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Speaker 1: Welcome into North Side Territory Powel Territory Network Cubs Podcast.

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Speaker 1: I'm Dodd Ave Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We

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Speaker 1: are your Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic and

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Speaker 1: we have switched spots once again. Patrick are out in Arizona.

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Speaker 1: I'm back home in the Chicago Land area. I missed

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Speaker 1: the heat bape, the heat wave. You were home for

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Speaker 1: fifties and apparently that is not what I am experiencing.

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Speaker 1: Uh So I'm a little bitter about it all, but

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Speaker 1: I guess this is life.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's actually kind of fifties and sunny here right now,

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Speaker 2: you know, not quite shortsweather, but you know, I don't know,

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Speaker 2: I don't know it's ever shorts weather in a professional

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Speaker 2: working environment. But maybe that's a cranky old.

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Speaker 1: Man, but I disagree.

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Speaker 2: Well, I mean the funny part is like normally this

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Speaker 2: time I spring training, it's like kind of like a

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Speaker 2: dead period and you're like, all right, what do we

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Speaker 2: got left?

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Speaker 1: Like and but I don't know.

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Speaker 2: I kind of got back down here and I'm looking

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Speaker 2: at the calendar and it's like, oh wow, we really

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Speaker 2: got to kick it into gear here and get you know,

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Speaker 2: kind of our opening day stuff together and like real,

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Speaker 2: real stuff, real decisions are going to be happening. And

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Speaker 2: you know, I loved your PCA story. That kind of

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Speaker 2: kicked off the week here. Then of course, the next

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Speaker 2: day he gets scratched from.

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Speaker 1: The lineup that I was like, oh god for.

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Speaker 2: Hamstring tightness, which he said was nothing out of the ordinary.

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Speaker 2: You know, it was kind of one of those funny

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Speaker 2: things at his locker where people are asking about, you know, like, oh,

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Speaker 2: the maturity it took for you to make this decision.

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Speaker 2: And then we talked to counsel like half an hour

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Speaker 2: later and he's like, Frankly, that was my decision.

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Speaker 3: There was a conversation and they do have a good relationship.

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Speaker 2: But you know, he goes out there and just just

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Speaker 2: flying around the bases, you know, you know, not long

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Speaker 2: after saying, well, we got to you know, take our

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Speaker 2: time and make you know, you know, there's a time

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Speaker 2: and place for everything. And then of course he gets

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Speaker 2: on the field and he's just flying around everywhere.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know that was kind of the the

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Speaker 1: idea of how good can people arms trunk be? That

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Speaker 1: is kind of the premise, and it look, he's not fixed.

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Speaker 1: He's not an offensive superstar. He's not like I'm not

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Speaker 1: buying fully in the final two months. You know, there

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Speaker 1: were ups and downs even in those final two months.

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Speaker 1: But I really like every conversation I have with him.

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Speaker 1: I feel like I like him a little bit more.

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Speaker 1: He's very it's very unvarnished when you talk to him.

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Speaker 1: There's a he doesn't censor himself and in multiple ways,

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Speaker 1: right Like he'll tell you he's honest, and he also

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Speaker 1: swears a lot. Yeah, and I'm fine with this, which

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Speaker 1: is great, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, But I just appreciate

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Speaker 1: the honesty. I appreciate there's an awareness, right Like we

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Speaker 1: talk about this a lot, like the cockiness versus confident, right,

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Speaker 1: And there are people that aren't self aware and they're cocky.

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Speaker 1: They think they're being confident, and it's just like, this

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Speaker 1: is coming across really poorly. That's not him, Like he

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Speaker 1: is well aware that he has work to do, that

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Speaker 1: it's not finished. He's confident I can be that player.

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Speaker 1: That's my expectation for myself. I have work to do.

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Speaker 1: I need to put in the work to be that player.

