Chuck LaMar Quotes (19 Quotes)

At that time, they voiced no negative displeasure. Obviously that changed between that last series and Monday.

I don't think there's any question that by the year 2007, ... this is going to be a winning organization and a winning baseball team for the first time.

Having said that, we saw him play the latter part of August and thought he had had enough. He had already gone from Double-A to Triple-A and we thought it was time for him to go home and get ready to play winter ball if he wanted to, or if not, get ready for spring training.

I'm under no direction from ownership that I have to trade them whatsoever. That's not even a factor.

It's the general manager's responsibility, no matter what the circumstances are, to make the product on the field a winner.

He thought he was ready for the major leagues the day we signed him. That's why we signed him.

He's going to be an All-Star. And his work ethic continues to improve. As Ozzie told him, the only thing that can keep B.J. Upton from being a tremendous player is B.J. Upton.

If Blum plays third base, he'll get the majority of the at-bats. If he ends up playing second base, if we don't sign another middle infielder, then he would get the majority of the at-bats there. We brought him in to be a full-time player.

if they don't think he can play shortstop then they should think about trading him.

I wished he would have handled it a little bit differently. We probably could have handled it a little differently from our end, too. So we're going to call it a mistake on both sides. I don't want him to be looked at as some kind of troublemaker or some guy who is always going to pop off.

He's a baseball player - outstanding instincts on the field, good makeup, a hard-nosed player, always has been, versatility. He's a better left-handed hitter than right, and that fits us, especially with Damian Rolls at third base. He's just a good, solid performer.

I take full responsibility for this organization not winning in my eight years,

Cardinals Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith recently spent three days in North Carolina working with Tampa Bay Devil Rays shortstop prospect B.J. Upton , who plays for the Class AAA Durham Bulls. And I think he's going to speak to the entire club sometime, ... Ozzie is not only full of knowledge, but he's one of the most generous people in the game. He's a class act.

There's no question it's going to be a busy week. You're going to have some released players that had outs in their contracts that are going to be available, you've got players who are out of options that are going to be available, you've got players who ended up being 26th or 27th men on competitive teams that could possibly be an upgrade for us. You're going to see a lot of names, more as the week goes on. Every day the list is going to increase.

He cannot make 40 errors here. I think he is an improved shortstop over this time last year. He's ready to play offensively.

We thought he had had enough -- going from Double-A to Triple-A

Do you follow baseball.

He's in town to spend three days working with B.J., and I think he's going to speak to the entire club sometime, ... Ozzie is not only full of knowledge, but he's one of the most generous people in the game. He's a class act. We wanted to get Ozzie's thoughts on where B.J. stands defensively right now and where he needs to do better. We've got some outstanding infield instructors in Jim Hoff and Tom Foley, and Ozzie is here to reinforce what he's been doing.

He has the chance to become a tremendous major league player. The Devil Rays look forward to him joining what we think may be the best nucleus of young players in all of major league baseball.