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Speaker 1: Welcome into North Side Territory. Follol Territory Networks Cubs Podcast.

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Speaker 1: I'm sah Day Sharma with my partner Patrick's Moody. We

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

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Speaker 1: we have a big move in the city of Chicago.

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Speaker 1: After a an amazing Saturday night for Chicago fans if

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Speaker 1: you were watching that Bears game.

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Speaker 2: If you are a football fan, I hope everyone enjoyed that.

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Speaker 1: It's the first time in a while where I've been

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Speaker 1: able to share a good sports moment with my sons.

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Speaker 1: A team that we both for pulled off pretty amazing

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Speaker 1: win that was fun for everyone. And then Sunday morning

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Speaker 1: starts with the White Sox, not the Cubs, so White

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Speaker 1: Sox making a big signing we're gonna take a.

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Speaker 3: More Kami, the big bat who has.

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Speaker 1: Some big holes in his swing goes to the South Side.

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Speaker 1: I don't think it comes as complete.

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Speaker 3: Shock, uh. I think you know, pepized by this move,

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Speaker 3: but it is.

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Speaker 2: It is a move that you know is out of

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Speaker 2: I don't know if i'd say out of character that

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Speaker 2: we haven't seen the White Sox do this.

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Speaker 3: You know a lot they they're.

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Speaker 4: Definitely a character.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, uh and it.

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Speaker 2: It's a you know, it's a fun move for them,

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Speaker 2: and and it's probably maybe I don't know, our Cubs

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Speaker 2: fans frustrated. If anything, it's just the lack of movement

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Speaker 2: that's probably frustrating less than Murakami in in uh In

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Speaker 2: any way, because I don't think he was really a

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Speaker 2: fit for the Cubs. He's a pretty good fit for

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Speaker 2: the White Sox. Guy can kind of like play on

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Speaker 2: a losing team. See what he is, and and if

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Speaker 2: he turns out to be really good, you know, he'll

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Speaker 2: get his payday. The payday that he was probably hoping

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Speaker 2: for right now will come in a couple of years

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Speaker 2: because he's still in the prime of his career.

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Speaker 4: We did some reporting on you know, Japanese baseball, the

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Speaker 4: Cups connections over there heading into the Tokyo Series, and

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Speaker 4: Murakami was a name that was given to us just

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Speaker 4: as kind of a general name that the baseball industry

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Speaker 4: is on. And you know, at that time, we're hearing

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Speaker 4: a lot about the New York teams like the Mets

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Speaker 4: and Yankees have been on this guy for years. You

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Speaker 4: see his age, his power, and you kind of assume,

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Speaker 4: you know, the real big market teams are going to

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Speaker 4: be on that, or maybe there's a team that's trying

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Speaker 4: to like break into that arena and make a name

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Speaker 4: for themselves. And when you see the final contract terms,

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Speaker 4: what was it, two years, thirty four million, a rather

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Speaker 4: modest outlay for a guy who guess is kind of

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Speaker 4: coming off a down season. There are questions about what

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Speaker 4: he can be in The majors did not get a

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Speaker 4: sense this was a big Cubs target really at any point.

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Speaker 4: I think immediately he was kind of immediately ruled out

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Speaker 4: as like a third baseman. The Cubs did not see that.

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Speaker 4: And then I think it's just a hard commit if

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Speaker 4: you're a team like the Cubs too, you know, kind

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Speaker 4: of be willing to live with those growing pains for

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Speaker 4: a young hitter if he doesn't bring a lot of defense,

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Speaker 4: if you're already trying to piece mail replacement of Kyle

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Speaker 4: Tucker with young talent and you've got a third baseman already.

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Speaker 4: But to me at the Cubs angle, there was just

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Speaker 4: maybe Tatsuya my maybe maybe he doesn't get that like

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Speaker 4: one hundred ninety million dollar contract or whatever. You know,

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Speaker 4: maybe this is kind of part of the negotiations here

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Speaker 4: of you know, these names come over from Japan. You've

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Speaker 4: seen so much success recently of players coming over from NPB,

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Speaker 4: and we get carried away with some of the contract

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Speaker 4: projections and all the teams that are intrigued by this,

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Speaker 4: and then when it gets down to it, sometimes a

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Speaker 4: guy just signs with the white socks.

