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Speaker 1: I just don't see how they could have just kept

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Speaker 1: going down this path, and I think it very much

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Speaker 1: changed the conversation.

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Speaker 2: In an instant.

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Speaker 3: Welcome into Northside Territory Foul Territory Networks Cubs podcast, I'm

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Speaker 3: Sahadev Sharma with Patrick Mooney, where your Cubs beat writers

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Speaker 3: at the Athletic Patrick, we thought the Cubs were sellers,

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Speaker 3: and here they are their first two moves. Jed Jed

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Speaker 3: told us Craig Council warned us, don't make you black

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Speaker 3: and white, and there I wouldn't say they're they're done

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Speaker 3: and and they're obvious buyers. I think it's important, like

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Speaker 3: this is a nuanced thing. But they're the first two

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Speaker 3: moves or buys. They They added Nate Pearson, a quality

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Speaker 3: reliever who has tremendous upside, and obviously the big move

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Speaker 3: on Sunday esak pretis from the Rays. The Cubs have

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Speaker 3: their third basement. Uh, there's there's a lot to dive

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Speaker 3: into here. I was shocked by the initial news, but

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Speaker 3: it's it makes a ton of sense and uh there's

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Speaker 3: there's some pluses, there's some minuses. But Christopher Morrel heads

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Speaker 3: to Tampa along with Hunter Biggie in another prospect Ty Johnson. Uh,

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Speaker 3: this is a this is a pretty big move. It's

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Speaker 3: a significant move, and it's and I think it improves

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Speaker 3: the team now and it it gets it checks something

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Speaker 3: off the box for the off season shopping list in

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Speaker 3: my opinion.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I was just kind of shocked that Christopher Morrel's

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Speaker 1: value had tanked so low that the Cubs. I thought

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Speaker 1: the Cubs are kind of be out on something like this,

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Speaker 1: and I I clearly had kind of this is my

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Speaker 1: bad take confessional.

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Speaker 2: I'd kind of rolled when Craig.

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Speaker 1: Counsel had said it would be a mistake, it would

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Speaker 1: be the easy story to write this or that, when

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Speaker 1: to be honest, the Cubs have not shown a whole

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Speaker 1: lot of crazy creativity in this realm, and they'd all

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Speaker 1: been very clearly defined buyers or sellers since THEO first

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Speaker 1: arrived in Chicago. But you know, there is a part

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Speaker 1: of me that is like buyer beware with the Rays, right, Like,

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Speaker 1: wouldn't be surprised, you know, And someone said, oh, who

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Speaker 1: cares like Chris Archer, you know what I mean, Like

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Speaker 1: you played with the Rays for Matt Garza. However, I

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Speaker 1: do think Paraise is a great fit. I mean you

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Speaker 1: and I covered him or covered the trade when he

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Speaker 1: was sent out in twenty seventeen, and I distinctly remember

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Speaker 1: Jamer was the big name, Jamer Kendelere at that point.

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Speaker 1: I remember someone from the Cubs saying kind of off handedly, like, man,

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Speaker 1: the Tigers had a good job, like they were and

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Speaker 1: you heard the same thing, like they were on parades.

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Speaker 1: It was a very like low level guy and was

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Speaker 1: not is not like a physical specimen, doesn't like, you know,

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Speaker 1: crush the ball. Just at that time, the perception was

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Speaker 1: he just seems to be in the right place at

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Speaker 1: the right time and makes the right play.

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Speaker 2: There's just kind of a subtle, subtleness to his game.

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Speaker 1: That has obviously carried him a long way and just

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Speaker 1: I mean just a total maybe not a one to eighty,

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Speaker 1: but just like a wow, like when don't we discussed

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Speaker 1: something like this, you know what I mean? Like how

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Speaker 1: many times have we talked about I think about an Sell,

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Speaker 1: the problems selling. To have something like this kind of

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Speaker 1: drop out of the sky seemingly is is kind of amazing.

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Speaker 3: What he has three more years of control after this season.

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Speaker 3: Christopher Morrell has four. He's four months older than Christopher Morrell.

