Latest / North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast / Now what? Updating the Cubs’ outlook on the division race and trade deadline

Transcript

Now what? Updating the Cubs’ outlook on the division race and trade deadline · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Welcome into Northside Territory File Territory Networks Cubs Podcast. I'm
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Sahadev Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are your
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic Patrick. The Cubs
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: are in Saint Louis for three this weekend. That this
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: is now the final team in their division that they
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: will face, the final team that they haven't faced, the
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: only team they haven't faced. I'm not worrying this properly.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: So they've seen the Pirates twice. Actually, they've seen the Reds.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: They swept the Reds and of course the Brewers. The
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Cardinals just saw the Brewers and the Brewers took it
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: to them because that's what the Brewers do. And I
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: don't think, you know, the Cardinals are doing better than expected.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: I think that's a lot of smoke and mirrors. That
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: they have some good offensive players. They're pitching staff is
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: not that great, and I don't expect it to I
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: don't expect what the Cardinals are doing to continue much longer.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: I don't even think people with the Cardinals really expected to.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: I'm sure the players and coaching staff too and hope,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: but like this is not what they like you know,
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: maybe the rebuilds a little bit ahead of schedule just
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: because a guy like Jordan Walker is finally living up
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: to his potential. But this should be like, you know,
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: we'll see if the Cubs can fully get right this weekend,
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: but beyond that, everyone in this division is looking up
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: to one team and it remains the same team. You
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: can spend big on Alex Bregman and trade for the
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: pitcher that you've been eyeing.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: For over a year. The Cubs still.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: Are looking up at the Milwaukee Brewers, the Cincinnati Reds,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh Pirates. They get top ten draft picks year
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: after year, they you know, develop a star like Ellie
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: de la Cruz or Connor Griffin, potential stars and nope,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: not you're not You're not catching the Milwaukee Brewers. They're
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: doing it again, Patrick, They just continued to do it.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: I know we talked about it after the sweep last week,
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: but this this team just seems like year after year
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: there's snow slowing them down.
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: Do you think the division races over at this point
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: that the Cups and it comes and everyone.
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: Else is just playing are playing for wild cards.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: I'm not gonna go that far because it's weird swings
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: that we've seen this season with this Cubs team.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: I don't really know.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: I don't have a good feel yet on what I
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: think about the Cubs because it's just been such a
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: swing of emotions.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: But UH.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: Should like if I was gonna bet, I guess, like,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: do I already change who I'm picking for the division?
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Because I did pick the Cubs. I didn't say the
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: Breweries are going to be easy to beat because I'm
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: not an idiot, because I've learned my lesson.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: But I don't know.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: I'd like if I were forced to pick a team
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: right now, I don't think I could pick against the Breweries.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: They like Patrick, look at what they do, just look
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: at it. It's mind boggling at times because sometimes it's like, Okay,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: they've built a good system, they have some good talent,
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: but they continue to lose guys to injuries, they continue
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: to trade guys away, they lose guys in free agency.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: It just doesn't seem to matter. Everyone gets better with them,
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: everyone gets better, No one takes steps back. It's very
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: it's I mean, kudos to that front office, that that
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: organization for doing what they do, because I think they're
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: in the league of their own with the way they're
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: able to do this.
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you had made that point off air that because
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: I've thought of them as sort of like the Tampa
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: Bay Rays when they were like, I guess they're obviously
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: rolling again, but yeah, when when it was Friedman and
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: Madden and they were competing against gen and Theo's Red
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: Sox teams and the Yankees, you know, not far removed
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: from their evil empire days, but they are absolutely exceptional.
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: And I'm just looking here at you know, Keith log
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: came out with his like updated prospect list, gets to
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: the number one prospect, Yeah, a nineteen year old switch
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: it in shortstop it for the Brewers, and then they
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: have number twenty six prospect, another up the middle, shortstop
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: slash second basement.
• 4:47
  Speaker 4: So I'm with you.
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: I'm not going to say it's over at this point.
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: There's just way too much time left. That doesn't mean
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: the Cubs are going to get hot and win it,
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: but they're just way too many things that can happen.
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: I mean, you just can't declare it over before the
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: end of May. If I had to, not that we're
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: allowed to bet on baseball, but if I had to
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: bet on a team. I think I would bet on
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: the Brewers at this point, just that they're trying to
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: like that kind of foolish not to And.