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Speaker 2: Right, and you know we saw like, I don't want

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Speaker 2: to it's not the exact equivalent of showed him anaga.

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Speaker 2: I don't want to compare every single signing to that

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Speaker 2: just because there aren't a ton of rumors.

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Speaker 3: There are some rumors around him. My, you know we're hearing.

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Speaker 2: You know, obviously the Cubs have been one of the

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Speaker 2: teams publicly connected to him, So so we can't act

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Speaker 2: as if, you know, there's no no connection between the Cubs.

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Speaker 3: And am I here. So wouldn't be a shocking move.

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Speaker 2: I think for Patrick and I the focus would have

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Speaker 2: to be what is the price point and do they

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Speaker 2: end up coming at a point like coming to uh,

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Speaker 2: you know agreement that's not in that crazy range, right?

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Speaker 3: What did what did Tim Britton project it?

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Speaker 4: It was I think with the posting fee it would

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Speaker 4: be around two hundred million dollars something like that.

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Speaker 2: Okay, so that that's just not something the Cubs are doing.

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Speaker 2: We we we know, like we've talked to enough people

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Speaker 2: that we know that the Cubs won't be doing that deal.

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Speaker 3: But it also doesn't seem like that.

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Speaker 2: Maybe like this is this is the trouble, Like this

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Speaker 2: is the difficulty of trying to project some of these.

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Speaker 3: Japanese deals because you just don't know.

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Speaker 2: Like with Yamamoto, he blew out projections, like because like

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Speaker 2: as you know, as we started, as as teams started

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Speaker 2: doing their really deep dives, or or as we publicly

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Speaker 2: saw like what what they how they valued him, it

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Speaker 2: was at a different level than what everyone kind of realized.

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Speaker 2: I think something similar maybe happening, but in reverse with him.

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Speaker 2: I like we started getting this like, well, this guy

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Speaker 2: throws in the upper nineties. Look at his numbers in Japan?

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Speaker 2: Is he an ace? And then you start getting crazy

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Speaker 2: numbers thrown around.

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Speaker 3: Right now, I'm not sure.

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Speaker 2: It just doesn't seem like they're going to come close

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Speaker 2: to meeting that. I don't want to put anything past

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Speaker 2: past Scott Boris. I don't I don't want to rule

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Speaker 2: out a team, some team's internal evaluation is different than

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Speaker 2: what we're hearing, and they'll say, you know what, we're

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Speaker 2: not going to meet that number, but we're going to

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Speaker 2: go to a pretty high number.

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Speaker 3: The Cubs just aren't going to be that team. But

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Speaker 3: I wouldn't rule.

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Speaker 2: Them out on him either, And if he if it's

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Speaker 2: one of these situations that we just saw with Murakami,

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Speaker 2: where you know, the market doesn't fully bear out what

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Speaker 2: kind of deal would make sense for am I in

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Speaker 2: the Cubs to to kind of settle on. But you

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Speaker 2: know that we're not there yet, but it's certainly a

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Speaker 2: possibility that this you could kind of slip through the cracks,

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Speaker 2: so to say, and the Cubs feel more comfortable with

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Speaker 2: the price range because I certainly do think if you're

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Speaker 2: not getting to those crazy numbers one fifty two hundred,

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Speaker 2: that the Cubs are interested.

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Speaker 4: Tim Britton's projection on the Athletic was eight years, one

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Speaker 4: hundred and ninety million plus a thirty million dollar posting fee.

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Speaker 4: I mean, our understanding is that the Cubs don't really

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Speaker 4: view Amia as that good. Plus Historically the Cubs just

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Speaker 4: don't really go there. They don't win those bidding wars.

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Speaker 4: I'm with you. I wouldn't bet against Scott Boris in

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Speaker 4: general and definitely not on this particular picture.

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Speaker 3: But we'll see.

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Speaker 4: I think it's a good, good transition of like this episode,

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Speaker 4: we want to kind of wrap up kind of year interview.

