Latest / North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast / Where the Cubs stand with the “Big Four” free agents

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Where the Cubs stand with the “Big Four” free agents · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

0:04
Speaker 1: Welcome into Northside Territory. Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast. I'm
0:08
Speaker 1: Sahadev Charma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are your
0:11
Speaker 1: Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic Patrick. The Cubs
0:16
Speaker 1: have lured in their their pitcher, the starting pitcher. They've
0:20
Speaker 1: built rebuilt a bullpen that looks pretty solid on paper
0:24
Speaker 1: right now, and there are still four big bats out there,
0:30
Speaker 1: and you could make a plausible argument for each one
0:34
Speaker 1: of them making sense for the Cubs. You know, it's
0:39
Speaker 1: Boba Schett, Alex Bregman, Cody Bellinger, Kyle Tucker. I don't
0:45
Speaker 1: think you know, is each one a perfect fit? Does
0:49
Speaker 1: each one make perfect sense?
0:50
Speaker 2: No?
0:51
Speaker 1: I think there's arguments against them all, really, But the
0:55
Speaker 1: Cubs have money to spend right now, and I think
0:58
Speaker 1: it would make a lot of sense to add one
1:00
Speaker 1: of those bats and kind of finish off what's been
1:04
Speaker 1: a good season, good off season, and turn it into
1:07
Speaker 1: a great one.
1:10
Speaker 2: I keep thinking back to what you said our last
1:13
Speaker 2: show of the Cubs Higher Craig Council, But don't go
1:17
Speaker 2: all in that offseason. They trade for Kyle Tucker and
1:20
Speaker 2: then are rather restrained the next off season fascinated to
1:26
Speaker 2: see how this stage of the off season unfolds, and
1:32
Speaker 2: it'll probably stretch into spring training.
1:36
Speaker 3: Once again, that would be my bet.
1:39
Speaker 2: And I'd imagine what we're talking about here is a
1:44
Speaker 2: lot of the same sort of internal debates that the
1:49
Speaker 2: Cubs are having. And before we get into each individual guy,
1:54
Speaker 2: I think it's important to note that there are several
2:00
Speaker 2: big market teams or the history of spending big and
2:03
Speaker 2: a pattern of aggressiveness in on all these players. So
2:07
Speaker 2: I wouldn't like assume that, oh, the Cubs are just
2:11
Speaker 2: gonna land one of them. And there's still a question
2:13
Speaker 2: mark of like are they willing to spend up to
2:19
Speaker 2: and beyond the luxury tax threshold, And so if it's
2:24
Speaker 2: roughly thirty million or whatever, how you want to kind
2:28
Speaker 2: of dice it up and maybe you save some for
2:30
Speaker 2: in season reinforcements whatever, Like there's a slot a salary
2:36
Speaker 2: slot there for an established hitter, and I think everyone
2:41
Speaker 2: would agree that would make a ton of sense. Is
2:45
Speaker 2: what a team does when they win ninety plus games
2:48
Speaker 2: in a playoff round.
2:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, first, luxury text threshold is two forty four Cubs.
2:55
Speaker 1: According to Roster Resource on Fangrafts, are at like two
3:00
Speaker 1: teen point five let's say let's say two fourteen, so
3:03
Speaker 1: about thirty million under it. It'll be interesting how if
3:07
Speaker 1: they if and how they could fit any of these
3:10
Speaker 1: guys in and still stay under and still have wiggle
3:14
Speaker 1: room to add at the deadline. You know, it's not
3:19
Speaker 1: an easy thing to do. But also they're the Cubs,
3:22
Speaker 1: and we've said this plenty act like it. You know,
3:29
Speaker 1: a name that we hadn't I guess heard associated with
3:32
Speaker 1: the Cubs until recently was is boas Chet.
3:37
Speaker 4: I want to call him Dante. That's how old I am.
3:41
Speaker 1: And he's actually you know, like if you're looking at
3:48
Speaker 1: youth and like, okay, who do what type of players
3:52
Speaker 1: do you give a long term deal to? You know,
3:56
Speaker 1: position wise, what type of what type of player do
4:00
Speaker 1: you give long team term deals too? He's a he's
4:04
Speaker 1: a shortstop. He's going to be twenty eight in March.
