Latest / Foul Territory / Chicago Cubs team preview w/Mooney
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: In terms of like a spring training meg extension. I
- 0:03Speaker 1: don't think there's any any real possibility.
- 0:05Speaker 2: Of that happening. Yeah, we got Patrick Mooney on with us.
- 0:12Speaker 2: We're gonna go over some Cubs storylines. You know, let's
- 0:14Speaker 2: go right into it and then cutting a few things
- 0:16Speaker 2: on the back end. AJ. I just want to leave
- 0:19Speaker 2: the simplest possible terms what I'm leaving told me a
- 0:23Speaker 2: few times now, what do you think of the Cubs
- 0:26Speaker 2: off season?
- 0:26Speaker 3: Aj?
- 0:27Speaker 2: Not bad?
- 0:27Speaker 3: Huh?
- 0:28Speaker 4: Better than this team?
- 0:30Speaker 2: Well, that teams that bird's hibernating. It's not a way.
- 0:37Speaker 4: That's why I saw my my less crop seen babblehead,
- 0:40Speaker 4: right because oh wow groover right. Uh but yeah, that's
- 0:45Speaker 4: why it sits there every day, because they're until they're
- 0:47Speaker 4: sleeping with less or I p less love you. But uh, yeah,
- 0:54Speaker 4: the Cubs have had a good off season. I have
- 0:55Speaker 4: to give them credit. As much as that pains me
- 0:57Speaker 4: to say, I think they've had a pretty decent offseason.
- 0:59Speaker 4: I love to get one more nice piece, and whoever
- 1:02Speaker 4: that is, I don't know. It's not my money. It's
- 1:04Speaker 4: the uh, you know, the people that own the Cubs,
- 1:08Speaker 4: And I hate to say their names, but I'm not
- 1:10Speaker 4: going to uh, but they've had a good offseason. They've
- 1:13Speaker 4: had a better off season than probably anybody except maybe
- 1:16Speaker 4: the Dodgers and the Aches and the Mets.
- 1:21Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean they're I would also say that off
- 1:23Speaker 1: season is not done yet. I mean we still you know,
- 1:28Speaker 1: my colleagues scided if Sharma Ke and Rosenthal we still
- 1:30Speaker 1: keep hearing the Cubs are active. We don't know exactly
- 1:34Speaker 1: what that will be. There's a big difference between sort
- 1:36Speaker 1: of hanging around and talking to Scott Boris about Alex
- 1:40Speaker 1: Bregman versus actually like going out and doing it. And
- 1:44Speaker 1: I think that's where the the Astros have had kind
- 1:48Speaker 1: of an advantage in a way that the Cubs don't,
- 1:50Speaker 1: because Tom Ricketts is not that type of owner who's
- 1:53Speaker 1: just gonna call up Scott Boris and.
- 1:56Speaker 3: Close a deal here.
- 1:57Speaker 1: But whether it's another pitcher, I think until Bregman signs elsewhere,
- 2:02Speaker 1: the Cubs are gonna be involved. And I think by
- 2:04Speaker 1: the time they get to Mesa, it could the offseason,
- 2:07Speaker 1: which has been pretty good, could look a lot different
- 2:09Speaker 1: by that point too.
- 2:11Speaker 2: All Right, So before we dive into twenty twenty five
- 2:13Speaker 2: storylines and things that we know, for certain, and what's
- 2:16Speaker 2: on the roster. Let's cover Bregman really quickly. What do
- 2:19Speaker 2: you think where are we at with the Cubs one inning?
- 2:22Speaker 2: Are they at with Bregman and the negotiations? And do
- 2:26Speaker 2: you think that it's real? I know someone was floating
- 2:28Speaker 2: out a four hundred, but and if it has opt outs,
- 2:32Speaker 2: maybe that's enticing for him over a six I think
- 2:35Speaker 2: one point fifty six from the Astros. But do you
- 2:38Speaker 2: think this is serious?
- 2:41Speaker 3: Well, it's definitely serious.
- 2:42Speaker 1: I think it's just a matter of how serious and
- 2:45Speaker 1: what the appetite is to get something, don't hear?
- 2:49Speaker 3: I mean this is the way the Cubs are sort
- 2:50Speaker 3: of set up.