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Speaker 4: This season started in Tokyo. Uh, you were there. I'm

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Speaker 4: trying to think back of your your jet, like I'm

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Speaker 4: trying to remember.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I remember. It was.

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Speaker 2: I felt like I was, you know, like disassociated from

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Speaker 2: my body for a week.

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Speaker 3: Uh it was. It was tough to cover baseball uh

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Speaker 3: that week.

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Speaker 2: Uh you know, and and I feel like the way

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Speaker 2: the Cubs played and the performance and then the way

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Speaker 2: we came away from that was really uninspiring. Uh you know,

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Speaker 2: we that it was. It was not a good start

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Speaker 2: to the season in the sense like the performance on

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Speaker 2: the field, a lot of that stuff was fun. Everything

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Speaker 2: outside of the games really fun, uninspiring games. I remember

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Speaker 2: like thinking, like what am I supposed to write about?

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Speaker 2: Like this is supposed to be like this marquee event,

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Speaker 2: and like I have to come up with a Cubs

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Speaker 2: angle about this boring ass first where they just got

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Speaker 2: out played by a team that's clearly better that the

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Speaker 2: you know, crowd was clearly in favor of the opposition.

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Speaker 3: It was.

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Speaker 2: It felt like, you know, it's also a good reminder

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Speaker 2: of like, don't let a couple of games to start

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Speaker 2: the season, you know, color what you're gonna think of

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Speaker 2: this season, because you know, while the ending wasn't what

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Speaker 2: Cubs fans wanted, this season turned into one of the

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Speaker 2: more fun seasons were probably covered in a while.

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Speaker 3: And I think a lot of that had to do

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Speaker 3: with Wrigley Field.

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Speaker 2: You know, like starting out in Japan, they lose to

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Speaker 2: home games, but the games we covered at Wrigley Patrick,

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Speaker 2: you know, you and I aren't the type to get

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Speaker 2: like swept up in emotions.

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Speaker 3: It's hard. It was hard not to at times at

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Speaker 3: Wrigley Field like that.

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Speaker 2: The Cubs fans brought it this year, and the team

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Speaker 2: delivered some really exciting times, especially in the first half

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Speaker 2: and then again in the playoffs.

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Speaker 3: But that was a fun team to come for stretches and.

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Speaker 2: And the fans were really exciting and and made Wrigley

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Speaker 2: Field feel like a place that it was like, yeah,

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Speaker 2: it's gonna be fun to come cover a game here.

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Speaker 4: Yeah I was. I was actually not at this game,

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Speaker 4: but as you're talking, I think back to that comeback

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Speaker 4: win over the.

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Speaker 3: Diamondback crazy.

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Speaker 4: You know, home run barrage, back and forth. Uh, just

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Speaker 4: underlining the unpredictability, uh of Wrigley Field. I think that showed,

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Speaker 4: you know, in hindsight, you know, some of the resolve

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Speaker 4: of that group, uh, their their talent, their ability to

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Speaker 4: kind of improvise, improvise and problem solve, you know, in

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Speaker 4: in real time. Like there were moments like that in

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Speaker 4: the first half they're like, Okay, this is this is

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Speaker 4: interesting and that no doubt all the way through to

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Speaker 4: the Freddie Peralta game at Wrigley Field. There were multiple

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Speaker 4: nights there of just turning to people like do you

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Speaker 4: feel the press box shake there? And I was like yeah,

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Speaker 4: and like that was something that was in the kind

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Speaker 4: of you know, Schworbamb twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen era, like

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Speaker 4: you'd feel that in once in a while since then,

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Speaker 4: not not often at all, but it became more of

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Speaker 4: a regular thing. And you know, when we talk about

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Speaker 4: the energy and personality of this team, Like, to me,

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Speaker 4: this was kind of the the year of Pte crow Armstrong,

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Speaker 4: even if half of the year was frustrating for him,

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Speaker 4: and even if it was an uneven up and down year.

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Speaker 4: I just think he was the really the most valuable

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Speaker 4: person in the entire organization when you think about it,

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Speaker 4: just how the circumstances in which he was traded here

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Speaker 4: that twenty twenty one trade deadline, the position he plays,

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Speaker 4: the defense he brought, which became just you know, such

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Speaker 4: a central part of the team's identity. Just crazy power.

