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The offseason grades for the Cubs are in · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

0:05
Speaker 1: Welcome into Northside Territory. Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast. I'm
0:08
Speaker 1: Sadi Charma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are your
0:11
Speaker 1: Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic. Patrick, the off
0:15
Speaker 1: season is nearly over as far as you know, spring
0:20
Speaker 1: training pitchers and catchers reporting. There's still a few players
0:24
Speaker 1: out there available. Framber Valdez obviously signed. That's a big one,
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Speaker 1: probably the biggest name remaining that was remaining and a
0:34
Speaker 1: surprise move. Theyre going to the Tigers and they have
0:37
Speaker 1: a nice one two punch there of Beldez and Scooble
0:41
Speaker 1: who won his ARB case. And that's just a you know,
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Speaker 1: a whole other story. But with the off season wrapping up,
0:50
Speaker 1: nearing wrapping up, we will we're gonna do a little
0:53
Speaker 1: off season grades here and kind of discuss how the
0:57
Speaker 1: Cubs did and and kind of evaluate each unit. I
1:02
Speaker 1: guess that how they upgraded or how they did as
1:06
Speaker 1: far as building this team back up for another playoff run.
1:12
Speaker 1: I mean, overall, Patrick, I'm just gonna start overall. I
1:16
Speaker 1: think it's an a off season in the sense that
1:20
Speaker 1: the Cubs had a plan, they had a path to
1:25
Speaker 1: what they wanted to do. Whether you agree with each
1:29
Speaker 1: player being the right player to add is debatable. You know,
1:34
Speaker 1: I like these players that they added, the big names,
1:38
Speaker 1: the players around the edges, whatever it is. But I
1:42
Speaker 1: think these are the guys that they had been targeting,
1:45
Speaker 1: and they executed their off season plan Alex Bregman, Edward
1:49
Speaker 1: Cabrera building up this bullpen without you know, blowing out
1:52
Speaker 1: the budget. Rebuilding the bullpen. It feels like an A
1:56
Speaker 1: I don't think it's an A plus, and I'll get
1:58
Speaker 1: into that, but but it's been a really good off
2:04
Speaker 1: season and it's been a while, I feel like since
2:05
Speaker 1: we've been able to say that.
2:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think this off season largely resembled a Plan
2:15
Speaker 2: A for the Cubs. That when you look at how
2:19
Speaker 2: long they've coveted Cabrera and Bregman and how closely they
2:23
Speaker 2: held to their bullpen philosophy, like this did not feel
2:29
Speaker 2: like an off season where the Cubs were kind of
2:31
Speaker 2: scrambling or furiously pivoting. Like this was kind of a logical,
2:39
Speaker 2: you know, very Cubs way sort of off season and
2:42
Speaker 2: this was not plans you know, C through Z. Like
2:47
Speaker 2: these were like the big names that they had targeted
2:49
Speaker 2: for a long time. Part of me still wants to
2:53
Speaker 2: give them an incomplete because I don't think it's quite
2:56
Speaker 2: over yet. We'll get into that throughout this show. I
3:01
Speaker 2: don't think it's an A plus. I wouldn't even give
3:03
Speaker 2: him an A either, because part of me still feels like,
3:07
Speaker 2: while the budget is bigger, it's still not really comparable
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Speaker 2: to other peer franchises when you look at what, Okay,
3:15
Speaker 2: the Dodgers are exceptional, but look what the Toronto Blue
3:18
Speaker 2: Jays have done, how the Phillies have pushed their payroll
3:23
Speaker 2: over the years, what both New York teams do. I
3:27
Speaker 2: still feel like, while it's an improvement in terms of budget,
3:33
Speaker 2: it's still not like overwhelming. It's you know, sort of
3:40
Speaker 2: comparable to where it was ten years ago. Like you know,
3:43
Speaker 2: I haven't seen you know, huge jumps. Its started more
3:47
Speaker 2: just kind of getting back to where it had been,
3:49
Speaker 2: so a very solid off season. I'd probably give it
3:54
Speaker 2: more of like a B plus for those reasons. And
3:57
Speaker 2: I still have, you know, some reservations about Edward Cabrera's health,
4:04
Speaker 2: and I'm a little surprised that they didn't want a
4:07
Speaker 2: little more certainty there.
