Latest / North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast / The trade deadline chatter around the Cubs is picking up

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The trade deadline chatter around the Cubs is picking up · 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: Sahade Sharma with my partner Patrick Moodey. We are your
0:12
Speaker 1: Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic. Patrick, that was
0:17
Speaker 1: a really fun weekend at Wrigley Field, packed with fans.
0:22
Speaker 2: Generally the weather cooperated.
0:25
Speaker 1: It was you know, Boston versus Chicago is always fun.
0:30
Speaker 1: I feel like Cubs Red Sox, whether it's at Fenway
0:32
Speaker 1: or Wrigley, that's gonna be a fun series. But both
0:35
Speaker 1: teams were playing well coming into that. Those first two games,
0:39
Speaker 1: the Cubs looked great, like they were ready to play.
0:44
Speaker 1: They looked like the best team in baseball, and for
0:47
Speaker 1: a few hours they were the best team in baseball.
0:50
Speaker 1: But I'm not going to overreact to Sunday's game. Some
0:56
Speaker 1: of those bullpen arms are just due for a bad outing.
0:59
Speaker 1: But this team looks damn good and it's come out
1:04
Speaker 1: of the gate. You know, I think showing like okay,
1:07
Speaker 1: first half was really strong. Let's continue this. And I
1:09
Speaker 1: kind of like their mantra. You know, we're not worried
1:12
Speaker 1: about anything else one day to time. They're sticking to it.
1:15
Speaker 1: It gets kind of boring but I feel like that's
1:17
Speaker 1: the best way to go about it, especially with the
1:20
Speaker 1: Milwaukee Brewers just red hot and they can't they can't
1:22
Speaker 1: control what they do. All they can do is control
1:25
Speaker 1: what's in front of them.
1:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, the Brewers will not go away. I mean sweeping
1:31
Speaker 3: a series at Dodgers Stadium. Yeah, I think they've been
1:35
Speaker 3: playing what like seven hundred something ball since maybe memorros
1:39
Speaker 3: a weekend. I mean, it's a pretty long stretch, a
1:43
Speaker 3: very insane clip of winning. Yeah, maybe that will recede
1:49
Speaker 3: a bit. I think the Cubs have an easier schedule
1:52
Speaker 3: going forward, but there's still those I think it's eight
1:55
Speaker 3: head to head matchups, you know, both home and away.
2:00
Speaker 3: I think will be great theater. I think it's good
2:05
Speaker 3: that the Cubs are being pushed in this manner, but
2:07
Speaker 3: it's gonna get a little uncomfortable.
2:10
Speaker 4: Uh.
2:11
Speaker 3: And I think the we will see the panic meter
2:14
Speaker 3: surging on social media just because the Brewers are so
2:21
Speaker 3: pesky and they just do it in these ways. You're like,
2:25
Speaker 3: how do they keep doing it? But but they do.
2:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, And you know, like you said, it's gonna be
2:31
Speaker 1: nerve nerve wracking for the fans. I think it's incredibly
2:36
Speaker 1: fun like these these types of races being pushed by
2:40
Speaker 1: another team. Obviously, you know, ideally for the Cubs that
2:44
Speaker 1: they want to run away with the division and and
2:47
Speaker 1: you know, get a top two seed in uh for
2:50
Speaker 1: the playoffs, get that, buy all that stuff. But you know,
2:54
Speaker 1: part of it is I kind of look back to
2:58
Speaker 1: Game seven of the World Series. I know some fans
3:00
Speaker 1: would would have preferred that to be a blowout. I
3:03
Speaker 1: think that's a great story now you look back, now
3:05
Speaker 1: that you know the ending, right, the ride was really fun.
3:10
Speaker 1: That what an insane game? What like that Roger Davis
3:13
Speaker 1: moment is now a moment. It's an unforgettable moment. So yes,
3:17
Speaker 1: it's going to be nerve wrecking. But this ride is
3:20
Speaker 1: should be fun if the Cubs can, especially if the
3:22
Speaker 1: Cubs pull it off. I know, if they we don't
3:24
Speaker 1: know what happens. I feel like the Cubs are good
3:26
Speaker 1: enough and that they will. We'll talk more about this,
3:30
Speaker 1: and we're going to continue to for the next two
3:32
Speaker 1: weeks or ten days. I guess they're going to be
3:36
Speaker 1: aggressive this next This the rest of this month is
3:39
Speaker 1: going to be really fun and chalk full of rumors,
3:43
Speaker 1: and I think they're going to make the right moves
3:45
Speaker 1: to kind of get there. Maybe they're going to make
3:48
Speaker 1: moves to get there. I think something else I was
3:52
Speaker 1: thinking about is they've kind of nailed every move for
3:54
Speaker 1: this year. Can they continue nailing those moves the rest
3:58
Speaker 1: of this month? I think that'll huge. But it's just
4:01
Speaker 1: really fun to see the Brewers not going away. I
4:05
Speaker 1: agree with you that the schedule's difference I think may
4:08
Speaker 1: end up being the difference how different it looks. But
4:12
Speaker 1: when you sweep the Dodgers, I mean, the Cubs fans
4:15
Speaker 1: just have to be so annoyed. There are like one
4:18
Speaker 1: two run wins consistently too during this stretch for the
4:21
Speaker 1: Brewers where they're not blowing teams out. Some of this
4:24
Speaker 1: is randomness. You're getting the you know, the they're stepping
4:27
Speaker 1: up in the biggest moments, Guys like Andrew Vaughn coming
4:31
Speaker 1: through for the Brewers just you know, just the type
4:33
Speaker 1: of stuff that's maddening for a team you're rooting against.
