Latest / North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast / Winter Meetings wrap-up: Kyle Tucker trade rumors and more buzz about the Cubs

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Winter Meetings wrap-up: Kyle Tucker trade rumors and more buzz about the Cubs · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: If you go on to social media.
• 0:01
  Speaker 2: It feels like Marquis should be at the airport when
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: he gets off the plane and then like the Cubs
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: just going to hand him a lifetime contract.
• 0:12
  Speaker 3: Welcome into Northside Territory. Foul Territory Networks Cubs podcast, I'm Sad,
• 0:17
  Speaker 3: I'm Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney, where your Cubs
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: beat writers over at the Athletic Patrick. The winter meetings
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: have wrapped up. What was that four nights of little
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: sleep but a lot of rumors?
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: It was?
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: It was I don't know if you could say there
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: was a lot of movement as far as the Cubs went.
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: They're just there. Weren't like nothing went official during those
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: days there. But to suggest the tenor hasn't changed would
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: be a mistake, I think right, like no doubt. Yeah,
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: very different feeling from a week ago about things around
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: the Cubs. Juan So has signed and has expected at
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: least least the talk has heated up, and right now
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: it feels like we're in weight mode right Like Kyle Tucker,
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: They're not just rumors. There's real stuff going on. Teams
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: are talking, the Cubs are not just one or two
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: people talking about it. It's they are. It sounds like
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: the leader for Kyle Tucker. Kyle Tucker is getting traded.
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: A lot of people have already said it's the Cubs.
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: The Yankees are in on it. Our colleague Ken Rosenthal
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: wrote about how the Yankees should step up their price.
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: Will they would the Astros want to trade Kyle Tucker
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: to a team that is often there, you know, the
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: competition to get into the World Series. I think that's
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: a valid point to bring up. But I do wonder
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: is this getting to a point where Cubs fans have
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: their hopes so high that if it doesn't happen, there's
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: going to be you know, duf Con. What is it
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: is at higher deaf Con five? It's the worst thing
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: deaf Con five Twitter meltdowns.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: I think.
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: You allude to this before we started recording, like Defcon
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: Jake Peavy, right, I love to like the history lesson
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: here of where is Kyle Tucker gonna be? What are
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: some of those other names.
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: When you think back on like Cubs pursuits the perfect.
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: Guy and just right, like I think of Jake Peev
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: and I think of Brian Roberts, Like those guys were
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: supposed to Rappie Elfer call is another name that pops
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: up in my mind. We didn't have Twitter back then,
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: if I'm yeah, no, there was no Twitter, but back
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: in those days so like, I remember following it on
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: message boards of all things, searching for rumors, waiting for
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: the next radio update or notes column in the Tribune
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: or whatever it may be, to try and get any
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: semblance of an idea of what's going on. Now. It's
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: minute to minute, right, people are like, uh, dissecting every
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: tweet that comes out, parsing every word what does it mean?
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: Oftentimes I would I would say that not a lot
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: of thought is going through the tweeters that the people
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: sending out the tweet Like maybe when they write a
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: story there's more nuance to it, but I'd be careful
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: parsing every word of a tweet. Cubs fans and that
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: all that said, Yes, if this doesn't happen for the Cubs, well,
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: I think we've gotten to that point where where it's
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: they won't be able to accept it. They won't this
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: will not go well. Uh they The expectation for Cubs
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: fans has already become the Kyle Tucker will be on
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: the on this team come opening to so I don't.
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: I don't love that for Cubs fans because it's like
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: these things are like someone texted me, they ask like,
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: is this gonna happen? This is a friend who's a fan,
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: is this gonna happen? And I said, listen, And I
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: think Jed kind of said this too. And I've said
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: this for I don't know how long, basically since I've
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: covered the game. It's just talking to people. So many
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: trades come and go right, so many things get talked about,
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: and which is also why we're very hesitant to put
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: out rumors until we feel very you.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: Know, strongly about it exactly.
