Theo Epstein Quotes

We draft mostly high school kids and we have one of the finest, if not the finest, player development programs and coaching staffs and we teach our players the right way to play. We also have a game plan in scouting, and there are certain types of players that we look for.

Every team in the league is always looking to upgrade its talent.

When you're a general manager, you don't get to see every single player, so you have to rely on your scouts.

There are more second-, third-, fourth-, fifth- and so on in the big leagues than first-round picks.

Whether it's drafting or player development, the ultimate is putting a team together.

Teams want the best players. If the best players come through your academy, you can play.

Now, would we like to have that super quarterback? Absolutely. And if we have the opportunity to get that person or develop that person, that's what we'll do.

I've always thought that having an attractive free agent is better than a guy who was picked in the seventh round.

We decided to go the way of trading and getting younger players.

When you inherit a franchise that won one playoff game in the last 10 years, you've inherited a troubled franchise.

We decided to either try trades or just go with older players. If you do that and let contracts expire you can be in the lottery for about four or five years and expect your fans to be patient.

If you excel, there will always be teams interested in signing the biggest players.

If you identify those guys - something we have done in the past - who are not as valued in the current market for whatever reason and you look to get them to play at a higher level than where they have come from. That's how you develop the team.

Any time you get a chance to acquire a really good football player, I'm all about that.

Some players are bought by other clubs with an eye to them developing into something special in a few years' time. Whereas there's a bit more pressure on some of the other clubs to bring in players who are going to be hitting the ground running and top players verging on world class almost immediately.

For a club to come and get you, they are going to use you at some stage.

I'm the football manager. I make all the football decisions that evolve around the game that's being played on a Saturday.

Every season I think it's right every great team tries to improve the quality of the team.

You always want all good players at your team.

Choosing players in any sport is an imperfect science.

It's amazing how much better coaches we become when you have really good players.

It is about building the best team you can, not just one to play in the Championship. You look short-term because you need to be competitive, that's the nature of the business. But it's exciting to have players whose potential is exciting.

You're looking for that prototypical second-line center man. They're not out there. They're just not out there. No one's selling them. No one's giving them away. So we have to produce our own. That's the best way to do it.

A personnel guy always wants to get his pick right. We live that every year. We want to make sure the pick is right.

You always attempt to better yourself by getting good football players.