4:37
Speaker 1: So it's it, but it's it's really fun to watch
4:39
Speaker 1: in my opinion.
4:41
Speaker 3: You know, I think back to twenty eighteen when the
4:44
Speaker 3: Brewers just would not stop winning. There that September, and
4:50
Speaker 3: like the Cups didn't collapse, they did not play maybe
4:55
Speaker 3: their best baseball clearly the Brewers played, but that was
5:00
Speaker 3: not like a Cubby occurrence. It's just like the Cubs
5:04
Speaker 3: kind of played above average and the Brewers played at
5:08
Speaker 3: their you know, insane level that has so frustrated Cubs
5:14
Speaker 3: executives over the years, and this kind of feels like that.
5:17
Speaker 3: I mean, to win back to back series against the
5:20
Speaker 3: New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox and to have
5:24
Speaker 3: you know, your best players in the All Star Game,
5:28
Speaker 3: to have several you know, All Star snubs, you know
5:32
Speaker 3: right there waiting as well. I showed it in the
5:35
Speaker 3: NAGA coming back and pitching like an ace. Just in general,
5:41
Speaker 3: I feel like things are going well for the Cubs,
5:45
Speaker 3: but it's just that the Brewers have really forced the
5:49
Speaker 3: issue there, you know, like the Cubs just didn't bury
5:51
Speaker 3: the Brewers. And now it's going to be kind of
5:54
Speaker 3: fascinating to see how these clubs are going to respond
6:00
Speaker 3: at the trade deadline. I mean, even even when the
6:02
Speaker 3: Brewers do like they're small moves, like they they strike gold,
6:08
Speaker 3: I mean Andrew Vaughn, I mean, like Drew Yeah, Quinn Priester.
6:13
Speaker 3: I mean going back to the Drew Pomeranz. Uh, when
6:17
Speaker 3: he went over to the Brewers. It was just like,
6:19
Speaker 3: you know, the best couple of months of his life
6:20
Speaker 3: until this season here in Chicago.
6:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, sorry, I lost.
6:27
Speaker 1: I was I was looking at Quinn Priester's number and
6:29
Speaker 1: lost my lost my trade and thought, uh.
6:33
Speaker 2: I got to take a break.
6:34
Speaker 1: My brain is is I'm gonna have to have the metal.
6:38
Speaker 3: I mean, Quinn Priester grew up a Cubs fan, uh
6:41
Speaker 3: in Illinois. You know, his family, you know, was you
6:46
Speaker 3: know involved in the Cubs. Was the guy the Cubs
6:49
Speaker 3: you know, scouted for that first round of his draft year,
6:53
Speaker 3: but you know had a sense he was gonna be
6:55
Speaker 3: off the board by the time they picked. And yeah,
7:00
Speaker 3: after not clicking with the Pirates and getting moved to
7:04
Speaker 3: Boston and shuffling round, It's like he shows up and
7:08
Speaker 3: all of a sudden has an opportunity, has a support system,
7:14
Speaker 3: and you know might wind up being you know, the
7:18
Speaker 3: most among the most impactful pitchers traded during the season.
7:23
Speaker 3: It just happened to be what was it in like
7:25
Speaker 3: May or something like that. I mean, it was just
7:27
Speaker 3: a great move on the Brewers part.
7:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, sorry, I totally space because when Priester threw me off.
7:33
Speaker 1: What my point that I was wanted to make was,
7:38
Speaker 1: this is almost you could almost spin this as being
7:41
Speaker 1: pushed right now by the Brewers is a good thing
7:43
Speaker 1: for the Cubs. It should give this front office more
7:46
Speaker 1: clarity on Okay, don't have a false sense of security.
7:51
Speaker 1: Don't you know we have a five game lead. We
7:53
Speaker 1: don't need to panic. As far as upgrading certain areas,
7:57
Speaker 1: A game like Sunday should give them a little bit
8:00
Speaker 1: more clarity. As far as the bullpen, yes, you need
8:03
Speaker 1: a fourth uh, a fourth trusted reliever right now. It's Palencia.