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Speaker 3: H So you know that's a wash right there. He's

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Speaker 3: an obviously better defender right now. You know, I'm not

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Speaker 3: ruling out Christopher Morrell. Get like E's oparatus with suspect

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Speaker 3: defensively at third base, and he's brought himself to average

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Speaker 3: defender at their base. But you know, the Cubs want

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Speaker 3: to win in twenty twenty five. I think it, you know,

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Speaker 3: they'll I think they'll be in it the rest of

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Speaker 3: the way. I'm not going to When I say that,

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Speaker 3: I mean that. It's what I've said all along. The

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Speaker 3: NL is just so mediocre. I don't think anyone's really

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Speaker 3: pulling away just yet. So they're they're gonna be hovering

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Speaker 3: like they have been for the past month, which is

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Speaker 3: just kind of like they're there. But yeah, yeah, sure

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Speaker 3: we can do those those graphics with the bears in

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Speaker 3: the bottom right corner, right, But it's a it's one

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Speaker 3: of those moves where it's like, have they done this before?

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Speaker 3: Have they It's always it's always sell for pieces that

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Speaker 3: are far away or buy for immediate gratification. So I

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Speaker 3: do like the concept of that there's a there is

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Speaker 3: an in between and I think this is this is

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Speaker 3: a different side of this front office that that we

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Speaker 3: haven't seen that we didn't see when THEO was around.

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Speaker 3: It was a different time obviously, and they weren't They

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Speaker 3: never really had seasons like this. I think maybe we

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Speaker 3: would have seen it. There were seasons that I think

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Speaker 3: THEO would have liked to have seen them kind of

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Speaker 3: stall in July, so he could have made moves like this,

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Speaker 3: you know. I think I think he had that desire

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Speaker 3: at times to be creative, but the team just always

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Speaker 3: did enough to stay in it. And then that that

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Speaker 3: meant he was buying and and he and that because

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Speaker 3: they'd won a World Series, He's like, I gotta invest

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Speaker 3: in this team. I know what they can do in

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Speaker 3: October given the opportunity type thing. Right, So this is

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Speaker 3: just a we haven't seen something like this because they've

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Speaker 3: never really fully had the opportunity. So while I doubted

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Speaker 3: it would happen, I was on, I was, I was

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Speaker 3: fully with you.

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Speaker 2: I I agreed.

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Speaker 3: I was like, I just don't see them pulling something off.

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Speaker 3: I do understood what Jed was saying when he said

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Speaker 3: that last Monday about you know, looking for for help

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Speaker 3: for twenty twenty five and what council was talking about.

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Speaker 3: I just didn't think they'd be able to pull it off.

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Speaker 3: I will say, I am I agree with you that

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Speaker 3: I'm a little surprised that Morell had the value that

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Speaker 3: he did. But the Rays are the exact type of

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Speaker 3: team that will look at those expected SATs and say, like,

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Speaker 3: you know what we can get. We can get him

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Speaker 3: to be that player that he's supposed to be, you know,

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Speaker 3: quote unquote, Yeah, they they like that, they like they

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Speaker 3: like pictures with stuff and both these guys, to Ty

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Speaker 3: Johnson is a strikeout guy, hunter, biggie strikeout guy.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Like I understand what the Rays are looking at here.

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Speaker 3: I'm not sure if if this is going to bite

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Speaker 3: the Cubs in the end, and like I think it

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Speaker 3: buys them time. It'll it gives them a little flexibility

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Speaker 3: because Isak Pratis doesn't have to play third base. If

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Speaker 3: the Cubs want to get created in the winter, there

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Speaker 3: are different things they can do. We'll see what they

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Speaker 3: do over the next two days. I wouldn't be surprised

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Speaker 3: if there are Cell moves that upset fans in certain ways.

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Speaker 3: But this is an interesting move because it gives them

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Speaker 3: a lot of options, and he's under control for three

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Speaker 3: years at our prices, and if he produces like he has,

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Speaker 3: that's going to be a bargain. And it gives you

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Speaker 3: financial flexibility too, not to the extreme probably of the

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Speaker 3: jose Kintana, like how they justified jose Kintana allowed them

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Speaker 3: to add to the rotation and go get Darvish. Probably

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Speaker 3: not to that extreme as far as the discount, but

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Speaker 3: it's Arber's and he's not like a crazy price guy.

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Speaker 3: He's not going to make twenty five thirty million in

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Speaker 3: his final ar Beer, so it's going to be that

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Speaker 3: he's under control. It gives them financial flexibility and maybe

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Speaker 3: even some positional flexibility. We'll see what type of moves

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Speaker 3: they make at the debt before the deadline and then

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Speaker 3: in the winter. Yeah, I think it's a really interesting

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Speaker 3: move and I'm very curious to see how how they proceed.

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Speaker 2: No, I'm with you.

