Craig Breslow

We talked about, you know, trying to create the most formidable rotation we possibly could entering, you know, potential post-season and feel like, you know, Ranger fits right in.

And as a guy, like I've talked about earlier, who has the track record of post-season success.

So, you know, in terms of conversations, you know, made sure that Scott and I stayed in touch, you know, and when there was the opportunity to get this across the line, we pushed to do so.

Sure.

Well, I think the place to start is that there was strong interest in Ranger, irrespective and independent of other decisions and other outcomes.

And we had established a foundation of that interest, a relationship with Ranger, a great Zoom call that Scott alluded to where we talked about our pitching philosophy, the things that have worked for Ranger, why we feel like they can continue to work.

And I think the

The most important thing that we did as an organization, as a baseball operation is understand that there are multiple paths to improving the team.

And I don't think there's a question anymore that the identity of our team, the strength of our team is going to be our pitching and our ability to prevent runs.

And so when one opportunity was closed off, I wouldn't say that there was a strong

pivot in so much as there was an opportunity to reassess the opportunities in front of us and remain anchored to that commitment to improve our team.

And why is he the fit compared to some of these other guys that are out there?

Sure.

I think you start with a track record of success and particularly success in a really difficult division in a park that is a pretty offensive friendly environment and the ability to consistently manage contact.

And you think about the way that that translates to our park and our division and

and view that quite favorably.

And we feel like he's got every chance to be as good a pitcher for the next five years as he has been for the previous five.

And obviously, as it relates to free agency, what you're betting on is continued performance or improved performance.

And we've got strong reason to believe that he's someone who can thrive in our pitching infrastructure with Andrew Bailey and the rest of the group who have

uh, done a great job of maximizing the strengths of pitchers.