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Speaker 1: They're definitely in have avenues to be able to upgrade

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Speaker 1: this team, and obviously it's gonna be on JED to

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Speaker 1: show that you can pull the right lovers to get

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Speaker 1: them over that hump.

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Speaker 2: Welcome into Northside Territory Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast. I'm

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Speaker 2: Saharev Sharma with me as always is Patrick Mooney, Patrick

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Speaker 2: and I. On this episode we will interview Chicago Tribunes

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Speaker 2: Megan Montemuro, the Cubs beat writer for the Tribune. Meghan

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Speaker 2: has been covering the Cubs since twenty twenty one, but

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Speaker 2: she was with us in Chicago, oh Man towards the

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Speaker 2: end of the Mike Quaddy, the Jim Hendry and Mike

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Speaker 2: Quaddie years, and I think she got one year of

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Speaker 2: Dale Swain in there, and then headed to Philadelphia where

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Speaker 2: she covered one of the more dysfunctional, you know, half

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Speaker 2: decades or so of Philadelphia Phillies baseball. She's seen a

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Speaker 2: lot of interesting stuff, covered a lot of different types

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Speaker 2: of managers, seeing different ways teams have been built, saw

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Speaker 2: the beginning of what the Phillies have become now a

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Speaker 2: very you know, impressive team that has made the playoffs

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Speaker 2: three years in a row. Megan is you know someone

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Speaker 2: we talk a lot of baseball with, always chatting in

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Speaker 2: the press box. And she had a great interview with

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Speaker 2: Tom Ricketts, chairman of the board, who had some thoughts

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Speaker 2: about payroll, Jed Hoyer's contract status, the disappointment of twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty four, and and just you know, the expectations were

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Speaker 2: probably higher because of quick council in my opinion, But

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Speaker 2: you know Tom Ricketts saying this was the most disappointing

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Speaker 2: season he's he's had as far as him being in

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Speaker 2: charge of things with the Cubs.

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Speaker 3: I think that says a lot. And Megan gets into that.

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Speaker 2: It's a good, good twenty minutes with Megan that Patrick

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Speaker 2: and I enjoyed.

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Speaker 3: Let's get to that.

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Speaker 4: Megan, thank you for joining us. How you been How

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Speaker 4: is your off season going fast?

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Speaker 1: I feel like it's gone fast, but otherwise good.

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Speaker 4: One of the reasons we want to have you on

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Speaker 4: besides is your in general, you know, great work at

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Speaker 4: the Tribune. Your interview with Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts caught

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Speaker 4: people's attention, as well as his annual form letter to fans.

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Speaker 4: I learned more reading your your story and interview than his.

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Speaker 3: I was just curious, like.

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Speaker 4: Once that interview ended, what was sort of your general

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Speaker 4: take on his frustration level or kind of where his

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Speaker 4: head is that with Jed in this front office and

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Speaker 4: just a general direction of this team.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I thought it was really strong wording

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Speaker 1: on his part to say that this was the most

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Speaker 1: disappointed season for him since he had taken over as chairman,

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Speaker 1: because I mean, as obviously you guys would know better

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Speaker 1: than me. I mean, there were some disappointing seasons after

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Speaker 1: twenty sixteen with the talent that they had, and so

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Speaker 1: for him to frame it that way, I thought was

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Speaker 1: really interesting. And I mean, to be clear, I mean

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Speaker 1: in spring training, you know, he said that on paper

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Speaker 1: that they were the best team in the division, and

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Speaker 1: they finished ten games back of the Brewers. So I

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Speaker 1: mean you could argue, if that is true, what was

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Speaker 1: true going into the year, But I mean clearly that

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Speaker 1: was that was the view he had and certainly people

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Speaker 1: in the organization had. And so I do think that

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Speaker 1: the disappointment is genuine, and I know I'm sure there's

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Speaker 1: a faction of fans would have liked to have seen

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Speaker 1: that mean moving on from Jed Hoyer, but I do

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Speaker 1: think it was interesting too, Like, you know, I asked

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Speaker 1: them in multiple ways about you know, Jed's job security

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Speaker 1: and how he views him going forward, and he basically

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Speaker 1: pointed pretty bluntly of you know, he views it that

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Speaker 1: he's under contract for twenty twenty five, and so I

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Speaker 1: think that certainly signals that, like they need to make

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Speaker 1: the playoffs next year, Like there aren't going to be excuses.

