"Our hearts are broken. Mine's in pieces."

Pedro Grifol on Greg Halman | Larry Stone

"Character-wise and presence, I don't think there's any better. His presence in the clubhouse, everyone knows this guy was somebody. Character-wise, guys who knew him like I did and the coaches did, loved him. If you knew him, you loved him. (Jose) Castro ( a Mariners hitting instructor who is with Grifol in Venezuela) feels same way. We sent him to extended spring one year and had Castro to work wth him. I remeber seeing them working together and then leave together in a car. If you knew him the way we did, you loved him. You knew he was somebody. It's a huge loss for the organization and it breaks my heart."

(Recalling when Hansen flew to Amsterdam to meet with Halman and his family). "He had a difficult year in Double-A, and we needed to get some work done. He was a ittle frustrated in the year he had. We just wanted to get everyone on the same page, meaning us as an organization, him, his famly. We wanted everyone to understand, No. 1, the talent he had, and two, that everyone cared for him and wanted him to continue to work and not get frustrated with just a bad year. He had a couple of those, and fought through those together as an organization. That's what it was for. Let's get to meet his family and sit with them, and let them know we're in this together; this could be something special. He has the talent to do a lot of special things.

"It was probably the best thing we did as an organzation, and the best thing for him. he knew, and everyone knew, his mom and dad, when Roger went and stayed five days, we're in this together and trust us. That's what happened. It elevated the trust not only him, but his family, had in us. For us, it gave us that reassurance we were all in this together, him, us, his family, and we were moving forward, and everyone was moving in the right direction. That's what player development is about, what good organizations do. Do whatever it takes to make sure these type of talents continue to develop."