• 5:20
  Speaker 4: I think this will reveal something about the Cubs.
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: We'll get into it later, but just like, are these
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: hitters as good as the Cubs?
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: Thought?
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: Like where is that kind of bragman factor? And also
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: the trade deadline, like how much or how far? How
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: much of the Cubs are willing to pay? How far
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: are they willing to go to try and chase that
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: team down? But just I was looking at the standings
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: of like where the Brewers are, how good the Braves are?
• 6:00
  Speaker 4: The NL West?
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: With the Diamondbacks coming on, I don't even think you
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: can sort of take a third wild card for granted.
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: I mean we saw that here the Cubs dipped out
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: of a playoff position during this stretch. I think they're
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: technically back in now. I mean they're all so bunched
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: up together, yeah, or just a.
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: Point being that.
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: You know you may have to win, you know, eighty
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: seven eighty eight games to get into the playoffs, and
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: I I'm just having flashbacks to prior seasons and some
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: of the debriefs once the initial sting wears off of
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: you know, Cubs personnel being like if we just didn't
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: have that one that one bad stretch in may you know,
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: like we've heard those before, and like, is that going
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: to be the sort of like post mortem of this
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: season of just you know, a couple of games, you
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: know that how do we swept by the Astros?
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: You know, this was the last year of the Astros
• 7:03
  Speaker 4: you know dynasty.
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: You know, like, if the Astros are just wanted to
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: be absolutely terrible, how do.
• 7:07
  Speaker 4: We get swept at home by the Astros? And they
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: missed the playoffs by one game?
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: Now, I don't I think the Cubs have more going
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: for them than some of those prior teams that uh
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: you looked back with those kind of regrets. But they
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: certainly put that back on the table.
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: You know.
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: Jedweyre likes that, you know, used that phrase of you know,
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: we took hope off the table. Early hope is not gone,
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: but the margin for error has just seriously shrunk and
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: the Brewers clearly are are in the driver's seat.
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: Now.
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Patrick, I just want to go over some things
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: with what the Breweries do and like try and put
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: this in context of like how odd and unbelievable it
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: can be. Jacob Mizrawski always been talented, like we but
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: we watched him a few times last year. I always
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: felt like, this guy's ultra talented, and obviously the velo's there,
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: but I'm not sure if he's like a starter that
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: can go deep consistently.
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure if he's.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: A guy that you can trust to not walk the ballpark.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: And this wasn't just like watching him either, Like I
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: felt that way watching him, and then you look at
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: his numbers. He's never had until this season, never had
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: a year where his walk rate wasn't in the double digits,
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: like above ten percent. And that's like it was always
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: above twelve percent, and the miners it was always above
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: like fourteen percent.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: And this year, in a year where.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: Everyone's walk rate is up, likely because of ABS, his
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: walk rate is down like five points under eight percent,
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: like he's just filling up the zone. He has more
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: like one hundred and two mile per hour pitches or
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: higher than like the next like ten guys combined or
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: something insane like that. Something I saw some crazy stat
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: I'm being hyperbolic about that, but it is.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: It's an insane stat like that. So the miss is
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: like a you know, a cy.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: Young contender after looking like a good but not great pitcher,
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: like someone that was, but that I mean, okay, so
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: that's not crazy, Like he's young, figures it out. Kyle
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: Harrison comes to the Milwaukee Brewers, adds like two three
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: ticks and just is filling up the zone and is
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: one of the best like strikeout artists in baseball. They
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: just like figured it out. They just like, here's some
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: things to tweak. Move slightly on the rubber in one direction,
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: and then like somehow they figured out like how to
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: like you know, whether it was a mechanical tweak or whatever,
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: they got more velocity out of him. Bryce Terrane goes
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: from good defensive player with bad offense to a good
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: all around player to one of the best players baseball.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: And here's the one that I like, I always look
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: back on. Andrew Vaughn was the worst player in baseball
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: a year ago. He was released by the worst team
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: in baseball at the time, of the White Sox. It's
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: one thing to do what he did last year and
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: just like like, okay, maybe it was a hot stretch.