4:09
Speaker 3: And also.
4:11
Speaker 2: There were a lot of like closer swing and mis
4:14
Speaker 2: type relievers that were out there, and they did not
4:18
Speaker 2: grab for a multitude of reasons. I think if you
4:21
Speaker 2: had gotten one of those, I might have tipped it
4:23
Speaker 2: a little higher.
4:23
Speaker 3: But like very good off season.
4:27
Speaker 2: You know, our grades don't matter as much as like,
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Speaker 2: I think, this is a team with a legitimate chance
4:34
Speaker 2: to compete for a World Series title, and I think that's.
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Speaker 3: Really all you can hope for, you know. A couple
4:38
Speaker 3: of days before the Super.
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Speaker 1: Bowl, Yeah, I mean to get into you you touched
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Speaker 1: on something there that I think there's the the bullpen
4:48
Speaker 1: as a unit. It was that that was a tall
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Speaker 1: task and coming into the off season, you know, I
4:57
Speaker 1: think there's a little bit of like excitement on their
5:00
Speaker 1: and for some of these people to like kind of
5:02
Speaker 1: want to like start from a clean slate, you know,
5:07
Speaker 1: see if they can find the next Brad Keller, like
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Speaker 1: enjoy the challenge, really dive into this, see what they
5:12
Speaker 1: can do. We'll see if they pulled off, if any
5:16
Speaker 1: of these smaller names they're going to turn into a
5:20
Speaker 1: Brad Keller type or emerge as a really critical piece
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Speaker 1: of the bullpen. But they they spent thirty million dollars
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Speaker 1: and brought back Caleb thielbar added film Aton, Jacob Webb,
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Speaker 1: Hunter Harvey, the other lefty who I am blanking on
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Speaker 1: his name. I really need to get every Milner, Hoby Milner,
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Speaker 1: a lot of a lot of veteran, a lot of
5:54
Speaker 1: experience added to the bullpen. Not a ton of money
5:58
Speaker 1: spent to do that. But they didn't get that, no doubt. Closer.
6:05
Speaker 1: They didn't get this guy that you trust to lock
6:08
Speaker 1: down the ninth. Now, I'll give them this. They don't
6:12
Speaker 1: like to spend fifteen plus million per year on guys
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Speaker 1: in the bullpen. They they kind of took a risk
6:21
Speaker 1: the past two years, the previous two off seasons with
6:27
Speaker 1: Naris and Presley trying to get veterans that could work
6:31
Speaker 1: the back end that seemed like they were on the
6:33
Speaker 1: downside of their careers and ended up being on the
6:36
Speaker 1: downside of their careers. Those that didn't work in their favor.
6:40
Speaker 1: So I appreciate that they at least went with guys
6:43
Speaker 1: that you know, a lot of these guys are coming
6:45
Speaker 1: off good seasons, good or very good seasons like a
6:48
Speaker 1: Field Bar was great. Mayton was better than the like
6:52
Speaker 1: it'd been in a while, well, not better than it
6:54
Speaker 1: been in a while. Was always consistent, but the strikeouts jumped,
6:57
Speaker 1: the velocity jumped, everything was jumping for him. It seems
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Speaker 1: like he's coming off a really good season. So I
7:02
Speaker 1: appreciate that they found ways to bring those guys back
7:05
Speaker 1: without breaking the bank. But not getting that dominant closer,
7:09
Speaker 1: which is just not something they always do or even
7:12
Speaker 1: someone that's that experience there. I think dings them a
7:15
Speaker 1: little bit there. And it's still a really good job because,
7:18
Speaker 1: like I said, they're losing so many guys. Keller, Pomerant,
7:23
Speaker 1: field bar were all free agents and Kittridge was traded away.
