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Tokyo Mailbag: Cubs bonding, pitching depth and concerns and more · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

0:05
Speaker 1: Welcome into North Side Territory. Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast.
0:10
Speaker 1: I'm Sahadev Sharma. Patrick Mooney is not with me today.
0:14
Speaker 1: I decided to do a solo show from Tokyo, going
0:18
Speaker 1: to take some of your questions. I am just kind
0:22
Speaker 1: of settling back into a Japan time zone routine. I
0:26
Speaker 1: feel like I finally got a good night's rest. I
0:30
Speaker 1: mean six hours of sleep, six ish hours of sleep.
0:34
Speaker 1: I'm going to count that as a good night's rest
0:37
Speaker 1: after all the struggles all of us have had with
0:40
Speaker 1: jet lag. It's it's not just me. I'm sure you
0:43
Speaker 1: guys don't need to hear about this, but yeah, the
0:45
Speaker 1: transition is intense, and I'm sure I'm not sure how
0:50
Speaker 1: the ballplayers actually deal with it, but you know they
0:55
Speaker 1: managed to somehow. And you know, they've got games to
0:57
Speaker 1: play in recording this Sunday morning, so they have games
1:03
Speaker 1: to play in just two days, two and a half days.
1:06
Speaker 1: They'll be getting ready to play. I think before we
1:10
Speaker 1: get to the questions, I wanted to talk a little
1:12
Speaker 1: bit about what I've seen from the Cubs. You know,
1:16
Speaker 1: they've had a workout and a game against the Dragons,
1:25
Speaker 1: and you know, I don't think the results of the
1:28
Speaker 1: game are all that important to the offense. Didn't do much,
1:32
Speaker 1: they were shut out, just a few hits, perfect game
1:36
Speaker 1: through five for the pitcher that was on the mound.
1:41
Speaker 1: But what I've taken away from this first few days
1:44
Speaker 1: here is the way Craig Council is kind of really
1:48
Speaker 1: He talked about this in Arizona and he's really hammered
1:51
Speaker 1: it the first few days here. The concept of this
1:56
Speaker 1: team bonding. And he used a word, a Japanese word kazuna,
2:02
Speaker 1: and it's the Japanese word for bonding or you know,
2:07
Speaker 1: togetherness for people. Here, I'll get you the exec that
2:10
Speaker 1: the enduring bonds between people, close relationships forged through mutual
2:15
Speaker 1: trust and support. Now that can sound like a bunch
2:19
Speaker 1: of nonsense to some people. I think, you know, but
2:21
Speaker 1: I think there's something to this. I think it's a
2:25
Speaker 1: good way to kind of frame this trip. I just
2:29
Speaker 1: started talking about the jet lag. Listen, it's exhausting. I
2:33
Speaker 1: can understand how someone could come here to have to
2:37
Speaker 1: play baseball and almost look at it as a negative. Right.
2:42
Speaker 1: You have to start your season against the defending world champs,
2:45
Speaker 1: completely stacked team, and you have to your body has
2:50
Speaker 1: to adjust to what is it from Arizona thirteen hour
2:55
Speaker 1: time difference More than that, it's like fifteen hours. And
3:00
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know how how you play baseball
3:03
Speaker 1: doing that, but you could easily like this is this
3:05
Speaker 1: is an amazing trip and you have to kind of
3:06
Speaker 1: focus on that positive, right, And I like the council's
3:10
Speaker 1: focusing on that. You could complain about your body adjusting
3:13
Speaker 1: on the trip here, your body having to adjust on
3:15
Speaker 1: the way back. Then playing five more exhibition games spring
3:20
Speaker 1: training games to kind of you know, round out spring training,
3:24
Speaker 1: and then you have a really tough schedule to start
3:27
Speaker 1: the season that begins in Arizona against this good Diamondbacks team,
3:32
Speaker 1: what looks like a good Diamonds Backs team. Then you
3:34
Speaker 1: go to Sacramento, nobody's ever played there before major League Baseball,
3:39
Speaker 1: and now you have three I believe against the Athletics
3:43
Speaker 1: there a team that looks like they could be better.
3:46
Speaker 1: They have their home opener against the Cubs, and then
3:49
Speaker 1: it's just you know, La San Diego, Texas a lot
3:53
Speaker 1: of good teams. It's it's not going to be an
3:55
Speaker 1: easy schedule, but council is really focusing on the positive. See,
4:00
Speaker 1: he talked about Kazuna, he talked about the purification ceremony
4:05
Speaker 1: uh that they had, which I I thought was interesting
4:08
Speaker 1: and and he seems to really be focused on those
4:11
Speaker 1: things and seems to really be enjoying it. Uh. There
4:14
Speaker 1: there was something else that he he went through. Uh.