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: He's back, he's healthy again and he's hitting. He's great again.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: Like there's probably a dozen more things we could point
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: out about how they but they're like, like you said,
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: all those prospects just I mean, a remarkable job by
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: that front office, by that organization.
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: Like I like, you just have to give them props.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: Like this is not me.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: Saying anything other than that, Like I like, just give
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: them props like they deserve it, like up and down
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: from the bottom to the top of that organization. They
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: they have figured some things out. The rest of the
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: league is envious of them. The problem for Cubs fans
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: is that they're in the same division as you, and
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: they're taking it to you every year. It seems like
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: now they spend so much less it doesn't matter. They
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: know they can trade players, they win the trade. They
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: know what they're targeting, they.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: Know what they're looking for.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: They have figured something out when it comes to how
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: to like optimize players, pitchers, position players, whatever it is.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: It's remarkable And it's one of those things like as
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: as a reporter that loves to dig into this type
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: of stuff that we can't figure find out like that
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: they're so zipped up and quiet about it. And usually
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: when people get hired away and go to different orgs.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: Things leak somehow it hasn't been replicated. No other team
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: can do it. Like that is maddening as a reporter,
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: like I want to know what's going on, Like.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: What are they doing?
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: Because it's it's it's pretty crazy, and I get it.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: Cubs fans don't like like it and probably don't love
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: me singing their praises, but it's it kind of just
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: blows my mind when I see some of these players
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: in their numbers and it's like, no, that guy wasn't good,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: that guy was a failed prospect, Like how is this happening?
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: But if the Brewers acquire them, just expect greatness.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: I guess.
• 12:14
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: And it's crazy to think too that the Cubs were
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: kind of one big hit away from ending their season
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: in Milwaukee.
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: Last year, and so that is where.
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: You need you keep some perspective, but also remember like
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: when this happens, like it just makes you know, the
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: Cubs so uncomfortable and frustrated by the Brewers doing more
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: with less year after year after year, and so we'll
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: see like they still the Brewers still haven't won that
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: World Series. But I do think I guess you got
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: to make the playoffs first. But this will be an
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: interesting one too, of like do the Cubs make the playoffs,
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: but do they have to play that extra series on
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: the front end?
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: Do they have to go on the road on the front.
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: End, And just in terms of like maximizing your championship window,
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: clearly you want to take those three games off the table.
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: We saw it last year of just how their pitching
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: was in tatters after two rounds.
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: I guess that was what like.
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: Four or five elimination games and like within ten days
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: ish forget, I forget the exact numbers off the top
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: of my head, but just how much it took for
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: them to get to Milwaukee, how spent they were in
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: Game one, and then you're just kind of chasing that
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: the rest of the way.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: All right, Patrick, let's say I want to talk a
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: little bit about what you were what you were talking
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: about there, like the pitching and are they going to
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: be looking to get more? But first let's talk about
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: the offenses.
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: Take a quick break before we do that.
• 14:00
  Speaker 6: Hot out there people, Let's talk Mack Weldon fashion show
• 14:03
  Speaker 6: real quick. AJ's got the Pima crew neck T shirt.
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: Froth Heeatheryes, Frost Heather's got.
• 14:09
  Speaker 7: It's got little pieces of gray heather in there. It's nice,
• 14:12
  Speaker 7: it's soft, it fits really well. It's great for summer
• 14:16
  Speaker 7: down here in Florida. And I got a couple of
• 14:18
  Speaker 7: linen shirts and linen pants that are gonna look nice
• 14:21
  Speaker 7: when I go to Europe here in a couple of weeks.
• 14:23
  Speaker 7: Very nice.
• 14:23
  Speaker 6: Yeah, it's very smooth, very thin. I'm wearing the eighteen
• 14:27
  Speaker 6: hour jersey short and heather gray. I'll leave that down
• 14:30
  Speaker 6: here for you. And the Pema short sleeve Henley. The
• 14:33
  Speaker 6: color on mine is desert spring, but it really resonates it.
• 14:37
  Speaker 6: It fits in, kind of matches with everything in the
• 14:41
  Speaker 6: wardrobe too. It's the classic look. They know what they're
• 14:44
  Speaker 6: doing here, so check it out. We've got the code
• 14:46
  Speaker 6: for you to get moving with mack Weldon Comfortable Anywhere.
