1
00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:10,360
Speaker 1: Welcome into Northside Territory. Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast. I'm

2
00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:13,160
Speaker 1: Sahadev Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are your

3
00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:17,680
Speaker 1: Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic Patrick, it is official.

4
00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:22,639
Speaker 1: Nico Horner is a Cub for the next seven years

5
00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:27,640
Speaker 1: at least no trade clause. Six years tacked onto this

6
00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:31,360
Speaker 1: this season at one hundred and forty one million dollars.

7
00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:37,600
Speaker 1: Healthy payday for a non power hitting second basement but

8
00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:40,360
Speaker 1: someone who brings a ton of value to the field

9
00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:43,400
Speaker 1: in various ways and just you know, one of those

10
00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:47,440
Speaker 1: guys that it's rare in today's game that you can say,

11
00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:51,840
Speaker 1: like a X player for life, who knows if he's

12
00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:55,280
Speaker 1: a if he tacks on a couple of years after

13
00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,080
Speaker 1: this in another uniform, But this is going to be

14
00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:00,639
Speaker 1: a long career in a Cubs uniform for someone that

15
00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:05,400
Speaker 1: really symbolizes, you know, it's kind of like the heart

16
00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,840
Speaker 1: and soul of what this Cubs, this generation of Cubs players,

17
00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:11,320
Speaker 1: what they want them to be and who they are

18
00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:12,959
Speaker 1: and what type of baseball they play.

19
00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:17,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, I want to go back to kind of the start.

20
00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:20,640
Speaker 2: It's where you led your story for the athletic of

21
00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:26,480
Speaker 2: just that pre draft scouting process. You know, names like

22
00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:32,200
Speaker 2: sam Use, Matt Dorry, you know Cubs, you know, high

23
00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:36,800
Speaker 2: ranking Cubs scouts who were heavily involved in that process.

24
00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:41,600
Speaker 2: And it reminded me of I think you had gotten

25
00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:44,080
Speaker 2: this at one point of just sam Use went into

26
00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:46,280
Speaker 2: maybe Texas or something like that, and it was like, I

27
00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:49,400
Speaker 2: can't like love watching him. And I remember Matt Dorry

28
00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:51,640
Speaker 2: saying something like, you know, are we falling in love

29
00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:56,360
Speaker 2: with the Stanford thing or maybe overestimating it? And I

30
00:01:56,400 --> 00:02:00,760
Speaker 2: think you see a moment like that, you know, press

31
00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:03,680
Speaker 2: conference on Sunday of things coming full circle and really

32
00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:07,960
Speaker 2: the Cubs absolutely committing to him as a sort of

33
00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:11,000
Speaker 2: Cubs way. I mean, could you take our listeners back

34
00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:14,720
Speaker 2: to like why did they identify that guy and what

35
00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:15,560
Speaker 2: did he show them?

36
00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:19,560
Speaker 1: Kind of immediately, first of all, I'm going to warn

37
00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:22,920
Speaker 1: you and the listeners yet again, the dog has chosen

38
00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:27,480
Speaker 1: to eat her breakfast right next to me right as

39
00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:31,800
Speaker 1: we start the podcast. She really likes to get involved

40
00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:35,160
Speaker 1: in the podcast. So if you hear the crunching of

41
00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:37,880
Speaker 1: the dog food, that is that is my buddy Scout

42
00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:44,280
Speaker 1: making her presence felt So Yeah, I mean I remember

43
00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:47,959
Speaker 1: talking to Sam Hughes not long after they drafted Nico,

44
00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:50,720
Speaker 1: and maybe over the years for some follow up stories,

45
00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:56,480
Speaker 1: but Sam really pounded the table for for Nico Horner.

46
00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:00,560
Speaker 1: They fell in love with not just the play, but

47
00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:02,840
Speaker 1: I think the person, like this is what like what

48
00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:06,240
Speaker 1: like what what Jed was saying was this is this

49
00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:09,960
Speaker 1: is a player, like all the scouting reports said, like,

50
00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:11,720
Speaker 1: this is a cub. This is what it means to

51
00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:14,240
Speaker 1: be a Cub. This is what this is a type

52
00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:18,120
Speaker 1: of player we're looking for. Uh and I and I

53
00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:20,360
Speaker 1: get what they were saying. You know, you get to

54
00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:24,800
Speaker 1: know Nico Horner. I walked around the clubhouse yesterday in

55
00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:30,000
Speaker 1: pregame and and I had similar reactions to like from

56
00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:33,000
Speaker 1: his teammates, even new teammates. I talked to Michael Conforto

57
00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:35,200
Speaker 1: to try and get an idea of like what does

58
00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:37,880
Speaker 1: the opposition kind of think of him? And he's like, yeah,

59
00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:40,480
Speaker 1: we were like you gotta watch out for this guy.

