Latest / North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast / North Side/Crush City crossover episode: Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman and more Cubs/Astros links

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North Side/Crush City crossover episode: Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman and more Cubs/Astros links · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: They've known this guy for two months and now they're
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: gonna go argue over what is it like two and
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: a half million dollars. It just seems like a very
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: avoidable thing.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Welcome into north Side Territory Foul Territory Networks podcast. I'm
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Sahade Sharma with my co host Patrick Mooney. Patrick. Today
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: we have a north Side Territory Crush City Territory crossover.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Our friend Chandler Rome, who's covered the Astros for seven years,
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: multiple of them with us at the Athletics, also the
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: co host of Crush Territory Foul Territories Astros podcast, is
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: here to join us. There's a lot of Astros topics
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: and comes topics that are crossing over this uh this winter,
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: so this is just a natural fit. Handler. How are
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: you doing? How's the podcast going? How is everything?
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: The POD's great? Man, when you can when you can
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: just get Josh Reddick on and let Reddicks just kind
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: of just kind of flow, I'm and it. We don't
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: really have to do much work because Josh is just
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: that good. And you know, Tyler Stafford and I I
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: think we play off each other pretty well. And adding
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: Josh to the mix has been great, and there's been
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: no shortage of content. You know, we joked that our
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: first I mean we launched this thing like during the
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Winter meetings, and of course that's when all hell broke loose,
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: so we joked it. Like I think our first two
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: or three episodes were all emergency pods about guys getting traded,
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: guys blocking trades. It was a it was a hectic
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: a couple of weeks there when we started. But it's
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: settled down now and I think we're I think we're
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: I think we're in a groove.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: That's good that you guys get along because Patrick and I, man,
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: it's just been a struggle, like we are at each
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: other's throats.
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we never never talk off air, you know, go ahead, Patrick,
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: Well now, Chandler. I love reading your stuff because you're
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: so good at like pointing out the tension and friction
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: with in an organization, and you do it in a
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: very even handed manner of finding out, you know, both
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: sides and just kind of letting it breathe. And I
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: was curious sort of how did Kyle Tucker handle, you know,
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: being an astro. It seemed like he kind of skated
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: by because he wasn't part of like the trash Can operation.
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: But I'd imagine playing in all those huge games and
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: being on a team that was sort of, you know,
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: lesson admired by opposing fans. Like, do you think that
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: developed a sort of like thick skin for him as
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: he comes into Chicago where he has to be like
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: the man in a.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: In a platform year.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Well, I think the best word for Kyle Tucker is
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: just kind of underrated, And I think that that describes
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: him personality wise. I think that describes him on the field,
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: like nationally how people view him. Obviously, since he's been traded,
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: I think a lot of people have really started to
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: kind of look at his numbers and like, oh, man,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: like this guy's really good. But just personality and in
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: the clubhouse and as part of that team, you know,
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: he got dwarfed a lot. I mean he was in
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: a clubhouse with Jose al Tuve and Alex Bregman and
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Jordan Alvarez and Carlos Korea for a while justin Verlander,
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: and like when you're when you have that many like
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: established superstars, you kind of get I don't want to
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: say forgotten about. But he didn't have to be like
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: the the voice, the face the guy that did all
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: the interviews, things like that, that he let all those
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: other guys kind of take care of it. So he's
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: a He's a quiet guy, doesn't certainly to me, does
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: not scream like Face of the franchise. But I think
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: faces of the franchise can be a lot of different things.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: You know, look at Jose Ramirez in Cleveland. I don't
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: think anyone would describe him as as outgoing or you know,
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: a guy that speaks up a lot. You know, he
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: just kind of goes about his business and does his work.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: And I think that's what Kyle does too. You know,
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: when he wants to say something, he will and it's
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: not as if he's mute, and it's not as if,
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: you know, guys don't look up to him. He was
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: the Astros team DJ for the last two years in
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: the clubhouse, you know, picked all the music, and he
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: is he's low key if you get to know him, like,
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: he is low key, hilarious, like really funny, very witty,
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: very dry humor, a guy that a lot of people
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: in the clubhouse like. And I think when the clubhouse
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: doors close, his personality comes out. But I don't think
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: you're likely to see it much publicly. He just he
