Latest / North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast / The Cubs are back: Day 1 report from spring training

Transcript

The Cubs are back: Day 1 report from spring training · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Welcome into Northside Territory Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast. I'm
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: sah Dave Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: your Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Patrick.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: First of all, I need to tell that the listeners
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: and the YouTube watchers, we are using a different program.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Especially you YouTube watchers.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: If there's any hiccups here, I apologize, but it should
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: look better. Hopefully it sounds better or or no worse.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: And as always, we appreciate you watching and listening and
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: I will make sure not to screw anything up here
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: as best as I can. It's my job to write,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: not as much to produce, but you know we'll make
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: it work. That's not the big news. The big news
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: is spring training has begun. Pitchers and catchers reported today.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: It is Wednesday. I'm out here in Arizona. Patrick, I
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: know you watched the opening pressers, but yeah, the excitement
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: is back. We saw jameson ty Owne Live Bullpen. We
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: got to talk to some guys. The position players are like,
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: I'm not here, don't bug me until Monday when I'm actually.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: Supposed to report.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: But we talked to plenty of people, including Jed and
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Carter Craig Council and spring training vibes.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Can't beat it.
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it always bothers me of seeing like some of
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: the like videos on social media or this, like you
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: know we're talking about practice, like oh the swing looks different,
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: or like someone hit a.
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: Home run or a double in like live batting practice.
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: Don't care, but yeah, I am very curious, Like what
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: were your you know, first impressions of day one. You've
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: covered a lot of these, you got a lot of
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: experience to draw from, Like when you were kind of
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: walking back to the rental car and back to the hotel,
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: what was kind of running through your mind?
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean there's they you don't want it to
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: be different than any other spring training. I don't think
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: they want it to be completely different and feel like
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: you want to come in every spring training and feel optimistic.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: But I think everyone agrees there's a little bit of
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: a different feeling. Tyne kind of said what I'm saying, Like,
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: you don't want it to be different, but there's you know,
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: there's always optimism on day one, but it feels like
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: let's get to work type thing, is what Tyone said.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: It's like, yeah, we got something special we could do here.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: Let's get to work and then get after it. Craig
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: Counsel said it, Yeah, they got a taste of it,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: and now there's more to do. Jed Hoyer kind of said,
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: like they're all saying that last year was great. They
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: had a good season, they got to the playoffs, ended
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: that playoff drout, but now there's you know, higher goals
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: that they they want to win a World Series. They
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: want to go much deeper in October, and that seems
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: to be the clear message. You know, they haven't had
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: that meeting with the full group where Craig Council kind
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: of gives his message for the season and what they
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: need to do. But I assume a lot of it
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: is going to be with this is the ultimate goal.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: It's it's not just make the playoffs. It's not you know,
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: personal statistics, it's none of that's it's winning a World
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: Series and they have the group that can do it.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: You know, a lot of them brought up moves that
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: were made made this off season feel like there was
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: one directive for this season, and I think we all
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: agree on that, like this this did feel like a
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: different offseason for them, and and you know, I think
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: now it's time to get to work, and the task
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: at hand is, you know, make sure you're healthy and
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: ready prepared for a start of a long season with
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: ultimate goal being a World Series.
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: In listening to Jed and Carter, I thought it was
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: interesting just how much work they've already done that comparing
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: to previous years of like there was that like one
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: free agent hanging over everything, whether it was Alex Bregman
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: or Cody Bellinger or there wasn't that really you know,
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: proof of concept yet. I mean it was only a
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: year ago. Jed Hoyer's on the hot seat. Craig Council,
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: you know, finished with an eighty three and seventy nine record,
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: the same one that David Ross did when he got fired.
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: There were just a lot of unknowns. They were still selling,
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: selling hope and you know, kind of crossing their fingers
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: about certain players taking steps forward. And there's not gonna
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: be a whole lot of that this year. They just
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: have to go out and perform and do it and
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: all of that. But the Cops are projecting a lot
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: more stability than they have in recent years.