60
00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:43,320
Speaker 1: Tough out, like doesn't like he does these things like

61
00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:47,160
Speaker 1: just because he's not Aaron Judge up there hitting sixty

62
00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:50,160
Speaker 1: home runs, Like he impacts the game in so many

63
00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:54,400
Speaker 1: different ways. I think the Cubs saw that when he

64
00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,800
Speaker 1: was you know, at Stanford, and and they kind of

65
00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:01,400
Speaker 1: I think everyone agree, He's like, oh, they like there

66
00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:03,760
Speaker 1: seems to be a theme going around whether it's Nico

67
00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:08,160
Speaker 1: Jed Craig Counsel that there's Nico can get better, But

68
00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:12,040
Speaker 1: as far as the power department goes, I'm not sure

69
00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:14,360
Speaker 1: if he really needs to. Like, this is a guy

70
00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:19,440
Speaker 1: that I mean, he's so valuable in so many different ways,

71
00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:24,480
Speaker 1: and we've talked about a defense base, running contact, no strikeouts,

72
00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:27,880
Speaker 1: and then everything he does, all the intangible stuff that

73
00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:30,000
Speaker 1: he does that that just brings so much value to

74
00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:31,360
Speaker 1: this team.

75
00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:37,240
Speaker 2: And I think it was clear what he means to

76
00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:41,880
Speaker 2: the group looking around the room there. I mean, let's

77
00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:44,479
Speaker 2: start naming names like who was there? And I know

78
00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:46,960
Speaker 2: it's it's not a far trip for them to basically

79
00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:50,200
Speaker 2: like walk through a tunnel and up an escalator or whatever.

80
00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:54,600
Speaker 2: But still after a Sunday game right at the start

81
00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:58,599
Speaker 2: of the year, for a fair amount of teammates to

82
00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:01,880
Speaker 2: be there for the press conference, I think is is telling.

83
00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:04,280
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it was. It was a good chunk

84
00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:04,799
Speaker 3: of players.

85
00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:09,400
Speaker 1: Pete ker Armstrong was there, obviously, his manager Greg Counsel

86
00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:16,080
Speaker 1: was there, Matthew Boy, Jamison, Tyonnean Hap, Dansby Swanson, Matt Shaw,

87
00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:22,719
Speaker 1: Michael Bush, Kate Horton, maybe Moises Biasteros was there. I'm

88
00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:28,360
Speaker 1: maybe missing a player or two. They they were all

89
00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,960
Speaker 1: there and it meant a lot to Nico, he said

90
00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:33,719
Speaker 1: off when we talked to him to the side, like

91
00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:36,560
Speaker 1: you know, he he didn't know that was going to happen,

92
00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:39,920
Speaker 1: and it did mean a lot. It was nice, you know,

93
00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:42,680
Speaker 1: he said, that's kind of like what this is all about.

94
00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,839
Speaker 1: Part of the reason why he wanted to stay. He

95
00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:50,040
Speaker 1: knows what the culture is with this group. And and

96
00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:52,800
Speaker 1: you know, I think he's when we talk about Nico

97
00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:56,279
Speaker 1: and what he's like, I think they believe that's their culture,

98
00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:01,560
Speaker 1: like he this isn't like a unique quality, uh that

99
00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:05,360
Speaker 1: that you know, limited just to Nico like that. They

100
00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:10,280
Speaker 1: they've It's proliferated across the clubhouse. Sometimes it's just like

101
00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:13,600
Speaker 1: players that that were already liked that to a degree,

102
00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:18,320
Speaker 1: you know. Danceby Swanson, Alex Bregman. I think that's what

103
00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,240
Speaker 1: they're known for, stuff that Nico is kind of known for.