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: These things come and go, like trades are really hard
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: to pull off. When someone asked me like do you
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: think the Cubs can trade for this guy, I'll almost
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: always say like, yeah, can they sure? I would bet
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: against it. I would always bet against the trade being
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: finished until it's finished, or you get that rumor it's like, hey,
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: this is going to happen. We just need to cross
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: the eye, I mean across the t's not the eyes
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: type situation, which which we'll sometimes hear every now and then, right,
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: and a lot of times we'll hear that, like it's
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: like waiting on Carson Kelly type thing. We have a
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: feeling that that's going to get done. It's just it's like, Okay,
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: what when's the official announcement type thing. We're not there
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: yet with Kyle Tucker. So I would not just assume
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: it's done, but the feelings it's like it has it
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: has reached a feeling of inevitability, which can often lead
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: disappointment when it doesn't get rid, if it doesn't get
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: wrapped up.
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And in reading Ken's column in The Athletic, he
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: mentioned Jim Crane, the owner of the Astros, who was
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: the guy who spiked that Wilson Contreras trade to Euston. Ultimately,
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: I don't think he did it unilaterally, but the Austras
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: are a little bit of a different organization. The Cubs
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: are pretty deliberate, cautious organization. So yeah, look, we've I
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: feel like we've covered a lot of this ground here.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: I mean, we're gonna have to think of like those
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: next sorts of stories if it does go down, and
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: I feel like we've we've kind of touched on many
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: of those subjects.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: But no doubt, Like if you go on to social media.
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: It feels like, you know, Marquee should be at the
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: airport when he gets off the plane, and then like,
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: are the comes just gonna hand him a lifetime contract
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: as soon as he walks into the office building over.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: There on our Waveland.
• 6:13
  Speaker 4: I don't think it's going to be like that, you know,
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: from what we had heard.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: It's not gonna be some if it does happen, it's
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: not gonna be some sort of like short window to
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: you know, talk about the extension and so uh yeah,
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: you know, I feel wind up recording this, then I
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: have to record another one, uh, you know, fairly soon thereafter.
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: That's just kind of the nature of these things. I
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: thought Jed was interesting saying, you know too, whenever some
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: information's out there on any sort of deal about any team,
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: he's always curious, like what's the agenda? Like why is
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: that out there now? And there are lots of football
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: analogies of being on the you know, two yard line,
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: you know, being in the red zone.
• 7:02
  Speaker 4: Still got to kick the extra kick. Yeah, just like
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: like it definitely towards.
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: The you know, middle of the week, there gets into
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: the you know, football metaphors, which knows which shows you
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: you know we need need something concrete.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: Here, right right.
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: Uh, So we'll see if this gets done. I I
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: think you're right on the extension stuff. Don't get your
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: hopes up on that, but do do get excited. Like
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: I said this the last episode, I'm gonna say it again, like,
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: don't overthink this. Yeah, Cam Smith would be a heavy
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: price e sec paratus. Yeah, I know they just created
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: for him. H Kyle Tucker is a difference maker. There's
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: a very few players like that.
• 7:41
  Speaker 5: I know.
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: There's only one year left on the deal. You gotta
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: take risks. You gotta try and make your move when
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: you have the opportunity. See if he falls in love
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: with Wrigley an extension, Hey, it may be very unlikely.
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: That doesn't mean you make the you don't make the deal.
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: See if he falls in love with the place, and
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: maybe you're compared. They've been trying to sign him in
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: free agency. Maybe you try. Maybe you can get him
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: early in free agency. I don't know. I'm just throwing like,
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: you don't you don't do this out of like you
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: cannot live in fear, especially at this point in in
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: in the cycle of contention, Like it's time to start
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: being a little bit more aggressive and taking these types
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: of risks. If you go walks, oh, well, you got
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: to have a pivot plan.
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: Then you get a draft pick, a nice draft pick,
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: and clearly the Cubs have build up some value with
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: these recent picks. If Cam Smith is a guy who's
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: you know, being h or is being talked about here
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: like that's you know confirmed, But if he is at
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: that status where he can be that type of guy,
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: you just got to go back out there and you
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: keep scouting and find find another one, you know like
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: that there that had been an issue as we've detailed
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: for a while now of just the post twenty sixteen
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: like backfilling that group and having assets and having trade
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: chips and having flexibility like this is this is all
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: part of it.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: Right right right.
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: We've talked about that. We've talked about that with a
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: lot of different people over this week around the game.
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: It's a big difference that they've seen with the Cubs,
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: like they're in these talks because five six years ago
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: they couldn't be in these talks because they didn't have
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: the depth. It was like the top top guys like
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: which they got to get like Kintana and then that's it.