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: doesn't play with a ton of flash, doesn't showboat, will
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: batflip every now and then, but certainly not a guy
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: that's gonna be demonstrative with his actions. But he kind
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: of lets his play speak for itself, and I think
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: it certainly has throughout the last three or four years.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I wouldn't say that this Cubs clubhouse is filled
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: with like outgoing personalities, so like there's nothing like outside
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: of picrow Armstronger's nobody that you look at and say, like,
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: that's a flashy guy who has a lot of like
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: wild things to say. But they do have guys that
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: are willing to right Like if Tucker isn't that person
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: that will or kind of doesn't want to be that
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: guy that's that you go to after every tough loss
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: or every big win, There's Dansby Swanson, They're seeing half,
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: There's even Jamison Taia. Like these these guys are willing
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: to talk to the media and step up in those moments.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: I guess I'm most curious, how do you think his personality,
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: his skill set and everything, he's going to be the
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: guy that's what they've been missing. Like forget about off
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: the field leadership because I think they have that, they
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: have a good clubhouse, they don't have the superstar. They
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: finally do like that and and this is going you know,
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: no offense to Houston, but like Chicago's just a bigger
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: market and there's gonna be a little bit more pressure
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: with the Cubs. How do you think he handles all
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: of that on the field.
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: I think I think it's a I think he can
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: do it, like I I but the problem is, like
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: I've never seen him have to do it because like
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: we've said, like he's had so many guys in front
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: of him where I mean, we always are asking this
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: question about al Tuve or Bregnan or Corea or Alvarez
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: or guys like that, Like you have to go five
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: or six names down before you start asking, like hol
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: Tucker's going to handle it. And you know, the fans
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: in Houston were certainly sad to see him go, But
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: I think one thing they pointed out was that his
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: postseason performances the last two years have have not been good.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: You look in the twenty twenty two World Series. In
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: Game one of the twenty twenty two World Series, he
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: hit two homers almost led them to a victory. Justin
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: Verlander kind of gave it away, but you know, hit
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: two home runs and was kind of the toast of
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: the town. He's still the only player in Astro's history
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: to ever hit two homers in a World Series game.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: And since that game, it has been a real struggle
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: for him in the postseason. And I am not one
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: of these that subscribes to small sample sizes, especially when
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: you're you know, facing elite playoff pitching. I don't think
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: that's indicative of his career. You know, Josel Tuve had
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: an awful postseason in twenty twenty two and the Astros
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: won the World Series. But you know, I think it's
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: worth mentioning you asked the question. So he's been in
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: a couple of big spots, you know, big playoff series,
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: and he hasn't produced. You know, Dusty Baker had to
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: move him down in the lineup during in the twenty
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: twenty three ALCS. And I'm not saying that this pretends
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: that he's going to, you know, shrink in big moments
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: in Chicago. I think he's also a guy that outwardly
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: like big moments. To me, like, really don't phase him Like,
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: he's not going to You're not going to see him
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: tense up. You're not going to see him swing early
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: in counts. You're not going to see him chase a
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: ton like. He keeps his approach and keeps his demeanor
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: very well. He just hasn't gotten results the last couple
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: of postseasons. So I think that's maybe the one thing
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: that i'd bring up is that may concern me. But
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: I use concern very very relatively, just given again, you're
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: you're in, you're in the playoffs, you're facing the best
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: pitching that's left, and it's tough. It's tough to like granted,
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: to break down like that few at bats, but that
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: is what he is. But I think he will handle
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: the grind like being the guy for one hundred and
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: sixty two, I think he'll handle that very well, just
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: because again, he is I don't want to say emotionless,
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: but he's as pretty close to emotionless as you can be.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: Like nothing really fazes him, nothing really gets him very excited.
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: He's just a guy that just shows up, rolls the
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: balls out there, rolls the bats out there, and he's
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: ready to go from the minute he shows up.
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: So the Cubs make this huge trade, give up a
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: bunch of pieces for one year of Tucker, and then
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: a couple weeks later they don't reach an agreement with
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: him on an arbitration cellar. We are probably too close
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: to it in Chicago to where I think we were
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: surprised but not shocked. What was the view from Houston
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: on that particular decision. What do you think that means
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: long term for the Cubs and Tucker's future?