104
00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:24,440
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, I think it meant a lot, and it

105
00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:26,280
Speaker 1: was It was one of those things that he kind

106
00:06:26,279 --> 00:06:28,159
Speaker 1: of looked around. He's like, this is what it's about.

107
00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:31,120
Speaker 1: This is why I love this place, this is this

108
00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:33,280
Speaker 1: is why it feels like home, Like these guys make

109
00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:34,120
Speaker 1: it feel that way.

110
00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:37,360
Speaker 2: The other part of your story that really jumped out

111
00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:41,359
Speaker 2: to me was the idea of comps. Yeah, and like,

112
00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:43,839
Speaker 2: we all know how much the Cubs love Nico, but

113
00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:47,560
Speaker 2: you know you have to show that love in terms

114
00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:52,799
Speaker 2: of years and dollars. And the final number was higher

115
00:06:52,839 --> 00:06:56,120
Speaker 2: than I thought it would be. Yeah, I thought as

116
00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:01,520
Speaker 2: Nico and his agent did a good job of positioning

117
00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:04,080
Speaker 2: him as a guy who doesn't hit a ton of

118
00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:07,159
Speaker 2: power and is that he's an up the middle player,

119
00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:10,160
Speaker 2: but second base is probably the least important up the

120
00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:16,160
Speaker 2: middle position. And for them to get north of what

121
00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:22,640
Speaker 2: one forty to get six years, I thought was interesting

122
00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:25,600
Speaker 2: and also sort of unprecedented. Right, It's not like you

123
00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:28,720
Speaker 2: could just look up Baseball Reference and start pointing out easy,

124
00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:29,560
Speaker 2: easy comps.

125
00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:33,480
Speaker 1: I mean, I think we talked about this last episode.

126
00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:37,480
Speaker 1: It was is the fourth highest contract for a second baseman, right,

127
00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:42,520
Speaker 1: and it was Cano Semian and who am I forgetting Altuve?

128
00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:46,800
Speaker 1: So these are all guys that have had thirty plus

129
00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:51,480
Speaker 1: homer seasons at least one may be multiple, probably multiple

130
00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:54,440
Speaker 1: for most of them, and definitely multiple twenty home run seasons.

131
00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:56,320
Speaker 3: Niko has thirty six for his career.

132
00:07:56,800 --> 00:07:59,200
Speaker 1: I think you pointed that out in the text chain

133
00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:03,160
Speaker 1: we were in, like this is not like, this is

134
00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:07,640
Speaker 1: not a power hitter. And I started looking for comps

135
00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:11,600
Speaker 1: even like once we heard this deal was done and

136
00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:14,960
Speaker 1: before we had the numbers, I'm like, are there comps,

137
00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:18,080
Speaker 1: Like what can I like? Or maybe are there even

138
00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:21,560
Speaker 1: similar plays that haven't signed a deal yet? And like

139
00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:24,600
Speaker 1: what I found like was like, okay, yeah, you can

140
00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:28,160
Speaker 1: find one year of a guy like Ernie Clement was

141
00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:30,200
Speaker 1: kind of similar last year.

142
00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:33,000
Speaker 3: I don't know if you'd.

143
00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:35,280
Speaker 1: Put him in the same bucket as Nico, but that's

144
00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:41,160
Speaker 1: one season of a guy doing it. Jed admitted to us,

145
00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:45,040
Speaker 1: He's like, I can say this now, but I wasn't

146
00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:48,679
Speaker 1: admitting it as much during the negotiations. But this is

147
00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:50,640
Speaker 1: a guy that can play shortstop. We know we can

148
00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:53,000
Speaker 1: play short stop if a team wanted them, Like, teams

149
00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:55,400
Speaker 1: would have paid him to play short stop, and that's

150
00:08:55,440 --> 00:09:00,000
Speaker 1: another level of money for him. But yes, I think

151
00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:03,080
Speaker 1: they struggled to find comps like in negotiations. It wasn't

152
00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:05,679
Speaker 1: like they were like, here are three names that are

153
00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:09,440
Speaker 1: similar deals, let's work around this framework. They couldn't do that,

154
00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:11,800
Speaker 1: so they had to be creative. They had to think

155
00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:14,720
Speaker 1: outside the box. Jit pointed it out. Look, I think,

