 Here's the latest on the Garrett Cole situation. Scott Boris had a big press conference in San Diego about an hour ago where he covered a variety of topics because all of the big free agents are his clients. And he said that everybody's definition of whether or not Cole's signing is close, close as one man's right away or another man's a week from now. He said, but he did admit that it could be done by the end of the meetings, which would be on Thursday. Now, Buster Only, our very own, reported earlier today that the Yankees have offered Cole a contract worth more than the record-breaking seven-year, $245 million deal that Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals agreed to on Monday. So it's unclear specifically what the Yankees offered to Cole, but the fact that it's more than what Strasburg got would seem to be, you know, that's a given. Angels are supposedly very much in. And then Boris is saying that two mystery teams Well, he always does this have appeared and Joel Sherman is reporting that the Astros are considering whether or not to make an offer. Now, everybody said the Astros had no chance when the Yankees were in Houston for the ALCS. I was told there's no chance the Astros bring them back. No chance. Now, they're supposedly on the periphery thinking about going in now. I watched the yes, a hot stove show, which will be I think it's following us again today. Yeah, the net tour I'm playing. So following us, Jack and John and Meredith and Bob will be on and Aaron Boone was on. And I just got the sense that Aaron Boone was trying to make a little bit of a soft landing in case the Yankees didn't get them. Because I don't know if the Yankees are sure they're gonna get them. I think the Yankees are sure that they won't be outbid. But do we know for sure if Cole, if it's close would not prefer staying home in California. So I don't know. The Yankees can only control what they can control. But Boone said, listen, you know, we'd love to have him. But if we don't, we'd still think we're gonna be an elite team. That is a chance to win a championship. So he's saying all the right things just to soften the blow in case they don't get them. I've heard this debated about whether he did the right thing or not. That's exactly what you should do. Because again, he's the manager of the team. So if the Yankees go all out like, oh, we're all in on this guy, we need this guy, we're gonna get, and then you don't get them, then you're gonna spin it. Well, we're good because we still think we're a team good enough to win a championship anyway. If you think you're good enough to win a championship then you shouldn't be desperate for this. So he's gotta have to create a soft landing. You know, it's possible. Now the mystery teams, who I understand are just two mystery teams that like made a call. They could have been scared off. Like they might have made a call. Boris told him, listen, we're not even gonna talk to you unless you go to here and they're like, okay, we don't know if those teams are legit like in. This is Boris' playbook. Of course. So what this tells me is the Yankees came in with an offer higher than Strasburg, but not anywhere near what Boris is thinking it's gonna get. So that's when he brings in the quote unquote mystery team, maybe to juice up the Yankees and the Angels up their offer. Yeah, the mystery teams, think about it, would be what if all of a sudden the Red Sox wanted to be in? Or would that scare the Yankees to go higher? Houston getting back in would scare the Yankees to go higher, because Houston's still their stiffest competition, right? Still the whole roads leading to Houston. And I'm wondering, would Houston get back into it because they're afraid that some of the sanctions that might come against them for this thing may hurt their chances in 2020. And they feel like, well, at least let's lock up our best pitcher so that if we do lose our manager, if we do get a few players suspended that we still might have a chance to win in 2020? Not a bad thought. And maybe they know that they might be losing draft picks and if they want to stay relevant, they better keep one of the better pitchers in baseball for the next eight years. Because Justin Verlander's not getting any younger. He's got only two more years left on his deal and I believe that'll be 38 or 39. So, you know, Cole turned into an elite pitcher behind the Astros and the Astros analytics. So it's gonna be interesting, but the fact that Boris has introduced those mystery teams, the Yankee offer was good, but it wasn't, I mean, there were people saying it's gonna be probably gonna be a $300 million deal. Does it ever get to the point, Michael, where it's just, you look at that deal and go, that still does not make sense. That's ridiculous. You know why it's close with the Yankees? Now for the Angels, I think anything makes sense because they're desperate. Billy Epler is desperate. You still have two more years on Poo Hall's contract. You can't allow Mike Trout's career to never, you know, be in the postseason again. Are the Yankees desperate? No, it could be the final piece of the puzzle to make it closer to a sure thing, but the Astros had Verlander who won the Cy Young Award and Cole had a great lineup and they didn't win. So the Yankees, I believe, still have a good chance to go to the World Series even if they don't Cy Cole. So is it worth it to pay them $40 million a year for the next eight years?