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Speaker 1: That he's confident he can be that star. And I

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Speaker 1: liked it. I was like I was like, I know

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Speaker 1: players don't think in terms of war, but you know,

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Speaker 1: just with your defense and base running, you're a valuable

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Speaker 1: player by war. And now if you add in what

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Speaker 1: you did in that final two months, if you extrapolate

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Speaker 1: that over a full season, He's like, Oh, I've done

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Speaker 1: the math, and I just I love that. It's like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: talk to some of his teammates happen Swanson, some of

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Speaker 1: the guys in there, just to see their thoughts on

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Speaker 1: his work ethic and what they think and that they

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Speaker 1: had similar things. Right, two smart guys to do you

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Speaker 1: guys like especially Half when when it comes to the numbers,

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Speaker 1: he's well aware of those things and he's like he's

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Speaker 1: like he doesn't. They both are like he doesn't need

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Speaker 1: to hit and he's going to be so important for us,

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Speaker 1: but if he does, look out like that's a scary

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Speaker 1: player and he's just fun. It's a I mean, you

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Speaker 1: like the Springs training stuff. There was whatever day that

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Speaker 1: was where he's running around the bases Tuesday where he's

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Speaker 1: running around the bases, and he had something else just

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Speaker 1: like that a week prior, Like he does it every

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Speaker 1: other week. It's gonna happen if he gets on base.

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Speaker 1: It is it's kind of like we talk about the

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Speaker 1: Hobby comps, but that's what it is. It's like, I

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Speaker 1: think it's a little more controlled than Hobby too. There's

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Speaker 1: more speed, right, It's it's a different type, but there's

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Speaker 1: he's causing havoc out there and it's in their head

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Speaker 1: right like a bench. They have to account for him, right,

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Speaker 1: whether it's now or six months from now when whenever,

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Speaker 1: the teams will have to be like, you know, it's

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Speaker 1: one of those frustrations like if we get him on,

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Speaker 1: if he if we allow him on base, he's on

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Speaker 1: the in the pitcher's head, he's in the catcher's head,

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Speaker 1: he's on the defender's head. I think that's that's something

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Speaker 1: that you can't really measure.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it is wild.

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Speaker 2: How you know Pca gets traded for Elmago and we

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Speaker 2: see these similarities and it's not just a fan media thing.

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Speaker 2: It's how like the organization talked about him about Okay,

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Speaker 2: when he comes up, you know, what can he bring,

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Speaker 2: what can he do?

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Speaker 3: Where should we place him? And it was the idea

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Speaker 3: of when.

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Speaker 2: Hobby came up, you could hit him towards the bottom

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Speaker 2: of the lineup, and he would bring something every day

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Speaker 2: to help you win. And you Craig Counsel is a

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Speaker 2: manager who you know, we've both been told is obsessed

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Speaker 2: with defense. Like he doesn't doesn't really care if young

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Speaker 2: hitters don't hit. He's like that young hitters aren't supposed

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Speaker 2: to hit in the majors right away. He's willing to

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Speaker 2: be patient and live with those mistakes so long as

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Speaker 2: the player can bring it on defense.

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Speaker 3: And that's what.

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Speaker 2: Pete does. I think that was well put of, just

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Speaker 2: the idea of how sharp he is, you know, and

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Speaker 2: just like you said, sprinkling in f bombs constantly. But

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Speaker 2: he's also just like he's just real, you know, he

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Speaker 2: doesn't really speak in cliches. But also everything nothing he

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Speaker 2: says is like you know, that controversial. It's just like

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Speaker 2: you said, very where thoughtful, forward thinking, contextual. And you know,

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Speaker 2: this is kind of a long wind up to what

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Speaker 2: was probably the most interesting part of your piece, the

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Speaker 2: idea of a contract extension.

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Speaker 3: Could you see this happening? Should it happen?

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Speaker 1: So the question is should? I think is interesting too, right,

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Speaker 1: And fans are getting annoyed by how much we talk

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Speaker 1: about the salaries and the finances. I think, but guess what,

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Speaker 1: it's a reality, and I think we're going to be

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Speaker 1: talking about it for a while, so just get used

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Speaker 1: to it, because it is something like this is not

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Speaker 1: something we're making up out of thin air, is how

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Speaker 1: I would phrase it. And I think, if you're going

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Speaker 1: to behave in this manner where you're carrying a two

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Speaker 1: tennish million dollar pay roll and only raising that for

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Speaker 1: you know, exceptions here and there, you have to start

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Speaker 1: thinking in the manner of how do we lock up

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Speaker 1: guys for good deals?