- 2:52Speaker 1: I mean Jed Hoyer does not have an unlimited budget,
- 2:54Speaker 1: but he has managed it in a way that keeps
- 2:57Speaker 1: the Cubs kind of in the conversation for any of
- 3:02Speaker 1: these you know guys who maybe are a little disappointed
- 3:06Speaker 1: or frustrated with kind of where how their market has developed.
- 3:10Speaker 1: And also they built up, you know, pretty substantial amount
- 3:14Speaker 1: of young talent to where you know, if teams are
- 3:18Speaker 1: looking to make moves late, they are certainly in those
- 3:20Speaker 1: conversations here as well. And I think what we've kind
- 3:25Speaker 1: of learned over the years here as the Cubs have
- 3:27Speaker 1: transitioned away from THEO and overhauled their front office, it
- 3:30Speaker 1: is really all about.
- 3:33Speaker 3: Whatever the computer tells them to do.
- 3:34Speaker 1: Now, they certainly have preferences and they dictate their own strategy,
- 3:37Speaker 1: but it's really all about whatever deal fits in their system.
- 3:43Speaker 1: And we'll see if Bregman gets to kind of get
- 3:46Speaker 1: falls to their level.
- 3:47Speaker 2: I should say, well, they love those former astros, they
- 3:51Speaker 2: really do. We'll get into that, right Tucker, Presley, et cetera.
- 3:55Speaker 2: Let's hit the storylines. We've got four storylines that we
- 4:07Speaker 2: promised will hit. Maybe a bonus question if we have time,
- 4:09Speaker 2: can Kyle K Tucker vault the Cubs back into the playoffs?
- 4:13Speaker 2: And can they convince him to stay long term? This
- 4:15Speaker 2: is year two of Craig Counsel super rich manager disappointing
- 4:19Speaker 2: season in year one of his expedition with the Cubs,
- 4:22Speaker 2: obviously ditching the hometown team, getting the contract, getting what
- 4:26Speaker 2: he was worth, but so far it didn't work out.
- 4:29Speaker 2: What are we thinking with Matt Shaw? Can he make
- 4:31Speaker 2: an impact starting on day one? And is patients wearing
- 4:34Speaker 2: thin with the front office? This is kind of a
- 4:36Speaker 2: make or break do they have to make the playoffs
- 4:39Speaker 2: for this current front office to be set up the.
- 4:41Speaker 3: Way it is.
- 4:41Speaker 2: Let's start at the top, because Kyle Tucker is a really,
- 4:43Speaker 2: really strong player. You can call him a superstar. Many do,
- 4:47Speaker 2: right based on the seasons he's put together consistently and
- 4:49Speaker 2: what he was on pace for last year before he
- 4:51Speaker 2: got hurt. What do you think of this addition Tucker
- 4:54Speaker 2: in and Bellinger out.
- 4:57Speaker 1: This is a guy they absolutely needed to get. I mean,
- 5:00Speaker 1: the Cubs have been an eighty three win team, kind
- 5:03Speaker 1: of a stable, conservative organization, like just good enough to
- 5:09Speaker 1: play meaningful games in September, not good enough to advance
- 5:13Speaker 1: and win in October. And I think if you look
- 5:16Speaker 1: at the contours of those previous seasons, it was they
- 5:20Speaker 1: needed a star. They needed someone to step up and
- 5:24Speaker 1: hit that three run homer to kind of win a
- 5:27Speaker 1: series on the road, to make sure that like four
- 5:30Speaker 1: game losing streak doesn't turn into like a three week spiral.
- 5:35Speaker 3: And I think Tucker is one of the best all
- 5:39Speaker 3: round players in the game.
- 5:41Speaker 1: I think the second point of this will be really
- 5:43Speaker 1: fascinating to watch, like how is he gonna function as
- 5:46Speaker 1: sort of like the man in Wrigleyville. He didn't really
- 5:49Speaker 1: have to do that in Houston, And at this point,
- 5:54Speaker 1: I don't think either side has any sort of expectations
- 5:57Speaker 1: about a long term deal. At this point, I think
- 5:59Speaker 1: the expectation is that he will play this year out.
