Latest / North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast / Trade targets for the Cubs with the deadline nearing

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Trade targets for the Cubs with the deadline nearing · 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: Zadive Charma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are your
0:11
Speaker 1: Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic.
0:15
Speaker 2: Patrick.
0:15
Speaker 1: The Cubs are playing the Detroit Detroit Tigers right now,
0:20
Speaker 1: hoping to take two or three from the Tigers and
0:23
Speaker 1: knock them down a little bit further and try and
0:27
Speaker 1: force them into selling.
0:30
Speaker 2: That is what you know.
0:33
Speaker 1: These next two weeks are all about who are the
0:35
Speaker 1: sellers that the Cubs can kind of pick from and
0:39
Speaker 1: try and get some pitching. And obviously the big name
0:43
Speaker 1: in Detroit is Trek Scubel.
0:46
Speaker 2: And you know, I don't I don't know.
0:50
Speaker 1: If i'd i'd put the Cubs at the top of
0:52
Speaker 1: the list of teams that are going to be pining
0:56
Speaker 1: for Schooble, but I would put it at you know,
1:01
Speaker 1: no chance of them getting Schooble if the Tigers decide
1:04
Speaker 1: to sell and trade, you know, one of the best
1:07
Speaker 1: pitchers in the game, if not the best pitcher in
1:09
Speaker 1: the game.
1:12
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, we at the Athletic have been kind
1:14
Speaker 3: of asking around about this, and I still think Scooble
1:20
Speaker 3: staying with the Tigers is in play and might be
1:23
Speaker 3: the most likely scenario just when you break out the
1:26
Speaker 3: percentages of you know, kind of Detroit, the field, the Dodgers, Phillies,
1:33
Speaker 3: you know, the usual suspects as well as some surprises
1:36
Speaker 3: like like the Rays and maybe the Brewers. But look there,
1:40
Speaker 3: these games matter at Wrigley Field in a lot of ways.
1:44
Speaker 3: And I know you'll be writing about this this more
1:46
Speaker 3: in the Athletics a Hodave.
1:47
Speaker 2: But like.
1:49
Speaker 3: Scott Harris Jeff Greenberg, two old Cubs guys are running
1:54
Speaker 3: Detroit's front office and they're going to take this last
1:58
Speaker 3: chunk before the trade deadline to continually re evaluate and
2:04
Speaker 3: see where the club is. So like they are in
2:08
Speaker 3: kind of a playoff mode right now that they have
2:12
Speaker 3: to show the front office that it's worth keeping Schooble.
2:15
Speaker 3: And if you do that, maybe you add a little
2:18
Speaker 3: bit at well this as well. This team wasn't built
2:20
Speaker 3: to be blown up at the deadline. I mean, that's
2:23
Speaker 3: why they signed Frambra Valdez to that big deal around
2:27
Speaker 3: the Star spring training. You don't bring back Justin Verlander
2:30
Speaker 3: with the idea that you're going to sell in early August.
2:35
Speaker 3: But you know, I think the big thing you know
2:38
Speaker 3: Cubs fans probably are tired of hearing it about it,
2:41
Speaker 3: but this first round by a Jed Hoyer has talked
2:43
Speaker 3: about it a lot that it is super important. Essentially,
2:47
Speaker 3: it's like winning a playoff round before the playoffs even start.
2:50
Speaker 3: Just taking those three potential games off the table is
2:54
Speaker 3: a huge deal, particularly when you're a model driven front office.
2:58
Speaker 3: And I think if the Cubs were in the position
3:00
Speaker 3: right now, you'd be seeing their name like right next
3:03
Speaker 3: to the Dodgers, Phillies, Braves as like kind of the
3:06
Speaker 3: most likely pursuers. I think the Cubs are in a
3:13
Speaker 3: tier two behind that right now, given the deficit they're
3:18
Speaker 3: facing in the division and the likelihood that they will
3:20
Speaker 3: have to go through a wildcard series to keep advancing.
3:25
Speaker 3: But it's not at zero. I think what you'll see
3:29
Speaker 3: is a lot of teams, including the Cubs and Tigers,
3:34
Speaker 3: taking this all the way down until the final day,
3:37
Speaker 3: if not the last hours before that deadline, when you
3:40
Speaker 3: you know that's going to force the action.
3:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, where we sit right now before Wednesday Night's game
3:47
Speaker 1: against the Tigers, the Tigers are five games back in
3:50
Speaker 1: the wildcard they you know, or is that five games
3:56
Speaker 1: back in the top.
