 Randy, it's Michael Don and Peter. How are you doing? I'm good, Michael. How are you doing? Everything good? I hope you're well and same to you, Don and Peter. It's good to be with you guys. I hope you're safe and healthy. Same to you, Randy. I've been saying this on the air a lot. You have long been a deal maker. Even before you were president of the Yankees, you know how to get deals done. So I turn to you and I say, Randy, is there a deal to be done here? Do you believe there's going to be a deal? I sure do. And I hope so. And I'll tell you why. I think we have to turn away from the contentious issues which have been driving this negotiation. You know, I talk to the commissioner almost every single day. I can tell you he is determined to play this year. He's dedicated to trying to get a season as soon as possible. And he's really, really working hard. I've talked to all of the teams, whether they be owners or team presidents, every team I've talked to, all 30, they want to play. The players want to play. And I believe, as I've said over and over again, you know, the players are the hardest soul of this game. That they're there. But people come to watch and we must respect them. We must honor them and move forward. The contentious issues in this negotiation have been about money, how much will these players get paid and how many games will we play? So we have an agreement in the famous, I believe, was March 26th agreement that laid out all of those terms and it's not worth it at this point in time. You know, arguing back and forth what it meant because what it does mean and everybody is in agreement is that the commissioner has the ability to set a schedule as long as he pays the players 100 percent pro rata. That means the amount of how many games they get 100 percent of their salary. So everybody agrees with that. And, you know, the players have said that they want to play. Tell us when and where. But under under the March agreement, you can't just do it that way. In the agreement, there is an obligation by both sides before you can set a schedule to negotiate things like health and safety protocols. What happens is if if there is a pause, meaning, you know, the virus spikes again, which players cannot doubt, which couldn't which can't and what happens to all of them, these are really, really important issues. So what has to happen here, in my opinion, as somebody who's been, you know, negotiating labor agreements for 40 years and somebody who who's negotiated side by side, you know, with the commissioner, he knows what to do. He's a very, very good labor negotiator. You know, I know Tony Clark, he played for us. Michael, he's a good man. You know, we have to stop, you know, disrespecting each other and communicating with each other. And I just for the life of me now, you know, I asked the commissioner this today. I said, are you ready to get in the room and negotiate? Why haven't they done that, Randy? Well, that, that, you know, get in the room and negotiate. You know, deputy commissioner Dan Halem, I mean, there's nobody with a better disposition than the world than him. You know, Tony's a good guy. I don't know Bruce Meyer, but these are issues that are in the agreement that if baseball didn't negotiate with the players, they'd be subject to liability, just like if the players didn't negotiate them with the owners, they'd be subject to liability. So at the end of the day, I'm urging everybody here, everybody, put your masks on, social distance, go out to Phoenix. I'm sure Tony Clark has a nice backyard or come here anywhere. I'll make Yankee Stadium available, get in the room, negotiate these protocols and get going. I, for the life of me, you know, I was, as you remember, Michael, and, you know, I was the chief negotiator after the strike. I mean, Don Fear and I live together for days and months and weeks. And that's the way it has to be. And that's what has to happen. This agreement is tough. These are very tough times we're living in, but, you know, we've done this before, the union and the clubs, and we've got to do it again. So if I was you guys or anybody in the media or all the fans, I would be asking one question to everybody now. Why aren't you in the room bargaining? I know the commission is ready to do it. Randy, as somebody that's negotiated contracts and understands the landscape, how frustrating is it that there could be an agreement in March between both sides? And yet both sides can look at that agreement so differently. Well, I think that it's the agreement, the way, you know, I've read it is very simple. The agreement calls for a negotiation to on player salaries. When three conditions aren't met, there's no fans in the buildings. Their travel restrictions and these health and safety protocols have not been agreed to. So there's a negotiation. It doesn't mean there has to be an agreement, but there has to be a negotiation. So I understand that you've negotiated, they haven't been able to reach an agreement, and there's a remedy in the agreement. That remedy says that if you can't reach an agreement, the commissioner has the ability to set the schedule, meaning how many games, as long as he can, it pays the players 100% pro rata. So we'll pass that. Now, let's get to the important issues. And for the life of me, you know, we have a lot of smart people here who get health and safety issues. Players should, you know, really be all over health and safety issues. I mean, Scott Boris has a lot, a lot of players involved in this thing, and, you know, with all the respect, he's been really, really outspoken. It's had some good ideas on health and safety. He's done a lot of research. He should talk to the players union, give him his, give him the input to get talking about money and get in the room and let's decide this because these are the issues now that are holding us back. The money issue and the game issue, we'll pass that. We're talking to the president of the New York Yankees and that's Randy Levine. Randy, you obviously understand