- 6:03Speaker 1: The Cubs will have a year to sort of lay
- 6:06Speaker 1: the groundwork and recruit him. But in terms of like
- 6:10Speaker 1: a spring training Meg extension, I don't think there's any
- 6:13Speaker 1: any real possibility of that happening.
- 6:16Speaker 5: To use one of Count's favorite words last year that
- 6:20Speaker 5: was repeated ever once in a while, is this season
- 6:23Speaker 5: going to be daunting for Craig counsel or is the
- 6:27Speaker 5: second season of him moving into an organization that now
- 6:31Speaker 5: he gets more of his own fingerprint on and kind
- 6:34Speaker 5: of the processes of like I want these types of
- 6:37Speaker 5: guys to come up and everybody playing under me. Is
- 6:40Speaker 5: there going to be something new in year two?
- 6:44Speaker 1: Yeah, that was a great get you guys had of
- 6:46Speaker 1: Pat Murphy acknowledging that a council wouldn't call it trolling
- 6:51Speaker 1: the Brewers, but it was definitely a specific word choice
- 6:55Speaker 1: of saying that the Brewers are this daunting challenge when
- 6:59Speaker 1: on undaunted, is this kind of very personal motivational slogan
- 7:03Speaker 1: for his.
- 7:05Speaker 3: Old good buddy Pat Murphy.
- 7:08Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean this is where Council is supposed
- 7:10Speaker 1: to really put his imprint on the team. I mean,
- 7:13Speaker 1: the front office views him as part of the inner
- 7:17Speaker 1: circle for every major decision, So the product on the
- 7:21Speaker 1: field is going to be on some level a reflection
- 7:24Speaker 1: of his belief system and priorities. He's someone who comes
- 7:29Speaker 1: into the office occasionally throughout the off season. He's you know,
- 7:34Speaker 1: on slack, he's reading reports, he's watching video. So you know,
- 7:39Speaker 1: I would imagine, as you guys know, he's not the
- 7:41Speaker 1: most animated guy. But in terms of how this pitching
- 7:47Speaker 1: staff is going to be deployed, that's a huge point
- 7:49Speaker 1: of emphasis for Counsel. I think he was the one
- 7:53Speaker 1: who put pressure on the front office publicly at the
- 7:56Speaker 1: end of last year, during that daunting sort of monologue
- 8:01Speaker 1: of saying, we should be trying to build ninety win
- 8:02Speaker 1: teams around here, and he, you know, has certainly been
- 8:06Speaker 1: a voice behind the scenes trying to kind of create
- 8:10Speaker 1: a sense of urgency that I think you've seen in
- 8:13Speaker 1: the moves the Cubs that made this off this winter.
- 8:17Speaker 4: Is one of the reasons the moves. We talked about
- 8:19Speaker 4: Alex pragmant sorry still have cardinal hair on my is
- 8:25Speaker 4: one of the One of the the reasons why is
- 8:29Speaker 4: because the prospects are coming. And we talked about Alex
- 8:32Speaker 4: Pragman earlier, and they have Matt Shaw and he's supposed
- 8:35Speaker 4: to possibly be there on opening day as their third basement.
- 8:38Speaker 4: Is that what's happening with the Cubs. They finally built
- 8:40Speaker 4: this farm system up to a point where the prospects
- 8:43Speaker 4: are coming and they're gonna be used a lot to
- 8:46Speaker 4: help solidify this roster.
- 8:49Speaker 3: Well age.
- 8:49Speaker 1: As you know, the Cubs would never overhype their prospects.
- 8:52Speaker 3: That never happens, but no.
- 8:55Speaker 5: Team does does.
- 8:56Speaker 1: Yeah, I do think I think there's a certain logic
- 9:00Speaker 1: you in getting Kyle Tucker, you trade away Cam Smith,
- 9:04Speaker 1: another first round pick out of Florida State who had
- 9:07Speaker 1: crushed it at the Cape Cod League, was very much
- 9:09Speaker 1: a fast riser in your system. I think there's also
- 9:14Speaker 1: dovetails with counsels, you know, philosophy, his demeanor. He created
- 9:20Speaker 1: a great space for Pete Crow Armstrong to really develop
- 9:23Speaker 1: at the major leagues last year at a time when
- 9:26Speaker 1: there are a lot of questions about you know his
- 9:28Speaker 1: offensive development, whether he could kind of play under control,
- 9:31Speaker 1: and he told PCA, like, look, just just play great defense,
- 9:34Speaker 1: you know, focus on what you do well. You know,
- 9:38Speaker 1: Councils has sons who are right around the same age
- 9:41Speaker 1: as PCA, which I think gave him like a nice
- 9:44Speaker 1: bit of context to kind of what these players are
- 9:46Speaker 1: going through.