3:57
Speaker 2: No.
3:57
Speaker 1: No, no, that's five games back of the final wildcard spot,
4:01
Speaker 1: So that's I mean, that's still within shouting distance. They're
4:04
Speaker 1: they're they're close enough where they're not clear sellers. Uh yeah,
4:10
Speaker 1: I agree with you that the Cubs are not. I mean,
4:13
Speaker 1: if the Cubs are bidding against teams like the Brewers
4:16
Speaker 1: and Dodgers for Schoogle, they're not going to win that
4:19
Speaker 1: bidding more they they it's they they don't have the
4:23
Speaker 1: players to compete with those two teams for sure. The
4:26
Speaker 1: Dodgers are a team that haven't you know, they've done
4:29
Speaker 1: most of their work in recent years in the off season,
4:32
Speaker 1: not as much at the deadline, so you know, and
4:36
Speaker 1: everything that I read it makes it seem like, you know,
4:39
Speaker 1: they're they're not going to that's just not their mo o.
4:43
Speaker 1: It doesn't seem like they overpay it the deadline. They're
4:46
Speaker 1: they're overpaying you know, quote unquote, uh is is done
4:50
Speaker 1: in the off season and it's done with their spending.
4:53
Speaker 1: Uh well, we'll see if they I mean, they have
4:56
Speaker 1: a lot of talent and a lot of depth in
4:58
Speaker 1: the farm, so they could certainly overpaid prospect price just
5:03
Speaker 1: to and not hurt their system.
5:06
Speaker 2: Much or hurt their future at all.
5:09
Speaker 1: I'd be surprised if if Schooble ends up on the Cubs.
5:15
Speaker 1: If the if the Tigers are selling, the Cubs certainly
5:20
Speaker 1: have should have interest in Schooble, They should have interest
5:24
Speaker 1: in Casey Miz. They should have interest in any any
5:27
Speaker 1: arms that the that the Tigers are willing to put
5:29
Speaker 1: out there, because that's just the situation they're in. They're
5:34
Speaker 1: they're desperate for pitching. I mean, you wrote it like
5:37
Speaker 1: we've We've just wrote this over and over again. They
5:39
Speaker 1: have another injury, Trent Thornton with the heel contusion.
5:45
Speaker 2: We will see if he's put on the.
5:46
Speaker 1: I l you know, we're over twenty four hours later
5:50
Speaker 1: from from the injury and nothing has happened. He's had
5:53
Speaker 1: I think multiple types of scans, right X rays and
5:58
Speaker 1: something else that there was CT.
6:01
Speaker 3: Scam there would not reveal a fracture.
6:03
Speaker 2: Okay, so.
6:06
Speaker 1: When it initially happened, the night of Council said that
6:11
Speaker 1: heels can be tricky. Uh So the initial X ray,
6:14
Speaker 1: even though it was clear they they didn't want to
6:17
Speaker 1: give him the all all all good there just yet.
6:21
Speaker 1: But for now it seems like he's maybe avoided an
6:26
Speaker 1: eel stint.
6:28
Speaker 3: Yeah he was. He was optimistic, but of course that's
6:31
Speaker 3: what you're always supposed to say. I mean, he did,
6:34
Speaker 3: you know, mention that he was able to do a
6:36
Speaker 3: light throwing session on Tuesday. Council said Thursday's off day
6:42
Speaker 3: helps reorganize things. A blowout win on Tuesday night also
6:47
Speaker 3: doesn't hurt either of only using two pictures and none
6:53
Speaker 3: of your leverage relievers such as they are these these days.
6:58
Speaker 3: But yeah, and I think that was interesting seeing the
7:02
Speaker 3: Tigers how aj Hinch managed Tuesday Night's game there of
7:08
Speaker 3: going to position players and like they know it, like
7:11
Speaker 3: they have once they leave Rigley Field ten games against
7:16
Speaker 3: teams that are currently sub five hundred. You look at
7:20
Speaker 3: their August and September schedule, they play the teams in
7:23
Speaker 3: front of them in the Al Central twenty more times,
7:26
Speaker 3: so they they have opportunity in front of them, they
7:29
Speaker 3: could just sort of win series and give their front
7:34
Speaker 3: office a reason to stick together. I think they feel
7:39
Speaker 3: like they had the most talented team on paper heading
7:43
Speaker 3: into the season. Their payroll on opening day was top
7:48
Speaker 3: ten in the entire sport. You know, like the Cubs,
7:52
Speaker 3: they just got hammered by injuries injuries early, and I
7:56
Speaker 3: think you and I are both sort of it's not
7:59
Speaker 3: the most creative process to continually write around injuries and
8:03
Speaker 3: put context to it, but it's been the story, and
8:06
Speaker 3: to the Cup's credit, it hasn't sunk their season in
8:09
Speaker 3: a way that people are wondering whether they're buying or
8:13
Speaker 3: not at the deadline.