4:10
Speaker 1: These are usually the guys that get those long term deals,
4:13
Speaker 1: the big money deals. He he wall. I think he's
4:17
Speaker 1: a you know, more of a contact guy. He doesn't
4:19
Speaker 1: strike out a ton. He's not pure, he's not like
4:24
Speaker 1: just all power, but he's you know, he's a good, good,
4:28
Speaker 1: all around bat and not a great defender, but he
4:33
Speaker 1: plays up the middle, so that gives him value. Seems
4:37
Speaker 1: like he would be the type of guy that you'd
4:39
Speaker 1: spend big on, that the Cubs would be interested in.
4:42
Speaker 1: But only recently did we start hearing his name, And
4:45
Speaker 1: you know, I think there are reasons for that, but
4:47
Speaker 1: he's he's certainly someone that fits and and would be
4:50
Speaker 1: a nice long term piece as well.
4:54
Speaker 3: Sorry, I wasn't even listening.
4:55
Speaker 2: I was looking at Dante Vischet's baseball reference kind of
4:58
Speaker 2: it's kind of a amazing uh. I think we'll get
5:03
Speaker 2: into one reason why he hasn't been.
5:08
Speaker 3: As much of a focus.
5:09
Speaker 2: I think Alex pregnant Is is a big part of that,
5:11
Speaker 2: and he's kind of the next name on deck. But
5:15
Speaker 2: you know, Bishett our colleagues Matt gil and Ken Rosenthal,
5:19
Speaker 2: so that he has a meeting set up with the Phillies,
5:24
Speaker 2: I think additional port of the athletic makes it seem
5:27
Speaker 2: like he's probably not heading back to Toronto.
5:37
Speaker 3: Had these ups and downs in Toronto.
5:39
Speaker 2: It's really amazing when you think about how like that
5:42
Speaker 2: core group was largely viewed as a disappointment, The sort
5:47
Speaker 2: of bridesmaids and free agencies, and then all of a
5:49
Speaker 2: sudden they have that amazing October and they're a destination
5:56
Speaker 2: And you know, he had some huge moments for the
6:01
Speaker 2: Blue Jays.
6:01
Speaker 3: I think that matters.
6:04
Speaker 2: He's been banged up to and you know, even though
6:07
Speaker 2: he's young, he'll be turned twenty eight during spring training.
6:12
Speaker 2: That doesn't necessarily mean like guaranteed longevity, you know what
6:18
Speaker 2: I mean of, like, right I gonna age. I'd imagine
6:23
Speaker 2: the Cubs, given their how much emphasis they place on defense,
6:27
Speaker 2: probably don't give him, you know, the highest of marks
6:31
Speaker 2: in that area in terms of projectability.
6:34
Speaker 3: Like and really, you know, when we look at the.
6:40
Speaker 2: Free agent lists and we're comparing notes and sending texts
6:43
Speaker 2: and messages on Slack, it's says like, well, if this
6:47
Speaker 2: guy's gonna get three hundred million, ten year deal, Cubs
6:53
Speaker 2: don't really do that. They're not in the business of
6:55
Speaker 2: doing that. And so now, you know, we're into the
7:00
Speaker 2: middle of January, Cups conventions, approaching NFL playoffs about to
7:05
Speaker 2: kick off, and he's still out there. And so it
7:07
Speaker 2: seems to me a little more like due diligence and
7:13
Speaker 2: kind of like staying in the conversation.
7:18
Speaker 3: More than.
7:20
Speaker 2: Like absolutely fixated on this guy, and that is something
7:23
Speaker 2: from the top, like comes want to sign the guy
7:26
Speaker 2: that will sign the best deal for them. I think
7:28
Speaker 2: we sometimes just internalize that and don't say it out loud,
7:32
Speaker 2: but like that is the way to look at this
7:34
Speaker 2: whole landscape of they want the best deal for them,
7:40
Speaker 2: whatever gives them, you know, the most surplus value, whatever
7:44
Speaker 2: maintains that flexibility, whatever the computer says. And so I
7:51
Speaker 2: think Boba Schett has a lot going for him in
7:53
Speaker 2: that regard. But I can also see where the kind
7:58
Speaker 2: of the stop points are the checkpoints.
8:00
Speaker 3: For the cups.
8:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, there are certain things that concern me about Bobashet.
8:05
Speaker 1: I mean, where does he play long term? He's not
8:09
Speaker 1: a good He's not a good defensive short stuff. But
8:13
Speaker 1: I think by both the eye test and the advanced metrics,
8:17
Speaker 1: he's not a bad player.
8:18
Speaker 4: By any means.