7:30
Speaker 1: So key part, like the entire bullpen, the part that
7:33
Speaker 1: you everyone that you relied upon except for Daniel Palencia,
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Speaker 1: were free agents. They brought back one and rebuilt it good.
7:39
Speaker 1: We'll see how good it is. I think they've done
7:41
Speaker 1: a solid job. You know, you can't say it's an
7:43
Speaker 1: a without getting that closer. I'd like Hunter Harvey. I
7:47
Speaker 1: think Hunter Harvey could be a really good closer because
7:50
Speaker 1: he's got the stuff. Is he going to be healthy?
7:53
Speaker 1: Similar to what you were saying about Edward Cabrera, this
7:56
Speaker 1: is a bigger injury risk than Edward Cabrera upside is clear.
8:01
Speaker 1: I like what they did. I think it's short of
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Speaker 1: an A. I think it's a B upgrading. I'm giving
8:07
Speaker 1: them extra points there because of how much they lost
8:11
Speaker 1: and they are able to build this bullpen that I
8:13
Speaker 1: look at on paper and say that's a solid bullpen.
8:16
Speaker 1: They did a good job without the closer. It's just
8:20
Speaker 1: hard to without the no doubt closer. There's there's someone's
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Speaker 1: gonna close games, and someone will emerge and be really good,
8:25
Speaker 1: and there's gonna be someone we're talking about three months
8:27
Speaker 1: from now that's like, Wow, this guy's impressed, but we
8:31
Speaker 1: don't know who that is yet, so it's really hard
8:33
Speaker 1: to evaluate that at this point.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think.
8:37
Speaker 2: It's also hard to evaluate kind of the position player
8:42
Speaker 2: group and the rotation when there is this nagging sense
8:49
Speaker 2: that the Cubs aren't quite done yet and maybe they
8:53
Speaker 2: don't make.
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Speaker 3: A move at all, maybe more and more minor league
8:58
Speaker 3: deals start to trickle in.
9:01
Speaker 2: But I guess for our listeners, our understanding here on
9:06
Speaker 2: Friday morning is that you know some of this, some
9:13
Speaker 2: of these links is Zach Gallen have been overblown that
9:17
Speaker 2: there's nothing there, not saying there's zero chance that it happens.
9:22
Speaker 2: But you know, Zach, the Cubs are not the only
9:25
Speaker 2: team looking for a good team deal, not the only
9:29
Speaker 2: team that wants more pitching.
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Speaker 3: In February.
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Speaker 2: He's someone who's been on their radar a long time,
9:38
Speaker 2: no doubt, But I think I would still be surprised
9:43
Speaker 2: if it actually happened. The Cubs are once again trying
9:47
Speaker 2: to be opportunistic. And then when you look at the
9:51
Speaker 2: position player group slash shape of the pitching staff, the
9:57
Speaker 2: other thing that's sort of out there is Mattshaw and
10:01
Speaker 2: will they trade him? Will the Red Sox step up,
10:06
Speaker 2: you know, to find a replacement for Alex Bregman, who's
10:10
Speaker 2: obviously part of the Cubs now. And this, you know,
10:16
Speaker 2: theoretical hypothetical trade. What would the Cubs get in return?
10:19
Speaker 2: We think it's there'd be some sort of pitching component. Again,
10:26
Speaker 2: most deals don't happen. Most stuff that's talked about never
10:28
Speaker 2: sees lives day, never gets close to the finish line.
10:30
Speaker 2: But these two front offices have a lot of connections.
10:33
Speaker 2: They've they talk about players and roster needs a lot.
