1 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:09,440 Speaker 1: Welcome into Northside Territory, presented by Fox One Foul Territory Networks. 2 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:12,760 Speaker 1: Cubs Podcast. I'm Sahadi Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. 3 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:16,040 Speaker 1: We are your Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic 4 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:20,040 Speaker 1: and Patrick, we have another mail bag episode. It's been 5 00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:22,160 Speaker 1: a little while. I'm not sure if we did one. 6 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: I don't think we did one during the playoffs at all, 7 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: and maybe maybe towards the end of the season we 8 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:30,640 Speaker 1: had one, but it's been a little while. Free agency 9 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:34,200 Speaker 1: is gonna start up soon. The World Series could end tonight. 10 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:38,919 Speaker 1: We're recording on Halloween Friday, and Game six with the 11 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 1: Blue Jays up three to two. I gotta say I'm surprised, 12 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:46,680 Speaker 1: I should rise. Baseball is baseball and you never know 13 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 1: what's going to happen. But the Dodgers just look like 14 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:51,239 Speaker 1: a force. Didn't seem like it was going to be 15 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: that competitive. So it's nice to see that kind of 16 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: anything can happen. Just a good reminder that you know, 17 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: who knows what's going to happen in October or you know, 18 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: the Cubs could have made. 19 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:05,800 Speaker 2: A run themselves if the thing's right. The Blue Jays 20 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 2: right now, and it's funny. 21 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:11,400 Speaker 3: Yeah, I've been Oh, I mean I didn't stay up 22 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:13,040 Speaker 3: for all the eighteen in a game. I went to 23 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 3: that pretty early. But otherwise been pretty glued to this 24 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:20,479 Speaker 3: playoff run, particularly watching the Blue Jays, and they've been 25 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:25,480 Speaker 3: just super entertaining to watch, and personally, I'm just rooting 26 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 3: for a Game seven. I'd love to see that. Just 27 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 3: one more night, an extra night of baseball, I think 28 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 3: would be awesome. And uh, yeah, we have to wait. 29 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 3: You know, we always like to do the you know, 30 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:42,039 Speaker 3: takeaways from the World Series winner or what's like the 31 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 3: new blueprint THEO always loved those story ideas. Obviously, who's 32 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 3: very dismissive of them, but be really curious to see 33 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 3: kind of who emerges from this. And obviously a great 34 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 3: time to do a mail bag because very soon we'll 35 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 3: be inundated with rumors and speculation. 36 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 1: Exactly, let's start off with regular mail bagger Tyler Dershall. 37 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:15,960 Speaker 1: With the trade deadline prices going up every year, is 38 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: there going to be a change in the front office 39 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: to spend more, be more aggressive in the off season 40 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:24,840 Speaker 1: to off set this? Tyler Jed was asked pretty much 41 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:26,920 Speaker 1: this question. I want to say at the end of 42 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:31,919 Speaker 1: season presser that he does, and he agreed. 43 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:33,160 Speaker 2: It was hard to get. 44 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:39,200 Speaker 1: I think in particular, he's talking about starting pitching. They 45 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: had a deal we know this for Jesus Loosardo last 46 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:46,920 Speaker 1: winter that didn't get done due to him not passing 47 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:50,960 Speaker 1: the physical for the Cubs. But they tried to get 48 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:53,800 Speaker 1: another starting pitcher. I think it's pretty obvious that. 49 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:54,960 Speaker 2: I mean, we know they. 50 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 1: Tried to get a starting pitcher at the deadline, at 51 00:02:57,320 --> 00:02:58,680 Speaker 1: least one that was under control. 52 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:02,079 Speaker 2: Prices were exhorbited. We'll see what happens this. 53 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: Year, but I think, like we've written it that like 54 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 1: this is their plan to build up pitching. I don't 55 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:15,640 Speaker 1: know how they'll upgrade position player wise. I think you 56 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:19,520 Speaker 1: have to add something. You can't just let especially if 57 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:21,360 Speaker 1: Kyle Tucker walks. You can't just let them walk and 58 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 1: then go all youth. Maybe they can, maybe that's what 59 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:30,160 Speaker 1: they do, but pitching seems like absolutely must get this winter. 60 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:34,600 Speaker 3: Yeah, another good question from Tyler, and I do remember 61 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 3: that moment in the Wrigleyfield interview room where Jed was 62 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 3: asked a version of this, and I think, just to 63 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 3: add to what you said there, SOT it was from 64 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 3: the front office perspective. I mean, I go back to 65 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 3: when Jed was a Cactus League media day in Arizona 66 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:52,320 Speaker 3: and was saying like there is no war chest for 67 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 3: the trade deadline, that maybe there's a little bit laying around, 68 00:03:56,600 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 3: or you know, they have some flexibility if they kind 69 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 3: of make presentations to ownership. But you know, they went 70 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 3: after Bregman last spring training with the best offer that 71 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:16,279 Speaker 3: ownership would authorize, and it wasn't like, oh, didn't get Bregman, 72 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 3: so let's go spread those resources around. It's like, no, 73 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:24,039 Speaker 3: that that was kind of a unique case. And you know, 74 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:26,159 Speaker 3: Tyler's followed this team a long time as well, and 75 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:29,640 Speaker 3: we all know that they're obsessed about pitching depth, and 76 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 3: you know, I think there is a case to be 77 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:36,600 Speaker 3: made for being more aggressive in the offseason. As Jed 78 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:39,839 Speaker 3: likes to say, you're only getting a player for maybe 79 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 3: a third of the season. Granted you get them for 80 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:44,720 Speaker 3: the most important games of the year, assuming you make 81 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:49,640 Speaker 3: the playoffs. But you know those costs as well. It's 82 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 3: only like a third of the salary too, right, So 83 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 3: you don't have to, like you budget that much to 84 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:58,280 Speaker 3: hold back, particularly when you're the