8:19
Speaker 1: He's not like a terrible defender, but he's not a
8:21
Speaker 1: very good short stop. So that means second base or
8:24
Speaker 1: third base. He's got, you know, some some injuries that
8:28
Speaker 1: have been nagging him over the past couple of years.
8:31
Speaker 4: How does he age? How does that body age?
8:33
Speaker 1: He's not like this super athletic body type that you know,
8:38
Speaker 1: you can shift to any position and feel really good
8:40
Speaker 1: about it. Like I think there are aging concerns. It's
8:44
Speaker 1: not like a power bat, and a lot of times
8:48
Speaker 1: that's what you want to pay for when you're paying
8:51
Speaker 1: for long term either it's like, what's the elite tool here.
8:55
Speaker 1: He's just kind of like a batting average guy that
8:59
Speaker 1: that does have pop, But it's not like there's not
9:01
Speaker 1: like this elite skill set that you're just like, you know.
9:06
Speaker 4: You you're paying for.
9:08
Speaker 1: You're paying Dansery Swanson for elite defensive short stuff and
9:12
Speaker 1: he's a he's a twenty homer bat a short stop.
9:16
Speaker 1: I know, he's not a great offensive player. He's like
9:19
Speaker 1: he ends up being like averaged a slightly above average
9:22
Speaker 1: every year on offense. But it's a twenty homer pop
9:26
Speaker 1: an elite defensive short that's what you're paying for. And
9:29
Speaker 1: you know, and the Cubs kind of projected this guy's
9:32
Speaker 1: going to stay at shortstop long term.
9:34
Speaker 4: That's not the projection with Boba Schett.
9:37
Speaker 1: That's a you know, they're they're just questions there and
9:40
Speaker 1: I don't I don't know if it's a great fit,
9:43
Speaker 1: but I think your point is what we're going to
9:45
Speaker 1: get back to on every single one of these players,
9:48
Speaker 1: does this contract make sense? Is their value? There is
9:51
Speaker 1: their surplus value? I like, I think the next guy,
9:56
Speaker 1: you know, Fregman, he just makes the most s for
10:00
Speaker 1: what the Cubs are looking for, what they're trying to do.
10:04
Speaker 4: Look, I know.
10:06
Speaker 1: I'm I very much lean to numbers things we can
10:11
Speaker 1: like really look at and and break down and understand. Ah,
10:16
Speaker 1: But I think there's something to Bregman. Bregman's value that
10:20
Speaker 1: we cannot fully look on a Fangrafts page and say, well,
10:24
Speaker 1: there it is.
10:24
Speaker 4: That's what. Uh.
10:26
Speaker 1: You know, Puss puts him over the edge for the Cubs.
10:30
Speaker 1: But I think what a lot of what puts him
10:32
Speaker 1: over the edge. Look, there's a fit he's he's a
10:34
Speaker 1: great defender at third base. His the way his game works. Uh,
10:39
Speaker 1: he pulls the ball, but not straight down the line.
10:42
Speaker 1: He's more like a gap guy, like a left center
10:45
Speaker 1: gap shortest like shallowest left center gap in baseball?
10:49
Speaker 4: Is regular field?
10:50
Speaker 1: Is it going to be as good as what is
10:53
Speaker 1: a dacin park? No, it's not like those those boxes,
10:58
Speaker 1: the Crawford boxes.
11:00
Speaker 4: That's freakish. That's that's great and same.
11:02
Speaker 1: You know, Fenway Park's pretty great too, but Wrigley would
11:04
Speaker 1: be great, Like it would be a good ballpark for
11:06
Speaker 1: him to hit it. And and I think the clincher
11:09
Speaker 1: for me is like this guy is looked at as
11:12
Speaker 1: like an.
11:12
Speaker 4: Elite clubhouse guy.
11:15
Speaker 1: Like we talk about the revolt in the clubhouse if
11:21
Speaker 1: they get rid of if they.
11:22
Speaker 4: Trade Nico Horner.
11:24
Speaker 1: I think this is the only guy that can come
11:26
Speaker 1: close to like replacing what Nico brings in the clubhouse.
11:29
Speaker 1: From everything we hear, not only is he just like
11:32
Speaker 1: this elite clubhouse guy, but he's it's not like he
11:36
Speaker 1: not only is like the intense like Nico and and
11:39
Speaker 1: like all those things that you look for, like a
11:41
Speaker 1: Justin Turner type, he's he like genuinely is like another
11:46
Speaker 1: coach on the on the team. Like I think there's
11:50
Speaker 1: the Cubs buy into that they have people that that
11:54
Speaker 1: know him well that I think they project him to age. Well,
11:59
Speaker 1: that's something else like a you know, huge age difference.
