1
00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:08,600
Speaker 1: Welcome into North Side Territory. Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast.

2
00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:11,560
Speaker 1: I'm Sahadev Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are

3
00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:16,680
Speaker 1: your Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic. Patrick, I

4
00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:19,040
Speaker 1: don't know if you want to call it a surprise

5
00:00:19,239 --> 00:00:22,040
Speaker 1: or not, but it comes as a you know, there

6
00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:25,000
Speaker 1: was some rumblings that showed am Monaga wasn't going to

7
00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:29,720
Speaker 1: accept that that qualifying offer and hit free agency. But

8
00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:33,199
Speaker 1: when when the deadline came, showed am Minaga accepts it

9
00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:36,840
Speaker 1: and he is back to Chicago on a one year deal.

10
00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:42,479
Speaker 1: That is, you know, that's depth for the rotation at

11
00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:46,159
Speaker 1: minimum upside of a guy that we've seen pitched like

12
00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:50,800
Speaker 1: an ace. Takes out one need for the team in

13
00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:54,120
Speaker 1: the sense that you probably with shotawalking, needed to starters,

14
00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,280
Speaker 1: no doubt starters, I'd say, no doubt rotation starters, and

15
00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:01,800
Speaker 1: now you can feel pretty good about targeting one guy.

16
00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:07,760
Speaker 1: Depending on cost however you want to spend, it's kind

17
00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:11,600
Speaker 1: of one no doubt rotation guy and continue to build depth.

18
00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:13,640
Speaker 2: Yeah.

19
00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:16,039
Speaker 3: I really thought this was a toss up, and I

20
00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:19,640
Speaker 3: think depending on when we were looking at the situation,

21
00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:20,319
Speaker 3: you could have been.

22
00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:22,920
Speaker 2: Leaning one way or the other, but ultimately.

23
00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:26,000
Speaker 3: I think it's gonna be pretty good for both sides.

24
00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:31,160
Speaker 3: Like this is the ultimate Cubs deal, right of there's

25
00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:33,560
Speaker 3: no such bad thing as a one year deal. I

26
00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:36,080
Speaker 3: know that's an old baseball saying that Jed has used

27
00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:40,640
Speaker 3: in the past. And I look at this free agent

28
00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:45,199
Speaker 3: class of pitchers and there's a lot of talented guys,

29
00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:47,440
Speaker 3: but I think each one of them has, you know,

30
00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:53,360
Speaker 3: some legitimate question marks, you know, surrounding their their resumes,

31
00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:56,080
Speaker 3: and I don't think it's unreasonable to think that Shoda

32
00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:02,160
Speaker 3: could pitch closer to his you know, Rookie of the

33
00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:07,240
Speaker 3: Year contender, Cy Young contender version of twenty twenty four

34
00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:10,920
Speaker 3: then the guy we saw in September and October.

35
00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:11,560
Speaker 2: I think.

36
00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:16,359
Speaker 3: Some of that stuff that showeda went through towards the

37
00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:18,280
Speaker 3: end of the second season was the stuff we thought

38
00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:21,040
Speaker 3: we were going to see in twenty twenty four.

39
00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:22,040
Speaker 2: It was just.

40
00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:28,680
Speaker 3: Weirdly, oddly sequenced, and you know, I could totally see

41
00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:32,880
Speaker 3: him being a very good piece for this team next year. Obviously,

42
00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:36,680
Speaker 3: a little over twenty two million dollars is going to

43
00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:40,280
Speaker 3: impact the Cubs off season. I think for most businesses,

44
00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:42,519
Speaker 3: if you have a line item of twenty.

45
00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:45,120
Speaker 2: Two million dollars. It's going to be noticeable.

46
00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:50,000
Speaker 3: But I don't think this precludes that the Cubs from getting,

47
00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:54,280
Speaker 3: like you said, another good starting pitcher and upgrading the

48
00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:55,519
Speaker 3: club in other areas.

49
00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:56,079
Speaker 2: I mean, they.

50
00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:01,080
Speaker 3: No one wants to hear the look Cole Hamill's picked

51
00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:03,079
Speaker 3: up his option. It's like we signed a free agent.

52
00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:05,600
Speaker 3: I mean, we we've been through that off season before.

53
00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:08,560
Speaker 3: There's still a lot of a lot of areas and

54
00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:10,200
Speaker 3: avenues for them to pursue.

55
00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:14,160
Speaker 1: Was that Cole Hamill's pick picking up his option and

56
00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:16,280
Speaker 1: then or they picked up Cole Hamill's option and they

57
00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,680
Speaker 1: had to trade Drew Smiley? Was that the same offseason? Yeah?

58
00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:22,240
Speaker 1: Like it was just that was that was that that

59
00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,280
Speaker 1: They're not in that situation? And I and I think

60
00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,799
Speaker 1: there some people may look at this as this was

61
00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,520
Speaker 1: they didn't plan for this. Look, they they wouldn't have

62
00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:36,920
Speaker 1: offered this if it if it somehow cramped their their

63
00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:40,960
Speaker 1: plans for the offseason. Like the this was they didn't

64
00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:43,440
Speaker 1: have to offer him the qualifying offer. They knew there

65
00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:48,560
Speaker 1: was a chance. Like obviously Shoda was SHOWEDA and his

66
00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:51,160
Speaker 1: agency were going to try and look for like what

67
00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:53,640
Speaker 1: what else is out there? And they came to the

68
00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:56,960
Speaker 1: conclusion like it's it's hard once once you have that

69
00:03:57,040 --> 00:03:59,440
Speaker 1: qualifying offer, like the offers are going to be a

70
00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:02,839
Speaker 1: little bit different because you're attached to a draft pick.