156
00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:17,640
Speaker 1: like just going off fangraphs war, I think he's actually

157
00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:21,320
Speaker 1: more valuable via a Baseball reference War. But if you

158
00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:25,640
Speaker 1: go off fangraphs war, he was twentieth last year. If

159
00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:27,840
Speaker 1: you go in like two year chunks, three year chunks,

160
00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:32,080
Speaker 1: four year chunks, it's like twenty one, twenty two, nineteen,

161
00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:36,800
Speaker 1: Like he's he's top twenty player via WAR, and he

162
00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:39,800
Speaker 1: doesn't hit home runs. He just doesn't. He doesn't hit

163
00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:43,000
Speaker 1: a lot of home runs. And that's that is so rare.

164
00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:45,959
Speaker 1: You go look at those numbers of who is in

165
00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,480
Speaker 1: that top twenty, you're going to see twenty plus home runs.

166
00:09:49,559 --> 00:09:51,880
Speaker 3: It just that's how it is. It's rare to find.

167
00:09:51,679 --> 00:09:57,319
Speaker 1: Someone that brings value like Nico Horner does. So good

168
00:09:57,400 --> 00:09:59,280
Speaker 1: luck trying to find the comp. I mean, yes, you

169
00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:01,880
Speaker 1: can start off with the crazy comp like Willia Domas,

170
00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:04,679
Speaker 1: but Willi Domas was coming off a free agency like

171
00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:07,679
Speaker 1: he had thirty something Homers thirty two. I want to

172
00:10:07,720 --> 00:10:11,199
Speaker 1: say for the Brewers, he was playing shortstop. Like I

173
00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:14,680
Speaker 1: get Nico Horner can play shortstop, but he hasn't done

174
00:10:14,679 --> 00:10:21,880
Speaker 1: that since twenty twenty two, I believe. So it's just

175
00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:26,319
Speaker 1: it's hard to like put that put that all into perspective.

176
00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:29,800
Speaker 1: They did, and if you want to argue it's he's

177
00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:32,720
Speaker 1: being overpaid or that's too much money for him. I look,

178
00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:35,600
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna argue with someone about that.

179
00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:39,000
Speaker 3: I think I think it was clear.

180
00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:41,760
Speaker 1: And we talked about this in the off season, right Patrick,

181
00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:46,600
Speaker 1: with the with the trade rumors surrounding Nico that it

182
00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:49,640
Speaker 1: wasn't like the Cubs were shopping Nico. People came and asked.

183
00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:51,760
Speaker 1: That's what happens when you're an impending free agent. People

184
00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:56,800
Speaker 1: will come and ask. And the Cubs quickly realized that

185
00:10:56,920 --> 00:11:00,760
Speaker 1: no team was gonna value Nico Hoer as much as

186
00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:03,320
Speaker 1: they do. The Cubs know that this is a guy

187
00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:06,160
Speaker 1: that look, the numbers are there, yes, Like like I said,

188
00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:09,240
Speaker 1: war and all that stuff, but they're not the typical

189
00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:12,400
Speaker 1: way that you expect someone to accumulate value, and that

190
00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:14,920
Speaker 1: kind of throws things off for sometimes people on the

191
00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:17,120
Speaker 1: outside looking in like, how can you pay this guy

192
00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:20,320
Speaker 1: twenty three million dollars a year. I don't think if

193
00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:22,560
Speaker 1: you watch Nico Horner every day, I don't think there's

194
00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:25,440
Speaker 1: many Cubs fans complaining about this. And I don't think

195
00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:28,040
Speaker 1: a single player in that clubhouse is like, you know,

196
00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:30,640
Speaker 1: behind closed doors, like this guy's getting overpaid. I can't

197
00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:33,800
Speaker 1: believe they paid Nico Horner. Nobody is saying that. I

198
00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:36,959
Speaker 1: guarantee that, Like, it's just it's not part of the

199
00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:40,319
Speaker 1: discussion because they they see what he brings to the table.