12:02
Speaker 4: I think it's a.
12:03
Speaker 1: Five year gap, four year gap, maybe four and a
12:06
Speaker 1: half year whatever it is between him and Bishet, right,
12:09
Speaker 1: that's significant in baseball terms, but it's a. I just
12:14
Speaker 1: think they see him aging well, and this is the
12:16
Speaker 1: guy that makes the most sense to me when when
12:19
Speaker 1: it all when you are talking about every single aspect
12:22
Speaker 1: of the game, I think he's the one that makes
12:24
Speaker 1: the most sense.
12:26
Speaker 2: Without a doubt. I mean, his intangels are so good.
12:28
Speaker 2: The Cubs actually acknowledge those things exist like and there
12:34
Speaker 2: are people who will vouch for that, and that's why
12:38
Speaker 2: there was so much frustration when the Cubs out did
12:43
Speaker 2: in so many different directions last spring for his services.
12:48
Speaker 2: And so the fit is still there. The you know, payroll,
12:55
Speaker 2: the books are extremely clean moving forward, and you're right,
13:04
Speaker 2: like they this guy lit up their model in terms
13:06
Speaker 2: of projections of how good he could be into the future,
13:11
Speaker 2: his aiding curve. There's some flexibility there as you're looking
13:16
Speaker 2: ahead over the next couple of years, and it's you
13:20
Speaker 2: kind of you know, look at as an investment and
13:23
Speaker 2: say the next decade of Pete Crow Armstrong or like
13:27
Speaker 2: Matt Shaw or making you know, Michael Bush, like having
13:31
Speaker 2: him continue on that path of like you know, Justin
13:35
Speaker 2: Turner brought a lot of off the field stuff and
13:38
Speaker 2: was a more limited role player on the field, but
13:41
Speaker 2: Bregman brings kind of all of that, and within that clubhouse,
13:46
Speaker 2: they they knew that too, Like they knew that even
13:50
Speaker 2: if Bregman got hurt or struggled at times stuff that
13:56
Speaker 2: happened in Boston, that his sort of like baseball mind
14:00
Speaker 2: could still bring a lot on a daily basis in
14:03
Speaker 2: terms of team preparation. His observations in the dugout in
14:07
Speaker 2: the on deck circle really sort of, you know, accentuating
14:13
Speaker 2: a culture that they've already started to build.
14:16
Speaker 3: And so.
14:19
Speaker 2: Because he's older, because they've already, you know, shown a
14:22
Speaker 2: willingness to make him, you know, an offer. I think
14:28
Speaker 2: he's sort of the the favorite at this point. But
14:33
Speaker 2: again it goes back to there are a lot of teams.
14:38
Speaker 2: Maybe not a lot of teams, but there's probably enough
14:40
Speaker 2: teams to like keep a market for him and to
14:44
Speaker 2: keep it to keep the Cubs sort of on their toes.
14:48
Speaker 2: And I think, whether it's him or these two other
14:53
Speaker 2: guys who are going to be talking about it's this
14:58
Speaker 2: he did short term once, I don't know he's willing
15:00
Speaker 2: to do it again.
15:01
Speaker 3: And whether it's.
15:03
Speaker 2: Mellinger dig short term, not sure his appetite for doing
15:06
Speaker 2: that again. Kyle Tucker probably won't have to do short term,
15:09
Speaker 2: but for all of these guys, if you need a
15:12
Speaker 2: place to put up huge numbers and then go back
15:14
Speaker 2: out in the free agent market. At this moment, there's
15:17
Speaker 2: a lot of skepticism about Wrigley Field and its offensive
15:21
Speaker 2: environment for hitters.
15:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think we we've heard Jed Hoyer push
15:28
Speaker 1: back on that, and he you know, he's got a point,
15:33
Speaker 1: but right now, like that that we just don't know
15:36
Speaker 1: what what it's gonna look like year to year, so
15:38
Speaker 1: you can't make that assumption. And Michael Bush had a
15:41
Speaker 1: great season as a lefty peak Armstore and had a
15:44
Speaker 1: great power season as a left So so there are
15:46
Speaker 1: lefties that can have really good power numbers. That that,
15:50
Speaker 1: and that obviously relates directly to both Tucker and Bellinger
15:55
Speaker 1: obviously not Bregnant or Bishett when it comes to lefties.
