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Speaker 1: It's a it's a ridiculous situation that we have to

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Speaker 1: even talk about a team this far under five hundred

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Speaker 1: is still in it. But that's that's kind of what

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Speaker 1: the wild card does. Welcome into Northside Territory five Territory

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Speaker 1: Networks Cubs Podcast. I'm Sahadev Sharma with Patrick Mooney, where

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Speaker 1: your Cubs beat writers at the Athletic Patrick, the Cubs

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Speaker 1: have an All Star, maybe the loan, maybe the lone

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Speaker 1: bright spot of this season, one of the few bright spots.

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Speaker 1: I'm sure if we really dug deep, we could we

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Speaker 1: could point some other positives out, but Showta in Monaga

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Speaker 1: is an All Star, very deserving just I mean, obviously

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Speaker 1: a brilliant start to the season and and he kind

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Speaker 1: of continued it on deeper than I think I expected.

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Speaker 2: A couple of blow up outings, but.

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Speaker 1: The fact that each time he is bounced back with

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Speaker 1: solid performances after those blow up outings, I think kind

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Speaker 1: of tells us that you know, this guy is here

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Speaker 1: to stay in a sense. Uh and he and he's

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Speaker 1: an All Star. That's a huge accomplishment. There was some

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Speaker 1: debate as to whether he's the first Clubs pitcher Rookie podcast.

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Speaker 1: But I'm not interested in the the minutiae. Yeah yeah,

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Speaker 1: let's uh. You were there Sunday to talk to Showda.

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Speaker 1: I don't think this was a surprise, whether it was

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Speaker 1: the fact that he's the lone All Star or that

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Speaker 1: he's the All Star at all. This is this was

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Speaker 1: kind of expected by all of us and and well

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Speaker 1: deserved honor for for showdow Managa.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a good way to put it, Saday. This

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Speaker 3: was not some sort of participation trophy or you know

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Speaker 3: in every team gets an All Star designation, like this

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Speaker 3: guy went out and absolutely earned it. Craig Council announced

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Speaker 3: it before Sunday's game in a meeting in the Wrigley Clubhouse,

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Speaker 3: and you know what it's like in there, like these

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Speaker 3: guys genuinely like Shoda, and they've been just kind of

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Speaker 3: blown away really since that press conference at the Loews

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Speaker 3: Hotel leading into Cups convention when he did the you know, hey, Chicago,

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Speaker 3: what do you say in English? And that was something

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Speaker 3: that he practiced in the hotel and that and then

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Speaker 3: his camp had kind of brainstormed and gone over even

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Speaker 3: the was a Chelsea dagger at the Blackhawks goal song

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Speaker 3: that's his walkout music. Like there's been all these like

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Speaker 3: little things that he's done. Our friend Jordan Bastionion eventwi

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Speaker 3: dot Com mentioned how all those relievers were throwing footballs

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Speaker 3: in spring training and so Shoda like went out to

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Speaker 3: target and bought one so he could kind of like

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Speaker 3: join it. Just stuff like that really resonates, Like when

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Speaker 3: you're kind of in this bunker for one hundred and

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Speaker 3: sixty two game season and then you're traveling with everyone,

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Speaker 3: You're around each other on whites, bus rides, meals, brain delays,

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Speaker 3: like all that stuff. It's a staggering amount of time.

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Speaker 3: And I think that was probably what resonated for me

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Speaker 3: of just like how much his teammates were happy for him,

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Speaker 3: and also just asking, you know, Craig Counsel about some

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Speaker 3: of the intentionality in which showed to went about this,

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Speaker 3: and Council said something like, well, he's had all these

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Speaker 3: little things. He kind of started to snicker or like chuckle,

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Speaker 3: and then he wouldn't say what he was thinking of

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Speaker 3: when he's like, oh, it's not a good story for this,

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Speaker 3: you know, forum just little things. But from there he said,

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Speaker 3: which I thought was well put of this guy. Just

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Speaker 3: a joy to watch. That council feels like, you know,

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Speaker 3: this game is hard, it's intense, and that you kind

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Speaker 3: of feel like you have to have this game face

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Speaker 3: on all the time. And that council said he was

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Speaker 3: a little bit jealous watching how showed is able to

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Speaker 3: just enjoy the moment and express his emotions and you know,

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Speaker 3: just be that same guy every day.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm just kind of looking at his game log

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Speaker 1: here and yeah, they're they're what like two outings that

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Speaker 1: you'd say, like, yeah, that's that's not very good. But

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Speaker 1: outside of that, like he's just i mean, he racks

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Speaker 1: up the strikeouts, he doesn't walk guys. Those you know,

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Speaker 1: for me, those are two of the most important things

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Speaker 1: you can do. But I think it is beyond the performance,

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Speaker 1: like him him embracing the city showing I mean, we'll

