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Speaker 1: Welcome into Northside Territory foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast. I'm

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Speaker 1: Sahade Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are your

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Speaker 1: Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic. Patrick. We got

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Speaker 1: a lot of trade talk to talk about, but before

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Speaker 1: we get to trade talk, I want to introduce something

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Speaker 1: to the to the listeners. Viewers can join the chat

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Speaker 1: at foul Territory dot Chat free to join this is

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Speaker 1: chat BCC. Members of the chat can talk ball with

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Speaker 1: hosts and other fans, ask questions to host guests, participate

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Speaker 1: in giveaway, contest and trivia. We actually have a giveaway

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Speaker 1: right now. We have a great giveaway going on right

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Speaker 1: now in our chat BCC group chat. Think you know ball?

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Speaker 1: Prove it with our trivia game for a shot at

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Speaker 1: winning an authentic MLB jersey of your choice worth up

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Speaker 1: to four hundred dollars. Here's how you sign up at

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Speaker 1: foul Territory dot Chat, play trivia, crush it and you

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Speaker 1: might win. We're picking one winner from the top scores

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Speaker 1: at random. Deadline is July thirteenth at eleven to fifty

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Speaker 1: nine pm Eastern, so get in their play, win and

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Speaker 1: brag sounds like a fun giveaway. Patrick, we got Trey talk,

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Speaker 1: we got we had Jed on earlier this week. You

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Speaker 1: and I have been doing a lot of digging, a

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Speaker 1: lot of reporting, trying to find out what's going on.

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Speaker 1: You know, Jed wasn't hiding the ball. They're going to

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Speaker 1: be buyers. They they want to improve this game. I

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Speaker 1: think we've known that from the start they got off

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Speaker 1: to and now it's time to identify some names. I

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Speaker 1: think we got where we are. We're on Friday, All

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Speaker 1: Star break, the draft ends Monday. I think we may

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Speaker 1: start hearing really, you know, like things may start picking

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Speaker 1: up after that. I think Jed expects it to. Jed

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Speaker 1: told us his phone just went crazy right after the draft, right.

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Speaker 1: I think he expected like a little bit of a lull,

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Speaker 1: but it just like this is how it is now.

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Speaker 1: So you know, let's uh starting pitching is the focus.

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Speaker 1: That's that's what we've been We've been hearing a lot

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Speaker 1: of names. We've been talking to a lot of people,

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Speaker 1: and and we just wrote a piece about this, and

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Speaker 1: and there's there's a lot of names out there, maybe

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Speaker 1: not you know, justin Erlander or you know, in the

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Speaker 1: past with the passtraight Garrett Crochet wasn't traded at last deadline,

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Speaker 1: but he was a huge name. I'm not sure if

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Speaker 1: that guy's getting moved, but there are some interesting names

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Speaker 1: out there.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: As as we've been thinking about this, it reminded me

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Speaker 3: just how few like really Ace Calber pitchers are out there.

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Speaker 3: I mean, you do the Aces project at the Athletic

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Speaker 3: every year, and hearing Jed talk about Justin Verlander in

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Speaker 3: that time period, there there's are many guys out there.

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Speaker 3: The position has been diminished to a certain extent. But

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Speaker 3: everything we're hearing is like Cubs think there are multiple

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Speaker 3: ways that they can get better. And this is not

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Speaker 3: some sort of like lowering expectations. It's like there's certain

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Speaker 3: specific areas that they are targeting and they plan to

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Speaker 3: be aggressive on. And I think you've seen like an

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Speaker 3: environment in which it should be like relatively easy for

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Speaker 3: a guy to come in, whether it's a change of

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Speaker 3: scenery guy, whether it's a younger guy with some years

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Speaker 3: of club control, or if it's more of that veteran

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Speaker 3: rental guy.

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Speaker 2: And you know, the Cubs.

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Speaker 3: Kind of amazingly are you very near the All Star

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Speaker 3: break with not a single pitch thrown? By Javi Asod

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Speaker 3: Justin Steele getting shut down in April and showed ay

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Speaker 3: Minaga missing almost.

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Speaker 2: Two months with his injury.

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Speaker 3: And so this is a team we saw it in Minnesota.