• 14:49
  Speaker 6: Go to mack Weldon dot com get twenty percent off
• 14:51
  Speaker 6: your first order of one hundred twenty five bucks or
• 14:53
  Speaker 6: more with promo code foul. That's m A C K
• 14:56
  Speaker 6: W E L d O N dot com code fou.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: Well all right, Patrick, So, Craig Counsel looks to be
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: sticking with his guys. On offense, there was some shake up,
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: it didn't lead to a win. I think Pedro Ramirez
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: has made an impression on Craig Counsel. I think we
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: knew that back in you know, March. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: And I think Kevin al Contra has a role on
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: this team. But his role is when a lefty comes
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: in the game, he can pinch it for a left
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: handed bat, you know, like Moises Biasteros or someone like that.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: Not he's just not going to be getting that much
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: playing time right now unless there's an injury. But these guys,
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: you know, like I think it's important to remember, like
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: when they were twenty and three, these are the guys
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: that got them there. It wasn't Pedro Ramirez and Kevin
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: ol Contra. Yeah. So, so I don't hate the idea
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: of sticking with these guys, but I think this offense.
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: Before we.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: Continue, let me let me just say that this is
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: let's let's make this our Daily Dingers segment, presented by
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: Fan Duel. It is time for Daily Dingers. If I
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: can do the right thing here, Patrick. Yeah, so, so
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: the offense in general, like we said last episode, Ian
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: happ is the reason that they got out of this slump.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: You know, I understand writing your guys. I also understand
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: the need to shake it up at times, but this
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: is this is their offense. These are the guys they paid,
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: They they had, Like we came into this season saying
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: this like they have a kind of like this is
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: the set group that they have, This is how this
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: is going to work.
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: I was curious because you're around the team in Pittsburgh.
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: I covered the last couple of games at Wrigley on
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: the prior homestand that owen six homestand and.
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: It just felt like.
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: Almost everything was up for Graps, like all of a sudden,
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: council was like more open minded. You had a Contra
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: and Ramirez show up, and there was the sort of
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: like beginning of the floating days off sequence. The mental
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: resets for happened Dansby. I think it carried into Pittsburgh, right,
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: didn't Seya Nico get a couple of days off? I'm curious,
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: like has that sort of passed? Like did Craig sort
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: of make his point? Did those players get their resets
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: and then they're kind of back towards a more stable
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: nuclear of players.
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: I would say yes.
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: So, I mean even the win on Thursday, like on
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: on Wednesday, I should say, uh, we're recording, we should
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: make it clear that Paul Skeen's game hasn't happened, So
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: who knows what happens and what changes.
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: As we record right now.
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: So uh, he may maybe he'll get fed up once again.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: But council did did make a point of saying that
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: win like that win on Wednesday was very much like
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: how they were winning before. Uh. Ian Happ was hitting
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: for power, which he was doing early on in the season.
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: And then and then look at look at what happened
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: right after ian App. He perfect situation to pinch hit
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: Kevin l Contra had pinch hit before uh and and
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: drawn a walk against the lefty. Real nice at bat.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: Uh.
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: You know it didn't lead to runs at that point,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: I don't believe, but it was a nice way to
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: lead off an inning.
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: And then alright, he comes back in.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: You pinch it for Michael with Michael Conforto lead off
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: home our first pitch home run. That was kind of
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: the recipe to success during that twenty and three run.
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: Remember how much we talked about the bench and how
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: quickly he used it. I'm saying, Remember, like this was
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: like months ago, this was two weeks ago, Like so
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: much has happened that it feels like it's been months.
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: So you know he.
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: Has that that's his recipe for success. He knows how
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: to use his bench, but he also trust these guys like.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: Alex Brigman is starting to come around.
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: You want to like Council even said it, like, look,
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: he's starting to hit. He's getting some bass hits. He's
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: looking a little bit better. The power, that's what you're
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: waiting for. Where's the power? He needs to hit for
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: more power? He had a double on Wednesday. It was
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: a weird double in my opinion, but you know, you'd
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: like to see him driving the ball more in the gaps,
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: sending some more over the fence, especially with men on bass.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: That's what this team needs and that's how this team
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: is going to you know, thrive.