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Speaker 1: You know, there can't be another disappointing season. They have

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Speaker 1: to figure out why for a second straight year in

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Speaker 1: a little bit of a different way, but that the

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Speaker 1: offense you know, was non functional basically for two months,

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Speaker 1: and so you know, those were the two things that

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Speaker 1: really stood out to me. And as you know Tom

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Speaker 1: is said in the past, like he gives Jed the

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Speaker 1: budget and it's on him to figure out how he

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Speaker 1: wants to allocate those resources, and you know, it'll be interesting.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I think another thing that stood out was,

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Speaker 1: you know, he basically indicated that budget wise there there

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Speaker 1: he's anticipating that it'll be at the same point as

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Speaker 1: it was less or this past year for twenty twenty

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Speaker 1: five in terms of payroll, which I mean obviously they

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Speaker 1: ended up as he put it, tripping over the CBT threshold.

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Speaker 3: So while you know he.

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Speaker 1: Wouldn't commit to whether he would give the okay for

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Speaker 1: them to go over it for a second year in

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Speaker 1: a row, it does indicate at the very least that

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Speaker 1: they should be near you know, the max, you know,

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Speaker 1: before hitting that that first tier in twenty five. So,

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Speaker 1: I mean, they're gonna have potentially a lot of money

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Speaker 1: to play with, you know, around ninety is sha million,

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Speaker 1: depending on what Cody Bellinger does with his player option.

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Speaker 1: So they they're definitely gonna have avenues to be able

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Speaker 1: to upgrade this team, and it's obviously it's gonna be

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Speaker 1: on Jed to show that, you know, he can pull

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Speaker 1: the right levers to get them over that hump.

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Speaker 3: Uh Megan.

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Speaker 2: One of the one of the areas where he used

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Speaker 2: that budget or allowed Jed to use that budget, was

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Speaker 2: signing Craig Counsel, the surprise that happened about a year ago.

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Speaker 3: Now.

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Speaker 2: I don't know if if last season this past season

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Speaker 2: was the most disappointing under Ricketts time, because I think

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Speaker 2: back to twenty nineteen, but I think because of adding Council,

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Speaker 2: I see how expectations were heightened. What were your thoughts

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Speaker 2: you've You've covered probably more managers than I've covered. I

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Speaker 2: think over your time with the Phillies and Cubs. What

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Speaker 2: were your thoughts on council It probably the most successful

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Speaker 2: manager you've covered, if I'm remembering correctly.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, my career manager list covered is quite the list.

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Speaker 3: I don't run through it.

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Speaker 2: Uh okay.

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Speaker 1: So since covering cubs and Socks at the beginning of

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Speaker 1: my career like that included Asiegian, Rob Ventura socks. What

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Speaker 1: our cubs was my Quaddie and Dale Swam. When I

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Speaker 1: went to the Phillies it was Ryan Sandberg, h Pete mccannon,

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Speaker 1: Gabe Kapler, Joe Girardi.

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Speaker 3: Uh okay.

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Speaker 2: And are successful I shouldn't. I shouldn't have both won

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Speaker 2: World Series, So I'll give them that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, beyond that questionable, Yeah, you know, I think the

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Speaker 1: thing that immediately stood out, even in spring training was

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Speaker 1: just unprompted how many players talked about their appreciation for

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Speaker 1: just his honesty and being upfront, and then like in

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Speaker 1: spring that looked like I remember you know, Miles Master

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Speaker 1: Boney talking to us and and him saying how Craig

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Speaker 1: made clear like you're gonna be going up and down

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Speaker 1: from Triple A in the majors this year, like that's

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Speaker 1: gonna be your role, and that he appreciated that. It

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Speaker 1: wasn't like if you play really hard and really good,

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Speaker 1: you're gonna make the team out of camp like stuff

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Speaker 1: like that. That like he was honest about what their

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Speaker 1: individual situations were so they could prepare as needed, you know,

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Speaker 1: whether it was mentally, you know, understanding physically what their

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Speaker 1: role might entail. So that immediately stood out. And the

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Speaker 1: fact that even some veteran guys talked about that, I

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Speaker 1: thought was really telling. And I think in general, like

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Speaker 1: he put his players in position to succeed, and obviously

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Speaker 1: that it's on the player to do that, but I

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Speaker 1: think a lot of the times like he found a

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Speaker 1: really good way to use Patrick Wisdom, and I know fans,

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Speaker 1: especially later later in the season, perhaps you know, understandably

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Speaker 1: got a little frustrated when maybe he would be pinch

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Speaker 1: hitting for Michael Bush and stuff like that. But you know,