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: There's nothing else to move. They didn't have those players,
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: all right, Patrick, you you wrote something for this morning
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: on Justin Steele the possibility or just the idea of
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: extending him, And I think that's interesting. I think it's
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: a worthwhile discussion. I'm just curious, like you're like, why
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: don't you kind of go over the points for that
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: that thought process there?
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: Well, essentially, this is not a right now thing. They're
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: not engaged at this point. Typically how this goes.
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: You know, a player in the arbitration system in January,
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: you kind of lock in the salary for the upcoming season,
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: or you go to an arbitration trial, which you know
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: rarely happens, you know with the Cubs or with most teams.
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: At this point, it's kind of a file and trial
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: policy across the league. But essentially that is you see
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: all these pitching deals. I mean, Matthew Boyd gets almost
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: thirty million guaranteed a couple of months after he was
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: struggled to get major league offers. Max Freed just signed
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: the biggest deal ever for a left handed pitcher. And
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: if you look at Steel and Freed over the last
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: couple of years, they're pretty similar. Now, timing is everything
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: for a free agent and steel is not there yet.
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: But I think this is something that's going to make
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: sense for both sides to at least six. And our
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: colleague Tim Britton at the Athletic, who is really an
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: expert at kind of projecting free agent contracts extension structures.
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: He really helped out a ton with this, and you
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: can kind of see his work in the Athletics.
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: It's interesting.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: He uses other relevant comps for pictures and it's kind
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: of the idea of buying out the arbitration years what
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: he's expected to make and then you know, tacking on
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: a couple of free agent years.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: And so where Tim kind of wound up at was.
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: A five year deal for about seventy four million.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: Potentially adding one more year will make it a six
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: year deal for ninety six million dollars.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: What do you think, satif?
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: Okay, so five years seventy five that's yeah, So that
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: knocks out the three ar bears you're saying in texton two. Yeah,
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: and essentially that's in aav of fifteen. That's like, right,
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: did I do that math?
• 12:10
  Speaker 5: Right?
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah?
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: I did? Like I think that that for me when
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: you when you put it that way, you're adding two years,
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: it would be I believe his age thirty two to
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: thirty three seasons would be the two years. I think
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: that would be the preferable deal if I'm in the Cubs,
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: see right. I also think you said it, he's later
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: in cre agency, right. The Cubs have a like in
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: a lot of these situations, the player has ninety percent
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: of the leverage. I feel like, right, if you put
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: up like Steel doesn't have like this disastrous injury history, Yes,
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: he has injuries in the past, and he's he's missed
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: some starts in some of these years, right, and like it,
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: I'm trying to think like this year it was the
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: fluky hamstring, right, that that that's not like a oh,
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: no red flag thing. Right, the the you know, popping
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: up of the elbow fore arm stuff, that that's a
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: slight red flag. But when everything comes out clean, you're
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: not seeing anything on imaging for me, and I am
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: an optimist, so I understand that, Like you just have
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: to be concerned all the time about any picture, right,
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: whether they have an injury history or not. Frankly, but
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: if they're they're they're taking risks on guys like Matthew
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: Boyd and paying him almost fifteen million a year for
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: two years. Like, yes, it would be the money that
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: in those in the age thirty two and thirty three,
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: like the actual money spent would be different. But I'm
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: looking at it in luxury tax purposes, because that's all
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: I think you should really look at it as as
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: far as an org goes that. It's not like Tom
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: Rarikints will suddenly go broke in whatever that would be
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: twenty twenty eight. So so I think I think when
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: you talk about it in that sense, it makes a
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: lot of it makes some sense. It's like who you like,
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: you want a veteran at the front of your rotation hopefully.
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: I mean the way they talk is like there's no
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: rebuilding going forward, it's contending every year. If that's real,
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: If you really believe you can do that, you need veterans,
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: you need young players. I think the question becomes, what
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: what do you believe? What what do you believe?
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: Jed Hoyer, Carter.
