Speaker 1: In terms of like a spring training meg extension. I
Speaker 1: don't think there's any any real possibility.
Speaker 2: Of that happening. Yeah, we got Patrick Mooney on with us.
Speaker 2: We're gonna go over some Cubs storylines. You know, let's
Speaker 2: go right into it and then cutting a few things
Speaker 2: on the back end. AJ. I just want to leave
Speaker 2: the simplest possible terms what I'm leaving told me a
Speaker 2: few times now, what do you think of the Cubs
Speaker 2: off season?
Speaker 3: Aj?
Speaker 2: Not bad?
Speaker 3: Huh?
Speaker 4: Better than this team?
Speaker 2: Well, that teams that bird's hibernating. It's not a way.
Speaker 4: That's why I saw my my less crop seen babblehead,
Speaker 4: right because oh wow groover right. Uh but yeah, that's
Speaker 4: why it sits there every day, because they're until they're
Speaker 4: sleeping with less or I p less love you. But uh, yeah,
Speaker 4: the Cubs have had a good off season. I have
Speaker 4: to give them credit. As much as that pains me
Speaker 4: to say, I think they've had a pretty decent offseason.
Speaker 4: I love to get one more nice piece, and whoever
Speaker 4: that is, I don't know. It's not my money. It's
Speaker 4: the uh, you know, the people that own the Cubs,
Speaker 4: And I hate to say their names, but I'm not
Speaker 4: going to uh, but they've had a good offseason. They've
Speaker 4: had a better off season than probably anybody except maybe
Speaker 4: the Dodgers and the Aches and the Mets.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean they're I would also say that off
Speaker 1: season is not done yet. I mean we still you know,
Speaker 1: my colleagues scided if Sharma Ke and Rosenthal we still
Speaker 1: keep hearing the Cubs are active. We don't know exactly
Speaker 1: what that will be. There's a big difference between sort
Speaker 1: of hanging around and talking to Scott Boris about Alex
Speaker 1: Bregman versus actually like going out and doing it. And
Speaker 1: I think that's where the the Astros have had kind
Speaker 1: of an advantage in a way that the Cubs don't,
Speaker 1: because Tom Ricketts is not that type of owner who's
Speaker 1: just gonna call up Scott Boris and.
Speaker 3: Close a deal here.
Speaker 1: But whether it's another pitcher, I think until Bregman signs elsewhere,
Speaker 1: the Cubs are gonna be involved. And I think by
Speaker 1: the time they get to Mesa, it could the offseason,
Speaker 1: which has been pretty good, could look a lot different
Speaker 1: by that point too.
Speaker 2: All Right, So before we dive into twenty twenty five
Speaker 2: storylines and things that we know, for certain, and what's
Speaker 2: on the roster. Let's cover Bregman really quickly. What do
Speaker 2: you think where are we at with the Cubs one inning?
Speaker 2: Are they at with Bregman and the negotiations? And do
Speaker 2: you think that it's real? I know someone was floating
Speaker 2: out a four hundred, but and if it has opt outs,
Speaker 2: maybe that's enticing for him over a six I think
Speaker 2: one point fifty six from the Astros. But do you
Speaker 2: think this is serious?
Speaker 3: Well, it's definitely serious.
Speaker 1: I think it's just a matter of how serious and
Speaker 1: what the appetite is to get something, don't hear?
Speaker 3: I mean this is the way the Cubs are sort
Speaker 3: of set up.
Speaker 1: I mean Jed Hoyer does not have an unlimited budget,
Speaker 1: but he has managed it in a way that keeps
Speaker 1: the Cubs kind of in the conversation for any of
Speaker 1: these you know guys who maybe are a little disappointed
Speaker 1: or frustrated with kind of where how their market has developed.
Speaker 1: And also they built up, you know, pretty substantial amount
Speaker 1: of young talent to where you know, if teams are
Speaker 1: looking to make moves late, they are certainly in those
Speaker 1: conversations here as well. And I think what we've kind
Speaker 1: of learned over the years here as the Cubs have
Speaker 1: transitioned away from THEO and overhauled their front office, it
Speaker 1: is really all about.
Speaker 3: Whatever the computer tells them to do.
