 It was reported, I think Jeff Passett, our very own, reported that Nolan Aronato had come to an eight-year, 255 million dollar agreement with the Colorado Rockies assigning a long-term deal one year before becoming a free agent. And the first thing I thought of, guys, was the absolute folly that it has been over the last couple of years. Again, the teams never say it. It's people in the media that are quoting sources, you know, they're chatty, other GMs or scouts or things like that, or people quote-unquote in the know. Well, the Yankees aren't going to go after Aronato. They're not going to go after Manny Machado because they're waiting for Aronato to be a free agent. Really? Like, how could you be sure that Aronato is going to be a free agent? Well, he's not. Same thing I've heard over and over again about other players. Like, the Phillies, you know, they're not going to go crazy on Harper and Machado because they want to save enough money for Mike Trout. Really? Mike Trout in all likelihood is going to sign this record-breaking deal with the Angels and never become a free agent. So all of these plans, you're trying to read people's minds, Don and Peter. These minds can't be read, especially in this market now. Well, let's face it, every Met fan wants the Mets to give the grandma contract extension because they're afraid that the Yankees are going to sign them. That's the fear everybody at the Yankees are going to sign everyone. Well, because they used to do that, and every agent kind of throws the Yankees' name out there because it gets more money for their client if there's a rumor that the biggest, baddest, richest team in town is interested in their client. But history has shown, at least recent history, that the Yankees aren't necessarily interested in these deals. There's a foregone conclusion. Oh, Machado's coming here. Oh, Harper's coming here. Oh, last year, Corbin was a Yankee. He was a diamond back. But no, he's going to be a Yankee. It's done. People were including him in their rotation for 2019. It was done. Well, guess what? The Yankees have a budget. They're not paying this outrageous money. Free agents are beginning to realize this now. So as much as they might want to play for the Yankees, if they're on a team that they're comfortable with and that team gives them money that's in the neighborhood, take it. Because the Yankees being there as this panacea, this glorified ATM machine doesn't exist. It's a fallacy. And the bottom line is, in today's market, if you can get offered a contract without going into the minefield that is free agency, why wouldn't you do it? So Aaron Hicks did it yesterday. Now, if he became a free agent and had a good year this year, would he have gotten more than seven years, 70 million? Yeah. But I was talking with somebody the other day and they made this point. These players are changing the place of their employment and going places that they don't want to go to get money that they will never in their adult lives ever get to spend. Again, it will not change the way they live whatsoever. So if Manny Machado had gone to Chicago for the eight years, $250 million, he might have been happier than the 10 years, $300 million that the Padres gave him. Or if Manny Machado went to the Yankees and said, listen, give me a three year, $105 million deal. Maybe they bite and they give it to him and he's happier. Again, the $300 million, I know that's the way they keep score, but it doesn't change your life in the least. No. Because you're not going to be able to buy anything more than you could buy with the other money that you're getting. I think that Bryce Harper right now is in this maelstrom of ideas with Scott Boris and stuff like that. He obviously doesn't want to go to Philly. He's trying any escape route out and now he's considering going to the Dodgers who are offering a much shorter contract. Now, it's going to tell me something about Bryce Harper. Does he take a three or four year deal with the Dodgers and risk being a free agent again at 30 and be where he wants to be? He wants to be with the Dodgers or the Yankees? Or does he go to Philadelphia where for some reason he doesn't want to be because they give him the most money? These are tough questions for players, but Nolan Aronado, he made the decision. I'm happy in Colorado. Even if I become a free agent and got way more money, I'm still happy in Colorado and it's money that I'm never going to see. Yeah, so why not just do it? Because doesn't that have value being happy? Now, Machado gets the ten year $300 million contract, likely went to a place that A, he's not happy with and B is going to gouge him tax wise, right? Yeah. And he may be the highest paid player for five minutes because Harper may sign a deal for 325 in a couple of minutes with Philadelphia. Well, for a week done, he's no longer the highest average annual value. Now that's Aronado. Right, exactly. So it lasted one week. And then that last one week when Harper signs, likely in Philadelphia if he's going to want to get the most money and he won't be happy in a place that it's obvious he doesn't want to go to. So as you said, when you're getting to that kind of stratosphere with money, I think happiness has to mean something. Now, there's a lot of people that are listening that the difference between $30,000 a year and $40,000 a year is life changing. And sometimes you have to make sacrifices because that $10,000 is going to mean a lot to your family and your