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: Well, this isn't new. He went to an arbitration hearing
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: with the Astros two years ago. The Astros won, and
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: then we talked to him and clubhouse was in spring
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: training that they did the hearing, and then we talked
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: to him a couple of days later, and again, like
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: I said, nothing, you can't really get much out of him,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: nothing really like makes him mad or tick. But you know,
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: he acknowledged that there was some stuff he heard that
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: he wasn't thrilled with, but but was also very very
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: adamant and saying, you know, he felt his relationship with
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: the Astros was fine and that it wasn't going to
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: affect anything long term, and he even said that he
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: would have liked to stay in Houston long term. But
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: you know, he said that, I think to you guys
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: when he had his intro, said something very similar that,
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: you know, we'll always listen, We're always open to listening,
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: and he said that in Houston too. I think it's
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: just odd from like a business like, how do you
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: like the Cubs have known this guy. Obviously, they've seen
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: him from across the way and can read his stats
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: just like you and I. But like, I mean, they've
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: known this guy for two months and now they're going
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: to go argue over what is it, like two and
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: a half million dollars. It just seems like a very
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: avoidable thing. But it's again, it's not new. You know,
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: Tucker had to go to an arbitration hearing here. They
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: did settle last year without a hearing, and that kind
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: of gave everyone, I guess a little bit of hope
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: that maybe they could work something out. But again, as
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: long as Jim Crane owns the Astros, and as long
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: as they had this philosophy of we're never getting into
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: the two hundred, two hundred and fifty million dollar range,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: then they're then they're going to struggle to retain a
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: lot of these guys that are in arbitration and the
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: guys that are a year or two away from free agency,
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: and now Tucker's way past two hundred, two hundred and fifty,
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: Like it may have to start with a three or
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: a four to even you know, get his attention to
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: get something done before the season or mid season. Now,
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure if Jed Hoyer has talked or whether
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: they had any substantial extension conversations during the salary exchange deadline.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: That does seem like the kind of time where that happens.
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: But I to me, just look ten thousand feet above
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: the fact that they couldn't settle and had to go
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: to a hearing doesn't pretend well that they got anything
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: done right.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: No, I mean, I agree, it's probably more bad optics
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: than anything else. But it's also like an extension was
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: a long shot, and I think now it's just like
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: probably don't need to talk about them until we start
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: hearing legitimate rumors about it. I'm curious before we get
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: to other players on the astros at the Cubs or
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: that have been on the astros that the Cubs may
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: be interested in, I'm curious what you've heard about Camp
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: Smith what I think you guys talked to him recently.
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: There's been a lot of love for him lately, and
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: I think Cubs fans are like, what the heck? He
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: wasn't getting this love when he was with the Cubs.
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: No Cubs fans, he was like. I talked to a
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: lot of scouts about him. People love him around the league.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: That's why when I heard his name in these trade roomers,
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: I was like, whoof that? That could end up stinging,
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: But you gotta do what you can to get a
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: player like Kyle Tucker. I'm just curious what you've heard
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: when talking to scouts around the league, and then what
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: your kind of feel for him was when you when
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: you talk to him.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll never forget so hot at the winter meetings
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: when when I got kind of a hint for that,
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: Cam Smith's name was getting thrown around and I stopped you.
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: I was walking to get coffee, I think, and I
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: stopped you and I said his name, and you looked
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: at him like no way, Like no way, no way,
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: they're trading him. Well I heard that, you know, Yeah,
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: I got to talk to him. I talked to him
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago, and I was really impressed.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: Just it was a twenty minute phone call. I don't
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: want to make any more any less than a twenty
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: minute phone call is. But seemed very polished, very very committed,
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: and very like humble. And I'm going to say what
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: he told me and then I'll explain why it's humble.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: He compared himself to a rod, which on its face
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: is probably not the most humble thing in the world.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: But then he goes, no, no, no, like, please write that,
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: I'm comparing myself to a rod because I'm this tall
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: and play the left side of the infield and there's
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: not many guys that do that. He was like, numbers wise,
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: no way, but just body type and things like that.
