WEBVTT - Hot Sheet: NL Central Top Prospects 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:01.760 But I think you look at a guy that has, 0:00:02.160 --> 0:00:04.520 you know, excellent bats of ball skills, really good on 0:00:04.600 --> 0:00:07.960 base ability, works at bats, is really cerebral about his 0:00:08.039 --> 0:00:08.960 at bats, and. 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:11.920 He probably has more power than Breckman does. 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:15.080 Time to at the Saint Louis Cardinals top prospect. This 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:20.000 is your BA prospect profile. The name is JJ Weatherhilt. 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:22.680 It's Scott bron with JJ Cooper and Jeff Pond's from 0:00:22.720 --> 0:00:26.320 Baseball America. But Jeff, you start by telling us about 0:00:26.320 --> 0:00:28.960 the JJ that the Saint Louis Cardinals have and felt 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:30.600 very fortunate to pick. 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:32.240 In last year's draft. 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:35.280 Some thought he could go number one overall and the 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:37.840 Cardinals were like, whoa, We're at seven and we land 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:41.320 this guy. Yeah, this was one of those kind of 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:44.640 all time draft slides. I think, I mean, we'll see 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:46.879 if the proof is in the pudding here, but this 0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:48.960 is almost like a guy that could have gone number 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:51.000 one in the NFL Draft. But think about like Aaron 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:53.599 Rodgers sitting in that room forever in that draft and 0:00:53.800 --> 0:00:56.240 Smith going on and then him dropping drop and dropping 0:00:56.320 --> 0:00:58.440 down the board. It kind of almost felt like that 0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:02.200 with Weatherhole. We had heard us prior to the draft 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:05.080 as early as that morning that the pick could be 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:07.600 weather Halt instead of set of Bazaga at one. I 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:09.360 think you kind of look at some of the Guardian's 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:11.480 tastes and weather Hal fits that, and what do I 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:15.080 mean by that? Weather Halt has a great combination of skills. 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:18.039 He's an outlier sort of bat to ball guy, has 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:21.520 excellent approach, and there's some impact there as well. But 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:23.360 this is a guy that you know, was the the 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:26.959 batting champ of Division I baseball as a sophomore, dealt 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:30.119 with some injuries as a junior. But I think we're 0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:32.679 going to really see weather Halt and sort of all 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:36.080 of his glory again in twenty twenty five. This is 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:38.360 a guy that was getting consistent fifty five to sixty 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:41.119 run times from scouts across the industry. And I kind 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:44.000 of circled back and pulled some guys that had seen 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:46.880 him in the summer and sort of late fall and said, 0:01:46.959 --> 0:01:49.600 is he running better now? What's going on? And the 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:52.120 run times were back up, which was great to see. 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:54.480 But I think you look at the all around player here. 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:57.560 It's somebody who could maybe profile at shortstop or multiple 0:01:57.560 --> 0:02:00.720 spots in the infield. Maybe isn't a shortstop long term, 0:02:00.920 --> 0:02:03.200 has the tools to profile at third base or at 0:02:03.200 --> 0:02:05.640 second base, certainly has the bat to fill in at 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:08.480 third base, and the comp that I typically put on 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:11.160 him is very similar to Alex Bregman in terms of 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:13.960 the player. They're a different mentality, but I think you 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:16.440 look at a guy that has, you know, excellent bats 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:19.800 of ball skills, really good on base ability, works at bats, 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:22.960 is really cerebral about is at bats, and he probably 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:26.120 has more power than Bregman does, but maybe not as 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:28.320 clean of barrels as Bregnant catches, which is kind of 0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:31.680 his superpower. But it's a similar type of player, and 0:02:32.120 --> 0:02:34.280 I think could maybe in the end, we could be 0:02:34.280 --> 0:02:36.000 looking back in five or six years and say this 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:37.639 is the best hitter that got drafted this year. 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:41.080 I think the other similarity you can pull here is 0:02:41.160 --> 0:02:43.000 when Alex Bregman was drafted is like, well where is 0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:44.960 he going to play? And in his case, it was like, well, 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:47.000 you're not going to move Carl's career off a shortstop. 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:49.240 I think the kind of the same thing applies here. 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:52.720 Weatherholt should move really quickly. He's not going to move 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:55.400 Mason Win off short stop either, because Mason Win that's 0:02:55.480 --> 0:02:59.720 kind of his calling card and that absolute, real gun 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:04.720 of an all. But that versatility, that that batting ability 0:03:04.800 --> 0:03:07.360 that Weatherhold has kind of makes it where this isn't 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:11.200 a problem because you would love to have a plus 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:14.000 defender at third to go if a plus defender at. 