71
00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:05,320
Speaker 1: Is showed him Anaga after the end of the season

72
00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:08,800
Speaker 1: that he had the type of pitcher someone's going to

73
00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:12,520
Speaker 1: be offering, you know, a multi year deal to that's

74
00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:15,040
Speaker 1: going to surpass what did it have to surpass, like

75
00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:20,039
Speaker 1: thirty something million? Yeah, essentially, right, that's what you wanted,

76
00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:23,640
Speaker 1: what you wanted, and then and and give up a

77
00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:26,840
Speaker 1: draft pick. I don't know if that's the case, Like

78
00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:30,960
Speaker 1: that's that's a borderline call for these teams, the way

79
00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:34,360
Speaker 1: front offices work now. I think the optimistic way to

80
00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:36,720
Speaker 1: look at show him Anaga, and I think there are

81
00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:40,120
Speaker 1: some people that believe this within the organization is that

82
00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:46,880
Speaker 1: look what he he worked hard to get back. I

83
00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:51,760
Speaker 1: don't know if he fully trusted that hamstring. It's the

84
00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:55,920
Speaker 1: first time he's had that type of injury. He probably

85
00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:59,240
Speaker 1: needs a full off season to to kind of get

86
00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:03,880
Speaker 1: the confidence in that lower half back. But I certainly

87
00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:05,800
Speaker 1: believe that it impacted him, and I think there are

88
00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:08,320
Speaker 1: people that like saw Like if you look at all

89
00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:10,599
Speaker 1: the data and all the things that they have collected,

90
00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:13,719
Speaker 1: I think there's stuff that suggests that that like, yeah,

91
00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:19,080
Speaker 1: he probably wasn't fully right and now it's incumbent upon

92
00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:22,120
Speaker 1: the Cubs to get him right. And they probably there

93
00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:25,440
Speaker 1: were probably steps. I don't know if there were steps

94
00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,480
Speaker 1: missed or not done as well as they should have

95
00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:33,719
Speaker 1: been done over the in the season. You'd like to

96
00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:39,800
Speaker 1: have seen that happen in season. I think you should.

97
00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:42,479
Speaker 1: You can have faith that they can get the right

98
00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:46,400
Speaker 1: work done in the off season, whether it's getting that

99
00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:50,760
Speaker 1: tick or two back, whether it's just getting the confidence back,

100
00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:53,800
Speaker 1: whatever it is. Maybe probably both. I think I think

101
00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:55,400
Speaker 1: it's fair to say that showed I had a little

102
00:05:55,440 --> 00:06:01,600
Speaker 1: confidence ding seeing those results. Yes, and that's that's that's hard.

103
00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:04,880
Speaker 1: That's you know, a guy that had kind of carved

104
00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:07,279
Speaker 1: everyone up for a year and a half suddenly is

105
00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:11,279
Speaker 1: having these results, and it's obviously you start to wonder

106
00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:14,039
Speaker 1: what's going on. But I think I think there's a

107
00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:17,719
Speaker 1: path for him to maybe maybe we don't see first

108
00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:21,520
Speaker 1: half of twenty twenty four again, uh, but if you see,

109
00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:24,360
Speaker 1: if you avoid the second half of twenty twenty five,

110
00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:27,480
Speaker 1: it's and you get whatever that middle section is, that's

111
00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:31,359
Speaker 1: really good. That's a really good picture and easily worth

112
00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:34,520
Speaker 1: the one year, twenty two million dollar deal. And I think,

113
00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:36,280
Speaker 1: you know, that's what they're looking for. If he can

114
00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:38,320
Speaker 1: be a three, if he can give them a three

115
00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,840
Speaker 1: five era, it's a huge win. It's a it's like

116
00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:45,760
Speaker 1: that's a steal and and then you just hope, uh,

117
00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:49,400
Speaker 1: from the Cubs point of view, that this other picture

118
00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:51,800
Speaker 1: that they signed, whether it's whether they go big with

119
00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:55,240
Speaker 1: Dylan Cees, whether they get someone like Michael King. I

120
00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:58,599
Speaker 1: do believe from both our reporting that it's not that

121
00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:01,960
Speaker 1: it's not purely a Matthew Boyd type. We obviously worked

122
00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:04,400
Speaker 1: out brilliantly, but I don't think I think we're looking

123
00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:09,440
Speaker 1: a level above that, uh and hoping to acquire someone. Obviously,

124
00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:12,560
Speaker 1: I think if you everything I read, obviously we're not

125
00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:15,160
Speaker 1: covering other teams, but everything I read, it seems like

126
00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:17,680
Speaker 1: whenever I read about a different team, they're looking for

127
00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:20,480
Speaker 1: pitching as well. So this market may get a little crazy,

128
00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:25,360
Speaker 1: but seeing them accept qualifying offers some of these pitchers,

129
00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:28,320
Speaker 1: maybe they went out there and and maybe it's not

130
00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:29,840
Speaker 1: as crazy as I think it's going to be. I

131
00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:32,040
Speaker 1: don't know. I can never tell. When so many qualifying

132
00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:34,440
Speaker 1: offers are accepted, I wonder it's like, what are they

133
00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:37,000
Speaker 1: hearing on the market, But I guess I guess that's

134
00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:39,080
Speaker 1: what the next month plus will tell us.