200
00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:42,960
Speaker 1: And I think, you know, if you're around him, even media,

201
00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:45,600
Speaker 1: like I think we see it, like it's very clear

202
00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:49,960
Speaker 1: to us, like this is a guy that is incredibly valuable. Patrick,

203
00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:52,360
Speaker 1: Why don't we take a quick break then, and then

204
00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:54,760
Speaker 1: we can come back and talk about the Cubs being

205
00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:57,480
Speaker 1: a little bit more aggressive with their spending in the

206
00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:00,679
Speaker 1: past week. I guess this one for the don is

207
00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:02,560
Speaker 1: looking for peak bedroom performance.

208
00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:06,360
Speaker 4: Blue Choo is the number one chewable ed brand and

209
00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:09,080
Speaker 4: they just dropped their newest innovation. It is called the

210
00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:10,520
Speaker 4: Blue Cheo Gold.

211
00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:13,400
Speaker 1: Blue Choo Gold dissolves under your tongue and works in

212
00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:14,920
Speaker 1: as little as fifteen minutes.

213
00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:18,760
Speaker 2: Peak passion and peak performance in a single tablet.

214
00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:23,120
Speaker 4: That's right, two ingredients for blood flow mixed with appamorphine

215
00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:25,960
Speaker 4: and oxytocin to turn up the arousal and connection in

216
00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:30,760
Speaker 4: your brain and body. This is the future of performance. Faster, smarter,

217
00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:34,840
Speaker 4: and precision engineered for results. See why millions of men

218
00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:38,600
Speaker 4: trust blue Cheo now with a gold standard upgrade that's

219
00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:41,720
Speaker 4: changing the game for good. Make life easier and discover

220
00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:44,040
Speaker 4: your options at blue cheo dot com. And we've got

221
00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:46,760
Speaker 4: a special deal for our FT listeners. Get ten percent

222
00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:50,120
Speaker 4: off your first month of blue Choo Gold with codea foul.

223
00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:54,160
Speaker 4: That's Promo code foul. Visit blue cheo dot com for

224
00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:57,720
Speaker 4: more details and important safety information, and we thank blue

225
00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:01,680
Speaker 4: Choo for sponsoring the podcast.

226
00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:02,800
Speaker 3: Patrick.

227
00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:05,760
Speaker 1: I don't I don't think we can say that the

228
00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:09,760
Speaker 1: Cubs are now you know, the Dodgers or the Mats

229
00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:11,440
Speaker 1: or or anything like that.

230
00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:12,880
Speaker 3: We're not going to go that far.

231
00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:16,440
Speaker 1: But the Cubs are being aggressive with to go get

232
00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:19,960
Speaker 1: what they want. They understand where they sit, like what

233
00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:23,760
Speaker 1: they don't have a lot of commitments like Jed Hoyer,

234
00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:26,480
Speaker 1: Carter Hawkins. They've been very careful about how they spend

235
00:13:26,679 --> 00:13:31,559
Speaker 1: this smart spending or intelligence spending. Intelligence spending, Yeah, intelligence

236
00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:34,920
Speaker 1: spending that Jed talked about. However, many years ago that became,

237
00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:41,880
Speaker 1: you know, part of the lexicon in Cubs world that

238
00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:45,400
Speaker 1: that is paying off in a sense where because they

239
00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:49,720
Speaker 1: were smart about how they were spending money and handing

240
00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:52,920
Speaker 1: out long term contracts, now they're able to be a

241
00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:55,600
Speaker 1: little bit more aggressive with those deals and they can

242
00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:58,800
Speaker 1: hand out some money because even with this, like go

243
00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:01,840
Speaker 1: look at their few you're spending they they have a

244
00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:05,440
Speaker 1: ton of flexibility and they've spent on players that they

245
00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:09,480
Speaker 1: truly like. These are the guys that they like, their

246
00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:13,040
Speaker 1: projection systems like. And then as like when you get

247
00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:15,160
Speaker 1: to the human side, they're like, yep, that's the type

248
00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:16,960
Speaker 1: of person we want to spend big on.

249
00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:22,640
Speaker 2: And that's kind of a departure from what has been

250
00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:28,560
Speaker 2: a very model driven approach to player acquisition, a very

251
00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:34,760
Speaker 2: dispassionate way of evaluating players. And I'll just pull them

252
00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:40,960
Speaker 2: up here. I got Bregman, Pete Nico four hundred and

253
00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:44,280
Speaker 2: thirty one million dollars committed to those three players within

254
00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:49,160
Speaker 2: one financial quarter, and that will cover seventeen total seasons.