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Speaker 4: I mean, the response anytime you hear kind of left

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Speaker 4: handed hitters complaints about hitting at really feels well, Pete,

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Speaker 4: like what Pete did? And yeah, and then just the charisma.

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Speaker 4: I mean, we heard it from our editors. We saw

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Speaker 4: it in the metrics of just people wanted to read

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Speaker 4: about this guy and hear about this guy and engage

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Speaker 4: with this guy. And he's he goes to Bears games.

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Speaker 4: I mean, how more do you want?

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Speaker 5: You know, it is pretty great to see those videos

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Speaker 5: of him, like he's yeah, yeah, he's talking about sticking

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Speaker 5: you know, sticking through the Bears, weather, watching the Bears.

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Speaker 3: It's kind of fun that he's embracing.

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Speaker 2: I mean, obviously, you know, because of it, we know

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Speaker 2: the story with his dad and and he is a.

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Speaker 3: Bears fan and he's he's rooting for them.

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Speaker 2: But it's kind of cool that he's out there and

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Speaker 2: and and he's he's in the city right now. What's

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Speaker 2: he doing here? Like it go go to Arizona or

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Speaker 2: go to California. Man, But but uh, he's he's enjoying it.

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Speaker 3: That's great.

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Speaker 2: And and that first half was unreal, just the type

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Speaker 2: of stuff that you're like, are we really is this

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Speaker 2: really happening? Like are we really watching the blossoming of

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Speaker 2: a superstar? Uh? Came down to earth in the second half,

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Speaker 2: and I think that brings a lot of questions for

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Speaker 2: next year and and we'll we'll address those, uh.

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Speaker 3: You know, in a future episode.

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Speaker 2: But like, like just that second half, that first half

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Speaker 2: was just so impressive and and it kind of sets

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Speaker 2: him up for like how tantalizing can is this guy?

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Speaker 2: Like this t this talent is so high end. Uh

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Speaker 2: there is something special here. Uh. The combination of the flash,

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Speaker 2: the way he plays the game, and the actual performance.

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Speaker 2: There is a high end talent here. And it could

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Speaker 2: be a volatile talent. It just could be like when

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Speaker 2: you don't walk a lot and you you're an aggressive swinger.

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Speaker 2: There are talents like this that this has happened before.

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Speaker 2: We've seen players like this and they go through ups

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Speaker 2: and downs.

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Speaker 3: How does he kind of compress that and make it like,

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Speaker 3: you know, avoid the low lows.

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Speaker 2: You obviously want the high highs still, but how do

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Speaker 2: you kind of minimize those those extremes and and make

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Speaker 2: sure that the lows don't aren't as low. Everyone's going

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Speaker 2: to struggle. It's part of baseball. Very few players, you know,

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Speaker 2: don't slump. How does he kind of minimize that? Is

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Speaker 2: what I'm fascinated by, fascinated to watch, but it was

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Speaker 2: it was it was really fascinating to cover, really interesting

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Speaker 2: to watch. Sometimes it was the type of stuff where

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Speaker 2: it's like, well, I don't know, it was very hobby

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Speaker 2: like and we said that, we've said that, but it

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Speaker 2: was like, I don't know what else to write here.

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Speaker 2: I don't know how else to describe this other than

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Speaker 2: like my jaws on the floor watching this guy play baseball.

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Speaker 3: And that's nice. You got to appreciate that when those

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Speaker 3: moments come.

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Speaker 2: You know, this team, outside of Pete, it felt like

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Speaker 2: they did. They did kind of take on the personality

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Speaker 2: of their manager. This was a very much a you know,

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Speaker 2: Craig council in. I guess the down moments, gets criticized

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Speaker 2: for not screaming and yelling, not not having this boisterous personality,

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Speaker 2: getting in the face of umps or going off on

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Speaker 2: the media after a tough loss. But I think you

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Speaker 2: need that steady hand sometimes you know you cannot and

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Speaker 2: I think council and we know the way counsel would

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Speaker 2: respond to that is you can't fake those things. You

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Speaker 2: can't be someone that you're not. You know, I'm not