8:14
Speaker 2: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: Absolutely, the Tigers just don't have like they have every
8:17
Speaker 1: reason to continue to try and go for it outside
8:21
Speaker 1: of where they are in the standings, you know, So
8:23
Speaker 1: like there's a lot of reasons why they'll be patient
8:26
Speaker 1: and wait. So we'll see where they end up and
8:29
Speaker 1: where this is, because I think they are going to
8:31
Speaker 1: wait until closer unless things just fall apart in the
8:34
Speaker 1: next week and there's suddenly nine games back of a
8:36
Speaker 1: wild card spot. But I think they're going to wait
8:40
Speaker 1: the full two weeks before we really have an answer
8:42
Speaker 1: about what they're doing with their pitching. Let's talk about
8:45
Speaker 1: some clear sellers. Let's take a quick break before we
8:48
Speaker 1: do that.
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9:52
Speaker 2: Patrick.
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Speaker 1: The list of sellers isn't certainly not endless. It's not,
10:00
Speaker 1: you know, it's there's a handful of obvious sellers at
10:04
Speaker 1: this point. I put the Angels, Mets, you know, the Giants,
10:11
Speaker 1: Rockies are in there cases in there, maybe the athletics,
10:15
Speaker 1: But the athletics I think want to continue to try
10:18
Speaker 1: and build because they have like the what they believe
10:22
Speaker 1: is a foundation to win, and there's just not a
10:25
Speaker 1: lot for them obvious to obviously sell, and certainly not
10:30
Speaker 1: in the Cubs department. It doesn't feel like they have
10:33
Speaker 1: what the Cubs are looking for.
10:36
Speaker 2: But the Angels do.
10:38
Speaker 1: The Giants may, the Mets certainly have some intriguing pieces.
10:44
Speaker 1: What are some things that you've heard as far as
10:47
Speaker 1: potential sellers.
10:50
Speaker 3: Well, I think definitely. I mean the Cubs and Mats
10:52
Speaker 3: have already made a relatively significant deal, you know, trading
10:58
Speaker 3: for David Peterson and who's pitched pretty well. I mean
11:02
Speaker 3: he's gone three for four in terms of like good
11:05
Speaker 3: performances in this rotation. Obviously they'll be monitoring Clay Holmes
11:14
Speaker 3: as he comes back. I think someone who would be
11:16
Speaker 3: a great fit. He's got a kind of a weird
11:18
Speaker 3: contract situation. I believe he has like a player option
11:22
Speaker 3: for next year that you know, as long as he's healthy,
11:24
Speaker 3: the expectation would be he opts out, and if he's injury,
11:28
Speaker 3: you might opt out too, just because pitching is at
11:30
Speaker 3: such a premium Freddy Peralta another one, but you're kind
11:34
Speaker 3: of looking more at those rental pieces. I guess another
11:38
Speaker 3: reliever the Mets.
11:39
Speaker 2: Have Luke Weaver.
11:40
Speaker 3: He made a very good impression with the Cubs as
11:43
Speaker 3: a free agent, and they did one of those video
11:46
Speaker 3: conferences and the Cubs were engaged, kind of made a
11:50
Speaker 3: play for him, and you know, he got that two year,
11:53
Speaker 3: twenty two million dollar deal, you know, kind of matching
11:57
Speaker 3: Brad Keller's contract with the Phillies, which has not turned
12:00
Speaker 3: out well. The Cubs were kind of in that market,
12:04
Speaker 3: but not all the way. I think, you know, maybe
12:08
Speaker 3: there's a way to They don't love putting significant resources
12:14
Speaker 3: into their bullpen. They just think it's too unpredictable. But
12:17
Speaker 3: a guy who's pitched well for both New York teams, Yeah,
12:21
Speaker 3: maybe you're willing to pay a little more, uh to
12:25
Speaker 3: get a guy who's under contract for next season. Those
12:29
Speaker 3: rental pitchers, you know, might start to look better when
12:34
Speaker 3: you hear the prices for some of the controllable starters.
12:38
Speaker 3: And and I think a team we've both circled is
12:42
Speaker 3: the Angels. What do you got on them?
