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Speaker 1: Welcome into nord Side Territory, presented by Fox one Foul

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Speaker 1: Territory Networks.

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Speaker 2: Cubs Podcast.

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Speaker 1: I'm Sahadev Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are

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Speaker 1: your Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic Patrick. I

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Speaker 1: did not make it all eighteen innings last night, so

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Speaker 1: I got a decent amount of sleep.

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Speaker 2: I tried to make it.

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Speaker 1: I woke up at three in the morning and checked

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Speaker 1: my phone because the TV was still on and that

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Speaker 1: game was epic. Pretty fun World Series Game three. It's

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Speaker 1: been a fun World Series so far. I gotta be honest,

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Speaker 1: I thought the Dodgers were just too hot and it

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Speaker 1: wasn't going to be as competitive as it as it is.

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Speaker 1: But that's why it's fun. That's why baseball is so fun.

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Speaker 1: It's so hard to predict. But we'll we'll get to

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Speaker 1: Cubs stuff right now. This episode is some names that

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Speaker 1: the Cubs may pursue position player wise. We did pitchers already.

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Speaker 1: I think that's probably I think we both agree that

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Speaker 1: pitching is is the focus, but there are names that

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Speaker 1: they could go after. You know, it's hard for us

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Speaker 1: to really say how hard they're going to go after

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Speaker 1: some of these players at this point in time, but

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Speaker 1: the first one that you and I both agree that

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Speaker 1: you know they're going to be what's the easiest way

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Speaker 1: to put.

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Speaker 2: This, kicking the tires on?

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Speaker 1: Yes, Yes, just like last year, Alex Bregman, I feel

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Speaker 1: like you spent your entire first stint of spring training

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Speaker 1: writing Alex Bregman stories.

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Speaker 2: Hopefully that's not the case again this year. Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I think it might have been like ten or eleven

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Speaker 3: straight days of Alex Bregman headlines. There may have been

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Speaker 3: like an off day built in there where I wrote

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Speaker 3: something else, but that was the saga. It seems like

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Speaker 3: the Cubs, more than other teams, get wrapped up in

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Speaker 3: these dramatic sweepstakes that go down towards the end of

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Speaker 3: the offseason and spill into spring training and sometimes even

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Speaker 3: around the start.

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Speaker 2: Of Cactus League games, And.

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Speaker 3: Based on our reporting from that time, it's really hard

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Speaker 3: to rule out the idea of them trying again. It

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Speaker 3: doesn't mean I would put them as like the number

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Speaker 3: one favorite, or that they're going to change their spending

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Speaker 3: habits or patterns, but their projections were very robust for Bregman,

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Speaker 3: even going out years into the future, and I don't

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Speaker 3: think his very good year with the Red Sox would

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Speaker 3: have fundamentally changed that. Obviously, Matt Shaw had a nice

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Speaker 3: second half and sort of blew everyone away with his defense,

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Speaker 3: but you saw in the playoffs it was a struggle

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Speaker 3: for him. And I know that young players can get better,

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Speaker 3: and Jed Hoyer likes to call him, you know, the

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Speaker 3: lifeblood of an organization. But there's really kind of one spot.

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Speaker 3: We're kind of working under the an assumption here of

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Speaker 3: how we see the roster at this point. There's kind

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Speaker 3: of one one spot where you could probably go to upgrade,

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Speaker 3: and it's a guy that not only can move around

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Speaker 3: to different positions even deeper into his career, he also

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Speaker 3: just brings a ton of like baseball knowledge and experience,

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Speaker 3: and I think would really fit and well with a

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Speaker 3: group that is kind of a bunch of baseball gym rats.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. The clubhouse fit

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Speaker 1: is ideal. I think he'd fit really well, fitting really

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Speaker 1: well with this group, especially the position players really seem

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Speaker 1: to bond and love to talk baseball and talk hitting.

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Speaker 1: Do you spend that much money on a thirty one

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Speaker 1: year old That's going to be the question asked in

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Speaker 1: that front office and by us, I guess and fans, Uh,

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Speaker 1: you have a guy that I think they believe in

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Speaker 1: at third base, that that has a ton of potential

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Speaker 1: to grow. But you know, it was the opportunity missed.

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Speaker 1: I guess was it the right time to make that

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Speaker 1: push a year.

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Speaker 2: Ago and not now? Now?

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Speaker 1: What what type of deal is he going to get there?

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Speaker 1: There are two questions that aren't directly related to Bregman.

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Speaker 1: Well one, I should say one big question that's not

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Speaker 1: directly related to Bregman and it kind of ties into

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Speaker 1: it that that's been kind of like going around in

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Speaker 1: my head for the past few days as I think

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Speaker 1: of what I want to write and what I want

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Speaker 1: to attack this offseason? What time of what type of

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Speaker 1: team are the Cubs during these winters?