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Speaker 1: it felt like he got the most out of the

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Speaker 1: roster he was given. And I think the one interesting

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Speaker 1: thing going to see would be and he talked about

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Speaker 1: this early in the season of you know, he was

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Speaker 1: still learning his pictures still understanding like, Okay, what does

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Speaker 1: not being on or being fatigued to look like. And

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Speaker 1: so I do think that will help, especially in the

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Speaker 1: bullpen moving forward. I think just in that first month

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Speaker 1: or two, he was really relying on the coaches around him,

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Speaker 1: and so I think his feel for that will continue

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Speaker 1: to improve. But I really think he did a pretty

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Speaker 1: good job. And yeah, when you when you hire somebody

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Speaker 1: like him and give him the contract, you give him like, yeah,

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Speaker 1: you're wanting more wins than last year, And I think

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Speaker 1: that is a fair expectation. But I mean, given some

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Speaker 1: of the issues they had early in the season, I mean,

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Speaker 1: I think he did a good job navigating those things

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Speaker 1: as he was continuing to learn his personnel and who

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Speaker 1: he had in the clubhouse.

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Speaker 4: All right, let's take a quick break and we'll be

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Speaker 4: right back with Meghan Mountimoor of the Chicago Tribune. Megan,

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Speaker 4: we're appro wishing sort of the I don't know if

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Speaker 4: anniversary is the right words. It's such a weird event,

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Speaker 4: but Craig Council being hired by the Cubs, David Ross

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Speaker 4: fired by the Cubs, and we were talking about this

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Speaker 4: kind of off air, what was kind of your reaction

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Speaker 4: at the GM meetings, because I think we all had

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Speaker 4: a very similar one in Arizona last November.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I think I literally had just put down my bags

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Speaker 1: in my hotel room and was setting up my laptop

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Speaker 1: to do a little bit work when I saw the

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Speaker 1: tweet come through. And then I think the other thing

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Speaker 1: that really stands out is reading the press release. In

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Speaker 1: the same press release is talking about how they fired

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Speaker 1: David Ross and just slip in that they hired Craig

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Speaker 1: Council as manager. So I think those are the two things,

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Speaker 1: like the scenario of like just getting to the GM

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Speaker 1: meetings and the hotel room all this news happening, trying

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Speaker 1: to process that, and then reading the press real on

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Speaker 1: it and just being like, oh, okay, they're just putting

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Speaker 1: that all in one.

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Speaker 2: Oh man, that that has to be the most surprising

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Speaker 2: thing I've ever covered. Like most it just did not

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Speaker 2: see it coming, wasn't on my radar. Uh And I

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Speaker 2: was already there because I got there early and did

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Speaker 2: some Arizona Fall League work, and it was just one

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Speaker 2: of those situations where I'm like, I don't I don't

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Speaker 2: know what to do, and I'm like in my hotel room,

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Speaker 2: like pacing in circles, not knowing should I go, should

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Speaker 2: I go to the to the resort, should I Should

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Speaker 2: I be texting people?

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Speaker 3: I don't know where what I'm doing? What should I

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Speaker 3: be doing with my hands? Uh? I think we all had.

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Speaker 4: These great plans for Arizona Fall League, covering like there's

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Speaker 4: a Pulitzer committee that did not get to readvolve our

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Speaker 4: work on little Cubby prospects that immediately got ignored when

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Speaker 4: we had to drop it.

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Speaker 3: Scott's Oh, I got my James Triato's piece out there.

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Speaker 3: You go there, you.

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Speaker 2: Megan h you got to cover the first year of

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Speaker 2: Bryce Harper in a Phillies uniform, right, is that right?

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Speaker 3: Okay? The first two years of Bryce Harper.

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Speaker 2: We know, we know the Cubs are missing a star,

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Speaker 2: like we We've talked about this, You and I talk

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Speaker 2: about this a lot in the press box. I you

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Speaker 2: know Wan Soto, I don't think any of us believe

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Speaker 2: the Cubs are going to be real players for for him.

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Speaker 2: But I'm curious what we we know what the needs

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Speaker 2: are for this team, right, like we talk about it

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Speaker 2: all the time. I'm curious what you when you look

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Speaker 2: at this team what what do they need to do

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Speaker 2: to get out of the middle. What's the off season

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Speaker 2: plan to get out of the middle Where they are

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Speaker 2: right now? They're not a bad team. We talk about

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Speaker 2: all the talent they have because we see it. They're

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Speaker 2: good players on this team, but they're not good enough obviously.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And I mean I mean just thinking back to

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Speaker 1: covering like the Phillies before, like that offseason leading up

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Speaker 1: to when they got Harper. I mean, that team was

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Speaker 1: not a playoff team. I mean, they honestly really were

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Speaker 1: not that close. But it was a situation where it

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Speaker 1: was like, this is an opportunity to add a star player,

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Speaker 1: like we will make this team ready and better around him.