4:18
Speaker 1: There was a It's called shishimei uh, and it's a
4:23
Speaker 1: traditional Japanese dance where people in a line costume bite
4:26
Speaker 1: the head of people to ward off evil and bring
4:30
Speaker 1: good luck. You may have seen video of that council
4:33
Speaker 1: kind of having you know, allowing his head to be
4:37
Speaker 1: bitten by this uh you know, costumed uh lion. And
4:42
Speaker 1: you know, I think it's all it's it's it's interesting
4:46
Speaker 1: the culture aspect of it, and then just the just
4:50
Speaker 1: the aspect of you know, not not overlooking these moments,
4:55
Speaker 1: not taking it for granted. Uh. The players seem to
4:57
Speaker 1: really be enjoying it. I haven't heard where Like Patrick
5:00
Speaker 1: and I talked about this before, but I haven't heard
5:02
Speaker 1: a single person complain. I think that's important. I think
5:06
Speaker 1: that's nice. Well, we'll see if it translates into wins. Right. Ultimately,
5:11
Speaker 1: it's going to be about the talent on the field.
5:14
Speaker 1: But these little things can make a difference. I thought
5:16
Speaker 1: Justin Turner made a good point. You know, you can
5:20
Speaker 1: get close and you can be buddies, but can you
5:22
Speaker 1: can you really bond? Can you can you call each
5:26
Speaker 1: other out in the right way where nobody takes offense
5:30
Speaker 1: in those difficult moments, when when things get tough, when
5:33
Speaker 1: people need to be told something that may be a
5:36
Speaker 1: little bit, a little bit difficult to hear, but you're
5:41
Speaker 1: so close now, or you have this trust between each
5:44
Speaker 1: other that you know it's not someone taking a shot
5:46
Speaker 1: as much as it as it is. Hey, I'm trying
5:49
Speaker 1: to get the best out of you. We all want
5:51
Speaker 1: the same thing to win. How do we How do
5:54
Speaker 1: we do that? I think this is how we do it?
5:56
Speaker 1: X y Z right, Yeah, I just wanted to I
5:59
Speaker 1: just wanted to talk about that stuff. I think it's
6:02
Speaker 1: like it's just stood out to me and I really
6:05
Speaker 1: appreciate the way councils framed it, the way the team
6:09
Speaker 1: has embraced it, and that they're not you know, they're
6:12
Speaker 1: not just treating this as like we got a job
6:15
Speaker 1: to do. We got to get to Japan and play
6:17
Speaker 1: games and come back home. That is you know, ultimately
6:20
Speaker 1: they have games to play and games to win, and
6:23
Speaker 1: that's the goal of this season, to win. There's a
6:25
Speaker 1: ton of pressure. You have to win, you have to
6:27
Speaker 1: make the playoffs. Otherwise people are losing their jobs. Right,
6:31
Speaker 1: So there's that aspect of it. But I also like
6:35
Speaker 1: that they are enjoying this moment and using it for
6:40
Speaker 1: something more than just baseball. We'll see if it leads
6:43
Speaker 1: to anything. Who knows. Let's get to some of your questions.
6:47
Speaker 1: Let's start with m J mclee. Any truth to the
6:50
Speaker 1: Cub's interest in Lancelnn. I know depth is important, but
6:53
Speaker 1: they seem to have plenty, and I prefer they go
6:56
Speaker 1: with Brown asad once healthy, Chillian bird Cell ext as depth.
7:00
Speaker 1: That'll uh. Bird Cell's hurt. I don't have an update
7:04
Speaker 1: on his shoulder, but he's not really I don't know
7:08
Speaker 1: if you can count on him for this season when
7:10
Speaker 1: you have a shoulder like that and they kind of
7:12
Speaker 1: just completely backed off him. Killian I don't know. I
7:14
Speaker 1: wouldn't count him as depth right now. He's He's further
7:17
Speaker 1: down on the depth chart. You also have Wicks, Chris Flexen.
7:23
Speaker 1: I'm probably missing someone right Uh. You know, there's there's
7:26
Speaker 1: other starters that I think Flexen and wix are are
7:29
Speaker 1: the big ones. Oh, Kate Horton, of course, Kate Horton's
7:32
Speaker 1: the bit the other uh name that you'd you'd count
7:35
Speaker 1: And this this question assumed Colin Ray as the fifth starter.
7:40
Speaker 1: Uh so there is depth? And yes, is there? Does
7:44
Speaker 1: I get the question? Does Lanceln make sense? I don't know.
7:48
Speaker 1: I like I. I think that the reality is Jed
7:53
Speaker 1: Hoyer and this front office are obsessed with depth, as
7:56
Speaker 1: you should be. Like pitching depth, you can never have enough.