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:16.520 Short, that's kind of the dream scenario. 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:18.840 Let's be honest. The Cardinals kind of have had a 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:21.760 lot of guys in recent years. Obviously Aeronado is non 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:23.600 example of this, but no, they've had a lot of 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:25.959 guys kind of playing up at positions where they're a 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:28.160 little bit stretched. You look at Nolan Gorman, you look 0:03:28.200 --> 0:03:30.520 at Jordan Walker, you look at a couple of these 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:33.079 positions where you look at really at catcher with contraras 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:34.920 last year or at least that's what they kind of 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:38.040 clearly felt like afterwards that they need a little bit 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:41.360 of help on the defense, and I think that Weatherhol 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:44.640 fits in that very well, that ability to play third. 0:03:44.840 --> 0:03:46.600 I think he could probably play second if that was 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:48.720 the position they needed. Probably is going to be more 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:51.080 of a need at third in the short, medium, long 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:54.440 term when the Cardinals are kind of clearly saying that 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:56.920 Nolan Aernaudo is not their third basement of the of 0:03:57.000 --> 0:04:00.680 the future. I do think that he could move quite quickly. 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:02.560 And I think the other thing that really does stand 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:05.920 out is the Cardinals needed something like. 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:06.520 This to happen. 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:09.520 They need kind of guys, a new kind of young 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:12.520 foundation to build around. When can be part of that, 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:15.200 Weather Holp very much can be part of that. They 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:17.560 do also have kind of some arms like a tink 0:04:17.600 --> 0:04:21.479 hence that really you're just hoping for the durability and help. 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:26.239 But Jeff, I think that it really kind of does 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:30.760 stand out that the youth movement that started last year 0:04:30.760 --> 0:04:33.240 in Saint Louis, Victor Scott hopefully becomes a part of 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:35.560 that as well. We may see a lot more of 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:37.840 that in twenty five, in twenty six, should. 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:39.600 We You listen to some of the things that were 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:41.719 coming out of the winter like warm up or whatever 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:43.440 the heck they call it there in Saint Louis. I 0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:45.120 was kind of tuned in. They had some jaz they 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:47.120 had Jordan Walker and some of these other guys talking. 0:04:48.200 --> 0:04:52.000 You know, Mazellak had kind of really really leaned into 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:55.000 the Aeronaudo trade that it'd sort of priority won two 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:58.880 and three. That opens up a spot for Weatherhul. I 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:01.120 know that they kept them at Part Beach to start 0:05:01.160 --> 0:05:02.880 the season. There was no reason to sort of force 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:05.440 him up. Some of that was roster restrictions. It wouldn't 0:05:05.480 --> 0:05:08.800 shock me if he starts the season at Double A springfield. 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:11.080 Once you're in Double A, you can move pretty quickly. 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:15.280 A mid season eta on weather Halt that they're able 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:17.599 to move aeronauto and they're kind of leaning into that 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:20.520 youth movement and a little bit of a slide back 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:23.480 bridge rebuild type of year. It wouldn't shock me if 0:05:23.480 --> 0:05:26.560 weather Halt moves that fast, especially when you consider, you know, 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:28.960 how advanced he is as a hitter. Kind of going 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:31.840 back to this Bregmann comp that's how Bregman moved. If 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:34.960 you remember, you know that first half of that season, 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:36.719 Bregman was crushing the minor leagues. 0:05:36.880 --> 0:05:38.120 They had to keep moving him up. 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:40.880 He kept on producing until you know, he forced his 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:42.960 way into the major leagues by the end of that season. 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:46.719 It wouldn't be unremarkable to see whether Halt have a 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:49.440 sort of similar trajectory and move next year. 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:52.919 The other thing I think that we do want to 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:55.839 note here is that if you look at the Cardinals. 