Latest / North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast / Cubs news and notes: MLBPA problems and much more from spring training

Transcript

Cubs news and notes: MLBPA problems and much more from spring training · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Welcome into Northside Territory. Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast. I'm
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Sahadev Charma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are your
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic Patrick. We are
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: recording this on good Luck for me finding the day.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: I think it's a Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday night. We are
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: recording this firm. Bruce Meyer visited Kansas City and the
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Cubs today. When I say Kansas City, I mean their
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: camp and he visited the Cubs camp out in Mesa
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: where reporters talk to him about the looming CBA issues.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: And this was supposed to be obviously Tony Clark speaking
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: to the media. He abruptly resigned Tuesday morning. At least
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: that's when the news went public. I'm not sure exactly
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: when he resigned, but that is when players found out.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: And from my understanding, that's when player players found out
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: from the reports on Twitter and and calls started going
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: out around, you know, between players he had They had
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: already been like there was already some stuff going on
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: with him being investigated for financial reasons. And this was
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: not him, just the union, the players Association to players.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: I believe the NFLPA was also being investigated. Uh, and
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: then it was revealed that he had an inappropriate relationship
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: with his sister in law, who is also an employee
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: of the Players Association. So mess there when we're months away,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: nine months away, I believe nine ten months away from
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: the CBA expiring critical time obviously not a good thing.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: I'll start by saying that Bruce Meyer was clear like, look,
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: this isn't a disaster for like, it's not good they
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: none of this is you know, it's not a good thing.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: But he wasn't like in panic, mo or how do
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: we solve this issue?
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: I mean, Bruce Meyer at the time that we're recording
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: is viewed as the likely successor to Tony Clark. But
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: I believe there was a call reportedly scheduled for later today.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: Our colleagues at the Athletic have had have floated a
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: couple of names that appear to be under consideration. Are
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: understanding is that he would be the lead negotiator no
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: matter what, But I think there are questions about him
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: filling what's kind of a CEO type role as well,
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: and that Tony Clark got a lot of, if not all,
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: of his buy in from the fact that he was
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: a former player, and it's kind of stunning to see
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: the you know, at least ethical boundaries that were crossed
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: when you look at you know, hiring someone from your
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: extended family to work for the union you run is
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: not good. And then to have an inappropriate professional relationship
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: with anyone when you're running the entire organization much as
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: someone who's also a part of it, just kind of
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: a mind blowing sequence of events. And so I'm curious
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: what was Meyers sort of demeanor when he walked out
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: of the building and saw you know, yet another media
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: waiting for it.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: He I mean, I think he's more than used to this.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: He was he obviously was the one talking to the
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: media in twenty twenty two. That was twenty twenty two,
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: when you know, our buddies like Bob Nightingale, Jesse Rogers
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: were out there. He was probably getting sick of these
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: guys and seeing them every day. But he he's used to,
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: you know, difficult questions, pointed questions. He's going to have
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: to do it a lot over the next few days.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: He did it earlier this morning and then once again
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: in the afternoon. He had to you know, we were
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: chatting afterwards, and he's like, we got to get going
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: because we have another meeting. It's obviously a hectic time
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: for him. This was an unexpected like, this was not
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: something that they saw coming at all, and so it
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: came out of nowhere. He does not I gotta say
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: like he was pretty composed. Seems like he's pretty accustomed
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: to talking to the media. He was asked, you know,
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: when did he find out about the inappropriate relationship. He wasn't.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: He didn't want to get into those details with us.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: He said, the play will know everything. There's still an
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: investigation going on. The players will get every bit of information.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: That's not something that you know, I assume this stuff
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: will be leaked in some fashion some of the you know,
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: whether it's passing, whether it's Evan Drelich, whoever it is,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: someone's going to get all the gory details. What was
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: interesting is when we talked to the players on Tuesday morning.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: You know, we talked to Ian Half, Nico Horner, and
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: jameson Ty On all three the Nico Happ is the
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: current player, rep. But Ian Happ, What did I say?