7:59
Speaker 1: I understand it. You want to say, you know, I
8:02
Speaker 1: want this guy starting over, this guy, I want Ben
8:04
Speaker 1: Brown starting over this guy. Look, a lot of these
8:07
Speaker 1: guys are gonna get starts. That's just the reality of
8:10
Speaker 1: baseball now. It's how the game is played. You don't
8:12
Speaker 1: have a five man rotation through over the course of
8:15
Speaker 1: an entire season. It's just not how it works anymore.
8:17
Speaker 1: You can't do that. There's too much, too much risk
8:21
Speaker 1: with injury. Uh And and pitchers don't go two hundred
8:25
Speaker 1: plus innings regularly anymore. There's a handful of guys like that.
8:28
Speaker 1: Zach Wheeler is the outlier. Now. You know, guys like
8:31
Speaker 1: that are rare in today's game, and you know, if
8:35
Speaker 1: we ever get back to that type of game, it's
8:37
Speaker 1: not happening overnight, so so you have to have depth.
8:42
Speaker 1: What my understanding is is that the Cubs have checked
8:46
Speaker 1: in that we it's the same thing that Patrick and
8:49
Speaker 1: Ken reported. What was it a week ago? Uh, they
8:52
Speaker 1: have checked in on Lancelin. Uh he is and and
8:56
Speaker 1: Kyle Gibson as well. He's on their radar, but they're
8:59
Speaker 1: more or pitcher hungry, preitcher needy teams the Yankees included.
9:04
Speaker 1: I'm not sure how much the Yankees love these guys
9:06
Speaker 1: that are out on the market. What will what will
9:09
Speaker 1: Lancelin take? Right, let's let's focus on Lanceoln since there
9:13
Speaker 1: was a report connecting Lancelin in the Cubs recently, Like,
9:19
Speaker 1: I don't think anything has changed. They're not. There's no
9:22
Speaker 1: signing imminent. They have kept in regular contact and and
9:26
Speaker 1: they're checking in. They aren't. If a signing happens, it
9:32
Speaker 1: would probably be after this trip to Japan. I don't
9:36
Speaker 1: know how exactly it would work because does he want
9:39
Speaker 1: to sign a minor league deal? And if he does,
9:43
Speaker 1: wouldn't it be with another team that has more injuries
9:46
Speaker 1: and more opportunity, Like how like Lancelin if he were
9:50
Speaker 1: to if he were to sign a minor league deal right,
9:55
Speaker 1: he would want an opt out by May, let's say,
9:58
Speaker 1: right one month, and that seems like a lot a
10:01
Speaker 1: long wait for someone like Lanceon, but he'd need to
10:04
Speaker 1: build up, right, So he'd need to agree to build
10:07
Speaker 1: up and then like, you are up by this date.
10:11
Speaker 1: That's probably what type of deal he'd want. Do the
10:14
Speaker 1: Cubs have that guarantee where they can just say you
10:17
Speaker 1: are up by this date. They'd need, like they have
10:20
Speaker 1: guys they want to give starts to. But the counter
10:24
Speaker 1: to that is depth is depth. Veterans are valuable. Veteran
10:27
Speaker 1: pitching is valuable. You can never have too much pitching.
10:31
Speaker 1: So I'm not going to rule it out. I'm curious
10:34
Speaker 1: to see where this goes. Where guys like Lance Lane
10:37
Speaker 1: and Kyle Gibson end up. They're going to need to
10:39
Speaker 1: build up. They're going to need to be willing to,
10:42
Speaker 1: you know, start in the miners to build up that.
10:45
Speaker 1: You know, they may argue that they've been staying fresh,
10:47
Speaker 1: but I think we've seen that enough that teams, unless
10:50
Speaker 1: you're desperate, just aren't going to want that right now,
10:52
Speaker 1: the Cubs aren't desperate, it doesn't seem unless there's something
10:56
Speaker 1: they're not sharing about asad, which there's no indication of that.
11:02
Speaker 1: So yeah, I don't. I agree that it is a
11:07
Speaker 1: little odd, but it I just fall back to depth
11:10
Speaker 1: is depth, and you need pitching depth at all times,
11:13
Speaker 1: and I think that's where this this ultimately is, and
11:16
Speaker 1: they certainly will keep checking in and we'll see where
11:20
Speaker 1: it goes. Next question is from M Break eighty eight.