well-being. Or if it's $200,000 to $225,000. But when you're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars, Michael, you're taken care of. Your family's taken care of. Your family's family is taken care of. Generations are being taken care of. So why not go someplace where you're happy? I think out of the mouths of babes because that's what Marco's first word was happy. I mean, that's a life lesson right there. A baby's first word is happy. It should be your last word too. Were you happy? Let's hear it. Happy. Oh, wow. That's big. How about that? So you've run up a great point this now, Don. Think about this. Manny Machado went to some place that I truly believe he doesn't want to be. Right. To be the highest paid player for less than a week. How stupid is that? You don't know. How do we know Manny Machado is so miserable in San Diego? Well, again, you try to read T-leaves, Peter, and he said the thing he didn't like playing about the dodge, he doesn't like California. Maybe he meant L.A. L.A. is San Diego. It's California. I mean, there's such a difference, but they are very, very different places. So I just want everyone to know this. I am completely miserable, San Diego. That's actually Ron Burgundy. That is not Manny Machado. We don't know that he feels that way. I think he's going to pass, and that deal could have been on the table for 10 days. And he still shopped that deal around to see if anybody else was willing to give him the 10 years, $300 million. So it wasn't like he jumped that and said, oh, San Diego, I love San Diego. I love the money you're offering me. I'm in. He still shopped it to look for somebody else. The team is not close to winning. Matter of fact, this deal probably puts them in a tougher spot to improve the pitching that they're looking to improve. And it just reeks of when, in three, four years, he'll get dealt with some high prospect that the Padres have so they can get out of that deal. It'll be Stanton all over again. It'll be Alex Rodriguez all over again. And Cano all over again. And clearly, just based on what's going on with all the reports, I don't know why, but Harper wants no part of Philly. But if he wants the big money and he signs with Philadelphia, you know, he'll say all the right things, but clearly, Philadelphia is not a destination for him. And Peter, you bring up a fair point. We haven't heard it from Machado's mouth that he's not having San Diego. But you do have to know the person, know the player, know what he's told other people in the past. Robinson Cano will never say anything bad about Seattle. The only reason he went there was to get the 10-year 240 million dollar deal. Seattle is so far away from everything that matters to Robinson Cano that he's probably thrilled that he ends up getting traded back to New York. But when you go places that you don't want to be, you're going to end up being miserable to try to get the last dime. That's what it comes down to. And I think that Harper, if he signs with the Phillies, is not going to essentially be happy. But the free agent game is an ego game. It's an ego game for the agents, which becomes very, very dangerous. Because Dan Lozano, who's the agent for Machado, and Scott Boris, the agent for Harper, they're trying to put another notch on their belt, too. Now, there are ways it can change. Michael, when Keith Hernandez was traded to the Mets, he cried. He cried his eyes out. So did Paul O'Neill to the Yankees. Paul O'Neill to the Yankees. I remember when Scott Stevens went to the Devils, they didn't want to be there. Then all of a sudden they went to championship and now they're forever players for that organization. So maybe Machado turns the Padres around. Maybe we'll fast-forward seven, eight years from now. And he'll love the city and that'll be where he spends his retirement. I mean, there are possibilities that it could be changed. You could convince him to stay and he'll like it. But right now, he made a decision solely based on money, Michael. And when you make a decision solely based on money, when you don't need money, it's usually a bad decision. I mean, again, I was talking to Reggie Jackson. We had an hour show after the game was canceled. I can't say postponed because they don't make up spring training games. And he said, Machado's going to be unhappy. He said, you can't put yourself up for auction and expect to be happy because the highest bidder might not be the place where you want to go. And I think that's sage advice. I can see if it's a difference between making 100 grand a year or 100 million dollars a year. That's a big difference. But making 250 million or making 300 million and in California after taxes, it's not that big of a difference. I'm telling you, you have to be happy where you're playing as well. And I think that Aronado proved that. I think there's more money out there for Aronado because he's such a highly respected player. But he took the money where he wanted to be. And again, even if it's more money next year, it's not life-altering money. He could buy any car he wants. He could buy any house he wants. He could travel any place he wants in the world. The extra money would be nothing but ego driven. So we started like this because we want to talk about the Aronado signing and about how the best laid plans. So any teams that were laying back and not improving their third base situation because they planned to sign Aronado, well, the joke's on you. He never became a free agent.