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Speaker 3: Right?

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Speaker 1: And it's a risk. There's always the risk of it

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Speaker 1: ends up like the White Sox right where you sign

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Speaker 1: the wrong guys, they don't turn into the players that

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Speaker 1: you need, that you want to build around. There's also

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Speaker 1: the upside of it turns into the Atlanta Braves who

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Speaker 1: have Michael Harris, Austin Riley, Ronald Acunya, Sean Murphy, there's

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Speaker 1: probably Matt Olsen is yeah. I mean, I think Albie's right.

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Speaker 1: All these guys are on extensions that are just ridiculously cheap.

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Speaker 1: Did did the Pitcher Strider? Did he sign an extension?

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Speaker 1: It seems like everyone did. I could be wrong. I

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Speaker 1: don't like there's so many guys. Is every one of

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Speaker 1: those deals perfect? No? But is there their their payroll

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Speaker 1: is not bloated. They have multiple stars on insanely cheap

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Speaker 1: deal deals, including Acunya and Michael Harris and probably I

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Speaker 1: mean probably most of those guys that I mentioned, Like

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Speaker 1: it's just super cheap. Uh PCA has like we explained,

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Speaker 1: the star upside, right, he has that upside. I don't

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Speaker 1: think it's guaranteed, but I think from what we know

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Speaker 1: about him and people that we talked to, he has

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Speaker 1: the kind of work ethic that you kind of invest in. Right.

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Speaker 1: My understanding of it all is, I mean I quoted him,

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Speaker 1: he's interested, He'll listen. He loves it here, this is

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Speaker 1: the place he wants to be. He's interested. My understanding

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Speaker 1: is the front office will kick this idea around. It's

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Speaker 1: something that they have to think about because they are

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Speaker 1: They understand how the budget is structured, and these are

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Speaker 1: the types of things they need to be proactive about.

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Speaker 1: It's a different scenario than in fourteen or fifteen, right,

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Speaker 1: and perhaps it would have been they made the right

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Speaker 1: to say it almost worked out in their favor. Right,

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Speaker 1: Like some of these things not getting extensions done. But

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Speaker 1: there was also the World Series tax I think that

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Speaker 1: they had to pay that they like a lot of

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Speaker 1: those guys were like, I won a World Series with

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Speaker 1: the Cubs that hasn't been done in over a century.

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Speaker 1: Pay me type thing. And I'm not saying they shouldn't have,

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Speaker 1: but like there was that like World Series tax almost

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Speaker 1: that they had to consider when trying to extend these

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Speaker 1: guys after sixteen. That's why you need to jump out

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Speaker 1: of the jump ahead of this, and it's something that

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Speaker 1: they'll consider. It's something that PCA will listen to, and

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Speaker 1: then we'll see if there's anything more than that, if

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Speaker 1: even numbers are exchanged. There were some comps I gathered

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Speaker 1: the high end. And he's not here offensively, is Corbyn Carroll, right,

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Speaker 1: and then Michael Harris. He's not there offensively with either

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Speaker 1: of those guys. He hasn't put up numbers like those guys.

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Speaker 1: I think Michael Harris in his rookie year, his first

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Speaker 1: full season was four point eight more according to Fangrafts,

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Speaker 1: that's a really good rookie season. Corbyn Carroll is like

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Speaker 1: MVP caliber player when he's healthy. PCA isn't there yet

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Speaker 1: he hasn't shown that. I'm not sure if he has

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Speaker 1: that offensive upside. I like the one comp I got

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Speaker 1: was Ezekiel Tovar, who is stud defensively signed last spring.

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Speaker 1: I can't remember the numbers off the top of my head.

