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Cubs mailbag: Still looking for more pitching · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

0:05
Speaker 1: Welcome into North Side Territory. Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast.
0:09
Speaker 1: I'm Saha Sharma with my partner Patrick Moody. We are
0:12
Speaker 1: your Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic Patrick. It
0:16
Speaker 1: his time for a mail bag episode. You reached out
0:20
Speaker 1: to the I didn't even have to tweet anything. You
0:22
Speaker 1: reached out to the to the fans on Twitter.
0:26
Speaker 2: I'm carrying the show once again. I get it.
0:28
Speaker 3: You're welcome, and they they delivered.
0:31
Speaker 1: They came at it, uh hot and heavy with the
0:36
Speaker 1: with the questions.
0:37
Speaker 3: Uh, you know, we're used to we're used to I.
0:40
Speaker 1: Guess a lot of negativity in these questions and that's
0:44
Speaker 1: obviously not the case.
0:45
Speaker 3: It was.
0:45
Speaker 1: It's been a it's been a good off season and
0:48
Speaker 1: and fans feel uh uh you know, these just feel
0:52
Speaker 1: like normal questions, like like you'd expect from a fan
0:56
Speaker 1: base that's just excited for the season or or or
0:59
Speaker 1: curious what more the team can do. So always, I mean,
1:04
Speaker 1: it's nice when it's when we don't feel like we're
1:06
Speaker 1: getting yelled at or what the Cubs are doing. So
1:11
Speaker 1: hopefully everyone's excited for that. I know I'm excited to
1:14
Speaker 1: get Arizona in about two weeks less than that, and
1:18
Speaker 1: and get out of this freezing cold weather, which I'm
1:22
Speaker 1: sure everyone is sick of by Now let's get to
1:24
Speaker 1: the questions. This one is from Handbone. Would the Cubs
1:29
Speaker 1: consider being opportunistic on a high end free agent lingering
1:33
Speaker 1: on the market like Zach.
1:35
Speaker 3: Gallon or fran Er Valdez.
1:40
Speaker 1: Or is the roster full enough that minor league depth
1:44
Speaker 1: is all that's left to add? Okay, So first of all,
1:49
Speaker 1: there's there's a timer now on these things.
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Speaker 3: I don't know how to change that. Oh I got it,
1:54
Speaker 3: timer off. Here we go.
1:57
Speaker 1: They changed the they changed when I was working in
2:00
Speaker 1: with here.
2:01
Speaker 3: Okay.
2:01
Speaker 1: Uh so hamdbone, I think he uses the perfect word here. Opportunistic. Uh,
2:07
Speaker 1: that's what the Cubs are trying to do. Uh that's
2:10
Speaker 1: what uh you know they always do. It's it's can
2:15
Speaker 1: they get someone at at?
2:18
Speaker 3: Uh?
2:19
Speaker 1: What is the what is the phrasing they use at? Uh,
2:22
Speaker 1: you know, at at surplus value? Right?
2:26
Speaker 3: Is this? Does this?
2:27
Speaker 1: Is this a signing that is more valuable than they believe?
2:31
Speaker 1: Like that this player can bring them more value than
2:33
Speaker 1: what the contract is. Uh, They're always looking to do that.
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Speaker 1: So yes, they're they they they would consider that. Patrick,
2:40
Speaker 1: you kind of wrote about this, Uh, they're not done.
2:45
Speaker 3: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: I would say that Framber is, unless something has dramatically changed,
2:51
Speaker 2: does not appear to be like a realistic option for them.
2:55
Speaker 2: I think that's always been our understanding this winter, that
3:00
Speaker 2: he would be looking for something far beyond their comfort zone,
3:05
Speaker 2: whereas obviously Gallon is someone we've talked about for what
3:11
Speaker 2: feels like almost months now, probably months plural, and like,
3:18
Speaker 2: I don't think it's only Gallon or Valdez either, and
3:22
Speaker 2: it's definitely not only Gallon. That's part of why I
3:26
Speaker 2: use that story this week as just an exercise to
3:30
Speaker 2: look at, Hey, there's a lot of interesting names out there.