Cubs, and if you're 85 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:00,839 Speaker 3: in the playoff race, you're gonna get around three million fans. 86 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:05,479 Speaker 3: So I think as we cover this offseason, this whole 87 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:08,080 Speaker 3: idea of how aggressive are they going to be is 88 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:10,320 Speaker 3: going to just be at the front end center of 89 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 3: everything we're reporting on, just with the CBA coming up 90 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:19,679 Speaker 3: with kind of an imbalanced farm system with a team 91 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 3: that won ninety two games and has a pretty nice floor, like, 92 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:28,040 Speaker 3: how what is the ceiling here? 93 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, here's the next question I think ties into this 94 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:35,159 Speaker 1: in a sense because I think it's kind of the 95 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:38,520 Speaker 1: follow up to, well, if they do add the starting pitcher, 96 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:42,039 Speaker 1: is it realistic that the Cubs would keep both keep 97 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:44,080 Speaker 1: Showdai Monaga and also add. 98 00:05:43,839 --> 00:05:47,520 Speaker 2: Another surefire starting pitcher? This is handbone. He had more 99 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:48,239 Speaker 2: in this question. 100 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: There was another question similar to it, basically saying, look, 101 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:55,359 Speaker 1: if you keep Showda, you have Shoda, Justin Steele, Matthew Boyd, 102 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:58,359 Speaker 1: Jameson Tywn and Kate Horton. That's what you feel like 103 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: you go into this season with as you're starting five, 104 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 1: and then if you add another one that's a six 105 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 1: starting pitcher that feels like a sure fire rotation piece, 106 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 1: what do you do? 107 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 2: How do you how do you handle this. 108 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: My initial reaction to this is, first of all, I 109 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:18,279 Speaker 1: think it makes it all the more important to to 110 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:20,040 Speaker 1: be patient with Justin Steele. 111 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:23,440 Speaker 2: Could Justin Steel be ready to go on opening Day? 112 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: I think you've gotten the feel that, Yes, I think 113 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:31,839 Speaker 1: we've heard remblings that that's a possibility it could happen. 114 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: Does that mean it's guaranteed? Does that mean they should 115 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:40,200 Speaker 1: do that? I think there's like, let's just go to 116 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:43,240 Speaker 1: the most recent example of this in in in baseball, 117 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:45,600 Speaker 1: and at least one off the top of my head 118 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:48,160 Speaker 1: is Sandy al Contra. There was no reason to rush him. 119 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 1: They did it, and it was really rough for a 120 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:51,839 Speaker 1: couple of months. 121 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:52,679 Speaker 2: Uh. 122 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:56,760 Speaker 1: They if you have five guys that are no doubt starters, 123 00:06:56,839 --> 00:06:59,599 Speaker 1: even if you don't, and it's Aavi rasad, maybe it's 124 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:04,039 Speaker 1: worth just kind of waiting with Justin Steele. I'm sure 125 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:07,919 Speaker 1: he would disagree with this, and I understand that, but 126 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:10,960 Speaker 1: I just think it makes sense to take a breath, 127 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 1: let him really build up, maybe rehab in the minors, 128 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 1: stay in extended spring training, whatever they want to do 129 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:20,800 Speaker 1: however they want to handle it, but there's no reason 130 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 1: for him to start the season in April. That's one 131 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:26,800 Speaker 1: simple thing. The other obvious thing is I don't care 132 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:29,840 Speaker 1: how many pictures you add. There's like we got to 133 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 1: spring training and Javier Asad was hurt, Like there were 134 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:37,960 Speaker 1: so many injuries this past season. Like, get as many 135 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: starting pictures as you can and figure it out. 136 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:46,240 Speaker 3: Yeah, and Tyon and Boyd are both likely free agents 137 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 3: after the twenty twenty six season. Kate Horton was terrific 138 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:55,160 Speaker 3: in the second half, but he does not have the 139 00:07:55,160 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 3: most like voluminous track record in terms of workload. I 140 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 3: think Cubs are good at finding those surefire starting pitchers 141 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:09,360 Speaker 3: in the off season if you're not going to spend 142 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 3: big on Kyle Tucker, if you don't want to empty 143 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:17,440 Speaker 3: the farm system to trade for a controllable starting pitcher, 144 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 3: like put the money in the rotation kind of see 145 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:28,080 Speaker 3: what happens. Mike's sort of guess right now is if 146 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 3: Shoda does come back, it might be on a one 147 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 3: year qualifying offer, and in that case, you know, you 148 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 3: may want some insurance on the back end. And there 149 00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 3: are in We've talked about this in the in the 150 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:44,320 Speaker 3: hot stove pitching targets, there are like interesting pictures out 151 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:48,559 Speaker 3: there who aren't going to command like seven year, two 152 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:50,720 Speaker 3: hundred million dollar deals or at least we don't think, 153 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:53,880 Speaker 3: and this could be an area where they can get 154 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:55,920 Speaker 3: creative and improve the club. 155 00:08:57,040 --> 00:08:57,400 Speaker 2: Yeah. 156 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:02,679 Speaker 1: Absolutely. One other thing that they that was questioned. There 157 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:04,920 Speaker 1: was one of these questions. I'm not sure Ifho's handbone. 158 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:11,720 Speaker 1: They wondered if Kate Horton could get optioned, look at 159 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:14,440 Speaker 1: some point in the season or maybe to start the season. 160 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 1: I don't think you can rule these things out when 161 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:18,320 Speaker 1: a guy has an option, I don't care how good 162 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:22,200 Speaker 1: he is. Sometimes they make these decisions and it's and 163 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 1: it's still like and it's not always the most fair decision, 164 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:27,840 Speaker 1: but it's you know, how many innings is he going 165 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:28,560 Speaker 1: to pitch next. 166 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:30,160 Speaker 2: Year or how whatever it is. 167 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:32,880 Speaker 1: I think there are the you shouldn't completely rule it 168 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:35,320 Speaker 1: out to start the season. Probably not at some point 169 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:38,640 Speaker 1: during the season. I don't know, like especially if he struggles, 170 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 1: like you may say, like, hey, just go down and 171 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 1: reset for a month. These are all things that like 172 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:46,720 Speaker 1: are so speculative right now that it's hard to know. 173 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:49,280 Speaker 1: But I wouldn't have ruled it out at the end 174 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:52,559 Speaker 1: of this past season. But they kind of, you know, 175 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:55,760 Speaker 1: they made it through and found enough ways to kind 176 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:59,000 Speaker 1: of limit his his innings, his workload, I guess is 177 00:09:59,000 --> 00:09:59,920 Speaker 1: a better way to say that. 178 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:01,160 Speaker 2: Patrick. 