01:00 AM EST on Saturday, November 26, 2005

MIKE LOWELL, new Red Sox third baseman, on reliever Guillermo Mota:

"He was someone you did not want to face at all when he was with the Dodgers. I think his confidence was hurt in April because he was slated to be our closer and then he got hurt and he was a little disheartened when he realized he wouldn't get the job back. But his stuff was there. He throws 95 with a good changeup and a decent slider. When he's on, he's tough."

JEREMY KAPSTEIN, Red Sox' senior advisor, on Mota:

"It's hard to find setup people by trade or in the free-agent market. I felt if we didn't get him, a number of clubs would jump in and try to get him, including the Yankees. I remember when he set up for [Eric] Gagne in L.A., throwing 96 to 98 consistently. We're delighted we were able to acquire him."

LOWELL on playing in south Florida:

"Even when we won the World Series [in 2003], we were kind of in a honeymoon for about a week, but it died out real quick. [South Florida is] a market that can handle baseball, but it's not a baseball market yet. It's disappointing to the players. Teams that were out of it in May were way outdrawing us. We'd be in the playoff hunt and drawing 17,000 against the Braves on a weekend. The atmosphere [in Boston] is much better, more conducive to playing the game, in my opinion."

BILL LAJOIE on how the GM-less Red Sox managed to make the trade:

"When the action got pretty ripe, then [the three owners -- John Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino -- and the four members of the baseball operations team] were involved in continuing to decide what players we would like to have put in, what players we would like to withdraw, etc. We had four conference calls in the last two days."

CRAIG SHIPLEY on the tracks of the deal:

"Ben [Cherington, the Sox' director of player development] and I met with [the Marlins at the general managers' meeting] on a Wednesday. Before we left Friday, we had a proposal from them. Things went back and forth from there, and it was consummated [Thursday] night."

SHIPLEY, with more on the deal:

"There were a lot of players in and out of the deal as it progressed."

SHIPLEY, on why it took four days after news leaked out to complete the trade:

"Obviously when you have a deal of this magnitude you're going to do due diligence . . . That's why it took a little longer than people thought it would have taken."

LAJOIE on why the Marlins and the Sox matched up well together:

"It's an [indication] of the type of prospects we have that we were one of the clubs chosen to respond to their offer," said Lajoie. "It comes downs to need. Maybe another club has other types of prospects, but not the type needed in Florida. We had the shortstop they wanted."

SHIPLEY on Kevin Youkilis, whose 2006 playing time may be affected by the acquisition of Lowell:

"Whichever way this shakes out, Kevin's going to get a lot of playing time."

LAJOIE on the same subject:

"We know exactly what Kevin can do. The fact he can play first and third as well as possibly be a DH on occasion will probably enable him to have more playing time than he had last year."

LAJOIE on the blister problems that have plagued Josh Beckett:

"The blisters have decreased over the last two years. This just could be something that, maybe he's gripping the ball a little bit differently."

TERRY FRANCONA, Red Sox manager who is recuperating from knee replacement surgery, on hearing the news of the trade going through:

"That was great to wake up this morning to this!"

-- ART MARTONE