12:44
Speaker 2: Yeah?
12:45
Speaker 1: I mean read Detmers is a name that everyone's talking about.
12:49
Speaker 1: Like these these are guys that are under control for
12:52
Speaker 1: a while, right read Detmers, Jose Siriato.
12:56
Speaker 2: Uh, both through both through twenty two. Yeah, but yeah,
13:01
Speaker 2: no problem, nice nice play for the future.
13:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, Deptmers has is eras elevated right now.
13:07
Speaker 2: It's a little bit above four.
13:08
Speaker 1: But I mean they don't have anyone that strikes guys
13:11
Speaker 1: out at a near thirty percent rate, like like Deptmer's does.
13:15
Speaker 1: I mean this is the peripherals are very much uh,
13:18
Speaker 1: you know, impressive twenty seven percent strike got rate, seven
13:21
Speaker 1: percent walk rate. That's that's standout stuff in a rotation.
13:28
Speaker 1: And right now he's at one hundred and fourteen and
13:31
Speaker 1: two thirds innings like that's that's exactly like that is
13:34
Speaker 1: what the Cubs are looking for. Uh, if they believe,
13:37
Speaker 1: if they like him, if the if the pitching infrastructure
13:41
Speaker 1: believes they can you know, whether it's getting in front
13:44
Speaker 1: of a good defense, whether it's making a tweak, maybe
13:48
Speaker 1: using different pitches at different times, whatever it may be,
13:51
Speaker 1: and just have them level up a little bit more.
13:54
Speaker 1: That's a guy that makes a lot of sense. Soriano
13:57
Speaker 1: does too. Soriano came out like if you guys. If
14:01
Speaker 1: people Cubs fans remember that, you know, he came out
14:04
Speaker 1: just crazy this season, doing really well. He's kind of
14:09
Speaker 1: cooled off, but it's still you know, at three four ERA,
14:13
Speaker 1: solid strikeout rate, he's a big round ball guy. Again,
14:17
Speaker 1: he put that in front of the Cub's defense. Maybe
14:19
Speaker 1: that ERA gets back down again. I think both of
14:23
Speaker 1: them make a ton of sense for the Cubs. It's
14:25
Speaker 1: going to cost a ton what what are the Cubs
14:28
Speaker 1: willing to give up? What are the Angels looking for?
14:31
Speaker 1: But those are two guys I think make a lot
14:32
Speaker 1: of sense. And the Angels need to rebuild. I mean,
14:36
Speaker 1: do they have to move guys like Soriano and Detmers.
14:39
Speaker 1: Probably not, because, like you said, they're under control till
14:42
Speaker 1: twenty eight. But that's what the Cubs are looking for.
14:45
Speaker 1: I think the Cubs would much prefer to you mentioned
14:49
Speaker 1: Clay Holmes and Freddy Pratta. I think the Cubs like
14:52
Speaker 1: Clay Holmes a lot. I think Clay Homes fits that
14:54
Speaker 1: Soriano mold in the sense that he doesn't miss as
14:57
Speaker 1: many bats as Soriano, but he the ground ball rate
15:01
Speaker 1: would be so great in front of the Cubs defense.
15:03
Speaker 1: I think the Cubs would love to get Clay Homes.
15:06
Speaker 1: But as far as a long term play beyond this
15:09
Speaker 1: season and paying a pretty hefty price and being aggressive,
15:14
Speaker 1: Soriano or dept Meurs makes perfect sense for this team,
15:18
Speaker 1: and that they need pitching, you know beyond. They need
15:20
Speaker 1: pitching now and they need pitching for the future. So
15:23
Speaker 1: adding making a move like that to kind of what's
15:27
Speaker 1: expected to be an odd offseason, a disjointed off season,
15:33
Speaker 1: a truncated offseason, I guess to your the ability to
15:36
Speaker 1: make moves is going to be difficult. You may as
15:39
Speaker 1: well try and make a move like that now and
15:41
Speaker 1: you don't have to worry about, oh, you're getting a
15:43
Speaker 1: shorter what if The like the pending twenty twenty seven
15:46
Speaker 1: free agents are a little more worrisome than the ones
15:50
Speaker 1: that are around through twenty twenty eight.
15:55
Speaker 3: The Angels make perfect sense. I think the only issue
15:58
Speaker 3: is what everyone in baseball can point to, just like
16:02
Speaker 3: who's running the show there?
16:04
Speaker 2: I mean you have Artie Moreno, an owner who's.