Speaker 1: Now, they certainly have preferences and they dictate their own strategy,
Speaker 1: but it's really all about whatever deal fits in their system.
Speaker 1: And we'll see if Bregman gets to kind of get
Speaker 1: falls to their level.
Speaker 2: I should say, well, they love those former astros, they
Speaker 2: really do. We'll get into that, right Tucker, Presley, et cetera.
Speaker 2: Let's hit the storylines. We've got four storylines that we
Speaker 2: promised will hit. Maybe a bonus question if we have time,
Speaker 2: can Kyle K Tucker vault the Cubs back into the playoffs?
Speaker 2: And can they convince him to stay long term? This
Speaker 2: is year two of Craig Counsel super rich manager disappointing
Speaker 2: season in year one of his expedition with the Cubs,
Speaker 2: obviously ditching the hometown team, getting the contract, getting what
Speaker 2: he was worth, but so far it didn't work out.
Speaker 2: What are we thinking with Matt Shaw? Can he make
Speaker 2: an impact starting on day one? And is patients wearing
Speaker 2: thin with the front office? This is kind of a
Speaker 2: make or break do they have to make the playoffs
Speaker 2: for this current front office to be set up the.
Speaker 3: Way it is.
Speaker 2: Let's start at the top, because Kyle Tucker is a really,
Speaker 2: really strong player. You can call him a superstar. Many do,
Speaker 2: right based on the seasons he's put together consistently and
Speaker 2: what he was on pace for last year before he
Speaker 2: got hurt. What do you think of this addition Tucker
Speaker 2: in and Bellinger out.
Speaker 1: This is a guy they absolutely needed to get. I mean,
Speaker 1: the Cubs have been an eighty three win team, kind
Speaker 1: of a stable, conservative organization, like just good enough to
Speaker 1: play meaningful games in September, not good enough to advance
Speaker 1: and win in October. And I think if you look
Speaker 1: at the contours of those previous seasons, it was they
Speaker 1: needed a star. They needed someone to step up and
Speaker 1: hit that three run homer to kind of win a
Speaker 1: series on the road, to make sure that like four
Speaker 1: game losing streak doesn't turn into like a three week spiral.
Speaker 3: And I think Tucker is one of the best all
Speaker 3: round players in the game.
Speaker 1: I think the second point of this will be really
Speaker 1: fascinating to watch, like how is he gonna function as
Speaker 1: sort of like the man in Wrigleyville. He didn't really
Speaker 1: have to do that in Houston, And at this point,
Speaker 1: I don't think either side has any sort of expectations
Speaker 1: about a long term deal. At this point, I think
Speaker 1: the expectation is that he will play this year out.
Speaker 1: The Cubs will have a year to sort of lay
Speaker 1: the groundwork and recruit him. But in terms of like
Speaker 1: a spring training Meg extension, I don't think there's any
Speaker 1: any real possibility of that happening.
Speaker 5: To use one of Count's favorite words last year that
Speaker 5: was repeated ever once in a while, is this season
Speaker 5: going to be daunting for Craig counsel or is the
Speaker 5: second season of him moving into an organization that now
Speaker 5: he gets more of his own fingerprint on and kind
Speaker 5: of the processes of like I want these types of
Speaker 5: guys to come up and everybody playing under me. Is
Speaker 5: there going to be something new in year two?
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was a great get you guys had of
Speaker 1: Pat Murphy acknowledging that a council wouldn't call it trolling
Speaker 1: the Brewers, but it was definitely a specific word choice
Speaker 1: of saying that the Brewers are this daunting challenge when
Speaker 1: on undaunted, is this kind of very personal motivational slogan
Speaker 1: for his.