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Speaker 3: They're pretty quiet for two nights, they come back and

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Speaker 3: just kind of, you know, roll the twins. And I

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Speaker 3: think that's been one of the most impressive parts about

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Speaker 3: this first half of how the the down periods that

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Speaker 3: we've seen in prior years just have not been there

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Speaker 3: at all. It's been, you know, a consistent consistency focus,

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Speaker 3: high level performance across multiple phases of the game.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: They You know, it's interesting too to watch this team

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Speaker 1: and try and analyze it on a game to game

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Speaker 1: basis because it's just a foolish way to go about things,

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Speaker 1: and it can it can you know, drive you crazy. Look,

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Speaker 1: I wasn't there at those games. You were there in Minnesota.

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Speaker 1: I don't know what the vibes were at the clubhouse.

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Speaker 1: My assumption is they were fine. They weren't panicking, they

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Speaker 1: weren't freaking out. They don't you know, those weren't great games.

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Speaker 1: If you watch them, it was you know, if those

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Speaker 1: are your two game if you're watching a snapshot and

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Speaker 1: that's the two games you have of the Cubs. You're

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Speaker 1: not thinking very highly of that team, you know what

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Speaker 1: I mean. But that's not how this game works. Like

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Speaker 1: I think, what defines them and repeatedly defines them are

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Speaker 1: games like Thursday and and they repeatedly show what they

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Speaker 1: can do. They need to get better, they need they

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Speaker 1: need more pitching, they need more depth on the bench.

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Speaker 1: We know that. I think you know what Jed said.

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Speaker 1: With Jed, what we've known is that there aren't clear

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Speaker 1: sellers just yet, not that many. But there are a couple,

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Speaker 1: right Like what Colorado Rockies are going to move some

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Speaker 1: guys I don't like. There's I highly doubt the Cubs

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Speaker 1: are just like obsessing over multiple guys in the Rockies.

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Speaker 1: There may be a reliever there that's interesting reliever or two,

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Speaker 1: but there's there's just non a lot of names to

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Speaker 1: pick from there. The Miami Marlins, we've been talking about

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Speaker 1: them since the spring Patrick really yeah, yeah, like it's

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Speaker 1: the winter, yeah, because of Lizardo about them. It's it's

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Speaker 1: been a while. Look, Sandy al Contra is having a

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Speaker 1: very rough season. I don't know if he'll find that

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Speaker 1: cy young form, but he's not gonna come cheap either way.

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Speaker 1: I just don't believe that he'll come cheap. I also

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Speaker 1: believe that there are teams, including the Cubs, that probably

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Speaker 1: see him and see things that they can say, like, hey,

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Speaker 1: we can get this guy back to what he was

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Speaker 1: with this, that and the other. How long that takes,

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Speaker 1: how hard that is? That's that's the internal debate. I

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Speaker 1: think Edward Cabrera would be a great ad. I think

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Speaker 1: that's the guy that if I like, you know, when

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Speaker 1: there are some other home run swings. I don't think

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Speaker 1: Mackenzie Gore is getting traded. I just don't. I heard

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Speaker 1: the name mentioned to me and and what the way

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Speaker 1: it was mentioned was everyone's going to everyone's going to

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Speaker 1: be on him if that happens. But I don't think

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Speaker 1: that's happening. Uh So, But I think Cabrera maybe up

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Speaker 1: there as far as I don't think he's a household name,

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Speaker 1: but he's kind of figured some things out. The price

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Speaker 1: is what I wonder about him. And then the Pittsburgh

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Speaker 1: Pirates are interesting, just like I think they have to

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Speaker 1: kind of find a way to rebuild on the pot.

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Speaker 1: They're constantly rebuilding, it feels like, but I think they

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Speaker 1: have to find a way to get some value, and

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Speaker 1: I don't think they can eliminate teams like in the

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Speaker 1: division and say we can't sell to the Cubs. Maybe

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Speaker 1: I don't think they'll be stubborn about that, but maybe

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Speaker 1: there's a little extra cost involved, But I don't I

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Speaker 1: don't think they're going to It's not like Cardinals and Cubs.

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Speaker 2: That's funny.

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Speaker 3: I had that exact same conversation of sort of working

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Speaker 3: through the sellers and just comparing the Pirates to say

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Speaker 3: the Brewers. Like my gut feeling is that the brewer's

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Speaker 3: owner would like, never let a trade go through that.

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Speaker 2: May help Craig Council in the short term. That's kind

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Speaker 2: of my interpretation.

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Speaker 3: Obviously, the Cubs and Cardinals, long time historic rivals, doesn't

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Speaker 3: really happen, you know, I think the Reds would still

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Speaker 3: be hard.

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Speaker 2: I think it just seems a little more proximity.

