Mark Grote

But you don't want this turning into him being Willy Castro, you know?

You don't want this turning into him being a utility guy who's helping give everybody else the day off.

And I don't necessarily know that sending him to AAA is the best idea either.

And with the years of control, which are insanely valuable, more so than they've ever been, I think, in Major League Baseball, the years of control, when you figure how teams are, I wouldn't say hoarding prospects, but how they are valuing them.

and you consider that 2027 piece being up in the air, the years of control being so critical, that's what makes this really, really tough.

You don't want to waste one of those.

You don't want to have him be stuck.

You want him to have value because you placed value on him as well.

You traded away Cam Smith, so that was your other massive name.

So you're stuck.

And when he said that, I'm like, Willie Castro is not the comp.

That's not what I'm saying.

It's extreme.

But...

You don't want him to turn into, is the development balance with the utility concept enough to get the best use out of the talent you have?

Or is it enough to even if the scenario is trade, are you developing him enough to get a sufficient or acceptable trade value knowing how many years you have with your top prospect?

Well, in addition to that, wasn't the conversation originally about Nico Horner?

And they're like, while we have you on the phone, can we discuss this as well?

He's already played it in spring training.

Well, and also the clock that started, you know, that's not as much of an issue now with the new CBA, but it did start when they decided to bring him up.