15:59
Speaker 1: But one quick thing before we move on from Bregman.
16:03
Speaker 1: We can analyze this more if he's brought in. But
16:06
Speaker 1: I'm fascinated to see how it all works and how
16:10
Speaker 1: it fits together with Shaw and Nico. If you keep Nico,
16:14
Speaker 1: assuming you keep Nico, which I think I think we
16:17
Speaker 1: both agree would be the right thing to do, and
16:23
Speaker 1: like what type of super utility role would Shaw phil.
16:28
Speaker 1: I think it makes your team complete, I think it
16:30
Speaker 1: makes your team deeper. I think it's really interesting. I'd
16:34
Speaker 1: be fascinating to hear how the coaching staff would plan
16:38
Speaker 1: to use Matt Shaw, Like is he someone that you're
16:41
Speaker 1: comfortable starting the season with, is not in your starting
16:45
Speaker 1: nine but playing regularly somehow how.
16:49
Speaker 4: Do you fit them it? How does it work?
16:51
Speaker 1: That's I'm just curious to if we get to that point,
16:54
Speaker 1: how it works. Not something we need to analyze right
16:57
Speaker 1: now because it hasn't happened, but I'm it's just something
17:00
Speaker 1: that I keep coming back to when we talk about Bregman,
17:02
Speaker 1: like if you don't trade Nico Horner, which I think
17:05
Speaker 1: would be the right thing to do, because that's like
17:07
Speaker 1: it's like a really like we're going for it this year,
17:10
Speaker 1: you know, But I also would understand the the motive
17:16
Speaker 1: behind trading him. Don't like it, but I'm just saying,
17:19
Speaker 1: like I would get it, But how would you use Shaw?
17:23
Speaker 1: I'm fascinated to see how it would work, especially with
17:27
Speaker 1: the second half he had. When it comes to the outfield,
17:31
Speaker 1: you know, there's there are fits that like Bellinger, and
17:35
Speaker 1: Tucker both fit a look, but I just have a
17:40
Speaker 1: like the.
17:41
Speaker 4: Bellinger fit for me.
17:43
Speaker 1: I like Cody Bellinger, loved covering him, good dude in
17:47
Speaker 1: the clubhouse, good dude to be around, had one great
17:52
Speaker 1: season with the Cubs, had won okay season with the Cubs.
17:57
Speaker 1: I just don't know if his styal works for Wrigley Field.
18:05
Speaker 4: I think he'd be a great defensive right fielder.
18:10
Speaker 1: I think you do want to play Moyses Biasteros or
18:14
Speaker 1: put him in that lineup every day, so the fit
18:17
Speaker 1: doesn't work as well. I understand, like I just said,
18:19
Speaker 1: I don't know how exactly would work with Shaw, but
18:23
Speaker 1: there's no way it can work with Biaserius because you
18:25
Speaker 1: can't play him anywhere. There's nowhere to play him, and
18:28
Speaker 1: now you have to you have to batsay a suzuki regularly.
18:31
Speaker 1: So it's just it's a weird fit. They suddenly want
18:37
Speaker 1: to give him like the some of the mental part
18:40
Speaker 1: of it doesn't line up for me, Like they suddenly
18:43
Speaker 1: now are willing to pay him like a much bigger deal,
18:45
Speaker 1: long term deal, when they didn't want to do it
18:48
Speaker 1: last year and they salary dumped him. Essentially does what
18:53
Speaker 1: he like does his skill set work for Wrigley. He
18:56
Speaker 1: doesn't hit the ball super hard. He's a real like
18:59
Speaker 1: he It fits perfectly for Yankee stadium or ballparks that
19:04
Speaker 1: where the wind isn't like gonna crush the ball for
19:07
Speaker 1: a left handed pull hitter.
19:10
Speaker 4: I don't see it. I it the.
19:12
Speaker 1: Fit for me doesn't work as well as these other guys.
19:17
Speaker 1: But I understand it. And again it gets back to
19:20
Speaker 1: the point that we're gonna keep coming back to, which is, like,
19:23
Speaker 1: I guess if it's circles value, but come on, he's
19:26
Speaker 1: gonna want a long term deal, He's gonna want a
19:28
Speaker 1: big chunk of change here.
19:29
Speaker 4: It just doesn't it's not adding up for me.
19:33
Speaker 3: No, I'm with you on that one.