8:07
Speaker 1: Keller looked great those first two games after struggling, after
8:11
Speaker 1: showing some signs of like, oh is there a sign
8:15
Speaker 1: of weakness here from Keller before the break?
8:18
Speaker 2: And then and uh, who's.
8:20
Speaker 1: The Who's the third reliever that I'm thinking of that's
8:23
Speaker 1: been dominant?
8:24
Speaker 2: Uh Valencia, Keller.
8:25
Speaker 1: Fielbar Field, bar So those three I feel like, yes,
8:30
Speaker 1: they're they're locked in. They're they're in there for the
8:32
Speaker 1: long haul. You never know what the relievers, but the
8:35
Speaker 1: others are showing some signs. Comerance just wasn't going to
8:38
Speaker 1: keep up that pace that would have been impossible.
8:40
Speaker 2: I still think he's been brilliant.
8:42
Speaker 1: But you need you just add whether it's pushing all
8:45
Speaker 1: those guys down one rung, whatever it may be, but
8:48
Speaker 1: a veteran what Presley was supposed to be. Presley has
8:52
Speaker 1: been fine. He gave up one home run yesterday. He's
8:55
Speaker 1: been fine. He hasn't been dominant, locked down. Maybe he
8:59
Speaker 1: doesn't instill like the type of confidence that maybe Polentia
9:02
Speaker 1: does when he steps in there. Field Bar just continues
9:05
Speaker 1: to be masterful when he goes in there. So getting
9:08
Speaker 1: one more veteran that can handle those high leverage spots.
9:12
Speaker 1: I know Ryan Brazier has been great since he got healthy,
9:16
Speaker 1: but still you add a veteran, you do that. I
9:20
Speaker 1: think it's good that they're being pushed because it just
9:22
Speaker 1: shows that, Okay, you cannot sit on your hands. You
9:25
Speaker 1: can't assume that.
9:26
Speaker 2: All will go well.
9:29
Speaker 1: I think that's exactly what the Cubs need to kind
9:33
Speaker 1: of motivate them and push them to make the right moves.
9:36
Speaker 1: This break, all right, Patrick, Let's take a quick break
9:39
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Speaker 1: see dkang dot co slash audio Patrick Matt Shaub played
10:49
Speaker 1: three games this weekend started. Two of them looked significantly
10:54
Speaker 1: better than the first half. It's three games. He he
10:58
Speaker 1: had a home run, had some even his.
11:00
Speaker 2: Outs were well struck. I thought he looked like.
11:04
Speaker 1: It, you know, like kind of like he did right
11:06
Speaker 1: when he was recalled, and it was probably good to
11:11
Speaker 1: see him pull the ball there, pull a ball authoritarian,
11:14
Speaker 1: authoritatively and hit that home run.
11:18
Speaker 2: I don't think.
11:19
Speaker 1: One good weekend washes away, which would have been pretty
11:24
Speaker 1: extreme struggles for third base in general. That remains an
11:31
Speaker 1: area of need. I think you can kind of what
11:35
Speaker 1: I was just saying before the break. You have these
11:37
Speaker 1: you have this moment, you have these ten days, you
11:40
Speaker 1: have this space, so only real time where you can
11:43
Speaker 1: make these upgrades. You can't allow you can't overthink this
11:47
Speaker 1: and say no, we're fine, it's all good. I'm not
11:50
Speaker 1: saying they have to go out if they don't get
11:52
Speaker 1: an upgrade a third it's a failure of a deadline.
11:55
Speaker 1: But I do think they're not thinking in the sense like.
11:58
Speaker 2: We can relax. He had a good weekend, no doubt.
12:03
Speaker 3: I mean, Council said that before Sunday's games, if you
12:05
Speaker 3: don't make an evaluation off of two games. I mentioned
12:10
Speaker 3: to him. You know, Craig, when he sent out Matt
12:14
Speaker 3: Shaw in the middle of April, you had said experience
12:19
Speaker 3: had taught you that sixty to seventy played appearances is
12:23
Speaker 3: usually a good sample for evaluating a young hitter. And
12:26
Speaker 3: now since Shaw has been recalled from Iowa, he's gotten
12:31
Speaker 3: one hundred and seventy plus plate appearances without really gaining
12:35
Speaker 3: much offensive traction. And Council stress, you know, the plan
12:40
Speaker 3: is for Matt Shaw to play at third base almost
12:44
Speaker 3: every day, but he acknowledged that is part of the evaluation.
12:48
Speaker 3: That he has been given a great opportunity, and though
12:52
Speaker 3: he has not completely squandered it, he's shown he's a
12:55
Speaker 3: very good, more than capable major league defensive third baseman.