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Speaker 2: Like we have we established what they are?

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Speaker 1: Are they permanently are kind of going forward? Are we

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Speaker 1: just to expect that they're very rarely in on the

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Speaker 1: top three free agents unless they filter down the top

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Speaker 1: maybe not three, top five to ten those top top guys.

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Speaker 1: Are they not in on them at the start of

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Speaker 1: free agency outside of like here's this generational talent, Hey, yeah,

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Speaker 1: that we're going to check in on and try to

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Speaker 1: be aggressive for but really understand that he's going to

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Speaker 1: the Dodgers, you know. But like that, I'm trying to

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Speaker 1: wrap my mind around that, and we need to do

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Speaker 1: more talking to people around the game and within the

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Speaker 1: front office. I want to understand that. Like it was

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Speaker 1: last year when when we knew early that don't waste

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Speaker 1: your time digging in, Like we didn't waste our time

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Speaker 1: trying to figure out if they were going after Corbyn

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Speaker 1: Burns or Max Freed.

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Speaker 2: Or won Soto.

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Speaker 1: Right, we knew, we knew not to waste our time.

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Speaker 1: Is that how it is going forward? I think I

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Speaker 1: think I think that's a question I'd like answered at

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Speaker 1: some point over the next few months to to really

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Speaker 1: understand what this organization is. And maybe we can't get

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Speaker 1: that answer because it's all dependent on the CBA, right

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Speaker 1: and and maybe that's just the bottom line. I I've

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Speaker 1: kind of derailed the Alex Bregmant topic. That's that's just

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Speaker 1: where my mind goes because he is the big Like

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Speaker 1: it's going to be years and money with Alex Bregmant.

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Speaker 1: He's a really good fit. Is this the type of

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Speaker 1: thing they do now? They have money coming off the books,

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Speaker 1: and and they and you know, I don't know what.

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Speaker 2: Their payroll is supposed to look like, they can they

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Speaker 2: can fit this in without going crazy. And then and

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Speaker 2: then you can also add pitching via trade.

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Speaker 1: There are ways to make this work where it's not

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Speaker 1: unreasonable and where we don't have to talk as much

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Speaker 1: about money and payroll. I think he's a really good fit.

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Speaker 1: And if and if what you're saying holds true in

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Speaker 1: the sense of their projections liked him going forward. If

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Speaker 1: that's still the case, if one year of data, I

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Speaker 1: thought it was pretty positive data. You know he was hurt.

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Speaker 1: How many games did he play? He played one hundred

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Speaker 1: and fourteen games, so that you know, does that data,

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Speaker 1: what does that data tell them that you know, whatever

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Speaker 1: the injury was. I didn't follow the Red Sox enough

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Speaker 1: to know exactly what his injury was. It did say

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Speaker 1: he had a couple he had it was a long

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Speaker 1: iyel stint from just looking at the transactions.

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Speaker 2: He went on at the end of May and came.

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Speaker 1: Back on at the beginning, you know, halfway through July,

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Speaker 1: so that that's a decent stint. So though, those are

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Speaker 1: the questions that I think they need to answer like

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Speaker 1: health wise, did anything change for them health wise? And

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Speaker 1: what type of what type of team are they spending wise?

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Speaker 1: Those are the big things for me when I look

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Speaker 1: at Alex Bregmant. But I agree with this, This is

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Speaker 1: like a really good fit in so much of what

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Speaker 1: they're trying to build.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think to wrap up Reregman in a way

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Speaker 3: that applies to everyone else we talk about on this

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Speaker 3: episode and the way you began this show of it

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Speaker 3: still feels like it's pitching, pitching, and more pitching, Like

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Speaker 3: we can't just totally ignore the offense side of the ball.

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Speaker 3: And they're not.

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Speaker 2: Locked in.

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Speaker 3: I think we've seen that, Like it is all about

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Speaker 3: their projections and their valuations. So they're not going into

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Speaker 3: this like, oh, we have to get this particular component

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Speaker 3: to our team, a specific component or a specific player.

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Speaker 3: It's like, No, they're going to assess the marketplace, trades

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Speaker 3: and free agents and see what fits best for them.

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Speaker 3: But that is why kind of the disclaimer for the

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Speaker 3: rest of this episode is like, don't see them going

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Speaker 3: absolutely huge on the position player side because they're largely

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Speaker 3: set and they have obvious needs on the pitching side.

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Speaker 3: But like you said, you don't really know what's gonna

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Speaker 3: how the rest of the market's going to shake out.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, they're largely set, and their youngest players are positioned players.

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Speaker 1: Their youngest talent, they're on the verge of needing every

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Speaker 1: day time, every day playing time. So there's all these

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Speaker 1: reasons why it makes sense they could even trade from

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Speaker 1: that and still have plenty of position young position players.

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Speaker 1: So it's just, you know, it's not number one priority.