255
00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:56,880
Speaker 2: So that is significant. I mean the Cubs went longer

256
00:14:56,920 --> 00:14:59,840
Speaker 2: with Bregman with this offer than they did when he

257
00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:04,080
Speaker 2: was a year younger. Yeah, for a variety of reasons,

258
00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:07,840
Speaker 2: the Cubs were never quite rarely we're able to find

259
00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:13,360
Speaker 2: that sort of PCA deal with their prior group of

260
00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:20,640
Speaker 2: star players. And Nico like, maybe another team out there

261
00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:25,040
Speaker 2: would have paid him like like an adamis, but maybe

262
00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:27,400
Speaker 2: they wouldn't, you know it just like it's you never

263
00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:33,640
Speaker 2: really never really know. As much as everyone appreciates necos

264
00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:39,320
Speaker 2: and tangibles, and certainly he's an easy player to invest

265
00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:43,080
Speaker 2: in that you know, it won't change his work, habits

266
00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:48,040
Speaker 2: or disposition at all. But still, I think taking all

267
00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:53,000
Speaker 2: those together, it's it's significant in that they used a

268
00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:54,960
Speaker 2: lot of deferred money to get it done, which was

269
00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:58,080
Speaker 2: something they had kept off the table for a while.

270
00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:03,880
Speaker 2: They're going over this CBT this year. That is their plan,

271
00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:08,560
Speaker 2: and that is a departure from most of the past

272
00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:14,400
Speaker 2: several seasons. And how you led this off it was

273
00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:18,480
Speaker 2: perfect of they're investing in people like ever since they

274
00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:20,400
Speaker 2: won the World Series, there's been a lot of times

275
00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:24,200
Speaker 2: where they just felt sort of a drift or kind

276
00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:26,960
Speaker 2: of in this defensive or reactive pose like this is

277
00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:31,560
Speaker 2: them going out and identifying the people that they want

278
00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:34,400
Speaker 2: to build around. And of course they have a ton

279
00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:36,960
Speaker 2: of money coming off the books, like they had to

280
00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:40,680
Speaker 2: put their money somewhere. Yea, when like roughly roughly half

281
00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:43,800
Speaker 2: of your projected opening day roster can become free agents,

282
00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:46,360
Speaker 2: like yeah, you gotta you gotta invest something like there's

283
00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,120
Speaker 2: gonna be a team after the lockout at some point, right,

284
00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:54,440
Speaker 2: you need players, right and so like again, they're not

285
00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:58,520
Speaker 2: becoming the Dodgers. But it's also like when the comes

286
00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:00,760
Speaker 2: do this, you can't then complain like like, oh, they

287
00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:02,640
Speaker 2: didn't spend even more, you know what I mean, Like

288
00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:04,920
Speaker 2: like they've had a good they've had a good run here.

289
00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:08,960
Speaker 2: I mean, I think if you look at people's reactions,

290
00:17:09,080 --> 00:17:13,720
Speaker 2: talk to people in the clubhouse, uh you optimism have

291
00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:17,199
Speaker 2: come back to Rigley Field after a playoff season, like

292
00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:22,639
Speaker 2: this is this has been you know, an important, impressive

293
00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:23,760
Speaker 2: moment for them.

294
00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:27,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think, you know, it isn't too far of

295
00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:29,800
Speaker 1: a departure of what kind of Tom Rikins has always

296
00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:33,880
Speaker 1: said he's wanted to do. Yeah, right, like he he

297
00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:36,560
Speaker 1: never he never said we're going to be at the

298
00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:39,280
Speaker 1: top of the league and spending every season. What he

299
00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:42,280
Speaker 1: said is like, it's going to fluctuate. He's you know,

300
00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:45,000
Speaker 1: this will go through cycles. Like he didn't word it

301
00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:47,040
Speaker 1: exactly like I'm wording it, but yeah, there will be

302
00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:51,119
Speaker 1: seasons where they're uh with the bigger spenders, and then

303
00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:54,760
Speaker 1: years they pull back. Like you and I don't have

304
00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:56,080
Speaker 1: to like that. The fans don't have.

305
00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:58,480
Speaker 3: To like that. But he's been pretty clear about that.