13:01
Speaker 3: He has not totally answered the question on a team
13:06
Speaker 3: that went into spring training knowing they were kind of
13:09
Speaker 3: there was like one piece in that position player group
13:11
Speaker 3: that was a question mark, and it remains so. In
13:16
Speaker 3: late July and so there's enough time before the trade deadline,
13:22
Speaker 3: and the Cubs have the resources both in money and
13:27
Speaker 3: prospect capital to exhaust every possibility here. And you're right,
13:32
Speaker 3: you know, maybe they just kind of go bigger on
13:35
Speaker 3: pitching and kind of the depth takes a different shape
13:41
Speaker 3: on the position player side. You know, this isn't We'll
13:44
Speaker 3: get into this more in the next second, but this
13:46
Speaker 3: is not like an overwhelmingly overwhelming sort of like trade market.
13:51
Speaker 3: But Shaw, you know, I think they believe in him
13:56
Speaker 3: long term. There are things that they see that they appreciate.
14:03
Speaker 3: But you know, there are lots of sort of like
14:06
Speaker 3: positive leading questions about Matt Shaw, and Council wasn't really
14:12
Speaker 3: having it. It was you know, well look at what
14:15
Speaker 3: Miguel Emaya did last year, and you know, everyone remembers
14:18
Speaker 3: what Pete Crow Armstrong did in the middle of last season,
14:20
Speaker 3: and I Counselor did one of his sort of chuckles
14:23
Speaker 3: and said, well, there's lots of stuff that fails that
14:26
Speaker 3: you know, people don't really talk about because it failed.
14:30
Speaker 3: And so we'll see, like Shaw could be one of
14:32
Speaker 3: those success stories. He could have a lot of big
14:34
Speaker 3: moments in the last two months of the season. He
14:36
Speaker 3: could wind up, you know, playing in the playoffs as
14:40
Speaker 3: a rookie, which would be a really nice achievement. But
14:42
Speaker 3: just in this window here, the cups have to look
14:46
Speaker 3: at what else is out there.
14:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that's great for Shaw to use as examples.
14:53
Speaker 1: Like Shaw absolutely should be like trying to get himself
14:57
Speaker 1: in a positive mindset. That's kind of what I asked
14:58
Speaker 1: him after the game on Saturday or whatever day that
15:02
Speaker 1: was that.
15:02
Speaker 2: He hit the home run.
15:03
Speaker 1: I think that was Saturday, that did you need that
15:07
Speaker 1: mental reset both with the series off before the break
15:10
Speaker 1: and then the break, And he said absolutely, it was
15:13
Speaker 1: huge that that helped him a ton, just kind of
15:16
Speaker 1: get away from the game. Council talked about, you know,
15:19
Speaker 1: keeping him away from failure. That's kind of what he
15:22
Speaker 1: was doing in the Yankees series, you know, and he
15:26
Speaker 1: had some success over the weekend. Great, that's how you
15:28
Speaker 1: build confidence, that's how you get on the right track.
15:31
Speaker 1: This could be something that is a positive sign for
15:35
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six. You can't let it keep you from
15:40
Speaker 1: trying to improve your chances of winning the World Series
15:42
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty five.
15:44
Speaker 2: Patrick, there's an obvious.
15:46
Speaker 1: Upgrade in Arizona, AU Heniosuarez just continues to mash. There's
15:52
Speaker 1: a chance that au henne O Suarez doesn't do great
15:56
Speaker 1: in August and September, a team could acquire him the
16:00
Speaker 1: Cubs and he just doesn't. He doesn't have that. But
16:02
Speaker 1: he's on an insane run right now. It's four home
16:05
Speaker 1: runs of the last two games. It's his third. Yesterday
16:09
Speaker 1: was his third two home run game in the last
16:11
Speaker 1: five games. I believe that he's played just just on
16:15
Speaker 1: a massive tear. Here's the thing. Arizona swept Saint Louis.
16:21
Speaker 1: They're four and a half game back, four and a
16:22
Speaker 1: half games back and of a wild card spot there.
16:26
Speaker 1: They don't want to sell they they think they can
16:30
Speaker 1: win there. They've been banged up, They've had a ton
16:33
Speaker 1: of bad luck with injuries. Zach Gallen has not pitched
16:36
Speaker 1: like himself in the first half. They think they can
16:39
Speaker 1: get a better Zach Gallon in the second, you know,
16:42
Speaker 1: going forward. Obviously, they have a ton of talent on offense.
16:48
Speaker 1: So this this decision. It's a tough decision for them
16:52
Speaker 1: because they have three expiring contracts, all big players. They're
16:57
Speaker 1: not a team that consistently resigns all their players. They
17:00
Speaker 1: have a lot of money out, like you know, signing Burns.
