Re reaction of the city and fans if they shut him down in a pennants race....If you make your decisions based on what the fans want, you're an idiot.
Re how the other players would react: “What are you telling your team? It’s just not a good message. ”
You're telling them:
1) This is an organization that cares about you as ballplayers and will never jeopardize your career.
2) You have confidence in the other starters and the rest of the team
3) You have a long-range perspective and you expect to win for years to come.