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: Hawkins, Craig Council, all these people that are intimately involved
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: in this process, and and no justin steel, what do
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: you believe? How do you believe he's hill age? How
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: do you believe what what type of work ethic does
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: he have? What type of like what do you see
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: beyond the beyond the person? What do you see in
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: his stuff? Like that says like this age as well,
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: this type of picture is a type of picture we believe,
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: like early thirties, still good, still solid, and I kind
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: of see him as Yeah, yeah, he's probably one of
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: those guys that ages well. As far as stuff goes,
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: it gets down to injury, and what you see is
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: in the person. You know, there's no major red flags
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: with with steel in my opinion on any of that stuff.
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: You can quibble with anybody's like oh maybe this or
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: that about like the injury stuff. Sure, but I think
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: it's worth it when you're not like that's a that's
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: an undermarket value as far as I'm concerned, Like he
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: hits an open market even at that age. I think
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: he gets more than that assuming help.
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it's it's fascinating, Like would steal want this?
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: I think he'd be interested for sure.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: I think just because of his path, like you said,
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: is unique. I mean, being with the Cubs for a
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: decade and still having three more r beers to go
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: before reaching free agency, Like it's it's long and to
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: get that sort of security could be attractive. I mean,
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: if he did reach free agency, healthy think you'd obviously
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: get a lot more than that, right, like if you
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: can keep performing. I just think it's one of those
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: things where, like you know, pitchers get paid even though
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: they've been downgraded in terms of letting them just go
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: whatever three four times through the order.
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: They don't put up as many put up as much.
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: Innings, but like teams need these guys who can post up,
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: and so far Justin Steele.
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: Has been that guy. I think it would be.
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: I don't know, would it be a win for this
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: front office to kind of lock up another guy or
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: would it be another sort of like.
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: Don with Nico and Happ and some other.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: Guys to where they are feeling a little bit of
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: a crunch now not as much flexibility.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: But I don't know. In the end, I think you
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: gotta I think both.
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: Sides it would be in their best interest to try
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: really hard and to see where those potential conversations would go,
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: because I mean, almost every deal for starting pitcher that's
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: come in, it's been like, oh wow, really, you know,
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: whether it's the as signing Severino. I mean, Valdi definitely
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: did not get the John Lackey, you know, two years
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: and whatever, seventeen it was like three for I think
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: seventy five Matte Mackey, Boyd example, you know, Max Freed,
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: very good pitcher.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: I didn't think he'd get.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: Like the biggest, you know, beat David Price and you know,
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: just kind of demolish what John.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: Lester got roughly a decade ago.
• 17:46
  Speaker 4: So this is kind of where things are going. So
• 17:50
  Speaker 4: it's this is more of like something to monitor and
• 17:52
  Speaker 4: not like breaking news, but it's gonna pop up, no doubt.
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: Yeah, some other quick factors. I think that Evan, there's
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: like as far as reasons to sign a we don't know,
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: we don't know what Ben Brown, Jordan Wicks, Hayden Wisnezki.
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: It was kind of a I don't want to call
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: it a lost season for them, but it wasn't. They
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: didn't get enough information in twenty twenty four to feel
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: really good about their future, right asad you kind of
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: know what you have there to an extent, but but
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: there's it's not like this is they missed out this
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: season on really getting a ton of data on those
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: guys and feeling comfortable that, Okay, you know what we have. Yes,
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: we have all these arms, and we trust that that
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: one of them at least is going to turn into
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: a rotation stalwart. It Also, we don't know, like come March,
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: how many of those names I just mentioned will be
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: on the team. There are so many trade rumors involving
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: this team, Like does suddenly the urgency to like, you
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: know what, we got to lock them up? We don't
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: have the pitching depth, the young pitching death that we thought,
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: let's let's get a bet are in to lock this up. Uh,
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: some of the pitchers have been traded whatever. Right. And
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: then the third thing, which we don't need to get
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: into too far because I think we're going to be
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: talking about it a lot in a couple of years,
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: is something I talked to people about like all week.
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: It came up in every other conversation. Is there there's
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: a potential workstop that again coming after the twenty sixth season, Like,
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: that's a real thing that I think all sides probably consider.
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: I don't know how that impacts talks like this, right,
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: but there's that that's a reality. Uh. Some people were
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: a little bit more optimistic, but it won't take away
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: any games, but like inevitably, like there's going to be
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: a work stoppage in the offseason, which doesn't impact fans
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: as much, but still is is stressful and and and
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: like gives some uncertainty to what the future holds, and
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: and nobody likes to hear stuff like that, and and
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: you know, it's not the it's not the most fun
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: thing to talk about, but it is a reality that
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: that's coming up. And it feels feels sooner than than
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: I realized. When we started talking about it, I was like, oh,
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: man again, But that's that's yeah, that's very much there.