179 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:06,800 Speaker 1: Next question Aaron Schmid schmidl Koper. I hope I got 180 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:09,840 Speaker 1: that right. We're gonna do our player spotlight soon on 181 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:13,720 Speaker 1: a specific player, but he's his questions are specific to 182 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:16,800 Speaker 1: like a couple pre ARB guys. Do you anticipate the 183 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:19,840 Speaker 1: Cubs having contract extension discussions with parts of this core? 184 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:22,640 Speaker 1: Do they attempt a pre ORB extension with any of 185 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 1: PCA Shaw Horton, Casey, Bystaiirs I kind of edited that 186 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:29,280 Speaker 1: question because he had some longer stuff about PCA. Yes, 187 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:33,360 Speaker 1: they tried for PCA. I'm sure they'll revisit it. I 188 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:35,880 Speaker 1: wouldn't be surprised by any of these guys, A little 189 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:38,640 Speaker 1: surprised that this team really hasn't done that yet with 190 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:40,839 Speaker 1: the guys that have not proved it at all. 191 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 2: Maybe by Stairs has kind of proved it, but. 192 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:46,440 Speaker 1: He has no defensive value, and that's that could like 193 00:10:46,559 --> 00:10:50,720 Speaker 1: hesitate it be a point of hesitation. Casey's like this 194 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: team just hasn't done it where they're just like so 195 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:54,760 Speaker 1: sure a guy's going to be a star. 196 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:56,920 Speaker 2: Let's extend him. 197 00:10:57,559 --> 00:10:59,520 Speaker 1: I wouldn't be surprised if they try and do that 198 00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:01,320 Speaker 1: with any of these guys. I think it's kind of 199 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:06,400 Speaker 1: it needs to be process, yeah, yeah, and it needs 200 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:08,280 Speaker 1: to be the thought process. Right. We've talked so much 201 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 1: about how this team isn't going to spend two hundred 202 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:12,720 Speaker 1: and sixty two hundred and eighty million. Well, if they're 203 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:15,040 Speaker 1: not going to do that, they need to be start 204 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:17,160 Speaker 1: thinking in different ways and start doing different things. And 205 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:20,920 Speaker 1: I think they tried that with PCA. I don't think 206 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:25,640 Speaker 1: it was contentious or so far apart that the both 207 00:11:25,679 --> 00:11:28,640 Speaker 1: sides were like, you're ridiculous or anything like that. 208 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:29,959 Speaker 2: I think it was productive. 209 00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:33,120 Speaker 1: So maybe they revisit that, and frankly, with the way 210 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:36,800 Speaker 1: season ended, maybe there's some middle. 211 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:37,520 Speaker 2: Ground they can meet. 212 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:41,079 Speaker 1: I don't know, like a you know, he's going to 213 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:43,200 Speaker 1: focus on that first half, they're going to focus on 214 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:43,880 Speaker 1: that second half. 215 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:45,559 Speaker 2: And that's how these things work, right. 216 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,360 Speaker 3: No doubt. Yeah, And I'm all it takes is one 217 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:53,400 Speaker 3: phone call, right, and that goes, as we've seen into 218 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:56,680 Speaker 3: spring chaining all the way up to opening day, maybe 219 00:11:56,679 --> 00:12:01,120 Speaker 3: a little bit past it. So I think everyone is 220 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:03,680 Speaker 3: sort of open minded about these things. And that's just 221 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:06,800 Speaker 3: a matter of who kind of steps forward and who's 222 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:10,600 Speaker 3: willing to sort of make a compromise from either side. 223 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:14,400 Speaker 1: Patrick, We're gonna focus on a specific player for our 224 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:24,079 Speaker 1: Draft Kings spotlight here. So, Nico Horner is entering the 225 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:28,480 Speaker 1: final year of his contract. He signed a contract accession. 226 00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:34,160 Speaker 1: Was that before twenty two or twenty three? It's hard 227 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:36,560 Speaker 1: to remember. I believe it was twenty three three. Yeah, 228 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:39,520 Speaker 1: it was before twenty three. It added just one year 229 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:44,160 Speaker 1: to his deal, correct, So we could be if if 230 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:46,360 Speaker 1: not for that extension, would be talking about him as 231 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:53,440 Speaker 1: a pending free agent. You wrote about him, and look, 232 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:54,880 Speaker 1: I I've. 233 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:57,120 Speaker 2: Always liked Nico Horner. I think this year something. 234 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:03,520 Speaker 1: Stood out beyond just him being like this really solid player. 235 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:07,440 Speaker 1: I think he fully emerged as a leader, as a 236 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:11,600 Speaker 1: clubhouse spokesman, a leader. I think he'd always kind of 237 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:14,840 Speaker 1: been like that, but it just kind of felt more impactful. 238 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:15,839 Speaker 2: Maybe because they were. 239 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:18,800 Speaker 1: Good and they were winning so much, it felt like 240 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:22,560 Speaker 1: it felt more impactful. A year ago, at this time, 241 00:13:22,559 --> 00:13:25,040 Speaker 1: you and I were both discussing, like, what are the 242 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:27,400 Speaker 1: chances they trade him? It doesn't make sense, And I 243 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:29,760 Speaker 1: was convincing myself that maybe it does make sense if 244 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:33,960 Speaker 1: you're improving in other ways. Now, I can't imagine that now. 245 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:36,839 Speaker 1: I can't imagine even contemplating that. 246 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:37,920 Speaker 2: It would be. 247 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:40,839 Speaker 1: Very unpopular, and maybe those are types of unpopular moves 248 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:41,880 Speaker 1: you're supposed to make. 249 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:45,680 Speaker 2: I think it'd be insane. I think it'd be a really. 250 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:48,360 Speaker 1: Bad decision to like, you'd be taking out the heart 251 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:51,960 Speaker 1: and soul of a team and just a really really 252 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:53,200 Speaker 1: strong all around player. 