The Scoobel thing is fascinating. It's obviously horrible news for the Detroit Tigers.

So this injury that he has is the one that Sean has the one that Sean has refused to have surgery and he pitches through it and he's got diminished velocity. Right. That's why his fastball is dialing it at 88. It's why he's a mop-up man in the Met bullpen. when it comes to Scoobel and you tell me,

and I know that how he pitches upon his return

will play a major role in this,

but do you think this affects his return will play a major role in this,

but do you think this affects his free agency in a major way?

I don't because it's not, first of all, it's not Tommy John.

Right.

And even if it was, so many pitchers have come back from Tommy John to be equally as dominant.

So I think they've technologically figured out, or at least physiologically, figured out

how to do these type of surgeries.

So I don't think it's going to be devastating for the future of his career.

I think the only way it would impact his contract is if he came back and struggled.

If he came back and the velocity was diminished and he wasn't the same pitcher, I could see free agency being a little bit more of a challenge for him. You think maybe it's the better for him not to come back? What do you mean? Not pitch at all? Not pitch at all. No, I don't think that would help either. I don't think that would be as bad as struggling, but I don't think that would be good either. Because the risk that Scoobel is going to have is I think Scott Boris is going to try to have him sign before the lockout. Remember, there's going to be two off seasons. Yeah. We had this in 2022 as well. There's the offseason before the lockout. And then once there's the lockout, some guys don't sign. They settle. however they settle, whenever they settle, and then there's a second tier of free agency. The idea that they're going to ask for a salary cap is probably going to push Scott Boris to say, hey, let's get this deal done early. Now the question is, are teams willing to negotiate early? Or are they going to tell Skulblen Boris, we're going to wait. We're not going to be aggressive in the first latter part or the beginning of the offseason. But I think the way Scoobel comes back and how he pitches will have a major role on that. Would I be nervous about sounding him to a long-term deal? I'd be nervous about signing any pitcher to a long-term deal. It's part of the risks. And I think the way you have to view it is,

look at Max Fried. I think he's a good example of this. The Mets, the Yankees, gave him a very long contract. And there's no guarantee that's going to end well. But if you can get half of it to be effective, then it's worth it. You have to go in eyes wide open that. Hey, it may not end well, but as long as I can get like four years.

That would be my number.

Give me four years,

that would be my number.

Give me four years of you being at the top of your game.

I think you live with whatever the end of the contract looks like.

Yeah, how many of those years are you going to be bitching about if he gives you four years

and you don't win a championship?

...