16:08
Speaker 3: You know, been involved, but also you know, doesn't really
16:13
Speaker 3: explain himself to his fan base. Perry Manazi and was
16:19
Speaker 3: fired I believe in June John Mozelak very experienced, accomplished
16:24
Speaker 3: is running the team on an interim basis. I believe
16:29
Speaker 3: his contract runs since December, but he hasn't like ruled
16:34
Speaker 3: out the idea of staying around if he's asked, but
16:37
Speaker 3: he'll be involved in the search for his replacement, just
16:42
Speaker 3: like a lot going on out there of just the Angels.
16:46
Speaker 3: I've always been viewed as a sort of you know,
16:49
Speaker 3: sleeping giant, you know, in a great market and location
16:54
Speaker 3: that's very appealing to players, and they've spent money, they've
16:59
Speaker 3: had obviously amazing individual talents, and you know, really big
17:05
Speaker 3: name managers. For a while, it just never really clicked
17:11
Speaker 3: or hasn't been a very long time. And so, you know,
17:15
Speaker 3: I think if you're a front office, you're kind of
17:17
Speaker 3: scouting the other front offices too, right of, like what's
17:19
Speaker 3: the you know, I have no doubt the Cubs could
17:22
Speaker 3: put together a very nice offer that makes sense for
17:25
Speaker 3: a team in their position out in the Al West.
17:31
Speaker 3: Just kind of odds set up, and I guess the
17:34
Speaker 3: Giants aren't quite that strange, but they've been They've just
17:40
Speaker 3: been a mess. And they've got a couple of interesting
17:43
Speaker 3: pitchers that are on the Cubs radar.
17:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it comes would love to get Logan
17:48
Speaker 1: web right, I really.
17:51
Speaker 3: That would that would be the like Jed like mic drop,
17:54
Speaker 3: like yeah you wanted you want a big move, here
17:57
Speaker 3: you go.
17:58
Speaker 2: Yeah.
17:59
Speaker 1: I mean, this is a guy it's competed for. Cy
18:01
Speaker 1: Young's over and over again, always up there and innings pitched.
18:06
Speaker 1: He's I think he's kind of bounced back from a
18:10
Speaker 1: rough start to the season, but his strikeouts are pretty
18:13
Speaker 1: far down still. He gets weak contact. Another groundball guy,
18:17
Speaker 1: funky arm angle, gonna give you a ton of innings.
18:23
Speaker 1: I mean, one of the few guys that gets to
18:25
Speaker 1: two hundred innings still regularly.
18:27
Speaker 2: Like how that's super rare.
18:30
Speaker 1: I don't think that's gonna happen, you know, I don't
18:33
Speaker 1: think the Giants are moving Logan web Robbie Ray is
18:37
Speaker 1: probably very available though pending free agent. I know there
18:41
Speaker 1: was a time where where this front office liked Robbie Ray.
18:46
Speaker 1: That was years ago. He's a very different pitcher now,
18:49
Speaker 1: you know, he's he's you know, been traded once already.
18:54
Speaker 1: This was back when he was a free agent, back
18:57
Speaker 1: when the Cubs signed Marcus stro I believe the you know,
19:03
Speaker 1: I think that free agent class had Strowman, Robbie Ray,
19:06
Speaker 1: and Kevin Gousman. And my understanding was the Cubs liked
19:11
Speaker 1: Robbie Ray a lot. Obviously, Ray got hurt pretty quickly
19:14
Speaker 1: after after signing with Seattle.
19:17
Speaker 2: Was it? I think it was Seattle?
19:19
Speaker 1: And he's he's pitching well this season, but kind of
19:23
Speaker 1: the stuff seems a little down. I don't know. I
19:27
Speaker 1: my personal concern is that, like Robbie Ray, is the
19:30
Speaker 1: type of guy that looks good on paper right now
19:32
Speaker 1: and then comes in and has a tough two months
19:36
Speaker 1: just because the stuff and the peripherals don't look like
19:39
Speaker 1: they used to. But maybe the Cubs see something that
19:42
Speaker 1: they love and they're like, hey, we have them throw
19:45
Speaker 1: this pitch a little bit more, or a tweak in
19:48
Speaker 1: the delivery, whatever whatever it may be. If they feel
19:51
Speaker 1: that way, then you know it probably isn't a sky
19:55
Speaker 1: high cost. When when the guy's a pending free agent,
20:00
Speaker 1: giants are definitely sellers. I think those are the the
20:02
Speaker 1: definite sellers. Those are the names we probably have to watch.