253 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:57,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm with you. I think being on a winning 254 00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:02,440 Speaker 3: team really accentuated his strengths. Playoff baseball really brought out 255 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:08,120 Speaker 3: a lot of, you know, the best attributes of Nico's game. 256 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:14,800 Speaker 3: He's always been an extremely insightful and thoughtful person. I 257 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:16,680 Speaker 3: was going back to your story from when he signed 258 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:20,280 Speaker 3: that contract extension and Jed just talking about how I mean, 259 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:22,440 Speaker 3: Jed really ran the gamut there of like, I hope 260 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:24,960 Speaker 3: this isn't the last contract extension we do with him. 261 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:28,080 Speaker 3: He said something like, you know, I have three boys. 262 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:30,400 Speaker 3: I hope they grow up to be the type of 263 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:33,000 Speaker 3: person Nico Horner is. I'm paraphrasing here, but that's kind 264 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:35,080 Speaker 3: of the idea is getting at. And then just his 265 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:38,840 Speaker 3: exit meeting after twenty nineteen. I mean, the dude gets 266 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:43,040 Speaker 3: off his parents couch is up for like whatever, nineteen games, 267 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:47,040 Speaker 3: twenty days, something like that. And Jed came away from 268 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:51,200 Speaker 3: it like this guy was the most insightful person we 269 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:54,640 Speaker 3: had talking about this team, that he was absolutely on 270 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:58,640 Speaker 3: point and he had just gotten here. And basically the 271 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:00,720 Speaker 3: story I wrote in the Athletic for Friday morning was 272 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:03,360 Speaker 3: just kind of things I had been collecting. And we 273 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 3: went into that playoffs saying like, we may have to 274 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:09,160 Speaker 3: cover a Game seven of the World Series, so you 275 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:11,760 Speaker 3: better be prepared to my write a lot of off 276 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:15,520 Speaker 3: day stories and you know, things like that. And I 277 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:17,640 Speaker 3: went back to the day after the Cups clinched, We're 278 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:23,560 Speaker 3: in Cincinnati, and a reporter asked Craig Counsel, using a 279 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:27,320 Speaker 3: basketball term, is Nico one of the biggest glue guys 280 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:33,880 Speaker 3: in baseball? And Counsel did sort of his you know, me, 281 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 3: depends on your definition, And you know, in Craig Council's definition, 282 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:44,160 Speaker 3: Nico is way better than a glue guy. That he 283 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:47,960 Speaker 3: is a great player, period. And then I think sometimes 284 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:53,640 Speaker 3: because of the Stanford education in Nico's personality and certain 285 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:56,960 Speaker 3: elements of his game, you think glue guy, and he 286 00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:00,440 Speaker 3: does certainly connect a lot of people in that clubhouse 287 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:03,560 Speaker 3: and bring a lot of intangibles. But you know, you 288 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:09,000 Speaker 3: look at his Baseball Savant page, his stat cast ratings, 289 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 3: there's a lot of red there of just someone who's 290 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:15,320 Speaker 3: in ninety fifth, ninety sixth, ninety seventh, ninety eighth, ninety 291 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:18,240 Speaker 3: nine percentile of a lot of different areas of the game. 292 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:21,240 Speaker 3: When you add all that together, it's an elite player. 293 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:26,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, I absolutely agree Nico. Don't. 294 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:28,680 Speaker 1: Don't bring up to Nico that he doesn't hit for power, 295 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,440 Speaker 1: and that's fine because he disagrees. He thinks it, he 296 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:35,240 Speaker 1: wants he thinks power is an incredibly important part of 297 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:39,320 Speaker 1: the game. But watching him and the way he plays, 298 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:42,280 Speaker 1: like I wouldn't change a thing. Look, you need power 299 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:44,840 Speaker 1: on your team, Let other guys do it, and Nico 300 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:47,680 Speaker 1: Horner can be who Nico Horner is, and he's just 301 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:53,760 Speaker 1: incredibly valuable. You can't you can't understate that. I do 302 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:57,520 Speaker 1: think Craig Counsel has kind of learned about Nico Horner. 303 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:00,720 Speaker 1: Maybe he didn't appreciate just how valuable he was until 304 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:03,640 Speaker 1: he started managing him and kind of saw like, this 305 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 1: guy is a little bit different than maybe he realized. 306 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:08,439 Speaker 2: And that's it's easy. 307 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:11,000 Speaker 1: It's easy to kind of overlook a guy that doesn't 308 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 1: hit double digit homers or you know, it's just not 309 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:18,600 Speaker 1: that flashy in any specific way. But he just does 310 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:22,320 Speaker 1: a lot of things really well, and it's and some 311 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:26,480 Speaker 1: of them elite, and that's that's incredibly important. All right, 312 00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:31,680 Speaker 1: let's throw it to our DraftKings player pick. 313 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:35,040 Speaker 4: Thanks a hot for my North Side Territory producer pick. 314 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:37,560 Speaker 4: I'm taking the under seven and a half runs at 315 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:41,480 Speaker 4: minus one twenty two. Yamamoto and Gosman threw a pitcher's 316 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:44,679 Speaker 4: duel in Game two. I'm expecting them to do the 317 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:48,000 Speaker 4: same in Game six. Don't know how it's gonna end up, 318 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:50,480 Speaker 4: but I do know it's gonna be under seven and 319 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:52,920 Speaker 4: a half runs tonight. It's a minus number, so I 320 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:55,639 Speaker 4: gotta put one twenty two down to win one hundred tonight. 321 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:58,399 Speaker 4: I do it under seven and a half runs on 322 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:02,439 Speaker 4: DraftKings at minus two. Sahadevan Patrick back to you. 323 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:04,879 Speaker 1: The twenty twenty five baseball season is down to what 324 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:07,800 Speaker 1: matters most. Lifting the trophy. With Draftings Sports Book, you're 325 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:10,640 Speaker 1: right there for every pitch, every moment, DraftKings Sports Book 326 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:13,320 Speaker 1: delivers the intensity of the championship stage with player props, 327 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:15,640 Speaker 1: live in game betting, and more new customers. This one 328 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:17,440 Speaker 1: is for you. Bet just five dollars and if your 329 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:19,439 Speaker 1: bet wins, you'll get paid out three hundred dollars in 330 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:22,560 Speaker 1: bonus bets instantly. This is what October baseball is all about. 