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: I found it interesting that he gave. He told me
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: that one of the things that has really set him
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: on this path is, you know, he went to the
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: Cape Cod League between his freshman and sophomore year at
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: Florida State and kind of learned how to meditate, learn
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: how to give himself a routine, and part of that
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: is meditation. He listens to Bob Marley and the Whalers
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: before every game and kind of puts his air pods
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: in meditates and he's ready to go. He said he
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: meditates sometimes even when he's in the field, just to
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: kind of center himself centered. And you know, he also
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: talked about he he doesn't really follow prospect lists, doesn't
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: really follow trade rumors. He said he had people texting
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: him a bunch when the Tucker stuff was going down,
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: but never never really gave it much thought. And you know,
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: I was, I was, honestly, I was the one that
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: told him, you know, you're the best prospect in the
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: Astros system now, and it was like, oh really, So
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: I think he'll handle like being the centerpiece of the trade,
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: you know, pretty well. As far as what I've heard
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: from around league, I have not heard a bad thing
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: about him. You know, I think there's questions about where
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: he can play defensively. I think there's questions about can
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: he stick on the dirt or will they move him
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: around to the outfield. Dana Brown, the Ashers GM has
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: already said that they're going to try him in a
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: couple of corner outfield spots in the minor leagues. And
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: I mean, obviously the bat is the big thing here
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: and as long as he hits, they will find a
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: place for him to play and sounds like he's going
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: to get an ri to big league camp, which a
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: twenty two year old, that that's going to be an interesting,
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: interesting experience for him. There's I mean, never say never,
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: but I would be stunned if he's on the big
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: league roster at any point this year, just given his
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: lack of professional appearances, and I mean they need him
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: to play a full season. He'll probably start at Double
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: A and kind of see where they go. But you know,
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: I think they've there's a little bit they you know,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: Cam even told me that they're working with him to
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: pull the ball in the air a little bit more.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: There's some stuff about, you know, just his swing and
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: how he can loft the ball a little bit, pull
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: it a little more, and obviously working defensively. He said
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: he at Florida State, he never really had to focus
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: on footwork, never really had to focus on the minute things.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: He just kind of let his athleticism take over. But
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: this is a low bar. But like he is far
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: and away the best prospect the Ashers have in their
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: system now and certainly going to be the guy that
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: you know, Kyle Tucker could have a thirty thirty year
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: this year. Put up a seven win season. But if
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: Cam Smith pans out, I think the Ashers will look
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: back and say that they won this trade.
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I saw it floating around on such of me.
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: That was a good photo of I think Cam Smith
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: and Ye Tucker together, the Excel guys working out definitely
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: encourage everyone to read that story that Chandler did with
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: cam Smith. It was a really good look at kind
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: of how he progressed to this point shifting gears. I
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: was curious, like, where are you at with the Alex Bregman,
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: where do you, like, what do you make of these,
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: you know, short term rumors after we turned out a
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: pretty significant long term deal from the Astros not that
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: long ago.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: You know, I've never I've never thought he was going
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: to get the Pillow deal, the Carlos Korea deal, I
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: guess of a couple of years ago, you know, three
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: years with two opt outs. I've never thought he was
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: going to get that. But the more the more it
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: drags on, like you have to kind of start to
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: think that that's going to be the it's going to
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: be the final answer.