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Speaker 2: going to flip a table because because that's not who

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Speaker 2: I am, and he isn't that type of personality, So

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Speaker 2: he doesn't do those things. He behaves the way he believes,

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Speaker 2: you know, that's natural to him. And I do think

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Speaker 2: as frustrating as it can be for some people watch it,

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Speaker 2: you know, if they're in a down moment, like they yeah,

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Speaker 2: sometimes they need to get on each other or you know,

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Speaker 2: I think they have some personalities in there that like,

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Speaker 2: if things go bad, like they need to, they will

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Speaker 2: get on their teammates. But very steady team, very you know,

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Speaker 2: even keeled group that probably carried them through some tough

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Speaker 2: moments and allowed them to not you know, I talk

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Speaker 2: about those lows, didn't allow them to mentally get dragged

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Speaker 2: down by those lows.

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Speaker 4: Pete's development is in a lot of ways a reflection

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Speaker 4: of Craig's style in that he's patient, he's deliberate. He

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Speaker 4: gives players the freedom to make mistakes and play without

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Speaker 4: that fear of you know, looking over their shoulder or

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Speaker 4: sort of wondering what the manager is gonna say. In

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Speaker 4: the interview room. I mean, like Pik Armstrong's most important

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Speaker 4: player in the organization, and he's saying things like, I

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Speaker 4: have absolute trust in everything Craig does, whether it's where

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Speaker 4: he hits them in the lineup, mental resets, kind of

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Speaker 4: whatever it is, he's on board with it. And I

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Speaker 4: think it's interesting. You know, Pete's around the same age

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Speaker 4: as Craig's two boys college age or just out of college.

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Speaker 3: They have mutual friends, right Yeah, that kind of.

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Speaker 4: Contemporaries in a way, which is just I think another

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Speaker 4: dimension kind of when you think about the council you

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Speaker 4: see on TV, Proba comes across, as you know, stiff

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Speaker 4: or serious and unemotional, and he is a serious person

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Speaker 4: and he does not, you know, display a lot of

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Speaker 4: outward emotion, but he's a lot more as we know,

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Speaker 4: engaging kind of off camera. You're very willing to discuss

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Speaker 4: kind of the details of the game of his team.

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Speaker 4: Is pretty honest and straightforward. Even if the answers aren't

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Speaker 4: always expansive, you can usually get a sense of what

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Speaker 4: he's thinking. I think he understands our jobs and respects

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Speaker 4: where coming from, we meaning people who around the team

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Speaker 4: basically every day. I think as a former player, he

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Speaker 4: kind of understands the nature of be coverage, that we

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Speaker 4: have jobs to do.

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Speaker 3: And I think.

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Speaker 4: What he might say here is that the players decide

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Speaker 4: all this, Like he can have a couple ideas, he

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Speaker 4: can help shape things, but everything should be player driven.

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Speaker 4: And he got a group of players, you know, we're thinking,

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Speaker 4: you know, Nico Horner, Dansby Swanson, Michael bush Ian Hap,

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Speaker 4: you know, Jameis and Towne, Shoda Managa, a lot of

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Speaker 4: kind of veteran, established players who are really self motivated

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Speaker 4: and diligent and kind of baseball nerds. And that I

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Speaker 4: think counsel in making some changes to his staff and

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Speaker 4: bringing in certain people or you know, getting to know

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Speaker 4: certain people better, was really able to empower that group.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, I think he's a big part of their success.

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Speaker 2: He's an interesting guy to work around. And dry sense

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Speaker 2: of humor, give it back to us. And you know,

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Speaker 2: as he's gotten to know us, he likes to poke

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Speaker 2: fun at us in different ways.

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Speaker 3: And I like that.

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Speaker 2: I like that back and forth that we're able to have.

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Speaker 2: And he seems to have the respect of that group.

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Speaker 2: While he's not the you know, fiery Mike Ditka personality

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Speaker 2: that I think some Chicagoans want, lou Panela kicking dirt.

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Speaker 3: That's not him.

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Speaker 2: It's never going to be him like he's I think

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Speaker 2: it's what this team kind of needs, and it's the

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Speaker 2: personality that works for this group. Ultimately, his former team

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Speaker 2: continues to be a thorn in this organization side.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, where we're running on a.