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Speaker 1: talk a little bit about fire and passion in a

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Speaker 1: moment kind of channeled in the wrong ways, but but

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Speaker 1: you know, he's he's one of those guys that gets

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Speaker 1: pumped up on the field and that's easy to love,

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Speaker 1: right There's a reason those guys in the bleachers are

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Speaker 1: painting their chest, which showeda like when a guy like

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Speaker 1: there's a really like people love Justin Steele because he

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Speaker 1: gets fired up in big moments too, like that these guys,

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Speaker 1: these type of types of competitors are easy for fans

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Speaker 1: to embrace, and then you go out there and perform

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Speaker 1: and back it up and it's like, yeah, this is

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Speaker 1: this is a guy we rally around and you know,

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Speaker 1: we'll see where the rest of the season takes him.

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Speaker 1: I'm I'm really interested to watch how he does against Baltimore.

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Speaker 1: That's a stacked lineup. It's a really difficult lineup. He

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Speaker 1: did well against the Phillies. No Bryce Harper, no Kyle Schwarber,

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Speaker 1: no JK. Real Muto. So you know, I'm not I mean,

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Speaker 1: he's done it. He's done it against great lineups already.

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Speaker 1: He's faced very good lineups and performed well. So I'm

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Speaker 1: not taking anything away from him. I'm just saying, like

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Speaker 1: we're getting to kind of like a point in the

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Speaker 1: season where where it's like, what is this.

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Speaker 2: You know, what direction is it going?

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Speaker 1: I think we kind of know, but like we're we've

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Speaker 1: entered this week where it's like, Okay, how good or

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Speaker 1: how bad does it get? Or can they make it

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Speaker 1: a little more interesting for jed before the All Star

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Speaker 1: break and showed us. I don't think they announced the

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Speaker 1: starters yet for Baltimore, but he's going to be one

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Speaker 1: of those first few games, right.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, they were still working it through. I think, you know,

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Speaker 3: he could start in theory Tuesday in Baltimore and then

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Speaker 3: try to bring him back Sunday in Saint Louis. However,

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Speaker 3: that would kind of they haven't really pushed him right

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Speaker 3: in that way. I mean, obviously, I mean, he's carried

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Speaker 3: a huge workload by today's standards and has answered the bell,

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Speaker 3: but they've really tried to conserve his energy and keep

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Speaker 3: the long run in mind. So like it would be

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Speaker 3: I think hard to break from that when you can

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Speaker 3: see a real nice long All Star break coming after that. Obviously,

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Speaker 3: if he pitches in Saint Louis and he's not gonna

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Speaker 3: pitch in the All Star Game. But I mean it's

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Speaker 3: gonna be a difficult stretch, Like you said, an awesome

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Speaker 3: Orioles team at Camden Yards and then that four games

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Speaker 3: in three days at Bush Stadium, including a Saturday double header,

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Speaker 3: Like it's gonna be kind of all hands on deck.

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Speaker 2: Right, and they're short pitching.

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Speaker 1: I mean Kyle Hendricks left with an injury on Saturday.

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Speaker 2: He sounded like he was gonna pitch this week. We'll see,

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Speaker 2: We'll see what happens.

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Speaker 1: The players are always more optimistic than than reality dictates.

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Speaker 1: But we'll see what that is. I mean, I don't know,

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Speaker 1: Like they can make it interesting with how they play

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Speaker 1: in Saint Louis. I think that's that's the most important thing.

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Speaker 1: If they can be decent against Baltimore, they can make

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Speaker 1: things interesting before the break if they if they make some.

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Speaker 2: Noise in Saint Louis.

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Speaker 1: Otherwise, you know, you split that series where we're in

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Speaker 1: the same place. We're not talking much about this and

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Speaker 1: we're just, you know, continue to discuss who they sell

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Speaker 1: and how they sell.

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Speaker 2: Uh.

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Speaker 1: Saturday though, was an interesting one. Patrick Hendrix didn't really

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Speaker 1: have it. His back was locked up, and Colton Brewer

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Speaker 1: came in in the third. It was a close game

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Speaker 1: at that point. I want to say it was too

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Speaker 1: nothing at that point. Obviously the Cobs offense did nothing

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Speaker 1: that on Saturday, but who knows what happens if it's

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Speaker 1: a close game. Coltin Brewer made sure it wasn't. He

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Speaker 1: threw away a double playball only got two outs in

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Speaker 1: that third inning before exiting. I think it was three

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Speaker 1: runs allowed in that in that inning, h only one earned,

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Speaker 1: but that that that that error was costly. He comes

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Speaker 1: in to the dugout, punches the wall smartly with his

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Speaker 1: left hand. He's not you know, if you want to

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Speaker 1: give him break for something, he didn't punch it with

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Speaker 1: his pitching hand.