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: Nico Horner is the current player? Right? Ian Halp was
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: the previous rep. And Tyon was the rep in Was
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: he in New York or was he with Pittsburgh whatever
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: it was, he's been a REP before, a player rep before.
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: I think it was New York, I mean Tyone, Like
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: both these guys ty one and half have been through
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: a lot, Like between COVID and the lockout, they've had
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: to sit through a lot of these meetings and go
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: through a lot of stuff. And now Horner is getting
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: his taste a bit. None of the stuff about the
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: inappropriate relationship had broken when we spoke to the players,
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: so they kind of thought that there was an assumption
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: that it was about these financial investigations. H that's not
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: the case. Obviously it changes some of this stuff, but
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: you know, none of them seemed that shaken by it.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: I thought, you know, when you're part of a union,
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: you're you know, I think Goo's like a union. You're
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: unified as a union. That's the point of it. And
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: you you know, I think they're sticking together, and they're
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: very powerful union, you know, arguably the most powerful union
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: in this country. And they they've you know, in sports,
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: they're the most they're you know, the strong, they're the
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: only sport you know of the four major sports in
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: this country that don't have a cap. Bruce, my I
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: was really hammering that, and that's that's going to be
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: the biggest topic. It may not, you know, I with
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: some of the rumblings that we're hearing, I don't know
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: if it'll end up being the sticking point. There's probably
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: some other things. Who knows how long ownership sticks to
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: like really fights for that. But Bruce Byer was pretty
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: clear that that's not happening. You know. He was also
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: pretty clear that, look, there's there's going to be a lockout.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: Like he just guaranteed we're headed for a lockout. There
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: will be a lockout. It just did not seem like, uh,
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: there was any Basically, the point was, look, the the
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: league likes to put pressure on the players and that's
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: the way they handle business. And look that's a negotiation tactic.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: I mean, just listen to what Jed Hoyer says when
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: he's talking about negotiating contracts right, like the different thing,
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: but like it, these are contracts and deadlines help with
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: the contracts. So do your get to spring training. The
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: closer you get to opening day, that puts pressure and
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: people want to get a deal done. It's what happened
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: last time we got We didn't miss any games, but
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: it went pretty deep into spring training. Who knows what
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: happens here, But this this seems as contentious, if not more,
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: than anything I've experienced while covering this game. And certainly
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: you know I was a kid in ninety four. But
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: let's let's hope it doesn't get to that extreme. But also,
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: at least we have a season. That's something I don't
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: think we we said last episode when talked about Tom Ricketts.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: He kind of he was asked about that, like, how
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: what would you tell fans, you know, with this looming
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: cbas Like I don't think he meant it in this
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: exact ways, like but like, enjoy this season, enjoy the
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: games as we have them. I don't think he was
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: saying like, yeah, we won't have any games for a
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: while after this one, But it was just like it,
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: enjoy the moment and don't dwell on the future, don't
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: worry about the future. But it also comes across as
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: like who knows, which I think is a fair assessment.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think baseball fans have to file that name away.
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: Bruce Meyer, like you get yourself familiar with this character
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: for years. I feel like this might have been even
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: around the time when I first started working with you
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: at the Athletic there's these rumblings about Tony Clark and
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: questions about, you know, whether he was really suited to
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: lead this union. And part of what came out of
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: this was the union adding more legal firepower. They recognized
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: that they had to staff up. They saw what Major
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: League Baseball had done on the management side and built
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: a very robust labor relations department. And so his reputation
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: is out of a tenacious negotiator, and I think it'll
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: be kind of fascinating to watch, you know, whether or
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: not he gets the number one top job or not.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: It sounds like he's going to be heavily involved as
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: the lead negotiator, so in terms of rhetoric, messaging, the
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: various pressure points, like, he's going to be involved in
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: all of it.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, he's an important part of all of this.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: And you're right, we're going to be hearing his name
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: a lot, I think over the next year or so.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: Hopefully it's only a year or so and not and not,
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: you know, a year plus, because none of us want
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: this stuff to linger into March and April, and certainly
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: not beyond that.
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: Because you know, let's move on, let's not even let's
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: not even entertain idea.