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Speaker 2: There are some potential matches there and so again this
10:43
Speaker 2: is something like we haven't ruled out yet, like our
10:46
Speaker 2: reporting has sort of said, yeah, those are possibilities, Like
10:51
Speaker 2: the Cubs are always looking to stay active, but in
10:56
Speaker 2: terms of something imminent realistic. You know, the Red Sox
11:02
Speaker 2: being a team that pounds the table and just says,
11:04
Speaker 2: screw it, let's get a deal done.
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Speaker 3: That's not really how they operate.
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Speaker 2: And you know, the Cubs are in a nice position
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Speaker 2: here where they can be picky and choosy.
11:14
Speaker 1: Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised either way. You know, I
11:19
Speaker 1: agree with what you said there, Like these trades are
11:22
Speaker 1: hard to happen, Like moves in general, you bet against them.
11:25
Speaker 1: Like when people say, like who you know if you
11:28
Speaker 1: were betting on such and such, It's like, I just
11:31
Speaker 1: would bet against the cub signing any of these guys
11:33
Speaker 1: because like that's the likely that's how things work out.
11:37
Speaker 1: Like there's a lot of other teams vying for these
11:39
Speaker 1: players in this scenario. You kind of laid it out perfectly.
11:43
Speaker 1: Boston's not super aggressive, They're very methodical with the way
11:47
Speaker 1: they go about business. These two teams do line up well,
11:50
Speaker 1: I think with their needs. It's not perfect, but I
11:54
Speaker 1: think there's some interesting permutations I guess of potential deals
11:59
Speaker 1: that could make. And that's why you just can't rule
12:03
Speaker 1: it out. How what type of value can the Cubs
12:07
Speaker 1: get for Matt Shaw. I think, you know, outside value
12:12
Speaker 1: may be different than what like a model says, what
12:14
Speaker 1: scouts are saying. I do think Matt Shaw is pretty
12:18
Speaker 1: valuable with his second half, with his Gold Glove finalist,
12:22
Speaker 1: with his versatility, and with his upside on offense, Like
12:26
Speaker 1: he just he was a that prospect. He was a
12:31
Speaker 1: bat first prospect and he proved to be a pretty
12:35
Speaker 1: good glove too. So he's a valuable player. But he
12:38
Speaker 1: could be a really valuable player for the Cubs. I
12:42
Speaker 1: think it's an interesting decision that they have to make,
12:45
Speaker 1: and if they're bowled over by an offer, I think
12:48
Speaker 1: you have to consider it and probably do it. I
12:51
Speaker 1: just don't know if Boston's going to be that aggressor
12:54
Speaker 1: to get it done, which is part of the reason
12:57
Speaker 1: why when I look at like whether it's the position
13:00
Speaker 1: player group, mostly the bench, it's like, I don't know
13:03
Speaker 1: what this looks like yet, I don't think that's done.
13:06
Speaker 1: When we talk like what you said about Zach Gallen,
13:11
Speaker 1: you know, I just don't like I'd be surprised at
13:14
Speaker 1: this point, if the Cubs planned Zach Gallon, it doesn't
13:19
Speaker 1: seem like they're, you know, he's going to fall in
13:22
Speaker 1: their lap. I think I think it just makes sense
13:25
Speaker 1: for him to go elsewhere. Frankly, like guaranteed spot in
13:29
Speaker 1: the in the rotation. I mean, I assume if the
13:31
Speaker 1: Cubs land him, it's a guaranteed spot in the rotation.
13:34
Speaker 1: But still it's just an odd fit when there should
13:37
Speaker 1: be other teams being willing to sign him and he's
13:40
Speaker 1: got that QO attached to him, it's like he's probably
13:43
Speaker 1: gonna want an opt out pretty early. Like just doesn't
13:46
Speaker 1: make sense for the Cubs to give him an opt
13:47
Speaker 1: out early, like in my mind, and you know, I
13:51
Speaker 1: don't know what who everyone who all his suitors are.
