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

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Speaker 1: I'm Sahadev Sharma. Patrick Mooney is not with me today.

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Speaker 1: I decided to do a solo show from Tokyo, going

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Speaker 1: to take some of your questions. I am just kind

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Speaker 1: of settling back into a Japan time zone routine. I

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Speaker 1: feel like I finally got a good night's rest. I

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Speaker 1: mean six hours of sleep, six ish hours of sleep.

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Speaker 1: I'm going to count that as a good night's rest

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Speaker 1: after all the struggles all of us have had with

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Speaker 1: jet lag. It's it's not just me. I'm sure you

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Speaker 1: guys don't need to hear about this, but yeah, the

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Speaker 1: transition is intense, and I'm sure I'm not sure how

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Speaker 1: the ballplayers actually deal with it, but you know they

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Speaker 1: managed to somehow. And you know, they've got games to

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Speaker 1: play in recording this Sunday morning, so they have games

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Speaker 1: to play in just two days, two and a half days.

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Speaker 1: They'll be getting ready to play. I think before we

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Speaker 1: get to the questions, I wanted to talk a little

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Speaker 1: bit about what I've seen from the Cubs. You know,

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Speaker 1: they've had a workout and a game against the Dragons,

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Speaker 1: and you know, I don't think the results of the

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Speaker 1: game are all that important to the offense. Didn't do much,

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Speaker 1: they were shut out, just a few hits, perfect game

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Speaker 1: through five for the pitcher that was on the mound.

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Speaker 1: But what I've taken away from this first few days

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Speaker 1: here is the way Craig Council is kind of really

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Speaker 1: He talked about this in Arizona and he's really hammered

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Speaker 1: it the first few days here. The concept of this

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Speaker 1: team bonding. And he used a word, a Japanese word kazuna,

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Speaker 1: and it's the Japanese word for bonding or you know,

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Speaker 1: togetherness for people. Here, I'll get you the exec that

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Speaker 1: the enduring bonds between people, close relationships forged through mutual

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Speaker 1: trust and support. Now that can sound like a bunch

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Speaker 1: of nonsense to some people. I think, you know, but

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Speaker 1: I think there's something to this. I think it's a

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Speaker 1: good way to kind of frame this trip. I just

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Speaker 1: started talking about the jet lag. Listen, it's exhausting. I

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Speaker 1: can understand how someone could come here to have to

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Speaker 1: play baseball and almost look at it as a negative. Right.

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Speaker 1: You have to start your season against the defending world champs,

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Speaker 1: completely stacked team, and you have to your body has

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Speaker 1: to adjust to what is it from Arizona thirteen hour

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Speaker 1: time difference More than that, it's like fifteen hours. And

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Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know how how you play baseball

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Speaker 1: doing that, but you could easily like this is this

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Speaker 1: is an amazing trip and you have to kind of

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Speaker 1: focus on that positive, right, And I like the council's

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Speaker 1: focusing on that. You could complain about your body adjusting

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Speaker 1: on the trip here, your body having to adjust on

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Speaker 1: the way back. Then playing five more exhibition games spring

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Speaker 1: training games to kind of you know, round out spring training,

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Speaker 1: and then you have a really tough schedule to start

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Speaker 1: the season that begins in Arizona against this good Diamondbacks team,

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Speaker 1: what looks like a good Diamonds Backs team. Then you

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Speaker 1: go to Sacramento, nobody's ever played there before major League Baseball,

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Speaker 1: and now you have three I believe against the Athletics

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Speaker 1: there a team that looks like they could be better.

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Speaker 1: They have their home opener against the Cubs, and then

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Speaker 1: it's just you know, La San Diego, Texas a lot

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Speaker 1: of good teams. It's it's not going to be an

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Speaker 1: easy schedule, but council is really focusing on the positive. See,

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Speaker 1: he talked about Kazuna, he talked about the purification ceremony

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Speaker 1: uh that they had, which I I thought was interesting

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Speaker 1: and and he seems to really be focused on those

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Speaker 1: things and seems to really be enjoying it. Uh. There

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Speaker 1: there was something else that he he went through. Uh.

