28 Quotes by Gerry Hunsicker

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.