331 00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:25,040 Speaker 1: Download the DraftKings sports Book gap and use code foul. 332 00:18:25,119 --> 00:18:26,760 Speaker 1: That's code filed to turn five bucks in at three 333 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:28,840 Speaker 1: hundred dollars in bonus bets if your bet wins. 334 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:31,280 Speaker 2: In partnership with DraftKings, the Crown is yours. 335 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:34,000 Speaker 5: Gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler in New York 336 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:36,480 Speaker 5: called eight seven seven eight open wire text Hope and 337 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:39,080 Speaker 5: y four six seven three six nine in Connecticut. Help 338 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 5: is available for a problem gambling called eight eight eight 339 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:44,040 Speaker 5: seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG 340 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:46,919 Speaker 5: dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill casino 341 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:49,280 Speaker 5: when resorting Kansas pass through if per wager tax may 342 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:51,719 Speaker 5: apply in Illinois twenty one and over age and eligibility 343 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:54,840 Speaker 5: varies by jurisdiction. Voyd and Ontario restrictions apply. Bet must 344 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:56,920 Speaker 5: win to receive bonus bets which expire in seven A 345 00:18:57,080 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 5: Cinemum odds required four additional terms and responsible gaming resurces CDKNNG, 346 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:03,639 Speaker 5: dot CO, Slash Audio limited time offer. 347 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:08,960 Speaker 1: Okay, welcome back to Northside Territory presented by Fox One. 348 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:12,840 Speaker 1: Let's get back to your questions. We got another one 349 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:16,720 Speaker 1: from Wade Remling. I may have spelled this wrong. Remlinger 350 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:21,520 Speaker 1: is what I'm guessing, not Reminger, but uh uh. Wade asks, 351 00:19:22,359 --> 00:19:24,680 Speaker 1: I don't really see how you upgrade this offense without 352 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:27,399 Speaker 1: making a trade to open a spot. So my question 353 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:29,520 Speaker 1: is how dependent are the Cubs on player development to 354 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:32,840 Speaker 1: improve offensively? I think this is a really good question. 355 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:37,800 Speaker 1: And we were talking about what kind of narratives may 356 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:41,800 Speaker 1: build from the World Series, and you know, you talk 357 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:45,000 Speaker 1: about the Dodgers and it's always spend, spend, spend. That's 358 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:48,479 Speaker 1: a simple narrative. If they win, uh, nobody can beat 359 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:51,760 Speaker 1: them because of the money they spend. If the Blue 360 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:55,080 Speaker 1: Jays win, first of all, you get to shoot down 361 00:19:55,119 --> 00:19:58,440 Speaker 1: that narrative that the Dodgers are unbeatable. The other thing 362 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:01,320 Speaker 1: is the dot the Blue weren't that great of a 363 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:04,000 Speaker 1: team as far as one loss last year. They just 364 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:06,359 Speaker 1: made tweaks to their roster. Now it doesn't it's not 365 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:09,160 Speaker 1: a perfect fit for the Cubs because the Cubs very 366 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:11,920 Speaker 1: well likely could lose Kyle Tucker. So you can't say 367 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:15,679 Speaker 1: they just can make tweaks to the roster. But the 368 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 1: idea is in my head. But watching the Blue Jays 369 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:22,480 Speaker 1: is maybe you don't need to always make dramatic changes. 370 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:27,400 Speaker 1: Maybe player development is the biggest thing you can do 371 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:32,399 Speaker 1: to help your team level up, Like how do you 372 00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:35,600 Speaker 1: make your team better. It's annoying because Jed says this 373 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:38,000 Speaker 1: all the time and people roll their eyes and say, 374 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:40,840 Speaker 1: just spend You're the Cubs, and I agree with that, 375 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:44,280 Speaker 1: but there is something to what way, Like what Wade's 376 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:48,199 Speaker 1: getting at here, I do think it's incredibly important for 377 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:52,639 Speaker 1: player development. I think Miguel Amiya one simple one. Miguel 378 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:56,879 Speaker 1: Amaya is staying healthy, getting better PCA, finding some consistency. 379 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:02,359 Speaker 1: One of these younger got Matt Shaw, Owen, Casey Moys's, Viceros, 380 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:09,160 Speaker 1: Cad Horton, Daniel Palencia, Porter Hodge, bouncing back some other 381 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:13,600 Speaker 1: pitchers that were not focused on right now. All of 382 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:16,520 Speaker 1: this is going to impact the Cubs in twenty twenty 383 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:19,480 Speaker 1: six in some manner outside of a trade moving one 384 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:22,560 Speaker 1: of those guys or a couple of those guys. There's 385 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:25,320 Speaker 1: a lot of youth and a lot of player development. 386 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:30,080 Speaker 1: It's imperative. We saw the impact of Michael Bush. He 387 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:34,679 Speaker 1: made he stepped up after a great season, stepped up 388 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:37,440 Speaker 1: to a borderline elite season, one of the best first 389 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:41,879 Speaker 1: basemen in baseball. That's player development. That they do a 390 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:44,280 Speaker 1: pretty good job of it. You'd like to see it 391 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:46,399 Speaker 1: kind of continue and for them to kind of stand 392 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:47,520 Speaker 1: out in that department. 393 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:52,800 Speaker 3: Yeah, completely agree. I think Jed Hoyer made that point, 394 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:56,639 Speaker 3: and it is sometimes lost even on me watching the 395 00:21:56,680 --> 00:22:00,760 Speaker 3: team every day, that you sort of focus on where 396 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:03,280 Speaker 3: they didn't spend, what they didn't do at the trade deadline. 397 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:09,000 Speaker 3: But Pete takes these huge strides this year, match out 398 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:14,600 Speaker 3: and had a disappointing playoffs, but made, you know, enormous 399 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:19,359 Speaker 3: strides in the second half. Kate Horton unbelievable after the 400 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:23,040 Speaker 3: All Star break. And I don't know what sort of 401 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:24,640 Speaker 3: trade you can make to open a spot. I mean, 402 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:27,880 Speaker 3: off the top of my head, I believe Ian Happ, 403 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:30,679 Speaker 3: Dansy Swanson, En say a Suzuki all have full no 404 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 3: trade clauses. I may have missed one of those while 405 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:38,639 Speaker 3: the Cubs were handing those out like Halloween candy. After 406 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:42,440 Speaker 3: Jen Theo came in a long time ago and inherited 407 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:44,880 Speaker 3: certain no trade clauses, We're you know, we're never gonna 408 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:47,960 Speaker 3: do something like that unless maybe certain circumstances and then 409 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:52,240 Speaker 3: lo and behold that there's stuck with several of those. 