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Speaker 2: And it turns out he broke his hand. The Cubs

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Speaker 2: call up Hunter.

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Speaker 1: Biggie because of this, and he's he's he's a name

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Speaker 1: that I know. The prospect towns are are very excited

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Speaker 1: to see. And I talked to some people that have

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Speaker 1: been with the ORG that were a part of drafting him,

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Speaker 1: and and they were they were excited to see that

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Speaker 1: he's getting his chance because he was. He's a nice

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Speaker 1: he's a nice draft in development story for them. But

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Speaker 1: I think the story was Colton Brewer breaking his hand

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Speaker 1: punching the wall. Fans want to see passion. They want

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Speaker 1: to see guys upset about losing. I don't think that's

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Speaker 1: the way they want to see it happen.

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Speaker 3: Yes, a wise man told me that the Wall always wins.

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Speaker 3: You know, the Wall is undefeated in these temper tantrums,

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Speaker 3: and you know, you had kind of gotten a tip

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Speaker 3: earlier that this. You know, I think when people saw

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Speaker 3: Biggie coming up, you think, oh, like, is Kyle Hendricks

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Speaker 3: going on the al That's not what it was. And

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Speaker 3: I do give Brewer credit, Like when the clubhouse opened

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Speaker 3: to the media right around ten am Sunday morning. I mean,

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Speaker 3: Brewer was right at his locker. He knew what was coming.

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Speaker 3: He had a very calm, quiet voice, and he was remorseful,

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Speaker 3: and you know, I think it was a little bit

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Speaker 3: of a not a struggle. But as I was writing it,

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Speaker 3: I was kind of going back and forth of like,

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Speaker 3: you know, I obviously alluded to a cubby occurrence like that,

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Speaker 3: like weird stuff happens around this team, particularly these frustrating seasons,

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Speaker 3: But I don't know, you also kind of no field

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Speaker 3: for a guy who's thirty one years old and has

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Speaker 3: been just grinding for a really long time. And the

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Speaker 3: opportunity cost of being put on the sixty day I

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Speaker 3: l not eligible to come off until early September, and

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Speaker 3: at that point, who knows, I mean, there'll be more

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Speaker 3: injuries and who knows where the Cubs will be. But

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Speaker 3: it's just you know, a really unfortunate thing that dugout

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Speaker 3: wall there. It looks sort of like it's padded, it's

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Speaker 3: got like that green kind of like shine to it.

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Speaker 3: Most definitely is not. And you know, counsel was used

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Speaker 3: the word, you know, empathetic or to have empathy for

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Speaker 3: player in that position, Like I think the he's kind

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Speaker 3: of already been punished enough, right like or can you

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Speaker 3: say like in the manager's office, it's like you're shut

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Speaker 3: down for two months at least, you know, you're he

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Speaker 3: was wearing a big kind of cast or brace type thing.

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Speaker 3: He's seeing a hand specialist on Tuesday, gonna do some

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Speaker 3: more imaging, get a I think he said it was

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Speaker 3: sort of like a clean break and he's hoping they

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Speaker 3: could just kind of, you know, reset it in place.

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Speaker 3: But you know, who knows, and to kind of have

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Speaker 3: to where that to be to be that national headline

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Speaker 3: and to just you know, not that he was pitching great,

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Speaker 3: but this was a year for a lot of guys,

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Speaker 3: whether it's Hunter Biggie or Porter Hodge. Like there's opportunities here,

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Speaker 3: you know, I mean Tyson Miller. That's wrong with that opportunity.

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Speaker 3: Pitchers like Mark Later Junior have kind of revived or

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Speaker 3: you know, rebuilt their careers here and to have to

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Speaker 3: kind of face the music and let your team down

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Speaker 3: and kind of be be that headline for a day. Uh,

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Speaker 3: it's pretty rough.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. No, absolutely feel for the guy.

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Speaker 1: Not a bad guy made, you know, a dumb decision

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Speaker 1: that I think he agrees that it was stupid.

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Speaker 2: Uh.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, sometimes you do stupid things when in

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Speaker 1: you know, in the moment, when when things.

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Speaker 2: Are getting hectic and you feel like you let your.

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Speaker 1: Team down and and and you overreact, and you know,

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Speaker 1: I don't think, I don't think we need to bury

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Speaker 1: the guy you're I think, yeah, I think you nailed

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Speaker 1: it with what you said there.

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Speaker 2: Like he's thirty.

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Speaker 1: One, he's been grinding, he hasn't really like taken advantage

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Speaker 1: of an opportunity. And and there's always that chance that

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Speaker 1: a reliever something clicks, doesn't matter what your age is. Like,

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Speaker 1: I know, people people listening that just have seen his

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Speaker 1: performances are like, what are they talking about? Think about

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Speaker 1: all the guys that you've watched over the years with

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Speaker 1: the Cubs or in baseball in general, especially relievers that

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Speaker 1: click all of a sudden and have one great year.