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Speaker 1: My thoughts were I went down an internet rabbit hole

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Speaker 1: the other day, which is a good idea, but part

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Speaker 1: of it was one of the mailback questions about you know,

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Speaker 1: a prospect pushing morel and I was like, well, it's

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Speaker 1: probably get more of someone like Alex Bregman. And do

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Speaker 1: you think THEO would feel very comfortable after not signing

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Speaker 1: Matt Chapman to go back to Scott Morris for an

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Speaker 1: Alex Bregman deal, Like as he's in his early thirties,

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Speaker 1: Like how many years is that going to take? You know,

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Speaker 1: does that start with a one? Does it start with

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Speaker 1: a two? Like what where is that going to go?

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Speaker 1: And that's not go Jed's not gonna be comfortable with that.

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Speaker 1: And you know, I do think Parade it's just fascinating

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Speaker 1: a year after trading for jam Or Candelario, right, And

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Speaker 1: you're right, THEO, THEO was getting itchy in twenty seventeen, Like,

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Speaker 1: I don't think he felt great about making that trade

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Speaker 1: for Vila and Wilson. There was a scenario which he

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Speaker 1: could have just kind of said screw it and traded

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Speaker 1: Wade Davis and Jake Arieta and tried to like clean

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Speaker 1: up that way, and understandably kind of had to honor

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Speaker 1: the World Series title defense, uh at that moment. And

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Speaker 1: so yeah, I could totally see a scenario in which

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Speaker 1: Morrell just has one like Monster season, right, I mean

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Speaker 1: over the next four years with the Rays, sure, or

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Speaker 1: he has like one great year next year and the

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Speaker 1: Rays immediately trade him.

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Speaker 2: I value like Hunter Biggie.

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Speaker 1: Maybe his arm blows out because he throws throws a hundred,

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Speaker 1: or maybe he does like slide in there and all

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Speaker 1: of a sudden is like closing games for Tampa. Like

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Speaker 1: They're gonna have lots of shots at this to make

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Speaker 1: this deal look bad for the Cubs. I just don't

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Speaker 1: see how they could have just kept going down this path.

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Speaker 1: And I think it very much changed the conversation in

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Speaker 1: an instant in a positive of direction. I mean within

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Speaker 1: your own clubhouse, people in the media be like, oh wow,

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Speaker 1: like Cubs can actually do stuff like this. And you know,

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Speaker 1: Christopher Morel I was big in that. I felt like

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Speaker 1: the Cubs had to find out what they had in him.

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Speaker 1: I think his talent, his energy, all of that stuff

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Speaker 1: is unique and should not be dismissed or taken for granted.

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Speaker 1: But like, this guy's had a lot of runway here.

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Speaker 1: I mean it's like three seasons with one hundred plus games,

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Speaker 1: and he doesn't have a position in his tenth season

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Speaker 1: in the organization.

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Speaker 2: And so while.

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Speaker 1: Good dude, a homegrown success story was a you know,

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Speaker 1: kind of a comple bunch of player on three bad

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Speaker 1: cups hereies. You know, it's not like he went to

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Speaker 1: the playoffs with the Cubs. It's not like he all

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Speaker 1: Star games with the Cubs. It was like, he's a

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Speaker 1: really interesting talent, a good dude who came up in

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Speaker 1: your organization. But certain point, like enough's enough, Like you

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Speaker 1: need to see production.

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Speaker 3: Right, Yeah, no, I mean, and listen, I still believe

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Speaker 3: those for like he should have better numbers. But the

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Speaker 3: last two months, the first two months ish, yes, he was.

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Speaker 3: He looked. He's a better player than what the number said.

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Speaker 3: The last month and a half or whatever. He is

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Speaker 3: what he is, he this is what he's been. And like, uh,

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Speaker 3: the contact hasn't been as good the advats. He's still

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Speaker 3: taking his walks and not striking out at a crazy rate,

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Speaker 3: but it just wasn't looking as good as it did

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Speaker 3: that first month or two. And and like you said,

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Speaker 3: you just have to I mean, eventually it's about results,

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Speaker 3: and Pratis gets him. I mean, we can. There's going

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Speaker 3: to be a lot of discussion about how he gets

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Speaker 3: all his home runs straight to the pull side, okay,

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Speaker 3: And I believe right down the line and Tropicana is

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Speaker 3: three fifteen. It's very easy if you're a pull, like

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Speaker 3: heavy pull, and he is. Go look at his at

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Speaker 3: his home run charts. But I mean, yes, Wrigley is

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Speaker 3: deep at the corner, but then it kind of juts

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Speaker 3: in and and the left field alley is shallow. It's

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Speaker 3: the shallowest in baseball, I believe. Uh. Now he's more

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Speaker 3: extreme pull and not straight up put ali. But there

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Speaker 3: are things that like it's really rudimentary to just go

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Speaker 3: look at stat gusts and say, like it says it's

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Speaker 3: nineteen home runs at Tropicana and eleven homers at Wrigley.