3:34
Speaker 2: Not saying all these guys are going to be awesome
3:37
Speaker 2: next year, that the Cubs are going to sign multiples,
3:40
Speaker 2: but it's hard to imagine them looking at roughly thirty
3:47
Speaker 2: starting pitchers still out there, Like if you look at
3:50
Speaker 2: MLB trade rumors lists, maybe we maybe they stretch some
3:54
Speaker 2: of that a bit. I don't know if all of
3:55
Speaker 2: those guys will be major league starters this coming season,
3:58
Speaker 2: but roughly thirty names, roughly thirty teams looking for starting
4:04
Speaker 2: pitchers at all times. I just think to your point,
4:12
Speaker 2: the Cubs are always opportunistic, but now they're in a
4:14
Speaker 2: spot where they have roughly eight starting pitchers plus I
4:20
Speaker 2: don't know what you consider Ben Brown and Jordan Wicks
4:22
Speaker 2: at this point. Certainly at least you know kind of
4:26
Speaker 2: Iowa adjacent depth. But to get one more guy in there,
4:31
Speaker 2: I think they would feel really good about their winter
4:34
Speaker 2: and that they're not desperate. They don't have to overpay,
4:38
Speaker 2: but they can offer an opportunity to win a program
4:43
Speaker 2: that has proven to help certain pitchers get better. And
4:50
Speaker 2: if you're a pitcher who maybe is looking for a
4:53
Speaker 2: bounce back scenario or maybe can't make thirty starts realistically
4:58
Speaker 2: this year, the Cubs will find ways to fit you in.
5:01
Speaker 2: And Craig Counsel as a manager, who I mean, you
5:04
Speaker 2: wrote about this from the start. He has that built
5:07
Speaker 2: in credibility for what he's done in Milwaukee. Like pictures,
5:10
Speaker 2: know that he usually takes care of his guys.
5:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, the one The one thing I would you mentioned
5:19
Speaker 1: Valdez isn't isn't likely. We haven't heard much linking them
5:22
Speaker 1: to Framber. The one thing I would say about Gallen is,
5:25
Speaker 1: look if he's looking for an opt out after the
5:28
Speaker 1: first year. I don't think that's the type of thing
5:31
Speaker 1: where the Cubs would find surplus value for that they
5:34
Speaker 1: have to give up a draft pick for signing Zach Gallen.
5:36
Speaker 1: I think people need to remember that they didn't have
5:40
Speaker 1: to give one up for Bregman, right because he couldn't
5:46
Speaker 1: have the QO put on him because he's already had
5:48
Speaker 1: it placed on him. So you know, they got one
5:51
Speaker 1: for Tucker. Do they want to do that for one
5:55
Speaker 1: year of a guy? I think that's that's a worthwhile question.
6:02
Speaker 1: If it's a two year deal, three year deal with
6:05
Speaker 1: no opt out until the second or third whatever, maybe
6:09
Speaker 1: then it's a different conversation. But I think a opt
6:12
Speaker 1: out after the first year is the type of thing
6:15
Speaker 1: that would kind of be a no go for the Cubs.
6:17
Speaker 1: There are other complicating factories, I think, like how if
6:20
Speaker 1: you have six you know what, Let's say, I'm gonna
6:24
Speaker 1: take more questions because this kind of addresses them. I
6:27
Speaker 1: think people are curious about this about how does it
6:29
Speaker 1: even work? Is the Gallon pursuit due to conviction on
6:33
Speaker 1: the player or concern for the rotation. I'd be excited
6:36
Speaker 1: if they are confident they can fix them, but they
6:38
Speaker 1: also have two starting picturings going to the WBC and
6:42
Speaker 1: injury history. I kind of shorten that up, but he's
6:44
Speaker 1: basically saying all these guys have some sort of injury
6:47
Speaker 1: pass and two pictures.
6:49
Speaker 3: Look, I don't love pictures going to.
6:51
Speaker 1: The WBC if you're talking about purely competition for the
6:54
Speaker 1: regular season and in the summer. Like, I think the WBC
6:58
Speaker 1: is fun. I think it's exciting. I love the idea
7:03
Speaker 1: of it. It is a concern. It is a concern
7:06
Speaker 1: in the back of team's minds, maybe the front of
7:08
Speaker 1: team's minds. I don't think managers in front offices really
7:12
Speaker 1: love pitchers participating in the Cubs have Boyd and.
7:18
Speaker 3: Is it Tyne.
7:19
Speaker 1: Tyne's pitching for Team Canada. It's not ideal. So to
7:26
Speaker 1: answer the question, is the Gallon pursuitude to conviction? I
7:29
Speaker 1: think it's just like the constant search for depth and value.
7:33
Speaker 3: Right. Do they like Gallon?
7:34
Speaker 2: Yeah?
7:35
Speaker 1: I think they do. I think there are some people
7:36
Speaker 1: that like Gallon. I think there's some people that are like,
7:38
Speaker 1: he's fine. There are some people that I think there's
7:41
Speaker 1: a lot we can do with him, and then they
7:42
Speaker 1: get him back to that guy that was getting cy
7:44
Speaker 1: Young votes, you know, which is not unusual for an offices.