135
00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:43,280
Speaker 3: I mean, the qualifying offer number has gotten so high too,

136
00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:51,440
Speaker 3: that you're talking about you're approaching almost half of Showda's

137
00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:57,280
Speaker 3: initial guarantee over four years, you know, consolidated into one season.

138
00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:02,640
Speaker 3: You're talking about realizing in one season a huge chunk

139
00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:05,960
Speaker 3: of that two year option window he could have picked

140
00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:09,000
Speaker 3: up in terms of twenty twenty six and twenty twenty seven.

141
00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:13,720
Speaker 3: I think there's an element of you showed to having

142
00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:16,840
Speaker 3: a bit of a chip on his shoulder of wanting

143
00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:22,200
Speaker 3: to put together something closer to that All Star season

144
00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:25,400
Speaker 3: and then going back out on the market rather than

145
00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:29,200
Speaker 3: accepting that security of a two year deal, which he

146
00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:34,559
Speaker 3: could have done in that intricate series of options off

147
00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:39,760
Speaker 3: the original deal. And so I think, you know, both

148
00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:42,000
Speaker 3: sides kind of have to do better here, right, Like,

149
00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:47,240
Speaker 3: we can't blame one side or the other entirely, but yeah,

150
00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:51,160
Speaker 3: maybe the cub sort of either tinkered a bit too

151
00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:55,680
Speaker 3: much off an amazing first season or missed something as

152
00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:58,959
Speaker 3: he was coming up off the hamstring and also showed up.

153
00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:03,359
Speaker 3: Has to look at his own performance as well and realize,

154
00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:06,840
Speaker 3: like the Cubs do see this sort of cliff coming

155
00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:09,079
Speaker 3: right as he gets deeper into his thirties, Like they

156
00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:13,400
Speaker 3: did not like the idea of committing a third season

157
00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,520
Speaker 3: to him, and clearly the rest of the baseball industry

158
00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:22,559
Speaker 3: had some level of reservation about his future performance, and

159
00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:24,959
Speaker 3: some of that I think was baked into the initial

160
00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:30,280
Speaker 3: evaluations coming out of Japan. So again, I still think

161
00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:36,800
Speaker 3: it'll work out for both sides, assuming that the rest

162
00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:38,400
Speaker 3: of this Cub's off season.

163
00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:42,439
Speaker 2: Is more lively and that they.

164
00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:47,280
Speaker 3: Do pursue, not just pursue and check in on a

165
00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:50,959
Speaker 3: higher tier of pitching, but actually land a legitimate starting

166
00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,520
Speaker 3: pitcher that you would feel comfortable starting a playoff game,

167
00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:56,640
Speaker 3: and maybe Shoda gets back there that would be sort

168
00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:58,440
Speaker 3: of like a bonus. I don't think you go into

169
00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:02,679
Speaker 3: the season thinking that, or like assuming that.

170
00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:07,120
Speaker 2: It would just be a good hedge against maybe.

171
00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:10,960
Speaker 3: Kate Horton taking a step back or Matthew Boyd not

172
00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:14,600
Speaker 3: staying as healthy so that you can slow play justin

173
00:10:14,679 --> 00:10:22,200
Speaker 3: Steele's you know, recovery rehab process after elbow surgery.

174
00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:27,520
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah. I think if we go into next season

175
00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:30,640
Speaker 1: and showed aim Monaga is almost like a third three

176
00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:33,480
Speaker 1: or four in that rotation, and then could even be

177
00:10:33,559 --> 00:10:36,840
Speaker 1: pushed to five, justin Steele, if we're if we're believing

178
00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:40,600
Speaker 1: the end of jameson die own season and and they

179
00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:44,200
Speaker 1: add one more pitcher and we believe what Horton did. Uh,

180
00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:47,160
Speaker 1: there's there's a chance that we look at this and

181
00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:50,680
Speaker 1: show Managa is like a four or five in that rotation.

182
00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:53,320
Speaker 1: I think you take that in a second and then

183
00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:55,440
Speaker 1: you figure out the rest as it goes. And if

184
00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:58,440
Speaker 1: he gives you upside, great and it's a huge win

185
00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:00,760
Speaker 1: for both sides, and then maybe he can cash in.

186
00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:03,400
Speaker 1: We'll see what happens if there's baseball in twenty seven.

187
00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:05,559
Speaker 1: But let's not get that far.

188
00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:09,400
Speaker 3: You need pictures to get you in the playoffs too,

189
00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:10,880
Speaker 3: you know, I know we get hung up.

190
00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:13,400
Speaker 2: On the idea of you know, a playoff.