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Speaker 1: There was a It's called shishimei uh, and it's a

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Speaker 1: traditional Japanese dance where people in a line costume bite

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Speaker 1: the head of people to ward off evil and bring

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Speaker 1: good luck. You may have seen video of that council

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Speaker 1: kind of having you know, allowing his head to be

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Speaker 1: bitten by this uh you know, costumed uh lion. And

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Speaker 1: you know, I think it's all it's it's it's interesting

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Speaker 1: the culture aspect of it, and then just the just

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Speaker 1: the aspect of you know, not not overlooking these moments,

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Speaker 1: not taking it for granted. Uh. The players seem to

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Speaker 1: really be enjoying it. I haven't heard where Like Patrick

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Speaker 1: and I talked about this before, but I haven't heard

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Speaker 1: a single person complain. I think that's important. I think

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Speaker 1: that's nice. Well, we'll see if it translates into wins. Right. Ultimately,

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Speaker 1: it's going to be about the talent on the field.

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Speaker 1: But these little things can make a difference. I thought

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Speaker 1: Justin Turner made a good point. You know, you can

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Speaker 1: get close and you can be buddies, but can you

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Speaker 1: can you really bond? Can you can you call each

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Speaker 1: other out in the right way where nobody takes offense

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Speaker 1: in those difficult moments, when when things get tough, when

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Speaker 1: people need to be told something that may be a

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Speaker 1: little bit, a little bit difficult to hear, but you're

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Speaker 1: so close now, or you have this trust between each

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Speaker 1: other that you know it's not someone taking a shot

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Speaker 1: as much as it as it is. Hey, I'm trying

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Speaker 1: to get the best out of you. We all want

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Speaker 1: the same thing to win. How do we How do

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Speaker 1: we do that? I think this is how we do it?

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Speaker 1: X y Z right, Yeah, I just wanted to I

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Speaker 1: just wanted to talk about that stuff. I think it's

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Speaker 1: like it's just stood out to me and I really

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Speaker 1: appreciate the way councils framed it, the way the team

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Speaker 1: has embraced it, and that they're not you know, they're

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Speaker 1: not just treating this as like we got a job

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Speaker 1: to do. We got to get to Japan and play

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Speaker 1: games and come back home. That is you know, ultimately

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Speaker 1: they have games to play and games to win, and

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Speaker 1: that's the goal of this season, to win. There's a

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Speaker 1: ton of pressure. You have to win, you have to

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Speaker 1: make the playoffs. Otherwise people are losing their jobs. Right,

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Speaker 1: So there's that aspect of it. But I also like

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Speaker 1: that they are enjoying this moment and using it for

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Speaker 1: something more than just baseball. We'll see if it leads

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Speaker 1: to anything. Who knows. Let's get to some of your questions.

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Speaker 1: Let's start with m J mclee. Any truth to the

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Speaker 1: Cub's interest in Lancelnn. I know depth is important, but

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Speaker 1: they seem to have plenty, and I prefer they go

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Speaker 1: with Brown asad once healthy, Chillian bird Cell ext as depth.

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Speaker 1: That'll uh. Bird Cell's hurt. I don't have an update

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Speaker 1: on his shoulder, but he's not really I don't know

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Speaker 1: if you can count on him for this season when

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Speaker 1: you have a shoulder like that and they kind of

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Speaker 1: just completely backed off him. Killian I don't know. I

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Speaker 1: wouldn't count him as depth right now. He's He's further

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Speaker 1: down on the depth chart. You also have Wicks, Chris Flexen.

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Speaker 1: I'm probably missing someone right Uh. You know, there's there's

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Speaker 1: other starters that I think Flexen and wix are are

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Speaker 1: the big ones. Oh, Kate Horton, of course, Kate Horton's

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Speaker 1: the bit the other uh name that you'd you'd count

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Speaker 1: And this this question assumed Colin Ray as the fifth starter.

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Speaker 1: Uh so there is depth? And yes, is there? Does

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Speaker 1: I get the question? Does Lanceln make sense? I don't know.

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Speaker 1: I like I. I think that the reality is Jed

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Speaker 1: Hoyer and this front office are obsessed with depth, as

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Speaker 1: you should be. Like pitching depth, you can never have enough.

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Speaker 1: I understand it. You want to say, you know, I

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Speaker 1: want this guy starting over, this guy, I want Ben

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Speaker 1: Brown starting over this guy. Look, a lot of these

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Speaker 1: guys are gonna get starts. That's just the reality of

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Speaker 1: baseball now. It's how the game is played. You don't

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Speaker 1: have a five man rotation through over the course of

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Speaker 1: an entire season. It's just not how it works anymore.