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Speaker 1: And then like you see, like even like not on

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Speaker 1: the field, stuff like off the field things matter too

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Speaker 1: and winning. And I mean one of the things that

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Speaker 1: still sticks with me is that first year. You know,

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Speaker 1: so obviously I didn't see it as much in the

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Speaker 1: COVID years, sintween the clubhouse access or anything. But after

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Speaker 1: every game Homer, especially at home, win or lose, whether

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Speaker 1: Bryce had a good game or not, he would collectively

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Speaker 1: ask us do you need me? And like and like

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Speaker 1: you know, he would be in there and there they

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Speaker 1: had a lot of bad losses under Gabe Kapler, and

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Speaker 1: you know, he a lot of the time took the

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Speaker 1: heat off of everybody else. There were some young guys

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Speaker 1: in that clubhouse, and you know he made he made them,

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Speaker 1: He made himself the face of that team, winneror lose.

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Speaker 1: And so I think star power goes so far beyond

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Speaker 1: just on field, and the Cubs have to find a

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Speaker 1: way not not obviously finding a Bryce Harper is gonna

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Speaker 1: be hard if you're not doing the Wan Soda route,

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Speaker 1: but like they have the prospects that you have to

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Speaker 1: find a way to acquire a more proven hitter, like

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Speaker 1: and something that Jed talked about at the end of

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Speaker 1: the year press conference of like in twenty three when

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Speaker 1: they had Cody Bellinger and he was putting up you know,

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Speaker 1: top ten MVP numbers. You know, they were able to

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Speaker 1: weather some of those issues a little bit better. And

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Speaker 1: you know, for two months they had a third of

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Speaker 1: the lineup that was a black hole. And one of

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Speaker 1: those guys cannot be Nancy Swanson. I mean, I think

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Speaker 1: that's a big part of it too. Like they have

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Speaker 1: to get obviously his defense, that's like a very big

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Speaker 1: role in what made him so appealing. But he has

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Speaker 1: to be better than he was those first two and

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Speaker 1: a half months. Have to get more out of him offensively.

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Speaker 1: But but but finding a way, I think it's gonna

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Speaker 1: have to come through a trade where you're acquiring somebody,

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Speaker 1: whether it's a Vlaggerer junior. Maybe then you find a

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Speaker 1: way to extend him and bringing him bring in a

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Speaker 1: star talent that way. But I just don't see how

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Speaker 1: they have a lot of really good players, so I

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Speaker 1: don't know how adding another really good player offensively really

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Speaker 1: moves the needle a whole lot for that group. I mean,

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Speaker 1: you also don't know, like what is Nigal Horror gonna

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Speaker 1: look like? Is he even gonna be ready for the

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Speaker 1: beginning of the season, And he was looking really good

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Speaker 1: that final six weeks. So I just think you have

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Speaker 1: to find a way to get a start. If you're

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Speaker 1: not going to pay for it, then with the prospect

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Speaker 1: that depth that they have, that you have to go

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Speaker 1: that route. And and and it shows like with the

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Speaker 1: Bush trade. I mean, they obviously can be good at

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Speaker 1: at you know, identifying who are these guys that can

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Speaker 1: fit in our lineup and fit the offensive profile we want,

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Speaker 1: but I think it has to be finding a way

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Speaker 1: to add that star.

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Speaker 4: Do you come away from your conversation with Rick Gets

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Speaker 4: thinking like as much pressure as Jet is under, isn't

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Speaker 4: he also kind of who he wants running his team?

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Speaker 4: Like from Carter Hawkins GM to Jet Hoyer to Rick

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Speaker 4: Gets even to counsel they it doesn't mean it's gonna work,

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Speaker 4: but they sort of seem to be on the same

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Speaker 4: page right where they have the same sort of like

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Speaker 4: fears or kind of risk management strategies.

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Speaker 1: Right, And that's the thing, Like from covering the Bryce

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Speaker 1: Harper Manny Machado off season, like that was ownership driven, yea,

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Speaker 1: Like ownership went to the front office and said, you

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Speaker 1: are signing one of these two guys. I don't care

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Speaker 1: how it happens, but you're doing it to the point

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Speaker 1: where you know, the team owner and his wife flew

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Speaker 1: to Las Vegas on their private jet to meet with

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Speaker 1: Bryce Harper and his wife and then flew them all

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Speaker 1: to clear Water, you know, once he sealed the deal.