306
00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:02,280
Speaker 1: It's not like you said we're not spending or we're

307
00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:07,600
Speaker 1: always spending. It's he's said, like this, it'll be a

308
00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:11,399
Speaker 1: back and forth type thing almost, and it appears to

309
00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:13,560
Speaker 1: be happening again. We're in that cycle. They're in that

310
00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:16,240
Speaker 1: cycle of being a little bit more aggressive. They also,

311
00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:20,040
Speaker 1: I mean, they have to spend somewhere, Like you said that,

312
00:18:20,119 --> 00:18:21,600
Speaker 1: like where's their money going to go? They have so

313
00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:24,000
Speaker 1: much money coming off the books. Who was a free

314
00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:27,480
Speaker 1: agent that you target? I think you said this when

315
00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:31,720
Speaker 1: we started hearing Nico Horner trade rumors. It's like, go,

316
00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:35,359
Speaker 1: look at the free agent class. This is the perfect fit.

317
00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:37,960
Speaker 1: If you look at the free agent class, who is

318
00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:39,720
Speaker 1: the best fit of the free agents?

319
00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:43,200
Speaker 3: It's Nico Horner. He makes the most sense for them.

320
00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:47,240
Speaker 1: It gives them it. You know, that they haven't tied

321
00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:51,400
Speaker 1: themselves up with so much money going forward that they

322
00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:55,800
Speaker 1: can't spend on others. They can probably go out there

323
00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:58,560
Speaker 1: and be aggressive once again. I don't know what the

324
00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:00,119
Speaker 1: new CBA is going to look like. I don't know

325
00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:03,600
Speaker 1: what all the rules are going to be. I do

326
00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:08,040
Speaker 1: think that the Cubs will will be flexible enough to

327
00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:11,240
Speaker 1: act on free agents if they see someone that they

328
00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:12,440
Speaker 1: want to be aggressive with.

329
00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:15,640
Speaker 3: Uh. That's that's looking.

330
00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:18,000
Speaker 1: Too far into the future and trying to you know,

331
00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:21,080
Speaker 1: can't read those tea leaves now because there's just so

332
00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:22,640
Speaker 1: much that's unclear.

333
00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:23,000
Speaker 3: About the CBA.

334
00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:26,240
Speaker 1: But the Cubs are in a good spot financially, even

335
00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:29,679
Speaker 1: though they've spent so much money lately. Like that's this

336
00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:31,200
Speaker 1: is They're in a good situation.

337
00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:32,000
Speaker 3: Uh.

338
00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:34,800
Speaker 1: You just have to hope these players continue to you know,

339
00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:37,920
Speaker 1: stay healthy and produce at the level that they've been

340
00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:43,120
Speaker 1: producing at. But it is, it's they're in a good

341
00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:46,280
Speaker 1: situation and I'm curious to see how how they can

342
00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:50,040
Speaker 1: continue to add going forward. That's probably an episode six

343
00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:52,760
Speaker 1: months from now, nine months from now, a year from now, uh,

344
00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:57,120
Speaker 1: depending on when baseball starts up again after the CBA expires.

345
00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:02,919
Speaker 2: Yeah, well Leanna Scooble Scooba Botch maybe, but I do

346
00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:05,320
Speaker 2: think I think you alluded Tode in your piece for

347
00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:11,320
Speaker 2: the athletic Sunday night Monday morning. Probably gonna need some

348
00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:16,760
Speaker 2: power at some point, a more you know power bat

349
00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:23,000
Speaker 2: to kind of elevate the group. But I think this

350
00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:26,920
Speaker 2: lineup has a pretty high floor. I mean outstanding defense,

351
00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:30,520
Speaker 2: as you talked to Jet about, that was the backbone

352
00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:36,600
Speaker 2: of the twenty sixteen team. It's consistently very good, sometimes spectacular,

353
00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:42,560
Speaker 2: you know, with this particular alignment, and to have basically

354
00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:48,040
Speaker 2: your infield set for you know, almost four, you know whatever,

355
00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:53,360
Speaker 2: three more years beyond this one, obviously, you hope by

356
00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:59,080
Speaker 2: a Steros Shaw, you know, start to really establish themselves,

357
00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:03,600
Speaker 2: be a piece or two you'd probably add. I think

358
00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:08,240
Speaker 2: Miguel Amaya your all star pick, Like, if he can

359
00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:13,480
Speaker 2: stay healthy and establish himself as an everyday player, that

360
00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:16,680
Speaker 2: would be another kind of nice boost to the group.