- 9:48Speaker 3: At this point in their careers. And so Matt Shall,
- 9:53Speaker 3: if they don't get Bregman would get a nice run there.
- 9:56Speaker 3: I would say it's his job to lose at third base.
- 10:01Speaker 1: Cops also of Nicol Horner coming off surgery, so it's
- 10:04Speaker 1: a little bit of a question mark when he would
- 10:06Speaker 1: be ready, and you know Shaw could play second base
- 10:09Speaker 1: as well. And I think if you're looking kind of
- 10:12Speaker 1: over the horizon, it's this trade deadline of the Cubs
- 10:15Speaker 1: are gonna have a lot of pieces that they can
- 10:19Speaker 1: move to go get whatever they need this summer, and
- 10:24Speaker 1: I think it would probably be in their best interest
- 10:27Speaker 1: to move some of these guys because they have a
- 10:29Speaker 1: cluster of roughly you know, six to seven players in
- 10:33Speaker 1: that top one hundred, you know, top one twenty in
- 10:37Speaker 1: the industry, and there's just not enough room to give
- 10:39Speaker 1: these guys the pathway to develop in the major So
- 10:43Speaker 1: I think if.
- 10:43Speaker 3: You give Shaw and maybe another guy comes up.
- 10:46Speaker 1: And that was a big part of this the last
- 10:48Speaker 1: Cubs era with Joe Madden. Of you have a Kyle
- 10:52Speaker 1: Schwarber coming up to DH during those mid season injured
- 10:56Speaker 1: league games, and all of a sudden, he's just hitting
- 10:58Speaker 1: bombs in the playoffs against your Cardinals AJ. So I'd say, like,
- 11:02Speaker 1: if they can kind of methodically work some of these
- 11:05Speaker 1: guys in, I think this year will be a success
- 11:08Speaker 1: for them.
- 11:09Speaker 4: Okay, that makes sense. Listen, you know where I stay
- 11:13Speaker 4: with the Cubs. You know how I feel about the Cubs. Okay,
- 11:16Speaker 4: but it's the happiest place on Earth behind Disney World, right,
- 11:19Speaker 4: it's the Friendly Confines. But his patients growing a little
- 11:22Speaker 4: thin because they won. It's almost been ten years now
- 11:25Speaker 4: since they won. They finally did it. They broke the curse.
- 11:27Speaker 4: The Cubs were told we're gonna win for the next
- 11:30Speaker 4: ten years, and the next year after they pretty much
- 11:33Speaker 4: started kind of going downhill rapidly. You know, Rizzo gone,
- 11:36Speaker 4: Bryant gone, everyone gone. These guys are all gone, and
- 11:39Speaker 4: they haven't really done much much since. So is the
- 11:42Speaker 4: patience of the Cub fans, not that they had a
- 11:44Speaker 4: lot of patience to begin with, but is it wearing
- 11:47Speaker 4: thin with Jed Hoyer and the rest of this front
- 11:50Speaker 4: office to put a winning team and yes, I'll say
- 11:53Speaker 4: his name, Tom Ricketts and the Ricketts family to spend
- 11:56Speaker 4: money to put a quality team that can go out
- 11:59Speaker 4: and win the World Series.