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Speaker 1: Perhaps the look, like you said, assess the market seem

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Speaker 1: for ways any way that you can improve. That's kind

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Speaker 1: of the summation of how we'd look at the off

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Speaker 1: season going forward. All right, let's take a quick break

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Speaker 1: and talk about two familiar names as potential targets.

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Speaker 5: You can say, Okay, this is what the results told me.

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Speaker 1: Welcome back to Northside's Territory, presented by Fox one. Patrick.

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Speaker 1: Let's talk about a couple familiar names. Uh, let's just

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Speaker 1: start it off with with the guy we've been talking

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Speaker 1: about for nine months, it seems like maybe a year.

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Speaker 3: Uh.

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Speaker 1: They they're going to they're they're not going to just

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Speaker 1: let Kyle Tucker walk without uh without engaging in some

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Speaker 1: form uh, you know, whether it's a formal offer, whether

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Speaker 1: it's just checking in seeing how that market develops, keeping

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Speaker 1: in contact, seeing what he's looking for. They're not ignoring

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Speaker 1: the Kyle Tucker market. This isn't like Juan Soto where

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Speaker 1: they were just like we're that they weren't going to

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Speaker 1: be in.

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Speaker 2: On the yeah piece.

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Speaker 1: Uh so you know as much as you and I,

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Speaker 1: I guess have both been saying since they've traded for

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Speaker 1: him that, uh it.

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Speaker 2: Was it felt like a one year thing.

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Speaker 1: You can't ignore it, you can like, I'm happy to

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Speaker 1: admit that I've been wrong before and and I could

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Speaker 1: be we could be wrong. Maybe something happens and there's

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Speaker 1: a return. They're certainly not going to just dismiss it

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Speaker 1: out of hand.

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Speaker 3: It's a good point to reference kind of Soto and

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Speaker 3: how he's represented by Boris Corp. Which also had Matthew

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Speaker 3: Boyd last offseason. And why bring that up is that

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Speaker 3: both Kyle Tucker and Kyle Schwarber are represented by Excel

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Speaker 3: Sports Management. So obviously during the course of this offseason,

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Speaker 3: Jed and Carter we'll be talking to various agents and

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Speaker 3: checking in. That's kind of how they operate in general.

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Speaker 3: They always want to have the pulse of the marketplace.

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Speaker 3: They never want to rule anything out. They want to

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Speaker 3: make decisions at the last possible second. And so, yeah,

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Speaker 3: the Cubs were not interested in Juan Soto, but Scott

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Speaker 3: Boris had a bunch of kind of pitchers in that

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Speaker 3: sort of sweet spot of like not super long, not

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Speaker 3: super expensive in terms of the overall number, but they

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Speaker 3: could get some really nice AAVs and a little bit

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Speaker 3: of security. And that's how Matthew Boyd wound up with

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Speaker 3: the Cubs. And I think, yeah, excels in a spot

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Speaker 3: here where they have two left handed hitters who are

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Speaker 3: extremely accomplished but bring different things and will be in

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Speaker 3: different sort of pricing tiers. And I think both Schwarbur

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Speaker 3: and Tucker fall under that category for the Cubs of

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Speaker 3: like definitely checking in, sort of intrigued, but obviously going

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Speaker 3: to set a very firm price point on those negotiations

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Speaker 3: and won't be very easy to move off of.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean Kyle Tucker's coming off of Kyle Tucker.

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Speaker 1: Kyle Schwarber is coming off his like it's his best season.

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Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure it's just you know, like just a

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Speaker 1: monster offensive season, really impressive numbers and kind of became

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Speaker 1: the player. I mean, he's been on this track since

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Speaker 1: basically since he left the Cubs, but he's really he

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Speaker 1: really turned into something fun and special this year. Fifty

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Speaker 1: six homers, is that right? I Mean, just that's awesome

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Speaker 1: and like I don't think having covered him, I could

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Speaker 1: be like much happier for a player that I've covered

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Speaker 1: that left and went on to like become something like

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Speaker 1: everything that we kind of envisioned was possible for him,

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Speaker 1: he fulfilled it. Like he's this great team leader, team

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Speaker 1: spokesman for Philadelphia and just this like you know, otherworldly

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Speaker 1: slugger that you know is fun to watch, comes up

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Speaker 1: in big moments and delivers. I think there's value to

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Speaker 1: a with what he brings on the field and off

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Speaker 1: the field.

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Speaker 2: He'd fit in well as d H.

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Speaker 1: You know, if you if you're happy, if you're comfortable playing,

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Speaker 1: say every day in right field, you could use some

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Speaker 1: of those position player prospects to go get pitching, Like

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Speaker 1: there is a fit here.

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Speaker 2: I think he's thirty two. I think the cost.