0:05:56.400 --> 0:05:58.680 It's not the best farm system in baseball right now, 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:02.720 but it definitely weather Hold helps this a lot. Yiro Padilla, 0:06:02.800 --> 0:06:05.040 who's kind of a name to kind of file away 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:09.640 a little ways away, but a really interesting prospect who 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:12.440 will probably be coming to the States this year. They 0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:15.080 do have kind of some of these guys to kind 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:17.160 of filter in where they've got a little bit more 0:06:17.200 --> 0:06:20.400 of a higher impact back. But concern I may have 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:23.120 is are there the higher impact arms to go with 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:25.159 that as well or has that kind of been a 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:27.120 little bit of an issue for the Cardinals. 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:29.960 Well, I think this is probably the first time that 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:32.440 you can look at the top of that list and say, hey, 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:35.880 there's some power pitching in the Cardinals organization. It's been 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:37.719 a long time since you've been able to say that. 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:40.240 Probably harken him back to the days of Jack Flaherty 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:43.800 at this point. But you look at Quinn Matthews, you know, 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:46.520 you know, our Minor League pitcher of the Year in 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:48.920 twenty twenty four, the big jump that he took. There's 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:52.120 not many left handers that have that fastball profile, that 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:55.840 throw that hard, that also have two above average secondaries 0:06:56.200 --> 0:06:59.039 and have a track record of handling innings. I think 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:01.680 that's a pretty good armed to have up top. You 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:04.599 have tink Hens. He's got some durability concerns, but in 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:07.560 terms of being electric, the man is an electric factory. 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:10.000 When he's on the mound and things are right, he 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:12.640 is exciting of an arm to watch as anybody in 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:15.200 the minor leagues. And the sleeper here is to Coo Robi. 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:18.360 He's dealt with some injuries, he's dealt with some ineffectiveness 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:20.600 over the last couple of years. I do think he's 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:23.160 a guy that the organization believes in heavily. And if 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:25.040 you look at some of the pitching development stuff that's 0:07:25.080 --> 0:07:27.200 going on in the background, some of the things that 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:29.680 him Bloom has been tasked with, I think as a 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:32.000 Cardinals fan, you probably have to enter this season with 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:35.840 a little bit more hope regarding the pitching development and 0:07:35.880 --> 0:07:38.080 what could be coming up through this system, because the 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:40.080 pitching is the issue. If you look at that lineup, 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:42.320 it's all homegrown at this point and they're really just 0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:45.160 waiting for someone to take a step forward into superstart him. 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:47.800 I want to end with this with a more global 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:49.080 look at the team. 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:49.640 JJ. 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:52.000 I mean this might be a whole topic of its 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:53.880 own that we hit at some point on Hot Jade, 0:07:53.880 --> 0:07:56.120 and I encourage everyone to watch the show. But I 0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:59.000 think the two things that bother Cardinals fans as far 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:02.560 as development right now are one, Jordan Walker has not 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:06.119 developed into anything close to a star yet. And to 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:09.320 the report from Katie Woomen the Athletic about how they 0:08:09.400 --> 0:08:12.960 really dumbed down a lot of their instructional coaching, development, 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:15.000 all that kind of stuff there, they used to be 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:18.320 kind of a leader on that front. So your thoughts 0:08:18.320 --> 0:08:21.280 on that whole view of the Cardinal system and if 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:22.720 you think that's going to change. 0:08:23.920 --> 0:08:26.520 I do think that's what heim Bloom's job is this year, 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:30.480 kind of as his get ready to take over everything, 0:08:30.520 --> 0:08:32.640 but in first you need to help us fix this. 0:08:33.440 --> 0:08:35.520 And the thing that just jumps out with that is 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:38.959 we talked about Nolan Gorman, Jordan Walker. You know, these 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:41.720 guys who are kind of playing at the upper ends 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:44.360 of their position, you know, defensive spectrum where they could 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:48.040 possibly play, and that used to be the Cardinal strength. 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:50.560 But if you look at it in recent years, it 0:08:50.679 --> 0:08:53.240 is kind of hard to say that the Cardinals have 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:55.760 stayed on the on the front end on the cutting 0:08:55.880 --> 0:08:57.559 edge of player development. 0:08:58.080 --> 0:08:59.120 They have had a number of. 