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Speaker 3: And obviously the Reds are like not out of it

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Speaker 3: the way that the Pirates are. And then you get

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Speaker 3: into okay, Pirates Cubs, it's it's obviously not the same

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Speaker 3: as like Cubs, White Sox, Ben Cherrington and Jed Hoyer

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Speaker 3: are longtime friends or colleagues with the Boston Red Sox.

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Speaker 2: They you know, started their careers together.

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Speaker 3: Not saying there's gonna be some sort of like friendly

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Speaker 3: discount there, but I think they have a pretty good

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Speaker 3: relationship to where they can go back and forth. You

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Speaker 3: look at Pittsburgh issue recently, it's like, where are the

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Speaker 3: Bats like developing some of that homegrown offensive talent and

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Speaker 3: the Cubs have some close to major league ready pieces.

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Speaker 3: So if it's there, I'd be interested to see. Like

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Speaker 3: with David Bednar, you know, he's like a Pittsburgh guy,

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Speaker 3: and I think there's some concern or there is at

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Speaker 3: least a question.

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Speaker 2: Of like would that.

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Speaker 3: Be a harder player for them to deal just because

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Speaker 3: of that hometown connection.

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Speaker 2: I know that sounds.

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Speaker 3: Weird, but when you get around the deadline, you don't

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Speaker 3: always know, like which voices are gonna kind of.

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Speaker 2: Be louder or louder than expected.

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Speaker 3: So, you know, Marlins and Pirates were the two teams

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Speaker 3: we kind of circled as okay, obvious sellers. There's kind

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Speaker 3: of a baseline relationship there and some interesting pitching talent

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Speaker 3: that you put some great defenders around them, You put

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Speaker 3: them in Wrigley Fields environment, and maybe even better things happen.

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Speaker 1: Patrick, I want to talk more pitching, uh and pitching

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Speaker 1: potential names. But before we do that, I want to

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Speaker 1: let's do our DraftKings player spotlight. All right, Patrick, we

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Speaker 1: are going to talk about Colin Ray. This is a

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Speaker 1: guy that could get pushed out of the rotation. Uh.

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Speaker 1: It very likely does get pushed out of the rotation

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Speaker 1: in the next in a couple the next couple of weeks.

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Speaker 1: But you got to give him some love what he's done.

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Speaker 1: He's got a sub for E. R. Ray. He looked

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Speaker 1: pretty rough out there for a few starts. They were

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Speaker 1: they were the start in Cincinnati. Two starts against Cincinnati,

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Speaker 1: wasn't it? And then and then the start. You know,

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Speaker 1: maybe we should give him a break. Maybe don't look

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Speaker 1: at the numbers so much of the of the game

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Speaker 1: against the Mariners. That was a tough one. He he

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Speaker 1: struggled in that one. But man, these last few starts,

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Speaker 1: he has kept them in games. He has given is

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Speaker 1: saved the bullpen the last two starts, seven innings Thursday

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Speaker 1: night to avoid the sweep against the Twins, six and

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Speaker 1: two thirds against the Cardinals on July fourth. Just I mean,

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Speaker 1: this is what you want when you lose pitchers, when

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Speaker 1: you this is what they wanted when they signed him.

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Speaker 1: He's the perfect depth signing and it you know, it

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Speaker 1: just it looks really good when you sign a guy

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Speaker 1: to say, like, here's the guy that's gonna fight for

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Speaker 1: a fifth spot if he doesn't make it first injury.

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Speaker 1: He's first man up, and he's you know, he's eaten innings.

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Speaker 1: He's given you a chance to win. I think that

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Speaker 1: that says a lot about the guy and what what

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Speaker 1: his job is and him just doing it. I mean, the.

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Speaker 3: Classic signing that happens in the middle of the winter

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Speaker 3: when the Cubs maybe aren't super active or spending at

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Speaker 3: the top of the market, as oh, like that's what

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Speaker 3: we're going to you know what I mean. But he

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Speaker 3: is not flashy, but he is a very determined, focused,

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Speaker 3: experienced professional. Like all of those sort of steady, dependable

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Speaker 3: adjectives apply here. I think him in council sort of

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Speaker 3: communicate the same way. I'm just like they have that

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Speaker 3: experience together in Milwaukee, both very like plain spoken, direct

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Speaker 3: and you know, we had written about this that council

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Speaker 3: basically sketched out the worst case scenario for him before

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Speaker 3: he signed thinking like, hey, you don't want a guy

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Speaker 3: signing expected, you know, being sold kind of the rosiest outlook,

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Speaker 3: and then it doesn't happen.