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, because the reason why we don't is because
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: there's the payment to be had. There's you know, this
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: is as fun as this season looks like it's going
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: to be, the Cubs have some actual, bright, future, exciting
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: future on this team. We talked about Pete Armstrong last week,
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: him trying to back up a strong season, if not
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: a perfect season. I think all the pressure I shouldn't
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: maybe maybe pressure is it all the all the When
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: it comes to the pitching staff, the hype is going
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: to be around Cade Horton, and I got to say,
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: I know it's spring training. I have to I have
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: to always remind myself that don't take too much away.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: But when pitchers are this far ahead, I find it interesting.
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: He's not going to pitch a team USA. He's not
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: ahead because he has to be. He's not pitching competitively
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: until you know, when I say, in a real game,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: until you know, opening day or later whenever he does start.
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: But I saw I was standing behind his live BP.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: I was standing in the back, you know, Patrick in
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: the backfields, you can. If they're doing it in the
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: in Sloan Park, you don't see all the data. If
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: you stand in the backfields, can you stand right behind
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: the guys with the tablet, you can see right over
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: their shoulder and see all the info about that stuff.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: And I saw a ninety eight pop up and the
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: I was like did I I had to go up
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: to someone and say did that? Say ninety eight? Like
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: that wasn't like an exit velocity that I was that
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: I missed or something like that. That Like Kate Horton's
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: throwing ninety eight right now. He's like yeah, and he's like,
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: how about that. It's it's February whatever, fifteenth, and you know,
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: this kid's thrown ninety eight. I don't think I from
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: what I saw, he didn't hit it again. But in
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: ninety five, ninety six, middle of February, you know, like
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: he looked like he was in mid season form. I'm
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: not saying he's gonna hit one hundred this year. I
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: don't think that's exactly how it works. It's just like
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: he's he's ready to go. He's in great shape. And
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: I think Council kind of said it, you know, I said,
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: he said like, oh, yeah, he look pretty good. I
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: was like, he was sitting ninety six and he hit
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: ninety eight. Yeah, and he was like yeah, and he
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: was cruising. I was like, like, you're so kind of
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: like he's like, I was like, it feels more than cruising,
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: he said, And he was like, yeah, he said he
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: was in good shape or whatever. He says. He's like, yeah,
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: it was so matter of fact about it. But I
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: will say this. You know, Council, We all know, Council.
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: He's not hyperbolic. And he did say in his opening
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: press are when asked about Kate Horton, he said, he
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: dominated the league last year, and you know, now he
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: has to go back that up. It's going to be
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: a big challenge. There's a big challenge ahead of him
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: this season. And I think he's right, and I agree.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: You know, not every data point says he dominated, but
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: when you go look at his second half and you
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: look at the runs allowed, he did dominate. It was
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: it was a pretty impressive stretch. And who would have
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: thought that entering last spring training. If I would have
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: told you, hey, Patrick, the Cubs are going to make
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: the playoffs. And because Kate Horton's hurt, Like, that's a
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: huge blow to their chances. Like I mean, it probably
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: changed like the course of their postseason because of this
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: one rookie pitcher. That's how impactful he was last season,
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: and now he's got to go out there and do
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: it again for thirty somethings starts. It's a lot of
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: pressure for him. He seems to be the same guy
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: that I remember talking to after the season ended last
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: year or in the middle of season, whatever it is.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: He's pretty mature. I'm impressed by the way he is
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: able to handle these things, or at least outwardly, how
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: he carries himself with all this stuff.
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that was a good story on the Athletic I'd
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: encourage everyone to check that out. Yeah, I mean, Kate
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: Horton was on the training wheels program last year. I
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: mean they were doing everything and just try and keep
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: him healthy and get him out to an affiliate, and
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: it was all all we know is if Kate Horton's healthy,
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: he has a chance to impact the major league team.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: You'll be pitching at Wrigley and just you even saw it,
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: even as you know he was in the major league
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: rotation that they did you have certain kind of governors
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: on his outings, and you know, to their credit, they
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: got him almost to the finish line, not quite what
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: was seemed like kind of a freak injury. But you know,
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: without reading too much into practice, I think what I
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: thought it was another thing you had written this offseason,
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: just this idea of like what if the Cups have
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: like a legit number one starter, like a Cy Young
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: Award contender right now, Like what if he's better than
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: any free agent who signed this past offseason or was
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: you know, traded this offseason, Like that's not out of
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: the realm of possibility. And I think, you know, with pictures,
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: you just have to, like you take it as it comes.
