Sweeney Speaks

I was in the Royals clubhouse this afternoon when a jovial Mike Sweeney spoke about Luke Hochevar, Dayton Moore, and his health…here's what he said:

On Hochevar: "Well, I've had a lot of time to read and look on the computer at the potential number one picks and I think we've chosen a winner. Up until a few hours ago everyone thought it was going to be the kid from Houston or North Carolina. But Hochevar is hopefully going to be here really soon in Kansas City and hopefully with the addition of him and getting Zack Greinke back will really help our team a lot."

On Moore: "I've heard wonderful things about him as a man. He reminds me a lot of Allard. His characteristics and what he's made of and the type of person he is—they say he's a born leader with a passion to win and really just a desire to bring this organization to where it used to be in the 80's. Hopefully with these new toys—these are his new little fun things to play with, the Zack Greinkes and the David DeJesuses and now our first pick—you know, hopefully he'll mold these guys into the stars they were born to be and hopefully I'm around here to be a part of it."

On Change: "Change is good at times, but never at the expense of a friend. And Allard Baird is our friend. Even though he's no longer our GM, he's still part of this family. We just hope that we can win, because if we win in the next few years, then I believe that Allard would still feel like he's a part of it. Quite frankly, Allard deserves that."

On Baird: "I've spoken with Allard and what we talked about really stays between us. The blessing for Allard is, he's with his family and I'm happy for that. He deserves that. He's truly been married to the organization for the last seven, eights years and hasn't really spent much time with his wife. So, I think Allard deserves that.

On his health: "I'm doing well. Every day is getting better and better. I can't wait to be back on the field with my boys. I'm hurting still physically, but emotionally it hurts a little bit more. Watching the guys on TV—I'm proud to be the captain of this team and I know that being on the sidelines on the DL is not what I'm supposed to be doing. I just need to get back on the field with these guys. I'm sure I miss them a lot more than they miss me."