7:48
Speaker 1: Aren't all like we all love this guy, we all
7:50
Speaker 1: are dislike him. Yeah, I think they There are people
7:56
Speaker 1: and people that matter that think they can using the
7:58
Speaker 1: words Jordan did uh fix him?
8:01
Speaker 3: Uh? I also think you're you're right like I. You know, Edward.
8:06
Speaker 1: Cabrera has a long injury history. Matthew Boyd stayed healthy
8:10
Speaker 1: last year. Justin Steele is going to take a little
8:13
Speaker 1: while to come back.
8:15
Speaker 3: You know.
8:16
Speaker 1: Jamison Tyne's getting older, seems to have muscle issues every
8:20
Speaker 1: once in a while, lower body issues. I don't know
8:23
Speaker 1: if any of these guys are going to get hurt.
8:25
Speaker 1: You don't want to assume that, but you kind of
8:27
Speaker 1: have to assume there are injuries over the course of
8:29
Speaker 1: the season. It does become I guess the concern becomes,
8:34
Speaker 1: how do you fit him if if there are If
8:38
Speaker 1: everyone's healthy, you know, to start the season.
8:40
Speaker 3: Obviously Justin Steele they can be patient with.
8:43
Speaker 1: But if you're talking about Dione Cabrera, Boyd, Caate Horton,
8:50
Speaker 1: and I'm sure whoever I'm blanking on the fifth person,
8:53
Speaker 1: but show to Amnaga, I mean, I guess you can,
9:00
Speaker 1: you know, find ways to make it work, but it's
9:02
Speaker 1: it's hard.
9:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say, like, if I'm Zach Gallon, I
9:09
Speaker 2: don't know if the Cubs are the place I want
9:13
Speaker 2: to go if I'm looking for and opt out and
9:17
Speaker 2: re entering the free agent market off after an awesome season.
9:20
Speaker 2: I'm sure that these conversations are being had or these
9:24
Speaker 2: issues would be addressed before sort of crunch time, But
9:30
Speaker 2: I don't know if the Cubs are quite as desperate
9:35
Speaker 2: as other teams for that mid rotation starter or like
9:39
Speaker 2: if he's looking at it as yeah, you'd have a
9:42
Speaker 2: gold glove defense behind you, and you know, a strong
9:46
Speaker 2: game planning system and you know, a team that's supposed
9:49
Speaker 2: to know win around ninety games, But like, are you
9:53
Speaker 2: going to get the sort of like ideal runway to
9:57
Speaker 2: prove that you're still not just a mid rotation guy
9:59
Speaker 2: but top of the rotation guys. So that's kind of
10:02
Speaker 2: where I have a hard time sort of like pounding
10:07
Speaker 2: the table and saying, yeah, like this is their guy,
10:10
Speaker 2: like they've been You'll kind of engaged with Gallen for
10:14
Speaker 2: so long, like they know where he stands. You know,
10:17
Speaker 2: he knows what the Cubs can bring, and ultimately, I think,
10:21
Speaker 2: just like the supply of starting pitchers out there, will
10:25
Speaker 2: ultimately lead the Cubs in another direction. But it's certainly
10:29
Speaker 2: interesting that this hasn't gone away, like no team has
10:33
Speaker 2: stepped sort of stepped forward and given Gallon that offer
10:36
Speaker 2: he couldn't refuse. And maybe maybe I'm misreading it, but
10:42
Speaker 2: I think, like we said before, the free agency stuff
10:46
Speaker 2: is going to be like you're gonna land in Phoenix,
10:50
Speaker 2: you know, in less than two weeks, and you'll go
10:53
Speaker 2: out to Mesa and they'll still be like rumors to
10:56
Speaker 2: chase Down and guys unsigned that the Cubs are still
10:58
Speaker 2: talking to, like no doubt about that.
11:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's there's an unusual amount of pictures. It feels
11:04
Speaker 1: like out there still like it's not always it's not.
11:06
Speaker 2: Weird receivers, right relievers. It seems like, yeah.
11:10
Speaker 1: It's not weird for guys to linger anymore, like that's
11:13
Speaker 1: become normal since about twenty nineteen. But this is a
11:16
Speaker 1: little odd, like it's beyond Framber and Gallon, like Chris
11:20
Speaker 1: Bassett is still out there. Lucas Giolito, I think it's
11:23
Speaker 1: a pretty long list. It's a little odd. One more
11:27
Speaker 1: specific rotation question from our guy Tyler Dershel. How likely
11:31
Speaker 1: is it that the Cubs go with the six man rotation,
11:33
Speaker 1: considering some will need load management.
11:35
Speaker 3: Look, I think over the.