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean there's.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: You know, some of these players that there were so
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: many questions about I think you feel a little bit
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: more comfortable with what they can do. Obviously, there's work
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: that needs to be done with the younger players like
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: Peter Armstrong needs to show some consistency or take maybe
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: not a leap forward, but a step forward. That's what
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: every young player's goal is. Kate Horton, I think with
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: you know, I think the word that council used was
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: he dominated last season, met every challenge he did. You know,
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: after that Houston start, he dominated. Now it's build upon that,
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: improve upon that, Go do it for a full season,
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: go do it in the playoffs. So you know, there's
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: there's those young players that there were so many questions
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: about last year, and they've answered those questions and now
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: it's like build upon your success. Yes, so it feels
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: a little bit less like can these guys perform at
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: the highest level? We know all even that Shaw who's
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: essentially a bench player. Now, you know, we saw his
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: second half. Okay, he can have success in the big leagues.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: We saw what he did on defense. Okay, he can
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: handle their base if if that's where he's going to
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: play on occasion, he's going to play all over obviously,
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: but it's just like all these young players have shown like, Okay,
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: they can handle it to a certain degree. But I
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: think when you add veterans like Alex Bregman, when you
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: make a trade for a guy that you've been desperate
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: to get for a year now, Edward Cabrera, they've had
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: him on their radars, like, those are the types of
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: moves that make it feel a little bit more concrete,
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: and it's like, oh, okay, you know, I think you
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: and I talk about this a lot on the podcast
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: about the frustration fans feel about not finishing these offseasons,
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: are not doing what you can to be a winning team,
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: that that type of team building can be kind of
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: plotting at times for certain organizations, and it felt like
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: that with the Cubs, certainly weren't finishing off off seasons
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: in the manner that anyone would have liked to have seen.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: This feels different, and you can kind of feel it
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: from the start of spring training. I'm not surprised. This
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: is kind of what I came into the day thinking about.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: And they said all the things you'd expect for a
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: team that had the off season they did, and for
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: a team that you know has a lot of high expectations.
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: It's not just internal. This isn't you know, this isn't
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: the far fetched. Oh, anybody can make it. You know,
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: anybody can make the playoffs. It's spring It's day one
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: and spring training.
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: You know this is if you squint, If you squint,
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: you can see it.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, right, like twenty twenty three, twenty four, Like you know,
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: you had to like, Okay, well, they've made some moves,
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: they've done some things. They haven't really added en up
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: impact or anything. But these past two years at least
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: you felt like they've made enough moves to be a
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: playoff team. And this year especially, it feels very different.
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah, when Jed was sort of asked to compare the expectations,
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: I feel like nineteen oh eight like hungover this franchise
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: in such a way that it's just like a total
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: before and after, Like I don't think anything will you know,
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: sort of replace that. But it did make me think of, like,
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: you know, getting to the NLCS and like kind of
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: tasting the playoffs certainly increase the appetite to spend and
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: to think bigger and do more. And you know, obviously
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: the last playoff appearance the Cubs came off of was
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: twenty into twenty one, and that was obviously a weird
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: spring training. There was just so much uncertainty about that group,
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: Like it was just such a like an in your
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: face angle to the entire season. It was the defining
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: angle of that season. And so it's it's been a
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: while to where you could sort of circle the Cubs
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: as a clear off season winner, where you can say, look,
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: they spent money, not as much as some of their
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: big market competitors, but certainly they creatively addressed a lot
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: of pressing areas in a timely manner, because it does
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: make a difference when you have almost your entire group
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: there from the start. And I think we'll get into
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: this more kind of after the break of just like
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: there was a good news item today and as well
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: as like what else is still out there in this
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: sort of off season slash spring training phase of the calendar.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, let's take that break now and talk about some
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: things that Greig Council brought up.
• 10:10
  Speaker 4: Aja, you know what I love about Hello Fresh the variety.
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: Every single week I can choose from over one hundred recipes.
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: That's a lot of recipes.
• 10:19
  Speaker 5: Agreed, you can go and you can narrow it down,
• 10:21
  Speaker 5: Scott to whatever you want. Family friendly, because you know,
• 10:23
  Speaker 5: I got kids sometimes the need to eat, so you
• 10:25
  Speaker 5: can go family friendly, pescatarian, vegetarian, whatever you want to do.
• 10:30
  Speaker 5: Healthy options. However you want to refine your search on HelloFresh,
• 10:35
  Speaker 5: it will spit out delicious, healthy ingredients that then you
• 10:39
  Speaker 5: get to cook, which I love to cook, and I
• 10:41
  Speaker 5: keep saying it, I love to cook. I love to
• 10:43
  Speaker 5: chop up the ingredients and make beautiful dishes.