- 12:00Speaker 1: Again with the Cubs, well, I don't know how much
- 12:04Speaker 1: time you spend in Chicago in the winter, but it's
- 12:07Speaker 1: pretty bleak here, man, Like if you look at the
- 12:09Speaker 1: city sports. Yes, that's a good move to say sports
- 12:12Speaker 1: franchises right now, the Cubs are actually like pretty competent
- 12:17Speaker 1: in comparison. That doesn't mean that does not mean parades
- 12:20Speaker 1: down Michigan Avenue, But I do think it speaks to
- 12:24Speaker 1: the relationship between Tom Ricketts and Jed Hoyer. Now, obviously
- 12:31Speaker 1: the ultimate metric is the wins and losses at the
- 12:35Speaker 1: major league level, when the Cubs have not made the
- 12:37Speaker 1: playoffs since twenty twenty, and that is certainly on Jed
- 12:40Speaker 1: Hoyer's ledger. But I think if you look at kind
- 12:43Speaker 1: of stylistically, temperamentally, philosophically, like Jed Hoyer is exactly the
- 12:49Speaker 1: type of executive that Tom Ricketts wants running his team,
- 12:53Speaker 1: and yes, that does mean playing, being kind of in
- 12:58Speaker 1: the hunt every single year, and having a good base
- 13:02Speaker 1: of young talent, being to use a Rickets phrase, rational
- 13:07Speaker 1: with contracts in free agency. I mean, this is not
- 13:10Speaker 1: a team that is spending like the Dodgers, or is
- 13:14Speaker 1: spending like the Mats.
- 13:15Speaker 3: And now that's a whole separate episode.
- 13:18Speaker 1: But I think within the confines of what the friendly
- 13:22Speaker 1: confines of what the Rickets family are trying to build,
- 13:25Speaker 1: I think Jed Hoyer checks a lot of boxes what
- 13:29Speaker 1: they're looking for. And I don't know this division is bad.
- 13:33Speaker 1: I mean, the Cardinals are not trying this year. Major
- 13:37Speaker 1: questions about the Reds and the Pirates. I mean, we
- 13:41Speaker 1: underestimate the Brewers every single year. But you gotta think
- 13:45Speaker 1: they're gonna miss a damis so like it's set up here,
- 13:50Speaker 1: and to kind of call back to the previous answer
- 13:53Speaker 1: about the trade deadline, like Jet's gonna be in position
- 13:57Speaker 1: to go for it and I think you will.
- 14:00Speaker 2: Hey, last one bonus question here, how much better do
- 14:04Speaker 2: you think the Cubs bullpen is this year?
- 14:06Speaker 3: They just got.
- 14:06Speaker 2: Brazier, Porter Hodge looks good. Ryan Presley obviously for the
- 14:10Speaker 2: back end among some others that they did. Like, it
- 14:13Speaker 2: just starts to shift some of the guys you were
- 14:15Speaker 2: thinking high leverage more to mid leverage or whatever you
- 14:17Speaker 2: want to call it. So should Cubs fans be excited
- 14:20Speaker 2: that they won't blow as many late leads?
- 14:24Speaker 1: Well, it's always going to look better on paper, and
- 14:26Speaker 1: then as soon as the first blown save at Wrigley Field,
- 14:28Speaker 1: everyone will be, you know, criticizing the manager and things
- 14:33Speaker 1: of that nature. But yeah, it looks better on paper.
- 14:36Speaker 1: I think Presley organizes things in a way that should help.
- 14:43Speaker 1: If you look at these past couple of seasons too,
- 14:45Speaker 1: what really hurt them was early in the season just
- 14:47Speaker 1: getting knocked out with injuries and not having those answers
- 14:52Speaker 1: in the ninth inning. Like if if they're just like
- 14:55Speaker 1: a higher floor there, more stability. You know, you got
- 15:01Speaker 1: a guy the highest paid manager in baseball, you know,
- 15:04Speaker 1: pressing those buttons in the bullpen.
- 15:08Speaker 3: I would think it would look better. But we'll see.
- 15:11Speaker 1: We'll see who's healthy by the time they get back
- 15:13Speaker 1: from Japan and like the season really starts. But I
- 15:16Speaker 1: think if you look at a pitching staff from one
- 15:18Speaker 1: to whatever, however, many guys are gonna have in camp,
- 15:21Speaker 1: like over thirty. I think it looks pretty solid on paper,
- 15:23Speaker 1: with like we said, some flexibility to maybe even add
- 15:28Speaker 1: here before camp starts.
- 15:30Speaker 2: Okay, that's good enough. Cubs fans will take it. And
- 15:33Speaker 2: I know Cubs fans don't at me. We didn't put
- 15:34Speaker 2: everyone on that list. I like Nace Pearson too. If
- 15:37Speaker 2: you can stay on the mound, Patrick, thanks for the time,
- 15:39Speaker 2: then we'll see what happens.