20:06
Speaker 1: Maybe we missed a name. It's possible we missed a name.
20:10
Speaker 1: But when you're talking about like Kansas City and Colorado,
20:16
Speaker 1: like Kansas City is like in this weird spot and
20:18
Speaker 1: they're where they I don't think they really want to
20:22
Speaker 1: sell even though they're out of it, that they don't
20:24
Speaker 1: want to like move these guys that they that they
20:27
Speaker 1: may have and they just don't have a ton of
20:30
Speaker 1: attractive pitching options. I know someone's gonna mention Michael Waka.
20:34
Speaker 1: I think that's guy with like really scary peripherals. If
20:37
Speaker 1: i'm if I'm I'm going off memory on him just
20:40
Speaker 1: because I haven't I haven't even bothered doing a lot
20:42
Speaker 1: of research on Michael Waka. Yeah, I mean yeah, like
20:47
Speaker 1: no bad strikeout rate, not a high ground ball rate.
20:51
Speaker 1: It seems like a guy that could kind of what
20:54
Speaker 1: I said about Robbie Ray, like I wouldn't be surprised
20:56
Speaker 1: if his final two months aren't that special in Colorado,
21:00
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, there may be a reliever there
21:02
Speaker 1: that you take a shot on, but I don't think
21:04
Speaker 1: there's a starting pitcher that helps this team.
21:09
Speaker 3: I think the name you mentioned we get into the
21:10
Speaker 3: next segment from that free agent class, that one I
21:13
Speaker 3: think we have circle too.
21:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's take a quick break and we'll talk a
21:17
Speaker 1: little bit about Kevin Gosman.
21:22
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22:20
Speaker 2: Patrick.
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Speaker 1: The Toronto Blue Jays were, you know, two outs away
22:25
Speaker 1: from winning the World Series.
22:26
Speaker 2: I believe it was they.
22:30
Speaker 1: If that was or wasn't one out, I can't even
22:32
Speaker 1: remember whatever it was. They were steps away from winning
22:36
Speaker 1: the World Series and and now they are. They they
22:39
Speaker 1: had a big off season. They were very aggressive. They
22:43
Speaker 1: really wanted to put the finishing touches on a team
22:45
Speaker 1: that was so close to winning it all. And and
22:48
Speaker 1: they're just not having the season they hoped. It's it's
22:51
Speaker 1: been a struggle for them. They're not squarely in the
22:56
Speaker 1: you know, they're selling mode, but it's close. They're nine
23:00
Speaker 1: games under. As we're recording six games out of a
23:03
Speaker 1: playoff spot. They may be ready to start moving guys.
23:07
Speaker 1: They may, I mean, they're certainly contemplating it. Kevin Gossman
23:11
Speaker 1: is a name that I think you would have to
23:15
Speaker 1: circle if you're if you're the Cups.
23:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean guy a guy who pitched in last
23:22
Speaker 3: year's World Series and you know, pitched into the you know,
23:28
Speaker 3: not six innings or more in two starts against that
23:33
Speaker 3: Dodgers lineup. I mean the Blue Jays lost both of
23:37
Speaker 3: those games, but in those two games combined, they scored
23:40
Speaker 3: two runs. Like it was not on the starting pitcher,
23:48
Speaker 3: you know. I think sometimes if you read coverage of
23:51
Speaker 3: the trade deadline, you might be suspicious of like, oh,
23:54
Speaker 3: is this sort of like an a narrative or like,
23:58
Speaker 3: you know, reporters just kind of like putting angles on
24:01
Speaker 3: things like, no, these games matter, Like front officers are
24:04
Speaker 3: watching these stretches carefully and making decisions off of that.
24:10
Speaker 3: And the Cubs like need a couple of these teams
24:14
Speaker 3: on the fence to tip towards selling not just for
24:19
Speaker 3: the you know, individual talent, but also just kind of
24:23
Speaker 3: increasing their options and the pool of available pitchers. And
24:29
Speaker 3: you know, I think Osmond would be kind of at
24:32
Speaker 3: or near the top of that list. I mean, you
24:35
Speaker 3: just give the Blue Jays something to sort of salvage
24:38
Speaker 3: this season and reposition for the future. It just seems
24:44
Speaker 3: like there'd be fewer question marks about a guy who
24:48
Speaker 3: really has been a spectacular free agent. I know, teams
24:52
Speaker 3: understand the risk and they kind of view these things
24:56
Speaker 3: as like actuaries, but this has been an awesome deal
24:59
Speaker 3: for the Blue Jays. I'm sure they hate to give
25:02
Speaker 3: him up, but this is a guy who was a
25:06
Speaker 3: you know, top of the draft type of talent who
25:11
Speaker 3: took a little while to get going but has been
25:14
Speaker 3: just a really good I forgot to look it up
25:17
Speaker 3: on your aces project, but he's one of those guys
25:19
Speaker 3: that would be sort of in that next to your conversation.