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Speaker 3: That doesn't include the wind and the wind like it's

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Speaker 3: the wind. I know people are gonna say, well, it

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Speaker 3: blows in a lot at wrily What happens at Wrigley

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Speaker 3: is it blows in from right. It kills lefties in

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Speaker 3: at Wrigley. Uh, there's a lot of crosswind at Wrigley.

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Speaker 3: And if you pull the ball hard. Uh, he doesn't

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Speaker 3: have crazy eggs of velocities. But if you pull the

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Speaker 3: ball in the air, you can get some cheapies to

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Speaker 3: to left field. Uh.

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Speaker 1: There's like, are you trying to push me on a

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Speaker 1: you know, global warmings impacts on regular field story, isn't

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Speaker 1: that what everyone wants to read. That's kind of then

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Speaker 1: like room in your house with all these charts. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: trying to figure it out again, figure it out, like

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Speaker 1: the it's always sunny in Philadelphia.

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Speaker 3: Uh, that that's a it's a project for another day.

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Speaker 3: But I do believe. I do believe there's like we

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Speaker 3: can't just like I've gotten kind of sick of like, well,

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Speaker 3: if you look at this chart, it's a it just

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Speaker 3: overlay Wrigley over his home runs. Like Wrigley is one

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Speaker 3: of the weirdest ballparks when it comes to wind, So

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Speaker 3: we just cannot do that. It doesn't work like that.

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Speaker 3: There's often a cross wind. There's it's often blowing out

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Speaker 3: straight to left like this is, let's see what happens.

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Speaker 3: I agree that it's a question mark. I want to

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Speaker 3: I want to understand it more and I want to

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Speaker 3: see it more.

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Speaker 2: Uh.

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Speaker 3: He is very pull extra. It's it's an extreme thing.

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Speaker 3: But this is something that like I asked counsel about

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Speaker 3: it after the game on Sunday and and he he

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Speaker 3: did not hesitate. He's like pulling the ball in the

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Speaker 3: air is a skill. It is something that it's very

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Speaker 3: hard to do, and it's something you want players to do.

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Speaker 3: If you can do that consistently, that's a good thing.

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Speaker 3: And and then I talked to a couple of players

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Speaker 3: about it, and and one was adamant that it's a

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Speaker 3: great thing to do that at Wrigley if you're right handed.

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Speaker 3: If you're a lefty, it's not the best thing in

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Speaker 3: the world. If you're righty, you're going to get extra

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Speaker 3: home runs if you can pull it the ball in

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Speaker 3: the air consistently. I just I just think looking at

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Speaker 3: those charts and straight up stat cast is is the

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Speaker 3: wrong way to do it. And guess what, uh, I

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Speaker 3: think the Cubs may know about those things. There's there's

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Speaker 3: a chance that they've that they've seen the stat cast data,

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Speaker 3: Like my guess is they have, they have maybe a

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Speaker 3: little more advanced analysis going on. I'd to hear their

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Speaker 3: deeper explanation if they're willing to share it. But but

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Speaker 3: I don't think like we should fans to just that

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Speaker 3: are super aware of that, to just assume that that

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Speaker 3: means he can't succeed at Wrigley.

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Speaker 2: I mean, nerds are the worst. I mean, we all

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Speaker 2: know that.

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Speaker 1: I think this is pretty straightforward, like I don't played

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Speaker 1: on a ninety nine win team last year. He has

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Speaker 1: a position and can play multiple positions. He's under long

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Speaker 1: term control. Like you said, he's not old, it's twenty five,

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Speaker 1: can fit on the air quotes's next Great Cups team,

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Speaker 1: buys time for the Matt Shaw's and the James Triontoses

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Speaker 1: and the camp Smith's and your farm system, the same

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Speaker 1: way that signing Cody Bellinger was supposed to, you know,

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Speaker 1: give him some backup plans in case Michael Bush didn't

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Speaker 1: work out or if PCA wasn't quite ready. And so

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Speaker 1: this is a very it's a very Jed Hoyer move.