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Speaker 2: But if you go in knowing that there's.

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Speaker 3: A decent chance you're going to be in the bullpen

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Speaker 3: to start the year, that there probably be times when

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Speaker 3: you have to go back and forth between the rotation

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Speaker 3: and the bullpen, but that the club expects you to

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Speaker 3: make a significant amount of starts over the course of

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Speaker 3: the year, then it's kind of easier to adapt to

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Speaker 3: those roles. And I think you've.

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Speaker 2: Seen Ray do that extremely well. I think it's why.

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Speaker 3: The Cubs signed sort of or sorry if they trade

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Speaker 3: for a depth guy in July and you're kind of like, wait,

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Speaker 3: who's this guy? Or like, wasn't he good a couple

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Speaker 3: of years ago or whatever happened to him? Like they

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Speaker 3: know what they're doing here. There are things that they

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Speaker 3: look for, there are ways that they coach up their players,

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Speaker 3: and then just they have as Jed said the other

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Speaker 3: day on our show, here come, just have a great

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Speaker 3: defense that makes everyone else look better.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, this is I really respect Ray. Listening to him

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Speaker 1: and getting to know him. This year is you know,

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Speaker 1: It's easy to respect the guy thirty five year old

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Speaker 1: who made some slight tweaks, you know, nothing crazy, but

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Speaker 1: moved on the mound, moved on the rubber, did some

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Speaker 1: things with the arm path and just feels better about

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Speaker 1: the way he's pitching. Obviously had some rough outings, but

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Speaker 1: he's exactly what you need when when you're kind of

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Speaker 1: searching for depth and trying to get through injuries. All right, now,

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Speaker 1: let's turn it over to produce your Jeremy Meyer for

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Speaker 1: our North Side Territory producer pick.

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Speaker 4: Last week, Big Wu returned with a vengeance and took

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Speaker 4: me down. So looking to get back on the horse

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Speaker 4: this week, I'm taking Kyle Tucker to have two plus

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Speaker 4: total bases tonight against the Yankees at plus one point fifteen.

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Speaker 4: I pay attention when a left handed slugger plays in

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Speaker 4: New York and maybe this is just a showcase in

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Speaker 4: front of an off season suitor should tuck her head

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Speaker 4: to free agency. He is a career three for eleven

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Speaker 4: with a home run and a double off of Yankee

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Speaker 4: starter Carlos Rodon. It's Billy Joel Knight in the Bronx

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Speaker 4: and for the North Side Territory producer pick. I'm thinking

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Speaker 4: Kyle Tucker is the entertainer and gets two plus total bases.

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Speaker 4: I put one hundred down to win one fifteen on DraftKings.

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Speaker 1: Patrick. There are there are a lot of names to

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Speaker 1: go through. I think that that we've kind of unearthed

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Speaker 1: tiered that I think are fun and and should maybe

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Speaker 1: aren't the most exciting names. Uh, but but there are

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Speaker 1: some names that that I think internally the cut are

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Speaker 1: are interested in and and intrigued by. One name that

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Speaker 1: that I heard was two guys that are injured. Actually

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Speaker 1: two names that I heard are guys that are injured,

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Speaker 1: but the Cubs are monitoring their returns. They're both on

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Speaker 1: re they're both out on rehab. Neither team are obvious

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Speaker 1: sellers though, they're just not like the Texas Rangers and

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Speaker 1: John Gray. You know, John Gray is someone we could

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Speaker 1: we can go back to the Jed interview. Uh. He

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Speaker 1: was the number three pick in that draft that Jed

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Speaker 1: was talking about, marka Pell, Chris Bryant, and then John Gray,

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Speaker 1: I believe is how that draft went. I think a

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Speaker 1: lot of us assumed the Cubs maybe going after John

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Speaker 1: Gray and that draft because the Cubs needed pitching so badly.

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Speaker 1: You gotta have some pitching. I think they made the

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Speaker 1: right choice. But that's one name and then another name

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Speaker 1: I heard a lot about that they were really I

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Speaker 1: think they're doing some pretty intense digging in on is

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Speaker 1: Tanner how and this is it? You know, Red Sox aren't.