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: The one guy that I just don't know about and
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: because he is bad.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: His bad stretches look so bad as Dansby Swanson and
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: the someone that we both talked about, like does n
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: Ego get pushed to short more? Does Peter Ramirez play more?
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: Like Dancey had a really good game.
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: On on Wednesday.
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: I you know, depending on how news goes I'll have
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: a have a story on him. I I don't know
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: how I feel about him. I like, it's just really
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: he's one of those guys that went like, like I said,
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: when he's bad, he looks so bad that I just
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: it's hard to it's hard to be like, oh okay, yeah,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: that's fine, like you can ride this out. Like I've
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: seen enough of Ian Hap that I kind of know, like, okay,
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: he'll the strikeout spike for like a week or two.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: But I like, I think it's like.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: Over the past, the previous force since he's shown to
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: me like I think he's gonna write the ship and
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: be really good.
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: But Danceby just looks like.
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: I'll give him credit. Wednesday looked really good. It was
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: his quality contact. So uh so, maybe maybe this is
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: him turning a corner. And because we know how he is,
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: he gets red hot when he does get hot.
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: But I you know, I don't think councils thinking more
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: playing time for the kids and and see a guy
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: like Dansby.
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: But you know, I guess if this extends even further,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: then you have to consider it.
• 21:37
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think you kind of have to stick with
• 21:40
  Speaker 4: Dansby just because of his defense.
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: And where he plays, and obviously the investment that the
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: organization has made at him. What I it's kind of
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: in the back of my head is more of just
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: the I think Cubs fans are because it's baseball.
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: You just watch your.
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: Team over and over and over again, and sometimes you
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: forget that this I'm assuming happens to other teams right of.
• 22:03
  Speaker 4: The streakiness over a long season. But I do think
• 22:07
  Speaker 4: there's council.
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: You know, if things stabilize, council run with his guys.
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: You know, you give them some runway. I think it's
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: more of we'll get into the trade deadline next segment,
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: but you know, they'll probably have to go really heavy
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: on pitching. I just think towards the back half of
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: the season, maybe certain things developed to where Craig is
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: more aggressive with platoons or matchups or early substitutions. And
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: I do think that this stretch.
• 22:43
  Speaker 4: Not that I would have.
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: Like placed the Cubs as the favorites to like bring
• 22:49
  Speaker 3: back Ian happen, say a Suzuki anyways, but I just
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: think kind of overall, like when you look at those
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: two hitters as part of this group, like I think
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: you've you probably seen enough overall that you probably want
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: to just change things up. Nothing against either player, but
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: in terms of like longevity here, I just have a
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: hard time seeing them like bringing those two players back
• 23:17
  Speaker 3: and like continuing this. Maybe that's not that's just the
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: way wait when you're sort of more or less I
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: don't know if stuck is the right where, but if
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: you're committed to Dansby, Nico, Bregman, Pete and you have
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: this group of young players coming as well, I just
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: think it's started now who knows what if they who
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: knows with qualifying offers.
• 23:44
  Speaker 4: We saw what happened with Shoda, Like who knows.
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: But I think it's more of just like this is
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: kind of a you know, I wouldn't say last dance
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: because it's not like we're talking about the nineties Bowls
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: or anything like that, but just like you've seen this
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: group play together for a real long time, and they've
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: been pretty good. They've had some great moments, but overall,
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: it's like, I'm curious to see how how Craig responds
• 24:05
  Speaker 3: once we get closer.
• 24:06
  Speaker 4: Towards that end.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and and maybe in the long run, so I
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: feel I'm gonna repeat myself I feel like the offense
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: is not a huge concern for me as far as
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: long term the rest of the season, I think I
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: think they're gonna get right, but maybe this down, this
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: this rough patch here for the offense is an opportunity.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: Was an opportunity for guys like Pedro Ramirez and Kevin ol'
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: contray to come up and now and now they're gaining
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: a little bit of trust. I know Kevin ol'contra hasn't
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: a lot of playing time, but by September, by August
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: or September, can does does Craig Council trust them a
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: little bit more, use them a little bit more. We'll
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: see what happens when Matt Shaw gets back, which one
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: of them gets sent down? Is Pedro Ramirez here to stay?