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Speaker 1: I feel like this is kind of the stuff that

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Speaker 1: you know, he has kind of pined for and talked

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Speaker 1: about when he mentions you know, value and looking at

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Speaker 1: what small market teams do. And now obviously the Cubs

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Speaker 1: have to like go out and do more. I thought

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Speaker 1: the Nate Pearson deal was another walk down memory lane

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Speaker 1: for us. That was a guy the Cubs almost drafted

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Speaker 1: but did not, And then we were pointing out how

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Speaker 1: awesome he was, like, you know, when things weren't looking

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Speaker 1: so great for the Cubs, and then I never followed

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Speaker 1: him ever again after writing that turns out he's pretty bad.

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Speaker 1: But now it's time to pitch lab him up and

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Speaker 1: see what happens.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it sounds like the focus will be his fastball.

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Speaker 3: I had started writing this and the estac paratus news broke,

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Speaker 3: So that'll be a story for another day. But the

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Speaker 3: focus is the fastball. It's getting hit hard. Lefties are

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Speaker 3: hitting it hard. You know, this isn't unusual for the Cubs.

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Speaker 3: Like teams like to eliminate pitches or just say like

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Speaker 3: that that's a split neutral or that's not a split

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Speaker 3: neutral pitch. Don't use that against lefties. It sounds like

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Speaker 3: they want to use a slider more against lefties. And

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Speaker 3: then there's some deception with the fastball that he may

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Speaker 3: have lost due to some you know, mechanics that are

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Speaker 3: how to be kind of compared it to what happened

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Speaker 3: with Tai on last year. He was opening up a

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Speaker 3: little too early against lefties and they were catching his

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Speaker 3: fastball early and it allowed him, It allowed him to

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Speaker 3: jump on the fastball. He believes that it's a minor

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Speaker 3: tweak and that may be a more long term thing.

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Speaker 3: And when I say long term, like that's not something

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Speaker 3: that will happen over this over the next two months.

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Speaker 3: But the pitch usage is a simple fix, right, Like

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Speaker 3: he knows how to throw those pitches. Just change up

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Speaker 3: how often you're throwing certain pitches to certain players. That

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Speaker 3: and and maybe located, try and locate in different zones.

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Speaker 3: This guy's gotten nasty stuff. Like when when he was

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Speaker 3: coming up through the miners, I've heard I've heard stories

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Speaker 3: about amateur guys like getting a look at him before

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Speaker 3: he was drafted, Like he had workouts for teams and

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Speaker 3: and like his bullpens. You know, it was it was

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Speaker 3: the seventeen draft, eighteen draft, seventeen seventeen draft, so this

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Speaker 3: is right when the Cubs didn't have all the fancy

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Speaker 3: pitching pitch lab stuff. But it was just it was.

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Speaker 3: It was pretty common with teams like the Brewers and

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Speaker 3: the Astros and things like that, and they like I heard,

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Speaker 3: like some of the workouts he had with when like

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Speaker 3: taking into data was like whoa, this guy's nasty, and

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Speaker 3: scouts were like, this guy's got four plus pitches, Like

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Speaker 3: what's going on? So like it's the stuff is there now,

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Speaker 3: it's about harnessing it, right, And like the Cubs love

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Speaker 3: guys like that. They I mean, they took Julian Merriweather

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Speaker 3: and had a brilliant season out of him last season.

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Speaker 3: They're certainly going to be optimistic about this now. It's

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Speaker 3: it's about let's see what he can do. I think

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Speaker 3: it's an interesting addition. You didn't give up any any

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Speaker 3: like huge prospect. It's definitely worthwhile he's under control for

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Speaker 3: a few more years. He could turn into a high

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Speaker 3: leverage arm in the bullpen. And they certainly need more

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Speaker 3: stuff guys, especially when you send out Biggie and you

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Speaker 3: get someone like Nate Pearson in a separate deal.

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Speaker 2: I think it's worthwhile to see what he can do.

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Speaker 3: And he strikes, I mean, he's like, his peripherals are good.