410 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 3: But yeah, it does come down to player development. I 411 00:22:57,040 --> 00:23:03,159 Speaker 3: think you do both ideally. But again, this can be 412 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:06,360 Speaker 3: a real off season theme here of do the cub 413 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:09,199 Speaker 3: spend at the top of the free agent market, probably not. 414 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:12,480 Speaker 3: Do the Cubs extend themselves super long into the future 415 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,359 Speaker 3: and the last year of a labor deal, probably not. 416 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:19,320 Speaker 3: And we'll be writing this kind of this weekend looking 417 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:22,360 Speaker 3: at the Cubs. Obviously the agenda. You could almost roll 418 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:25,639 Speaker 3: this team out next year without making any changes and 419 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:27,880 Speaker 3: expect them to be in the wild card on that's 420 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:30,760 Speaker 3: not the goal. That's kind of the bare minimum. But 421 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:34,920 Speaker 3: a lot of the heavy lifting has sort of been done. 422 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:39,480 Speaker 3: It's those like finishing pieces, those surprises, those developments that 423 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:42,880 Speaker 3: the Blue Jays, you know, win or lose, have really 424 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:45,119 Speaker 3: opened my eyes. I did not see a lot of 425 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:48,040 Speaker 3: the Blue Jays this year obviously given our jobs, and 426 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:52,480 Speaker 3: they've been just really fun to watch on a nightly basis. 427 00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:57,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean there's it takes some surprises, it takes 428 00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:02,000 Speaker 1: player development. It can't just be the superstars, like you 429 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:06,840 Speaker 1: can sign a superstar. But like a year ago, people 430 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:09,320 Speaker 1: were pounding the table for Corbyn Burns. It would have 431 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:12,679 Speaker 1: looked awful if the Cubs signed Corbyn Burns. I'm not 432 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:15,520 Speaker 1: saying I predicted that or I knew that. I'm just saying, like, 433 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:19,399 Speaker 1: these things happen all the time. There's probably, off the 434 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:20,840 Speaker 1: top of my head, I can't think of them all, 435 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:25,439 Speaker 1: but half the huge contracts signed last winter. My guess 436 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:29,040 Speaker 1: is don't look all that good a year in. It's 437 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:32,359 Speaker 1: a year things change and they can change quickly. But 438 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:36,480 Speaker 1: just saying they have you have to. 439 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:37,320 Speaker 2: Have player development. 440 00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:39,080 Speaker 1: I think it's important to spend I think the club 441 00:24:39,119 --> 00:24:41,600 Speaker 1: should lean into that, but I also think player development 442 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:42,320 Speaker 1: is imperative. 443 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:45,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, have you ever heard of Addison Barger 444 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:49,879 Speaker 3: Until just as I'd never heard of the guy, and 445 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:51,480 Speaker 3: he's like the greatest player of all time. 446 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:56,800 Speaker 1: The only reason is because I I'll read like about 447 00:24:56,920 --> 00:24:58,959 Speaker 1: prospects and stuff like that, and I knew we hit 448 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:01,320 Speaker 1: the ball hard, that's all I didn't, you know, like 449 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:07,600 Speaker 1: it's flawedzing, but yeah, like he's fun to watch. You've 450 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:10,440 Speaker 1: been touching on this a little bit during this podcast, 451 00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:12,600 Speaker 1: Patrick about the CBA. But how much does the CBA 452 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,719 Speaker 1: impact Hoyer's decisions? Can he just look at the crowded 453 00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:18,679 Speaker 1: outfield to someone solid infield. I think you kind of 454 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:21,400 Speaker 1: touched on this and the returning starting pitchers and Stan 455 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:25,280 Speaker 1: pat and not make any splashes. That's WC with There's 456 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:28,000 Speaker 1: another question here by cub Neck and we can kind 457 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:30,680 Speaker 1: of tie these together. Is Jed positioning the Cubs to 458 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:33,679 Speaker 1: start another rebuild after the coming CBA battle? 459 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:35,080 Speaker 2: It would certainly explain. 460 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:40,399 Speaker 1: Hawkins twenty thirty two comment, Okay, look to get to 461 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:45,760 Speaker 1: WC Like. I think, yes, the CBA impacts a lot 462 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:48,840 Speaker 1: of these decisions. I think it's hard to say exactly 463 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:52,720 Speaker 1: how Like I'd be surprised if they signed only one 464 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:54,480 Speaker 1: year deals this year. 465 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:57,560 Speaker 2: Maybe they do. Maybe I'm just like. 466 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:01,600 Speaker 1: Not, maybe, like we have done enough digging yet and 467 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,280 Speaker 1: like the Cubs and maybe many teams will be focused 468 00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:06,919 Speaker 1: on one year deals and it'll be like the outliers 469 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:11,280 Speaker 1: that are jumping and pouncing. I don't know, but I 470 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:16,359 Speaker 1: think to pretend like it doesn't have some impact would 471 00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:19,520 Speaker 1: be crazy. You named the players, but it's like sayah 472 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:27,280 Speaker 1: Ian Hap, Nico Horner, Carson, Kelly Jamison, Tyane, Matthew Boyd. 473 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:30,360 Speaker 2: I think that's pretty much. I think I got them 474 00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:30,760 Speaker 2: all right. 475 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:36,000 Speaker 1: There are those are the players with contracts that end 476 00:26:36,119 --> 00:26:38,879 Speaker 1: after this season, and then there's a bunch of pre 477 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:41,520 Speaker 1: ARP guys, and then I think the only player under 478 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:46,000 Speaker 1: contract for sure is Dansby. We'll see what happens with 479 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:49,280 Speaker 1: Shoda Monaga's contract. But that's that's a lot of players. 480 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:51,080 Speaker 1: That's a lot of players. 481 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:52,440 Speaker 2: And a lot of different things happening right there. 482 00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:59,480 Speaker 3: I will say, for Jed Hoyer, being viewed as a 483 00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:06,600 Speaker 3: very con conservative executive for variety of reasons, extremely rational. 484 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:10,760 Speaker 3: I mean that perception is valid. He also comes up 485 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:15,520 Speaker 3: with some out of nowhere moves that we never saw coming, 486 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:20,359 Speaker 3: whether it's firing David Ross to bring in Craig Council. 