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Speaker 1: You can't do that. There's too much, too much risk

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Speaker 1: with injury. Uh And and pitchers don't go two hundred

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Speaker 1: plus innings regularly anymore. There's a handful of guys like that.

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Speaker 1: Zach Wheeler is the outlier. Now. You know, guys like

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Speaker 1: that are rare in today's game, and you know, if

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Speaker 1: we ever get back to that type of game, it's

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Speaker 1: not happening overnight, so so you have to have depth.

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Speaker 1: What my understanding is is that the Cubs have checked

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Speaker 1: in that we it's the same thing that Patrick and

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Speaker 1: Ken reported. What was it a week ago? Uh, they

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Speaker 1: have checked in on Lancelin. Uh he is and and

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Speaker 1: Kyle Gibson as well. He's on their radar, but they're

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Speaker 1: more or pitcher hungry, preitcher needy teams the Yankees included.

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Speaker 1: I'm not sure how much the Yankees love these guys

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Speaker 1: that are out on the market. What will what will

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Speaker 1: Lancelin take? Right, let's let's focus on Lanceoln since there

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Speaker 1: was a report connecting Lancelin in the Cubs recently, Like,

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Speaker 1: I don't think anything has changed. They're not. There's no

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Speaker 1: signing imminent. They have kept in regular contact and and

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Speaker 1: they're checking in. They aren't. If a signing happens, it

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Speaker 1: would probably be after this trip to Japan. I don't

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Speaker 1: know how exactly it would work because does he want

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Speaker 1: to sign a minor league deal? And if he does,

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Speaker 1: wouldn't it be with another team that has more injuries

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Speaker 1: and more opportunity, Like how like Lancelin if he were

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Speaker 1: to if he were to sign a minor league deal right,

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Speaker 1: he would want an opt out by May, let's say,

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Speaker 1: right one month, and that seems like a lot a

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Speaker 1: long wait for someone like Lanceon, but he'd need to

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Speaker 1: build up, right, So he'd need to agree to build

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Speaker 1: up and then like, you are up by this date.

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Speaker 1: That's probably what type of deal he'd want. Do the

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Speaker 1: Cubs have that guarantee where they can just say you

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Speaker 1: are up by this date. They'd need, like they have

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Speaker 1: guys they want to give starts to. But the counter

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Speaker 1: to that is depth is depth. Veterans are valuable. Veteran

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Speaker 1: pitching is valuable. You can never have too much pitching.

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Speaker 1: So I'm not going to rule it out. I'm curious

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Speaker 1: to see where this goes. Where guys like Lance Lane

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Speaker 1: and Kyle Gibson end up. They're going to need to

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Speaker 1: build up. They're going to need to be willing to,

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Speaker 1: you know, start in the miners to build up that.

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Speaker 1: You know, they may argue that they've been staying fresh,

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Speaker 1: but I think we've seen that enough that teams, unless

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Speaker 1: you're desperate, just aren't going to want that right now,

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Speaker 1: the Cubs aren't desperate, it doesn't seem unless there's something

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Speaker 1: they're not sharing about asad, which there's no indication of that.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, I don't. I agree that it is a

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Speaker 1: little odd, but it I just fall back to depth

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Speaker 1: is depth, and you need pitching depth at all times,

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Speaker 1: and I think that's where this this ultimately is, and

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Speaker 1: they certainly will keep checking in and we'll see where

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Speaker 1: it goes. Next question is from M Break eighty eight.

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Speaker 1: Are you worried about the cub starting pitchers poor metrics

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Speaker 1: this spring? And he shares the FIP of Justin Steele

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Speaker 1: showed him Monaga and Jameson ty On, which ranges from

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Speaker 1: six point zero four FIP for Monaga to eight point

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Speaker 1: seven six FIP for tye On. I'm not worried. I

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Speaker 1: just like it's spring training. They're building up, they're trying

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Speaker 1: different things, like like what were the hits that Justin

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Speaker 1: Steele gave up? Like what pitches was he throwing? Was

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Speaker 1: the experiment? Was he did he decide to throw all

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Speaker 1: fastballs one inning? Or was he aiming for one spot

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Speaker 1: and trying to execute something that he normally doesn't. You

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Speaker 1: just don't know every single detail about these situations, what

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Speaker 1: they were trying to do, what they were working on,

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Speaker 1: how they're feeling when their runs were given up orre

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Speaker 1: they building up still. I believe Justin Steele got a

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Speaker 1: hit hard in his final tune up Start. I just

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Speaker 1: like stay healthy. All three of these guys are veterans.