- 15:41Speaker 3: All right, you got it, guys, take care.
- 15:44Speaker 2: All right here we are. It's a good point about
- 15:46Speaker 2: the rest of the division.
- 15:48Speaker 3: Guys, it's just not that good.
- 15:53Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's not that good. So it does help
- 15:56Speaker 2: Chicago because the Cubs weren't bad last year. They just
- 16:00Speaker 2: we're in a playoff team and it's been a problem
- 16:01Speaker 2: in the last couple of years. So like, can we
- 16:03Speaker 2: improve a little bit?
- 16:06Speaker 3: And will that put us counting on you?
- 16:07Speaker 4: Yes, counting on you, Tito, counting on you Ellie.
- 16:11Speaker 2: Really, it's just not great, right, Like Cincinnati's done some
- 16:16Speaker 2: things Kratz and I've liked some of the smaller moves
- 16:19Speaker 2: they made, but the Cubs made the bigger impact moves.
- 16:23Speaker 5: Oh oh my goodness, I mean what an upgrade Kyle
- 16:26Speaker 5: Tucker over Cody Bellinger. Even Cody Bellinger's like the reason
- 16:29Speaker 5: they signed him to that deal, like the year he
- 16:32Speaker 5: had two years ago. Kyle Tucker's still an upgrade. That
- 16:36Speaker 5: move alone with getting Presley, it's awesome. Would I would
- 16:40Speaker 5: go against that? I think I think the starting pitching
- 16:44Speaker 5: for the Pirates is gonna be really tough. So it's
- 16:47Speaker 5: gonna be tough to just bludgeon the Pirates to death
- 16:50Speaker 5: if you're the Cubs. But I still think the Cubs
- 16:52Speaker 5: are the better team. I still think the Reds win
- 16:54Speaker 5: this division currently currently where they're at.
- 16:58Speaker 3: Okay.
- 16:59Speaker 2: And then we had a couple of answers about schemes
- 17:01Speaker 2: from earlier. Igarashi in the chat said, Yamamoto got a
- 17:05Speaker 2: twelve year contract. Why couldn't Skeens get a ten year offer?
- 17:10Speaker 4: Because different things you could, but he ain't gonna sign it,
- 17:13Speaker 4: and they're not going to make a ten year offer.
- 17:15Speaker 5: Yamamoto was a proven substance.
- 17:16Speaker 4: Sorry, Skeens. One year just not the way the salary
- 17:19Speaker 4: structure works, and most teams don't do that with pictures.
- 17:23Speaker 3: Okay.
- 17:24Speaker 2: And then yeah, others like cr in the chat, Scott's
- 17:27Speaker 2: talking about the pirates right. Never will they extend schemes.
- 17:30Speaker 5: Never.
- 17:32Speaker 2: I just don't want to see. I just don't want
- 17:34Speaker 2: anyone to overlook the fact that money matters. More so
- 17:38Speaker 2: to some owners. Bob Nutting is money, money, money, and
- 17:42Speaker 2: he's going to look at his books and be like,
- 17:43Speaker 2: oh damn, this dude makes me money.
- 17:47Speaker 5: Look at just go look at Look at the picture
- 17:49Speaker 5: Paul Skins and Bob Nutting. You tell me if that
- 17:52Speaker 5: is a guy who's going to extend the person on
- 17:55Speaker 5: his right. Bob Nutting's standing to Paul Skeins left the
- 17:58Speaker 5: picture they took at the Beas, And you tell me
- 18:01Speaker 5: if you think that guy's gonna give the other guy
- 18:03Speaker 5: an extension.
- 18:04Speaker 2: He gave other people extensions. And that guy makes some money.
- 18:08Speaker 2: And on the other side, you're a pitcher, get your
- 18:11Speaker 2: first big check. It's hard to turn down nine figures
- 18:15Speaker 2: if you're a young pitcher.
- 18:17Speaker 4: Even he won't offer him that. I don't think he'll
- 18:19Speaker 4: offer him that, though. I just don't snee him. If
- 18:22Speaker 4: he yeah, if he went something like that, if he
- 18:24Speaker 4: went six years one hundred and twenty six years one
- 18:27Speaker 4: hundred something like that, sure, but he ain't gonna do that,