11:36
Speaker 1: Course of the season, the Cubs are going to be
11:37
Speaker 1: creative and use more than five starters. Like I can
11:40
Speaker 1: one hundred percent guarantee that. How about that that they
11:43
Speaker 1: will use more than five starters. But there are four
11:47
Speaker 1: off days in the first three weeks, four off days
11:51
Speaker 1: in the first three weeks, starting out with a six
11:54
Speaker 1: man rotation, just like pictures are fine with that extra
11:59
Speaker 1: day of rest now that they've gotten kind of used
12:01
Speaker 1: to it. Maybe ten years ago, John Lester would bitch
12:03
Speaker 1: about it, but John Lackey certainly would.
12:07
Speaker 3: But but that's that's not a thing anymore. Guys.
12:10
Speaker 1: You know, four days rest isn't as normal as it
12:14
Speaker 1: used to be. Five days rest is pretty normal. So
12:16
Speaker 1: with those off days, off days, you're going to you're
12:20
Speaker 1: going to see a lot of that, a lot of
12:21
Speaker 1: five days rest, And that's completely normal that they'll they'll
12:24
Speaker 1: lean into that. But putting six in there would be
12:28
Speaker 1: tough for them. So at some point I think they will,
12:31
Speaker 1: like I think they'll they'll do it maybe like leading
12:33
Speaker 1: into the All Star break or coming out of the
12:35
Speaker 1: All Star break, or or just randomly here and there
12:39
Speaker 1: on a long stretch. I don't see one like right away. Uh,
12:45
Speaker 1: there's the they have a pretty solid amount of of
12:50
Speaker 1: of off days that I'm looking at just quickly glancing
12:53
Speaker 1: through the schedule, at least the first couple of months.
12:56
Speaker 1: That's not like a long, like two two and a
12:58
Speaker 1: half week stretch where you're just like, oh, they're going
13:02
Speaker 1: to need an extra guy in there to break things up.
13:05
Speaker 3: That's that That would be how I'd look at it.
13:07
Speaker 1: But it's something that you're you're right about load management
13:10
Speaker 1: in the sense that that council thinks about that stuff.
13:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the Cubs would be very happy to
13:17
Speaker 2: have that problem. Like six healthy, effective, productive starting pitchers.
13:23
Speaker 2: I mean, go back to last year. I can't remember
13:26
Speaker 2: if it was like the day before the first formal
13:29
Speaker 2: workout or the day the report date. But Jojavier Asad
13:34
Speaker 2: I go by the way, is oblique has been nagging
13:38
Speaker 2: him and all of a sudden, you know, he's he
13:41
Speaker 2: basically misses all of spring training. His setback and as
13:45
Speaker 2: I think, another setback, whatever, what I was a circumstances
13:48
Speaker 2: where it was a long time he was out, and
13:50
Speaker 2: I was a guy that was sort of penciled in Cabrera.
13:57
Speaker 2: I think everyone loves the upside, but like, this guy
14:00
Speaker 2: has been on the injured list a lot. I think
14:03
Speaker 2: we're already getting signals that the Cups are gonna take
14:08
Speaker 2: it slow with Justin Steele and you know, maybe you
14:11
Speaker 2: know have and with all these guys having October in mind,
14:18
Speaker 2: and Kate Horton and Matthew Boyd both exceeded everyone's expectations
14:23
Speaker 2: last year in terms of availability and productivity, but still,
14:29
Speaker 2: like Boyd definitely had his moments in the playoffs, but
14:34
Speaker 2: you could see him towards the tail end of the
14:36
Speaker 2: regular season his stuff just wasn't as crisp. And obviously
14:41
Speaker 2: Horton got injured, and I know it's over. It's an
14:46
Speaker 2: oversimplification to look at Kate Horton's innings jump year over year,
14:53
Speaker 2: or you know, just innings as a as a raw number,
14:57
Speaker 2: but it's it's not nothing either. I mean that was
15:00
Speaker 2: a huge increase and we'll see, like maybe it's nothing.
15:03
Speaker 3: Maybe he is he's just an.
15:05
Speaker 2: Athletic freak, and it doesn't bother him and he's you know,
15:09
Speaker 2: a cy young contender for all of this season, not
15:12
Speaker 2: just half a season. But that hasn't been his history
15:15
Speaker 2: up until, you know, going into spring training last year,
15:18
Speaker 2: like they were definitely slow playing him and kind of
15:21
Speaker 2: had the giving him the soft treatment to make sure
15:24
Speaker 2: he'd be healthy. Like all these all these guys are
15:26
Speaker 2: question marks.
15:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, the injuries happen as we saw last year.
15:33
Speaker 1: So uh, we'll see how how it lines up. We
15:36
Speaker 1: don't want to you just can't predict how it's gonna go.