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Speaker 3: Obviously Tom is.

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Speaker 1: Not that kind of guy, and I think, but I

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Speaker 1: think it's important to note that, like, yeah, like Jed

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Speaker 1: with those kind of big decisions. Ownership is involved, and

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Speaker 1: you know Tom has definitely managed that from like the

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Speaker 1: fan perspective of you know, I give I give Jed

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Speaker 1: the budget. He's allowed to allocate those resources however he wants,

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Speaker 1: which is true, but like you said, both sides have

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Speaker 1: pretty much made clear they don't feel comfortable taking that risk.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, I think you're right, Like it is an

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Speaker 1: alignment of vision of and so then Tom talked about

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Speaker 1: a lot of like La Kyle, great our farm system

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Speaker 1: is and that's what we need to be able to,

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Speaker 1: you know, have that susame success. It's been talked about

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Speaker 1: for the last five years. And so that's great, And yeah,

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Speaker 1: you do need to have young talent, but if somebody

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Speaker 1: like Pete k Armstrong isn't turning into a Bobby Witt

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Speaker 1: type all star, like, you still need to pay for it.

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Speaker 1: And and I thought something that interesting that Tom said

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Speaker 1: to me was like, if if winning was determined by

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Speaker 1: how much you spend, we would win the division every year.

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Speaker 1: And that's not how it works. And so yes, like

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Speaker 1: there is clearly UH an alignment on risk aversion, and yeah,

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Speaker 1: he has the people in place that that agree with

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Speaker 1: that approach.

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Speaker 2: I would say so, And this is what I always

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Speaker 2: come back to, and I agree with you.

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Speaker 3: I like, I think we're all on the same page here.

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Speaker 3: So what's the.

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Speaker 2: How why is Jed on the hot seat? Then he's

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Speaker 2: doing everything everything Ricketts wants. So thetom line is he

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Speaker 2: just has to win, but he has to win under

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Speaker 2: the same like whoever is in charge is going to

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Speaker 2: be working under the same conditions.

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Speaker 3: Like nothing changes. So when fans demand.

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Speaker 2: Like like fans want want Soto, fans want Bryce Harper,

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Speaker 2: fans want the superstar, just changing Jed Hoyer doesn't change that, right,

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Speaker 2: Like that's it. That's why I feel like, Okay, Jed

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Speaker 2: Hoyer is on the hot seat, Yes we all agree

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Speaker 2: with that, But what changes that if he's got you

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Speaker 2: get someone else that that just you know, manipulates the

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Speaker 2: limited budget. That that when I say limited limited compared

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Speaker 2: to Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Right, So that that's where I like,

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Speaker 2: I always come back to that, what's the point of

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Speaker 2: having Jed Hoyer on the hot seat if nothing changes financially?

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Speaker 1: I mean, I think for for ownership perspective, it's there

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Speaker 1: has to be at least some sort of accountability.

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Speaker 3: Right If we say like.

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Speaker 1: Playoffs are the expectation and they haven't gotten there in

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Speaker 1: a full season since twenty eighteen. Like, that message doesn't

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Speaker 1: mean a whole lot if you know, Jed, who's been

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Speaker 1: in the organization for you know, more than a decade

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Speaker 1: at this point, is able to keep his job falling

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Speaker 1: short of what is a pretty clear goal. And I

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Speaker 1: think too, like the argument would be, like, yes, he

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Speaker 1: doesn't have the resources that a big market team like

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Speaker 1: the Cubs should be tapping into, but it's also on

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Speaker 1: him for extending Ian Half, extending Nico Horn or deciding

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Speaker 1: like this is the collection of really good players we're

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Speaker 1: going to build our offense around, and yet the offense

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Speaker 1: continues to not be that consistent, reliable output over the

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Speaker 1: course of the season. So like, yes, if Jed were

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Speaker 1: to not be brought back after next season, it's going

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Speaker 1: to be another you know, person in his position who,

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Speaker 1: like you said, has those same risk averse you know know,

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Speaker 1: approach and team building approach that Jed has. But like

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Speaker 1: I think, I think, yeah, I think for I think

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Speaker 1: it just comes down to accountability that you can't keep

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Speaker 1: the same guy there that's not getting into the postseason.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, And I think it should.

