I know Hideki wanted to stay and we wanted to keep him, and that created a great environment for us to get it done. Thankfully, we got it done with a few hours to spare.

With the offensive lineup that we have, you can afford that, to squeeze something like that in, ... If you can get a fly-ball catcher to hold the fort and support the pitching staff, you won?t be doing yourself an injustice.

There is a business side that comes along with us because of his status. That?s certainly a factor in this.

He provides a lot of interest from Japan. What generally sells -- because we?re a business -- is team and winning,

This is my ninth year as general manager and, when you find players who can perform on the big stage in New York, it makes it that much more important to retain those players.

He's a unique player. Not only is he someone who is incredibly talented on the field, but that talent actually translates to success in New York,