191
00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:15,720
Speaker 3: Starter, like, oh, can he throw four and a third

192
00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:18,240
Speaker 3: innings against a good team in October. It's like you

193
00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:21,760
Speaker 3: need guys that can get you there and show proven

194
00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:24,080
Speaker 3: that he helped them get there this year, and basically

195
00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:28,679
Speaker 3: he's sort of salvaged the twenty twenty four season at

196
00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:31,360
Speaker 3: least made it a little more respectable than what, you know,

197
00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:35,160
Speaker 3: really could have been an ugly, ugly season. It was

198
00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:38,559
Speaker 3: disappointing season, but it could have gotten really bad if

199
00:11:38,559 --> 00:11:40,800
Speaker 3: he had not really kind of held that team together

200
00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:43,200
Speaker 3: with just an amazing performance.

201
00:11:43,559 --> 00:11:46,080
Speaker 1: Absolutely. All right, let's take a quick break in talk

202
00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:47,280
Speaker 1: about some offense.

203
00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:52,040
Speaker 4: Holiday shopping season is here and we have you covered

204
00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:53,960
Speaker 4: from head to toe.

205
00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:57,720
Speaker 3: Let's take to talk about an area that's not quite

206
00:11:57,760 --> 00:11:58,720
Speaker 3: close to the toes.

207
00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:01,400
Speaker 1: Let's get crazy with this holiday season.

208
00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:02,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's me Undies.

209
00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:05,480
Speaker 3: I'm spinning around, but the holiday season. Now you can

210
00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:07,920
Speaker 3: get me Undies with some holiday prints on them.

211
00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:12,600
Speaker 4: That's right, ridiculously soft fabric holiday prints, matching holiday prints

212
00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:15,760
Speaker 4: with your special person. Or you can coordinate pjs for

213
00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:18,240
Speaker 4: the family photo. And right now you can get up

214
00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:20,920
Speaker 4: to fifty percent off with the code foul We rock

215
00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:24,360
Speaker 4: me Undies. You should too. We're talking over thirty million

216
00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:28,240
Speaker 4: pairs sold. Knock out all your holiday gifting needs today

217
00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:31,520
Speaker 4: with me Undies to get exclusive holiday deals up to

218
00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:34,920
Speaker 4: yep I said, at fifty percent off go to meundies

219
00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:38,720
Speaker 4: dot com slash foul and enter promo code foul. That's

220
00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:42,320
Speaker 4: m e U N d I e s dot com

221
00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:45,360
Speaker 4: slash f o u l promo code foul for up

222
00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:47,560
Speaker 4: to fifty percent off.

223
00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:56,320
Speaker 1: Patrick, Uh, we can't ignore the offense. Uh. I feel

224
00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:59,960
Speaker 1: like we've done a good job of making it clear.

225
00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:02,400
Speaker 1: I mean, Jen and Carter have done a good job

226
00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:05,800
Speaker 1: of making it clear what their priority is. And we've

227
00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:09,600
Speaker 1: kind of been saying this since we got hints of

228
00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:13,040
Speaker 1: it during the playoffs. It was pretty clear to us

229
00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:15,000
Speaker 1: that this was going to be their priority. How they

230
00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:19,479
Speaker 1: look to improve is pitching. I think it's a combination

231
00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:24,120
Speaker 1: of kind of seeing how the playoffs work, kind of

232
00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:27,440
Speaker 1: seeing where they stood pitching wise, and also with the

233
00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:31,480
Speaker 1: market holds, like there's more availability with free agency and

234
00:13:31,559 --> 00:13:34,640
Speaker 1: trades when it comes like on the pitching side, and

235
00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:37,600
Speaker 1: it probably has to do with the deadline as well.

236
00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:42,160
Speaker 1: You can get someone like au Henny O Suarez a

237
00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:44,960
Speaker 1: hot bat. Obviously he didn't do great in the final

238
00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:46,400
Speaker 1: two months, but I'm just saying you can get a

239
00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:49,720
Speaker 1: bat that's expiring much cheaper than you can even get

240
00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:53,320
Speaker 1: a pitcher that's that's expiring. So it makes sense for

241
00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:57,600
Speaker 1: them to focus on let's focus our efforts on pitching

242
00:13:57,679 --> 00:14:00,520
Speaker 1: and maybe we can upgrade during the season and if needed,

243
00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:03,480
Speaker 1: on offense or do some tinkering with offense. But I

244
00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:06,640
Speaker 1: guess that's all to say, like, I think we're at

245
00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:09,160
Speaker 1: the point where you and I kind of were a

246
00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:12,079
Speaker 1: year ago, and now everyone else is. When I say

247
00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:14,520
Speaker 1: everyone else, I mean the fans have now accepted that

248
00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:18,520
Speaker 1: crowd Tucker's not coming back. This is a one off,

249
00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:23,600
Speaker 1: one year thing that made sense to get to another level,

250
00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:27,080
Speaker 1: consolidate some war as maybe Carter or Jed would put it,

251
00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:30,440
Speaker 1: and have that star on your team and get you

252
00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:34,240
Speaker 1: into the playoffs and look like a very good, potent

253
00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:38,200
Speaker 1: offense team in general. Obviously the offense sputtered down the

254
00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:41,520
Speaker 1: stretch there, but you know, for three and a half months,

255
00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:46,680
Speaker 1: that was an impressive group. And now you know, you

256
00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:49,720
Speaker 1: don't even see his name in rumors. I don't think

257
00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:51,800
Speaker 1: you and I are surprised, but I've noticed some people

258
00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:55,040
Speaker 1: like they'll read an article like from a national writer

259
00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:58,480
Speaker 1: and see six teams mentioned, and it's like the Cubs

260
00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:00,440
Speaker 1: are there.