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: Is he going to be playing, you know, once a week.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: I think that's interesting and I I think it could
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: impact the team later in the season. And at that
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: point you're I think you touch on this. That's when
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: you play like you don't, you don't right, like you're
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: not trying to get guys going anymore, right, You're you're
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: just playing whoever you think it gives you the best
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: shot to win. Northside territory is brought to you by
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: FanDuel Baseball fans. The MLB season is in full swing,
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: and FanDuel is giving you a chance to call your
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: shot with Daily Dingers. Join the Joining the action is easy.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: Just make your free pick on who's hitting a home
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: run in their game, and if you're right, you'll get
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: a profit boost to use on your next bet for
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: a chance at extra winnings. It's just another reason why
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: FanDuel is a home of home runs.
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: So are you ready to play?
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: Head over to FanDuel dot com slash podcast to get started.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: That's FanDuel dot com Slash podcast. To opt in for
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: Daily Dingers and make your free pick on who's hitting
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: a home run. Playball and swing for the fences on FanDuel,
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: an official partner of Major League Baseball.
• 25:58
  Speaker 5: No for just necessary, opt required. Bonus issued as non
• 26:02
  Speaker 5: withdrawabal profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply, including any token expiration
• 26:07
  Speaker 5: and max wager amount. See terms at sportsbook dot FanDuel
• 26:11
  Speaker 5: dot com. Gambling problem call or text one eight hundred gambler.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: Okay, Patrick, how much I'm just going to pose this
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: to you? How much did this poor, poor stretch of
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: play kind of change your perception of.
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: What the Cubs should do at the trade deadline.
• 26:36
  Speaker 3: I think this has sort of changed it in the
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: sense of they might be in survival mode in late July,
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: like we we realized we were jumping ahead with some
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: of this trade deadline stuff, but it was also like
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: such an obvious area of need and the team was
• 26:58
  Speaker 3: playing so well that it would have been silly to
• 27:01
  Speaker 3: not address it.
• 27:03
  Speaker 4: And you know, you're thinking like.
• 27:06
  Speaker 3: Maximizing World Series odds in twenty twenty six. And now
• 27:14
  Speaker 3: I still think the Cubs will be buyers, and I
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: still think they'll be probably buying multiple pieces, but I
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: think the logic changes a little bit in terms of, like, yeah,
• 27:27
  Speaker 3: it's not getting some frontline starter so that you have
• 27:34
  Speaker 3: home field advantage throughout the playoffs. It's like they may
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: be having to you know, scrape by to actually get
• 27:42
  Speaker 3: into the tournament. And so I don't know exactly. Maybe
• 27:46
  Speaker 3: they still wind up on the same players. It's always
• 27:51
  Speaker 3: kind of a limited pool of guys anyways, But that
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: is what as I'm looking at the standings and trying
• 27:58
  Speaker 3: to think along with what they're thinking, it's like, you know,
• 28:03
  Speaker 3: are they going to need maybe two or three relievers
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: at this point. You know that does the other reminder too,
• 28:09
  Speaker 3: of like how quickly things can change that. Yes, I
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: still think they'll need to get a starter. But if
• 28:17
  Speaker 3: Ben Brown's awesome and Boyd and Cabrera come back showed
• 28:20
  Speaker 3: to rights himself, maybe you do have to four to
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: five the bullpen more. I guess they're all out getters
• 28:30
  Speaker 3: in the end when you're playing for Craig Council. But
• 28:33
  Speaker 3: I don't know how have your thoughts evolved on the
• 28:35
  Speaker 3: trade deadline during these streaks?
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: No, I like you said, I think the exact phrase
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: that if I think if we talked to some of
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: these guys in the front office, we.
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: Would hear it like it.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: You know, after that twenty and three run, you're thinking
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: World Series? How do you increase those odds because that
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: now you're you're among the favorites to win the World Series.
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: How do you you're you're you know, if you have
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: the division locked up, if you have a top two
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: seed locked up, or feel really good about that going
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: into August third, you're thinking playoff odds deeper into the
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: deeper into the postseason. How do you get that right now?