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Speaker 3: He's striking out nearly thirty percent of the guys he faces,

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Speaker 3: and his walk rate is it's nearly ten percent. That's

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Speaker 3: not great. But when you strike that many guys out

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Speaker 3: like that's it's a it's a it's an interesting ad

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Speaker 3: and the type of ad that it's like when things

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Speaker 3: were going when they had the arms to work with, right,

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Speaker 3: when they had those arms and they were churning out

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Speaker 3: like like guys in like facing them Yeah, like they

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Speaker 3: do a solid job of fixing these guys. I think

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Speaker 3: it's it's worth worth a flyer, absolutely, It's It's been

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Speaker 3: an interesting first two moves, that's for sure. I did

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Speaker 3: not expect to be breaking down major league additions that

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Speaker 3: can impact the team over the over the next two months.

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Speaker 1: Well, I certainly thought, you know, Jed, like with most things,

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Speaker 1: would have waited until like the absolute.

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Speaker 2: Last minute to execute these things.

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Speaker 1: But clearly the Rays kind of disrupted the trade market.

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Speaker 1: And I do think that's a good like pivot point

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Speaker 1: here for us because you had mentioned it earlier of

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Speaker 1: like be prepared if there are a couple of trades

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Speaker 1: that you know, as a Cubs fan, you're like, wait,

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Speaker 1: what just happened, Like why did they trade Mark Letter Junior,

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Speaker 1: Julian Mary.

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Speaker 2: Whoever it is.

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Speaker 1: I mean, the clubs have made it clear that they

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Speaker 1: don't really value relief individual relievers that highly, and if

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Speaker 1: they think they can go a Nate Pearson a waiver

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Speaker 1: claim like Julian Merriweather and kind of get them to

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Speaker 1: a place where they're trusted late inding reliever and if

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Speaker 1: teams are you know, we had a story up on

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Speaker 1: the Athletic of how there's been some sticker shock in

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Speaker 1: terms of like how much some of these even rental

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Speaker 1: relievers are going to cost, and knowing how Jed Hoyer

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Speaker 1: and Carter Hawkins operate, I'm sure they're looking at that

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Speaker 1: of like, oh, what what can we get?

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Speaker 2: Like why don't we get in on that?

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Speaker 1: And that. If you look at it, you know they're

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Speaker 1: not under duress because guys like Lighter and Merriweather are

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Speaker 1: under club control for two more years after this. But

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Speaker 1: if you are incorporating Pearson, you're gonna get some pictures

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Speaker 1: healthy issue. You only have to cover whatever fifty five

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Speaker 1: games and if you can get some team will make

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Speaker 1: it worth your while.

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Speaker 2: I don't think they'd hesitate, right, No, I absolutely.

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Speaker 3: It's it's all about like I think every single thing

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Speaker 3: boils down to this. This front office is.

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Speaker 2: All about value.

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Speaker 3: Anybody's available for the proper value, right you you get

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Speaker 3: a good return, you anybody is available. It's yes, there

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Speaker 3: are some caveats to that right now, because they're not

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Speaker 3: building towards the long term future like they're they're looking

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Speaker 3: to win in twenty twenty five, so they can't if

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Speaker 3: they're sending out you know, three war they need to

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Speaker 3: be able to say we're getting three plus war in

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Speaker 3: twenty twenty five in this deal. So there's there's that

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Speaker 3: that they have to consider. But certainly and Mark Lighter

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Speaker 3: Junior listen, like I felt this way watching him when

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Speaker 3: when he was struggling, I just did not think he'd

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Speaker 3: looked that bad. I did not, and then I started

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Speaker 3: digging into the numbers and they backed that up. Like

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Speaker 3: all the peripherals said, his bad stretch was just pure

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Speaker 3: er stuff where great contact, great strikeouts, slightly elevated walks,

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Speaker 3: that's it. But he was getting babbit to hell. He

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Speaker 3: was still like just getting no luck. And now he's

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Speaker 3: back and healthy and he is he looks nasty and

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Speaker 3: and talking to the dude, he's he's always confident. He's

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Speaker 3: as confident as ever right now. And I think like

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Speaker 3: the Cubs should if the like from what we're hearing,

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Speaker 3: the asking price is high, and it should be like

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Speaker 3: he's like if if if teams are doing their homework,

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Speaker 3: they're going to be well aware that this guy's this

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Speaker 3: guy's a valuable picture in in in high leverage moments,

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Speaker 3: and he can face any part of a lineup, UH

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Speaker 3: with the fact that his curveball has gotten so good

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Speaker 3: this year too. I mean he can get left he's

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Speaker 3: out with the splitter, he can get anyone out with

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Speaker 3: the curveball. Like he's he's a really good pitcher right now.