Speaker 3: Old good buddy Pat Murphy.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean this is where Council is supposed
Speaker 1: to really put his imprint on the team. I mean,
Speaker 1: the front office views him as part of the inner
Speaker 1: circle for every major decision, So the product on the
Speaker 1: field is going to be on some level a reflection
Speaker 1: of his belief system and priorities. He's someone who comes
Speaker 1: into the office occasionally throughout the off season. He's you know,
Speaker 1: on slack, he's reading reports, he's watching video. So you know,
Speaker 1: I would imagine, as you guys know, he's not the
Speaker 1: most animated guy. But in terms of how this pitching
Speaker 1: staff is going to be deployed, that's a huge point
Speaker 1: of emphasis for Counsel. I think he was the one
Speaker 1: who put pressure on the front office publicly at the
Speaker 1: end of last year, during that daunting sort of monologue
Speaker 1: of saying, we should be trying to build ninety win
Speaker 1: teams around here, and he, you know, has certainly been
Speaker 1: a voice behind the scenes trying to kind of create
Speaker 1: a sense of urgency that I think you've seen in
Speaker 1: the moves the Cubs that made this off this winter.
Speaker 4: Is one of the reasons the moves. We talked about
Speaker 4: Alex pragmant sorry still have cardinal hair on my is
Speaker 4: one of the One of the the reasons why is
Speaker 4: because the prospects are coming. And we talked about Alex
Speaker 4: Pragman earlier, and they have Matt Shaw and he's supposed
Speaker 4: to possibly be there on opening day as their third basement.
Speaker 4: Is that what's happening with the Cubs. They finally built
Speaker 4: this farm system up to a point where the prospects
Speaker 4: are coming and they're gonna be used a lot to
Speaker 4: help solidify this roster.
Speaker 3: Well age.
Speaker 1: As you know, the Cubs would never overhype their prospects.
Speaker 3: That never happens, but no.
Speaker 5: Team does does.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I do think I think there's a certain logic
Speaker 1: you in getting Kyle Tucker, you trade away Cam Smith,
Speaker 1: another first round pick out of Florida State who had
Speaker 1: crushed it at the Cape Cod League, was very much
Speaker 1: a fast riser in your system. I think there's also
Speaker 1: dovetails with counsels, you know, philosophy, his demeanor. He created
Speaker 1: a great space for Pete Crow Armstrong to really develop
Speaker 1: at the major leagues last year at a time when
Speaker 1: there are a lot of questions about you know his
Speaker 1: offensive development, whether he could kind of play under control,
Speaker 1: and he told PCA, like, look, just just play great defense,
Speaker 1: you know, focus on what you do well. You know,
Speaker 1: Councils has sons who are right around the same age
Speaker 1: as PCA, which I think gave him like a nice
Speaker 1: bit of context to kind of what these players are
Speaker 1: going through.
Speaker 3: At this point in their careers. And so Matt Shall,
Speaker 3: if they don't get Bregman would get a nice run there.
Speaker 3: I would say it's his job to lose at third base.
Speaker 1: Cops also of Nicol Horner coming off surgery, so it's
Speaker 1: a little bit of a question mark when he would
Speaker 1: be ready, and you know Shaw could play second base
Speaker 1: as well. And I think if you're looking kind of
Speaker 1: over the horizon, it's this trade deadline of the Cubs
Speaker 1: are gonna have a lot of pieces that they can
Speaker 1: move to go get whatever they need this summer, and
Speaker 1: I think it would probably be in their best interest
Speaker 1: to move some of these guys because they have a
Speaker 1: cluster of roughly you know, six to seven players in
Speaker 1: that top one hundred, you know, top one twenty in
Speaker 1: the industry, and there's just not enough room to give
Speaker 1: these guys the pathway to develop in the major So
Speaker 1: I think if.
Speaker 3: You give Shaw and maybe another guy comes up.
Speaker 1: And that was a big part of this the last
Speaker 1: Cubs era with Joe Madden. Of you have a Kyle
Speaker 1: Schwarber coming up to DH during those mid season injured
Speaker 1: league games, and all of a sudden, he's just hitting
Speaker 1: bombs in the playoffs against your Cardinals AJ. So I'd say, like,
Speaker 1: if they can kind of methodically work some of these
Speaker 1: guys in, I think this year will be a success
Speaker 1: for them.
Speaker 4: Okay, that makes sense. Listen, you know where I stay
Speaker 4: with the Cubs. You know how I feel about the Cubs. Okay,
Speaker 4: but it's the happiest place on Earth behind Disney World, right,
Speaker 4: it's the Friendly Confines. But his patients growing a little
Speaker 4: thin because they won. It's almost been ten years now
Speaker 4: since they won. They finally did it. They broke the curse.