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Speaker 1: I know In Monaga has won major league season under

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Speaker 1: his belt, but he's a veteran, a baseball professional baseball,

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Speaker 1: you know. I think there is validity in wondering about

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Speaker 1: this pitching staff in general taking a step back. It's

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Speaker 1: going to be really hard for show toay Minaga to

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Speaker 1: repeat last season two point nine one era. I believe,

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Speaker 1: one hundred and seventy plus innings. He was great and

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Speaker 1: if you remember, I believe it was his first nine

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Speaker 1: starts a sub one era, Like he was amazing to

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Speaker 1: start his career. I just don't see how he can

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Speaker 1: repeat that. And if he does, then hey, more power

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Speaker 1: to him. He's a he's a stud. Then Jameson Tyne

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Speaker 1: is looking to add velocity. I think he has. We'll

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Speaker 1: see him tonight. By the time this goes up, maybe

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Speaker 1: he'd have already pitched, but we'll see him in Japan

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Speaker 1: in the exhibition game. I believe the plan is for

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Speaker 1: him to go and Matthew Boyd to go, So that'll

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Speaker 1: we'll see how many innings they can eat up and

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Speaker 1: then whatever relievers pitch after that, if they have them pitched, well,

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Speaker 1: we'll see. We'll see how it all goes. And like

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Speaker 1: Justin Steele, look, I just think Justin Steele is who

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Speaker 1: he is. He's really consistent, a low three e R,

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Speaker 1: A two three in a good rotation, right or two

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Speaker 1: or three, depending on how you look at those things.

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Speaker 1: I think im and Ague is probably similar. I think

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Speaker 1: Diane's probably a three or four. And and you're you know,

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Speaker 1: they are who they are. I don't think you're seeing

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Speaker 1: drastic changes, and I you know, maybe a step back

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Speaker 1: for a Mi Nagah, you hope. I know the peripherals

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Speaker 1: weren't great for Tyon, but you hope that he the

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Speaker 1: extra velocity kind of gives him a little bit more

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Speaker 1: swing and miss. He's never going to be like a

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Speaker 1: huge strikeout guy unless something is completely changed with him,

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Speaker 1: which all signs are that they haven't. So you know

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Speaker 1: those three guys, yeah, are your veterans. Yeah, I'd like

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Speaker 1: to see them and Matthew Boyd. I think there's a

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Speaker 1: floor with these guys, and then Colin Ray probably opens

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Speaker 1: the season as your fifth starter. Maybe Ben Brown, but

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Speaker 1: I think it's still Ray that has the edge there

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Speaker 1: and we'll see Brown later in the season. Yeah, they

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Speaker 1: they they don't have that swing and miss guy. And

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Speaker 1: I've said this before, that's what's missing from this team.

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Speaker 1: Dylan Ceees, Sandy al Contra, those types of names that

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Speaker 1: are on the trading block and that you know, Dylan Cees,

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Speaker 1: you need to be bowled over. The Padres are competing.

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Speaker 1: The AJ Preller isn't moving him for nothing, and same

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Speaker 1: with I mean the Marlins aren't competing. But Olcntra has

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Speaker 1: got a great deal and if he can. It sounds

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Speaker 1: like he's healthy and like all the numbers from the

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Speaker 1: spring make it look like he's back to his old self.

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Speaker 1: That's gonna be a haul. There's gonna be a lot

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Speaker 1: of teams after him. Think about it, not many teams,

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Speaker 1: like everybody's competing. There's gonna be like right now, on paper,

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Speaker 1: it looks like there's three sellers in the Marlins, the Rockies,

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Speaker 1: and who am I missing? The White Sox, maybe the Angels,

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Speaker 1: but do the Angels ever sell, do the Rockies ever sell? Like,

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Speaker 1: there's just not going to be a lot out there

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Speaker 1: to sell, and there's so many There's likely going to

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Speaker 1: be a lot of teams because of the wild card

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Speaker 1: situation and teams with a lot of pressure on them buying. Well,

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Speaker 1: we'll see how it shakes out. But yes, I think

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Speaker 1: I'm not worried about those spring stats. I am a

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Speaker 1: little worried about the upside. I guess of the rotation.