19:34
Speaker 2: I mean, our colleague got the athletic Brendan Cuddy had
19:36
Speaker 2: a good story yeah that published this week, saying that
19:42
Speaker 2: the Yankees have offered an average annual value of more
19:46
Speaker 2: than thirty million a year, while Bellinger's camp has continued
19:51
Speaker 2: to push for seven years. So, like you said, do
19:55
Speaker 2: the math here, I mean, how like you know, it
19:58
Speaker 2: was years ago when the Cubs held a very firm
20:03
Speaker 2: line of not wanting to go long term and giving
20:06
Speaker 2: him those opt outs and he didn't use one, and
20:12
Speaker 2: then they salary dumped him for a pitcher who didn't
20:17
Speaker 2: make it past March in the organization last year.
20:21
Speaker 3: So yes, they need bodies.
20:24
Speaker 2: Like we could look up at the end of the
20:26
Speaker 2: twenty sixth season be like, man, it would be nice
20:28
Speaker 2: to have Cody Bellinger. But I'm with you even with
20:34
Speaker 2: whatever the terms wind up being. It just I don't
20:39
Speaker 2: unless you blow unless if you give him seven years.
20:41
Speaker 2: He probably doesn't care if the wind's blowing in at Wrigley.
20:43
Speaker 2: But otherwise I think that was a challenge for him
20:46
Speaker 2: because otherwise he loved you know, he's from from the area,
20:50
Speaker 2: loved training in Mesa, really enjoyed Chicago, fit in very well.
21:01
Speaker 2: I think one thing that does not come across and
21:04
Speaker 2: maybe it's starting to come across more now, but like
21:07
Speaker 2: how much this guy just loves baseball. Like he looks
21:09
Speaker 2: sort of, you know, super chill and laid back, but
21:14
Speaker 2: like he's really into the game and working on his craft,
21:19
Speaker 2: and like teammates really appreciate that about him. Coaches and
21:23
Speaker 2: managers appreciate that about him. So like he would bring
21:29
Speaker 2: certain intangibles and I'm sure he'd be open to it
21:34
Speaker 2: to a degree. It's just the like what year is this?
21:39
Speaker 4: Like?
21:39
Speaker 3: What what year?
21:40
Speaker 4: Like?
21:40
Speaker 3: What do we want? Why are we talking.
21:44
Speaker 2: About the Cubs and Cody Beldrick, Like that was like
21:46
Speaker 2: a perfect fit when he needed a spot, a soft
21:49
Speaker 2: landing spot after his experience with the Dodgers, and he
21:53
Speaker 2: fell to them once and they were able to do
21:56
Speaker 2: a deal with Scott Boris. I just have a harder
21:58
Speaker 2: time seeing them doing it again all these years later,
22:03
Speaker 2: kind of going back to the same well there.
22:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a weird fit for me for for all
22:10
Speaker 1: those reasons, And you're right, he was well liked, Like
22:15
Speaker 1: I yeah, I think he'd fit.
22:17
Speaker 4: He fits in well in the clubhouse.
22:21
Speaker 1: Look, Kyle Tucker, superstar, Like he's probably of these four.
22:28
Speaker 4: Like his ceiling bat wise, offense wise, I think it's
22:32
Speaker 4: pretty clearly the highest.
22:34
Speaker 1: Like he's he has a he's an MVP candidate when
22:38
Speaker 1: he's healthy and producing.
22:40
Speaker 4: I don't think many people would argue with that.
22:43
Speaker 1: I think he's like probably like like when he's really going,
22:49
Speaker 1: he's one of the best bats in baseball. Like we
22:52
Speaker 1: saw that for the first few months of the season.
22:54
Speaker 1: It was very obvious how impactful he can be. And
22:59
Speaker 1: then that second half, you know, the injuries, the hand stuff,
23:04
Speaker 1: the whether the hand stuff got in his head, than
23:09
Speaker 1: the than.
23:09
Speaker 4: The calf, like I think a lot of that.
23:14
Speaker 1: I don't know if it kind of like had people
23:19
Speaker 1: looking at him through a different lens. I guess, like,
23:22
Speaker 1: you know, ah, the calf injury especially, I think I
23:28
Speaker 1: think he's he can come across as a little aloof right.
23:32
Speaker 1: Is that a fair way of putting it? I don't.