17:05
Speaker 1: They just they were aggressive this past offseason, as they
17:08
Speaker 1: should have been. It's it's going to be an interesting
17:11
Speaker 1: deadline for them. Do they kind of do the half
17:14
Speaker 1: in half out? Do they try and recoup some value
17:17
Speaker 1: for Suarez because they could just call up Jordan Lawler
17:21
Speaker 1: and play him at third base, And if they could
17:23
Speaker 1: get like a borderline major leaguer in as Suarez deal,
17:27
Speaker 1: someone that could help right away. Maybe that's maybe that
17:30
Speaker 1: makes sense. Maybe that's one of those creative things that
17:34
Speaker 1: Jed's talking about. Maybe there's a way to bring another
17:37
Speaker 1: team in that helps the Diamondbacks and the Cubs are
17:39
Speaker 1: giving a process. I'm just trying to think of different when,
17:43
Speaker 1: Like Jed's words of creativity keep coming into my head
17:46
Speaker 1: whenever I think of different trade scenarios.
17:48
Speaker 2: So I don't know.
17:50
Speaker 1: I wouldn't assume that they're going to move these guys,
17:54
Speaker 1: but they can also they also can't afford to lose
17:57
Speaker 1: guys in free agency and not have anything to show
18:00
Speaker 1: for it. It's a risk for a team like the
18:02
Speaker 1: Diamondbacks to to not make these moves and not be
18:06
Speaker 1: aggressive at the deadline.
18:08
Speaker 3: I guess the silver lining for the Cubs would be
18:11
Speaker 3: if the Diamondbacks don't sell, then Suarez can't wind up
18:15
Speaker 3: in Milwaukee. But that's kind of a strategy. Look, I mean,
18:21
Speaker 3: I think as you and I have compared notes over
18:24
Speaker 3: the last couple of days coming out of the All
18:25
Speaker 3: Star Break, I think it seems clear that the Cubs
18:28
Speaker 3: will be in this until the end. On Suarez, it's
18:33
Speaker 3: no secret that they're looking for upgrades there. There's a
18:37
Speaker 3: really strong relationship between Cubs President Jed Hoyer and Diamondbacks
18:43
Speaker 3: general manager Mike Hasen. They're both New England guys who
18:46
Speaker 3: used to work for the Red Sox. There's some crossover
18:49
Speaker 3: between the Cubs and Diamondbacks front offices. Just you just
18:56
Speaker 3: get the sense that whatever dialogue is happening, like Jed
19:01
Speaker 3: is always sort of in that deal flow no matter what.
19:04
Speaker 3: But particularly given his strong connection to Hazen, and there's
19:09
Speaker 3: the glaring need at third base, the Cubs are going
19:12
Speaker 3: to be there. And you know, we did not hammer
19:15
Speaker 3: this point in our latest story, but you know, the
19:18
Speaker 3: Red Sox had a third baseman who had a pretty
19:20
Speaker 3: big home run on Sunday, some guy named Alex Bregman.
19:25
Speaker 3: And you know, this is kind of why there was
19:29
Speaker 3: frustration on the Cub side when their offer fell far
19:34
Speaker 3: short of what Bregman was seeking, is that they knew
19:38
Speaker 3: there was one spot on the diamond that was a
19:40
Speaker 3: question mark. There was like, this was kind of a
19:43
Speaker 3: moment when, after all this rebuilding and all those hard,
19:50
Speaker 3: unpopular decisions, was kind of a time to just kind
19:52
Speaker 3: of go for it. And you know, the Cubs were
19:58
Speaker 3: not competitive basically any of the metrics where free agents
20:04
Speaker 3: keep score, and you know, I don't know what the
20:07
Speaker 3: difference would be, you know, if they had Bregman. I mean,
20:10
Speaker 3: it's important to remember even though they're tied for first,
20:12
Speaker 3: they're still right around that best record in baseball. So like,
20:15
Speaker 3: I don't know if the Cubs would be like forty
20:17
Speaker 3: games over five hundred with Alex Bregman. I sincerely doubt that,
20:21
Speaker 3: but as you look towards October, clearly he would have
20:29
Speaker 3: been a guy. And like that was part of the
20:32
Speaker 3: frustration within the organization in the clubhouse of why people
20:36
Speaker 3: were still talking about Bregman long after he made his
20:39
Speaker 3: decision to sign with the Red Sox.
20:41
Speaker 2: Yeah.
20:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't want to belabor the point We've talked
20:45
Speaker 1: about it a lot, but it is the type of
20:46
Speaker 1: move that it's like, step on their throat, flex your
20:49
Speaker 1: financial muscles, type of move that an organization like the Cubs.
20:54
Speaker 2: Should be able to pull off. They didn't.
20:56
Speaker 1: It would have been like a really nice finishing touch
20:58
Speaker 1: to a really talented team. You're right, it's the one
21:01
Speaker 1: hole on the roster. You fill it with Alex Bregman,
21:04
Speaker 1: one of the best third basement in the game, and
21:07
Speaker 1: you're looking very different at this time. I mean, it's
21:11
Speaker 1: it's hard to complain about this team's offense, but you're
21:14
Speaker 1: talking about just an impervious lineup, then it would be
21:17
Speaker 1: really impressive. The Diamondbacks have Houston for three, Pirate at Pittsburgh,
21:23
Speaker 1: at Detroit before the break. That's an interesting schedule before
21:26
Speaker 1: the break, I mean, before the deadline, not to break.
