26 Quotes by Jed Hoyer

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.