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."
Lies. What, do you think we're stupid too?— hessjc- "we would have been in position to lose seven of the best 10 prospects in our organization". You did anyway. The 3 you got back from Seattle are below the 3 you gave Toronto, from what I read.— P Even
- I can see not keeping both but what they got for Lee was a joke. Don't go half way go all in or don't do anything, its like he is hedging his bets with the Lee trade. The players they got from Seattle aren't that great, should have received much more— fthebirds
Comment removed.- I'm a huge Jays fan...and now a huge Phillies fans. Thanks for everything Roy and I hope to see you with a WS ring in October!— Jays_Fan
- Grain of salt time, boys. They obviously wouldn't let Rube pay Lee, and they do have a budget. Let's try to be positive, give Roy a chance to be the stud he seems to be. I see Hamels bouncing back, Blanton a solid #4 and GIVE HAPP THE BALL EVERY 5th day as a starter and stop messing w/ him. If we get to playoffs, he's game 3 starter. Also, the closer is the problem. Rivera is Yanks MVP, not Jeter or A-roid. Get insurance in case Lidge is not back. This is the priority.— billomey
Everyone kept clamoring for Halladay since last July. Then everyone said he'll never come here, stop fanning the flames. Well, he's here! He is a stud! Cliff is not in Roy's class. Lee was good and particularly so in the playoffs. But I remember the alarming 4-5 game stretch of bad performances. The key here is that RH is CONSISTENT. The one thing I am most sorry about is losing Drabek. But I think the club brass figured he was a bit overrated. We'll see. I think they're now a bit pitching weak on the farm. But overall it's an upgrade and we're set for the next four years.- Comment removed.
- Well Mr. Amaro is obviously trying to sugarcoat the deals saying he needed to re-plenish the farm system after obtaining Halladay. Well with Moyer's $8 mill this coming year that essentially sent Lee packing, that has fans reeling. Why not move Werth now while his value is high? Put Francisco or Mayberry in right field and let's see what happens! And Brown will replace Ibanez in two more years, so why is Amaro so concerned about re-plenishing his farm system that he just plundered?— sspn09
- Why does Ruben now have four centerfielders in the system who are of similar style: Victorino, Q. Berry at AAA, Gose at A and now Gillies at AA. Seems to me Ruben hoped to move the two Canadians Aumont and Gillies to Toronto but new Blue jays GM and native Canadian Alex Anthopoulus knew that these Seattle pieces were of limited potential and did not fall for the trick. He instead picked Ruben's pocket by insisting on Drabek and d'Arnaud forcing Ruben to cave on them before the MLB imposed 72 hour window to negociate with Halladay expired. Ruben got outmaneuvered by the crafty Canadian— Dull
- hamels is the wild card in all of this. if he pitches like he's expected to, the phils win it all.— eaglesfan in DC
- Only in Philadelphia do fans complain about a team that went to back to back world series signing the best pitcher in baseball for the next 4 years. you people deserve nothing.— bobbyd24
- Dawk, what variety of crack are you smoking that the major league was downgraded? Surely you're not suggesting that Lee is better than Halladay?— JettMartinez
- Thank you, thank you, thank you, Dawk2020. I was just telling some friends that Phillies fans don't like the trade because they don't know baseball well enough to understand it. Your comment really helps me make my case. You are the man.— GoPhilsGo
- Let's see - we have Halladay. And all it cost us was one Untouchable minor league pitcher, 2 budding catchers, 3-4 other top of the chart minor leaguers and Cliff Lee. Where is Von Hayes when you need him?— innc