13:55
Speaker 1: I still think Arizona just makes the most sense. Go
13:58
Speaker 1: back to Arizona. Don't worry about that qualifying offer they get.
14:01
Speaker 1: They're the ones that can give you that one year
14:02
Speaker 1: deal or opt out without worrying about it too much.
14:06
Speaker 1: We'll see, we'll see where that goes. But it's the
14:07
Speaker 1: bench that I think, it's just that's a complete, incomplete
14:11
Speaker 1: like that's that's incomplete to me. I don't know where
14:15
Speaker 1: that stands right now, it's Tyler Austin, whoever's the backup catcher.
14:19
Speaker 1: Between Amaya and Carson Kelly. I think that's going to
14:22
Speaker 1: start off being pretty split. I know, obviously Carson Kelly
14:25
Speaker 1: got the bulk of the starts last year. That was
14:28
Speaker 1: out of necessity. I don't think they want, like Craig
14:30
Speaker 1: Council doesn't want to have Carson Kelly starting one hundred
14:34
Speaker 1: and twenty games unless Miguelimya proves to be just like
14:37
Speaker 1: not good, like he's not like the injuries have have
14:41
Speaker 1: led to him struggling. I don't think that's the case
14:45
Speaker 1: that I don't think these are long term issues. So
14:49
Speaker 1: I expect that to be pretty split. And then and
14:52
Speaker 1: then you're talking about Matt Shaw and then one of
14:55
Speaker 1: these outfielders that they've picked up right now, Dylan Carlson
15:00
Speaker 1: Chas McCormick, So it's we don't know who's going to
15:03
Speaker 1: be there, and if they make a big move and
15:06
Speaker 1: if they get an outfielder from Boston in a trade
15:09
Speaker 1: for Matt Shaw and then push Saya Suzuki to DH
15:14
Speaker 1: and then and then Moses Bias Terrist to what triple
15:18
Speaker 1: A the bench. I don't know like what so I
15:21
Speaker 1: just don't know what the bench looks like. It's still
15:23
Speaker 1: an incomplete and I can tell you this, Jed Hoyer
15:30
Speaker 1: wants more depth. This is from talking to people. This
15:34
Speaker 1: is starting to sound a lot like theo Epstein before
15:37
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen. An obsession with depth and obsession with what
15:42
Speaker 1: can go wrong? How do we account for it? How
15:46
Speaker 1: do we make sure that the slightest thing that could
15:51
Speaker 1: go awry is covered for.
15:55
Speaker 3: No doubt?
15:55
Speaker 2: And we've heard various names they've discussed, and some of
15:59
Speaker 2: them are it's almost a little too all over the
16:03
Speaker 2: place to sort of like pin down of like this
16:05
Speaker 2: is the guy, because they do already have a lot
16:08
Speaker 2: of versatile pieces, Like is Matchhaw that's super sub Is
16:15
Speaker 2: he a trade chip? Is he, you know, a starting
16:20
Speaker 2: infielder once someone gets injured, are they gonna need him
16:26
Speaker 2: in the outfield if say it gets hurt for whatever reason.
16:30
Speaker 2: They're just a lot of moving pieces here, and I
16:34
Speaker 2: do think it will all make sense whenever that player
16:40
Speaker 2: is signed again. They don't feel like they have to
16:42
Speaker 2: do something, but I think they very much want to
16:45
Speaker 2: do something here to just upgrade the overall strength of
16:51
Speaker 2: the position. Player group and just to give a manager
16:55
Speaker 2: who's pretty good with this stuff, you know, more options
16:57
Speaker 2: for matchups and rest and recognizing that they were extremely
17:03
Speaker 2: fortunate last year in terms of injuries position players basically
17:07
Speaker 2: outside of Kyle Tucker, the one guy they had for
17:12
Speaker 2: one year. But that's a separate podcast there. And so oh,
17:18
Speaker 2: I think you kind of look up here in February
17:21
Speaker 2: and it's funny how if you were making offseason predictions
17:26
Speaker 2: in November, you would have circled Edward Cabrera as the
17:32
Speaker 2: guy they would probably want to trade for. And Alex
17:35
Speaker 2: Bregman there was this long history of like concrete offer
17:42
Speaker 2: made to him last year to where he'd say, oh,
17:46
Speaker 2: this guy still fits. And we spent a lot of
17:49
Speaker 2: time on Matt Shaw here, but like Alex Bregman is
17:53
Speaker 2: the man, like he is like the central piece here
17:57
Speaker 2: for this next era of Cubs baseball, ever it is,
18:01
Speaker 2: He's going to be a huge factor, a major force.