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Speaker 1: They're all in the piece. I want to say. It

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Speaker 1: was like seven sixty something sounds right, and and he

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Speaker 1: he's a He won a gold Glove if I'm remembering

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Speaker 1: correctly this year at shortstop ninety five way to run

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Speaker 1: screat a plus just a little below average offensively. I

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Speaker 1: think that would be like, that's a pretty good comp

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Speaker 1: in my mind, Like that's the type of deal that

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Speaker 1: makes sense. Probably a little more than that, because I

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Speaker 1: think he has more offensive upside than Tovar. We'll see

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Speaker 1: if that's enough to get it done. If that, if

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Speaker 1: they want to offer that, what they you know, I

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Speaker 1: have no clue what would be acceptable on either side.

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Speaker 1: I just know that this is something that that they'd

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Speaker 1: be open to, both sides would be open to. Let's

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Speaker 1: see if they actually make any offers, or if any

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Speaker 1: traction gets made. That that's that's the thing, right, Like

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Speaker 1: we can talk about it all we want. Who knows,

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Speaker 1: if anything happens beyond like oh, yeah, we're interested, and

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Speaker 1: then you know they never really go anywhere. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: I also think, you know, kind of a front office

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Speaker 2: that's you know, kind of on the end of its

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Speaker 2: contractual term on a team that has a lot of.

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Speaker 3: Uncertainty.

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Speaker 2: You know, I think you could make the case that

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Speaker 2: I agree. I think PCA could be a star. It

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Speaker 2: could be like an All Star of this year, who

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Speaker 2: like leads this team in October. I also, like can't

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Speaker 2: rule that the possibility that he gets sent back to

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Speaker 2: Iowa at some point this year, Like, I you know,

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Speaker 2: that's probably I think both of those scenarios are unlikely

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Speaker 2: in terms of him like being a Corby and Carrol

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Speaker 2: this year or him right getting stuck in Des Moines.

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Speaker 2: But I can't rule either of those out, and so

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Speaker 2: I have a hard time seeing that getting the fish

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Speaker 2: and it's already what I mean, it's almost March madness, right,

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Speaker 2: Like it's kind of like, I know, they kick these

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Speaker 2: things around in spring training, like if we're talking about it,

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Speaker 2: if fans are curious about it, you know, people in

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Speaker 2: the front office are.

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Speaker 3: Talking talking about it because like that's their their job.

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Speaker 3: But I also kind of a segue here.

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Speaker 2: I also really liked your Kevin Alcantara piece that came

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Speaker 2: out I think the day before. Really interesting juxtaposition of,

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Speaker 2: you know, two guys who are part of that uh

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Speaker 2: same trade deadline cycle, Kevin being traded for Anthony Rizzo

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Speaker 2: in the Hobby deal. And I think that deadline. We

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Speaker 2: knew it was important at the time, right, like it

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Speaker 2: was a seismic trade deadline. But the more we kind

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Speaker 2: of pull back from it, the more you see it's

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Speaker 2: like they need these two guys. They need to hit

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Speaker 2: these two guys, and it's like, if not, you know,

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Speaker 2: the wind can't just be not getting stuck with say

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Speaker 2: Chris Bryant's contract with the Rockies on it, Like you

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Speaker 2: need to like kind of need. I think it's yes,

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Speaker 2: because we have to keep talking about the budget. I

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Speaker 2: thought it was interesting that you kind of mentioned alkin

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Speaker 2: Tera was like, maybe this guy replaces Kyle Tucker next year.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, let's let's get to that. Let's take a quick break, Patrick,

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Speaker 1: and then let's talk about elcondra ftfam.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, isn't so, you know, is Kyle Tucker coming back

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Speaker 1: or not? Is something we're going to be talking about

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Speaker 1: during the season after the season ends. Once whether they

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Speaker 1: make the playoffs, put through the playoffs, whatever, he's If

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Speaker 1: they make the playoffs, obviously he's gonna be a big

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Speaker 1: part of it, right So I who know, Like my

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Speaker 1: gut tells me and everything that we've gathered tells me,

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Speaker 1: it's a long shot that they that we know there's

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Speaker 1: no extension coming, it's a long shot that they are

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Speaker 1: able to re sign him because the market for him

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Speaker 1: is going to be wild and they just haven't shown

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Speaker 1: the ability to do that, and it doesn't seem like

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Speaker 1: they're going to have the budget to do that. So

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Speaker 1: that's that's where that stands. So it's part of the

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Speaker 1: reason why Kevin o'contra is still here. I kind of

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Speaker 1: went into the offseason thinking it's a crowded out field.