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: There's delicious steak and seafood plus three times more seafood
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: options at no extra cost. Go to HelloFresh dot com
• 10:53
  Speaker 4: slash FT ten FM to get ten free meals plus
• 10:56
  Speaker 4: a freeze willing knife at one hundred and forty four
• 10:59
  Speaker 4: dollars ninety nine cent value on your third box. Offer
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: valid while supplies last freemials applied to his discount on
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: first box new subscribers only varies by plan. That's FT
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: one zero f M.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: Patrick Craig Counsel not one to label his relievers, and
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: our buddy Jesse Rogers asked kind of about April and
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: is this going to be in April where where you're
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: kind of figuring out roles and then and then after
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: Counsel gave his answer on that, he Jesse followed up
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: with if if the season started tomorrow, uh, is Daniel
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: Plancio working the ninth Then Council shocked us out, but
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: shocked us all by saying yes, that was his answer. Yes,
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: we're I think everyone, even Jesse was shocked, kind of
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: looked over at the other reporters like, oh, okay, like
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: we were all we were. Council noticed everyone's shock and
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: made a joke about a nice scoop Jesse. Uh, and
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: you know, I don't think I'll be I was surprised.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: I'm surprised that he said that. I figured he'd go
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: closer by committee. But look, Daniel Plancy, I saw him today.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: We talked to him today, like if like he looks
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: better than he did coming into last spring, and he
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: looked great last spring, Like I had to he was
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: walking off the field, would already talk to him, so
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: I'd already seen him, and like, as he's approaching coming
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: off the field, I'm kind of like, is that Daniel Plancy?
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Is that someone I don't know? Because he is he
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: looks good, like I mean, you know.
• 12:38
  Speaker 6: You say that, Yeah, yeah, yeah, but he's he's doing
• 12:43
  Speaker 6: it again, and like I I appreciate that he did
• 12:47
  Speaker 6: it coming into last spring, got himself physically right, got
• 12:50
  Speaker 6: himself mentally right, Like that was a big part of it.
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: I think the mental aspect of the game.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: Was wearing on him and and you know, relievers can't
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: you can't do that.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: You can't allow that to happen. And I think it
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: was leading to some of his struggles, you know.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: And he's fixed both aspects and he looks great, and
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: I think he's excited to get this opportunity at least
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: to start the season. Look, this stuff is I wrote
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: about this today and bullpens have been saying this for
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: a long time, and it gets annoying if you've if
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: you've listened to me.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: Talk about it.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: But I just like, good luck predicting a bullpen. Good
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: luck predicting who's going to be great in the bullpen.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: Porter Hodge last year was was a stud for this team.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: Ryan Presley was supposed to be the closer. So who knows.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: Who knows what's going to happen in May, June, and July.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: You know what, I'll tell you. One thing I know
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: is going to happen, they're going to trade for a
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: reliever at the deadline, assuming they don't struggle mightily in
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: the in the in the first half of the season.
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: But that's the only thing you can really predict when
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: it comes to bullpits.
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: It's funny. I was thinking about when I tap in
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: for you February twenty whatever in Arizona. I was trying
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: to think of, you know, kind of annoying questions to
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: ask counsel as soon as I got there, and like
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: I assumed, I assumed who's your closer would still be
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: kind of on the board of something that had been
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: asked many times and that he had you know, bypassed
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: several times. So I guess we'll be down there, you know,
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: who's your opening day starter? And then the classic, you
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: know house Pete crow Armstrong swing looking.
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: Because I had that really annoyed him last year.
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: Well, we went to like every road city, there'd be
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: a question about, you know, Pete's swing. So at least
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: I said, of those two in my in my back pocket.
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: But yeah, on our slack message shame with our editor
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: at the Athletic, I was, yeah, I was really kind
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: of stunned that Craig would go there that early. Maybe
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: it's a whole new Greig counsel. I'm not holding my
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: breath at all, but one can dream on.
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: The first dance of spring trending.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, if you want to complain about anything
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: in this off season, that's probably it.
• 15:20
  Speaker 5: Right.
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: The Cubs didn't go out and get a no doubt closer.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: They have time to go do that. If this doesn't work,
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: you know, that's what you can. I think I appreciate
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: how Jed kind of said, like you can't do like
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: they really learned their lesson and he probably knew it,
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: but he probably he was taking a risk by not
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: getting it done last offseason getting a starter, and he
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: couldn't get it done at the deadline. It's really hard
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: to acquire at least an impact starter, depth starter.
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: I think you can do that.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: It's really hard to swing the trade because those prices
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: are high, and especially it's a seller's market always now
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: because of how many playoff teams there are. Everyone feels
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: like they can sneak in, so maybe they go get
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: a closer. Maybe Daniel Palentcy isn't the closer come July.
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: I don't know, but you know, I do. I do
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: think we were all kind of taken aback there that
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: that he's willing to do that. I'll make sure to ask,
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: you know, who's he did, get asked whose opening day
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: starter he did, he wasn't willing to say that. I'm
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: gonna make sure I ask who the leadoff it or
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: is just to get us another Yeah.
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: That's another good one.
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: We'll get a lecture about how lineup instruction is overrated
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: and then you know, maybe he'll actually tell.
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: Us, uh Patrick apside of that. It's depth for this team.
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: Right, We're still we're still waiting on Yeah, what more
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: will they do?
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: Can they do?
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: I I've said it, We've said it on the podcast.