Speaker 4: The Cubs were told we're gonna win for the next
Speaker 4: ten years, and the next year after they pretty much
Speaker 4: started kind of going downhill rapidly. You know, Rizzo gone,
Speaker 4: Bryant gone, everyone gone. These guys are all gone, and
Speaker 4: they haven't really done much much since. So is the
Speaker 4: patience of the Cub fans, not that they had a
Speaker 4: lot of patience to begin with, but is it wearing
Speaker 4: thin with Jed Hoyer and the rest of this front
Speaker 4: office to put a winning team and yes, I'll say
Speaker 4: his name, Tom Ricketts and the Ricketts family to spend
Speaker 4: money to put a quality team that can go out
Speaker 4: and win the World Series.
Speaker 1: Again with the Cubs, well, I don't know how much
Speaker 1: time you spend in Chicago in the winter, but it's
Speaker 1: pretty bleak here, man, Like if you look at the
Speaker 1: city sports. Yes, that's a good move to say sports
Speaker 1: franchises right now, the Cubs are actually like pretty competent
Speaker 1: in comparison. That doesn't mean that does not mean parades
Speaker 1: down Michigan Avenue, But I do think it speaks to
Speaker 1: the relationship between Tom Ricketts and Jed Hoyer. Now, obviously
Speaker 1: the ultimate metric is the wins and losses at the
Speaker 1: major league level, when the Cubs have not made the
Speaker 1: playoffs since twenty twenty, and that is certainly on Jed
Speaker 1: Hoyer's ledger. But I think if you look at kind
Speaker 1: of stylistically, temperamentally, philosophically, like Jed Hoyer is exactly the
Speaker 1: type of executive that Tom Ricketts wants running his team,
Speaker 1: and yes, that does mean playing, being kind of in
Speaker 1: the hunt every single year, and having a good base
Speaker 1: of young talent, being to use a Rickets phrase, rational
Speaker 1: with contracts in free agency. I mean, this is not
Speaker 1: a team that is spending like the Dodgers, or is
Speaker 1: spending like the Mats.
Speaker 3: And now that's a whole separate episode.
Speaker 1: But I think within the confines of what the friendly
Speaker 1: confines of what the Rickets family are trying to build,
Speaker 1: I think Jed Hoyer checks a lot of boxes what
Speaker 1: they're looking for. And I don't know this division is bad.
Speaker 1: I mean, the Cardinals are not trying this year. Major
Speaker 1: questions about the Reds and the Pirates. I mean, we
Speaker 1: underestimate the Brewers every single year. But you gotta think
Speaker 1: they're gonna miss a damis so like it's set up here,
Speaker 1: and to kind of call back to the previous answer
Speaker 1: about the trade deadline, like Jet's gonna be in position
Speaker 1: to go for it and I think you will.
Speaker 2: Hey, last one bonus question here, how much better do
Speaker 2: you think the Cubs bullpen is this year?
Speaker 3: They just got.
Speaker 2: Brazier, Porter Hodge looks good. Ryan Presley obviously for the
Speaker 2: back end among some others that they did. Like, it
Speaker 2: just starts to shift some of the guys you were
Speaker 2: thinking high leverage more to mid leverage or whatever you
Speaker 2: want to call it. So should Cubs fans be excited
Speaker 2: that they won't blow as many late leads?
Speaker 1: Well, it's always going to look better on paper, and
Speaker 1: then as soon as the first blown save at Wrigley Field,
Speaker 1: everyone will be, you know, criticizing the manager and things
Speaker 1: of that nature. But yeah, it looks better on paper.
Speaker 1: I think Presley organizes things in a way that should help.
Speaker 1: If you look at these past couple of seasons too,
Speaker 1: what really hurt them was early in the season just
Speaker 1: getting knocked out with injuries and not having those answers
Speaker 1: in the ninth inning. Like if if they're just like
Speaker 1: a higher floor there, more stability. You know, you got
Speaker 1: a guy the highest paid manager in baseball, you know,
Speaker 1: pressing those buttons in the bullpen.