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Speaker 1: He's so valuable as a center fielder, do you need

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Speaker 1: to move this guy to maximize value. But as after

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Speaker 1: they got Tucker and the more we've talked to people,

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Speaker 1: I'm starting to think, like there's a reason they don't

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Speaker 1: move him and they're not like aggressively looking to trade him,

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Speaker 1: is because they kind of do see a need to

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Speaker 1: keep Kevin old Countra around. Look at he's a really

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Speaker 1: good player. He seems like a really talented player. I

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Speaker 1: should say he's an incredible talent. We talk about confidence,

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Speaker 1: he's got it and I like his attitude too. Like

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Speaker 1: you put him and you put him in PCA together

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Speaker 1: in the outfield, you got some real swagger, and you

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Speaker 1: got good defense, and you got guys that with the

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Speaker 1: tremendous upside to hit. He he hit this ball to

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Speaker 1: the opposite field. I know it's spring training, but he

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Speaker 1: hit this ball that he shouldn't have probably probably I think,

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Speaker 1: how did the how did DK put it? Dustin Kelly,

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Speaker 1: the hitting coach, said, like he's like basically, he said,

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Speaker 1: he's like majority of the time I tell him not

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Speaker 1: to swing at that pitch, but he swung at it.

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Speaker 1: It was I think it was like I didn't I

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Speaker 1: couldn't see the pitch. I didn't watch a replay, but

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Speaker 1: I think it was in on his hands and he

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Speaker 1: hit it like off the wall in right field. And

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Speaker 1: this is a righty like he just he's so strong,

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Speaker 1: and I think that's you know, if he's the If

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Speaker 1: he's the starting right fielder to open twenty twenty six,

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Speaker 1: fans are going to be disappointed. I'm sure right that

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Speaker 1: they'll be disappointed that Kyle Tucker is not back, but

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Speaker 1: I do think he has a chance to be a

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Speaker 1: really good player. And you know, I liked what Counsel

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Speaker 1: had to say about him. Someone asks, does he have

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Speaker 1: to play every day? Yeah, it'd be good if he

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Speaker 1: plays every day Triple A. He's going to need a

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Speaker 1: stretch where he plays every day, but he there's also

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Speaker 1: going to be stretches where he's up and he's helping

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Speaker 1: this team, and he won't be playing every day when

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Speaker 1: he's up unless there's an injury. Right, So there's not

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Speaker 1: a path to every day playing time in twenty twenty five,

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Speaker 1: but he's going to be up here at some point.

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Speaker 1: He's going to be helping this team. But at Council's

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Speaker 1: point was like, if he gets one hundred and fifty

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Speaker 1: at bats total this season, that's a problem. But he's

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Speaker 1: going to help this team, right, He's gonna play every

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Speaker 1: day at Triple A, and then he's going to come

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Speaker 1: up and he's probably going to be on that bus

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Speaker 1: back and forth overall depending on need. I like him.

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Speaker 1: I think he's talented. He's always been the guy that

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Speaker 1: when you talk about the trades from the moment they

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Speaker 1: made those trades. People told me, like you, if you're

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Speaker 1: pointing to a star, if you're searching for a star

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Speaker 1: in this system, that's the guy that has the chance,

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Speaker 1: that's the guy. You know. Before the Kyle Tucker trade,

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Speaker 1: I think Cam Smith was on that track, and now

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Speaker 1: he's getting even more hype. But I think Alcntra not

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Speaker 1: quite Cam Smith because he's he's just it has all

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Speaker 1: come together, but he's young still, and it's starting to

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Speaker 1: come together. Eighteen pounds I think of muscle or eighteen pounds.

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Speaker 1: I don't know who knows if it's all muscle. Eighteen

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Speaker 1: pounds is what he gained over the off season, and

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Speaker 1: that's part of the reason it's starting to come together.

