Halladay: 'This is where I wanted to be'
Here are comments from new Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay and general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. during a press conference, announcing Halladay's arrival.
Halladay: 'This is where I wanted to be'
Daily News staff
Here are comments from new Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay and general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. during a press conference, announcing Halladay's arrival.
Roy Halladay
"I'd like to start by thanking everybody in Toronto, the fans, the organization, the people. It's been a big part of my life and something I'll never forget. I enjoyed my time there. I'm also extremely excited about a new chapter and having this opportunity to be a part of such a great organization and somewhere that my family and I are really looking forward to being a part of." Halladay also thanked his agents and his family for their support.
"This is where I wanted to be. That was the bottom line for us. It was an easy decision. Once the opportunity came up to be a part of this it was something I couldn't pass up. I think there are things not only in business but in life that are worth it. For me, this is one of those things. There are so many positives to this for me and my family. I just couldn't pass it up."
"This is a dream come true. The longer you play in your carer the more important (winning) becomes. I've been able to establish myself, achieve things. The more I play, the more I realize how important that is for me. To see a team do it in back-to-back years and have that success says a lot about the players in the clubhouse and people that are putting the team together. It's not an accident. I want to be a part of that. I've heard great things about the people and great things about the organization. That is big for me."
"The biggest thing is having a chance to win and hopefully do it a couple of times. For me, that was the biggest factor."
"During the season, I felt it was important that I keep my focus where it was [with the Blue Jays] and not put too much into it."
Ruben Amaro Jr.
"Being able to acquire one of the finest pitchers in all of baseball is something very special to our organization. To be able to lock him up for four years, and possibly five, is something we're very, very, pleased about."
"I don't know if I want to get into some of the things that went on at the trade deadline, but I will say he is a pitcher we have coveted for a long time, one of the best pitchers in baseball and pitching in one of the best divisions in baseball and having great success ... This is a baseball decision that we felt would make our club better now and for the future. While we did give up a trremendous amount of talent, it doesn't come around very often that you have a chance to bring a player of this caliber to your organization."
"We could have kept both of them (Lee and Halladay), but it was a baseball decision for me and our organization and the people in the organization. We could not leave the cupboard bare. If we had just acquired Roy and not moved Lee, we would have been in position to have lost seven of the best 10 prospects in our organization. That is not the way you do business in baseball ... There are a variety of reasons to make this move, but more than anything else this is a baseball decision."
"Clearly, it was known that Alex was considering moving Roy. I did make contact with Alex during the GM meetings. We had some preliminary discussions then and things kind of snowballed after that."
"I don't know if I ever said anyone was untouchable. What I said was someone was more touchable than others. To acquire someone of this caliber, you are going to hurt your system and it should. That's part of the business ... .We are not able to make these moves unless we have one of the best farm systems in baseball. [Assistant GMs and scouting staff] deserve a lot of credit for bringing in players in our system and develop them to acquire this caliber player. It's difficult for us to pass up when you've got an opportunity to make ourselves this much better and get this caliber of player."
"I would love to have both of them on our club. My job is to continue to have this club be a championship caliber team not just for 2010, 2011 but for many years beyond that. To that end, you have to have players in our system that will help us get there ... We did acquire some outstanding players from Seattle in a trade for Cliff Lee. Cliff Lee did an outstanding job for us. There is nothing negative that I can say about the things Cliff Lee did for us and for our club for the half year he was here. This was an opportunity to get one of the best pitchers in baseball and bringing him here for several years."
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The deal is done, so what are we (who would have died to keep Lee here along with Roy) gonna do about his loss now. Focus--WS. TCLEARY--thanks man!— Rando- Comment removed.
- Halladay is the best pitcher in baseball period! However keeping Lee for one season really would have been nice. I understand getting those 3 prospects to retool the system but...man we dont have that many spots for prospects to step in the next 2-3 years. Dom Brown in my opinion will replace Werth once he gets his huge FA contract. Whats interesting to me is that assuming this happens in 2011, we would have Moyer and Blanton off the books along with Werth, Dom Brown would be cheap and an up and coming star (most expect)..that leaves us some financial flexibility to sign another stud pitcher long term and heres my prediction..Brandon Webb. Think about it, this really could happen and anchor this staff for a long time. Halladay, Webb,Hamels, Happ, #5.. A little ahead of myself but thats how i see the Phils playing the market next year. Thats pretty exciting to think about for the next 4 years!— philsfan in the atx
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- Halladay, you better bring it all home for Philadelphia. The Phillies gave up a lot to get you here. The Phans expect nothing; but, 100% all of the time. Here's to hoping we are playing in the Series again next year.
- I like the guy. Would have loved Halladay and Lee together, but I think he'll be good for Hamels and Happ. Welcome to Philly, Doc. Now show us what you got! GO PHILLIES!!!— TerryW
- Y'all crack me up. I'm sure Ruben could've gotten more from other teams for Lee and turned them all down just to make a deal with the M's since Gillick worked with them before. It's all a big conspiracy. Also, Ruben went from genius at the deadline last year to dope in the offseason this year. He did it just so he would rob the fans of another chance at a World Series victory. He doesn't really want to win a World Series. It's all a big conspiracy.— vafan
Well, Ruben is a good salesman. He is clear spoken, and does not beat around the bush.— road515- What troubles me, besides losing Lee, is the fact that Amaro pulled off both trades, although completely separate, on the same day to blunt the fact that the Phillies were unloading Lee, whose $9 million salary for next year is laughingly low. By doing so, however, he negatively impacted what should have been a joyous day for Halladay, as so much attention has been focused on Cliff Lee and some fans, by implication, are blaming Halladay for Lee's trade.— chuckw
- M60tanker...at the link ? Its the Linc...and hes not playing for the eagles..— Will.i.Am
- Sure, it was a little about replenishing the farm system, but it was more to do with money. Ruben can't say that though because it doesn't play well in this town even after 3 NL East Titles, 2 NL Pennants and a WS title.— booman55
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