Thomas Drance

By November, it was over, right?

So, I mean...

You know, I'm not... There's lessons to be learned here, though, in terms of how you need to manage this, right?

The changing relationships between players and their organizations.

Um...

You know, and I don't think it's something you should be scared about or bemoan.

I think it's just something you need to be really clear-eyed about managing and understanding that, like, what you need is to be able to make a compelling case to a player that, A, you can win here, right?

You can win here.

You're part of a process that will lead to us winning.

You need to be able to convince players of that first and foremost.

Secondly, you need to be able to convince them that any money they leave on the table will, unlike the money McDavid left on the table, be used not on Trent Frederick.

Three, you need to convince them that your medical staff, your science team, your performance team, you're not just going to protect them, but you're going to be so cutting edge that you're going to utilize them in a way that actually extends their career and earns them more money.

Right.

And, you know, this is something that I actually think Ryan Johnson will ask Chase Waters about it a little bit more, too.

But like the Ryan Johnson message to his American League teams on players unapologetically, like you think you want to leave, like you think you're too good to be here and we think you're too good to be here.

And we all think we're too good to be here.

And we all want to move on.

We all want to move on to bigger and better things.

So let's work together because that's the best way we can all accomplish that.

Right?