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Speaker 1: He's a little stronger. You can control the swing a

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Speaker 1: little bit more. These long, lean guys can struggle to

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Speaker 1: really control their swings and it leads to swing and miss.

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Speaker 1: But he's looked really good and he's ultra talented.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I love what the Jaguar that's his nickname. Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 2: like cool nickname. Like you said, some swagger. I think

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Speaker 2: you got to like the trajectory of you know, we

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Speaker 2: kind of saw this with with Jason Hayward some of.

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Speaker 3: Those guys with like just long arms, long like long levers, Like.

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Speaker 2: It can take a while to like get into that groove.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 2: The Cubs also like internationally like haven't like had a

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Speaker 2: ton of impact recently for whatever reason. I know these

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Speaker 2: are kind of like very long term investments.

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Speaker 3: But like if if you.

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Speaker 2: Get him to Wrigley Field, if he gets whatever three

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Speaker 2: hundred at bats at Iowa and some good major league exposure,

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Speaker 2: and if you make the playoffs, and even if Tucker

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Speaker 2: does go sign with the Yankees or whatever.

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Speaker 3: I think I think you're okay with that.

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Speaker 2: If if the Jaguar shows enough to be like a

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Speaker 2: part of that mix, because the upside is that high.

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Speaker 2: The Yankees were never gonna have enough time to like

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Speaker 2: keep him on the forty man and kind of see

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Speaker 2: it all the way through. And so yeah, if you

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Speaker 2: have those two guys playing next to each other for

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Speaker 2: multiple years, that's a be a pretty good outcome.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And it is a way to you know, spend

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Speaker 1: in other areas. Right, We'll see what happens and how

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Speaker 1: this all plays out, how much what the budget is

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Speaker 1: going forward, who knows, and then what the CBA looks

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Speaker 1: like after twenty twenty six. All that stuff is going to,

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Speaker 1: you know, influence the way owners think and the way

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Speaker 1: front offices act and how we have to kind of

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Speaker 1: analyze things because it's kind of up in the air,

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Speaker 1: which is part of the reason why we don't see

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Speaker 1: a lot of contracts, especially with the Cubs going beyond

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Speaker 1: twenty six right now. It's one of the bigger reasons,

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Speaker 1: I think. Since we're on the theme of youngsters, there's

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Speaker 1: Matt Shaw's back. He's healthy, all that concern He is

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Speaker 1: healthy and making a push for the opening day roster.

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Speaker 1: What have you seen out there in camp? I believe

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Speaker 1: he played Sunday. Neither of us were there, but he is.

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Speaker 1: He's playing in games now, and he's making plays at

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Speaker 1: third base. I think he saw him make a play

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Speaker 1: at third base.

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Speaker 3: Perhaps. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: I like the phrase making a push because I don't know.

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Speaker 2: I kind of got back to Mesa and was just

404
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Speaker 2: kind of, you know, absorbing and listening to some of

405
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Speaker 2: this stuff, and I I had a hard time thing like, oh,

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Speaker 2: the Cubs are going to force it with Matt Shaw

407
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Speaker 2: and got a very swift responsive. No one is forcing anything.

408
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Speaker 2: No one asks to make a decision right now. You know,

409
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Speaker 2: he could show up later in the week and not

410
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Speaker 2: feel as good, or something could happen to him or

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Speaker 2: somewhere else.

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Speaker 3: On the roster.

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Speaker 2: Like you know, these things, these situations are fluid.

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Speaker 3: I mean, we've followed this team for a long time.

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Speaker 2: We know that the Cubs are generally kind of cautious

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Speaker 2: and conservative with stuff like this. They're also very protective

417
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Speaker 2: of forty man roster spots. Part of me, you know,

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Speaker 2: kind of thinks that it would rather just kind.

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Speaker 3: Of punt on this decision.

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Speaker 2: But at the same time, he's a healthy player, he's

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Speaker 2: their best prospect, he's the guy they want to be

422
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Speaker 2: their third baseman this year. They're already down a gold

423
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Speaker 2: glove second basement in Nico Corner.

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Speaker 1: So like.

425
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Speaker 3: Maybe their best twenty six won't necessarily.