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Speaker 1: Makes it makes it make less sense if he's somehow

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Speaker 1: if if it's one of those situations where we're talking

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Speaker 1: about this in February, then he's still out there, that

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Speaker 1: suddenly makes a lot more sense, don't I don't see

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Speaker 1: that with him, Like he's just he I really do

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Speaker 1: think like he's he's made a name for himself across

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Speaker 1: the league, is being too valuable to like kind of let.

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Speaker 2: Linger out there.

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Speaker 1: Maybe I'm wrong, Alex Bregman lingered out there, and he's

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Speaker 1: certainly valuable in multiple ways. So I think it'd be

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Speaker 1: really fun. I'd be all for it in like baseball

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Speaker 1: terms and like coverage terms for us, like it would

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Speaker 1: be nice to cover him again. Uh.

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Speaker 2: He's one of the guys.

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Speaker 1: That when when I go to Philly or when when

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Speaker 1: the Phillies come, I make sure to go say hi

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Speaker 1: to Uh.

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Speaker 2: Like he's he's just that type of guy.

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Speaker 1: He's fun to be around, and and he's like a

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Speaker 1: good talker, and and he kind of gets he has

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Speaker 1: good perspective on things, and and and and he's honest too,

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Speaker 1: Like he doesn't he's not the type that like gives

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Speaker 1: you these answers that you're like, Okay, well that was nothing.

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Speaker 1: He's he's always willing to chat. Like there's a lot

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Speaker 1: of value there that that maybe the fans don't care

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Speaker 1: about in some of those things. But but I think

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Speaker 1: it is fun. And then obviously there's the there's the

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Speaker 1: homer potential that you know, you this team is losing

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Speaker 1: if if you're not bringing back Kyle Tucker, they're losing

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Speaker 1: some power what what the the jump in strikeouts with

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Speaker 1: with Kyle Schwarber, But not this isn't a team that's

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Speaker 1: struck out at a at a high rate. It's struck

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Speaker 1: out at a pretty low rate. So they could probably handle that.

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Speaker 1: You know, it wouldn't be much of a detriment to them,

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Speaker 1: and and that power jump would be really uh important

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Speaker 1: and impactful.

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Speaker 4: Uh.

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Speaker 2: I think he'd be fun to bring back.

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Speaker 1: And you're right, like the the Excel connection there, you

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Speaker 1: know they're they're going to be in contact with them,

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Speaker 1: like what what what?

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Speaker 2: What can they massage here? What? What can what can

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Speaker 2: they make happen?

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Speaker 1: It'll be interesting to follow if there's any whispers of

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Speaker 1: a reunion.

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Speaker 3: I think fans see what you're talking about. So lot

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Speaker 3: of he's just a real person, like a real personality,

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Speaker 3: I should say, of just like what what you see

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Speaker 3: is sort of what you get. There's not an ounce

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Speaker 3: of phoniness to Kyle Schwarber from the Midwest, went to

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Speaker 3: Big ten school very much. Someone who treats people extremely

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Speaker 3: well behind the scenes and gets along with a lot

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Speaker 3: of differ from people in the clubhouse. I'm looking up now,

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Speaker 3: I think twenty nineteen might have been the only year

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Speaker 3: of his career he did not make the postseason, which

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Speaker 3: is kind of crazy to think about a guy who

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Speaker 3: debuted in twenty fifteen. Love the fit for our purposes,

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Speaker 3: still think that if the Phillies want him back, and

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Speaker 3: all indications are that they do, I do not see

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Speaker 3: the Cubs entering a bidding war for that much less

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Speaker 3: winning a bidding war for a guy who, let's face it,

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Speaker 3: from the front office perspective.

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Speaker 6: Is.

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Speaker 3: Sort of one dimensional. That's kind of from their perspective

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Speaker 3: of Yes, I think they recognize all those intangibles. No,

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Speaker 3: I don't think they're going to overpay wildly for that.

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Speaker 3: LOO get how this team has been built. It's been

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Speaker 3: a lot of sort of two way players who bring

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Speaker 3: a lot of defensive value, which does not cost as

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Speaker 3: much as home runs. So yeah, I think we're gonna

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Speaker 3: be covering Schwarber until he returns to the Phillies. I

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Speaker 3: don't know, maybe there's maybe there's a mystery team out there,

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Speaker 3: Maybe there's a team that you know sees the same

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Speaker 3: things and and you know, really pays for it. But again,

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Speaker 3: don't see the Cubs locking up a thirty something designated

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Speaker 3: hitter for huge dollars and that many years. It's gonna

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Speaker 3: cost more years than you think. I mean, perhaps to

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Speaker 3: the forgetting Schwarber at that time. I mean we could say,

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Speaker 3: obviously the Cubs business department should have given baseball more

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Speaker 3: money so that he was not non tendered for nothing

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Speaker 3: during the pandemic. I think it's fair to say, you know,

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Speaker 3: should they have signed Schwarber instead of sayah, maybe signed both.