15:38
Speaker 1: It could be something we completely can't you know, really envision.
15:42
Speaker 1: So maybe all those injury history guys stay healthy and
15:45
Speaker 1: the guy uh and the guys that have been healthy,
15:49
Speaker 1: don't you know, it's just hard to know. Bullpen question,
15:53
Speaker 1: how do you see guys? How do you guys project
15:55
Speaker 1: the back end of the bullpen lining up? In which
15:57
Speaker 1: guys in those slots shed wondering? I guess, you know,
16:02
Speaker 1: like they I was just looking at the names I've
16:04
Speaker 1: already forgotten guys like I forgot that they added like
16:07
Speaker 1: these these very you know, not like guys that aren't
16:10
Speaker 1: like gonna blow you away, but like Jacob Webb who's
16:14
Speaker 1: going to be like a huge part of his bullpen,
16:15
Speaker 1: but is in a name that's like, oh yeah, that
16:18
Speaker 1: guy's nasty. Uh So, I mean, like those are the
16:21
Speaker 1: guys that like bridge you to the end, right, Jacob Webb.
16:26
Speaker 3: Who else do they have there that? I mean, I
16:29
Speaker 3: don't even know half of the.
16:30
Speaker 1: Obie Milner, well, like probably those are the two names
16:33
Speaker 1: that we know that are going to do this that
16:35
Speaker 1: are going to kind of be the bridge. And then
16:37
Speaker 1: Mayton Palencia, Hunter Harvey or like they're you're expected potential
16:45
Speaker 1: high leverage guys. Hunter Harvey's all about help. If he's healthy. Uh,
16:49
Speaker 1: he's going to be a high leverage guy. He's he
16:51
Speaker 1: has that type of stuff. We know Poalencia and Mayton
16:54
Speaker 1: that's what they're there for. Poalencia has done it for
16:58
Speaker 1: a year now, almost a year. Was big in the playoffs,
17:01
Speaker 1: was that multi inning you know, fireman guy and then
17:05
Speaker 1: Mayton is a long history of doing this. Those are
17:10
Speaker 1: the names off you know, there's there's gonna be someone
17:14
Speaker 1: that pops too, but right now that's kind of kind
17:17
Speaker 1: of the way the bullpen looks as far as how
17:20
Speaker 1: things will line up.
17:22
Speaker 2: Chad Wonderling is an awesome name. I'm wondering if he
17:27
Speaker 2: signed a minor league deal with the Cubs, because the
17:29
Speaker 2: Cubs keep rolling out these relievers signed to minor league
17:33
Speaker 2: deals and I can't most of the names don't really
17:37
Speaker 2: ring ring bells for me, but I guarantee that one
17:44
Speaker 2: or two of them are gonna wind up pitching huge
17:47
Speaker 2: innings at Wrigley Field. Definitely curious about Harvey the way
17:54
Speaker 2: you've written about him, described him, his pedigree. Super interesting
17:59
Speaker 2: guy if he can stay healthy. And I was looking
18:02
Speaker 2: it up the other day when you include Caleb theolbar,
18:06
Speaker 2: they Cups invested almost thirty million dollars in their bullpen,
18:10
Speaker 2: which isn't a lot when you look at some of
18:13
Speaker 2: those reliever contracts out there for the high end closer,
18:19
Speaker 2: but you compare it to previous off seasons, it kind
18:21
Speaker 2: of blows away the amount that the Cubs have spent.
18:26
Speaker 2: Like you know, it would be kind of a a
18:29
Speaker 2: hector NAIs here taking on especially's salary there, But it
18:37
Speaker 2: was really a minimalist approach to the to the bullpen,
18:41
Speaker 2: and like here they feel confident in their process. They
18:45
Speaker 2: went in bulk for guys that they weren't signed for nothing.
18:52
Speaker 2: But they also didn't really like blow anyone away, and
18:55
Speaker 2: so I'm curious to see, like how this comes together.
18:58
Speaker 2: It was definitely it was definitely more of a priority.
19:01
Speaker 2: I mean there are times, you know when we going
19:02
Speaker 2: on to MESA and you just kind of look around
19:04
Speaker 2: like they are really just throwing stuff against the wall
19:07
Speaker 2: to see what sticks. Like there is clearly a plan
19:11
Speaker 2: in place here and guys that they're counting on, and
19:14
Speaker 2: we'll see who gets hurt. You know, who who has
19:20
Speaker 2: it and who doesn't. But there's definitely more more structure,
19:24
Speaker 2: even if the roles are undefined to a point at
19:29
Speaker 2: this stage.
19:30
Speaker 3: Yeah, I totally forgot about about Caleb Thielbar.
