I appreciate the years I have spent at SFX and am looking forward to a positive working relationship moving forward,

I know Hideki is relieved. This is where he always wanted to be. His hope is to finish his career as a Yankee and help the Yankees win the World Series.

In the event that Tim Thomas clears waivers, I hope to work something out with Phoenix.

They have real interest, but at the same time, they are still evaluating things. We're all keeping our fingers crossed.

Everyone feels Frank will come back and be the Frank Thomas we've seen for many years,

Teams have asked him, in general, about the outfield, first base, second base. He's pretty open to any position other than catcher and pitcher.

The talks have been positive and constructive, and we are making progress,

It would not be appropriate to comment while the House Committee on Government Reform is doing its work.

We've never talked about it, but we've always just assumed we'd talk at the end of the season, that's the reality of it. The reason we haven't talked is I think they probably want to see the year out and see how the team does.

Both sides wanted to make a deal and ultimately we were able to agree on the numbers. There was never any real problem. Brian and I have a long history of making deals. In my mind, I had no doubt at the end we would.