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: But the teams that are talking to him, like the Tigers,
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: the Red Sox, the Blue Jays, like they're not the
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: sort of teams that you think, all right, like they're
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: only doing short term. Like like I can talk myself
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: into all three of those teams giving him a six
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: or seven year deal, Like that's just you know, they
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: all have the space for it, they all have the
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: need and the want for it, and they all have to,
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: you know, appease their fan bases, you know, all of
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: whom are at varying levels of angry, probably the Blue
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: Jays being the most angry, then probably the Red Spot
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: and the Tigers. But all of those places make a
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: lot of sense for him. I do wonder if there's
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: a mystery team kind of lurking, like a d Bax
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: Corbyn Burns situation, if there's just a team that no
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: one's talking about that's just going to swoop in and
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: give him the big deal. You know, I got a
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: little bit of flack, and I guess I'll I guess
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: I'll have a maya culpa here. I got a little
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: bit of flack on Crush City. When I I called there,
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: the Astros offered to him a low ball offer. It
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: was six for one fifty six. I guess, as we're
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: looking back now, it probably isn't as low ball as
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: I thought. But the one thing I did want to
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: make clear is that, you know, they offered him that
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: in November, when we all knew what we all thought,
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: We knew what Alex Bregman's market value was, we knew that,
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: you know, he was looking in the two hundred two
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: in ten million dollar range. And my contention was that
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: they offered him that deal knowing he would turn it down.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: It was one of those like performative, like we tried,
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: like I mean, that would be the biggest contract in
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: Astro's history too, So it was one of those like, hey,
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: here's our offer. Like they have never budged, from my understanding,
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: never budge on that offer. So yeah, I'm fascinated to
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: see how it ends. I'm still I still have an
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: inkling that he's going to get. I don't know if
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: he'll get two hundred million, but I think he'll get
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: commeserate money in years, maybe something similar to what the
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: Astros offered him, maybe a little bit more. But I
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: think it's pretty clear that the Astros are out of it.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: Ana Brown that said everything, but that after they signed
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: Christian Walker, and I know this doesn't mean much. But
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: Bregman changed the profile pictures on all his social media
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: that it no longer reflects astro stuff. So I think
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: that tie has been severed. But I'll be interesting to
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: see where it goes. I've always thought the Cubs kind
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: of made a lot of sense. But I guess you're
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: not spending money, or they're not spending for a long,
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: long term.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: They have a lot of financial struggles. You know, when
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: you own all of Wrigley, Bill, how are you supposed
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: to spend any money? Uh, that's that's clearly sarcastic for
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: those that think I'm defending their life is spending. I agree.
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: I think Bregman makes perfect sense for the Cubs. There
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: are going to be some that will say, oh, Crawford boxes,
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: that's how he thrived. It's the same issue with the Acaratas.
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: I think it's a little different, and I think people
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: don't realize that while it's deep, like right down the
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: line at Wrigley, they have the shortest left center gap
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: in baseball, like you can poke the ball there with
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: especially with the wind being blocked by the video board.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: I've talked to some people this this is a change
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: in my opinion where I thought he was. You know,
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: he's all about the Crawford boxes. I think there's more
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: to him as a hitter, and I think he'd actually
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: drive at Wriggly because of that left center gap and
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: he can hit the ball there and and probably steal
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: some home runs. It's just the type of move that
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: a team like this should make. If he's going to
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: do the opt out stuff. I think the debate would
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: be is that if it's only one year, is it
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: worth giving up the draft pick? And the if a
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: money is that would the Cubs see that it's valuable
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: when they punch it into their computer and it spits
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: out whatever it tells them to do. But beyond that,
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: what we know like that that's a fit, right, like
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: Bregman's a fit. We don't really know if they're gonna
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: like be aggressive there. Our guess is no, right, but
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: they're they're going to get a reliever. They want a
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: reliever that has you know, some late inning experience, some
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: probably closing experience. This is going to be probably the
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: thing that over the next month, Patrick and I are
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: just waiting to like, Okay, what's the information we get?
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: Who are they targeting my understanding. It's well over a
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: dozen guys that they're talking about, but one that makes sense,
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: not a free agent, but a target is on the Astros.
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: Ryan Presley. Just tell me a little bit about like
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: it took a little bit of a step back. I
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: guess you'd say last year the strikeouts were doubt EARI
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: was fine. I don't think he was closing. Someone else
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: is the closer.
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: I'm sure there's a good, good someone that I'm forgetting about.
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, Josh Hater. That guy's good, but he obviously
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: has closing experience. Tell me about him and maybe what
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: you know about his availability.