18:05
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think if like when I think about the
18:08
Speaker 1: lineup and what my expectations were coming into the off
18:13
Speaker 1: season and what they did, I know it's just replace
18:16
Speaker 1: Like in some eyes, it's just replacing Tucker or Bregman
18:21
Speaker 1: with Tucker, Tucker with Bregmant that's what. That's how that goes,
18:26
Speaker 1: replacing Kyle Tucker with Alex Bregman and and some people
18:32
Speaker 1: may even see that as a downgrade. I guess overall, offensively, look,
18:37
Speaker 1: I get that. I think overall what they've done to
18:40
Speaker 1: the lineup is kept it pretty steady. I'm high on
18:44
Speaker 1: some of these young guys. Like if Biasters is going
18:47
Speaker 1: to be in this starting lineup, if this is what
18:49
Speaker 1: the lineup, the starting lineup is, I think he's gonna
18:53
Speaker 1: hit and I think he's gonna hit a lot, and
18:55
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna have a really good full I
18:58
Speaker 1: don't know if I think he's still technically rookie, whether
19:01
Speaker 1: or not whatever he is his first full season, I
19:04
Speaker 1: think it's going to be really good. Uh. I think
19:06
Speaker 1: Michael Bush showed us what he could be uh PCA.
19:10
Speaker 1: I'm still a little wondering what exactly he is.
19:14
Speaker 3: Such a.
19:17
Speaker 1: Like and it's not and it's not that that like.
19:19
Speaker 1: I think he can definitely be an average bat. I
19:22
Speaker 1: think he kind of. I just wonder how volatile he
19:24
Speaker 1: is and what and what you know, Kenny have that
19:29
Speaker 1: high again, like, does is that like how it's like,
19:32
Speaker 1: maybe it'll be up and down, but are those highs
19:35
Speaker 1: gonna be you know, two three months long? Like that
19:38
Speaker 1: that high was like that was an extended period of
19:42
Speaker 1: we were talking about m v P uh and it
19:45
Speaker 1: and it wasn't and we weren't being hyperbolic.
19:47
Speaker 2: Uh.
19:48
Speaker 1: It was the best case scenario for a couple of months,
19:50
Speaker 1: and then it was kind of like ooh, this is
19:53
Speaker 1: rough for a couple of months. So I just don't know.
19:56
Speaker 1: Maybe that's just who he is. And I've said this before.
19:58
Speaker 1: Maybe that's the type of player is sometimes when when
20:01
Speaker 1: you chase and when you don't take walks, that is
20:04
Speaker 1: the reality. He doesn't strike out a ton, He's not
20:06
Speaker 1: like this extreme like thirty thirty five percent strikeout got
20:10
Speaker 1: I And like sometimes something like diving into his numbers
20:14
Speaker 1: just confuses me more. It's just this weird outlier type
20:17
Speaker 1: of player where it's like, well, this should lead to
20:20
Speaker 1: more success. He's he's not chasing as much, and then
20:23
Speaker 1: it doesn't lead to success and it doesn't make sense,
20:26
Speaker 1: it doesn't add up. But I like this.
20:29
Speaker 3: I think that's why part of why Bregman is here.