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Speaker 2: Be active that day because you'll have you know, guys

427
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Speaker 2: on taxi squads like their decisions they don't have to

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Speaker 2: make right then. But you know, Shaw is gonna make

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Speaker 2: it hard on them. I mean, he's showed up in camp,

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Speaker 2: you know, kind of on a mission. He had that

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00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:33,199
Speaker 2: setback very early in camp, and you know, it'll be

432
00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:36,840
Speaker 2: fascinating to see what kind of wins out in the

433
00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:41,560
Speaker 2: end here. Is it just that they're huge amount of

434
00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:43,720
Speaker 2: confidence in Matt Shaw who he is and what he's

435
00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:45,920
Speaker 2: going to become in the majors, or do they sort

436
00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:50,480
Speaker 2: of kind of go into four corners and stall a

437
00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:53,960
Speaker 2: little bit just to kind of preserve the roster, you know,

438
00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:57,119
Speaker 2: I think I'm sure you experienced this too. Like on

439
00:23:57,240 --> 00:23:59,639
Speaker 2: one hand, it said, oh, we love the player, you know, X,

440
00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:01,840
Speaker 2: Y and Z, and then it's like, well, you know,

441
00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:03,680
Speaker 2: it's only two games and we still got one hundred

442
00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:06,280
Speaker 2: and sixty games to go. And like generally Council is

443
00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:08,720
Speaker 2: pretty conservative in that regard that he does take the

444
00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:11,199
Speaker 2: long especially for a manager, as you know, of like

445
00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:12,640
Speaker 2: being willing to kind.

446
00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:15,760
Speaker 3: Of, you know, maybe lose the battle to win the war.

447
00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:19,840
Speaker 2: And we know how Jeed Hoyer's front office looks globally

448
00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:22,359
Speaker 2: at the forty man and how they're obsessed with depth

449
00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:25,920
Speaker 2: and paranoid about injuries with good reason. So I think

450
00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:31,840
Speaker 2: that's probably the roster decision, right of, like that's gonna

451
00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:34,520
Speaker 2: be the that's gonna be the headline, you know, when you're.

452
00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:39,520
Speaker 1: Right, when right or as traveling, Yeah, yeah, no, I agree.

453
00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:43,320
Speaker 1: I don't think there's much you know, it's gonna be

454
00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:46,199
Speaker 1: obviously the bullpen, but as far as names go, like

455
00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:49,680
Speaker 1: that's that's the decision. And then figure Star yeah, yeah,

456
00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:52,359
Speaker 1: And the fifth starter thing is going to still be

457
00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:55,080
Speaker 1: fluid in Japan because you're not using five starters, right,

458
00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:58,600
Speaker 1: They're gonna kind of they're gonna use starters in a

459
00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:01,280
Speaker 1: different way in Japan than they normally would. They're still

460
00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:03,000
Speaker 1: going to be stretching them out and all these things.

461
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:07,119
Speaker 1: So Matt Shaw is the name to watch, and you know,

462
00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:09,800
Speaker 1: and I think there's enough going on with the other

463
00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:14,880
Speaker 1: third basement contenders that is making it even more interesting, right,

464
00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:18,400
Speaker 1: Like I am, I don't I don't like to look

465
00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:22,439
Speaker 1: at the numbers for spring training, but Gauge Workmen and

466
00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:26,000
Speaker 1: Vidal Bruhan have done what they need to do to

467
00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:29,720
Speaker 1: open eyes, right, you need to do something when you're

468
00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:33,080
Speaker 1: on the fringes, right, you can't like Kyle Tucker. I

469
00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:35,000
Speaker 1: don't know. I think he just got his first hit.

470
00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:38,280
Speaker 1: I don't care. I don't care if he gets no

471
00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:40,639
Speaker 1: more hits the rest of the spring. He's on the

472
00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:42,959
Speaker 1: team and he's going to be a star as long

473
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:48,480
Speaker 1: as he's healthy. Vidal Bruhan, Gauge workmen. All these guys

474
00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:51,199
Speaker 1: that are fighting for roster spots matters a little bit.