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Speaker 3: It's it's it's impressive to watch and and you know

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Speaker 3: he's not. I think that il Stint has kind of

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Speaker 3: refreshed him and kept him from kind of having that

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Speaker 3: like it happened last year.

432
00:24:01,119 --> 00:24:01,320
Speaker 2: Yeah.

433
00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:05,040
Speaker 3: I believe it'll keep him from burning out in September. Uh,

434
00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:07,960
Speaker 3: he's going to be rested and ready to help a contender.

435
00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:08,639
Speaker 2: Uh.

436
00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:11,960
Speaker 3: If that's the direction they go, they someone's got to

437
00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:13,960
Speaker 3: pay up. I don't think they're giving any of these

438
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:16,160
Speaker 3: guys away. There's no reason, do you said it? There's

439
00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:18,760
Speaker 3: they don't have anyone that they just have to move.

440
00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:19,600
Speaker 3: There's nothing.

441
00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:20,600
Speaker 1: Yea.

442
00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:23,280
Speaker 3: They want to win next year, so these if they

443
00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:25,399
Speaker 3: believe that these guys can still help them, they're going

444
00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:26,240
Speaker 3: to keep them around.

445
00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:30,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, and this may wind up being in old take

446
00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:31,600
Speaker 1: exposed or whatever.

447
00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:32,800
Speaker 2: But I do think like.

448
00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:37,520
Speaker 1: Getting Paratus in the fold to keep some of those

449
00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:40,359
Speaker 1: bullpen guys, you just have less work to do in

450
00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:40,960
Speaker 1: the offseason.

451
00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:46,119
Speaker 2: You can commit more resources towards you know, obviously you

452
00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:48,440
Speaker 2: need a catcher, maybe.

453
00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:53,960
Speaker 1: Two catchers, depending on how things go with certainly like

454
00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:56,639
Speaker 1: one guy that you can really count on to work with,

455
00:24:56,760 --> 00:24:59,800
Speaker 1: a Maya at the very least, and then it becomes that,

456
00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:03,200
Speaker 1: you know, where do you get the bat where do

457
00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:04,960
Speaker 1: you get the slugging percentage?

458
00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:08,960
Speaker 2: But I do think Prada's really does lengthen the lineup in.

459
00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:11,480
Speaker 1: A way that Morrell didn't, even if he doesn't have

460
00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:16,560
Speaker 1: the same like thump, I do think he is a

461
00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:20,480
Speaker 1: guy who can like find a way to contribute in

462
00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:24,000
Speaker 1: different forms or his performance and production will take maybe

463
00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:26,960
Speaker 1: different shapes than Morrel. But I do think definitely gives

464
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:31,920
Speaker 1: you much steadier baseline and like to look out, you know,

465
00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:33,960
Speaker 1: from where we sit up in the press box, to

466
00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:38,800
Speaker 1: see Parade, Swanson, Horner and Bush like as your infield

467
00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:41,680
Speaker 1: you know, through at leate for the next two years

468
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:42,280
Speaker 1: at least.

469
00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:45,600
Speaker 2: I think that's pretty good.

470
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:51,240
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, yeah, like, you know, obviously Dansby's not

471
00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:56,960
Speaker 1: hitting the way he's supposed to, but like that's pretty solid.

472
00:25:57,119 --> 00:25:58,879
Speaker 1: And then I think if you just kind of like

473
00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:04,199
Speaker 1: couples were really like I'm still kind of stunned at

474
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:07,520
Speaker 1: just how much. I don't think there's like a blockbuster deal.

475
00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:10,360
Speaker 1: I remember Jeed as an aside a long time ago.

476
00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:13,760
Speaker 1: I feel like he was kind of surprised when the

477
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:17,240
Speaker 1: Samarga deal was like called the Blockbuster and it's like,

478
00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:21,399
Speaker 1: well that happened on the fourth of July, that Billy

479
00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:26,200
Speaker 1: Bean and THEO to like these huge moneyball like Hollywood

480
00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:30,760
Speaker 1: style executives. Addison Russell was like a top five prospect

481
00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:36,000
Speaker 1: in the game, and even like almost every casual sports

482
00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:38,280
Speaker 1: fan i'd heard of, guests of margin for the most part,

483
00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:40,000
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Like he was a really

484
00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:45,280
Speaker 1: big name for obvious, you know, two sport reasons.

485
00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:47,800
Speaker 2: But you know this is the raise.