261
00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:05,680
Speaker 3: Yeah, It's almost as if the Cups acquired him, thinking

262
00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:09,600
Speaker 3: he'd be a rental player and would sign with another

263
00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:11,280
Speaker 3: team to a mega deal that.

264
00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:13,280
Speaker 2: They're not prepared to authorize.

265
00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:16,480
Speaker 3: Like I think if you've, like you said, I've been

266
00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:21,480
Speaker 3: following our work, that's all signs have been pointing in

267
00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:25,000
Speaker 3: that direction. And I think it's interesting just coming off

268
00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,560
Speaker 3: the GM meetings in some recent transactions as well, we

269
00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:28,600
Speaker 3: were talking about this off.

270
00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:28,920
Speaker 2: Air of.

271
00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:34,320
Speaker 3: Cups view the Tucker trade as kind of a one

272
00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:39,640
Speaker 3: off deal, and we're not just talking about Tucker's free agency.

273
00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:42,320
Speaker 3: It's also just kind of the structure and spirit of

274
00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:48,280
Speaker 3: that transaction of aggressively trading for one year of a

275
00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:51,120
Speaker 3: player giving up you know, I think it was maybe

276
00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:55,880
Speaker 3: fourteen potential years of club control that Carter Hawkins essentially

277
00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:58,280
Speaker 3: ruled that out, you know, when we asked him about

278
00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:01,200
Speaker 3: that in Las Vegas, that that was kind of a

279
00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:08,520
Speaker 3: moment in time that their goal is to kind of

280
00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:13,280
Speaker 3: be out of that business essentially, never say never. But

281
00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:17,880
Speaker 3: when they talk about sustainability and the overall health of

282
00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:23,280
Speaker 3: the organization, they use the Tucker trade as sort of

283
00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:25,960
Speaker 3: the counterexample, like that was something they felt that they

284
00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:26,600
Speaker 3: had to do.

285
00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:30,520
Speaker 2: It's not something they want to do. Anytime soon.

286
00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:35,160
Speaker 3: What kind of got me thinking about that was this

287
00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:38,080
Speaker 3: schoobl and the Tigers. We don't know if they're gonna

288
00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:42,080
Speaker 3: even trade them. Certainly don't think Scott Boris is gonna

289
00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:48,720
Speaker 3: recommend a client, a reigning Cy Young Award winning client,

290
00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:50,680
Speaker 3: to sign a.

291
00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:51,440
Speaker 2: Long term extension.

292
00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:54,760
Speaker 3: But like, those type of thoughts in a vacuum would

293
00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:58,040
Speaker 3: be a really interesting around this Cubs team if we

294
00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:01,880
Speaker 3: listened to Jeff Ponce and how he was, you know,

295
00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:04,600
Speaker 3: breaking down the Cubs system in terms of a pitching

296
00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:08,920
Speaker 3: pipeline like that would be an interesting idea, But it's

297
00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:12,119
Speaker 3: not even really worth kind of entertaining because the Cubs

298
00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:14,760
Speaker 3: don't seem to be into another Tucker type of deal

299
00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:15,600
Speaker 3: anytime soon.

300
00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:20,320
Speaker 1: Yeah, and and you know, I think the argument for

301
00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:23,600
Speaker 1: doing moves like this is looking at some of the

302
00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:26,680
Speaker 1: results of the trade. It's way too early to make

303
00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:29,160
Speaker 1: conclusions in my mind about like some of these prospects,

304
00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:32,280
Speaker 1: but you go look back. The first Domino was acquiring

305
00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:37,320
Speaker 1: esoc paratus. Christopher Morrell was just df e by the

306
00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:41,720
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay race hunter, Biggie good, good reliever, like, but

307
00:17:42,119 --> 00:17:44,360
Speaker 1: you give him up for a guy that's like the

308
00:17:44,359 --> 00:17:49,399
Speaker 1: Three War third basement with a ton of years you

309
00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:53,399
Speaker 1: know on their contract, and and Ty Johnson. I'm not

310
00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:56,720
Speaker 1: sure what Ty Johnson is doing. I don't think he's

311
00:17:56,840 --> 00:17:59,399
Speaker 1: emerged as a top one hundred prospect or anything like that.

312
00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:03,000
Speaker 1: I think he's probably a solid prospect. Nothing, You're just

313
00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:07,240
Speaker 1: like wringing your hands over and losing obviously more given

314
00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:09,960
Speaker 1: up to get Tucker. But Paradis is now in trade

315
00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:14,800
Speaker 1: rumors again with with Houston, you know, back and forth,

316
00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:18,960
Speaker 1: suffering injuries. Perfect really good season, perfect ballpark for him.