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Speaker 1: We don't know, they're playing pretty well, but they also

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Speaker 1: have you know, Breso wants to make it, you know,

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Speaker 1: he I think he has decisions to make. He's trying

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Speaker 1: to weigh like this season verse the future, and you

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Speaker 1: know there there may be ways to like, uh, maybe

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Speaker 1: they do a half in, half out thing that that

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Speaker 1: we've seen teams do and and maybe they're primed to

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Speaker 1: make moves like that. I think that. I think there's

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Speaker 1: some with within the organization that, like Tanner, how.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think what we've come to understand just how

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Speaker 3: open minded they're going to be. You can't limit yourself

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Speaker 3: to only like the obvious sellers are only the rental

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Speaker 3: players from bad teams, or you know, you only want

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Speaker 3: to deal you know, you're a ball prospects. I think

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Speaker 3: the Cubs are gonna, you know, bring all ideas to

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Speaker 3: the table. I mean Jen even said that's what he's

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Speaker 3: told his staff, like be creative, come up with different ideas,

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Speaker 3: like what do you got? And those are certainly two

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Speaker 3: interesting names. I think what also struck me as we

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Speaker 3: were kind of comparing notes is just how they're thinking

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Speaker 3: beyond just twenty twenty five and like if this market

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Speaker 3: is slow developing, if the talent level is lukewarm, if

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Speaker 3: the biggest deal already happened between the Giants and Red Sox,

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Speaker 3: like you have to think broader. And yeah, those guys

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Speaker 3: who come with multiple years of club control. I feel

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Speaker 3: like that's what every front office says every year when

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Speaker 3: they're buying. But I think with this particular group, it

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Speaker 3: makes a ton of sense just knowing the core group

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Speaker 3: they have in place kind of through twenty twenty six,

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Speaker 3: knowing how Carter and Jed operate now, which I think

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Speaker 3: is a little different than how THEO and Jed uh

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Speaker 3: operated Uh, And it clearly underlines I think the confidence

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Speaker 3: that they feel, or that the likelihood of them being

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Speaker 3: extended and being around for longer than just this season.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think it's important to fans are not

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Speaker 1: going to always be you know that they they won't

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Speaker 1: always think that this what's what the names we mentioned

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Speaker 1: are the most exciting, or that they're different make difference

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Speaker 1: makers or things like that. You know, I don't know,

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Speaker 1: that's just how it's going to be. They're they're they

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Speaker 1: weren't excited about the Colin Ray signing. Uh, He's important. Uh,

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Speaker 1: Jamison Tyne may not have moved the needle with certain fans,

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Speaker 1: and he's when he's healthy and out there, he's one

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Speaker 1: of the most consistent arms they have. Uh. You look

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Speaker 1: at how the bullpen is built. It's not always the

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Speaker 1: biggest names. So, uh, that's why I've tried to go

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Speaker 1: into all of this with an open mind. When I

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Speaker 1: hear names. Sometimes I hear a name and I'm like, really,

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Speaker 1: that guy, I just didn't hadn't registered to me that

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Speaker 1: that may even be a consideration. One of those names

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Speaker 1: is Michael Soroka. I gotta be honest. When I heard

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Speaker 1: that name, I almost dismissed it. I almost didn't even

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Speaker 1: bother looking up his numbers. And I looked up his numbers.

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Speaker 1: This is a guy that I feel like, you know,

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Speaker 1: you don't want to like. I don't know if if

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Speaker 1: that's the biggest move they make, that that you should

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Speaker 1: be excited. But if he's a secondary move, if he's

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Speaker 1: the second starter ad it and and you're talking about,

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Speaker 1: I don't know. I looked at those peripherals and I

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Speaker 1: was like, what is happening here? This guy has really

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Speaker 1: good peripherals. He puts the ball on the ground, and

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Speaker 1: he's playing in front of a terrible defense. I you know,

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Speaker 1: I'm not watching his starts. I'm not seeing everything that's

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Speaker 1: going on there. Uh, he very well could just not

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Speaker 1: be missing barrels. And it's just like, you know, they

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Speaker 1: don't don't just look at the strikeouts and walks, but

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Speaker 1: overall the numbers look good. The era looks terrible. But

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Speaker 1: this is this is exactly what you have to when

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Speaker 1: there's no obvious like we started this conversation, there's no

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Speaker 1: obvious stud out there that's available, that's obviously available. The

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Speaker 1: Nationals are going to move players, Like I'm not really

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Speaker 1: sure what the value of having my Soroka on the

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Speaker 1: Nationals for the rest of the season would be. He's

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Speaker 1: a free agent at the end of the year. You know,

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Speaker 1: this isn't like we can debate like whether they should

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Speaker 1: trade McKenzie Gore or not. But there's a lot of

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Speaker 1: reasons why they should keep mackenzie Gore. There's very few

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Speaker 1: reasons to keep like Soraca, who's an ipending free agent.