11:24
Speaker 1: Are you worried about the cub starting pitchers poor metrics
11:27
Speaker 1: this spring? And he shares the FIP of Justin Steele
11:31
Speaker 1: showed him Monaga and Jameson ty On, which ranges from
11:36
Speaker 1: six point zero four FIP for Monaga to eight point
11:39
Speaker 1: seven six FIP for tye On. I'm not worried. I
11:43
Speaker 1: just like it's spring training. They're building up, they're trying
11:47
Speaker 1: different things, like like what were the hits that Justin
11:52
Speaker 1: Steele gave up? Like what pitches was he throwing? Was
11:55
Speaker 1: the experiment? Was he did he decide to throw all
11:57
Speaker 1: fastballs one inning? Or was he aiming for one spot
12:00
Speaker 1: and trying to execute something that he normally doesn't. You
12:04
Speaker 1: just don't know every single detail about these situations, what
12:09
Speaker 1: they were trying to do, what they were working on,
12:12
Speaker 1: how they're feeling when their runs were given up orre
12:14
Speaker 1: they building up still. I believe Justin Steele got a
12:19
Speaker 1: hit hard in his final tune up Start. I just
12:22
Speaker 1: like stay healthy. All three of these guys are veterans.
12:25
Speaker 1: I know In Monaga has won major league season under
12:28
Speaker 1: his belt, but he's a veteran, a baseball professional baseball,
12:33
Speaker 1: you know. I think there is validity in wondering about
12:38
Speaker 1: this pitching staff in general taking a step back. It's
12:43
Speaker 1: going to be really hard for show toay Minaga to
12:45
Speaker 1: repeat last season two point nine one era. I believe,
12:49
Speaker 1: one hundred and seventy plus innings. He was great and
12:54
Speaker 1: if you remember, I believe it was his first nine
12:56
Speaker 1: starts a sub one era, Like he was amazing to
13:01
Speaker 1: start his career. I just don't see how he can
13:04
Speaker 1: repeat that. And if he does, then hey, more power
13:06
Speaker 1: to him. He's a he's a stud. Then Jameson Tyne
13:09
Speaker 1: is looking to add velocity. I think he has. We'll
13:13
Speaker 1: see him tonight. By the time this goes up, maybe
13:17
Speaker 1: he'd have already pitched, but we'll see him in Japan
13:23
Speaker 1: in the exhibition game. I believe the plan is for
13:26
Speaker 1: him to go and Matthew Boyd to go, So that'll
13:30
Speaker 1: we'll see how many innings they can eat up and
13:32
Speaker 1: then whatever relievers pitch after that, if they have them pitched, well,
13:36
Speaker 1: we'll see. We'll see how it all goes. And like
13:41
Speaker 1: Justin Steele, look, I just think Justin Steele is who
13:44
Speaker 1: he is. He's really consistent, a low three e R,
13:47
Speaker 1: A two three in a good rotation, right or two
13:52
Speaker 1: or three, depending on how you look at those things.
13:55
Speaker 1: I think im and Ague is probably similar. I think
13:57
Speaker 1: Diane's probably a three or four. And and you're you know,
14:01
Speaker 1: they are who they are. I don't think you're seeing
14:04
Speaker 1: drastic changes, and I you know, maybe a step back
14:08
Speaker 1: for a Mi Nagah, you hope. I know the peripherals
14:12
Speaker 1: weren't great for Tyon, but you hope that he the
14:17
Speaker 1: extra velocity kind of gives him a little bit more
14:20
Speaker 1: swing and miss. He's never going to be like a
14:21
Speaker 1: huge strikeout guy unless something is completely changed with him,
14:24
Speaker 1: which all signs are that they haven't. So you know
14:29
Speaker 1: those three guys, yeah, are your veterans. Yeah, I'd like
14:34
Speaker 1: to see them and Matthew Boyd. I think there's a
14:37
Speaker 1: floor with these guys, and then Colin Ray probably opens
14:41
Speaker 1: the season as your fifth starter. Maybe Ben Brown, but
14:43
Speaker 1: I think it's still Ray that has the edge there
14:45
Speaker 1: and we'll see Brown later in the season. Yeah, they
14:49
Speaker 1: they they don't have that swing and miss guy. And
14:52
Speaker 1: I've said this before, that's what's missing from this team.
14:56
Speaker 1: Dylan Ceees, Sandy al Contra, those types of names that
15:00
Speaker 1: are on the trading block and that you know, Dylan Cees,
15:04
Speaker 1: you need to be bowled over. The Padres are competing.
15:06
Speaker 1: The AJ Preller isn't moving him for nothing, and same
15:09
Speaker 1: with I mean the Marlins aren't competing. But Olcntra has
15:12
Speaker 1: got a great deal and if he can. It sounds
15:15
Speaker 1: like he's healthy and like all the numbers from the
15:17
Speaker 1: spring make it look like he's back to his old self.