317
00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:21,160
Speaker 1: But that's kind of like Cody Bellinger and the Yankees,

318
00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:23,960
Speaker 1: Like that makes more sense, Like these are the places

319
00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:27,800
Speaker 1: where these players like can really build value, Like Estoc

320
00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:31,080
Speaker 1: Paradis has played in, you know, two really good ballparks

321
00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:35,240
Speaker 1: for him in Tampa Bay and and Houston Detroit not

322
00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:38,600
Speaker 1: as good for him when he was there, Like as

323
00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:42,280
Speaker 1: far as becoming this power guy, he was able to

324
00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:44,879
Speaker 1: like take advantage of Tampa Bay, He's able to take

325
00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:49,760
Speaker 1: advantage of Houston. Hyden wasn Eskey, Tommy John Surgery, and

326
00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:52,560
Speaker 1: now Cameron Smith. Look, I think Cam Smith, I still

327
00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:56,240
Speaker 1: I still believe in Cam Smith. I think he's going

328
00:18:56,320 --> 00:19:00,240
Speaker 1: to be a really good player, but they're talking about

329
00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:02,960
Speaker 1: starting him in Triple A next year. He's not guaranteed

330
00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:05,720
Speaker 1: a spot. Uh you know, when you say these things

331
00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:08,440
Speaker 1: out in the public, there's you're like sending a message

332
00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:11,440
Speaker 1: to a guy. It's interesting. It's a you know, it's

333
00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:14,080
Speaker 1: interesting to hear. I don't. I don't think I've never

334
00:19:14,119 --> 00:19:17,359
Speaker 1: heard anything about bad makeup with Cam Smith. If anything,

335
00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:21,040
Speaker 1: I've heard like great guy, great like works his butt off,

336
00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:24,920
Speaker 1: super like the right type of confidence that you want

337
00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:28,000
Speaker 1: to see in a high level athlete. Uh So I

338
00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:31,080
Speaker 1: still believe that like in a few years, we're gonna

339
00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:34,440
Speaker 1: look back and say, like, whow, sure Cam Smith would

340
00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:37,160
Speaker 1: sure look good in the Cubs uniform. But like these

341
00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:40,120
Speaker 1: things that you just don't know. So it's worth taking

342
00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:42,200
Speaker 1: the risk every once in a while, like go for it.

343
00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:45,680
Speaker 1: But I I understand what Carter's point is. If you're

344
00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:49,320
Speaker 1: doing that every year, that's that's not healthy for the organization.

345
00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:52,920
Speaker 1: But I do think it's I don't want Cubs fans

346
00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:54,840
Speaker 1: to look at this and say, never do it again.

347
00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,160
Speaker 1: It you know, you've got to pick and choose your moments.

348
00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:02,080
Speaker 1: But I you know, if they if they traded for

349
00:20:02,119 --> 00:20:04,920
Speaker 1: Trek Scoogle this year and then did another one year

350
00:20:05,119 --> 00:20:08,000
Speaker 1: trade next year. Like that's that's how you like screw

351
00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:11,200
Speaker 1: up your future pretty badly. But I think one off

352
00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:14,560
Speaker 1: it's fine, and I think the ultimate goal was get

353
00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:17,399
Speaker 1: to ninety plus wins and make the playoffs and and

354
00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:20,840
Speaker 1: set yourself up for a brighter future. I don't know

355
00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:23,800
Speaker 1: if if not resigning Tucker is gonna bite them in

356
00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:26,560
Speaker 1: the butt and they're not gonna have a good offensive season,

357
00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:28,840
Speaker 1: but right like, it also makes sense, like at a

358
00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:30,960
Speaker 1: certain point you need these kids to play, either trade

359
00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:35,199
Speaker 1: them or play them. So you can't do everything. You

360
00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:38,320
Speaker 1: can't have all these guys playing. There were too many

361
00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:41,159
Speaker 1: spots as it was, or not enough spots as it

362
00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,800
Speaker 1: was at the end of last year. That doesn't mean

363
00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:46,679
Speaker 1: that the offense won't take a step back, but I

364
00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:49,080
Speaker 1: think it's probably about time to see what some of

365
00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:49,960
Speaker 1: these kids can do.

366
00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:55,119
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think it's important to note what you

367
00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:58,240
Speaker 3: just said there. This doesn't mean the Cubs wouldn't trade

368
00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:02,399
Speaker 3: for a starting pitcher who came with multiple years of control,

369
00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:07,159
Speaker 3: or that they're not or that they're unwilling to trade

370
00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:11,600
Speaker 3: some of these like Triple A Iowa Slash Wrigley adjacent

371
00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:15,560
Speaker 3: kind of bubble players to give them a runway and

372
00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:19,400
Speaker 3: maybe get some more impact on the major league side

373
00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:22,840
Speaker 3: in a different form. But you're right, we're kind of

374
00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:28,080
Speaker 3: hearing this of what we took as a very straightforward,

375
00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:33,480
Speaker 3: almost obvious confirmation, like the Cubs are focused on pitching, pitching,

376
00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:38,000
Speaker 3: and more pitching. That does not mean they won't do

377
00:21:38,119 --> 00:21:43,760
Speaker 3: anything to their offense at all. But I think whenever

378
00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:48,720
Speaker 3: Kyle Tucker puts on a new jersey, he'll probably get

379
00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:51,399
Speaker 3: off to a nice start, particularly he's in like a

380
00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:54,280
Speaker 3: lineup that has, you know, kind of other pieces to

381
00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:58,359
Speaker 3: where he can be more of a complimentary hitter of

382
00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:04,200
Speaker 3: like how do you place that It's I don't think

383
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:06,160
Speaker 3: it's gonna be a one for one for one move.