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: And one soda contract doesn't help things when when when
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: the lower bottom ten payroll teams see stuff like that,
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: that those owners only get more fired up about things.
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: So we don't need to dive into that. I just
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: wanted to mention, like that's another factor here.
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not I'm not ready to go there yet. Yeah,
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: but I did want to add to your point of
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: like kind of the pitching uncertainty. The Cubs will have
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: a decision on Shota in Minaga after this upcoming season.
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: I don't have all the numbers in front of me
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: We've written about it on the Athletic But essentially, like
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: if Shoda has a decent season and is healthy, uh,
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: at the end of it, the coups will basically have
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: to decide on you know, picking up says like a
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: three year option or then become.
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: Significant with a jump in money deal that he has
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: in place.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: But he can become a he yes, he could.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: He could opt out if they don't pick up their
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: option and yeah, and so him opting out would be
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: a pretty obvious decision if he's healthy and isn't terrible
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: this upcoming year.
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: Of course it's got you know, both sides. They could
• 21:26
  Speaker 4: come to some sort of other agreement.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: But like Shoto was locked in as this piece and
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: he was awesome as a rookie, but like very quickly, uh,
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: both sides are gonna have to figure out where they
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: want to go from there.
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: So if you.
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: Put in Steel as a piece, I mean ty Own's
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: halfway through his four year deal. You know, Aside is
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: a younger guy, and then it's that kind of wave
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: of question mark pictures who could be really good or
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: maybe won't hear much from them.
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: Ever again yep, no, absolutely and another picture that that
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: we're going to be talking about for about a month now,
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: if not a little bit longer. Roki Sasaki. The Cubs
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: are in on this, right. I mean, I think the
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: prohibited favorites are the Dodgers. You know, depending on who
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: you talk to, they're the heavy favorites. Others, you know,
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: say watch out for San Diego, But I guess don't
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: eliminate the Cubs just yet.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: That's such a good good way to put it that
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: my understanding is the Cubs will be presented as a
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: viable destination and a serious team to consider.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: I mean that doesn't.
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: I don't know how much that moves the needle ultimately,
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: but it was fascinating being in Dallas and talking to
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: different officials as well as our talented co workers at
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: the Athletic who hear things as well, and just kind
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: of comparing notes on this guy, Like is this all
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: an elaborate cover story for any side of the Dodgers
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: or are these very telling hints about what the player
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: ultimately may want.
• 23:24
  Speaker 5: Which may not be all of Dodger Stadium, which is
• 23:29
  Speaker 5: a lot. So like, is San Diego.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: And kind of writing Shotgun with Darvish a more appealing option?
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: I think Joe Wolf the agent uses the phrase open ended,
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: and that is kind of my understanding as well. Like,
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: if he's planning to take a Christmas break back home
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: in Japan, they don't want to overload him with zooms.
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: They're going to want to space some things out. I know,
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: everyone wants to be like the these are the five teams,
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: and they are usually the same five teams over and
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: over again for elite Japanese players. But like, you know,
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: teams could enter the picture. You know, as much as
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: Sazaki's representatives know him, like, there's still a lot for.
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: Him to figure out too.
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: Like he's younger, he is more of a developmental pitcher
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: than Yamamoto was, and each player is different, you know,
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: we I like, I am guilty of this myself, of
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: kind of lumping all Japanese players as like the same
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: sort of entity. But he obviously has his own own
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: backstory here and has a lot to learn. Still, think
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: he winds up on the West Coast ultimately that would
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: probably be a good bet. But like you know, both
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: New York teams you know, figure to be factors in here,
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: are gonna wanna kind of tell their stories. But you know,
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: the Cubs are firmly in that group of teams that
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: Lee Japanese players have to consider, and there's a very
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: small group of agencies that kind of represent these players.
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: And uh, Wasserman in particular has a good working relationship
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: with the Cubs, And I think that.
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: That stuff does go a long way in this process.
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: It may not get you the player, but it gets
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: you kind of in the room or on the zoom, uh,
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: in the conversation with.