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Speaker 1: All you need is just one great year. Maybe you'll

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Speaker 1: get paid or maybe that's all you need to just

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Speaker 1: feel satisfied and like you accomplish something right, like you

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Speaker 1: had that one great year as a reliever. You know,

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Speaker 1: there were so many fans ready like that wanted McGill,

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Speaker 1: Trevor McGill out of the out of town right, and

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Speaker 1: and they got their wish. And now he's he's a

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Speaker 1: very good closer for the for the Brewers. So like

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Speaker 1: relievers are weird. You never know when a guy's gonna

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Speaker 1: break out. Lighter is a perfect example of that. Random

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Speaker 1: things happen. It's not like he didn't have stuff, It

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Speaker 1: just he wasn't executing as well.

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Speaker 2: Uh.

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Speaker 1: I feel bad for the dude, But it's also like

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Speaker 1: what you just said there is absolutely right, Like he

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Speaker 1: unfortunately he ended up like this this headline and like

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Speaker 1: it's it's kind of an embarrassing situation. It kind of

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Speaker 1: sums up like the situation that Cubs are in, uh

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Speaker 1: this year. They I think that game, I think that

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Speaker 1: Saturday game is a good example of what's going on

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Speaker 1: with the Cubs. You know that they're not the offense

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Speaker 1: is just m I a far too often, the defensive

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Speaker 1: miscues happening far too often, and and just like unexplainable

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Speaker 1: losses to bad teams are happening far too often.

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Speaker 2: And you know you wanted to get back in this race.

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Speaker 2: You had to sweep the angels.

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Speaker 1: You have to feel good about going into a very

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Speaker 1: tough stretch here and now now, I mean, we just

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Speaker 1: brought it up the seven games in six days, is

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Speaker 1: that right? Starting Tuesday? I don't know what. I don't

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Speaker 1: know how this is going to go. I don't like,

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Speaker 1: I don't think anyone feels well, yeah, I don't think

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Speaker 1: anybody feels positive out the situation.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, two or three games? Yeah? One? Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I don't know if I mean, what do they need

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Speaker 2: to win?

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Speaker 1: They need to win five right for you to feel like, okay,

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Speaker 1: they're they're not selling or sorry, not that we can

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Speaker 1: push the talk off for a little bit.

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Speaker 3: Against you to forty seven and fifty one? I think

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Speaker 3: is that what you said?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? And with the way the wildcard is, I mean,

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Speaker 2: that's that's in it.

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Speaker 3: Like, you know, I could get you within maybe three

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Speaker 3: of a wildcard spot and then you're start three hundred

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Speaker 3: now and three and a half out right it's a

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Speaker 3: it's a ridiculous situation that we have to even talk

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Speaker 3: about a team this far under five hundred still in it.

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Speaker 2: But that's that's kind of what the wildcard.

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Speaker 1: Does, and and that you know, I was I was

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Speaker 1: having this discussion with another reporter of like, I think

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Speaker 1: that third wildcard spot kind of skews like we haven't

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Speaker 1: fully accounted for it when we look at playoff odds,

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Speaker 1: like I'm assuming the Cubs around like five to seven

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Speaker 1: percent right now, and and I think that third wildcard

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Speaker 1: spot when you consider how like how mediocre those teams

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Speaker 1: are at that third spot, like, I think it's a

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Speaker 1: little higher. It just my like it says six point

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Speaker 1: six percent according to Fangrabs, I would say it's a

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Speaker 1: little higher than that. I don't know what I'm not

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Speaker 1: you know, I'm not saying significantly higher. I'm just saying

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Speaker 1: because it's so mediocre at the bottom of that wildcard race,

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Speaker 1: you have to just say, like, Okay, there's still a

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Speaker 1: chance here ultimately that they need to play better. And

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Speaker 1: this is not they they put themselves in this hole.

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Speaker 1: They've put themselves they they won two out of three

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Speaker 1: and it doesn't even feel like.

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Speaker 2: That that positive of a step.

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Speaker 1: You know, they finally win a series, what is it

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Speaker 1: their third series win in the past two months.

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Speaker 2: Something like that. It's in that yeah, I mean it's.