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:01.320 These guys who in some case, I would say also 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:04.240 the MLB development of these guys kind of seems to 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:07.880 go backwards. Dylan Carlson was better as a rookie than 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:10.280 he was in year two or year three, and then 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:11.360 he's kind of out the door. 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:12.480 You know. 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:15.640 Again, maybe this is what Matthew Libertore is. But Matthew 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:19.120 Libertor has not really taken a step forward since he 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:22.440 reached the major leagues. Jordan Walker has not. Nolan Gorman 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:25.240 had a pretty good twenty three and then kind of 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:27.520 really took a step back in twenty four. They need 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:30.080 to see some of these guys take those steps and 0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:32.760 get better in the big leagues. Victor Scott hopefully Victor 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:35.600 Scott just really struggled in his debut. But they need 0:09:35.640 --> 0:09:39.199 some of these guys to kind of regroup and then 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:42.319 get better, not just kind of keep getting worse year 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:42.800 after year. 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:46.360 All right, well said, And if you want more on 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:48.600 the Cardinals, of course we cover them on hot sheet 0:09:48.600 --> 0:09:50.000 and encourage you to check that out. If you want 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:52.160 more on a different team, we release one of these 0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:54.319 every day during spring training. So come back to the 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:57.440 Baseball America YouTube channel. Get yourself a BA subscription as 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:00.240 well at Baseballamerica dot com and we'll see it or 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:01.800 another prospect profile. 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:03.120 Which'all will hit for a high average. 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:05.480 He's also going to walk more and as I said, 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:07.319 this is a guy that does know how to elevate, 0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:08.920 doesn't know how to hit the ball hard in the 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:12.160 air to his pull side. Matt Shaw is the top 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:15.800 prospect for now in the CUB system, as he could 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:18.160 be a big contributor to this team in twenty twenty five. 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:20.040 That's hit a prospect profile. 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:24.959 Scottie Brown along with Baseball America's JJ Cooper and Jeff Ponce. 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:27.640 What do you think, Jeff Matt Shaw a Rookie of 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:31.559 the Year candidate in the National League. Yeah, I mean 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:34.440 I would say, you know the odds on favorite prior 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:37.520 to probably rookie Sasaki signing, I would say that it's probably, 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:39.400 you know, the two of those guys. Certainly from a 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:43.679 positional player side, I think Shaw falls squarely into that category. 0:10:44.040 --> 0:10:46.480 There were some offseason moves made, of course. That Kyle 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:49.280 Tucker trade not only added Kyle Tucker to this lineup, 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:52.599 but also freed up a spot by trading Isaac Barredes, 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:54.800 and then also Cam Smith, who was behind Shawn the 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:56.640 packing order and in terms of when he would get 0:10:56.640 --> 0:10:59.679 to the major leagues, but competition at third base, and 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:01.480 I think you can look at sort of this lineup 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:04.720 right now. Roster resources had it projected as Matt Shaw's 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:07.160 the potential starter for quite some time, and I think 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:09.560 when you look at the upper minor success and just 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:12.600 the track record of this player, it's pretty easy to 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:14.800 see why the Cubs would be so invested in this 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:16.560 player and believe that he'd be able to sort of 0:11:16.559 --> 0:11:19.840 handle it. We heard talk coming into twenty twenty four 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:23.679 that Shaw was spending the offseason working out at third base, 0:11:23.800 --> 0:11:25.880 not at second or shortstop, or I think a lot 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:28.720 of us had projected he would end up long term. 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:31.880 This is also a guy who has a long track 0:11:31.920 --> 0:11:34.800 record of hitting against high level competition dating back to 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:36.719 when he was in high school, dating back to when 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:39.080 he was the Cape Cod League MVP, and really sort 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:41.520 of ran the table from beginning to end in terms 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:43.280 of the best player in the Cape Cod League in 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:46.440 that summer, won a championship with Bourne. He's a big 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:50.160 time player, ultra competitive type. I think in some ways 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:53.199 probably compares to Alex Bregman in that sense, not the 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:55.320 defender that Alex bregmant is, but I do think he 0:11:55.360 --> 0:11:59.240 has some other tools, particularly physical, that Bregman doesn't have. 