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Speaker 2: Decade now of seemingly the Brewers having less talent and

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Speaker 2: continually outperforming the Cubs.

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Speaker 3: Wasn't the ten game drubbing that they had.

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Speaker 2: In twenty twenty four comes We're much more competitive. I

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Speaker 2: think we saw in the postseason how close those teams are.

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Speaker 2: But again the Cubs came up short, whether it was

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Speaker 2: for the division or in the playoffs. They're just short

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Speaker 2: of the Brewers. And look, they spend more than the Brewers.

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Speaker 2: They're they're they're bigger market than the Brewers. They're bigger

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Speaker 2: market than everyone in their division, and they spend more

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Speaker 2: than everyone in their division.

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Speaker 3: But this is not a team that goes for it.

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Speaker 2: This is not, in fact, you know that Jed Hoyard

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Speaker 2: kind of hates that phrase.

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Speaker 3: Uh, is a team that waits for it. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think you know they're wait They wait

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Speaker 2: for things to the market to settle. They wait for

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Speaker 2: players like we were talking about with them, to fall

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Speaker 2: through the cracks, possibly like who's who's left standing? Ah,

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Speaker 2: it was a you know, they they were not going

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Speaker 2: to pay the crazy prices. I I understand to a

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Speaker 2: degree they're they're uh trade deadline decisions, And I think

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Speaker 2: there was a valuable lesson learned. Get your work done now,

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Speaker 2: Like get as much of the work done in the

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Speaker 2: off season as possible, so you're not especially starting pitching.

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Speaker 2: You can't be searching for starting pitching at the trade deadline.

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Speaker 2: But they're not an aggressive team anymore. This is not

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Speaker 2: the theo Epstein days. And I think we've known this

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Speaker 2: and we just keep seeing it. If we start to wonder, hmm,

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Speaker 2: is this the moment when they start to behave a

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Speaker 2: little differently Oh, here was the Craig Council higher.

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Speaker 3: Now they're going to be aggressive. Oh here's the Kyle

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Speaker 3: Tucker trade. Now they're going to be aggressive. There'll be

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Speaker 3: a move here and there.

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Speaker 2: But like I kind of want to look at like, look,

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Speaker 2: the Boston Red Sox aren't going insane, but they're being

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Speaker 2: pretty aggressive by making moves. They're they're going out and

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Speaker 2: making moves. They've traded for two starters, and now they've

385
00:22:56,240 --> 00:23:00,840
Speaker 2: traded for Wilson Contreras. I think Cubs fans, like Red

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Speaker 2: Sox fans, probably want the Red Sox to behave more

387
00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:06,600
Speaker 2: like the Mets and the Yankees and the Dodgers. They're

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00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:11,000
Speaker 2: not exactly acting in that fashion, but they they saw

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Speaker 2: that the team was pretty good last year, how can

390
00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:17,359
Speaker 2: we make it better? And they're going out and making moves.

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Speaker 2: Hubs fans have to be frustrated by you know this

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Speaker 2: is this is just a recurring theme with this group.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, we've talked about Picrow, Armstrong and the young talent

394
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Speaker 4: that the Cubs have matriculated and improved upon at the

395
00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:43,000
Speaker 4: major league level. It's how about Craig Counsel putting his

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Speaker 4: fingerprints on the organization and being sort of an extension

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Speaker 4: of the front office and bringing a lot of structure

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Speaker 4: and process and you know, thoughtfulness to the day to

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Speaker 4: day schedule. Well, the press box shaking at Wrigley Field,

400
00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:10,040
Speaker 4: the you know, amazing energy and noise coming out of Wrigleyville.

