We've made it a practice to make sure the guys are comfortable playing short or whatever their position is in the infield. Then we move them around so they get familiar with other spots.

You have to be careful and walk a fine line. There is no denying Betancourt's ability to field the position with the premier shortstops. But he has to hit a bit and he has to stay healthy, so you have to be careful when you go converting the guys behind him.

We believe it's good to promote baseball world-wide. Some major-league and minor-league players will be missing, but we'll be fine.

It is something we still could do, but we want to see how [using him as a hitter] plays out. We still think he has a lot of promise as a hitter.

The quotas had been met. There was nothing we could do about it. The assets of major-league baseball clubs are their players. If we can't get a guy into the game here, that's a waste of money — and of major consequence to us as a team and to him as an individual.