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: Oh, he's available. They have been trying. They have been
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: I don't want to say aggressively shopping him, but I
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: mean they've made it known since November that they're that
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: they and it's not even because of Presley himself, it's
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: that they need that their Their pay roll is bloated.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: They have thirty one and a half million dollars in
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: dead money committed to Jose Abreu who is god knows where,
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: and Rafael Montero, who's gonna be in the Triple A
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: Sugarland bullpen all season. They have thirty one and a
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: half million dollars committed to them. They have I believe
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: thirteen million committed to Christian Xavier, who I don't think
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: is going to pitch for this team this year. They've
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: just got a lot of dead money and Jim Crane
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: does not want to exceed the CBT again they did
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: last year. He doesn't want to be a repeat offender.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: So they're looking for any way to get some salary
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: off the books. And Ryan Presley is going to make
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: fourteen million dollars next year. It was an uneven season
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: for him from the beginning when they when they signed
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: Josh Hater. All the right things were said publicly, all
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: the right things were said, you know, after games in
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: the clubhouse. But Joe a Spot a pretty much acknowledge
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: at the winter meetings that it took Ryan Presley a
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: while to adjust to being a setup man. And let's
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: not forget like he did nothing to earn a demotion here,
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: like he was great in twenty twenty three, you know.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: But they they believe they wanted to build a monster
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: back into their bullpen, and they signed Josh Hater. They
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: kept Ryan Presley kind of engaged while they were talking
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: to Josh Hater. I'm not sure that helped, but you know,
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: it wasn't the situation where they gave Josh Hater all
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: this money and then you know, Presley had to find
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: out on Twitter. You know, they they kept him abreast
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: of the situation. But it was just it was a
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: it was a tough uneven season, and I say tough,
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: like had a three four nine ERA but a three
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: to ten FIP. Did not miss as many bats as
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: he usually does, as strikeout numbers were down, but his
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: bat ball luck was was awful. So there's a mix
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: of poor poor fortune, poor luck. There's also a mix
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: of you know, you avoid poor batted ball luck by
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: missing bats, and he wasn't missing as many bats last
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: year as he did. And he's also he's thirty five
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: years old. He's just naturally getting older and father time
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: can creep in a little bit. I think he's still
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: an elite reliever. I think you know, he has no
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: trade clause and there's some family things here to His
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: wife is from Houston. Both of his children were born
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: in Houston. I'm not sure he would jump at any
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: opportunity to wave his no trade clause's given the family situation,
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: but I think if there's a team that promises him,
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: you're our closer from from day one, I think he'd
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: do it. I think he would wave his no trade
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: And obviously the Ashers will have to pay down some
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: of that fourteen million dollars. But I think it's I
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: think it's more likely. I wouldn't say more likely than
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: I think it's right at about fifty to fifty now,
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: but i'd i'd put the odds, you know, fifty to fifty,
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: maybe a little bit higher, fifty five to forty five. Yes,
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: that he's not on their roster by opening day. And
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: you know, the Ashers can do that because they have
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: Brian abrad You pitching the seventh inning, and he's one
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: of the nastiest relievers out there. Just move him up
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: to the eighth. You have Josh Hater in the ninth,
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: and I think they want I think, honestly, I think
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: they're looking to add another reliever as well, So maybe
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: kind of move some money around, you know, divide some
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: of that fourteen million around a little bit. But yeah, certainly,
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: if the Cubs can tell Ryan Presley you're our closer,
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: I think that would be a pretty attractive destination for him.
• 25:03
  Speaker 3: They can do that, absolutely, jam I wanted to like
• 25:09
  Speaker 3: zoom out at kind of like a closing.
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: Type of question.
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: I remember we talked like get Away and Day and
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: Wrigley up in the press box last April on Baseball Reference. Now,
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: on that day the Astros fell to seven nineteen. The
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: winning pitcher for the Cubs was Hayden Wesnski and Hector Naris.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: Close it out for the Cubs.
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: At that point, we're thinking the Cubs are sending the
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: Astros are toast Obviously the Astros make the playoffs, the
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: Cubs don't. I feel like the Cubs and Astros have
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: been kind of running this, you know, start out a
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: similar sort of race of like you know, the teardown
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: they got to the World Series, but Astros have kept winning.
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: They've kept their window open, Like do you think the
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: Tucker trade and these moves this off season will like
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: keep it open or do you think they're about to
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: like fall off a clip the way the Cubs did
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: very hard a couple of years ago and have not
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: bounced all the way back yet.
