Jed Hoyer Quotations

We've added depth in places where we hadn't had depth. The pitching and defense is very good right now.

We've shown a good-faith effort but we haven't found a deal that makes sense.

More teams have traded for or signed center fielders, so the market is clearer. Our absolute priority is to bring Johnny back.

He's been outstanding the last two years. He has really improved his command. His strikeout numbers have been outstanding.

He knows, like Manny (Ramirez), we're trying to deal him, but there have been no threats made to us about spring training. He's been pretty good on the phone, understanding our situation. He won 15 games and is a very good pitcher, so we need to get a very good deal for him. Generally, the conversations we've had with him have been very positive. He understands that we need to get fair value for him in the market.

I think the biggest thing is the pitching. I think last year we gave up too many runs. Our run prevention wasn't good enough. I think that's something we focused on. In addition to Beckett, there was strengthening in the bullpen. We need to get better at preventing runs. We led the Major Leagues in runs the last three years. We know we can score runs. The biggest question is preventing runs. That's what we're working on. We're still going to score runs. We're confident with that.

I think the biggest challenge is trying to get the right player at the right price. I don't think it's a leverage issue. I think it's just trying to get the right player in the right deal and not pulling the trigger until we get that.

I think we want to do the right thing instead of the quick thing. Of course, now we know Johnny won't be playing center field for us, so that hastens the process a little bit. But we're not going to rush out and do something quick. We're going to sit down and try to do the right thing.

Our reports are good. Keith will be ready to go. He had a down year last year and we expect him to bounce back. With the depth that we have in our bullpen, it becomes a pretty exciting proposition putting those guys together.

Mark didn't know this, but we've wanted him for a long time. Mark fits our style perfectly the way he grinds out at-bats.

I think he understands he is a very good pitcher and we need to get fair value for him in the market. If we can do that, we'll move him to a West Coast team. He hasn't been impolite with us. He hasn't been too demanding.

I think Manny knows that we have made a good faith effort to meet his ... request.

We've talked to a number of teams and obviously we haven't done a deal that's worked for us.

We've got some options. We're making a lot of phone calls. We're working towards it. We have a list of guys we're going after. We're going after them hard. We're very confident we'll have a very good center fielder in 2006.

We have a lot of confidence in Cora. Tito loves him and he's such a smart player. This guy's had a good on-base percentage several years with the Dodgers.

Tito talked to him in the last day or so. He was excited to go. He's ready for Spring Training. He feels good and we think he'll definitely bounce back.

We have made a good faith effort to meet his request. We've done that. We've talked to a number of teams and obviously we haven't done a deal that's worked for us. But I know that he is happy that we've done that.

We're likely to discuss things with David. We will sit down with David and his representatives, probably later this month or next month. His statements are accurate. But we're not going to comment on the nature of those talks.

You look back, we signed that two-year deal with an option, and for three years he was outstanding.

We've inquired with teams about other center fielders. We would be irresponsible not to. We're confident that we can work it out and we're going to have a good center fielder.

We got some pieces to fill but we're working hard to do that. I think generally we feel really good about where we are. We've added depth in places where we hadn't had depth. The pitching and defense is very good right now. I think we're adding a couple more pieces on the team. I think if we do that, we'll be in great shape.

The rumors are that he is here, but we haven't seen him.

The season isn't going to start for quite a while. There's a lot of teams with openings right now. There's a lot of talk right now. There's a lot more teams talking this time of year than usual.

No question. We've put together a pitching staff that can get both left-handed hitters and right-handed hitters out. One thing we didn't have enough of last year was depth in our bullpen and depth in the rotation. I think we have that this year. We're very excited about that.

There were a lot of rumors as to what was out there and what wasn't. There was a lot of information throughout the process that turned out to be untrue.

The entire department is very excited. Not only is Theo a great friend, he is a great talent. Having him back only makes us stronger, and our goal is to have the strongest department possible.