Halladay: 'This is where I wanted to be'
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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."
you people have to stop your crying.one of the best teams in baseball just got better at pitching,bench and third base.can't wait for the season to start.— youwish- The Linc? They open in Washington. Anyway, this was not a baseball decision. It was a cheapskate money decision. Quit blowing smoke up our butts.
- Hey Hamberger ,why don't you become a Mets fan ? Now there's a team to be proud of.— youwish
- Good luck to Cliff Lee, who had one of the best postseason pitching performances in club history.— MattPSU
- 'hamburger': Are you willing to go door-to-door in your neighborhood and raise $9 Million? Phils will be in 2010 among the top 4 in payroll, withOUT the income that NYY and Red Sox have. Those who own then have a right to expect to and make money--just as you or I would opening up a corner newsstand. Phils just can't spend what NYY can, for the same reason that more than 26 other MLB teams can't--Phils don't match their income. Phils have done great, RAJr has done it again. Mistakes made in the past can not be undone: Yes giving Moyer his two yr deal for that much was one; not building in another 7 or 8 thousand seats at the Bank was another. Otherwise for last six weeks RAJr has done great. Wild-Thing Williams on MLB network just said the kid coming over from Seattle has good enough stuff to pitch this year...so there's some possible bullpen help as well. Signing Chan, or Smoltz, there's more. If you're not happy...maybe you're in your own reality (or should pull for NYY).
- Yes, sorry guys : Hello and welcome Doc!. Thank you and all the best Cliff!
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- Halladay wanted to come to Phillies, because it close to his come in Clearwarter for training. Only the Yankee are close to his home. He has a no trade clause so he was telling the the Jays were he was going. Ruben was bidding against himself. He didn't have to give up so much. Hallady could have rejected trades to other cities. RAJ gave up more than he needed to.— 76er
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- RUBEN talks about trading LEE so the cupboard won't be bare, GREAT, lets see IF any of those prospects get A CHANCE to play at the Major league level, within the next two years, HAPPY to have HALLADAY, but the entusiasim is short lived because of the LEE TRADE, IF they don't WIN the WSERIES next year, RUBEN is going to hear a lot of second guessing— dfrancis1958
- RUBEN talks about trading LEE so the cupboard won't be bare, GREAT, lets see IF any of those prospects get A CHANCE to play at the Major league level, within the next two years, HAPPY to have HALLADAY, but the entusiasim is short lived because of the LEE TRADE, IF they don't WIN the WSERIES next year, RUBEN is going to hear a lot of second guessing— dfrancis1958
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- CHEESEBURGER - we will somehow soldier on w/o you at the ballpark— billomey
- You remember taking pages of media requests to the Best Pitcher in Baseball and being greeted by the same glare that most hitters saw on 3-2 counts. The Best Pitcher in Baseball doesn't like interviews or cover shoots. It's not that he has a problem with reporters or photographers. It's not that he doesn't understand the job they have to do. It's that it interferes with the job he has to do. Every hour of every day between his games is carefully regimented. Everything with a purpose. Everything with a reason. You admired his dedication (even if you were a little intimidated -- OK, a lot intimidated -- by the stare).ARE YOU READING THIS MURPH?COLE?— soliteryman