21:29
Speaker 1: So we'll see how that goes. I just don't I
21:33
Speaker 1: don't know what exactly Arizona's going to do, but that
21:37
Speaker 1: that'll be uh. Fans have to watch that because that's
21:40
Speaker 1: that's probably the best way to turn this lineup from
21:45
Speaker 1: you know, one of the best in baseball to clearly
21:47
Speaker 1: like I don't think it would be a debate, then
21:49
Speaker 1: who has the best offense in baseball?
21:51
Speaker 2: If you fill that hole?
21:52
Speaker 1: All right, let's take a week break and talk a
21:54
Speaker 1: little bit more trade brummers.
21:55
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22:58
Speaker 1: Patrick pitching is going to be the primary focus. Obviously
23:03
Speaker 1: you upgrade their base, but they need another starter, at
23:07
Speaker 1: least one. Bullpen help is always on the docket for
23:11
Speaker 1: competitive teams at the trade deadline, there's no obvious upgrade
23:17
Speaker 1: for the starting rotation. When I say obvious, I shouldn't
23:19
Speaker 1: say obvious upgrade. There's no obvious ace in the rotation.
23:25
Speaker 1: There are definitely upgrades, especially when you have an open
23:28
Speaker 1: spot and a bullpen bullpen games on certain nights, but
23:34
Speaker 1: there's no CC Sabbathia.
23:35
Speaker 2: Type addition at this deadline.
23:37
Speaker 1: Randy Johnson, those types of Justin Ferlander, those types of
23:42
Speaker 1: here's an ace stud that that you know what you're
23:46
Speaker 1: getting from and that doesn't mean that you don't get
23:52
Speaker 1: stud performance in the final two months. And I think
23:56
Speaker 1: that's kind of what Jeden is for an officer looking
23:58
Speaker 1: for This isn't going to be a deadline where at
24:03
Speaker 1: least I don't think it's going to be a deadline
24:05
Speaker 1: where you look at the move that they make and
24:07
Speaker 1: say that guy has dominated for the first four months
24:11
Speaker 1: of this season. I'm not sure if that guy's available,
24:14
Speaker 1: And even if he were, I just don't think that
24:17
Speaker 1: that's how I mean. Jed's been pretty clear. He keeps
24:21
Speaker 1: bringing up the twenty twenty one Atlanta Braves. They're going
24:24
Speaker 1: to search for guys who may not be at their
24:27
Speaker 1: peak right now, but they think have their best two
24:30
Speaker 1: months coming. Whether that's trending the right direction, whether that's
24:36
Speaker 1: you know, under the hood metrics look better, or they
24:39
Speaker 1: think their defense can play this guy up, whatever it
24:42
Speaker 1: may be, I think the Cubs are searching for those
24:44
Speaker 1: types of players right now because that obvious ace isn't available.
24:49
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm curious. What do you got on Charlie Morton,
24:51
Speaker 3: the Baltimore Orioles starter, who's one World Series with the
24:55
Speaker 3: Braves and the Astros, an awful start to this year,
25:00
Speaker 3: signed to a one year, fifteen million dollar contract, modes
25:03
Speaker 3: the bullpen, but it's sort of trending in the right direction.
25:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, he had a stinker recently, but he's
25:10
Speaker 1: had some really strong outings. Like you said, I mean,
25:13
Speaker 1: I think his pitch usage has kind of changed over
25:15
Speaker 1: the course of the season. He's getting better results on
25:19
Speaker 1: certain pitches. He's got the track record, and that's kind
25:23
Speaker 1: of what it's not the Justin I mean, we talked
25:26
Speaker 1: to Jed Hoyer on our show and he talked about
25:29
Speaker 1: the Justin Verlander situation kind of teaching them something. Maybe
25:34
Speaker 1: just trust that this guy, put in a different environment
25:37
Speaker 1: will step up. It happened with them the next year
25:41
Speaker 1: with Cole Hammill's And I don't know if Charlie Morton
25:45
Speaker 1: has a you know, one five vra in the final
25:48
Speaker 1: two months, but he is the type of guy that
25:50
Speaker 1: you can take a bet on, take a gamble on,
25:53
Speaker 1: and say he's done it in the postseason. If we
25:56
Speaker 1: believe that the pitch mix or this is, you know,
26:00
Speaker 1: focus on these three pitches, whatever it may be, keep
26:04
Speaker 1: them to five six innings, whatever they see. I think
26:08
Speaker 1: there are reasons for optimism. There may not be the
26:13
Speaker 1: biggest splash, but certainly a guy who has done it
26:17
Speaker 1: and helped teams win the World Series and knows how
26:21
Speaker 1: to perform in the biggest moments and can you know,
26:24
Speaker 1: kind of turn it on for two months.
26:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's important We've discussed this before, Like
26:29
Speaker 3: the Cubs are looking at everyone right, so, like you
26:33
Speaker 3: see a tweet team X interesting player, why who cares?
26:38
Speaker 3: But our job has sort of explained why is this
26:42
Speaker 3: name coming up? Why is he available? Why are they
26:44
Speaker 3: discussing with him? What would be the rationale for acquiring
26:48
Speaker 3: this player? And Morton it's kind of a historic example
26:55
Speaker 3: within the organization. There's some familiarity there in terms of
27:01
Speaker 3: like just knowing that he won't be intimidated in a
27:07
Speaker 3: big moment. And I think as you see them kind
27:11
Speaker 3: of rolling out their rotation here in the second half,
27:13
Speaker 3: like there's lots of reasons for optimism, but there's also
27:16
Speaker 3: just this nagging sense and understanding that they absolutely need
27:21
Speaker 3: to get another starter. Like I think that is just
27:23
Speaker 3: kind of like a clear number one need with like
27:26
Speaker 3: kind of bullpen as maybe one A. And that is
27:31
Speaker 3: also a way to help your starting pitching, right of
27:34
Speaker 3: Like if you add another trusted reliever to shorten the game,
27:37
Speaker 3: you're not asking a Charlie Morton or whatever, Merril Kelly,
27:43
Speaker 3: zach Allen. If the Diebacks do sell, like you're not
27:46
Speaker 3: asking them to pitch like eight innings every night. It's
27:49
Speaker 3: like can you get through the lineup twice with the
27:51
Speaker 3: lead and then let a shut down bullpen take over.
27:55
Speaker 2: Yeah.
27:56
Speaker 1: Zach Gallen would be another good guy to bet on
27:58
Speaker 1: if you feel like he's trending in the right direction,
28:02
Speaker 1: or you see things that aren't too concerning. One guy
28:07
Speaker 1: that you know you could argue. I mean, he certainly
28:09
Speaker 1: was an ace at one point in time. He has
28:11
Speaker 1: a cy young under his belt. Sandy al Contra sounds
28:16
Speaker 1: like there are I mean, there are legit concerns there. Patrick,
28:19
Speaker 1: What have you heard recently about al Contra?
28:22
Speaker 3: I think it's just not just the performance question, which
28:25
Speaker 3: is very much an open undecided issue. It's also just
28:30
Speaker 3: like how much more can he throw this year? And
28:35
Speaker 3: I think you could be confident of Sandy's future with
28:41
Speaker 3: a full normal off season ramp up and in you know,
28:48
Speaker 3: a better situation. Frankly, you know, just like the Marlins,
28:52
Speaker 3: let's face, that have been sort of unstable slash dysfunctional
28:57
Speaker 3: over the years. But if you feel really strongly about
28:59
Speaker 3: your pitching andrastructure, like, there's a case to be made
29:02
Speaker 3: to believe in his talent and his track record. But
29:06
Speaker 3: that track record only goes so far over the next
29:10
Speaker 3: two months when he did not throw a single pitch
29:13
Speaker 3: all of last year. So I think there's just Cubs
29:17
Speaker 3: need someone who could just step in and take the
29:19
Speaker 3: ball and not like we say, be some sort of
29:23
Speaker 3: like Randy Johnson Ace or the CC Sabathia just that
29:27
Speaker 3: amazing workload he carried. But you also, but you can't
29:32
Speaker 3: bring someone who you're not sure like if he's gonna
29:34
Speaker 3: last the rest of the race.
29:36
Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, yeah, No, I think that the innings thing
29:40
Speaker 1: and like how much he has left this season is
29:43
Speaker 1: a factor that probably we hadn't talked about enough, like
29:45
Speaker 1: he I do wonder if the Marlins should have waited
29:51
Speaker 1: a little while, like given him more time. I think
29:53
Speaker 1: they were anxious to get that build that value up,
29:56
Speaker 1: and maybe the value would have been built up more
29:58
Speaker 1: if they were a little bit more patient with him,
30:00
Speaker 1: and he didn't get going in earnest and really getting
30:03
Speaker 1: after it until like the middle of May, you still
30:06
Speaker 1: probably could have I mean, if that works out, right,
30:09
Speaker 1: then then you still get a ton of value from him.
30:12
Speaker 2: You know.
30:13
Speaker 1: The hindsight's twenty twenty, and I'm making these calls after
30:16
Speaker 1: I see that he struggled for the first few months,
30:19
Speaker 1: so it's unfair for me to make that, you know,
30:24
Speaker 1: point that out, but it's just something to think about.
30:27
Speaker 1: I wonder how different it would have been. They're going
30:31
Speaker 1: to upgrade the bullpen to I think, like, like I
30:36
Speaker 1: was pointing out before, I feel like Sunday was a
30:38
Speaker 1: good example of like, Okay, yes, add one more trusted
30:43
Speaker 1: arm and you can feel really good about this bullpen.
