He was adamant about doing everything to get back quickly. He’s not 100 percent healthy. The running aspect, he might not be able to fully extend himself that way. Defensively, it isn’t a problem.

It was lined up. We were right where I wanted to be.

We’re a solid defensive club. We make routine plays, and we’re capable of making special plays.

They got a hit when they needed it and we did very little offensively for the majority of the night.

It remains to be seen how this will affect us. Based on last night, not at all. But that’s one game. We have 37 more games to be played. And it’s not just the results,...

We’re encouraged by that. We can form a definitive course of action for his rehabilitation and strengthening, so when we get to Spring Training, we won’t have to deal with it.

He was signed as a natural third baseman, … He’s a switch-hitter, I’ve seen him take some good at-bats.

I remember it very clearly: He was very effective into the (seventh) inning. He’s capable. He has a very good split-finger (fastball). He’s an athletic guy and he fields the position well. Those things all...

He’s a tremendous offensive player, as complete a hitter as there is in the major leagues. And I’ll tell you something else: I see a player that is not satisfied with that.

Statistically, in his case, that’s what’s very important, get to first base. I don’t care how you get there — walk, get on by an error, get hit by a pitch, hit a ground ball...

We had an opportunity in the first inning to get the game headed in the direction we wanted to and they got Jeff [Kent] to hit into the double play. From that point on, Jae...

There’s a lot of things that go into the equation in formulating a team, the way the pieces fit and complement each other. Character has always been an important issue with me. It goes hand...

Don’t prejudge it too quickly.

It’s probably the prettiest of all the plaques I have.

Our approach is that at this early juncture of the spring, you’re going to err on the side of caution. Right now, I’m not thinking about anything other than let’s find out what we’re dealing...

I believe that if you keep delivering your message that it eventually gets through and it will be delivered every day. It’s like when you were a kid and your dad would tell you something...

I think the mistake people made was, many thought he was a finished product. We wanted to back off for a while. We wanted to watch. We didn’t want to attack him.

I think you have to be very good, and often very lucky to get here. We’ve just never been in that position.

There was no way to expect how well he’s done. The consistency of his at-bats have been eye opening. He’s a guy that when you look beyond just the here and now, ahead to 2006...

He’s a very smart young man. He’s done all the things that he’s been asked to do on a day-to-day basis. There is, in fact, not anything I’ve seen from him that I haven’t liked.

I think it’s very clear to our players that there is no safety net. Our guys have heard enough messages where they understand … the direction I want to head with this club. Production has...

Very important. You’re hopeful this win can jump-start you and head you in the direction you know this club is capable of going.

His numbers are mind-boggling. Absolutely astounding.

I thought they both did a great job (Saturday). They did exactly what you wanted to see and what they would have wanted to do.

[Perez] battled. He needed a little additional help there. Unfortunately, he didn’t get it.

In Spring Training, I talked a lot about the value of guys on the bench. If they’re going to be productive players, you’ve got to find spots for them.

I think that what we do, as far as the handling of this situation and dealing with it, will go a long way in determining that factor, … I’d like to think this is something...

DePodesta said Cruz’s recent play compares favorably with his earlier years. His .783 on-base plus slugging percentage is higher than that of Dodgers starters Cesar Izturis, Jason Phillips, Jason Repko, Oscar Robles, Jose Valentin and...

If our young players weren’t developing, if I didn’t see passion or energy, then that falls into my boat,

He surely can do that. I’d have to say he gets a tremendous read on the ball off the bat. He certainly covers a lot of ground.

What he’s done behind the plate is obviously something that I like.

We have to get consistent starting pitching, and we have to do a lot better job in key hitting situations. You can do a lot of hitting when you are trailing by five and trailing...

Some of the components from a year ago were not in the clubhouse at Vero Beach in spring.

When you take good at-bats, you put pressure on the other side of the field — especially when it’s not just one a night. If you get four at-bats, you have four good at-bats.

There’s no question about it. This is not the same club that we were playing a September ago when we were fighting to win a division championship. It’s not even close.

(Sunday) I did not see Oliver pitching. I saw him just throwing and relying on stuff. If you do that and you fall behind in the count, you’re not going to have much success.

There’s not any timetable yet for him to swing off a tee or swing at balls.

I know he wants to retire from the game knowing he did it physically competing at the end, … You have to admire that.

A very wonderful note, I might add. A very professionally done thing.

He’s the consummate professional. He plays the game only one way and that’s to win. I really think the fans in Pittsburgh are going to love this guy. He’s their type of player.

Having someone teaching our infielders who has learned from someone as respected as Perry Hill, that means a lot.

Webb made great pitches, … He was throwing curveballs and changeups for strikes.

If he’s hitting in 2-0 and 3-1 counts, the ball is going to be put in play — probably hard. You just hope it’s hit at somebody.

We’ve seen this be done on numerous occasions. You hate like hell if they huddled, reversed the call and it was wrong. To their credit, they got it right.

I thought Ryan caught a good game. He certainly will go back out there.

Zach Duke deserves to pitch the home opener in Pittsburgh. He’s earned that right.

What the schedule says is what you do. I think we came out of it pretty good, all things considered.

Just giving him two or three days. Hey, that kid can fall out of bed and hit. The first game we played he had three hits and every one was smoked. I said right then,...

We need some starts where we get seven or eight innings, and it would be great if we could even get one at some point in which the guys in the bullpen wouldn’t even have...

This affords him a couple of days to get some things sorted out, because we know offensively he is much, much better than what we have seen to this point.