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:02.280 He hits the ball harder than Bregman ever has. This 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:04.560 is a guy that does have sort of twenty twenty upside. 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:07.959 He's quicker and a better base stealer and actually has 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:11.600 base stealing acumen that I think goes above and beyond 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:14.240 just his sort of home to first run times, really 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:16.600 knows how to read pitchers. He's a very cerebral player, 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:19.160 kind of guy that you know, if you watch Cubs 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:21.839 games every single day, you're probably gonna fall in love 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:22.240 with this guy. 0:12:22.520 --> 0:12:24.280 I can't help but just think about the fact that 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:26.240 when you look at the Cubs and you look at 0:12:26.320 --> 0:12:28.120 kind of one of the ways that they have had 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:30.960 success over the last decade. They had the wave that 0:12:30.960 --> 0:12:33.040 obviously led them to the World Series, but after that, 0:12:33.760 --> 0:12:37.200 they've always kind of loved drafting their their productive college 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:40.640 infield bats. Now, Ian Happ kind of always faced some 0:12:40.760 --> 0:12:42.880 questions about whether he's going to where he's going to 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:45.560 play defensively, but he always could hit Nico Horner kind 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:48.040 of followed after that. I kind of also view Matt 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:51.280 Shaw's maybe a slightly better version kind of following in 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:54.080 those footsteps where you're talking about these guys who have 0:12:54.160 --> 0:12:57.520 a long track record of production the upper levels of 0:12:57.600 --> 0:13:01.080 college baseball, you know, top level programs, who then go 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:02.920 to the miners and do the same thing and just 0:13:03.040 --> 0:13:05.920 kind of earn that being plugged in, Like, Okay, you're 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:08.160 the guy. We're not counting on you to be the 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:10.400 star from day one, but at the same time, you're 0:13:10.440 --> 0:13:13.120 a regular from day one that you arrive, and let's 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:15.560 see if you can blossom into kind of being a 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:18.640 cornerstone piece and at worst kind of a very good 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:21.920 complimentary piece. Jeff, when you kind of look at Shaw 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:24.760 speaking of for Cubs fans, like comparing him to guys 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:26.640 that they know that have been up on the big 0:13:26.720 --> 0:13:28.920 league club already, if you compare him to say, like 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:33.439 a Nico Horner, how's he different, How's he better, How's 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:33.880 he worse? 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:37.640 Yeah, I don't think we're ever going to see Matt 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:41.120 Shaw put up the sort of valuable defensive seasons that 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:43.400 Nico Horner had put up when he was playing shortstop 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:45.480 prior Dancey sponsor coming over. Now, he's one of the 0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:48.760 best defensive second basement in baseball. It's a really talented 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:51.720 defensive middle infield. So he's not going to have the 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:55.320 same impact on that side of the ball the other side. 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:58.720 The big question, I think, dating back to when Horner 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:00.760 was at Stanford and sort of one of the last 0:14:00.800 --> 0:14:05.520 sort of remaining guys with that Stanford sling, he likes 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:07.480 to go inside out. It's you know, keeping the ball 0:14:07.520 --> 0:14:09.920 in the ballpark, hitting them where they ain't. That is 0:14:09.960 --> 0:14:12.559 not Matt Shaw's game. Shaw can do that. Shaw will 0:14:12.600 --> 0:14:15.199 hit for a high average. He's also gonna walk more. 0:14:15.440 --> 0:14:17.079 And as I said, this is a guy that does 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:18.840 know how to elevate, does know how to hit the 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:20.920 ball hard in the air to his pull side. 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:25.280 And I think, you know, Wrigley is probably. 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:27.520 The perfect sort of park for him where it's not 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:30.600 super high fences, they're not super deep out there. 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:33.160 There's certain days where the ball travels a little bit more. 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:34.880 And I think that you know, you're looking at a 0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:38.120 player that has more like twenty thirty upside when horners 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:39.680 certainly have the stolen base acumen. 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:42.880 We've seen that time and time again. Throughout his professional career, 0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:44.000 but is a. 0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:46.720 Little bit more of like a speed, contact and defense 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:49.160 guy where I've used Shaw as you know, more of 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:52.280 like a two three four hitter. Ultimately, all right, so 0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:55.560 I'll spin us to a global approach here on the 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:59.920 Chicago Cubs farm system, JJ seems like it's pretty good, 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:03.080 especially on the position player side, and we might even 0:15:03.200 --> 0:15:06.160 get ourselves a little bit of a log jam at 0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:08.960 some point if some of these prospects do work out. 