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Speaker 3: You know, they avoid the sweep on the fourth of

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Speaker 3: July and then Justin steels awesome throws the first complete

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Speaker 3: game of his career. But it's one of those is

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Speaker 3: like at that point there were like seven eight under

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Speaker 3: like it's just like hard to generate any sort of

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Speaker 3: like realistic sensive like, hey, maybe this could be it

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Speaker 3: when there's been so much evidence on the other side

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Speaker 3: of this, And to me, yeah, Saturday's game was the

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Speaker 3: one you got to win to be like, okay, you

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Speaker 3: have a chance to sweep, you get like winning. A

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Speaker 3: counsel says that we have to win series, winning two

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Speaker 3: out of three, and yeah, that can get them to

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Speaker 3: a good place. But like in this condensed time here, uh,

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Speaker 3: do you just feel Bertill against you know, a bad team,

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Speaker 3: a team that you know is sort of looking for

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Speaker 3: the exits?

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Speaker 2: Right?

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Speaker 3: I mean this is not exactly playing like you know,

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Speaker 3: a locked in hyper focused World Series contender, and so

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Speaker 3: you know, to win two out of three, I don't

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Speaker 3: think it does that much for you. I don't know,

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Speaker 3: if you have a good week coming up here, maybe

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Speaker 3: that helps. I think ultimately, it's more just kind of

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Speaker 3: the gravity of their roster that's gonna keep it mostly intact.

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Speaker 3: Like this is a whole other episode that I'm sure

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Speaker 3: will get into later. I'm just not sure like how

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Speaker 3: many pieces can be moved, and even if you do

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Speaker 3: move them, like how much are you gonna miss them?

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Speaker 3: You know what I mean? Like stuff like that, you

333
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Speaker 3: can kind of like see a path to where the

334
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Speaker 3: Cubs are playing like meaningful games in September, But it's

335
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Speaker 3: not a particularly like rosy outlook when you say that,

336
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Speaker 3: and you know, Hayen Wizneski said, you know, I think

337
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Speaker 3: we're gonna go on around here. And it's credible when

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Speaker 3: you get great starting pitching, which the Cubs have gotten

339
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Speaker 3: for the most part, and the rest of the National

340
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Speaker 3: League is just so watered down. But I mean that's

341
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Speaker 3: not really affirming the Cubs as much as, like, you know,

342
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Speaker 3: they've hung around this long. Maybe they can stick around

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Speaker 3: for a couple more months.

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Speaker 1: I don't know, Yeah, I think that's honestly, I was

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Speaker 1: thinking the same thing of like we're gonna be talking

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Speaker 1: about the trade deadline and how they handle that. Right,

347
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Speaker 1: this is going to be what we talk about for

348
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Speaker 1: the next three weeks or so, Right, It's just that

349
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Speaker 1: is the topic. I don't I don't think they're going

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Speaker 1: to do anything that makes me say, well that now

351
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Speaker 1: they have no chance right now that now this is

352
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Speaker 1: like completely gutted.

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Speaker 2: They're not going to do that. They don't like. I

354
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Speaker 2: just like, that's just there's not that move there.

355
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Speaker 1: I mean, we can talk about we've talked about some

356
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Speaker 1: out of the box ideas. I don't know if that's

357
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Speaker 1: going to happen unless they're kind of bowled over. Uh So,

358
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Speaker 1: so when you start talking about like what the team

359
00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:53,399
Speaker 1: is going to look like, they can still it's gonna

360
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Speaker 1: be a similar team. Maybe it's better because you're you're

361
00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:00,440
Speaker 1: pushing some younger guys and they give you some sort

362
00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:08,639
Speaker 1: of positive performance and positive momentum. But I like, I

363
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Speaker 1: don't like. I'm looking at the post All Star break

364
00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:13,680
Speaker 1: schedule just to see like it doesn't get any easier.

365
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Speaker 1: And yeah, I mean they have a chance to make

366
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Speaker 1: some moves, I guess, and pass some teams up. That

367
00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:23,040
Speaker 1: that's it's the same thing as Saint Louis like teams

368
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Speaker 1: that are ahead of them, like Arizona and Cincinnati and

369
00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:29,720
Speaker 1: Saint Louis again like to start August. But Kansas City's

370
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Speaker 1: a solid team. Milwaukee just gives this team fits. I

371
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Speaker 1: don't Yeah, I don't really see a path because they

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Speaker 1: missed their path right like they missed it. They screwed

373
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Speaker 1: it up in June, and and the path is you

374
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Speaker 1: better get really hot, and I like my like my positivity.