401
00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:15,800
Speaker 4: You have easily one of the most iconic venues in

402
00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:21,879
Speaker 4: sports that is packed on a Tuesday night randomly in

403
00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:26,399
Speaker 4: the middle of the season. I mean like Friday day games,

404
00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:31,400
Speaker 4: forty thousand people showing up, and you have a payroll

405
00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:35,399
Speaker 4: that just does not reflect the vibrancy of you know,

406
00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:39,159
Speaker 4: the venue, the passion of the fan base. And we

407
00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:42,800
Speaker 4: have been sort of waiting because we do try and

408
00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:45,080
Speaker 4: try and keep an open mind here because all it

409
00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:47,359
Speaker 4: takes is one move to like change some of this stuff,

410
00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:50,600
Speaker 4: one phone call. As we're recording now, like who knows

411
00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:58,840
Speaker 4: what they're up to. But that Alex Bregman saga in

412
00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:03,439
Speaker 4: spring training was revealing like he was the piece. That

413
00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:07,600
Speaker 4: is what they identified internally on the baseball side and

414
00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:10,600
Speaker 4: on the business side at the ownership level, there was

415
00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:18,719
Speaker 4: certainly an allowance to go beyond kind of the parameters

416
00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:23,080
Speaker 4: they had set earlier, but it was not a you know,

417
00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:26,480
Speaker 4: step on the gas type of move. It was more

418
00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:29,320
Speaker 4: of aue, see if this works, if he'll take that.

419
00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:34,119
Speaker 4: It was not an all out offer to try and

420
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Speaker 4: bring him in. And so that's why, like, you know,

421
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:40,199
Speaker 4: why why do you keep talking about Alex spragmant so well,

422
00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:43,159
Speaker 4: he's a free agent again, and because people within the Cubs.

423
00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:44,680
Speaker 3: Were talking about Alex Pragman like.

424
00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:47,800
Speaker 4: They viewed him as like this was kind of the

425
00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:49,879
Speaker 4: moment you like he said, out of you trade for

426
00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:53,600
Speaker 4: Kyle Tucker? What else? Like, Oh, there's only really one

427
00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:56,399
Speaker 4: spot on the field that's sort of uncertain, and he

428
00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:59,560
Speaker 4: plays that position at a gold glove level. And oh,

429
00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:02,080
Speaker 4: like the model says, this guy's gonna be really good

430
00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:06,359
Speaker 4: for a long time. And you know, all of these

431
00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:10,800
Speaker 4: decisions are made with the ultimate you know, payroll number

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Speaker 4: range in mind, and you know, we'll see, Like I think,

433
00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:24,520
Speaker 4: generally speaking, there's a lot of logic to what they do,

434
00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:29,359
Speaker 4: they meaning business and baseball. I think we can understand

435
00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:33,240
Speaker 4: where they're coming from, uh in a lot of ways,

436
00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:38,359
Speaker 4: but it has become uh just kind of repetitive. You know,

437
00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:41,160
Speaker 4: Like I can already see Cubs convention like what it's

438
00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:41,560
Speaker 4: gonna be.

439
00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:42,440
Speaker 3: Its gonna be.

440
00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,320
Speaker 4: You know what I mean, and maybe maybe my they

441
00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:49,840
Speaker 4: blow my way with an offer and he becomes awesome. Like, look,

442
00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:52,840
Speaker 4: they do have kind of the nucleus of a ninety

443
00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:59,760
Speaker 4: win team here already. Not go and say the season's

444
00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:04,480
Speaker 4: over before Christmas, but it's just the you know, well,

445
00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:08,639
Speaker 4: we don't want to pay for like a closer. Uh,

446
00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:10,960
Speaker 4: you know, we don't want to trade for a starter

447
00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:16,119
Speaker 4: at the deadline. You know, I'm not going to go

448
00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:19,280
Speaker 4: get Bregman when he's just like sitting there kind of

449
00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:24,520
Speaker 4: waiting this past spring training. See, they just have to

450
00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:26,360
Speaker 4: be right, you know, like I don't think anyone will

451
00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:29,119
Speaker 4: care if they win the division and they have multiple

452
00:27:29,119 --> 00:27:35,439
Speaker 4: playoff rounds at Wrigley, But this, you know, part of

453
00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:37,960
Speaker 4: this year I think just kind of cemented of like, Okay,

454
00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:40,880
Speaker 4: this is just how they're they're running it. And obviously,

455
00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:43,359
Speaker 4: you know, Jed got his extension, Like the front office

456
00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:47,440
Speaker 4: is stabilized. You know, I think they can feel good

457
00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:53,119
Speaker 4: about their direction overall. But yeah, some of this offseason stuff,

458
00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:54,320
Speaker 4: like they just kind of have to wear it like

459
00:27:54,359 --> 00:27:56,000
Speaker 4: this is like this is just what they do. Like

460
00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:59,760
Speaker 4: we've explained it, You've seen it. I don't really know

461
00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:03,679
Speaker 4: how much more like you need to see or like

462
00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:06,520
Speaker 4: we'll put context around each move and all that other stuff.