487 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:23,760 Speaker 3: I guess we saw the Tucker trade coming up, but 488 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:30,040 Speaker 3: that was an extremely aggressive win now move that was 489 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:34,560 Speaker 3: out of character and probably not like universally lauded within 490 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:42,560 Speaker 3: his own organization. Does Jed Hoyer's contract extension change his outlook. 491 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:48,439 Speaker 3: I bet he would say no, but I bet on 492 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:54,080 Speaker 3: some level it's changed things a little bit. So I 493 00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:58,920 Speaker 3: think their definition of splashes is different than our definition 494 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:04,600 Speaker 3: of splashes. Like, and that's Jed Hoyer, Carter Hawkins, Greig Counsel, like, 495 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:12,640 Speaker 3: they're all pretty pragmatic, rational, analytical, and they don't they 496 00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:16,520 Speaker 3: don't work for an ownership group that gets caught up 497 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:18,600 Speaker 3: in a lot of that stuff. And the business side 498 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:21,479 Speaker 3: of their organization knows they can kind of roll out 499 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:25,639 Speaker 3: the baseball's and get about three million people into Wrigley 500 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:31,400 Speaker 3: Field no matter what. So I don't we're recording Halloween morning. 501 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:33,920 Speaker 3: I don't want to like say, this is going to 502 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:36,520 Speaker 3: be a boring off season and nothing is going to happen. 503 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:39,520 Speaker 3: I do think it's gonna be a very long off season, 504 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:42,880 Speaker 3: Like we've seen this. When was the last time you 505 00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:44,880 Speaker 3: went to spring training and there wasn't like a free 506 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:46,480 Speaker 3: agent thing out there? 507 00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:46,840 Speaker 1: Right? 508 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:50,280 Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, it's been a while. 509 00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:51,280 Speaker 3: It's been a while. 510 00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:56,240 Speaker 1: I mean Bellinger, say Bellinger, Bregman, all the way back. 511 00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:59,240 Speaker 3: To when they signed Darvish, Like this stuff just drags 512 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:04,080 Speaker 3: out and how the cubs have positioned themselves. It's to 513 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:08,800 Speaker 3: be nimble to be in the mix whenever these kind 514 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:11,840 Speaker 3: of players fall through the cracks, or when maybe the 515 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:18,760 Speaker 3: industry values players differently, like they are going to be 516 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:22,640 Speaker 3: in that and maybe they do sign a couple of 517 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:27,240 Speaker 3: multi year got your guys just thinking like, hey, we 518 00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:30,360 Speaker 3: need to backfill a little bit here. We need some 519 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:34,600 Speaker 3: sort of protections after twenty twenty six. So it's not like, 520 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:38,600 Speaker 3: you know what if the young players we talked about earlier, 521 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:43,200 Speaker 3: like just don't pan out and that, then you're then 522 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:46,800 Speaker 3: maybe you're spending some crazy prices because you have all 523 00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:51,800 Speaker 3: of these holes you have to fill and there's labor certainty, 524 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:56,120 Speaker 3: So more teams are maybe spending Like, you're right, we 525 00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:59,040 Speaker 3: have to dig more into this. We have to see 526 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:01,800 Speaker 3: how certain things deveen. But there's probably a case to 527 00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:05,320 Speaker 3: be made to invest a little more into the future 528 00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:07,880 Speaker 3: so that you're not kind of boxed in on the 529 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:08,680 Speaker 3: other side of this. 530 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:14,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, so it kup Neck is going to a really 531 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:15,240 Speaker 1: negative place. 532 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:17,720 Speaker 2: I think here wrong. 533 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:25,440 Speaker 1: So look, these are two separate things. I think that 534 00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:28,800 Speaker 1: the CBA, like I don't think Jed, we focus so 535 00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:33,080 Speaker 1: much on certain things that Jed says, and the fans 536 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:35,800 Speaker 1: aren't hearing that he's not. He hasn't decided or he 537 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:39,640 Speaker 1: hasn't made it clear whether it's a good thing or 538 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:42,600 Speaker 1: a bad thing that he has all these He points 539 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:46,400 Speaker 1: out the positives and the negatives of this. It's there's 540 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:49,640 Speaker 1: a ton your books are clean, you have you're very nimble, 541 00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:54,000 Speaker 1: you're very flexible here after twenty twenty six, but you're 542 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,080 Speaker 1: losing a ton of talent, and that's a lot of 543 00:30:56,120 --> 00:30:59,960 Speaker 1: talent to replace. He knows, he understands how daunting that tat. 544 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:03,720 Speaker 1: He's the one that traded there the World Series core 545 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:04,720 Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one. 546 00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:06,520 Speaker 2: Did he think that was the right decision? 547 00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:07,160 Speaker 3: Yes? 548 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:10,400 Speaker 1: Did he also see that it was an insane talent 549 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:14,160 Speaker 1: drain that he couldn't recoup in one year in one offseason? 550 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:17,200 Speaker 1: He saw that he doesn't want to go through that again. 551 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:20,640 Speaker 1: So this idea that does he want to start another rebuild? 552 00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:25,560 Speaker 1: The whole point of twenty twenty one was to kind 553 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:28,959 Speaker 1: of reset and not do this again. They do not 554 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:32,880 Speaker 1: want to do that again. They don't want to be 555 00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:36,680 Speaker 1: a seventy win team again, or worse that, like it 556 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:40,680 Speaker 1: may happen once you know like these one year blips. 557 00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:43,960 Speaker 1: But if it's a multi year thing where you there's 558 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:47,480 Speaker 1: a complete talent drain, something has gone wrong. It is 559 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:50,400 Speaker 1: not part of their plan. Something's screwed up. Now you 560 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:53,520 Speaker 1: touched on it. Maybe the kids don't develop. That's that's 561 00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:55,880 Speaker 1: a failure on their part. It is if too many 562 00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:58,880 Speaker 1: of these kids us, yeah, it would be a problem, 563 00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:03,040 Speaker 1: and that would be on that. I also think, look, 564 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:05,560 Speaker 1: I've said this to Carter's face, so I have no 565 00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:08,480 Speaker 1: problem saying it on the podcast. I think it was 566 00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:11,760 Speaker 1: a dumb move to put a number on this, like 567 00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:12,960 Speaker 1: in say twenty thirty two. 568 00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:15,000 Speaker 2: I think that was his mistake. How often do we 569 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:17,200 Speaker 2: hear Jed say we have one eye on the future 570 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:18,160 Speaker 2: and one eye on the present. 