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Speaker 1: You you'd want Ben Brown to be that type of

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Speaker 1: guy that could maybe break out. You'd want Kate Horton

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Speaker 1: to maybe break out. You know, Jordan Wicks could take

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Speaker 1: another step, Matthew Boyd has a full season like he's

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Speaker 1: capable of, and then you know, suddenly you're talking about

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Speaker 1: different things. So there there are ways that this can

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Speaker 1: be a really good rotation. Uh, I just don't think

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Speaker 1: it has the full ceiling. I like this offense more

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Speaker 1: than I like the starting staff. I like the potential

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Speaker 1: of the bullpen more than I do the like the

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Speaker 1: upside of the starting staff. Again, I just think there's

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Speaker 1: a floor with this rotation. You would like to see

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Speaker 1: more swing and miss, especially especially at the top of

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Speaker 1: the rotation. I don't know how it'll play out. We'll

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Speaker 1: see what they think they can uh uh, what they

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Speaker 1: can get done, and how good they can be. I hope.

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Speaker 1: I'm curious to see what they can do with the deadline,

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Speaker 1: if for anything. To add more to this, here's a

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Speaker 1: question from Greg Huss Jed and Carter have dealt top

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Speaker 1: prospects and from their minor league depth. He mentioned some

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Speaker 1: names in the actual question, but I wanted to be

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Speaker 1: able to fit the whole question in here. Do you

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Speaker 1: get a sense that this speaks to their trust in

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Speaker 1: de canter Ritz and the player development team or just

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Speaker 1: necessary moves to compete. I think it's both, right. So,

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Speaker 1: one of the trades you mentioned is Hope and Jackson

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Speaker 1: Ferris for Michael bush. Look, they were looking to compete

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Speaker 1: sooner when they got Michael Busch. Those names were the

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Speaker 1: names the Dodgers are focused on. My understanding is they

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Speaker 1: were talking for a while. The Dodgers didn't budge. They

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Speaker 1: wanted Michael Busch. This is the price they had to pay. Zier.

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Speaker 1: Hope looks like he could be a really good player.

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Speaker 1: He has some like he's not going to help the

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Speaker 1: Dodgers in twenty twenty five. The Cubs needed help right away.

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Speaker 1: I think Michael Bush is going to be really good

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Speaker 1: right uh. And to be clear, it's not like Greg

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Speaker 1: huss is questioning these deals. The other deal is obviously

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Speaker 1: camp Smith is the main piece to get Kyle Tucker.

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Speaker 1: You have to pay up to get these guys. I'm

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Speaker 1: not going to freak out, like we'll see how good

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Speaker 1: camp Smith is. I said before the trade, I like

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Speaker 1: camp Smith. That heard nothing but good things. I think

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Speaker 1: he has a chance to be a star. I just

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Speaker 1: don't think like spring training numbers are what's going to

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Speaker 1: convince me that he's a star. Like he looked good

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Speaker 1: before that. He was on that trajectory before he made

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Speaker 1: rail changes in his sophomore year at Florida State. He

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Speaker 1: looks has the potential to be a really impactful player

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Speaker 1: at the highest level. Where he plays defensively is probably

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Speaker 1: the question. But he's got a high ceiling. Yeah, Like

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Speaker 1: do they trust Canter Canterritz has gotten results. I mean,

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Speaker 1: you talk about Hope. I believe that was eleventh round.

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Speaker 1: Ty Johnson was part of the East Ocparatas trade. You

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Speaker 1: don't you don't make that trade you can't get Kyle Tucker.

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Speaker 1: There's just a lot of names that we think about

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Speaker 1: where they were before. Do you want to point to

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Speaker 1: amateur scouting or do you want to point to player development.

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Speaker 1: It's probably a combination of both. But they weren't getting

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Speaker 1: a lot of impactful talent after the first round, or

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Speaker 1: like I shouldn't even say impactful talent. They weren't getting

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Speaker 1: any major league talent beyond the first round. And it's

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Speaker 1: completely changed now. The Cubs just have more depth in

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Speaker 1: their system. I think there are names to watch from

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Speaker 1: this past draft. My understanding is they really liked this

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Speaker 1: past draft. And I mean think about where Matt Shaw

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Speaker 1: was drafted, where camp Smith was drafted. Like they they're

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Speaker 1: capable of adding players in later rounds. I mean even

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Speaker 1: outside of the top ten, right, not later rounds. They're

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Speaker 1: like pretty impactful talent, right, Like I think Cole Mathis

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Speaker 1: is a name to to watch, right, we'll see how

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Speaker 1: good he can be healthy. Finally, and second rounder from

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Speaker 1: last year, there were a couple of pitchers who we