20:32
Speaker 2: Yes, I think like the you asked jed about this
20:35
Speaker 2: at the press conference, and you know, what did the
20:38
Speaker 2: model say and what did your kind of like you know,
20:41
Speaker 2: gut say. And I think Bregman is going to have
20:47
Speaker 2: a major influence on not just Pete and not just
20:50
Speaker 2: players on the in the major league clubhouse. I think
20:53
Speaker 2: this is you know, for the Cubs to knowledge how
21:01
Speaker 2: important his intangibles are. I think says a lot. This
21:03
Speaker 2: is not like you know, some old school baseball operation,
21:09
Speaker 2: you know, romanticizing you know, his his voice in the clubhouse,
21:16
Speaker 2: Like this is a very you know, bottom line analytical,
21:21
Speaker 2: modern front office that it really seems to go out
21:25
Speaker 2: of its way to acknowledge any of that stuff even exists.
21:28
Speaker 2: And then they give this guy one hundred and seventy
21:30
Speaker 2: five million dollars like it's that's real.
21:33
Speaker 3: I mean, that's real enough.
21:35
Speaker 2: That's what I really will get into this in another episode,
21:38
Speaker 2: but like, I'm curious to see just the Bregmant effect
21:42
Speaker 2: in general and on Keith specifically.
21:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the I like this lineup. I'm not
21:47
Speaker 1: sure if they like statistically like runs wise, they'll be
21:51
Speaker 1: top five, but I think it's a top ten offense
21:54
Speaker 1: and I think it has the potential to just maybe
21:56
Speaker 1: be more consistent. I don't know, we'll see. I really
22:00
Speaker 1: like the Bregman edition, and like I said, I like
22:02
Speaker 1: Biastero's rotation. Wise, I'm super high on Caate Horton. I
22:06
Speaker 1: think I've made that clear since the end of the season.
22:09
Speaker 1: Like I think it goes to another level. Edward Kaberr.
22:12
Speaker 1: I like him a lot, and I do think the
22:15
Speaker 1: Cubs do a really good job of maximizing their pitching talent.
22:19
Speaker 1: At times, it is all about health with him, that's
22:23
Speaker 1: all that's gonna matter. I think if he's on the
22:26
Speaker 1: if he's on the field, and if he's pitching and healthy.
22:29
Speaker 1: Sometimes these guys pitch through things and it's just like, oh,
22:31
Speaker 1: it doesn't look as good. I think he's going to
22:33
Speaker 1: be pretty nasty for them. So I'm high on this.
22:35
Speaker 1: I really like adding guys like that to make justin steel,
22:40
Speaker 1: like just just take your time, man, and when you're
22:43
Speaker 1: ready to come, there'll be a spot waiting for you.
22:46
Speaker 1: We'll see how they figure that out and kind of,
22:49
Speaker 1: you know, whatever they do because they have six starters
22:52
Speaker 1: at that point. But this, this this rotation has depth.
22:56
Speaker 1: We'll see if they continue to make moves, what type
22:58
Speaker 1: of additions they can make, but there's but there's depth here.
23:03
Speaker 1: I like this group a lot. I think that's another
23:05
Speaker 1: area where I feel like they did what they wanted
23:08
Speaker 1: to do. Obviously showed it coming back on the QO.
23:16
Speaker 1: It wasn't exactly like probably wasn't what they expected exactly,
23:20
Speaker 1: but it works for them, and we'll see how good
23:22
Speaker 1: of a season he can have. I expect him to
23:25
Speaker 1: look better than those final months and maybe not. Twenty
23:29
Speaker 1: twenty four showed up, but I don't think it'll be
23:33
Speaker 1: September of twenty five showed it.
23:37
Speaker 3: Yeah.
23:37
Speaker 2: I think lastly, when you look up and down the
23:41
Speaker 2: rest of the National League Central, off the top of
23:43
Speaker 2: my head, would the rest of these teams, if you
23:45
Speaker 2: were grading them, fall in.