15:20
Speaker 1: That's gonna be a haul. There's gonna be a lot
15:22
Speaker 1: of teams after him. Think about it, not many teams,
15:25
Speaker 1: like everybody's competing. There's gonna be like right now, on paper,
15:29
Speaker 1: it looks like there's three sellers in the Marlins, the Rockies,
15:32
Speaker 1: and who am I missing? The White Sox, maybe the Angels,
15:37
Speaker 1: but do the Angels ever sell, do the Rockies ever sell? Like,
15:41
Speaker 1: there's just not going to be a lot out there
15:43
Speaker 1: to sell, and there's so many There's likely going to
15:46
Speaker 1: be a lot of teams because of the wild card
15:48
Speaker 1: situation and teams with a lot of pressure on them buying. Well,
15:51
Speaker 1: we'll see how it shakes out. But yes, I think
15:56
Speaker 1: I'm not worried about those spring stats. I am a
16:00
Speaker 1: little worried about the upside. I guess of the rotation.
16:04
Speaker 1: You you'd want Ben Brown to be that type of
16:07
Speaker 1: guy that could maybe break out. You'd want Kate Horton
16:11
Speaker 1: to maybe break out. You know, Jordan Wicks could take
16:16
Speaker 1: another step, Matthew Boyd has a full season like he's
16:21
Speaker 1: capable of, and then you know, suddenly you're talking about
16:24
Speaker 1: different things. So there there are ways that this can
16:26
Speaker 1: be a really good rotation. Uh, I just don't think
16:30
Speaker 1: it has the full ceiling. I like this offense more
16:33
Speaker 1: than I like the starting staff. I like the potential
16:36
Speaker 1: of the bullpen more than I do the like the
16:38
Speaker 1: upside of the starting staff. Again, I just think there's
16:41
Speaker 1: a floor with this rotation. You would like to see
16:45
Speaker 1: more swing and miss, especially especially at the top of
16:48
Speaker 1: the rotation. I don't know how it'll play out. We'll
16:51
Speaker 1: see what they think they can uh uh, what they
16:57
Speaker 1: can get done, and how good they can be. I hope.
17:02
Speaker 1: I'm curious to see what they can do with the deadline,
17:05
Speaker 1: if for anything. To add more to this, here's a
17:09
Speaker 1: question from Greg Huss Jed and Carter have dealt top
17:13
Speaker 1: prospects and from their minor league depth. He mentioned some
17:17
Speaker 1: names in the actual question, but I wanted to be
17:19
Speaker 1: able to fit the whole question in here. Do you
17:20
Speaker 1: get a sense that this speaks to their trust in
17:23
Speaker 1: de canter Ritz and the player development team or just
17:26
Speaker 1: necessary moves to compete. I think it's both, right. So,
17:29
Speaker 1: one of the trades you mentioned is Hope and Jackson
17:31
Speaker 1: Ferris for Michael bush. Look, they were looking to compete
17:36
Speaker 1: sooner when they got Michael Busch. Those names were the
17:40
Speaker 1: names the Dodgers are focused on. My understanding is they
17:42
Speaker 1: were talking for a while. The Dodgers didn't budge. They
17:45
Speaker 1: wanted Michael Busch. This is the price they had to pay. Zier.
17:49
Speaker 1: Hope looks like he could be a really good player.
17:52
Speaker 1: He has some like he's not going to help the
17:54
Speaker 1: Dodgers in twenty twenty five. The Cubs needed help right away.
17:59
Speaker 1: I think Michael Bush is going to be really good
18:00
Speaker 1: right uh. And to be clear, it's not like Greg
18:03
Speaker 1: huss is questioning these deals. The other deal is obviously
18:08
Speaker 1: camp Smith is the main piece to get Kyle Tucker.
18:11
Speaker 1: You have to pay up to get these guys. I'm
18:13
Speaker 1: not going to freak out, like we'll see how good
18:15
Speaker 1: camp Smith is. I said before the trade, I like
18:18
Speaker 1: camp Smith. That heard nothing but good things. I think
18:20
Speaker 1: he has a chance to be a star. I just
18:24
Speaker 1: don't think like spring training numbers are what's going to
18:27
Speaker 1: convince me that he's a star. Like he looked good
18:29
Speaker 1: before that. He was on that trajectory before he made
18:34
Speaker 1: rail changes in his sophomore year at Florida State. He
18:37
Speaker 1: looks has the potential to be a really impactful player
18:40
Speaker 1: at the highest level. Where he plays defensively is probably
18:43
Speaker 1: the question. But he's got a high ceiling. Yeah, Like
18:47
Speaker 1: do they trust Canter Canterritz has gotten results. I mean,
18:51
Speaker 1: you talk about Hope. I believe that was eleventh round.
18:54
Speaker 1: Ty Johnson was part of the East Ocparatas trade. You
18:56
Speaker 1: don't you don't make that trade you can't get Kyle Tucker.
