(REUTERS/Scott Audette)From Mark Feinsand:
On being traded to the Yankees: "I never thought in a million years it would happen, being a lifelong Houston Astro. I didn’t think that a set of circumstances would come along to make this happen. I’m very happy to be here, but obviously a little sad to be leaving an organization that gave me my first chance in the big-leagues. I had a lot of great years there, but I’m very excited and very happy to be here. It’s a great situation. Who doesn’t want to play for the Yankees?"
On Andy Pettitte's involvement in bringing him here: "The whole time he was there, I had a sense that he wanted to be back here. I would always give him a hard time, ‘You’re going to go back to the Yankees; I know you are.’ We’ve had a lot of conversations about the differences between the organizations. Him being one of my best friends in the world is a big part of the reason that the Yankees were on my radar. It would take something like that, a relationship like that, to pry me out of that environment that I was comfortable with there in Houston."
On being a full-time DH: "It will probably being different being a full-time DH. When you play every day, you don’t have to worry about staying loose and staying in the flow of the game. I think there will probably be an adjustment period, but when I step in the batter’s box, I’m not gong to think about, ‘Oh man, I’m DH-ing.’ It shouldn’t take long. I’m looking forward to it. I think it will actually be good for my knee."
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On going from fifth place to first: "I was thinking about that on the way over here; I’m coming to play for the New York Yankees against the Tampa Bay Rays, basically for first place in the division in August, or I’d be going up to play the Milwaukee Brewers and there are like 10 people in the stands. There’s a definite difference. Not to say anything bad about the Astros or the Brewers, that’s just the situation we were in this year. When Minute Maid Park is full and the people are excited, there’s not a better place to play, but that’s not the case and it hasn’t been for several years."
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On the Yankees' World Series-or-bust mentality: "Ever since I’ve been active in professional baseball, the Yankees have either won the World Series or were extremely upset that they didn’t win the World Series. That’s a different deal. That’s a level that no other organization in the game that has that kind of expectation. Part of it comes from the success that the organization has had. 27 world championships and the next closest is 10 for the Cardinals, that’s a huge difference. With that success comes the expectation that all players in the game recognize, that the New York Yankees play baseball for one reason - to win the World Series. Not just get there, but to win it."