23:47
Speaker 3: The range between like C and F. I mean, I don't.
23:53
Speaker 2: I think the Pirates have done stuff, and they've been
23:57
Speaker 2: linked to players, don't know if they've done enough. And
24:04
Speaker 2: I think we've seen how fragile young pitching can be.
24:09
Speaker 2: I also think they don't have no one, not just
24:15
Speaker 2: the Pirates. I don't think anyone else in this division
24:17
Speaker 2: has the runway the Cubs.
24:18
Speaker 3: Do this year in terms of just.
24:22
Speaker 2: A solid roster, an established manager, a front office that
24:29
Speaker 2: is stable, resources for the trade deadline, like all of
24:36
Speaker 2: the kind of the muscle memory from making the playoffs
24:39
Speaker 2: last year. I just have a hard time seeing everything
24:44
Speaker 2: going sideways for the Cubs. I just think their margin
24:48
Speaker 2: for error compared to the rest of the division is
24:52
Speaker 2: so much bigger. Like the Brewers always outperform these expectations,
24:58
Speaker 2: but a certain can you keep trading away all star
25:03
Speaker 2: pitchers and not feel it does that kind of nudge
25:09
Speaker 2: them in a certain direction. If they're around five hundred
25:12
Speaker 2: in June, the Reds are the Reds, and we've just
25:18
Speaker 2: seen the full retreat of the Cardinals and that is
25:24
Speaker 2: odd in Chicago kind of watching that from afar. But
25:28
Speaker 2: I think the rest the rest of the Midwest was very,
25:33
Speaker 2: very unimpressive this offseason, and I think, you know, Cubs
25:36
Speaker 2: fans should rightly feel pretty good about where their team
25:39
Speaker 2: is at right now.
25:41
Speaker 1: Yeah, they they're They probably enter the season as a
25:44
Speaker 1: division favorite. Like you said, the Brewers are always there.
25:46
Speaker 1: I don't care who they lose. They will see if
25:49
Speaker 1: they can, you know, say resilient once again. But I'm
25:54
Speaker 1: not counting them out. Maybe one of the pirates or
25:57
Speaker 1: the Reds kind of pops this year. I don't trust
26:00
Speaker 1: those offenses. Those pitching staffs are really scary. Uh. And
26:04
Speaker 1: and the Cardinals, like you said, they're they're in full
26:06
Speaker 1: rebuild right now. They've they've shown what they're doing. They're
26:08
Speaker 1: they're selling everyone off and and probably is what was
26:12
Speaker 1: needed for them. I don't think fans love it, but
26:17
Speaker 1: it's uh, you know, it's kind of what what they're
26:20
Speaker 1: doing at the moment, and it gives the Cubs a
26:23
Speaker 1: big advantage. And I think ultimately this is a team
26:25
Speaker 1: that's built to win the world have a chance. It's
26:30
Speaker 1: the big bad Dodgers sitting there as the huge favorites
26:36
Speaker 1: as always, but the Cubs have a chance and that's
26:39
Speaker 1: I think what fans are always asking for. So we'll
26:41
Speaker 1: see where this is. But that's the off season is over.
26:44
Speaker 1: This is where where the Cubs sit. They finally, you know,
26:47
Speaker 1: had a you know, a really impressive off season. We'll
26:50
Speaker 1: get into spring training heading out there soon, and uh
26:54
Speaker 1: see what this season brings. I think it will be
26:56
Speaker 1: a fun spring and like you said, we'll talk about
26:58
Speaker 1: some of that in our next episode. Thanks so much
27:00
Speaker 1: much for listening. This is North side territory. Make sure
27:02
Speaker 1: to subscribe to the YouTube channel, subscribe, rate and review,
27:06
Speaker 1: and all those other platforms. Subscribe to The Athletic, where
27:09
Speaker 1: Patrick and I are on top of all things cubs.
27:12
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening everyone,