19:00
Speaker 1: There's just a lot of names that we think about
19:04
Speaker 1: where they were before. Do you want to point to
19:09
Speaker 1: amateur scouting or do you want to point to player development.
19:11
Speaker 1: It's probably a combination of both. But they weren't getting
19:15
Speaker 1: a lot of impactful talent after the first round, or
19:19
Speaker 1: like I shouldn't even say impactful talent. They weren't getting
19:22
Speaker 1: any major league talent beyond the first round. And it's
19:26
Speaker 1: completely changed now. The Cubs just have more depth in
19:30
Speaker 1: their system. I think there are names to watch from
19:36
Speaker 1: this past draft. My understanding is they really liked this
19:40
Speaker 1: past draft. And I mean think about where Matt Shaw
19:44
Speaker 1: was drafted, where camp Smith was drafted. Like they they're
19:48
Speaker 1: capable of adding players in later rounds. I mean even
19:53
Speaker 1: outside of the top ten, right, not later rounds. They're
19:57
Speaker 1: like pretty impactful talent, right, Like I think Cole Mathis
20:02
Speaker 1: is a name to to watch, right, we'll see how
20:05
Speaker 1: good he can be healthy. Finally, and second rounder from
20:09
Speaker 1: last year, there were a couple of pitchers who we
20:11
Speaker 1: did not see at all last year that that could
20:16
Speaker 1: that could open some eyes. I know they really liked
20:19
Speaker 1: Ronnie Cruz. He was a third round pick last year,
20:24
Speaker 1: third or fourth round pick, Eli Lovich. I believe another
20:29
Speaker 1: eleventh rounder the pitchers. We don't know their name, like
20:35
Speaker 1: we know their names, We don't know much about them yet,
20:39
Speaker 1: but but there are there are pictures from last year's
20:42
Speaker 1: draft that I heard good things about at spring training. Yeah,
20:46
Speaker 1: Heelan Melendez is another name that that they're intrigued by. Yeah.
20:52
Speaker 1: I think I think they are excited about their ability
20:56
Speaker 1: to draft major league talent after in later rounds. Right,
21:02
Speaker 1: so far, they've used a lot of that talent. They've
21:05
Speaker 1: used some of that talent to make trades. And that's
21:07
Speaker 1: what you need a system for. Right, you need a
21:10
Speaker 1: system that can provide you depth, and you want the combo.
21:14
Speaker 1: You want the combo of having a system that provides
21:18
Speaker 1: major league talent. Hey, Matt Shaw's you're starting third basement
21:20
Speaker 1: in all likelihood for opening day and end that you
21:23
Speaker 1: can use to trade for impact talent. They used Cam Smith? Yes,
21:27
Speaker 1: is that will we look back at that in six
21:29
Speaker 1: years and say, uh oh, the Cubs weren't able to
21:32
Speaker 1: resign Kyle Tucker and Cam Smith's a star. Maybe, but
21:36
Speaker 1: you got to move talent to get talent and they're
21:38
Speaker 1: in a win now phase. They have to. They're you know,
21:41
Speaker 1: they're trying to make things happen, or like the end
21:44
Speaker 1: of Greg's question, or just necessary moves to compete. Yeah,
21:47
Speaker 1: some of these moves are necessary to compete. They needed
21:50
Speaker 1: someone like Kyle Tucker. Did they did it feel great
21:53
Speaker 1: to move camp Smith? No? I don't think they loved
21:55
Speaker 1: moving camp Smith. I don't think they were delighted to
21:57
Speaker 1: do that. They weren't. They like cam Smith, really high
22:00
Speaker 1: on him, but you had That's what it took to
22:03
Speaker 1: get one of the best offensive players in the game
22:06
Speaker 1: into your lineup. All right, here's a couple of questions
22:11
Speaker 1: you're gonna allow me to indulge talking about how the
22:13
Speaker 1: past few days have been in Japan. This first one
22:18
Speaker 1: is have you tried any Japanese craft brew? I've not.
22:21
Speaker 1: I've just stuck to like regular, you know, the standard
22:24
Speaker 1: asahi in Sapporo and then some sake, you know. And
22:30
Speaker 1: also I'm jet lagged and I don't want to have
22:33
Speaker 1: like a ton of beard feel like crap? Uh, what
22:37
Speaker 1: is your favorite food that you've tried? And the other questions,
22:40
Speaker 1: have I ever been to Tokyo before we were stationed
22:43
Speaker 1: there years ago and loved it. What's been the most
22:45
Speaker 1: fun thing so far. So let me that that is
22:47
Speaker 1: from Bob Moore. I didn't put his name on there,
22:49
Speaker 1: sorry Bob. That's Bob Moore. Thank you all for the
22:52
Speaker 1: questions about tokyo so favorite food you've tried? So so
22:59
Speaker 1: we've had. We had tunkatsu Thursday night, we had sushi
23:08
Speaker 1: Friday night, and then Saturday night we had wag You.