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Speaker 2: But at this point, uh.

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Speaker 3: You know, not really holding out hopes for a Schwarber reunion.

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Speaker 2: But I don't know. Crazier things have happened, right, yeah, yeah, yeah.

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Speaker 1: And you talk about how it's going to cost more

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Speaker 1: than you think. I think that's true for everything. Like

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Speaker 1: I think around this time, we think the prices are

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Speaker 1: at least this is my trend. What happens with me,

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Speaker 1: I think the prices are going to be a little

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Speaker 1: bit lower, and then we start getting into the offseason,

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Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, right, there's all the ways these bidding

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Speaker 1: wars and it goes higher. So like even with Kyle

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Speaker 1: Tucker when I was talking about that, whatever a few

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Speaker 1: episodes go, it's probably going to be more than what

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Speaker 1: we speculated at the end of September because this is

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Speaker 1: just like people are going to forget. It's not that

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Speaker 1: they forget, it's just that you look at the overall

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Speaker 1: numbers and that's an elite player. So you're not gonna

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Speaker 1: like you just overlook at the time, like you start

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Speaker 1: getting these bidding wars, and you overlooked that he missed

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Speaker 1: a month and a half or whatever, or that there

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Speaker 1: were issues with the calf and people thought, he you know,

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Speaker 1: why is any playing right now?

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Speaker 2: What's taking so long for him to come back? Two

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Speaker 2: things on Schwarber.

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Speaker 1: I think the clubhouse stuff him and Nico that type

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Speaker 1: of attitude, Like he has a very simil or mindset

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Speaker 1: to Nico Horner where it's just like all about winning

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Speaker 1: and it's very hard nosed. Uh.

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Speaker 2: I like that.

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Speaker 1: I think it's really fun to have in a clubhouse

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Speaker 1: and it and it's it's easy to like kind of

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Speaker 1: digest and and root for. Like you hear it and

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Speaker 1: you're like this is genuine and like, yeah, how how

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Speaker 1: can you not root for someone that cares that much.

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Speaker 1: The other thing is, uh, the way he's kept in shape,

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Speaker 1: Like I I don't think anyone would have projected his

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Speaker 1: body type to look the way it does now.

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Speaker 2: At what age thirty two ish? Uh, He's he's done

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Speaker 2: a great job.

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Speaker 1: That, Like, you gotta you gotta give him a ton

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Speaker 1: of props for staying in shape, not only staying in shape,

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Speaker 1: but looking like better than he did when when he

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Speaker 1: was probably with the Cubs. He's in great shape and

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Speaker 1: and I think that that probably wasn't the projection for him,

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Speaker 1: So props to him for that. All Right, we'll come

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Speaker 1: back and talk about a couple more players that maybe

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Speaker 1: are on the radar.

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Speaker 4: This episode is brought to you by Square. Your favorite

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Speaker 4: neighborhood spots run on Square. Square is a proud partner

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Speaker 4: and I are both in Orlando, and I see Square

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Speaker 6: And a lot of restaurants in general just have this

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Speaker 6: story just to have the little thing plugged into their

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Speaker 6: we're out.

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Speaker 2: It's cool.

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Speaker 6: It's a way for local businesses to make money and

402
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Speaker 6: make it easy on not only them, but also on me.

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Speaker 6: The consumer, because Lord knows, I'm not making to sell

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Speaker 6: on and making or sew on anything.

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Speaker 2: No.

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Speaker 4: And it's a quick it's a tap or on your phone.

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Speaker 2: You double click.

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Speaker 6: swipe it.

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00:22:58,359 --> 00:22:59,960
Speaker 4: in the neighborhood Get after at FTVA.

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Speaker 1: Welcome back to North Side Territory presented by Fox one.

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Speaker 2: Patrick.

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Speaker 1: We have talked about the Cubs and their connection to

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Speaker 1: the Asian market, Japan in particular. We know Saya Suzuki

421
00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:21,240
Speaker 1: and show Him Monaga have been huge pieces of the

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00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:25,280
Speaker 1: cubs kind of resurgence here. Uh, they've been interested in

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00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:30,320
Speaker 1: other players from Japan. We'll see how active they are

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Speaker 1: in the pitching market there. But there are two big bats.

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Speaker 1: I'm going to take am going to take a Murakami

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Speaker 1: and I gotta get this right, Kazuma Okamoto. Those are

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Speaker 1: the two bats.

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Speaker 2: Probably. Yeah, as far.

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Speaker 3: International travel has paid off.

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Speaker 1: They those are the two biggest names as far as

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Speaker 1: position players.

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Speaker 2: I think both have played third.

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Speaker 1: I think we'll see if either plays third in the

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Speaker 1: big leagues. It's kind of like first base dh Okamoto,

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Speaker 1: I'm not sure what.

