We've said all along that the farm system and the players who come through it are Dan's report card. Based on last year, that's a good report card. We also feel Clint has done a good job of bringing things together at the big- league level, and the players are confident in him.

We are very pleased that we have reached an agreement with Jerry. His leadership was instrumental during the formation of the franchise and much of the early success of the Rockies can be attributed to his vision and passion.

I would expect to get more because we have the Washington Nationals, instead of the Expos. We paid into it even in years we were losing money because of local (media contracts). But I would much rather be paying money than getting it because that means the team is doing well and the attendance is up. We will get in that position again.

Absolutely. We are not in this thing to make money. That's obvious by some of the big losses we have taken. You pay down your debt and move forward. We need our farm system to help us so we only have to add a few key elements.

I think we still have to be patient. We are going to keep the same process. Most teams that aren't the Yankees, Boston, St. Louis and Atlanta are hoping to hang around .500, then pull out those extra five games or so that leave them for fighting for first place. For the first time in years we have a little money to spend. We feel there are some players out there that can help us.

In pro sports, a management person in the final year of his contract is unfortunately viewed as a true lame duck. The focus is on what's going to happen, even though they are signed to a contract. We wanted to take that issue off the radar screen and have everyone concentrate on the games being played on the field.