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:11.160 Is that fair to say? And do you feel like 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:12.320 Matt Shaw. 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:14.720 Will be the first here in a litmus test to 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:15.600 see how that goes. 0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:18.480 I would say that's completely fair to say. And I 0:15:18.520 --> 0:15:21.600 would say that if you look at the outfield, I 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:26.000 feel like that the logjams here we've seen Owen Casey 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:26.440 is that. 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:27.840 I'm not saying that one Casey. 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:29.560 Couldn't use a few more at bats in the minor leagues, 0:15:29.600 --> 0:15:32.960 But Owen Casey's knocking on the door. Kevin Alcontra uh 0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:35.960 you know, is knocking on the door. So these are 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:39.200 guys who have already reached the upper levels of the miners. 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:44.200 And if the Cubs were earlier in this rebuild, that 0:15:44.240 --> 0:15:46.640 they'd never have called a rebuild. I would say that 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:48.120 you might just say, okay, that they're just going to 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:50.440 plug in it and get at bats. But you look 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:52.320 at this team right now. I mean, that's why the 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:54.480 Kyle Trucker trade was made. You've got Kyle Tucker, You've 0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:57.160 got Piker Armstrong, You've got you know we talked about 0:15:57.160 --> 0:15:59.600 have you've got, say a Suzuki. You've got a number 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:03.520 of guys where I think Shaw is very well positioned 0:16:03.560 --> 0:16:07.680 here because he's kind they've kind of cleared out a 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:11.400 spot for him just to take it. But now going forward, 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:13.720 they have a lot of guys who already have double A, 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:16.440 already have triple A time. But Jeff, I'll look at it. 0:16:16.560 --> 0:16:18.600 Who's the next guy up, Who's the next guy who 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:22.080 can really like there's a clear path or who is it? 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:25.280 Pretty much everyone else going to be waiting for an opportunity, 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:27.640 whether it comes by injury, whether it comes by trade 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:29.480 in effectiveness, whatever it is. 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:33.360 It's probably you know, of course Shaw is number one. 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:35.280 I think he's the one that has the clearest path 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:37.080 the playing time, But when we talk about the more 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:39.720 global picture of the system, it's probably Kate Horton. 0:16:39.720 --> 0:16:40.680 If Kate Horton can. 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:43.160 Show that he's back, he's healthy, He gets, you know, 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:45.480 some of that feel and shape back on his fastball 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:47.320 and his slider, and can really be sort of that 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:49.800 nasty two pitch guy that we saw. 0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:51.400 He could fit into a bullpen roll. 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:54.120 He could be a spot starter guy, somebody that fills 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:56.680 in for an injury on the rotation. I really think 0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:59.360 when you look at this logjam in the outfield, it's 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:01.040 going to have to be an injury to one of 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:02.880 those four guys you just mentioned. They made a big 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:05.000 trade with Tucker, They're going to play that guy. And 0:17:05.040 --> 0:17:07.520 then you have a bunch of productive major leaguers and 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:12.240 then a young, outstanding defensive center fielder and Pete crow Armstrong. 0:17:12.600 --> 0:17:14.680 It's tough for me to imagine that any of those 0:17:14.680 --> 0:17:16.880 outfielders are going to be up I think there's maybe 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:19.760 even a chance that between now and the beginning of 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:22.120 the season that we could even see the Cubs swing 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:24.600 a trade and maybe move one of those outfielders or 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:26.760 a couple for an upgrade somewhere else in the roster. 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:29.720 I think the dark horse here though, is probably Moises 0:17:29.800 --> 0:17:32.280 Ballistero's if he takes a step forward in terms of 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:35.960 his receiving and sort of catch and throw elements behind 0:17:36.000 --> 0:17:38.960 the plate. The bat is there. It's a mature hitter, 0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:42.320 a guy that doesn't give away at bats, bats of 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:44.720 ball skills or elite. I mean, you could see it 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:46.800 in game. But we were at the Futures Game last 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:48.760 year when they were doing some of those skill competitions, 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:51.040 and there was really nobody who had the level of 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:53.760