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00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:08,120
Speaker 2: I think.

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00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:13,200
Speaker 1: Murakami is more like this guy's first base. Dh Okamoto

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00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:18,520
Speaker 1: is pretty much first base. I think I've heard some

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00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:21,840
Speaker 1: some thoughts about maybe he'll he'll play the outfield. Maybe

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Speaker 1: I'm misremembering that or miss misrepresenting that, but these guys

441
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:32,040
Speaker 1: aren't going to be paid for their defense. It sounds

442
00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:35,360
Speaker 1: like Murakami is more like power oriented, like a ton

443
00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:39,280
Speaker 1: of power, and Okamoto has a little bit.

444
00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:43,080
Speaker 2: More contact than Murakami. Both interesting.

445
00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:49,880
Speaker 1: Murakami's twenty five I believe, I believe in Okamoto's twenty nine.

446
00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:54,359
Speaker 1: So that's probably the big gap in cost, which makes

447
00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:59,440
Speaker 1: me think Okamoto is where they would focus their attention

448
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:04,240
Speaker 1: and see if they can get, you know, a better

449
00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:09,080
Speaker 1: deal and fewer years, fewer, a lesser av That's that's

450
00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:11,879
Speaker 1: where my mind goes when thinking about how the Cubs

451
00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:13,040
Speaker 1: attack things.

452
00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:18,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, as we were outlining the show before we started recording,

453
00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:20,680
Speaker 3: we felt same thing. Kind of on the pitching side,

454
00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:25,399
Speaker 3: of we have to at least explain this wave of

455
00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:28,760
Speaker 3: Japanese talent that's coming over, and that the Cubs had

456
00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:33,200
Speaker 3: already built kind of scouting reports on these guys before

457
00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:36,800
Speaker 3: showed to Imanaga through the first pitch of the twenty

458
00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:40,840
Speaker 3: twenty five season inside the Tokyo Dome. That that is

459
00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:45,600
Speaker 3: how far ahead you have to be to be involved

460
00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:51,920
Speaker 3: in this marketplace. And that's years of building relationships and

461
00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:55,879
Speaker 3: establishing a presence. The Cubs have that they have a

462
00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:59,440
Speaker 3: lot of info on these guys, and I think it's

463
00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:03,239
Speaker 3: important to me number two of like that doesn't mean

464
00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:08,119
Speaker 3: they're aggressively going after them. It's more of like, Okay,

465
00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:11,920
Speaker 3: they are going to be sort of like in this

466
00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:16,879
Speaker 3: flow of Japanese players continuously, And I think back to

467
00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:20,639
Speaker 3: really how showdo landed here, like that sort of fell

468
00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:22,800
Speaker 3: in their laps, Like they were aware of him, they

469
00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:26,240
Speaker 3: were intrigued by him. They thought maybe his market would

470
00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:29,639
Speaker 3: go to a place that didn't make sense for them,

471
00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:33,199
Speaker 3: but they also had the information in the background to

472
00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:38,160
Speaker 3: be like, Okay, these certain elements within his game have changed,

473
00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:42,119
Speaker 3: or this is how we could maybe coach up some

474
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:45,600
Speaker 3: of these elements. This is how our system would help

475
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:52,280
Speaker 3: his individual talents flourish, and like that deal came together

476
00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:57,800
Speaker 3: more towards the deadline of his posting window. And so

477
00:26:57,880 --> 00:26:59,840
Speaker 3: that's kind of why we're mentioning these guys.

478
00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:00,720
Speaker 5: Now.

479
00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:02,560
Speaker 3: I'm not saying they're like the number one name on

480
00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:06,240
Speaker 3: a whiteboard somewhere in the Wrigley office building, but very

481
00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:09,119
Speaker 3: much aware of these guys, and they're among a small

482
00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:11,320
Speaker 3: handful of teams that are kind of in play for

483
00:27:11,359 --> 00:27:12,560
Speaker 3: these guys a year after year.

484
00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:16,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that the latter point that you're making there,

485
00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:20,359
Speaker 1: like they there's just not as much competition in general

486
00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:24,240
Speaker 1: for Japanese players. Just because they you know, that they

487
00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:26,280
Speaker 1: want to they end up wanting to play for a

488
00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:30,600
Speaker 1: select group of teams and not as many teams are

489
00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:33,119
Speaker 1: in the market or put in the effort to be

490
00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:35,280
Speaker 1: in that market. The Cubs have put in a lot

491
00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:38,399
Speaker 1: of work to be in this market, and they will

492
00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:41,440
Speaker 1: monitor every situation. Like you said, in Monaga was one

493
00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:45,879
Speaker 1: of those situations that maybe they weren't their aggressor, but

494
00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:50,160
Speaker 1: it worked out in their favor. And who knows if

495
00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:53,479
Speaker 1: one of these bats kind of okay, we're not paying

496
00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:57,960
Speaker 1: this exorbitant price that may be what everyone's talking about.