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Speaker 4: We're getting ahead of ourselves. But if it did happen,

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Speaker 4: it would be probably similar to Philadelphia, right, Megan, And

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Speaker 4: that wouldn't necessarily Dave Dombrowski convincing Tom rake Is to

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Speaker 4: spend like crazy, but there'd be a pretty like the

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Speaker 4: growing pains would have already happened, and there would have

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Speaker 4: been a pretty nice, like kind of canvas to work

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Speaker 4: with whoever is running the team at that point.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and and like and kind of you know what's

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Speaker 1: been talking about before, Like that's that that THEO Jed balance,

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Speaker 1: Like you have to have somebody that pushes you one

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Speaker 1: way or the other where it's Jed pushing THEO being

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Speaker 1: like you know, maybe we should be a little bit

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Speaker 1: more conservative with this part, but like you need that

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Speaker 1: balance to push you one way or the other. And

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Speaker 1: so I think you always see that in like the

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Speaker 1: course corrections of Like I think the Phillies are a

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Speaker 1: good example going from Gae like Gabe Papler to Joe Girardi.

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Speaker 1: You're going with like the analytics guy that was not

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Speaker 1: welcomed into the city for a variety of reasons, to

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Speaker 1: Joe Girardi, one of the more old school managers left

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Speaker 1: and I think you always see kind of that that

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Speaker 1: shift back and forth when something doesn't work out, So

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Speaker 1: I think it would. I mean, I think there would

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Speaker 1: clearly be a ton of interests if you are somebody

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Speaker 1: who you know has for an office leadership like the Cubs,

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Speaker 1: job would be very appealing, even with not having the

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Speaker 1: spending capabilities of you know, the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers. So yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think it would be a highly appealing job. And

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Speaker 1: I do think you would have like some proven potentially

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Speaker 1: more like you know, old school perspectives like you mentioned,

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Speaker 1: like Dobrawski going to Philly. I think I think you

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Speaker 1: could have a shift in that direction. So I think

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Speaker 1: it's a it's going to be a really interesting season

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Speaker 1: for a lot of reasons because I mean, it's it's

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Speaker 1: pretty clear, like like playoffs, you know, even though you

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Speaker 1: know Tom says playoffs is well every year, Like the

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Speaker 1: fact that jet is seemingly not going to be extended

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Speaker 1: before next year, I think says a very strong message.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I don't want to go too far down

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Speaker 2: this because I think it's something we'll we'll continue to

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Speaker 2: talk about as twenty five. But I just you saying

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Speaker 2: that makes it has my mind wandering now and thinking

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Speaker 2: he absolutely needs someone that that would push him in

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Speaker 2: the more take a risk direction like I just that's

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Speaker 2: absolutely true. We've all we all talked to Carter and

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Speaker 2: he's very much all about value and dollar per war

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Speaker 2: type stuff. So it's it's just like a similar method

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Speaker 2: and it's not someone that's going to push them out

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Speaker 2: of their comfort zone in terms of we have to

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Speaker 2: be more like looking at more taking more risks when

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Speaker 2: it comes to spending and being aggressive to get guys.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a fascinating topic.

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Speaker 2: I think we'll continue to explore it and debate it

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Speaker 2: in the press box Megan, Megan, thanks so much for

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Speaker 2: joining us. It's always fun chatting and you can read

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Speaker 2: Meghan's work at the Chicago Tribune, always covering the Cubs

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Speaker 2: doing great work there, tough competition for Patrick and I

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Speaker 2: and always fun conversations in whether we're on a podcast

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Speaker 2: or hanging out in the press box. Appreciate the time, Megan,

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Speaker 2: Thanks for.

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Speaker 1: Having me on.

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Speaker 2: Thanks so much to Meghan mont Tomorrow. Always a pleasure

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Speaker 2: talking to her. Thanks to all of you listeners for listening.

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Speaker 2: Uh this is Northside Territory. Make sure to rate review

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Speaker 2: and subscribe. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel that helps

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Speaker 2: out a lot, and of course subscribe to Patrick and

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Speaker 2: I work over at the Athletic. We are on top

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Speaker 2: of all things cubs for you guys.

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Speaker 3: Hopefully you enjoy all the work that we have for you.

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Speaker 2: We'll see what this winter holds for the cubs, but

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Speaker 2: it's obviously a critical one for Jed Hoyer, especially as

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Speaker 2: we discussed on this episode. Thank you all for listening.

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Speaker 2: We appreciate it.

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Speaker 3: Take care,