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Speaker 1: So like, this is a guy that is likely going

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Speaker 1: to be moved or likely going to be available, and

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Speaker 1: there are reasons to believe he's going to become a

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Speaker 1: better picture. He was really good when healthy with the Braves,

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Speaker 1: when he was at his best, good picture. Uh So,

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Speaker 1: I like that type of stuff is is I wouldn't

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Speaker 1: dismiss when you hear a name and you're just like, huh,

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Speaker 1: wasn't like I DF eight or like, wasn't he not

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Speaker 1: good with the White Sox last year? I mean, maybe

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Speaker 1: the Cubs are just collecting ex White Sox. You know,

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Speaker 1: that's just what he's gonna say.

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Speaker 2: I mean, Chris Flexen and Brad Keller, like.

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Speaker 3: It's not the worst theory of being like, Okay, maybe

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00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:37,359
Speaker 3: Scott Scott a little bit of stuff like we see

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Speaker 3: this and that, and you can just.

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Speaker 2: Get him out of.

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Speaker 3: That what sock that crushing White Sox environment and some

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Speaker 3: better players around him.

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Speaker 2: Uh, you never know.

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Speaker 3: I mean, I'm I think we're all assuming Washington's interim

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00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:54,200
Speaker 3: front office is going to do more than's just kind

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Speaker 3: of like basic roster maintenance and administration and not fully

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Speaker 3: entertain Mackenzie Gore trade proposals. But yeah, I'm with you, Like,

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Speaker 3: this can't be the only move. It can't be like

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Speaker 3: the the number one move. But like the Cubs have

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Speaker 3: done a lot of the heavy lifting already, Like, you're

401
00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:17,920
Speaker 3: not gonna find a better hitter than Kyle Tucker right now.

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Speaker 3: You're not gonna find a more dynamic player than Pete

403
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Speaker 3: crow Armstrong, you know for the most part, you know,

404
00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:28,439
Speaker 3: and like you're not gonna find you know, better defenders really,

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Speaker 3: like at second base, you're not gonna have, you know,

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Speaker 3: many better catching setups. Once Miguel Maya is healthy, it's

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Speaker 3: like three legitimate major league catchers at that point.

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Speaker 2: And so.

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Speaker 3: You can do if you look at the player pool

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Speaker 3: of Okay, have a forty man roster, but you know,

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Speaker 3: maybe they're like thirty guys you'd consider for October, Like

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Speaker 3: you really want to strengthen up to where you kind

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Speaker 3: of the bottom of your roster in the middle of

414
00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:03,000
Speaker 3: your roster are a lot stronger and you have a

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Speaker 3: lot more flexibility, which I think is kind of what

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00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:07,680
Speaker 3: we're leading into our kind of next segment here.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, let's talk about bench stuff and what they

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Speaker 1: may be thinking there. Let's take a quick break first.

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Speaker 1: All, right, Patrick, we've both heard some interesting things with

442
00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:26,600
Speaker 1: regards to the bench. They need more depth, and I

443
00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:30,440
Speaker 1: think you watch you know, I think we both kind

444
00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:33,639
Speaker 1: of like this bench. Coming into the season. It is

445
00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:38,159
Speaker 1: not It is not produced like we kind of expected.

446
00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:42,840
Speaker 1: You just said the catching tandem's great. They upgraded their

447
00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:45,920
Speaker 1: backup catcher. Great job, it's a it's a very good

448
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:49,080
Speaker 1: catching tandems. I wouldn't even call Carson Kelly a backup

449
00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:52,000
Speaker 1: catcher because Miguel Amayah and him were the tandem. Now

450
00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:57,200
Speaker 1: him and Reese McGuire or the tandem. And we'll see Miguelmyer,

451
00:25:57,240 --> 00:26:00,160
Speaker 1: I think, is on pace to come back sometimes soon

452
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:03,960
Speaker 1: after the All Star break. We'll see what happens there.

453
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:09,679
Speaker 1: But you know, the dal Bruhan, John Berdie just not

454
00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:14,120
Speaker 1: producing well enough, Bertie and Justin Turner. I think Justin

455
00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:16,840
Speaker 1: Turner is the big one, right. I think we expected

456
00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:20,399
Speaker 1: more from him and he's not fully there.