384
00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:11,600
Speaker 3: It's gonna be difficult, but the guy we saw in

385
00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:14,240
Speaker 3: the second half of the season would not.

386
00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:17,880
Speaker 2: Be all that difficult to replace, to be honest.

387
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:23,280
Speaker 1: Yeah, So they were fifth in runs last year. I

388
00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:28,320
Speaker 1: believe they were like twelfth, Yeah exactly, there were twelfth

389
00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:32,120
Speaker 1: the year before. If you kind of split the difference there,

390
00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:35,320
Speaker 1: if you if you're not if you're just like bottom

391
00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:38,440
Speaker 1: end of the top ten, I think you take that

392
00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:42,840
Speaker 1: in a heartbeat next year. You know, you what you

393
00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:45,160
Speaker 1: want to see the Cubs do if you're if you're

394
00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:49,199
Speaker 1: a Cubs fan. Uh, the way they they need to

395
00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:52,200
Speaker 1: execute this plan. The way it works is these young

396
00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:55,840
Speaker 1: guys do well. None of the another, like, none of

397
00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:59,040
Speaker 1: the guys take huge steps back, like Michael Bush. Maybe

398
00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:02,639
Speaker 1: Pete well, you know maybe in the power department. Pete

399
00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:05,640
Speaker 1: isn't a thirty homer guy, but like if he can

400
00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:10,159
Speaker 1: be similar, maybe take a step forward. And then the

401
00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:13,000
Speaker 1: rest of the guys, you know, it's mostly like can

402
00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:15,000
Speaker 1: you expect that from say It? Can you expect that

403
00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:18,720
Speaker 1: from Carson Kelly? These are the ones where you're like wondering,

404
00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:21,840
Speaker 1: I don't know if you can get exactly that you

405
00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:26,040
Speaker 1: want similar value for like overall from those offensive guys,

406
00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:29,240
Speaker 1: and then like Bias, Arris and Casey to combine to

407
00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:32,440
Speaker 1: be a solid player. They're not going to give you

408
00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:34,720
Speaker 1: Kyle Tucker's production, So you take a little bit of

409
00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:37,240
Speaker 1: a step back. Then in theory, the pitching is where

410
00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:39,960
Speaker 1: you step forward. You have to hope that Shoda has

411
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:44,040
Speaker 1: a better healthy season, Justin Steels returned Kate Horton full season,

412
00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:47,520
Speaker 1: and whoever they add and then you have to figure

413
00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:50,240
Speaker 1: out the bullpen. That's always a crapshoot, but those are

414
00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:53,600
Speaker 1: that's take a step forward with the pitching and a

415
00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:56,480
Speaker 1: slight step back with the offense, and that's how you

416
00:23:56,520 --> 00:24:00,080
Speaker 1: become a better team. It's still risky, and I under

417
00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:03,280
Speaker 1: stand the complaints, and I understand the concern when you're

418
00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:06,679
Speaker 1: relying on youth and and you just don't know, it's

419
00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:09,000
Speaker 1: you just don't know what Peka Armstrong is definitely going

420
00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:12,080
Speaker 1: to be. Like you feel really good and excited about

421
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,840
Speaker 1: the season he had, but to guarantee that he repeats

422
00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:19,560
Speaker 1: it like and and that's with the disappointing second half.

423
00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:22,399
Speaker 1: Like so there there are always these questions. I totally

424
00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:25,280
Speaker 1: understand why people would be frustrated, but I also understand,

425
00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:27,480
Speaker 1: like what the Cubs are trying to do here. They're

426
00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:30,840
Speaker 1: they're trying to find an avenue that just like once

427
00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:35,840
Speaker 1: you get past Kyle Tucker on the like impact bats. Look,

428
00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:38,160
Speaker 1: you and I have talked about how awesome it would

429
00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:40,000
Speaker 1: be for Kyle Schuber to be back here, Like, I

430
00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:43,560
Speaker 1: think we both enjoy that as as reporters. Uh, I

431
00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:46,280
Speaker 1: think fans would love that, and I think that he'd

432
00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:50,280
Speaker 1: be a boon for this team overall. I just don't

433
00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:53,760
Speaker 1: I don't know if that cost makes sense with the

434
00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:57,919
Speaker 1: way the Cubs do things a DH you know, like

435
00:24:58,000 --> 00:24:59,679
Speaker 1: they they're not going to spend all this money on

436
00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:05,080
Speaker 1: positionless talent. They're just not. So I think I think

437
00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:06,880
Speaker 1: there are ways to improve this team. I think they've

438
00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:09,080
Speaker 1: laid out their plans and I think, you know, it

439
00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:12,880
Speaker 1: makes sense to me, even if it's there's always risk,

440
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:15,879
Speaker 1: and I think this comes with a healthy dose, and

441
00:25:16,119 --> 00:25:20,280
Speaker 1: it's kind of obvious, like what this risk is, Yeah.