23:11
Speaker 1: What ended up happening is we went out for we
23:14
Speaker 1: were all feeling really jet lagged last night Saturday night,
23:18
Speaker 1: we went out looking for ramen. The place that we
23:22
Speaker 1: walked into only took reservations. We walked, kept walking maybe
23:26
Speaker 1: like three more spots down and just stumbled into this
23:30
Speaker 1: Wagu place and it was amazing, Like the prices here
23:35
Speaker 1: are crazy. I'm shocked at how cheap everything is. We ate.
23:40
Speaker 1: We filled ourselves up on Wagu and had a drink,
23:43
Speaker 1: and I believe it was like seventy bucks, Like it
23:46
Speaker 1: was nothing. That's nothing for as much Wagu as we had,
23:50
Speaker 1: Like I don't, like, you can't even buy wag you
23:52
Speaker 1: at the store at that price, right, So so it
23:56
Speaker 1: was I was impressed by that, Like that was probably
23:58
Speaker 1: that was probably the best. The sushi was really it
24:02
Speaker 1: was just you know, I mean, it's so fresh and
24:04
Speaker 1: the flavors are so different here, like that stood out
24:07
Speaker 1: that with sabi was really intense. The takatsu was one
24:12
Speaker 1: of the like it was this hole in the wall
24:14
Speaker 1: Michelin restaurant that just like you almost don't expect how
24:18
Speaker 1: good things are gonna be. That's the other thing, you know,
24:20
Speaker 1: We're so used to like big, grandiose things in America,
24:24
Speaker 1: huge restaurants and packed places and everything so loud and boisterous.
24:29
Speaker 1: That's just not how it seems here. It's a little quieter.
24:32
Speaker 1: I noticed we're the loud ones most of the time.
24:35
Speaker 1: And then the restaurants just aren't that big, Like I
24:42
Speaker 1: feel like fifteen tables is a big restaurant, So it's
24:47
Speaker 1: a yeah, that's The food has been amazing. I'd say
24:51
Speaker 1: the Wagu place so far has been the best. I'm
24:53
Speaker 1: looking forward to checking out like places like Shibuya, the
24:57
Speaker 1: fish Market, getting ramen, and getting my kids some stuff
25:03
Speaker 1: from here that they can enjoy. That those are the
25:07
Speaker 1: things that I'm looking forward to outside of baseball. The
25:09
Speaker 1: most fun. What's the most fun that I've had here.
25:14
Speaker 1: It was really cool to watch the Henshin Tigers play
25:19
Speaker 1: yesterday against the Cubs and the fans in right field
25:22
Speaker 1: if you look at I believe Marquee and then Maddy Lee,
25:27
Speaker 1: the reporter for the Suntimes Cubs reporter for the Suntimes.
25:29
Speaker 1: They both posted video on Twitter they had coordinated chance
25:37
Speaker 1: for all the players on the Tigers. They had. There
25:41
Speaker 1: were horns, drums, just really into the game. A different
25:46
Speaker 1: atmosphere than America. We all know that we like. If
25:48
Speaker 1: you pay attention to this at all, you know, it's
25:50
Speaker 1: a different atmosphere. But it's nice. It was really nice.
25:53
Speaker 1: It was funny. We asked multiple players about, Hey, would
25:58
Speaker 1: you like to see Wrigley do Nate a chance? And
26:01
Speaker 1: multiple of them had similar answers. Yeah, that'd be fun.
26:04
Speaker 1: I'm not so sure where that would lead to. It
26:06
Speaker 1: could lead to some rough things, some questionable chance, depending
26:13
Speaker 1: on how much beer is being drunk in the in
26:15
Speaker 1: the bleachers. Right. Yeah, that's it's just different. I'm really excited.
26:21
Speaker 1: So I haven't been able to do to work in
26:24
Speaker 1: the spotty internet at Tokyo Dome. I've missed both appearances
26:29
Speaker 1: of Shoho tani I you know, I think fans are
26:36
Speaker 1: very intensely into baseball here, and it's really nice to see.