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Speaker 1: did not see at all last year that that could

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Speaker 1: that could open some eyes. I know they really liked

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Speaker 1: Ronnie Cruz. He was a third round pick last year,

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Speaker 1: third or fourth round pick, Eli Lovich. I believe another

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Speaker 1: eleventh rounder the pitchers. We don't know their name, like

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Speaker 1: we know their names, We don't know much about them yet,

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Speaker 1: but but there are there are pictures from last year's

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Speaker 1: draft that I heard good things about at spring training. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: Heelan Melendez is another name that that they're intrigued by. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I think I think they are excited about their ability

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Speaker 1: to draft major league talent after in later rounds. Right,

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Speaker 1: so far, they've used a lot of that talent. They've

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Speaker 1: used some of that talent to make trades. And that's

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Speaker 1: what you need a system for. Right, you need a

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Speaker 1: system that can provide you depth, and you want the combo.

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Speaker 1: You want the combo of having a system that provides

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Speaker 1: major league talent. Hey, Matt Shaw's you're starting third basement

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Speaker 1: in all likelihood for opening day and end that you

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Speaker 1: can use to trade for impact talent. They used Cam Smith? Yes,

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Speaker 1: is that will we look back at that in six

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Speaker 1: years and say, uh oh, the Cubs weren't able to

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Speaker 1: resign Kyle Tucker and Cam Smith's a star. Maybe, but

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Speaker 1: you got to move talent to get talent and they're

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Speaker 1: in a win now phase. They have to. They're you know,

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Speaker 1: they're trying to make things happen, or like the end

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Speaker 1: of Greg's question, or just necessary moves to compete. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: some of these moves are necessary to compete. They needed

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Speaker 1: someone like Kyle Tucker. Did they did it feel great

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Speaker 1: to move camp Smith? No? I don't think they loved

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Speaker 1: moving camp Smith. I don't think they were delighted to

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Speaker 1: do that. They weren't. They like cam Smith, really high

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Speaker 1: on him, but you had That's what it took to

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Speaker 1: get one of the best offensive players in the game

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Speaker 1: into your lineup. All right, here's a couple of questions

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Speaker 1: you're gonna allow me to indulge talking about how the

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Speaker 1: past few days have been in Japan. This first one

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Speaker 1: is have you tried any Japanese craft brew? I've not.

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Speaker 1: I've just stuck to like regular, you know, the standard

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Speaker 1: asahi in Sapporo and then some sake, you know. And

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Speaker 1: also I'm jet lagged and I don't want to have

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Speaker 1: like a ton of beard feel like crap? Uh, what

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Speaker 1: is your favorite food that you've tried? And the other questions,

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Speaker 1: have I ever been to Tokyo before we were stationed

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Speaker 1: there years ago and loved it. What's been the most

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Speaker 1: fun thing so far. So let me that that is

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Speaker 1: from Bob Moore. I didn't put his name on there,

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Speaker 1: sorry Bob. That's Bob Moore. Thank you all for the

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Speaker 1: questions about tokyo so favorite food you've tried? So so

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Speaker 1: we've had. We had tunkatsu Thursday night, we had sushi

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Speaker 1: Friday night, and then Saturday night we had wag You.

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Speaker 1: What ended up happening is we went out for we

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Speaker 1: were all feeling really jet lagged last night Saturday night,

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Speaker 1: we went out looking for ramen. The place that we

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Speaker 1: walked into only took reservations. We walked, kept walking maybe

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Speaker 1: like three more spots down and just stumbled into this

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Speaker 1: Wagu place and it was amazing, Like the prices here

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Speaker 1: are crazy. I'm shocked at how cheap everything is. We ate.

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Speaker 1: We filled ourselves up on Wagu and had a drink,

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Speaker 1: and I believe it was like seventy bucks, Like it

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Speaker 1: was nothing. That's nothing for as much Wagu as we had,

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Speaker 1: Like I don't, like, you can't even buy wag you

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Speaker 1: at the store at that price, right, So so it

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Speaker 1: was I was impressed by that, Like that was probably

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Speaker 1: that was probably the best. The sushi was really it

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Speaker 1: was just you know, I mean, it's so fresh and

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Speaker 1: the flavors are so different here, like that stood out

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Speaker 1: that with sabi was really intense. The takatsu was one

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Speaker 1: of the like it was this hole in the wall

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Speaker 1: Michelin restaurant that just like you almost don't expect how

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Speaker 1: good things are gonna be. That's the other thing, you know,

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Speaker 1: We're so used to like big, grandiose things in America,

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Speaker 1: huge restaurants and packed places and everything so loud and boisterous.