463
00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:10,760
Speaker 4: But like, fundamentally, this just seems to be the model

464
00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:13,280
Speaker 4: of what they're doing. And I don't think they're going

465
00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:17,720
Speaker 4: to change it radically before the next CBA.

466
00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:23,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the more people wait and say, when,

467
00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:26,080
Speaker 2: when will the Cubs start behaving like that team that

468
00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:29,920
Speaker 2: you know went out and got John Lester and Jason Hayward,

469
00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:35,960
Speaker 2: you Darvish, I mean, I just say, like you know, Stutt,

470
00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:38,520
Speaker 2: don't don't hold your breath. That's not who this team

471
00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:41,320
Speaker 2: is anymore. And and that doesn't mean they're going to

472
00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:44,080
Speaker 2: be a bad team. I have to remind myself of that,

473
00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:47,000
Speaker 2: because it is it can be like, man, these free

474
00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:49,320
Speaker 2: agents are for flying off the board, trades are happening,

475
00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:52,720
Speaker 2: and the Cubs aren't doing that much. There's a lot

476
00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:55,560
Speaker 2: of talent here still, which makes it maybe a little

477
00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:59,640
Speaker 2: bit more frustrating because you have young talent like Pca

478
00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:04,360
Speaker 2: and Michael Bush and and Cad Horton, really good, really

479
00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:10,080
Speaker 2: strong seasons from these young players, Guys that played incredibly

480
00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:13,360
Speaker 2: well like Nico Horner and Saya Suzuki. Still on the team,

481
00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:17,120
Speaker 2: youngsters like Moises by Steros ready to break out. So like,

482
00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:20,400
Speaker 2: it's not like it's devoid of talent. There's plenty of

483
00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:23,520
Speaker 2: talent here and they're getting healthy there. You know, we'll

484
00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:26,120
Speaker 2: see if Showda Monaga bounces back. We'll see how Justin

485
00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:30,320
Speaker 2: Steel looks all that stuff. So you just you want

486
00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:32,800
Speaker 2: to see them be aggressive and act like a team

487
00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:36,000
Speaker 2: that's looking you know, making it happen instead of waiting

488
00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:38,320
Speaker 2: for it to happen. And it seems like it's more

489
00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:41,840
Speaker 2: the latter. We'll see if there's a surprise to come.

490
00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:45,000
Speaker 2: Is it am My, is it Bregman? Is it something

491
00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:46,880
Speaker 2: like that? Is it a big trade that we're not

492
00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:50,760
Speaker 2: that we're not aware of that's about to happen, something

493
00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:54,400
Speaker 2: like that. But for now, it's a lot of this

494
00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:57,640
Speaker 2: is who the Cubs are. That's not that doesn't mean

495
00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:00,240
Speaker 2: bad stuff. Like we just talked about, it was really

496
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:03,280
Speaker 2: fun this year. We'll see if they can make it

497
00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:04,960
Speaker 2: fun again in twenty twenty six.

498
00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:06,400
Speaker 3: All right, we will have.

499
00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:09,240
Speaker 2: A twenty twenty six preview coming up later this week.

500
00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:12,080
Speaker 2: Thanks so much for listening everyone. This is Northside Territory.

501
00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:14,400
Speaker 2: Make sure to rate, review, subscribe, subscribe to the YouTube

502
00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:17,600
Speaker 2: channel and subscribe to The Athletic where Patrick Canaara on

503
00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:20,080
Speaker 2: top of all things Cubs. Thanks so much for listening

504
00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:20,360
Speaker 2: to everyone.

505
00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:20,640
Speaker 5: Take