25:22
Speaker 1: Right, yeah, yeah, I'm not sure unclear where he really sits,
25:26
Speaker 1: but he's not where he was, you know a few
25:30
Speaker 1: years ago when he was yeah for Young's and but
25:34
Speaker 1: I also think, like he's got a four point five
25:37
Speaker 1: this season, I do not. I think that that's the
25:40
Speaker 1: type of one like that's the reverse of what I'm
25:42
Speaker 1: talking about with Robbie Ray where I wouldn't be shocked
25:46
Speaker 1: if if you get two months of maybe not what
25:48
Speaker 1: Cole Hamil's gave the Cubs back and whatever that was eighteen,
25:52
Speaker 1: but like really good two months like this is did
25:57
Speaker 1: we talk about this last deadline maybe the deadline before
25:59
Speaker 1: where it's like sometimes you go with like these guys with.
26:02
Speaker 2: The track record.
26:04
Speaker 1: They may not they may like the stuff isn't diminished,
26:08
Speaker 1: the e ra may be elevated, but you believe that, hey,
26:11
Speaker 1: this guy has two and a half months in him
26:14
Speaker 1: that that are gonna be great. I think he fits
26:17
Speaker 1: that mold. Like the strikeout rate isn't awful, it hasn't.
26:22
Speaker 1: It's down a little bit from last year, but still solid. Uh.
26:25
Speaker 1: I mean, he gives you innings doesn't walk guys. I
26:30
Speaker 1: think this is a guy that makes that would make
26:32
Speaker 1: sense depending on cost. Our guy, Mitch Bannon put out
26:37
Speaker 1: like a potential like throughout like five Dodgers trades, And
26:42
Speaker 1: if you go read that story, look at this isn't
26:46
Speaker 1: like he's not writing like he thinks these are the
26:49
Speaker 1: guys that comes with trade.
26:50
Speaker 2: But if you look at the offer.
26:51
Speaker 1: That he says, like makes sense, it's not something that
26:55
Speaker 1: blows you away. I believe I'm going off memory. I
26:57
Speaker 1: read it this morning, Brett Bateman and Brooks Cable. No
27:01
Speaker 1: Cubs fan is going to freak out about losing Brett
27:05
Speaker 1: Brett Bateman and Brooks Kple. I don't think, Like I'm
27:08
Speaker 1: not saying they're not good prospects. They're perfectly fine prospects.
27:12
Speaker 1: Probably both get to the majors. I just don't think
27:16
Speaker 1: those are the that that's the type of move that
27:18
Speaker 1: where people are like, oh, that that's way too much,
27:20
Speaker 1: and that's what rentals cost. Like rentals don't cost a
27:24
Speaker 1: crazy amount. It's like, yeah, quality prospects, but not your
27:28
Speaker 1: top one hundred guys.
27:29
Speaker 2: Not guys that are like, you know.
27:31
Speaker 1: About to reach the top one hundred, unless it's Schooble, right,
27:35
Speaker 1: Like Schooble may cost a top one hundred guy, it's
27:38
Speaker 1: not going to cost multiple top one hundred guys like
27:41
Speaker 1: you would have a year ago. But that's that's just
27:45
Speaker 1: the likely thing. That's just how it works nowadays. Prospects
27:48
Speaker 1: are so so valuable nowadays. As far as other teams selling,
27:54
Speaker 1: I just don't. There's just not a lot patrick And
27:57
Speaker 1: like I think that the teams that I would watch
27:59
Speaker 1: are in that l and it's San Diego just to
28:02
Speaker 1: kind of see what they're doing. That's more I think,
28:04
Speaker 1: more relief pitching. I'd be looking at them for just
28:07
Speaker 1: see what the Nationals are doing. I don't know what
28:09
Speaker 1: direction they're gonna go. What a surprise they've been. And
28:12
Speaker 1: just one more that I think is worth watching, just
28:15
Speaker 1: because they're they were so hot and now they're so
28:17
Speaker 1: cold is Miami has lost eight in a row. I
28:20
Speaker 1: didn't realize they've lost eight in a row. They're still
28:23
Speaker 1: only a half game back in the wild Card, so
28:26
Speaker 1: they're not they're not obviously selling, and they may you know,
28:29
Speaker 1: and they're also a team that's like probably feels like
28:33
Speaker 1: similar to like the Athletics, where it's like they believe
28:35
Speaker 1: they have the base set to.