375
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Speaker 1: I struggle to find positivity there because yeah, games like

376
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Speaker 1: Saturday just reinforce the idea like Nope, they're not gonna

377
00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:03,359
Speaker 1: do it. They just don't have that second gear right now.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I guess the one kind of theoretical thing I

379
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Speaker 3: would say is like, I don't know if you think

380
00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:15,840
Speaker 3: says Porter Hodge like a dude, and is he like

381
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Speaker 3: an upgrade over Mark Lighter in the seventh or eighth inning,

382
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Speaker 3: I don't know. I don't know. I do think they'll

383
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Speaker 3: get Lighter back this week. Javier Asad is another name

384
00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:35,080
Speaker 3: that is in play to be activated this week, so

385
00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:38,679
Speaker 3: you get just a little bit of a refresh with

386
00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:43,520
Speaker 3: the pitching staff. And then there is this cluster of

387
00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:47,760
Speaker 3: pitchers who are all supposed to be activated kind of

388
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Speaker 3: between the end of the All Star break and the

389
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Speaker 3: trade deadline. And so I'm probably gonna forget a couple guys,

390
00:22:58,359 --> 00:23:03,600
Speaker 3: but correct me if I'm wrong. We've got like Julian Merriweather, Yes,

391
00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:11,919
Speaker 3: Jordan Wicks, Ben Brown later in July, but still July,

392
00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:17,600
Speaker 3: Caleb Caleb Killian, like if he's all of a sudden

393
00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:21,000
Speaker 3: throwing like a hundred, Now, I I wouldn't like print

394
00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:28,639
Speaker 3: playoff tickets off of that, but like they have some

395
00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:34,919
Speaker 3: pitching pieces to kind of try, and and I do

396
00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:37,919
Speaker 3: go back to something like Counsel has emphasized over the

397
00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:40,960
Speaker 3: course of his time here of like just because someone

398
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:44,119
Speaker 3: is a quote unquote veteran player doesn't mean he is

399
00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:47,000
Speaker 3: better than a younger or an experienced player. And so

400
00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,920
Speaker 3: that is putting a lot of faith the player development

401
00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:56,199
Speaker 3: system and a scouting infrastructure that has been okay but

402
00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:59,119
Speaker 3: not good enough. I mean, obviously Michael Bush looks like

403
00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:03,840
Speaker 3: a keeper showed it monagas an All Star. The farm

404
00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:08,119
Speaker 3: system is vastly improved, but like, I don't know if

405
00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:14,040
Speaker 3: there's some sort of like star there, right, And I

406
00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:16,040
Speaker 3: don't know, maybe it's just kind of rearranging the deck

407
00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:20,720
Speaker 3: chairs or whatever the phrase is. But like, I don't

408
00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:25,640
Speaker 3: see like that bottom falling out the way it did

409
00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:27,600
Speaker 3: in twenty one when they traded all those guys and

410
00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:29,840
Speaker 3: then I think they had like a twelve game losing streak.

411
00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,119
Speaker 3: We may look back on this as like, yeah, the

412
00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:37,400
Speaker 3: bottom fell out, you know, in June, and that's when

413
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:41,400
Speaker 3: their season was over. But I think with the way

414
00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:45,320
Speaker 3: this front office is set up in terms of the

415
00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:49,639
Speaker 3: pressure points on them, I think what Council's philosophy is

416
00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:52,119
Speaker 3: and what he's like good at day to day, I

417
00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:56,960
Speaker 3: think all those things meshed to like, I don't know,

418
00:24:57,160 --> 00:24:59,440
Speaker 3: it still sounds absurd though, right because it's like maybe

419
00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:01,920
Speaker 3: the only like four games under five hundred on Labor

420
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:04,479
Speaker 3: Day and like only games out of a playoffs. I

421
00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:08,400
Speaker 3: mean it's like this, this is silly, but it's kind

422
00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:11,800
Speaker 3: of the reality of a team where you know, guys

423
00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:13,680
Speaker 3: are punching the walls and breaking their hand.

424
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it's I look at these standings and

425
00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:21,760
Speaker 1: I'm just like perplexed, Like there's no there's nothing here

426
00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:25,199
Speaker 1: that stands out and a run from the Cubs just

427
00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:27,680
Speaker 1: can't be ruled out, And like I just said I

428
00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:31,159
Speaker 1: my Ultimately, I I'm going off what I'm watching on

429
00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:33,280
Speaker 1: the field, and they have not shown me enough for

430
00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:36,640
Speaker 1: me to feel positive out a run coming. I will

431
00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:40,960
Speaker 1: say this, if they get if they find a way

432
00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:44,600
Speaker 1: to add something, they're not going to add a rental there,

433
00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:48,600
Speaker 1: you know, unless they win, you know, the next ten games,

434
00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:53,040
Speaker 1: they're not adding a rental. If they if they find

435
00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:57,920
Speaker 1: a move to add an offensive piece that's available beyond

436
00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:01,240
Speaker 1: this season, I will be more interested in the second

437
00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:05,159
Speaker 1: half of the season because what you've done is you

438
00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:07,840
Speaker 1: laid out all the all the stuff how they can

439
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:11,240
Speaker 1: reinforce that bullpen, right, Porter, Hodge, Hunter, Biggie are the

440
00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:14,359
Speaker 1: what if they're dudes? What if they're really good relievers

441
00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:18,160
Speaker 1: and whatever else? You have all these reinforcements coming. Maybe

442
00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:19,960
Speaker 1: some of them get traded, some of them are kept,

443
00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:22,960
Speaker 1: but you have enough depth now where you suddenly feel like, Okay,

444
00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:26,720
Speaker 1: we have starters and relievers. Is there a way to

445
00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:30,080
Speaker 1: get a bat beyond twenty twenty four. I don't really

446
00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:33,399
Speaker 1: see that happening, don't. I don't believe it will happen.