571 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:21,080 Speaker 1: We have to look, he's always saying that, but you 572 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:24,600 Speaker 1: don't say twenty thirty two, like you put this year 573 00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:28,880 Speaker 1: out there, that's so far in the future for like fans, 574 00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:31,480 Speaker 1: and you put this number out there, and. 575 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:32,720 Speaker 2: Fans are gonna go crazy. 576 00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:34,960 Speaker 1: Of course they're gonna latch onto that, and they have 577 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:37,840 Speaker 1: every right to and to be frustrated and use it 578 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:40,120 Speaker 1: and like bring it back and use it as like 579 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:42,959 Speaker 1: this cudgel to be like look at these guys, what 580 00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:45,560 Speaker 1: do they They only care about, you know, years from now. 581 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:49,560 Speaker 1: It wasn't a suggestion that there's multiple rebuilds in between there. 582 00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:54,000 Speaker 1: It's just it was it was a he should not 583 00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:56,840 Speaker 1: have put a number on it. He could have said 584 00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:00,080 Speaker 1: twenty twenty eight or twenty twenty like just he you 585 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:01,280 Speaker 1: shouldn't have said any year. 586 00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:01,880 Speaker 2: It was the same. 587 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:04,400 Speaker 1: It was the same mistake de Poto made when he 588 00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:08,040 Speaker 1: said fifty four percent. The goal is to win fifty 589 00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:11,520 Speaker 1: average fifty What you don't say that. Don't say the 590 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:14,240 Speaker 1: goal is to win average fifty four percent of your games. 591 00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:17,000 Speaker 1: Like that's insane, Like no average fan wants to hear 592 00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:19,600 Speaker 1: that the goal is to win ninety plus. Just say that, 593 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:23,440 Speaker 1: and and hope you understand behind the scenes that like, hey, 594 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:25,920 Speaker 1: this is how it is equal, Like we have to 595 00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:26,840 Speaker 1: keep an eye in the future. 596 00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:30,560 Speaker 2: Whatever. Just be more generic and don't put specific numbers 597 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:33,040 Speaker 2: on these things. And because it looks so bad. 598 00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:36,400 Speaker 6: I'm going to just I want to be them to 599 00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:40,720 Speaker 6: be as specific as possible, as brutally honest as possible, 600 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:44,160 Speaker 6: like and that's what I appreciate of. 601 00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:48,560 Speaker 3: You know, between Jen Carter, they might be more available 602 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:52,960 Speaker 3: on any given Wrigley homestand than like the lead executives 603 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:57,760 Speaker 3: of the Bulls, Bears, black maybe even black Hawks combined 604 00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:05,360 Speaker 3: like all year. And so while that may irritate fans, 605 00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:10,480 Speaker 3: at least you get true insight into what they're thinking 606 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:14,680 Speaker 3: and like how they're running it. And again, you can 607 00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:20,359 Speaker 3: disagree with how they're running it, but I think that 608 00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:21,880 Speaker 3: is a good way for cups that I think of 609 00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:27,880 Speaker 3: how hyper rational this front office is and how bottom 610 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:30,160 Speaker 3: line driven this ownership group is, and all of that 611 00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:35,560 Speaker 3: taken together gives you a pretty good understanding of where 612 00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:39,960 Speaker 3: they're coming from. And as long as they win, it 613 00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:44,359 Speaker 3: doesn't matter. If they don't win, then yeah, it's kind 614 00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:50,759 Speaker 3: of an unpopular, unsentimental place to be. But yeah, I'm 615 00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:53,880 Speaker 3: glad we kind of got this kicked off because it 616 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:56,600 Speaker 3: helps us sort of think about how we're going to 617 00:34:56,680 --> 00:34:57,759 Speaker 3: be covering this offseason. 618 00:34:58,200 --> 00:35:00,640 Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, I mean just like kind of put an 619 00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:04,160 Speaker 1: emphasis on it, like this whole like cliff, this idea 620 00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:06,040 Speaker 1: of a cliff and so many players leaving. I think 621 00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:09,759 Speaker 1: that kind of makes me think that you have to 622 00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:12,800 Speaker 1: sign a couple guys that are going to be around 623 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:15,920 Speaker 1: beyond now. Will we see them sign like thirty plus 624 00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:19,800 Speaker 1: million dollar contracts for guys beyond twenty six or something 625 00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:20,160 Speaker 1: like that. 626 00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:23,480 Speaker 2: I think that's probably where they hold back. But can 627 00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:24,160 Speaker 2: they get like. 628 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:29,200 Speaker 1: Jamison tie own type deals where it's like eighteen twenty 629 00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:32,719 Speaker 1: million solid players, guys that you know are going to 630 00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:35,560 Speaker 1: be good for the next few years. I think that 631 00:35:35,640 --> 00:35:38,080 Speaker 1: makes sense. I think they need to look figure out 632 00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:41,720 Speaker 1: how to do that. It's going to be interesting because 633 00:35:42,719 --> 00:35:44,680 Speaker 1: there's a lot of position players coming up and that's 634 00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:48,200 Speaker 1: where all the youth is. So like, there's some interesting 635 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:50,560 Speaker 1: decisions here. How do you figure out if that youth 636 00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:53,720 Speaker 1: is going to be here beyond twenty six can impact 637 00:35:53,719 --> 00:35:54,040 Speaker 1: the team. 638 00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:55,879 Speaker 2: You gotta find playing time for them. 639 00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:58,120 Speaker 1: So there's all these little decisions that they need to 640 00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:00,399 Speaker 1: figure out. Things they need to figure out how it's 641 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:02,520 Speaker 1: going to work out. All right, thanks so much for 642 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:05,759 Speaker 1: listening to everyone. We will be back next week. We 643 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:08,440 Speaker 1: will have a World Series winner, and we'll officially be 644 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:12,160 Speaker 1: in the off season next time we record. This is 645 00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:16,160 Speaker 1: Northside Territory presented by Fox One. Make sure to rate, review, subscribe, 646 00:36:16,239 --> 00:36:19,800 Speaker 1: subscribe to the YouTube channel, and subscribe to The Athletic 647 00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:22,120 Speaker 1: where Patrick and I are on top of all things 648 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:25,520 Speaker 1: Cubs this offseason. Thanks for listening to everyone