19:34
Speaker 1: He'll obviously be in that high leverage He'll be their
19:37
Speaker 1: most high leverage lefty to to start off the season.
19:41
Speaker 1: I would assume a couple guys with stuff that we
19:44
Speaker 1: know about Ben Brown and Porter Hodge. Ben Brown, I
19:47
Speaker 1: assume will be in that swing swingman role to start off, Like,
19:51
Speaker 1: I don't know where he'll be. Will he be stretched
19:54
Speaker 1: out in triple A, Will he be in the bullpen
19:56
Speaker 1: to start the season.
19:56
Speaker 3: Will injuries pile up in the spring and he's in
19:59
Speaker 3: the rotation? I don't know.
20:00
Speaker 1: We don't know yet, but he certainly has the stuff
20:03
Speaker 1: to be a nasty bullpen guy. We know what Porter
20:05
Speaker 1: Hodge can do. He's got to lock in that command
20:08
Speaker 1: and get it back to twenty twenty four. But he
20:11
Speaker 1: could obviously be a big part of this. And then
20:13
Speaker 1: two non roster invites that I think are probably the
20:16
Speaker 1: guys that, look, they're not gonna have another Brad Keller
20:20
Speaker 1: because that is like hitting a Grand Slam with a
20:24
Speaker 1: non non roster invite, so it's really hard to replicate that.
20:28
Speaker 1: But the two names I would point to our Corbyn Martin,
20:31
Speaker 1: who has this stuff to be a really good reliever.
20:34
Speaker 1: And then I don't think he's gonna come out of
20:37
Speaker 1: camp because I think they're gonna slow pay play him.
20:40
Speaker 1: Trent Thornton has had, like as has been a really
20:44
Speaker 1: good relievers. He has good stuff. Those are two names
20:48
Speaker 1: that I would I would keep an eye on, see
20:51
Speaker 1: how they're doing in spring.
20:54
Speaker 3: I don't know what their opt outs are.
20:55
Speaker 1: We'll figure that stuff out when we get to spring,
20:57
Speaker 1: but you know those are those are the type of
21:00
Speaker 1: guys that could pop and you're like, Okay, you have
21:03
Speaker 1: to add this guy or or this guy's a you know,
21:06
Speaker 1: April Ad once he's healthy whatever it is. Uh, but there,
21:09
Speaker 1: but there are options there with the non roster invites,
21:12
Speaker 1: and there there have to be there. They'll always have
21:14
Speaker 1: depth and extra guys and guys that we don't expect
21:17
Speaker 1: to pop over the course of the year. And then
21:19
Speaker 1: there's gonna be some minor leaguer that neither of us
21:21
Speaker 1: are talking about that that pops. I'm sure it'll happen, right.
21:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, Chad, Chad really nailed it with that question.
21:28
Speaker 2: It seems like something that you know, we'll be writing
21:30
Speaker 2: a lot in Mesa and even once the season starts,
21:35
Speaker 2: it's not like Council is going to anoint some closer.
21:38
Speaker 2: It's like, we'll see what they do the first game,
21:40
Speaker 2: so they do the next day of opportunity, and then
21:42
Speaker 2: maybe a pattern will emerge eventually. But you know, Chad's
21:48
Speaker 2: question makes me think of what Council acknowledge at the
21:50
Speaker 2: winter meetings. Just like whatever we thought about the bullpen
21:53
Speaker 2: at the beginning of last year, we were wrong. Yeah,
21:56
Speaker 2: maybe they can get it right from the start this time.
22:00
Speaker 3: Let's see. Yeah, Okay, last question. It is from Joe
22:03
Speaker 3: Meedden's glasses.
22:04
Speaker 1: The farm system does not seem to have much in
22:06
Speaker 1: terms of impact impact prospect other than Wiggins. Should we
22:11
Speaker 1: be concerned or is this just a normal EBB and
22:13
Speaker 1: flow A little from column A, a little from column B. Look,
22:17
Speaker 1: I think this last draft class could be good. I
22:21
Speaker 1: think the bats are interesting. Kane Kepley was obviously awesome
22:26
Speaker 1: in his brief exposure to par ball. Ethan Conrad seems
22:31
Speaker 1: like one of those pop up guys that's like the
22:34
Speaker 1: Cubs have been good about getting later in a mid round,
22:37
Speaker 1: and for some reason he's not valued as high.
22:41
Speaker 3: This was injury.
22:43
Speaker 1: Cam Smith was like kind of popped late in his career.
22:47
Speaker 1: In his college career, Matt Shaw, I believe was an
22:50
Speaker 1: incredibly deep draft. So sometimes you just like these guys
22:54
Speaker 1: have been falling for various reasons. But it sounds like
22:58
Speaker 1: everybody seems to agree, like, oh, Conrad, if he's healthy,
23:02
Speaker 1: like it seems like he's he's got like really high potential.