branding. I know you're very protective of the Yankee brand. It's important to the way people look at your product. Does it disappoint you that all of this dirty laundry has been aired, Randy? And people are looking at baseball and going, this is not the time for this. I mean, the country's in a tough go of it right now. Why is baseball and the players association, why is this all being aired out in public? Why isn't it behind closed doors? Well, it should be behind closed doors. Unfortunately, it is what it is. We're all to blame, including me, everybody who's in the game needs to own this and take responsibility that we all could have done a better job and we all can do a better job. So what I'm urging now is let's do the better job. Let's, let's get in the room and now, you know, I don't think there's a lot of space between us if we're negotiating the rest of these, these issues, let's, let's get in the room, men of good faith, women of good faith, get in, get in the room and, and, and finish these things up in the, in the March agreement and, and let's play and start to build back our relationship moving forward, both for the public trust of the fans and, you know, players and clubs need to get along. Absolutely. We don't need this, this, you know, all between us. Now you mentioned that, you know, all the players want to play, all the owners want to play, but are you sure that all the owners want to play that there aren't some that look at this and say, I might actually lose less money if we just don't play? Is there, is that a concern? Now, as I said, Don, I mean, I've talked to all 30 clubs. I've talked to owners. I've talked to presidents. I haven't talked to 30 owners or 30 presidents. It's been a combination. I have not heard one club tell me, and that's all I can go by or tell Hal Steinbrenner that they don't want to play. And I've asked the commissioner and he tells me all 30 clubs want to play. I think you need to take over the whole thing, Randy. You've done this before. Just take it over. Just get it done. You grab Tony Clark and do it. They have really people here who are really confident. I mean, Rob Manford and Dan Halem are superb negotiators, men of good faith. Tony Clark is a man of good faith. As I said, I've done a lot of, a lot of business with the Players Association through the years. I don't know the negotiator Bruce Meyer. Never met him. But at the end of the day, all right, now's the time. You know, forget it. We'll get the number of games. The commissioner will do that. The players will get the pro-rata amount of money. Let's get in room, bang out, all these other issues. And that's it. I mean, with all the respect, you know, the Players Association should not be talking about grievances or litigation. They should be talking, getting in a room and negotiating a deal. As I said, I'm not saying that to choose anybody of fault. I just, as I said, why isn't everybody in a room right now? But the commissioner has told me he's ready to do it. So just we got to get Tony to say yes. Come up with a venue, a lot of beautiful places to do this. Let's do it. The frustrating thing for me, Randy, and listen, you know far more than I do is that there's been a missed opportunity here. You guys could have been back on July 4th, have the landscape to yourself for three weeks. And you're right, both sides are competent. Otherwise, they wouldn't have the jobs they have. But you shouldn't have to be begging for them to go into a room. This should be a fate of complete here. There's a lot going on here. And did you guys have that thought when you thought you would be first? Did you guys, for example, at the Yankees, think this was an opportunity for growth of the game? Yes, 100%. I mean, these are unprecedented times. They're really unprecedented times. We're dealing with the pandemic. We're dealing with what's going on now, the recognition of social justice and people in this country taking a look at finally, in a very strong way, combating racism and prejudice and striving all of us to be better. These are very, very, very different times. And we all, now, it doesn't matter now what happened in the past, guys, we can't change it. We can't change what happened yesterday, what happened a week ago, what happened two weeks ago. All we can do is move forward and basically say, let's get this deal done now. I think it will help the country. The country misses baseball. Baseball has had a great soothing effect on America and society. Jackie Robinson, you and I were there together, Michael, when after 9-11, when President Bush threw out the first pitch, I mean, it's time and time again. I mean, we can just be upset about what happened yesterday or last week or two weeks. As I said, we all own it. We all need to be better about it. But there's no excuse for me for just not getting in a room now and solving it. There are plenty, plenty, you know, airplanes are flying. There are plenty of places to meet. And as I said, the commissioner's told me he's ready to go. So now we got to get, you know, Tony Clark and the Players Association and all the people talking to them, the executive board of the Players Association, they're really good, smart people, get in the room. I just, for the life of me, I've been negotiating forever. I know there's a pandemic. I know that, you know, people were inside and couldn't go anywhere. But now with masks and social distancing and big rooms or out areas, there's enough places to meet for them to just go face-to-face and get this done. Because when you're face-to-face, it's a different thing than when you're on the telephone or when you're, you know, conducting yourself by technology. You know, you get, still, you look people in the eye. You get their reaction. And they're usually a lot more candid when you're, you know, in the same space. Hey, Randy, thanks for covering out some time for us and giving us some clarity on this. We really appreciate it. All right, guys. Stay safe. All the best. All right, you too. You too, Randy.