497
00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:00,919
Speaker 1: But suddenly it gets to a a area that that

498
00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:04,120
Speaker 1: makes a lot of sense for them, and and they

499
00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:07,280
Speaker 1: see it as like this is just incredible value and

500
00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:09,280
Speaker 1: we can get creative like they did with him in

501
00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:10,000
Speaker 1: AGA's deal.

502
00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:10,879
Speaker 2: Who knows.

503
00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:19,280
Speaker 1: I think in particular, Okamoto has kind of just like

504
00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:21,280
Speaker 1: kind of a skill set that makes sense.

505
00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:23,679
Speaker 2: Can they coach up.

506
00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:25,640
Speaker 1: Like the difference would be, do they think they can

507
00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:29,080
Speaker 1: coach up Murakami's in zone swing and miss? Can they

508
00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:32,080
Speaker 1: correct that? Do they are they confident enough in that

509
00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:34,280
Speaker 1: or do they think they can like kind of tap

510
00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:38,360
Speaker 1: into this. Okamoto I think has hit for power in Japan,

511
00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:40,840
Speaker 1: But do they think that translates And if they don't,

512
00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:43,560
Speaker 1: are they confident enough that the contact skills are just

513
00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:46,400
Speaker 1: so valuable that he can, you know, slug a decent

514
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:48,920
Speaker 1: amount and be valuable and hit the ball hard enough

515
00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:55,120
Speaker 1: it stateside. I'm fascinated to see how these players' skills

516
00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:59,040
Speaker 1: translate in the US and and just curious to see

517
00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:01,560
Speaker 1: how how aggressive the Cubs would be with the position players.

518
00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:04,600
Speaker 1: I think they're going to get someone or I think

519
00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:07,360
Speaker 1: they're going to be active in the market in general

520
00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:10,440
Speaker 1: and maybe sign someone that played in.

521
00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:11,480
Speaker 2: Japan last year.

522
00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:15,479
Speaker 1: It just just seems like there's so many players that

523
00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:18,200
Speaker 1: are options that it makes sense for the Cubs to

524
00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:22,960
Speaker 1: go that route. We'll see if it's a big name

525
00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:26,560
Speaker 1: or if it's someone like like you mentioned last episode,

526
00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:31,320
Speaker 1: Foster Griffin. I think that's an interesting pitcher name. Well,

527
00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:33,960
Speaker 1: you know, I think there's a lot more time here

528
00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:37,640
Speaker 1: too for us to kind of suss out exactly what

529
00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:40,240
Speaker 1: they're doing, Like I like I started with earlier. I'm

530
00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:45,240
Speaker 1: really curious with how they how they how they kind

531
00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:49,920
Speaker 1: of behave financially going forward. And uh, well, we'll see.

532
00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:53,320
Speaker 1: Maybe this is kind of like the last offseason where

533
00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:55,840
Speaker 1: we're kind of talking about that and and it'll be

534
00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:59,280
Speaker 1: more structured for everyone by the time we're doing this

535
00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:01,520
Speaker 1: again next You're well, by the time we're doing this

536
00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:02,920
Speaker 1: a year from now, we may be in the middle

537
00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:03,520
Speaker 1: of a lockout.

538
00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:06,120
Speaker 2: But that's a I don't want to bring to bring

539
00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:06,800
Speaker 2: everyone down.

540
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:10,680
Speaker 1: Uh, all right, I think those are some those are

541
00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:15,080
Speaker 1: five names. I think you made the best point of

542
00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:19,880
Speaker 1: the of the show, and that's this is you know,

543
00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:24,680
Speaker 1: you're well, you're welcome. It's it is pitching, like that's

544
00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:25,440
Speaker 1: the priority.

545
00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:29,960
Speaker 2: But they're they're going to be monitoring this market. They

546
00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:33,680
Speaker 2: have to. You're losing. And you even had another name too.

547
00:30:34,880 --> 00:30:38,880
Speaker 2: Oh I didn't even did I did I skip? Did

548
00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:39,880
Speaker 2: we only did?

549
00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:40,200
Speaker 1: Yeah?

550
00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:42,640
Speaker 3: You mentioned him at the trade deadline. I think around

551
00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:43,240
Speaker 3: the trade deadline.

552
00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:47,280
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, I almost file type Yeah yeah, I.

553
00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:51,440
Speaker 1: Almost ended the show before mentioning my my guy. Uh yeah, no,

554
00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:54,520
Speaker 1: they look if they if they depending on how they

555
00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:57,600
Speaker 1: fill out the rest of their position players. Uh, they're

556
00:30:57,600 --> 00:30:59,800
Speaker 1: going to need a bench bat. They're going to need

557
00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:01,640
Speaker 1: some one. They did not have some This was a

558
00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:04,120
Speaker 1: This was an issue. They tried to address it with

559
00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:06,560
Speaker 1: Justin Turner. They tried to address it with Willie Castro.