23:06
Speaker 1: I think the question could be focused on pitching, and
23:11
Speaker 1: here's how I'd look at it. I think the Cubs
23:13
Speaker 1: took a step back with their player development over the
23:16
Speaker 1: past couple of years, and I think, you know, obviously
23:21
Speaker 1: they've made changes. Tyler Zombro's VP of pitching much more
23:25
Speaker 1: in control of what's going to happen with the player development,
23:28
Speaker 1: pitching development.
23:29
Speaker 3: It's a it's he's.
23:31
Speaker 1: Got a lot of you know, hats that he wears
23:33
Speaker 1: in this organization, but that is a big focus of
23:36
Speaker 1: his My understanding is there's a Vlo camp going on
23:41
Speaker 1: right now. They're trying to get back like make sure
23:44
Speaker 1: that that's a focus because I think, for some reason,
23:48
Speaker 1: I don't know why, like these things. They they weren't
23:51
Speaker 1: developing Velo as well as they had been for a
23:54
Speaker 1: couple of years. It had been a good thing for them,
23:57
Speaker 1: and they took a step back for a couple of years.
24:00
Speaker 1: Is it because of the departure of Greg Breslo, Is
24:02
Speaker 1: it because of the talent?
24:03
Speaker 3: I don't know.
24:04
Speaker 1: It's it's hard to nail down all these things, and
24:06
Speaker 1: sometimes you don't get straight answers because people don't want
24:09
Speaker 1: to throw people under the bus.
24:10
Speaker 3: Whatever it may be.
24:12
Speaker 1: Ultimately, I do think this is something that can turn quickly.
24:16
Speaker 1: And I say that because look at Boston their pitching
24:21
Speaker 1: development has shifted quickly. Look at the New York Mets,
24:24
Speaker 1: their pitching development has shifted quickly, so these things can
24:28
Speaker 1: change if.
24:28
Speaker 3: You have the right talent.
24:31
Speaker 1: They there's like a guy like Caleb Wing I believe
24:34
Speaker 1: he was a high schooler that they drafted last draft.
24:37
Speaker 1: Is someone that you know could pop, And they're like, okay,
24:41
Speaker 1: with the right player development, this guy looks like a
24:45
Speaker 1: real prospect now. And who knows, maybe there's someone else
24:48
Speaker 1: that we're not talking about that pops. But if Tyler
24:51
Speaker 1: Zombro is the right guy to run this and he's
24:54
Speaker 1: got the right ideas, it could turn quickly. But yes,
24:57
Speaker 1: it's it's a combo of normal Evan flow where a
25:00
Speaker 1: lot of guys have graduated. It's been pretty heavy on
25:03
Speaker 1: the position player side, and you have to have concern
25:07
Speaker 1: when there's a gap like that, when you're like, wait,
25:10
Speaker 1: why is there one pitcher in the top like fifteen
25:15
Speaker 1: of this system or whatever it may be. Maybe that's hyperbole,
25:18
Speaker 1: but you have to have you have to like look
25:20
Speaker 1: at it and say what's going wrong?
25:22
Speaker 3: What needs to be changed? And to their credit, they did.
25:24
Speaker 3: They didn't wait that long. It was a year or
25:27
Speaker 3: two of falling behind and saying, oh, oh, what's going
25:30
Speaker 3: on here?
25:31
Speaker 2: Yeah? I think if if Picrow Armstrong is like a
25:35
Speaker 2: perennial MVP candidate, and Kate Horton is a regular cy
25:40
Speaker 2: Young Award contender looking out over the next several years,
25:44
Speaker 2: you know, before they get into the arbitration system, before
25:48
Speaker 2: they reach free agency. Like you can weather some of
25:51
Speaker 2: this stuff a lot better. When Baseball Operations is giving
25:55
Speaker 2: a budget that is expected to exceed the luxury tax threshold,
25:59
Speaker 2: you can sort of work around some of this stuff easier.
26:03
Speaker 2: So I think all this stuff is contextual. I think
26:09
Speaker 2: back to when the Cubs made a lot of changes
26:11
Speaker 2: in the draft, like they had just drafted Nico Horner,
26:17
Speaker 2: and that was not like that was towards the back
26:20
Speaker 2: end of the first round. It wasn't like, you know,
26:24
Speaker 2: oh my god, Like they got this guy and he
26:27
Speaker 2: developed for a lot of different reasons, mostly Nico's own
26:31
Speaker 2: internal drive. But you know, sometimes you know, scouting groups
26:37
Speaker 2: get dinged or player get development, you know, gets a
26:40
Speaker 2: bad rap, and then all of a sudden, you look
26:42
Speaker 2: up with time things look either a lot better or
26:46
Speaker 2: a lot worse. And you know, I'm I do think
26:50
Speaker 2: they've figured out they've gotten better on the pitching side,
26:53
Speaker 2: you know, relative to say ten years ago. I still
26:57
Speaker 2: don't think they're anywhere close to where they want to be.