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: Like we don't know where they're going to be. And
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: what you're saying is July or August September matters so
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: much in their current status. If they're where they are
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: right now, August and September are going to be insanely important.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: If they were where they were, or if they continued
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: playing like they had been, it may not have mattered
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: as much. And we're thinking, like in the twenty sixteen season,
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: what are the finishing touches? Because we know we're going
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: to the playoffs, we know we're winning our division, and
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: we're going to be near the top as far as
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: a seed goes. That's what they're thinking in twenty sixteen, right,
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: how do we finish this team off? I don't think
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: that's the mentality if if things kind of stay status
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: quo where they're fighting for a wild card spot or
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: within you know, shooting distance of the of the top
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: of the division and trying to catch the Brewers. Uh,
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: it's just a different mentality. I agree with you, I think,
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: and I mean, if people haven't been listening to me, clearly,
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: I'm not too concerned about the offense.
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: You know, there could be a point where I changed
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: my mind.
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: I will give you that like if if.
• 30:34
  Speaker 3: But again we're recording before the he throws the no
• 30:39
  Speaker 3: hitter or something like that.
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so, you know, I think it's pitching pitching pitching.
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: I don't think it was. I mean, that's what we
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: were saying two weeks ago. You know, that's what you're saying, pitching, pitching, pitching.
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: But it does change it slightly. Uh And and I
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: think you know you need to you need to just
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: cantinue to like you need to find stuff. It's going
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: to be expensive, and like what are they willing to
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: part with? How important are guys like Pedro Ramirez Kevin
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: old Contra to the team by late July? You know,
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: do you start talking more about Matt Shaw as a
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: trade candidate than you did two weeks ago, you know,
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: than we were thinking two weeks ago, because Peyro Ramirez
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: makes him expendable. I'm just saying, I'm you know, I'm
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: just throwing out what could change in the next two months,
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: So I like, who's available also could change, and then
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: that that makes it it could be interesting if Matt
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: Shaw's available. But you know, like you know, if you
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: want to like throw out big names to front through rotation,
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: that's going to cost an arm and a legh.
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: What are they willing to pay, especially for a rental? Uh?
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: And I think that's a lot where the calculus changes,
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: Like you pay up for a rental this, I think
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: this front office is willing to when they feel really
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: comfortable about their World Series chances and want to up
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: those odds. Do you pay up big for rental? If
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: you're fighting to just get into the playoffs? Then you
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: know that, Like fans don't want to hear that, but
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: that's that's those are the thoughts that they have.
• 32:21
  Speaker 3: I also think you could convince me if you say, like, hey,
• 32:25
  Speaker 3: believers are so valuable for those last two months in
• 32:27
  Speaker 3: the playoffs. You saw how council manages in October. You
• 32:35
  Speaker 3: know those guys whose whose war doesn't really pop over
• 32:40
  Speaker 3: a full season, but all of a sudden in those games,
• 32:42
  Speaker 3: if they're worth like two wins, if they can swing
• 32:45
  Speaker 3: a playoff series, like if you want to bulk up
• 32:47
  Speaker 3: the bullpen like I could. I could see a scenario
• 32:50
  Speaker 3: where that makes sense, and maybe the prices are a
• 32:53
  Speaker 3: little bit more palatable, But it's still, like you said, pitching, pitching, pitching,
• 33:00
  Speaker 3: And I guess that hasn't changed and probably won't change
• 33:03
  Speaker 3: for like as long as we.
• 33:05
  Speaker 4: Cover this team.
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you're right, bullpens are so important in the postseason.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: And then the Dodgers went out and flipped that on
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: its head last Yeah, I guess last October. But they
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: they're probably an outlier. They had a freakish way of
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: doing that, keeping their pitchers, you know, barely throwing any picture,
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: any anything in the regular season and then going out
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: and dominating the postseason. They're They're a freakish team in
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: a freakish org. So well, I'm not sure if you
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: can compare the two clubs there, but I'm sure we'll
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: be talking plenty more about about the trade deadlining, and
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: you know, obviously the content. It's so funny how the
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: context has changed. We were talking about it weeks ago,
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: and it's like naming names and like, well they got
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: to get a frontline starter because this team is awesome.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: But things change, things change quickly in baseball. We'll see
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: where we are. Bye next week. Thanks so much listening
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: to everyone. This is Northside Territory. Make sure to rate, review, subscribe,
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: subscribe to the YouTube channel, and subscribe to The Athletic
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: where Patrick Canaar on top of all things Cubs, thanks
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: for listening and watching. Everyone take care