Audio: John Byrnes - Thursday

By the time the contracts that Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes and President Derrick Hall agreed to expire, my oldest child will be in college. Eight years. A deal that runs through 2015.

In the world of professional sports – that’s practically a lifetime contract. Eight years is a long, long time. Comets come around with more frequency. In a world where players, managers, coaches, front office executives, heck owners, come and go - eight years is an eternity.

I’m not going to lie, I’m a little uncomfortable with the eight years, no matter who we’re talking about. But Josh is an exceptionally bright baseball mind. If he’d let me, I’d sit there and talk baseball with him for hours. His work ethic is unmatched. He’s been preparing himself for this moment for his entire adult life. If I were a fan, I would trust him with my baseball team and I wouldn’t want some other team coming after him. I think he’s that good.

For Derrick Hall, I think it’s different. A team president doesn’t put as much of a stamp on a roster as a GM does, so the eight years doesn’t seem as unnatural. He’s awfully good at making himself accessible to the fans.

Thursday was my last day here in Tucson. Watching the full squad workout there is only so much you can tell from watching pop up drills and guys running side-to-side.

The one thing I took away from watching Thursday’s workout was the power of Max Scherzer. The Diamondbacks’ first round pick in 2006 threw the ball very well Thursday as he was facing live hitters. Granted he wasn’t facing the big boys, but the young hitters he did face had tremendous difficulty squaring up the bat. And believe me, the outing was noteworthy.

Byrnes, Melvin and at least a couple of the owners were watching the session. Afterwards, Melvin compared Scherzer to Micah Owings of a year ago - a guy who came into camp that was expected to be cut early, but instead hung around. In Owings case, he made the roster as the fifth starter.