Ozzie wants more speed on the top and bottom of the lineup next year:
"When you have speed, speed is never in a slump unless you get hurt. Speed can make a lot of things happen. You will need home runs, but I think speed and pitching win maybe 20 more games than anything else."
More Ozzie on ¡Profundo!
"He has an opportunity to convince [general manager] Kenny [Williams], myself and our coaching staff we can count on him the way we want him to be playing. And I love the kid. Uribe doesn't know how much talent he has. Uribe doesn't know how good he can be. This kid can be one of the best players in the game at that position. What happened in his mind was RBI and home runs. There are a lot different ways to be good player out of the shortstop position. When you're not stealing bases, you've got to hit 35 to 40 home runs. ... Shortstop is not the same position as when I was playing. You hit .220, you steal 30 bases and catch everything, that was great. The only way [Uribe is] going to do it is to show up and break through that kind of stuff, and I don't know if he can do that. ... I'm going to give Gonzalez a chance to play shortstop. Right now he would need some help. I think Gonzalez could be a great utility player. He can play everywhere in the outfield and infield. ... He knows how to play the game and get good at-bats. Can he play everyday? He did in the minor leagues. At this level, we haven't tried yet."
How did Iguchi do against Matsuzaka in Japan? 31-for-85 (.365) with 3 home runs and 9 RBI.
And a couple more trade rumors: the Red Sox are after Garland, and the Mets like Vazquez but the Sox are trying to send them Contreras.