26:40
Speaker 1: There were over ten thousand people for a workout on Friday,
26:45
Speaker 1: and that was just to see the Cubs. That was
26:47
Speaker 1: before Showhy was there. My understanding is show he briefly
26:52
Speaker 1: showed up. Show. He does not Shoho Toni does not
26:54
Speaker 1: normally take banning practice outside in public view, and I
27:00
Speaker 1: don't believe he did on Friday. I wonder if he
27:04
Speaker 1: will on Tuesday and Wednesday for the games. Before the
27:07
Speaker 1: games he obviously homeward and Saturday's game. Yeah, it's a
27:13
Speaker 1: great atmosphere. It's fun. It's nice to see how intense
27:16
Speaker 1: people are about how passionate they are about baseball. The Otani,
27:20
Speaker 1: the number of Otani jerseys. Look, you hear everything about
27:25
Speaker 1: how popular he is. It's just it's still a little
27:30
Speaker 1: jarring to see that many Otani jerseys. There were pushing
27:36
Speaker 1: fifty thousand people in yesterday's Cubs hensiin Tigers games there weren't.
27:43
Speaker 1: So let me go back the Friday at the at
27:46
Speaker 1: the workout, there there were I believe they had a
27:50
Speaker 1: number of just over ten thousand there. There were it
27:55
Speaker 1: felt like nine thousand Otani jerseys. It was a vast
27:59
Speaker 1: majority Dodgers fans there, and just so many O Tani jerseys.
28:05
Speaker 1: I noticed a lot of InChI row jerseys as well.
28:09
Speaker 1: Yesterday at the game between the Cubs and and UH
28:13
Speaker 1: and Tigers, there were some Imanaga and Seyo Suzuki jerseys.
28:20
Speaker 1: It's it's clear that the Dodgers are the team here though,
28:24
Speaker 1: and that's not to be surprised. Nobody should be surprised
28:26
Speaker 1: by that. We'll have more on the Cubs making moves
28:30
Speaker 1: in Japan and and and establishing themselves. As you know,
28:34
Speaker 1: they're they're not never gonna be the number one team here.
28:36
Speaker 1: The Dodgers just they have that. They have Otani, they
28:38
Speaker 1: have Roki, they have Yamamoto. They've rarely done a great
28:43
Speaker 1: job establishing themselves, and they have the location as well
28:48
Speaker 1: of being in La on the west coast there. But
28:52
Speaker 1: the Cubs have done an amazing job of as a
28:54
Speaker 1: Midwest team, that's really hard to establish yourselves. And there's
28:57
Speaker 1: a lot of talent coming out of this country, not
29:00
Speaker 1: just Japan, Korea as well. UH. There's American born players
29:05
Speaker 1: that are playing in Japan that are are going to
29:08
Speaker 1: be coming back that could that'll be interesting. It's it's
29:12
Speaker 1: it's Uh, it's been fun to watch and see the
29:16
Speaker 1: sport that I fell in love with growing up, just
29:19
Speaker 1: to see that passion again, because we kind of, as
29:22
Speaker 1: much as people listening to this show, I believe love baseball.
29:25
Speaker 1: It's just that you don't see that passion as much,
29:28
Speaker 1: or at least expressed in in in the way that
29:31
Speaker 1: it is here. So it's cool to see it expressed
29:33
Speaker 1: in a different fashion. Uh, experience a different culture and
29:37
Speaker 1: and just enjoy stuff outside of work in baseball. Uh,
29:41
Speaker 1: which has been great, And thanks so much for listening everyone.
29:44
Speaker 1: We will be back. I'll be back with Patrick. Uh.
29:48
Speaker 1: My guess is it will be after the first game.
29:52
Speaker 1: Maybe not though maybe maybe we'll try and do something
29:55
Speaker 1: before the first game. But either way, we're we're so
29:58
Speaker 1: close to real baseball. This is gonna be fascinating to
30:02
Speaker 1: see how good are the Cubs this year? How good
30:05
Speaker 1: can they do in these games? Yeah, it's like this
30:10
Speaker 1: is quite an experience for everyone involved. So I'm sure
30:14
Speaker 1: you guys will many of you will be waking up
30:16
Speaker 1: bright and early on Tuesday and Wednesday morning back home.
30:20
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening, everyone, This is Northside Territory
30:23
Speaker 1: Foul Territory Networks Cubs podcast. I'm Sadim Charma. Make sure
30:27
Speaker 1: to rate, review, subscribe to the podcast, subscribe to the
30:30
Speaker 1: YouTube channel, and subscribe to The Athletic, where Patrick and
30:33
Speaker 1: I will be on top of all things Cubs. We
30:35
Speaker 1: have a nice fun story coming out about the Cubs
30:37
Speaker 1: presence in Japan, coming out on Monday, and I'll have
30:42
Speaker 1: coverage from all the games here, all the you know,
30:46
Speaker 1: Dodgers Cubs games coming up in the week and then
30:49
Speaker 1: and then back home and they kick it off the
30:52
Speaker 1: US portion in about ten days. Shoot a little more
30:55
Speaker 1: than that right against Arizona. So we'll be back at it.
31:00
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening to everyone. Take care,