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: I said it to Jed at the opener.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: I said, you know, felt like going in twenty sixteen,
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: THEO was obsessed what could go wrong?
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: What can go wrong?
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: And obsessed with trying to address every potential pitfall. And
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: I said it's out. I wonder if you're kind of
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: like that right now, And he's like, yeah, real healthy mindset.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: But I enjoyed that. Yeah, but it is it is
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: his mindset and he is trying.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: He with Carter and the rest of that front office
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: They're trying to figure out what could possibly go wrong
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: here and how do we address it?
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you know, we talked about this a
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: couple episodes ago, Like it still feels like there's another
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: move out there, but the options are sort of dwindling.
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: We've talked about this before, but with certain negotiations, all
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: it could take is on one phone call, one text message.
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: But I think our understanding is still Zach Gallon is unlikely, right,
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: I mean.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: I'd be I'm, like we said, very surprised. I'd be
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: even more surprised than I was a week ago.
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: All Right, So I got don't you know, unless while
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: we're recording, momentum suddenly accelerates, it sounds like Cubs are
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: probably not the front runner heavy favorites for him.
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: So Patrick, one thing I want to say on that.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: Sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to point out,
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: like there have been injuries all across camps. We see
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: that trickling in like crazy Atlanta is now. You know,
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: people are speculating are they in on Gallon because Spencer
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: Schwellenback is injured. You know, it's early, it's day one,
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: but we asked both the Jed and council. Right now,
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: there's no health issues. Javier A sad Moises Biasteros and
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: one other player are having visa issues. Other than that,
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: it's you know, they seem healthy and ready to go.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: So that's just one other thing I wanted to point out.
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: When it comes to Gallon, this is not a team
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: that's desperate for that that move because someone got banged up. Look,
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: injuries happen in the pitching staff. We understand that. But
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: right now they're they're healthy, they're you know, Justin Steel's
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: on the road to recovery. But he's on pace. It's
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: not like he's behind.
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: You know. That's a great point, and just the motivation
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: or the urgency just hasn't seemed to be there. While
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: this front office has received more resources this year, it's
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: not like the Cubs are suddenly spending like the Dodgers
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: or the Mets or the Yankees, like fitting him in,
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: making the draft pick, bonus pool stuff work, you know,
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: promising him the runway he would want, including probably an
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: opt out after year one, like all of that stuff.
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: Don't really see it happening. Do you think they give
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: someone a major league deal, someone.
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: Who'd Yeah, I think there's you know, there are there
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: are still plenty of players out there, so I wouldn't
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: be shocked by a forty man. Addition, it would be depth.
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: I think this is the starters are kind of set.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: I think I don't know if we've recorded since Boston
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: acquired Caleb Durban.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: I don't think we have.
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: That I think reduces Matt Shaw trade potential significantly. You know,
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: I think there are always teams that could be interested
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: in a player like that, but Boston was like searching
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: for that type of player and they went and got
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: someone else from Cub's rival. Obviously, they got three infielders
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: in that deal, so I don't think they're looking for
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: any infield help in Boston, at least not right now.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: So you know, I think we're we're looking at like
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: is it twenty six man?
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: Roster said no, but it could be. They don't.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: They're not desperate to go out and make major league editions,
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: but the bench is still a little unsettled, and you
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: can always add to the bullpen. I think that's you know,
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: whether it's December, February or July, you're always looking to
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: improve your bullpen. So I don't think they'll rule anything
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: out there, it's just not it's improving upon around the margins,
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: not this impact guy. Like I think right now, any
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: of that type of stuff would be a surprise.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: Okay, that's good. I mean I think it.
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: We'll still be on high alert for that stuff, but
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: I think that's it's good to give our listeners a
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: snap shot of like this is where it's at on
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: day one, and maybe things change, maybe you know, certain
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: stance ins, stances soften and they find common grounds somewhere.
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: But I mean, looking at if this is it, I
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: think you Cubs fans have a ninety plus win team.
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: I mean on paper, that's what it looks like. And
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: if you have that, you have a legit World Series contender.
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: I think that's kind of the bottom line.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's all about health, especially on the rotation,
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: which we talked about quite a bit. We'll get into
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: that more in future episodes see who El's Talks, See
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: what else trickles out over the next couple of days,
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: but we'll be back with more from spring training.
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: Eventually.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: You'll be out here and given dispatches. But nice to
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: get out to Arizona see some baseball and hopefully plenty
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: more to talk about coming up here. Thanks so much
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: for listening to everyone. This is Northside Territory. Make sure
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: to rate, review, subscribe, subscribe to the YouTube channel, and
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: subscribe to The Athletic where Patrick and I are on
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: top of all things cubs. Thanks everyone, Take care,