28:37
Speaker 2: Like compete soon.
28:39
Speaker 1: So maybe they don't want to, but we'll see, Like again,
28:43
Speaker 1: two weeks, a lot can happen here and and like
28:46
Speaker 1: that eight game losing streak matters a lot. But if
28:49
Speaker 1: someone goes on an eight game winning streak suddenly, like
28:51
Speaker 1: look at the Red Sox. We were talking about them
28:53
Speaker 1: as sellers and now they're the hottest team in baseball
28:57
Speaker 1: and and they're in the playoffs if they started today,
28:59
Speaker 1: So I think we a lot can change. We've seen
29:04
Speaker 1: this too, I mean, with six playoff teams in each league,
29:07
Speaker 1: we've seen this so much. I mean the Cubs did
29:10
Speaker 1: it themselves. However many years ago. That was now three
29:13
Speaker 1: years ago, I guess, yeah, and Jed brought that up.
29:17
Speaker 1: You know, at this time in twenty twenty three, they
29:20
Speaker 1: were looked at as sellers and they turned things around,
29:23
Speaker 1: got red hot, and nearly made the playoffs.
29:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, we saw the Twins this past weekend at really
29:29
Speaker 3: not a particularly impressive team. Obviously, Joe Ryan is a
29:33
Speaker 3: very good pitcher who would fit the Cubs multiple timelines
29:38
Speaker 3: there as a guy who's not rental. But just the
29:42
Speaker 3: sense you're kind of getting is that the Twins don't
29:46
Speaker 3: really want to sell even if it's not like the
29:49
Speaker 3: clearest path of the playoffs or that you think they're
29:52
Speaker 3: going to win multiple playoff rounds. You know, Dan Hayes,
29:56
Speaker 3: our colleague here on the Feul Territory Network and at
29:58
Speaker 3: the Athletic that's just written repeatedly about how the ownership
30:03
Speaker 3: changes in terms of new investors and restructuring. At the
30:09
Speaker 3: top of the pole at Family Org chart means that
30:15
Speaker 3: like they want to be competitive, they want to give
30:18
Speaker 3: their fans a reason to to re engage or stay
30:23
Speaker 3: on top of the team. So that just sort of
30:27
Speaker 3: makes it harder. You know, the idea of like threading
30:31
Speaker 3: the needle. People love talking about talking about it, it's
30:34
Speaker 3: really hard to do. So wouldn't like get my hopes
30:40
Speaker 3: up for for Joe Ryan, but like, godswin could be
30:44
Speaker 3: a big deal. I mean, that's what I love the
30:46
Speaker 3: Cole Hammill's comp a guy you would trust starting a
30:52
Speaker 3: playoff game at Rieley Field or at Dodger Stadium, you know,
30:56
Speaker 3: wherever the case may be. I think that experience.
31:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, yeah, we'll see what they can pull off.
31:06
Speaker 1: Joe Ryan had this disastrous start and still has amazing numbers,
31:10
Speaker 1: like you'd take them in a second, I think, But
31:13
Speaker 1: I agree. Right now, doesn't look like the twins are
31:16
Speaker 1: are going to be selling.
31:17
Speaker 2: But again, two weeks.
31:19
Speaker 1: We'll see what changes, what front offices want to do,
31:22
Speaker 1: how aggressive they want to be. The Cubs are hoping
31:24
Speaker 1: that the number of sellers rises because they you know,
31:29
Speaker 1: it becomes harder and harder to pry Pride players away,
31:33
Speaker 1: and you're competing with more more teams to try and
31:36
Speaker 1: get a single a single player. All right, we'll have
31:40
Speaker 1: plenty more to talk about. I think we're doing a
31:42
Speaker 1: mail bag for next episode, so make sure to check
31:45
Speaker 1: that out. Thanks so much for listening everyone, This is
31:47
Speaker 1: Northside Territory. Make sure to rate, review, subscribe, subscribe to
31:51
Speaker 1: the YouTube channel, and subscribe to The Athletic where Patrick
31:54
Speaker 1: and I on top of all things Cubs. Thanks for
31:56
Speaker 1: listening everyone.
31:57
Speaker 2: Take care,