30:47
Speaker 1: There's a lot of talent, but sometimes if you're holding
30:50
Speaker 1: you know, they barely did enough to get to Garrett Crochet.
30:54
Speaker 1: But it's one of those games where it's like, oh,
30:56
Speaker 1: if you have that one extra arm because Brad Keller
30:59
Speaker 1: was and you weren't gonna push field bar for multiple innings,
31:04
Speaker 1: you wonder what a difference they can what more arm
31:09
Speaker 1: could make for that bullpen.
31:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think watching the Red Sox go on that
31:14
Speaker 3: hot streak, seeing him this weekend at Wrigley Field does
31:18
Speaker 3: not strike us as a team that's going to sell.
31:20
Speaker 3: So we're probably crossing off a rold As Chapman from
31:24
Speaker 3: the list. And then after that, you know, Mason Miller,
31:29
Speaker 3: our colleague Ken Rosenthal wrote about him in The Athletic
31:32
Speaker 3: and it seems like maybe there's a little wiggle room there,
31:36
Speaker 3: but like the types of teams that he mentioned in
31:39
Speaker 3: his notebook, were, you know, those ultra aggressive teams like
31:43
Speaker 3: the Philadelphia Phillies, or maybe a g Preller could do
31:46
Speaker 3: something crazy like I don't know. To me, I don't
31:49
Speaker 3: really feel like the Cubs are all that likely to
31:53
Speaker 3: like go all out for a Sacramento closer, to be honest,
31:59
Speaker 3: like it just doesn't fit there, m O. And then
32:02
Speaker 3: after that, it's like, I don't know how many guys
32:04
Speaker 3: are clear upgrades over Daniel Palencia, like far and away
32:08
Speaker 3: better than him at this moment. So maybe you set
32:11
Speaker 3: your sights a little lower and look at things a
32:14
Speaker 3: little more broadly and get another guy who has ninth
32:18
Speaker 3: inexperience who could give him a breather once in a while,
32:21
Speaker 3: but mostly you be getting him to shorten those games.
32:24
Speaker 3: You'd push him forward within a game of maybe he's
32:29
Speaker 3: pitching the sixth or the seventh, and his stuff could
32:33
Speaker 3: play up and his numbers would almost automatically improve, just
32:37
Speaker 3: because he has an awesome defense behind him. And just
32:39
Speaker 3: one name again as an example, not that he is
32:43
Speaker 3: the end all beat all here, but you know Kyle
32:45
Speaker 3: Finn again from the Nationals like seems sort of gettable.
32:50
Speaker 3: The price you know, would probably be more within would
32:56
Speaker 3: not hurt as much as the Cubs try to like
32:58
Speaker 3: keep this thing rolling in twenty twenty six and beyond.
33:01
Speaker 3: And you know, a guy who has really good composure
33:05
Speaker 3: and like knows how to pitch. The Cubs have has
33:08
Speaker 3: some success with those types of guys.
33:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, who knows if they can tease a few more
33:13
Speaker 1: strikeouts out of him or just simply like his him
33:17
Speaker 1: playing in front of a significantly better defense just makes
33:21
Speaker 1: him a much better pitcher. I think that's one simple
33:24
Speaker 1: way that you know, what does he have like a
33:26
Speaker 1: four something yer low four ZR. You put him in
33:30
Speaker 1: front of this defense maybe that's sub four and you're right,
33:33
Speaker 1: like that's and it's just something that you kind of
33:37
Speaker 1: bet on on the experience and say, like go have
33:41
Speaker 1: your best two months that you've had of this season.
33:44
Speaker 1: You know that type of thing, and it can and
33:46
Speaker 1: it can work out in your favor.
33:48
Speaker 2: You just need depth right now.
33:49
Speaker 1: You need experience, You need guys that have been through
33:52
Speaker 1: those high leverage moments and if the lockdown guy isn't available,
33:58
Speaker 1: then you get I think a guy like Finnegan makes
34:00
Speaker 1: a ton of sense, all right, Patrick, Uh, I think
34:04
Speaker 1: that it's Kansas City for three and then head to
34:07
Speaker 1: the South Side for the weekend. Right, so we got
34:09
Speaker 1: two more episodes this week. We'll cover all that talk
34:12
Speaker 1: about how this how they match up against the Royals.
34:15
Speaker 3: Uh.
34:16
Speaker 1: And I'm sure there's gonna be a lot more talk
34:18
Speaker 1: about the trades and we'll hear more things this week.
34:21
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening to everyone. This is North
34:23
Speaker 1: Side Territory. Make sure to rate, review, subscribe, subscribe to
34:26
Speaker 1: the YouTube channel, and subscribe to The Athletic where Patrick
34:29
Speaker 1: and I are on top of all things Cubs. Thanks everyone.
35:00
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