475
00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:53,159
Speaker 1: You just want to see it, right, You just need

476
00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:54,760
Speaker 1: to see it because they need to do something to

477
00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:57,600
Speaker 1: have a chance. They can't go hitless otherwise they're not

478
00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:03,360
Speaker 1: making the team. So it's interesting. And and Shaw has

479
00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:07,240
Speaker 1: you know, now that he's healthy, he got a couple

480
00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:09,640
Speaker 1: hits in there, so you know, it's all I think

481
00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,679
Speaker 1: it's all going. It all matters in a sense, I

482
00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:16,880
Speaker 1: guess is the bottom line, right, It's all It's all interesting. Yeah, yeah,

483
00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:19,960
Speaker 1: and we'll we'll see, we'll see what the final decision is. Uh.

484
00:26:20,119 --> 00:26:23,320
Speaker 1: Councils said similar stuff, you know, like we're not ruling

485
00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:25,399
Speaker 1: anything out here. And and like he wanted to be

486
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:28,800
Speaker 1: super clear about that. I was kind of like pushing,

487
00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:30,520
Speaker 1: like how many games does he need? Like is he

488
00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:32,679
Speaker 1: going to have enough? Like this is a kid like

489
00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:35,600
Speaker 1: that hasn't played a major league game yet, Like he's

490
00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:37,720
Speaker 1: you can't treat this like if he and half was

491
00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:39,560
Speaker 1: hurt right like which he was.

492
00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:42,040
Speaker 3: Normal workload.

493
00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:46,200
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, and he's like that. He said, absolutely, it's

494
00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:49,000
Speaker 1: a consideration and it's something that's on their mind, but

495
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,960
Speaker 1: it's not gonna He's like, he's still able to make

496
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,800
Speaker 1: this team for opening Day. So it doesn't sound like

497
00:26:55,840 --> 00:27:00,240
Speaker 1: that's changed. Uh No, it hasn't, Okay, So yeah, yeah,

498
00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:03,119
Speaker 1: I think it's the decision that we'll be keeping an

499
00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:07,480
Speaker 1: eye on. There's plenty more there's we'll we'll discuss more

500
00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:11,159
Speaker 1: stuff the edges of the roster and and uh we

501
00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:13,520
Speaker 1: have a mailbag episode coming later this week, and I'm

502
00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:16,400
Speaker 1: sure it's all about like a lot of roster questions

503
00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:19,960
Speaker 1: will be in there. It is like, I do you know,

504
00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:22,679
Speaker 1: ultimately it won't matter in some sense. I think we

505
00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:25,000
Speaker 1: put we do it too. I'm not putting this on

506
00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:26,720
Speaker 1: the fans. It's us too. We put so we focus

507
00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:28,760
Speaker 1: so much on the opening day roster. And I think

508
00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:31,760
Speaker 1: Council is so good about telling us, Like he's really

509
00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:35,160
Speaker 1: good about like this roster will be different, Like he's

510
00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:36,960
Speaker 1: very open about it. He's like, if I have the

511
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:40,560
Speaker 1: same bullpen you know in September, like that's probably not

512
00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:43,399
Speaker 1: a good thing. You guys to step up. You need

513
00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:47,560
Speaker 1: guys to emerge. Uh So, so the roster will look

514
00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:51,000
Speaker 1: different come September, especially if they're making a playoff run.

515
00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:53,159
Speaker 1: But you know, it's still fun to figure out and

516
00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:56,479
Speaker 1: understand who's going to be a part of this team

517
00:27:56,480 --> 00:28:00,600
Speaker 1: going forward. All right, Patrick Will, We'll be coming back

518
00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:04,639
Speaker 1: with two more episodes this week. Thanks so much for everyone.

519
00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:08,920
Speaker 1: Thanks so much to everyone for listening. Make sure to rate, review, subscribe,

520
00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:12,280
Speaker 1: Subscribe to the YouTube channel, Subscribe to The Athletic, where

521
00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:14,840
Speaker 1: Patrick and I are on top of all things Cubs.

522
00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:15,640
Speaker 1: Thanks so much,