great potential to return to his form of 2004 and make a significant contribution to our staff.

Matt's ability to retire batters in tough situations makes him one of the premier set-up relievers in baseball. Last season, he had an important role in the bullpen and we're thrilled to have him for two more seasons.

Next time, they could make a rule that a pitcher has to pitch in the last 30 days of the (previous) season. There will be some kinks like that, that need to be worked out.

Our minor league staff got him ready from an offensive standpoint but we know Rickie's got a lot of work to do on the defensive side. But he got his 300 at-bats in the second half. So the learning curve of both Rickie and J.J. has happened.

We'll always have to do that. That's the way our club is built.

That was a problem. He's a guy who has to be in (the lineup) a little more to keep his stroke.

We never expected that team to do anything like it did. He proved a lot of people wrong.

We had an ugly second half a year ago and had a lot of work ahead of us. What we laid out this year, the plan pretty well worked out and accomplished what we wanted to do.

We'll talk to him and see how he feels after he gets to spring training. I'm confident Ben will know whether he's capable of it or not capable of it.

A hearing heart loves to whom it listens.

To toughen up, is to calm down.

I turn the tables and challenge our people, our scouts, and they respond. We had a meeting with our scouts this week and told them [we] will use and value their opinions. That perks them up.

Never say an unkind word to anyone.

We knew we needed a guy in the middle of the (batting) order that could knock in 100, that happened. He delivered everything we hoped he would.

We've had preliminary talks. That's the kind of thing you like to do face-to-face. I hope to get it done in spring training, maybe even sooner.

We had to do that deal to avoid going into the hearing.

We think it's time for Corey to get a good shot, unless he falls flat on his face in spring training. If we could get him 250 at-bats this year, that's a step for his development. Corey brings some things to the table.

We like to see them do it on their own rather than have to be pushed.

Brady has showed us he can play center field every day. Now, with this deal, we can look at some other players in center in spring training without him feeling he has to look over his shoulder.

Billy will find his way. Every year he seems to get his 400 or so at-bats. Things will work themselves out there.

Sometimes, you have to meet face-to-face to get things done. It forces the issue.

Santana pitched well for us. He got a big out for us in Pittsburgh when we won our 81st game. But he has had some injury problems and we think we have some other options.

People didn't really take us seriously as a wild-card contender last year, whether it was because of our $42 million payroll or because we were the Brewers. But we want the expectations to be higher. We've raised the bar here.

That's my feeling. We should get it done soon.

They're supposed to come here March 5. I told them we'd explore it. That doesn't mean it will happen but we said we'd look at it.

There were one or two times we were prepared to send him out but we backed off. Ned had confidence in him and it paid off in the end.

There's a lot of pride involved. I think that's why Ben feels he'd like to play.

It's something we needed to accomplish for our fans. It was a huge building block for us.

That's a good start but it's only the beginning. We're farther ahead at this time this year than we were at this time a year ago. But it's going to be tougher to get to the next level, and that's what our goals are. We want to take this club and put it in the playoff environment.

I really do think that Robin coming back to us is an indication we have a chance. I don't think he would, otherwise. From that standpoint, we think we're going into it with a chance.

I think Ned is a lot like Bobby. I think the players respect him like they do Bobby. I know he stays in touch with Bobby all the time, so there is some impact there.

He adds a lot with us having such a young infield in Hall, Hardy, Weeks and Fielder. He's a left-handed bat. He's a great addition.

The main thing is trying to stay healthy with everybody. Ben, obviously is a big part of that, to get him ready for the start of the year.