“We had an opportunity to add a high-end premium arm to the system. We felt he was close enough to the big leagues to warrant that type of contract. We were well aware of what type of commitment it would take before we took him.”
“All those guys will have an opportunity in spring training to show what they can do. We're not afraid to push people to Portland. We want to make sure they're ready for it.”
“He's a big, strong, athletic kid. He's got a good fastball with excellent movement and good sink. He's got a major-league slider. Obviously, the stuff is there and the ability is there. He needs to pitch a little bit more and get consistent outings.”
“That's up to Theo and Tito. It's hard for me to say after only seeing him in one outing. Obviously he has ability and there's a reason why he's here. There's a reason why he had the kind of success in college. There's a reason we made the level of commitment that we made to him. He's going to be a good major-league pitcher. When that happens, I honestly don't know.”
“There seems to be this predestined path that he's going to be in the major leagues [soon]. It's like anything else; it is up to opportunity and his performance. He's only had 10 [pro] outings, and that's really not a good sample size for us to say 'Yeah, he's the guy.' But, maybe he'll prove that he is.”
“For Murphy and Moss, there is no specific adjustment that we are looking for. More ABs against good competition will hasten their development. For Delgado, this is an opportunity to have him pitch in a more controlled environment than he would with a team in Venezuela, and gets him under our supervision.”