23:35
Speaker 1: I don't think Kyle Tucker is a bad guy. I
23:38
Speaker 1: don't think he's a clubhouse menace. I don't think he
23:41
Speaker 1: causes problems in a clubhouse. But uh, there are ways
23:47
Speaker 1: that you carry yourself sometimes that can be like what's
23:49
Speaker 1: up with this guy?
23:50
Speaker 4: And I think sometimes everyone guy of wonders that.
23:54
Speaker 1: And with Kyle Tucker, what is not what you can't
23:59
Speaker 1: deny is his impact when he's healthy. I think the
24:02
Speaker 1: offensive impact is there. I start to wonder, how will
24:07
Speaker 1: this guy age?
24:08
Speaker 4: Like that?
24:09
Speaker 1: I started to wonder that when we start, like the
24:11
Speaker 1: past two years there have been injuries. Some of it
24:14
Speaker 1: is randomness, but then some of it you wonder, like,
24:18
Speaker 1: how is this guy going to age? His defense didn't
24:20
Speaker 1: look as good as I expected it to look. But
24:24
Speaker 1: his offense when he's healthy is awesome. I think there's
24:28
Speaker 1: a fit. I think it would only be in one
24:32
Speaker 1: of those like, hey, here's a you're not getting the
24:35
Speaker 1: deal you want. You want a one year, you know,
24:37
Speaker 1: a three year with opt out that obviously everyone knows
24:40
Speaker 1: you'll opt out on a deal.
24:43
Speaker 4: Okay, That's the only way I see a fit.
24:45
Speaker 1: And I just have no clue why he would take
24:48
Speaker 1: it with the Cubs, no clue why he'd come to
24:50
Speaker 1: Wrigley to try and build his value back up. So
24:53
Speaker 1: I just I struggle with the Kyle Tucker reunion. Like
24:57
Speaker 1: I said, I think the only scenario is if somehow
25:00
Speaker 1: he wants to come back for like the opt out
25:02
Speaker 1: pillow type deal.
25:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've there's a reason where we put him last
25:09
Speaker 2: on this kind of rundown. Here, I'm with you. I
25:13
Speaker 2: think his temperament in a lot of ways is ideal
25:17
Speaker 2: for a major league hitterer. I mean, Craig Counsel basically
25:20
Speaker 2: said that of just being able to separate out each
25:24
Speaker 2: pitch and sort of throw aside the results, that's why
25:29
Speaker 2: it was so glaring when he started kind of you know,
25:32
Speaker 2: slamming his helmet as bad and jogging down the first
25:36
Speaker 2: and he got that you know, benching slash mental reset
25:39
Speaker 2: because it was so out of character. And you know,
25:43
Speaker 2: I think he made himself a part of the team
25:49
Speaker 2: in a way that he didn't have to as kind
25:51
Speaker 2: of this like one year, stopover, one and done guy
25:55
Speaker 2: that you know, he does enjoy being in the clubhouse,
25:59
Speaker 2: being part of the guys. But I think if if
26:02
Speaker 2: you're talking about, you know, the what we thought was
26:06
Speaker 2: possible going into this year, like the ten years, four
26:09
Speaker 2: and a million dollars, I think you want a little
26:11
Speaker 2: more from.
26:12
Speaker 3: The face of the franchise.
26:13
Speaker 2: And I think a little more certainty built in when
26:17
Speaker 2: you start talking about some of the injuries and you know,
26:21
Speaker 2: maybe the defense, you know, taking a step back, you know,
26:26
Speaker 2: things of that nature. And look, if the Cubs are
26:31
Speaker 2: thinking this, like, what do you think the Dodgers are thinking, Like,
26:34
Speaker 2: do the Cubs just have like a forty five to
26:37
Speaker 2: fifty million dollar hole in their budget that ownership's gonna
26:40
Speaker 2: be like, yes, bring this guy back right now. I
26:43
Speaker 2: have a hard time seeing it. I also think like
26:48
Speaker 2: it could come back around for Kyle Tucker. Two of
26:50
Speaker 2: looking like how many guys like this are out there period,
26:55
Speaker 2: how many of them are going to be available in
26:57
Speaker 2: the next few free agent classes. And I kind of
27:01
Speaker 2: love the fit. If he's on a team where he
27:03
Speaker 2: doesn't have to be the superstar and like he had to,
27:07
Speaker 2: you know, he was at his best. It felt like
27:10
Speaker 2: this year when Pikrow Armstrong was rolling in say a Suzuki. Now,
27:15
Speaker 2: I think Kyle Tucker played a part in that. His
27:16
Speaker 2: presence was a big deal. But you know, if he's
27:21
Speaker 2: hitting in that Dodgers lineup, if he's you know, hitting
27:25
Speaker 2: with Juan Soto, whatever the case is, I mean Toronto,
27:31
Speaker 2: he would not be you know, the man there. Those
27:35
Speaker 2: are the places where I think, you know, the team
27:39
Speaker 2: would get you know, great production, great value from And
27:45
Speaker 2: I'm not pretending that we know Kyle Tucker that great.