486
00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:51,000
Speaker 1: It's parade ase, you know, it's a little more even

487
00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:54,959
Speaker 1: Morell is not like a star, but it just totally

488
00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:59,800
Speaker 1: shifts the conversation here of just like, okay, like the

489
00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:01,840
Speaker 1: aren't as stuck as.

490
00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:03,240
Speaker 2: They appear to be.

491
00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:05,640
Speaker 1: And now that when you kind of had a guy

492
00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:09,440
Speaker 1: like this, you know you still have And I know

493
00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,920
Speaker 1: people were rolling their eyes when Jed said this, and

494
00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:15,280
Speaker 1: I get that, you know, because he had not been

495
00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:18,520
Speaker 1: the results just haven't been there. But he does have

496
00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:23,760
Speaker 1: lots of options in terms of currency, prospects, financial flexibility.

497
00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:25,760
Speaker 2: That's what you go out and do. Yeah.

498
00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:29,360
Speaker 3: No, And he didn't give up like he still has

499
00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:33,920
Speaker 3: like his best what ten, fifteen, twenty prospects still like

500
00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:36,560
Speaker 3: he hasn't given them up yet. He's got a lot

501
00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:40,760
Speaker 3: of currency and financial flexibility. And again I hate saying

502
00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:44,159
Speaker 3: financial flexibility, but it's it's true. They they've done a

503
00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:48,240
Speaker 3: good job here and it's like the season hasn't gone

504
00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:51,680
Speaker 3: the way anyone expected it or hoped it would go.

505
00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:55,200
Speaker 3: But it's this is an interesting move and I think

506
00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:59,200
Speaker 3: you and I and many fans and onlookers have said

507
00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,160
Speaker 3: this team needs a shit make up. It's happened. Now

508
00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,159
Speaker 3: we'll see what the what the rest of the moves are,

509
00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:10,920
Speaker 3: you know, Jameson tay On is scheduled to pitch Monday night.

510
00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:16,080
Speaker 3: We'll see what happens there. I you know, I could

511
00:28:16,119 --> 00:28:18,720
Speaker 3: be it depends what the like, what the return is,

512
00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:21,200
Speaker 3: That's all it is. I think there because I think

513
00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:24,360
Speaker 3: moving him when you have him for two more years

514
00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:27,359
Speaker 3: beyond this, what he brings, like the stability in the

515
00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,239
Speaker 3: middle of that rotation, I think it's a risk. Uh,

516
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,920
Speaker 3: But I also understand, Hey, this is a seller's market.

517
00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:36,639
Speaker 3: So we'll see what if if that's the direction they go.

518
00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:39,400
Speaker 3: I mean, I think we'll we'll have to like have

519
00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:42,520
Speaker 3: to hear what the return is. Same with these relievers there,

520
00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:45,200
Speaker 3: there's gonna be more. There's gonna be more moves. I'd

521
00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:48,360
Speaker 3: be surprised if if Jed's done. Uh, they're they're busy

522
00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:50,680
Speaker 3: and hold up. There's a reason Jed didn't talk to

523
00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:52,680
Speaker 3: us today and just put out a statement in the

524
00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:55,560
Speaker 3: press release. He's he's he's waiting till the dust settles

525
00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:59,080
Speaker 3: and and everything is finished here. There's they've got about

526
00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:01,160
Speaker 3: forty eight more hours. There's a little a little less

527
00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:04,080
Speaker 3: than that. Right, you'll be in Cincinnati. You'll be there

528
00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:06,800
Speaker 3: to cover it all. There's going to be more news

529
00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:09,960
Speaker 3: to break and for us to talk about. We will,

530
00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:12,040
Speaker 3: we will be on top of it, just like we

531
00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:15,240
Speaker 3: were on this one. And thanks for listening. This is

532
00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:19,840
Speaker 3: I did not expect to have to be recording this

533
00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:22,760
Speaker 3: podcast and be talking about this, but it's it's fun

534
00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:27,360
Speaker 3: and it's exciting. I hope fans are, you know, as

535
00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:31,040
Speaker 3: fascinated as we are by this. But there's more to come,

536
00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:33,360
Speaker 3: so so we'll be on top of it. Make sure

537
00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:38,360
Speaker 3: you're reading the Athletic. Listen to subscribe, rate review all

538
00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:42,080
Speaker 3: those good things to North Side Territory. We appreciate you listening.

539
00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:44,920
Speaker 2: Thanks everyone, we'll talk to you soon. Take care,