457
00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:28,440
Speaker 3: Yeah, and this group of positioned players have been remarkably healthy,

458
00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:33,600
Speaker 3: and obviously the Cubs hope that will continue. But hope,

459
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:37,119
Speaker 3: as we know, is not really a strategy. And so

460
00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:40,680
Speaker 3: without that August Waiver's period, they have to think through

461
00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:44,440
Speaker 3: what if this injury happens, what if this guy goes down,

462
00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:50,640
Speaker 3: and how do they respond in August, September, in October.

463
00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:54,320
Speaker 3: And I think one thing this is not picking on

464
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:57,080
Speaker 3: Kevin Alcntara at Iowa.

465
00:26:57,960 --> 00:26:59,440
Speaker 2: It's a really nice prospect.

466
00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:03,119
Speaker 3: Had a cup of coffee last year, I think in

467
00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:06,359
Speaker 3: a different season or a different time of year. I

468
00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:08,160
Speaker 3: think that was sort of the plan going into this year,

469
00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:11,840
Speaker 3: like give him some run if Pete got injured. But

470
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:15,400
Speaker 3: like Pete has been so good and the team performed

471
00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:20,200
Speaker 3: has at such a high level that like, we've also

472
00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:22,760
Speaker 3: seen Matt Shaw trying to adjust a major league pitching

473
00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:28,200
Speaker 3: and it hasn't been pretty every night, and so I

474
00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:32,439
Speaker 3: think just thinking you can plug in Kevin and have

475
00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:35,359
Speaker 3: him been everyday center fielder for the rest of a

476
00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:39,520
Speaker 3: Pennant race, that's sort of unrealistic. And we just look

477
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:43,200
Speaker 3: back at what the THEO JED front offices did during

478
00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:46,200
Speaker 3: these buying periods during that championship window, and they did

479
00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:48,760
Speaker 3: it over and over and over again.

480
00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:51,800
Speaker 2: The Austin Jackson types, Cameron Maybin.

481
00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:57,639
Speaker 3: Like guys like that, just in case they have a

482
00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:01,800
Speaker 3: ton of experience, they have a specific skill set. Like again,

483
00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:07,280
Speaker 3: no one's thinking that you can just find another p

484
00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:11,800
Speaker 3: Crow Armstrong. That happens, and hopefully he's he's so young

485
00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:15,960
Speaker 3: and full of energy, uh, and he's a pretty strong dude.

486
00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:20,280
Speaker 3: As you can see like that, he's fine. But there

487
00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:22,960
Speaker 3: are just things like that that are on the to

488
00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:24,040
Speaker 3: do list in.

489
00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:27,440
Speaker 1: The live Yeah. Yeah, and and I think it's worth

490
00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:32,840
Speaker 1: that you want to find someone that's versatile. Yeah, you know,

491
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:34,960
Speaker 1: it's it's hard to find a guy that can handle

492
00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:38,800
Speaker 1: center regularly. That's not that that's super versatile. I'm not

493
00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:41,720
Speaker 1: sure if that's the position they'll find for versatility, but

494
00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:47,880
Speaker 1: there they are looking for versatility over over you know,

495
00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:52,400
Speaker 1: the lefty masher they you know, Justin Turner in theory

496
00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:54,800
Speaker 1: would be just the lefty masher. He's not. He's not

497
00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:59,600
Speaker 1: doing that as expected, but as as was expected, I

498
00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:03,760
Speaker 1: should say. But you know, I don't think they want

499
00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:07,520
Speaker 1: to find like a Justin Turner replacement. It would be

500
00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:10,640
Speaker 1: sure if the guy crushes lefties, it's a bonus. Like

501
00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:15,200
Speaker 1: Willie krat Castro that you just saw in Minnesota, he

502
00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:19,920
Speaker 1: can play various positions. He could possibly push Matt Shaw

503
00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,640
Speaker 1: to the bench if that's what you wanted to do.

504
00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:26,040
Speaker 1: I don't know if they'd want match Seaw on the

505
00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:29,600
Speaker 1: bench for the entirety of the second half or if

506
00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:32,000
Speaker 1: he would go to tripa A. But if he were

507
00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:33,960
Speaker 1: on your bench. That's how you upgrade your bench too,

508
00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:36,960
Speaker 1: because I mean Matt Shaw, Yes, I understand he's not

509
00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:40,800
Speaker 1: producing offensively. He just he's really struggling offensively right now.