361
00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:20,359
Speaker 2: I mean the pitching, they'll always be kind of in

362
00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:22,080
Speaker 2: that space. I don't know if they're going to go

363
00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:25,359
Speaker 2: for the top tier aces looking for like half a

364
00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:29,479
Speaker 2: half a billion dollar Yeah, if Dylan sees that two

365
00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:31,560
Speaker 2: hundred million was a non starter. Like, I don't know

366
00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:38,479
Speaker 2: exactly where that market will be heading, but look, I

367
00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:41,720
Speaker 2: know all those players from that twenty sixteen class, like

368
00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:45,600
Speaker 2: have not been awesome every single year. But like the

369
00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:50,159
Speaker 2: owner pointed to the lack of contract extensions repeatedly in

370
00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:54,640
Speaker 2: the infrequent times he talks to the media, like Ricketts

371
00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:56,479
Speaker 2: knew that was a big deal, like to get they

372
00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:58,160
Speaker 2: could have gotten one or two done. Maybe it looks

373
00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:00,399
Speaker 2: a little differently, maybe that transition is a little smoother.

374
00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:05,480
Speaker 2: I think you and I as people who are around

375
00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:09,679
Speaker 2: the game a lot, like in clubhouses, talking to people

376
00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,920
Speaker 2: who believe in feel. I think there was a distinct

377
00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:16,000
Speaker 2: lack of feel when you looked at some of those

378
00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:19,439
Speaker 2: rosters that were put together during the rebuild. They wouldn't

379
00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:23,480
Speaker 2: call a rebuild. So I think betting on people who

380
00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:28,840
Speaker 2: are like obsessed with the game is usually the good

381
00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:34,440
Speaker 2: way to go about it. And it is just cool too,

382
00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:40,640
Speaker 2: whether it's Pete or Nico, people who decide to sign

383
00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:42,840
Speaker 2: these extensions. It is just different than a free agent,

384
00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:45,159
Speaker 2: like the vibes of the press conference, the sort of

385
00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:48,119
Speaker 2: like journey it took to get there. I mean, Pete,

386
00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:52,200
Speaker 2: you know Jed considers him a homegrown player even though

387
00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:55,080
Speaker 2: they passed on him in the draft and technically started

388
00:22:55,119 --> 00:22:58,400
Speaker 2: with the Mets. I understand his point, which have about

389
00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:04,920
Speaker 2: two one legit homegrown player and another essentially a homegrown player.

390
00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:07,199
Speaker 2: I took a lot of a lot of people, a

391
00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:09,520
Speaker 2: lot of conviction to kind of get to that point.

392
00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:12,119
Speaker 2: So I think that's another cool kind of angle that

393
00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:16,879
Speaker 2: we've written about of just like it takes a village.

394
00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:20,640
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, all right.

395
00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:24,000
Speaker 1: We we didn't talk about a disappointing weekend.

396
00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:24,520
Speaker 3: We will.

397
00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:26,960
Speaker 1: We'll talk a little bit more about Cubs baseball.

398
00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:29,240
Speaker 3: It's one weekend. I hope fans aren't freaking out.

399
00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:33,160
Speaker 1: I hope the listeners of this this podcast understand it's

400
00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:36,080
Speaker 1: one bad weekend and the Cubs. You know, I actually

401
00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:39,119
Speaker 1: thought showdam and Aga looked pretty good. But that's a

402
00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:43,199
Speaker 1: we can talk about that later. Let's let's wrap this

403
00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:45,920
Speaker 1: baby up. We'll be back with a couple more episodes

404
00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:48,359
Speaker 1: this week. We will talk about the product on the

405
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,520
Speaker 1: field after Extension week. Now that Extension Week is over,

406
00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:55,200
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening to everyone. Make sure to rate, review, subscribe,

407
00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:58,280
Speaker 1: subscribe to the YouTube channel, and subscribe to the athletic

408
00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:00,840
Speaker 1: where Patrick and I are on top of all things Cubs.

409
00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:28,080
Speaker 1: Thanks everyone, take care,