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: Like if he's if he's cruising, if he's in a
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: good frame of mind, and if physically he's holding up,
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: he's gonna be one of the biggest characters of the season,
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: no doubt.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I think when uh, when I interact with fans
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: and some of the ones that are little hesitant or
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: don't understand how people can say, how is this team
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: better than last year's? Look, I understand just like you know,
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: taking out Kyle Tucker and bringing in Alex Bregman. Maybe
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: that's a slight offensive I mean, that probably is a
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: slight offensive down like a slight downgrade. I think overall
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: it's probably like value wise, it's probably pretty similar. But
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: I understand the point being made. I just think the
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: upside of this rotation is so much higher than last
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: year coming especially coming into the season. While we probably
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: all had hopes for Kate Horton or believed he could
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: be a really good player, I don't think we expected
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: that type of impact last year. And now what you
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: just said, yes he has the upside of cy Young,
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: and then you add in Edward Cabrera. You're talking about
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: like two huge, high upside guys at the front of
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: the rotation. It really changes the dynamic for the team.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: And if your pitching is that good, if you have
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: two guys that you know have the potential to be
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: like run to the rotation starters, they just didn't have
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: that to start last season. You know, Yes, Justin Steele
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: and showed him Naga were looked at as really good
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: pictures entering last season. This feels a little different, at
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: least stuff wise. I guess that would be the separator,
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: Like these guys have this stuff to be like, oh yeah,
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: like not only do they put up the numbers and
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: get the results, but now you're talking about like intimidation factor,
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: and like guys that are splashy headline names, and like
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: you know, other teams are like game planning, like we
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: gotta face Kate Horton in game one and Edward Cabrere
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: in game two, Like how do we deal with this?
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: I think that's a that's kind of a separator.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: You bring up SHOWDA and we'll get into him more
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: as camp develops. I am curious to hear your thoughts
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: on him. Yeah, separately, But this show to adjacent note
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: we have is that Asmoto, a longtime Cubs official, is
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: planning to join the New York Yankees after the World
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: Baseball Classic. He has been instrumental in turning Chicago Hubs
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: into a top destination for Japanese players. After this past season,
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: now elected to become a free agent and explore his options,
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: given how long he had been with the Cubs since
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: two thousand and five, and just looking at you know,
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: the explosion of Japanese baseball really across the globe, and
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: you know, now as you know side of us, very
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: behind the scenes, he would kind of manage their operations
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: in the Pacific RIM while also being a guy in
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: the clubhouse, you know, breaking down video and data and
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: presenting information to the clubhouse as you know, being a
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: huge part of the support system for all these Japanese
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: players who they've brought in, whether it's interpreting, whether it's
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: you know, giving sort of tips or recommendations to players families.
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: I think the Yankees are getting a good one here
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: as they try to sort of re establish themselves in Japan.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: It's crazy, you know, obviously the Yankees are this like
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: globally iconic brand, but they've they haven't been big players
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: for the biggest Japanese players in quite some time.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it has been a little while since we've really
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: seen the Yankees involved in that area. The Cubs made
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: a huge push. We wrote about it entering last season
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: when they opened the season in Japan. This wasn't a coincidence.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: They didn't these players didn't just fall into their lap.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: They worked hard to establish themselves as a player in Japan.