510
00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:44,240
Speaker 1: He's a I think he'd be a quality bench bat

511
00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:45,840
Speaker 1: because you could put him at second, you could put

512
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:47,960
Speaker 1: him at a third, could put him at short in

513
00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:51,520
Speaker 1: a pinch, he could kind of play all over in

514
00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:55,800
Speaker 1: the infield. And that's that's a quality bench bat. But

515
00:29:55,840 --> 00:29:58,320
Speaker 1: those are like Rob Refsnyder is a name that I

516
00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:01,080
Speaker 1: heard as well. Those are the types of names I

517
00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:05,120
Speaker 1: think you can look around there's bench bats. What you're

518
00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:07,640
Speaker 1: looking for it is kind of what you said at

519
00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:11,360
Speaker 1: the center field. You're looking for someone that and they

520
00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:14,400
Speaker 1: don't have this guy right now that if someone gets hurt,

521
00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:17,720
Speaker 1: and not just Pete, anyone, if anyone gets hurt, who

522
00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:20,240
Speaker 1: are you who are you putting there every day? And

523
00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:22,400
Speaker 1: you know, if someone gets hurt for a month or two,

524
00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:26,080
Speaker 1: what's what's your option? It's just it's the value of

525
00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:30,160
Speaker 1: someone like Colin Ray in the rotation find that position

526
00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:32,800
Speaker 1: player wise, I think is what they're looking for. What

527
00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:37,960
Speaker 1: who can we find that either uh improves our off

528
00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:41,000
Speaker 1: improves our starting lineup. The only spot you're improving is

529
00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:45,160
Speaker 1: their base, right or and that in turn improves the bench,

530
00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:47,840
Speaker 1: or just improve the bench. Someone that can play all over.

531
00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:52,160
Speaker 1: He's gonna go here, there, wherever and give guys days

532
00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:55,640
Speaker 1: off and also insurance for injuries. They're not easy to find,

533
00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:58,920
Speaker 1: but that's that's that they are looking there.

534
00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:01,040
Speaker 3: I mean, there could be a player they acquire and

535
00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:01,880
Speaker 3: everyone's kind of like.

536
00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:06,200
Speaker 2: Why they do that, Where's where does he fit? Where's

537
00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:07,040
Speaker 2: he gonna play?

538
00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:12,600
Speaker 3: And it is that looking around corners or whatever. Jed's

539
00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:15,560
Speaker 3: quote was there of just like it's not a assuming

540
00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:17,520
Speaker 3: the worst is not a great way to go through life,

541
00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:22,560
Speaker 3: but that is their job and that you know this player,

542
00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:27,320
Speaker 3: maybe two players, I don't know. However, whatever format it takes.

543
00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:30,560
Speaker 3: I think that's part of this idea of like they

544
00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:33,440
Speaker 3: get better in a lot of different ways. Ef It's

545
00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:36,400
Speaker 3: not like the biggest name or the most obvious fit

546
00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:39,840
Speaker 3: right at that moment. It's all about thinking through you

547
00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:44,440
Speaker 3: know what could happen over multiple postseason rounds.

548
00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:49,320
Speaker 1: Yeah, Bo was obsessive about it, Jedly thinking about it

549
00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:52,400
Speaker 1: in that exactly, this is not this is not twenty sixteen.

550
00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:55,920
Speaker 1: This team is not at that level. I wouldn't call

551
00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:59,480
Speaker 1: them at that level, but I do believe it. That

552
00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:01,600
Speaker 1: made it pretty clear that they think they have a

553
00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:05,480
Speaker 1: chance here and next year to make some noise, and

554
00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:08,160
Speaker 1: they are going to look at all different ways and

555
00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:10,640
Speaker 1: how to improve the team and also secure the team

556
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:14,600
Speaker 1: in case of worst case scenarios. All right, Patrick, you

557
00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:16,440
Speaker 1: are in New York. You will be on top of

558
00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:20,720
Speaker 1: all things in that Yankees series before we hit the

559
00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:23,120
Speaker 1: All Star break. We'll be back next week early next

560
00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:25,280
Speaker 1: week to talk things over and see where they stand

561
00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:27,800
Speaker 1: at the All Star break. Thanks for listening everyone. This

562
00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:31,200
Speaker 1: is Northside Territory Foul Territory Networks Cubs podcast. Make sure

563
00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:34,520
Speaker 1: to rate, review, subscribe, subscribe to the YouTube channel, and

564
00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:36,840
Speaker 1: subscribe to The Athletic where Patrick and I are on

565
00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:39,040
Speaker 1: top of all things Cubs. Thanks so much for listening

566
00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:40,760
Speaker 1: to everyone,