27:04
Speaker 2: I think when you're also looking at the farm system
27:06
Speaker 2: as a whole, like they seem comfortable giving moists by
27:10
Speaker 2: Asteros roughly five hundred at bats this year as an
27:13
Speaker 2: almost purely a designated hitter for playoff contender, like if
27:19
Speaker 2: he hits as well, all of a sudden, this era looks.
27:25
Speaker 3: A lot different.
27:26
Speaker 2: And you know, I was also I'm also curious too,
27:29
Speaker 2: like what they do at the trade deadline, Like can
27:32
Speaker 2: they if you look out over the next several months,
27:35
Speaker 2: can they get some guys to pop. You were the
27:37
Speaker 2: one who actually pointed this out to me, going all
27:40
Speaker 2: the way back to last summer of just like what
27:44
Speaker 2: are the Cubs really have to offer, and like do
27:46
Speaker 2: they line up? Like, you know, you need some of
27:49
Speaker 2: those higher level prospects to entice teams. You need some
27:54
Speaker 2: of those you know, relievers that pop up and are
27:57
Speaker 2: throwing a hundred, and you're like take them like sells
28:00
Speaker 2: to kind of sell high. Like teams seem to be
28:03
Speaker 2: less interested in those like super far away lottery tickets,
28:09
Speaker 2: And so I think it's gonna be a really critical
28:13
Speaker 2: stretch here for you know, player development and not just
28:18
Speaker 2: player to film, but really all of baseball operations to
28:21
Speaker 2: kind of like get this thing back on track. And
28:25
Speaker 2: maybe going back to previous question, some names do pop
28:29
Speaker 2: up that we're not even thinking of, and the outlook looks.
28:35
Speaker 3: A lot better.
28:36
Speaker 2: But right now, I think you know, there is genuine
28:41
Speaker 2: optimism about the season ahead, but also you know, genuine
28:44
Speaker 2: concerns are like they're not where they want to be.
28:47
Speaker 2: I think that's fair to say, and I think that's
28:50
Speaker 2: something they would acknowledge, even on the record on a podcast.
28:54
Speaker 2: I think they would say that.
28:55
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think I agree.
28:57
Speaker 1: I mean when you make changes, like, I think that's
29:00
Speaker 1: that's the case, right, you're admitting that. And Jed said
29:03
Speaker 1: as much with the pitching when I asked them directly,
29:07
Speaker 1: that there were some concerns and they've made the changes.
29:10
Speaker 1: Let's see what happens. I think they have some talent there.
29:13
Speaker 1: I don't think the drafts have been abysmal. I think
29:16
Speaker 1: there they've made some changes with the drafts that'll hopefully
29:21
Speaker 1: you'll see some results coming next summer. But you know
29:24
Speaker 1: that there they'll continue to adjust and player development is.
29:28
Speaker 3: So important.
29:30
Speaker 1: Obviously, we've learned that so well, we'll see where that
29:34
Speaker 1: ends up and what type of talent they can churn out,
29:36
Speaker 1: because it's it is the lifeblood of the organization.
29:40
Speaker 3: And as annoying as.
29:43
Speaker 1: Carter Hawkins's quote was about twenty thirty two, they have
29:46
Speaker 1: to think about the future, they have to also do that.
29:49
Speaker 1: And if and if you're only thinking about twenty twenty six,
29:53
Speaker 1: it's gonna impact things. And whether it's the trade deadline
29:56
Speaker 1: or it's twenty twenty seven, twenty eight, twenty nine, like
30:00
Speaker 1: the system has to help you in some way. All right,
30:03
Speaker 1: we'll be back with another mailbag episode. You guys have
30:06
Speaker 1: given us so many questions. We've got thirty minutes worth
30:08
Speaker 1: of answers for you today, so I mean, thanks, appreciate
30:12
Speaker 1: the questions. We'll be back with more answering more questions tomorrow.
30:16
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening. This is Northside Terrector and
30:18
Speaker 1: make sure to rate, review, subscribe, subscribe to the YouTube channel,
30:21
Speaker 1: and subscribe to The Athletic where Patrick and I are
30:24
Speaker 1: on top of all things cubs. Thanks for listening, everyone,
30:26
Speaker 1: Take care