560
00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:11,800
Speaker 1: Someone that could hit lefties. Rob Refschneider is a veteran.

561
00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:15,360
Speaker 1: He can play the corner outfield spots, he can step in,

562
00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:20,800
Speaker 1: He's played other positions in the past. Well, who knows

563
00:31:20,880 --> 00:31:23,480
Speaker 1: where he can play in twenty twenty six.

564
00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:26,760
Speaker 2: But he crushes lefties.

565
00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:29,760
Speaker 1: He had a one fifty nine way to runs great

566
00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:31,400
Speaker 1: at plus against lefties.

567
00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:34,280
Speaker 2: Last year in his career.

568
00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:37,360
Speaker 1: I believe those numbers are pretty pretty darn good. One

569
00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:41,400
Speaker 1: twenty nine against lefties for his career. So it's not

570
00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:43,920
Speaker 1: just like a one year wonder thing. Willy Castro was

571
00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:46,479
Speaker 1: a little bit of a like this. He hadn't always

572
00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:51,080
Speaker 1: crushed lefties in the past, justin Turner. It just wasn't

573
00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:53,720
Speaker 1: used to the part time thing as much. And he

574
00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:59,240
Speaker 1: was forty. You know this, he's Refstider's thirty five or

575
00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:00,400
Speaker 1: am I right?

576
00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:04,280
Speaker 2: Yeah? Thirty five I believe, so you know he's older,

577
00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:06,040
Speaker 2: but not you.

578
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:09,440
Speaker 1: Know, he's still got some time left there and in

579
00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:10,360
Speaker 1: some years left.

580
00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:12,719
Speaker 2: In all likelihood, I think it's a good fit and

581
00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:13,640
Speaker 2: just a name that.

582
00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:18,200
Speaker 1: You're right, like a type that kind of fits representative

583
00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:21,000
Speaker 1: of yeah, yeah, what of what they could be looking

584
00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:22,720
Speaker 1: for because they're gonna need to fill out the bench.

585
00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:26,440
Speaker 1: I think Jed Hoyer thought he did a good job

586
00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:28,840
Speaker 1: with the bench and then learned that, oh I did

587
00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:31,080
Speaker 1: not do a good job with the bench. So maybe

588
00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:33,080
Speaker 1: he's gonna look for a little bit more certainty. I

589
00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:36,480
Speaker 1: wonder if he spends a few million more on the bench,

590
00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:40,160
Speaker 1: or maybe it's as simple as it adding Alex Bregman

591
00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:43,200
Speaker 1: and not trading Matt Shaw and that upgrades your bench.

592
00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:45,760
Speaker 1: So there are ways, but I think bench is something

593
00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:49,560
Speaker 1: we can overlook. One other thing quickly that that. I'll

594
00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:53,480
Speaker 1: I wonder if they look at Catcher at all as

595
00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:58,240
Speaker 1: an area, because can you expect Carson Kelly to repeat

596
00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:02,240
Speaker 1: that Carson Kelly isn't going anywhere. I'm just wondering, like,

597
00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:05,080
Speaker 1: this is just something that entered my mind while while

598
00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:07,480
Speaker 1: thinking about how at all the positions and how you

599
00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:10,240
Speaker 1: talked about how they're kind of set. I don't think

600
00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:13,440
Speaker 1: there's much they can do. I'm not sure what they

601
00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:16,080
Speaker 1: can do. But do you need do you need to

602
00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:20,840
Speaker 1: at least like look like, are there opportunities to stabilize

603
00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:23,080
Speaker 1: the position or upgrade the position or get whatever it

604
00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:26,800
Speaker 1: may be. I like Miguel Amaya, but I you know,

605
00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:30,080
Speaker 1: obviously injuries really hurt this past season for him, but

606
00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:32,360
Speaker 1: when he was out there, it was really really solid.

607
00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:35,160
Speaker 2: Just something that you know, to consider.

608
00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:39,680
Speaker 1: All right, We'll be back next week with more episodes

609
00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:42,360
Speaker 1: or no, not next week. We have another episode this week,

610
00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:44,200
Speaker 1: and I think we're going to try and do a

611
00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:47,560
Speaker 1: mailbag episode, so we will send out requests for that.

612
00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:51,040
Speaker 1: Get some listener interaction. Thanks so much for listening. This

613
00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:54,960
Speaker 1: is Northside Territory presented by Fox One. Make sure to rate, review, subscribe,

614
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:57,920
Speaker 1: subscribe to the YouTube channel and subscribe to the Athletic,

615
00:33:57,960 --> 00:33:59,920
Speaker 1: where Patrick and I are on top of all things Cubs.

616
00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:28,279
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening everyone, take care,