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: I think it's somewhere in the middle. I don't think
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: they're about to fall off a cliff. I mean they
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: have Yordan Alvarez, they have Yaner Diaz locked up for
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: I mean, Ninor Diaz just is I think three years
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: away from arbitration. So like they've got Yaner Diaz for
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: a while. Hunter Brown had a wonderful season. He's he's,
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: you know, first year, first year of that three to six.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: So I mean they've got a young and they've got
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: a core around that. Jose al Twoba is obviously here forever.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: So I mean they've got enough players and I don't
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: think it's going to be like a hard face plant
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: off of a cliff, but I mean their window is diminishing,
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: it's narrowing. I you know, this year, you know, you
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: trade Kyle Tucker, you move on from Alex Bregman. Kyle
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: Tucker is twenty eight years old. Alex Bregman's thirty years old.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: You signed Christian Walker, who is thirty four years old,
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: to a three year deal. Christian Walker, who great defensive
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: first basement, has done a lot of good things, but
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: the age is going up a little bit. You don't
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: really know what you're gonna get from Esac Paradus. You
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: you hope the Crawford boxes, you hope all the poll
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: power will show up. But I mean I heard the
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: same thing when jose when they signed Joseah Brad, was that, oh,
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: the Crawford boxes are going to be the best thing
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: in the world. And you look, I mean they put
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: you can put all the spray charts you want. I
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: watched Joseiah Brady for a year and a half. The
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: Crawford boxes didn't help. So I mean, I think it's
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: one of these things. I would never doubt them. I
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: would never count them out again. Like you just detailed,
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: they were seven and nineteen last year and won the division.
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: I think that was more a byproduct of how poor
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: the division was. The Mariners fell on their face, The
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: Rangers really fell on their face, and the Angels and
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: the Agies kind of do their own things. So you know,
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: you wonder, like with a full year of Jacob de
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: gram or the Rangers going to kind of ascend. Are
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: they going to get bounced backs from Semion and Seeger?
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: Can Sieger stay healthy and kind of what they've done?
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: Can they challenge the Astros? Can the marin or the
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: marriage is gonna spend money and have a Maybe a
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: full year of a Rose Arena helps them. Maybe they
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: had get pushed in the division a little more. But
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: you know, I think this Astros team, I certainly don't
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: think it's like one of these that you look and
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: they're going to be a bad club, but certainly not
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: the super teams that we saw in twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen,
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty one. This is they're aging, they're getting older,
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: they're reaping what they sow for a couple bad contracts
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: for having a winter three years ago where they didn't
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: have a general manager. They have not drafted well atop
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: the draft. They didn't have first or second round picks
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty and twenty twenty one because they cheated.
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: The picks they did make before and after that in
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: the first and second round have not hit. So they
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: don't really have that core that like next wave of
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: like top end talent to come up. Cam Smith is
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: probably the only top end talent that they have waiting
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: to come up. So it's one of these things where
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure if they are kind of staving off
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: the inevitable, if they're just kind of kicking the can
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: down the road, like let's try one more year, let's
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: try two more years to keep this going. And is
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: it going to take an awful first half to just
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: sell it the deadline one of these seasons and just
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: tear it all down, or is it going to be
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: you know, be happy to get into the playoffs as
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: a wild card and everything's a crapshoot and just rely
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: on their muscle memory, rely on their playoff pedigree to
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: get them through. That's what they tried this year and
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: it didn't work. Maybe it'll work next year, but I
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: don't think we're going to see like a total precipitous
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: fall in their face off of a cliff. But make
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: no mistake, the window is not as wide open as
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: it once was.
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: Chandler, thanks so much for joining us. Everyone, Thanks for listening.
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: This is Northside Territory. Make sure to listen to Crush
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: City Territory. Read Maya and Patrick's work covering the Cubs
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: over at the Athletic. Subscribe, rate and review to both podcasts.
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: Subscribe to our YouTube channels. Rich Chandler and his Asthors
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: coverage the best there is at the Athletics there. Thanks
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: so much, man, We will talk to you soon. Appreciate
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: the time
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: All right, Thanks guys,