442
00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:24,280
Speaker 2: Better stay healthy too. I mean, they had a pretty remarkable.

443
00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:27,320
Speaker 3: Run basically outside of Kyle and has to be better,

444
00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:31,000
Speaker 3: right and the bench has to be better some you know,

445
00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:35,960
Speaker 3: the kind of complimentary right handed hitter we're talking about,

446
00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:40,400
Speaker 3: you know, Owen Casey, it's time to see some sort

447
00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:43,159
Speaker 3: of value from the U Darvius trade. It's not a

448
00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:46,560
Speaker 3: knock on Casey, just a clear salary don't move. And

449
00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:49,560
Speaker 3: we're heading into opening day twenty twenty six still have

450
00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:52,000
Speaker 3: not seen a lot at the major league level yet.

451
00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:54,320
Speaker 3: Some of that a lot of that out of Owen's

452
00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:57,639
Speaker 3: control to this point. And you hear the way people

453
00:25:57,720 --> 00:26:02,320
Speaker 3: talk about Mois's biasteros that he is a special, unique hitter.

454
00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:05,840
Speaker 3: We saw certainly some flashes of that of him getting

455
00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:12,040
Speaker 3: more comfortable and adjusting to a higher level has to happen.

456
00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:15,200
Speaker 3: And yeah, I am curious about you know, is Michael

457
00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:17,280
Speaker 3: Bush just a guy like that?

458
00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:19,560
Speaker 2: You know, he was kind of mister October for a while.

459
00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:24,760
Speaker 3: Can sayah, smooth out some of those inconsistencies. I mean,

460
00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:26,840
Speaker 3: he had like what like a thirty and one hundred season,

461
00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:29,080
Speaker 3: It just didn't feel that way because it was so

462
00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:33,400
Speaker 3: front loaded, But he had some nice moments in the playoffs,

463
00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:37,960
Speaker 3: Like there have a lot of hitters like in that

464
00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:42,879
Speaker 3: right peak sort of age range that they're sort of

465
00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:43,920
Speaker 3: obsessed with.

466
00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:46,440
Speaker 2: And so yeah, I.

467
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:48,800
Speaker 3: Don't just because they could play a game tomorrow with

468
00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:54,280
Speaker 3: their position player group doesn't mean they should. And that

469
00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:57,240
Speaker 3: I still think we have to keep in mind here

470
00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:00,480
Speaker 3: with all of these various permutations, like what are the

471
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,040
Speaker 3: Cubs like to do, like to hang back a little

472
00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:06,440
Speaker 3: bit and keep their options open and wait for free

473
00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:12,399
Speaker 3: agents and teams to get antsy as even into spring training,

474
00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:16,440
Speaker 3: Like how many spring trainings in a row now has

475
00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:20,600
Speaker 3: been covering kind of free agency while workouts are going

476
00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:24,480
Speaker 3: on in Mesa, like on some level or in some

477
00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:26,760
Speaker 3: area of the club. I think that will still be

478
00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:31,720
Speaker 3: going on, you know, well passed well into and past

479
00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:34,960
Speaker 3: Cubs convention and maybe even pitchers and catchers reported.

480
00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:39,479
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's say we will. We'll see who's available in

481
00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:42,479
Speaker 1: like the middle of January, and if there are bats,

482
00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:45,199
Speaker 1: then maybe the Cubs suddenly are interested, you know, like

483
00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:50,000
Speaker 1: they there they are very you know, opportunity oriented, like

484
00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:53,159
Speaker 1: we've seen them do this multiple times over the years.

485
00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:57,840
Speaker 1: So don't rule that type of stuff out. As much

486
00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:01,199
Speaker 1: as they've laid out their plan. Things change when the

487
00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:04,680
Speaker 1: market dictates that things need to change. So we'll see

488
00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:07,480
Speaker 1: what direction they go and what they're like. We know

489
00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:10,679
Speaker 1: what they're going to be aggressive with early and then

490
00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:15,320
Speaker 1: my assumption is the lead that there'll be a way

491
00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:20,000
Speaker 1: for them to be opportunistic if if something you know,

492
00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:23,560
Speaker 1: pops up in January February, so we'll see, we'll see

493
00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:27,920
Speaker 1: what that means. All right, thanks so much for listening

494
00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:30,920
Speaker 1: to everyone. We'll have two episodes next week Thanksgiving week.

495
00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:34,560
Speaker 1: We will be bugging you for questions, so we'll be

496
00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:37,720
Speaker 1: doing some mail bags hopefully and hopefully you guys as

497
00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:40,480
Speaker 1: always deliver and give us some good questions and we'll

498
00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:43,320
Speaker 1: try and get as much info out there as possible.

499
00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:46,160
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to everyone. Make sure to rate, review, subscribe,

500
00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:48,840
Speaker 1: subscribe to the YouTube channel, and subscribe to The Athletic

501
00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:51,320
Speaker 1: where Patrick and I are on top of all things cubs.

502
00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:53,640
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening everyone.

503
00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:00,680
Speaker 4: The name.

504
00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:18,240
Speaker 1: And the name I do. They among the leve