447
00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:37,080
Speaker 1: But if they somehow find that opportunity, then suddenly you're

448
00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:40,439
Speaker 1: interested because you've given like the whole thing. The reason

449
00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:43,679
Speaker 1: you feel like they have no shot is because it's

450
00:26:44,119 --> 00:26:47,840
Speaker 1: it's until July thirtieth, right, Like, they don't have until

451
00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:49,320
Speaker 1: September thirtieth.

452
00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:50,920
Speaker 2: They have until July thirtieth.

453
00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:54,000
Speaker 1: But if they don't dismantle this team or don't take

454
00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:58,720
Speaker 1: away really key pieces and somehow they add something, then

455
00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:01,480
Speaker 1: you're like, ah, okay, okay, there's a way to stay

456
00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:04,760
Speaker 1: in this race. And again it's because everyone else is

457
00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:07,639
Speaker 1: so bad. Like I none of these teams are intimidating,

458
00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:11,280
Speaker 1: even the Cardinals, who are now five fish games over

459
00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:15,120
Speaker 1: five hundred. They're in the second wildcard spot, but they're

460
00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:18,480
Speaker 1: minus thirty nine run differential. They're doing it with smoke,

461
00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:21,480
Speaker 1: smoking mirrors like they're they're going to I mean, maybe

462
00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:23,879
Speaker 1: maybe they're about to get red hot and really like

463
00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:27,560
Speaker 1: start beating the opposition. I haven't paid attention to their

464
00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:29,080
Speaker 1: schedule enough, but I know they're not.

465
00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:29,600
Speaker 2: They're not.

466
00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:34,560
Speaker 1: They don't have the toughest schedule upcoming. But I mean

467
00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:38,520
Speaker 1: there's just that's not that's not an intimidating group, certainly

468
00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:41,560
Speaker 1: not on the pitching side. Those things can change at

469
00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:42,520
Speaker 1: the deadline as well.

470
00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:47,040
Speaker 4: Amoncrats here from FT. I'm a former athlete that really

471
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472
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Speaker 1: This is just my that's I think that's the way

492
00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:51,400
Speaker 1: to be optimistic about things if they find that otherwise

493
00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:54,160
Speaker 1: it's going to be a similar team, right, Like, they're

494
00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:56,080
Speaker 1: not going to dismantle the team. They're not going to

495
00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:59,080
Speaker 1: go crazy at the deadline either way. That there are

496
00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:02,920
Speaker 1: ways to reshape the team. I think most of that

497
00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:09,120
Speaker 1: happens in the offseason. But I'm I'm not going to

498
00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:12,160
Speaker 1: assume that they just kind of stand still here at

499
00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:15,680
Speaker 1: the deadline, just because I think they do feel the

500
00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:18,800
Speaker 1: pressure and they understand that twenty five is very important

501
00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:24,000
Speaker 1: for like everyone, it's it's essential that they take a

502
00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:27,240
Speaker 1: step forward in twenty five. So maybe they start looking

503
00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:31,000
Speaker 1: for that, looking for ways to do that in the

504
00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:32,720
Speaker 1: next three weeks.

505
00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:33,400
Speaker 2: Yeah.

506
00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:35,680
Speaker 3: I mean, it's never a good sign for your team

507
00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:40,000
Speaker 3: when the discussion is like about twenty twenty five in

508
00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:43,520
Speaker 3: July twenty twenty four. But I have been toying with

509
00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:46,360
Speaker 3: the idea of a story like kind of concept or headline.

510
00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:48,239
Speaker 3: I don't know if they still make these books, but

511
00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:52,200
Speaker 3: like the Idiot's Guide to like the Cubs Playoff Chances,

512
00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:57,040
Speaker 3: or you know, watching twenty twenty four Cubs Baseball for

513
00:29:57,120 --> 00:30:00,640
Speaker 3: Dummies or something like that, of like conjuring these scenarios

514
00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:05,800
Speaker 3: of maybe it's not quite that bad or maybe like

515
00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:10,240
Speaker 3: a couple of things happened to where they're within striking

516
00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:17,760
Speaker 3: distance of five hundred. Again, it's pretty weak considering this

517
00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:22,240
Speaker 3: is a multi billion dollar, big market franchise in which

518
00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:27,360
Speaker 3: the players all expected to make the playoffs, Considering this

519
00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,840
Speaker 3: team fell one win short of making the playoffs last year,

520
00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:34,600
Speaker 3: Considering the manager as the highest paid manager in the game,

521
00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:40,400
Speaker 3: and the front office is in what year four of

522
00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:44,920
Speaker 3: an overhaul that really began more like in twenty nineteen

523
00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:49,520
Speaker 3: in terms of the stuff they had done and player development, scouting,

524
00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:56,080
Speaker 3: sports sciences, technology, R and D, all that stuff. So yeah,

525
00:30:56,120 --> 00:30:57,760
Speaker 3: I don't know, man, I should probably wrap it up.