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Speaker 1: That's just not how it seems here. It's a little quieter.

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Speaker 1: I noticed we're the loud ones most of the time.

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Speaker 1: And then the restaurants just aren't that big, Like I

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Speaker 1: feel like fifteen tables is a big restaurant, So it's

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Speaker 1: a yeah, that's The food has been amazing. I'd say

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Speaker 1: the Wagu place so far has been the best. I'm

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Speaker 1: looking forward to checking out like places like Shibuya, the

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Speaker 1: fish Market, getting ramen, and getting my kids some stuff

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Speaker 1: from here that they can enjoy. That those are the

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00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:09,719
Speaker 1: things that I'm looking forward to outside of baseball. The

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00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:12,560
Speaker 1: most fun. What's the most fun that I've had here.

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00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:18,919
Speaker 1: It was really cool to watch the Henshin Tigers play

429
00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:22,439
Speaker 1: yesterday against the Cubs and the fans in right field

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00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:26,440
Speaker 1: if you look at I believe Marquee and then Maddy Lee,

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00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:29,960
Speaker 1: the reporter for the Suntimes Cubs reporter for the Suntimes.

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00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:37,440
Speaker 1: They both posted video on Twitter they had coordinated chance

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00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:41,239
Speaker 1: for all the players on the Tigers. They had. There

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00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:46,200
Speaker 1: were horns, drums, just really into the game. A different

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00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:48,919
Speaker 1: atmosphere than America. We all know that we like. If

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00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:50,560
Speaker 1: you pay attention to this at all, you know, it's

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00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:53,640
Speaker 1: a different atmosphere. But it's nice. It was really nice.

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00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:58,080
Speaker 1: It was funny. We asked multiple players about, Hey, would

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00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:00,879
Speaker 1: you like to see Wrigley do Nate a chance? And

440
00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:04,280
Speaker 1: multiple of them had similar answers. Yeah, that'd be fun.

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00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:06,560
Speaker 1: I'm not so sure where that would lead to. It

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00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:13,600
Speaker 1: could lead to some rough things, some questionable chance, depending

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00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:15,919
Speaker 1: on how much beer is being drunk in the in

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00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:21,600
Speaker 1: the bleachers. Right. Yeah, that's it's just different. I'm really excited.

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00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:24,480
Speaker 1: So I haven't been able to do to work in

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00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:29,800
Speaker 1: the spotty internet at Tokyo Dome. I've missed both appearances

447
00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:35,960
Speaker 1: of Shoho tani I you know, I think fans are

448
00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:40,359
Speaker 1: very intensely into baseball here, and it's really nice to see.

449
00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:44,240
Speaker 1: There were over ten thousand people for a workout on Friday,

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00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:47,879
Speaker 1: and that was just to see the Cubs. That was

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00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:52,000
Speaker 1: before Showhy was there. My understanding is show he briefly

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00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:54,760
Speaker 1: showed up. Show. He does not Shoho Toni does not

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00:26:54,880 --> 00:27:00,639
Speaker 1: normally take banning practice outside in public view, and I

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00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:04,480
Speaker 1: don't believe he did on Friday. I wonder if he

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00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:07,760
Speaker 1: will on Tuesday and Wednesday for the games. Before the

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00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:13,159
Speaker 1: games he obviously homeward and Saturday's game. Yeah, it's a

457
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:16,440
Speaker 1: great atmosphere. It's fun. It's nice to see how intense

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00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:20,200
Speaker 1: people are about how passionate they are about baseball. The Otani,

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00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:25,080
Speaker 1: the number of Otani jerseys. Look, you hear everything about

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00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:30,280
Speaker 1: how popular he is. It's just it's still a little

461
00:27:30,359 --> 00:27:36,280
Speaker 1: jarring to see that many Otani jerseys. There were pushing

462
00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:43,560
Speaker 1: fifty thousand people in yesterday's Cubs hensiin Tigers games there weren't.

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00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:46,600
Speaker 1: So let me go back the Friday at the at

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00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:50,800
Speaker 1: the workout, there there were I believe they had a

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00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:55,320
Speaker 1: number of just over ten thousand there. There were it

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00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:59,520
Speaker 1: felt like nine thousand Otani jerseys. It was a vast

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00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:05,600
Speaker 1: majority Dodgers fans there, and just so many O Tani jerseys.