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: They saw how much impact talent was coming and they
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: wanted to be able to get involved to the you know,
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: say a Suzuki huge impact offensively showed him Anaga let's
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: say a season and a half season plus where he's
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: been pretty damn good. Obviously, we expect to bounce back
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: this year. Both of them are impending free agents. What
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: is the like this is It's hard to answer this
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: question now. I don't know what the answer is, but
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: I'm very curious to see what the impact will be
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: with their involvement in Japan and going forward. I don't
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: know if it's going to significantly change things. How like,
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: are they retaining either of the players. Are they going
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: back back to Japan to try and acquire the next
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: big free agent? I don't know. Like they claim they
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: want to continue to be, you know, steeped in that market.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: We'll see if that's possible. The kind of the talent
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: pipeline there doesn't really end. It's not just a one
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: player there are a year after year there are more
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: players there. You know, I'd have to look who the
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: names are, but there are still really big names. In
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: particular I believe on the pitching side that that will
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: be coming stateside in the next few years. Are the
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: clubs going to be players there? We just don't know.
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: This was seen as like this huge initiative for Jed
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: Hoyer and how much does Now's departure change things. We'll
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: have to see. But he was like, I don't think
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: you could really deny that he had an impact along
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: the way.
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I have a hard time believing the Cubs just
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: giving up on their operations in Asia. Obviously, everyone is replaceable.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: It's just helpful I think for our listeners to understand, like,
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: why were the Cubs one of this part of that
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: small group of teams that were constantly in the mix
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: for these players. Well, that was a big part of
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: that because he became very close with you, you Darvish.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: Darvish is an enormously influential figure among a certain generation
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: of Japanese players. And you know, it's a different way
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: of doing business over there. It's a different culture, like obviously,
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: and you need people who can maneuver in those spaces,
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: people who have relationships, people who have credibility, people who
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: have connections. And it was never a one man operation,
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: don't don't get us wrong, but like Now was kind
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: of the glue to that in a lot of ways.
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: I mean just literally someone who we'd see in the
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: club house, he'd be in like Jim Swartz and a
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: Cub's hoodie because he was doing part of his day job,
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: but he also had this other uh. Another part of
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: his responsibilities was maintaining all of those various connections abroad.
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: And some of it was you know, small stuff of
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: just like you know where to go or what to
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: do in Chicago. Some of it was more important stuff
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: of if the coaching staff needed a message delivered to
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: a player and they wanted to make sure they got
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: it right now, was the guy, uh you'd go to?
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: And then just you know kind of these agencies. You know,
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: the contract is obviously a big part of what they do,
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: that's where they make the money, but ormous amount of
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: work is just the day to day stuff, the smaller
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: things just kind of the just that that workflow that
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: does not make headlines or is not really talked about
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: on podcasts, But there are people like now who help
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: fill in some of those gaps or you know, kind
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: of get the right person on the phone or like
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: share that piece of information. And so, yeah, I think
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: you're right. It remains to be seen. Like no one
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: really knows. The Cubs have had a really nice run
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: here with Japanese players. I don't think that that goes
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: away overnight, clearly, But I think it's just something a
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: monitor of just sort of what what are the ambitions
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: and will we see the Yankees again maybe starting to
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: re establish themselves in that sphere.
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And I don't like in a lot of this stuff,
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: like we don't even realize how impactful something like the
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: behind the scenes stuff is until you know, we kind
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: of heard rumbling Japanese reporters telling us like now is
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: really important. I can't believe they're letting him go things
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: like that, you know. So you know, like like I said,
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: we'll see you know, obviously now and he.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: Had he had a he could have come back.
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: They yes, in terms of letting him go.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: Like he he chose to become a free agent and
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: see what's out there, and obviously had whatever it was
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: twenty something seasons or twenty plus, I forget the exact number,
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: but left everything in a in a very good place,
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: and he's onto the next challenge.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, So I mean, good luck to him. He's always
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: enjoyed talking to Now we'll see if what kind of
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: impact he can make in New York and if they
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: kind of change how they've been doing things there. And
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: get back into a free agency in Japan as well.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: All right, thanks so much for listening to everyone. We'll
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: be back next week with more episodes of Northside Territory.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: Make sure to rate, review, subscribe, subscribe to the YouTube channel,
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: and Subscletica. Patrick and I are on top of all
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: things cubs. Thanks so much for listening everyone. Take care,