Mark Shapiro Guys Quotations

Our original plan in the off-season was to slate the No. 5 spot in the rotation for a younger player (Jason Davis or Fausto Carmona) and to spend money to upgrade elsewhere. When we were unable to get some other things done, we saw an opportunity to improve the team by signing Jason. The young guys still could end up playing a role for us in 2006.

You just hope to get back to that level and get in. These guys don't need to focus on getting better.

Detroit's lineup is as deep as anyone's in baseball if those guys stay healthy and on the field.

They've all been impressive. It is nice to see that when our second and third tier guys come in, we're better than the other teams' second and third tier guys.

It's safe to say our bullpen is going to be in a state of flux for the next two to three days. We're going to look at some guys and hopefully find some who will settle down the middle of our pen. There are guys down there (in the minors) who deserve an opportunity.

They will both be guys that you'll see a lot of in Spring Training. That's one of the things we want to accomplish this spring. Guys who fit into our plan, we want to get a good look at. Our Triple-A club is largely going to be a prospect club. Two of those prospects are Franklin and Brad.

There wasn't anything I felt significantly improved the production we're getting at those positions with a player we could retain for multiple years. There weren't that many guys who were a fit, and we weren't able to get those guys for what we thought was a reasonable price.

We have a bunch of young guys who really care about each other, and they were trying too hard, ... Victor Martinez won two batting titles (in the minors). He was going to hit. Aaron Boone fell into a huge hole. He's almost out of it.

We have a lot of versatile players. We have the ability to adjust. We have a lot of guys who could play a lot of positions.

I called to tell him he was going back to Double-A after he'd been in Triple-A. That was one of my first tough calls to a player. I didn't necessarily make those decisions, but I was the one who had to give guys the news.