468
00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:09,639
Speaker 1: I noticed a lot of InChI row jerseys as well.

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00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:13,360
Speaker 1: Yesterday at the game between the Cubs and and UH

470
00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:20,880
Speaker 1: and Tigers, there were some Imanaga and Seyo Suzuki jerseys.

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00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:24,160
Speaker 1: It's it's clear that the Dodgers are the team here though,

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00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:26,840
Speaker 1: and that's not to be surprised. Nobody should be surprised

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00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:30,119
Speaker 1: by that. We'll have more on the Cubs making moves

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00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:33,919
Speaker 1: in Japan and and and establishing themselves. As you know,

475
00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:36,040
Speaker 1: they're they're not never gonna be the number one team here.

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00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:38,560
Speaker 1: The Dodgers just they have that. They have Otani, they

477
00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:43,920
Speaker 1: have Roki, they have Yamamoto. They've rarely done a great

478
00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:48,440
Speaker 1: job establishing themselves, and they have the location as well

479
00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:52,640
Speaker 1: of being in La on the west coast there. But

480
00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:54,760
Speaker 1: the Cubs have done an amazing job of as a

481
00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:57,680
Speaker 1: Midwest team, that's really hard to establish yourselves. And there's

482
00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:00,840
Speaker 1: a lot of talent coming out of this country, not

483
00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:05,440
Speaker 1: just Japan, Korea as well. UH. There's American born players

484
00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:08,320
Speaker 1: that are playing in Japan that are are going to

485
00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:12,200
Speaker 1: be coming back that could that'll be interesting. It's it's

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00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:16,000
Speaker 1: it's Uh, it's been fun to watch and see the

487
00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:19,520
Speaker 1: sport that I fell in love with growing up, just

488
00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:22,160
Speaker 1: to see that passion again, because we kind of, as

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00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:25,600
Speaker 1: much as people listening to this show, I believe love baseball.

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00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:27,720
Speaker 1: It's just that you don't see that passion as much,

491
00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:31,360
Speaker 1: or at least expressed in in in the way that

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00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:33,400
Speaker 1: it is here. So it's cool to see it expressed

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00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:37,520
Speaker 1: in a different fashion. Uh, experience a different culture and

494
00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:41,280
Speaker 1: and just enjoy stuff outside of work in baseball. Uh,

495
00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:44,360
Speaker 1: which has been great, And thanks so much for listening everyone.

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00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:48,160
Speaker 1: We will be back. I'll be back with Patrick. Uh.

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00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:52,600
Speaker 1: My guess is it will be after the first game.

498
00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:55,360
Speaker 1: Maybe not though maybe maybe we'll try and do something

499
00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:58,680
Speaker 1: before the first game. But either way, we're we're so

500
00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:02,840
Speaker 1: close to real baseball. This is gonna be fascinating to

501
00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:05,360
Speaker 1: see how good are the Cubs this year? How good

502
00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:10,440
Speaker 1: can they do in these games? Yeah, it's like this

503
00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:14,200
Speaker 1: is quite an experience for everyone involved. So I'm sure

504
00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:16,080
Speaker 1: you guys will many of you will be waking up

505
00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:20,320
Speaker 1: bright and early on Tuesday and Wednesday morning back home.

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00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:23,280
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening, everyone, This is Northside Territory

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00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:27,400
Speaker 1: Foul Territory Networks Cubs podcast. I'm Sadim Charma. Make sure

508
00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:30,080
Speaker 1: to rate, review, subscribe to the podcast, subscribe to the

509
00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:33,480
Speaker 1: YouTube channel, and subscribe to The Athletic, where Patrick and

510
00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:35,520
Speaker 1: I will be on top of all things Cubs. We

511
00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:37,760
Speaker 1: have a nice fun story coming out about the Cubs

512
00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:41,959
Speaker 1: presence in Japan, coming out on Monday, and I'll have

513
00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:45,920
Speaker 1: coverage from all the games here, all the you know,

514
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:48,719
Speaker 1: Dodgers Cubs games coming up in the week and then

515
00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:52,120
Speaker 1: and then back home and they kick it off the

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00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:55,560
Speaker 1: US portion in about ten days. Shoot a little more

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00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:59,520
Speaker 1: than that right against Arizona. So we'll be back at it.

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00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:28,200
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening to everyone. Take care,