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: These guys, right, Yeah, And I think the Cubs seem
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: pretty good at this part, the pitching the player part,
• 25:41
  Speaker 3: you know, like they they've I feel like that's a
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: strength of theirs. Obviously they were able to lure show
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: to say, uh they I do say Saya still brings
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: up the weather so cold here, uh in a joking manner,
• 26:04
  Speaker 3: but but it's a.
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: I think that's funny.
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: They somehow finished second in in the in the show
• 26:11
  Speaker 3: hey race when when he first came and ended up
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: going to the Angels, supposedly they were second right, and
• 26:18
  Speaker 3: that like that was something where they had no I
• 26:21
  Speaker 3: think they like that was even a surprise that they
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: were that far up in the contenders. So they they
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: have a good Uh, they've done a really good job
• 26:32
  Speaker 3: establishing themselves as a destination for Japanese players.
• 26:36
  Speaker 5: Uh.
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: It's something that was a focus of Jed Hoyer's. He's
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: he's really emphasized that there's a lot of talent coming
• 26:46
  Speaker 3: stateside and and it's important to establish a base. It's
• 26:50
  Speaker 3: important to make these players feel comfortable, uh, to feel
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: at home as best as they can, because it can
• 26:57
  Speaker 3: really impact your team. And like, this is a global
• 27:01
  Speaker 3: sport now and you want to be able to get
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: talent from all wherever you can. And it was a
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: smart move to establish that as early as they could. Right,
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: they didn't have the built in advantage of being on
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: the West coast, and to be able to do that,
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: To do that in Chicago when you don't have a coast,
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: I think is important. I think that they've Lake Michigan. Yeah, yeah,
• 27:27
  Speaker 3: so we'll see where that goes. So I think it's
• 27:30
  Speaker 3: important to note that this isn't going to happen like
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: the official signing. He's not signing until after January fifteenth. Fifteenth, Yes,
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: fifteenth is the date, which means everybody's in on it,
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: like everybody's if a money resets on that date. Now,
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: there is the little weird wrinkle of like a lot
• 27:48
  Speaker 3: of that money has been promised, so we'll see. But
• 27:55
  Speaker 3: my assumption is, you know, these things have a way
• 27:58
  Speaker 3: of working themselves out. If you end up winning the
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: Rookie Sasaki Sweepstakes, you don't say I already promised it
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: to this fifteen year old and the Dominican Republic. That's
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: the whole other disaster. It's a issue there. But yeah,
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: so we'll see where this goes. I think Rookie is
• 28:17
  Speaker 3: a fascinating arm injuries aside, Like if he can get
• 28:20
  Speaker 3: healthy and in the right system and develop properly, that's
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: that's very exciting. That's going to be exciting for whichever
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: fan base he ends up playing for, all right, Patrick,
• 28:32
  Speaker 3: I think that's that's about it. We've we're going to
• 28:35
  Speaker 3: be on the alert here for the next twenty four
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: forty eight hours. I think, just behind the scenes for
• 28:42
  Speaker 3: the fans. Dansby Swanson signed when I was at a
• 28:46
  Speaker 3: holiday party. That holiday party is Saturday, And if I
• 28:51
  Speaker 3: have to do this again, Patrick, I'm not sure we'll
• 28:54
  Speaker 3: be able to do a live podcast, just so you know.
• 28:56
  Speaker 4: All right, I got, I got, I got, don't worry
• 29:00
  Speaker 4: about that.
• 29:03
  Speaker 3: Both if it happens, it better be in the in
• 29:05
  Speaker 3: the morning. Okay, that's what I say.
• 29:08
  Speaker 6: Well, I'm sure they're definitely looping in your social calendar,
• 29:14
  Speaker 6: the deliberations and you got to clear with the astros
• 29:18
  Speaker 6: owner and kind of your holiday part.
• 29:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah exactly.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: Okay, please please help me out here.
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: Thanks so much for listening. Everyone, make sure to great
• 29:29
  Speaker 3: review and subscribe to Northside Territory. Please subscribe to The
• 29:32
  Speaker 3: Athletic for Patrick and I are on top of all
• 29:35
  Speaker 3: things comes this winter. And yeah, thank you so much
• 29:39
  Speaker 3: for listening and all this is Northside Territory.