Speaker 3: I would think it would look better. But we'll see.
Speaker 1: We'll see who's healthy by the time they get back
Speaker 1: from Japan and like the season really starts. But I
Speaker 1: think if you look at a pitching staff from one
Speaker 1: to whatever, however, many guys are gonna have in camp,
Speaker 1: like over thirty. I think it looks pretty solid on paper,
Speaker 1: with like we said, some flexibility to maybe even add
Speaker 1: here before camp starts.
Speaker 2: Okay, that's good enough. Cubs fans will take it. And
Speaker 2: I know Cubs fans don't at me. We didn't put
Speaker 2: everyone on that list. I like Nace Pearson too. If
Speaker 2: you can stay on the mound, Patrick, thanks for the time,
Speaker 2: then we'll see what happens.
Speaker 3: All right, you got it, guys, take care.
Speaker 2: All right here we are. It's a good point about
Speaker 2: the rest of the division.
Speaker 3: Guys, it's just not that good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's not that good. So it does help
Speaker 2: Chicago because the Cubs weren't bad last year. They just
Speaker 2: we're in a playoff team and it's been a problem
Speaker 2: in the last couple of years. So like, can we
Speaker 2: improve a little bit?
Speaker 3: And will that put us counting on you?
Speaker 4: Yes, counting on you, Tito, counting on you Ellie.
Speaker 2: Really, it's just not great, right, Like Cincinnati's done some
Speaker 2: things Kratz and I've liked some of the smaller moves
Speaker 2: they made, but the Cubs made the bigger impact moves.
Speaker 5: Oh oh my goodness, I mean what an upgrade Kyle
Speaker 5: Tucker over Cody Bellinger. Even Cody Bellinger's like the reason
Speaker 5: they signed him to that deal, like the year he
Speaker 5: had two years ago. Kyle Tucker's still an upgrade. That
Speaker 5: move alone with getting Presley, it's awesome. Would I would
Speaker 5: go against that? I think I think the starting pitching
Speaker 5: for the Pirates is gonna be really tough. So it's
Speaker 5: gonna be tough to just bludgeon the Pirates to death
Speaker 5: if you're the Cubs. But I still think the Cubs
Speaker 5: are the better team. I still think the Reds win
Speaker 5: this division currently currently where they're at.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 2: And then we had a couple of answers about schemes
Speaker 2: from earlier. Igarashi in the chat said, Yamamoto got a
Speaker 2: twelve year contract. Why couldn't Skeens get a ten year offer?
Speaker 4: Because different things you could, but he ain't gonna sign it,
Speaker 4: and they're not going to make a ten year offer.
Speaker 5: Yamamoto was a proven substance.
Speaker 4: Sorry, Skeens. One year just not the way the salary
Speaker 4: structure works, and most teams don't do that with pictures.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 2: And then yeah, others like cr in the chat, Scott's
Speaker 2: talking about the pirates right. Never will they extend schemes.
Speaker 5: Never.
Speaker 2: I just don't want to see. I just don't want
Speaker 2: anyone to overlook the fact that money matters. More so
Speaker 2: to some owners. Bob Nutting is money, money, money, and
Speaker 2: he's going to look at his books and be like,
Speaker 2: oh damn, this dude makes me money.
Speaker 5: Look at just go look at Look at the picture
Speaker 5: Paul Skins and Bob Nutting. You tell me if that
Speaker 5: is a guy who's going to extend the person on
Speaker 5: his right. Bob Nutting's standing to Paul Skeins left the
Speaker 5: picture they took at the Beas, And you tell me
Speaker 5: if you think that guy's gonna give the other guy
Speaker 5: an extension.
Speaker 2: He gave other people extensions. And that guy makes some money.
Speaker 2: And on the other side, you're a pitcher, get your
Speaker 2: first big check. It's hard to turn down nine figures
Speaker 2: if you're a young pitcher.
Speaker 4: Even he won't offer him that. I don't think he'll
Speaker 4: offer him that, though. I just don't snee him. If
Speaker 4: he yeah, if he went something like that, if he
Speaker 4: went six years one hundred and twenty six years one
Speaker 4: hundred something like that, sure, but he ain't gonna do that,