27:47
Speaker 2: He was rarely at his locker. He's always very pleasant
27:51
Speaker 2: whenever you talk to him. He has a very dry
27:53
Speaker 2: sense of humor. But just our interactions over the past year,
27:57
Speaker 2: our meaning I think most of the media group was like,
28:01
Speaker 2: you know, I think he'd be fine with being more
28:03
Speaker 2: of kind of a complementary player rather than what some
28:07
Speaker 2: free agents want.
28:08
Speaker 3: Right, somebody just want to be like the name on
28:11
Speaker 3: the market.
28:12
Speaker 2: And I think he's very happy to just be a
28:15
Speaker 2: great baseball player and you know, kind of take care
28:18
Speaker 2: of his stuff and and not really you know, he
28:22
Speaker 2: doesn't want to be like an extension of the front
28:24
Speaker 2: office or like kind of in coaches ears. It seems
28:27
Speaker 2: like he just wants to wants to play ball. And
28:29
Speaker 2: that's totally totally fine as long as long as you produce.
28:32
Speaker 2: And he has an elite level for most of his career.
28:35
Speaker 3: Yep.
28:36
Speaker 1: I'm just about to say, like all of that is
28:38
Speaker 1: perfectly fine, Like there's nothing wrong with him because he's
28:41
Speaker 1: not he's not a troublemaker. He doesn't go in there
28:44
Speaker 1: and call like stir things up in the clubhouse and
28:48
Speaker 1: like people like struggle to be around him or anything
28:51
Speaker 1: like that. None of that is we've heard, none of that.
28:55
Speaker 1: It's just, you know, go out and play. That's he's
28:59
Speaker 1: a he's a quiet dude that just wants to go
29:01
Speaker 1: out and play baseball. And and it's a everyone's different,
29:06
Speaker 1: I guess. And and like you're comparing Bregman and Tucker's
29:12
Speaker 1: personality from what we understand it would be it's a
29:15
Speaker 1: pretty different type of clubhouse.
29:18
Speaker 4: Uh, you know, personality. So it I I.
29:23
Speaker 1: Still think I think we've said this since we first
29:27
Speaker 1: found out that the Cubs would be interested in Bregman.
29:29
Speaker 1: I think it makes a lot of sense now that
29:31
Speaker 1: you've you've done everything. I think it, you know, go
29:35
Speaker 1: out and get the guy, Go out and get the
29:37
Speaker 1: team leader.
29:37
Speaker 4: Go out and finish this. Go out and try and
29:39
Speaker 4: win a World Series.
29:40
Speaker 1: I think we all want, like we all kind of
29:43
Speaker 1: agree on that, like there's one final piece here missing.
29:46
Speaker 1: Just go out and get that bat. I think that's
29:48
Speaker 1: a lot of Cubs fans, so that'd be very happy
29:51
Speaker 1: and after all the complaining and justified because it was
29:54
Speaker 1: a slow offseason and took a while for them to
29:56
Speaker 1: get that big move done, go out and finish it off,
30:00
Speaker 1: cap off of and nice offseason, make it great and
30:03
Speaker 1: become the favorite and maybe hopefully for them, they can
30:07
Speaker 1: actually pull that off and and dethrow the the the Brewers.
30:12
Speaker 4: We'll see, we'll see if they can get this done.
30:15
Speaker 1: We got Cubs Convention next weekend, so we'll be talking
30:19
Speaker 1: about that, talking about what else the Cubs can get done,
30:22
Speaker 1: if anything. But that's it for right now. Thanks so
30:25
Speaker 1: much for listening to everyone. This is north Side Territory.
30:27
Speaker 1: Make sure to rate, review, subscribe, subscribe to the YouTube channel,
30:30
Speaker 1: and subscribe to The Athletic where Patrick and are on
30:33
Speaker 1: top of all things Cubs, thanks so much for listening
30:35
Speaker 1: to everyone. Do they anyone REALI