526
00:30:57,760 --> 00:30:59,640
Speaker 3: I feel like I'm talking in circles a little bit,

527
00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:03,520
Speaker 3: like where all of a sudden, we're gonna like start,

528
00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:08,000
Speaker 3: you know, booking potential Marriott's like in Philadelphia, like for

529
00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:08,520
Speaker 3: the while.

530
00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:11,840
Speaker 2: Just in case, you know, you never know, you know.

531
00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:16,320
Speaker 3: So I'm not gonna be booking you know, potential hotels

532
00:31:17,320 --> 00:31:20,520
Speaker 3: in October. But I'm also not going to write off

533
00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:23,040
Speaker 3: the season before I fly to Baltimore this week.

534
00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:26,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, you'll be in Baltimore. Were cover We're still

535
00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:27,280
Speaker 2: covering this team.

536
00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:31,000
Speaker 1: We we have an abandoned chip uh, But I I

537
00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:33,520
Speaker 1: will say it does feel forced to try and find

538
00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:38,120
Speaker 1: the that that scenario of of them making that playoff

539
00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:42,000
Speaker 1: push it just I'm not enthusiastic when I make these arguments.

540
00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:42,880
Speaker 2: I'm just trying to.

541
00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:46,400
Speaker 1: I'm I'm keeping an open mind because I've washed enough

542
00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:49,240
Speaker 1: baseball that weird things happen. I will say this one

543
00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:51,880
Speaker 1: positive thing, like if you're if you're the type of

544
00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:54,480
Speaker 1: person that's looking at this and saying this is a

545
00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:58,480
Speaker 1: disaster and and that that they're not close, I disagree

546
00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:02,640
Speaker 1: with that. I do believe there are ways to quickly

547
00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:05,440
Speaker 1: make this a contender for twenty twenty five. That's on

548
00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:07,680
Speaker 1: Jed Carter and the rest of the front office to

549
00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:10,440
Speaker 1: get to make the right moves right And Jed says

550
00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:10,920
Speaker 1: it all the time.

551
00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:11,840
Speaker 2: You just have to be right.

552
00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:14,400
Speaker 1: He's got to be right like otherwise it's it's likely

553
00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:16,320
Speaker 1: going to meet his job if twenty twenty five is

554
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:20,400
Speaker 1: anywhere similar to this, because I can't imagine, uh, he

555
00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:23,960
Speaker 1: gets that long of a leash to keep going. But

556
00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:27,160
Speaker 1: that's that's a discussion for another time. I'm very curious

557
00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:30,160
Speaker 1: to see how these next three weeks unfold, particularly at

558
00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:33,760
Speaker 1: the Trade deadline. I think that's going to be really

559
00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:36,920
Speaker 1: telling in a lot of different ways. But you know,

560
00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:39,600
Speaker 1: we'll we'll, we'll have to see how how things go.

561
00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:40,880
Speaker 2: It's a it's.

562
00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:44,200
Speaker 1: A big week before the All Star Break. We'll be

563
00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:47,520
Speaker 1: covering it. You'll be in Baltimore, I'll be in Saint Louis.

564
00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:52,320
Speaker 1: We'll be doing podcasts throughout the week and and continue

565
00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:54,960
Speaker 1: on through the All Star Break. Thank you so much

566
00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:58,400
Speaker 1: for listening. This is north Side Territory. Make sure to rate, review,

567
00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:02,640
Speaker 1: subscribe to the podcast and all the different platforms. Please

568
00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:05,920
Speaker 1: read our work and subscribe to The Athletic. We're covering

569
00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:09,520
Speaker 1: the cubs for you. Go finding storylines to write about

570
00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:14,760
Speaker 1: and hopefully no more broken hands or punched walls. You know,

571
00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:18,840
Speaker 1: we'll we'll continue to cover everything cubs for you. Thanks

572
00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:20,760
Speaker 1: so much for listening. Thanks to all the people that

573
00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:23,240
Speaker 1: put in all the work to put this podcast together

574
00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:23,960
Speaker 1: behind the scenes.

575
00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:28,200
Speaker 2: We appreciate it. Thanks everyone, Thanks for listening. Take care,