Latest / North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast / What we’re hearing: Why Cubs cut Jameson Taillon; pitching reinforcements coming; more on trade chips

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What we’re hearing: Why Cubs cut Jameson Taillon; pitching reinforcements coming; more on trade chips · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Welcome into Northside Territory fil Territory Networks Cubs Podcast. I'm
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Sahadim Charma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are your
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic and Patrick, the
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Cubs have made the decision to dfa jameson Tywn. It
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: had just gotten to the point where he wasn't getting
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: the job done. When he went out there, came back
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: from the injured list, it made I believe it was
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: a left hamstring. Made two starts immediately put his team
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: in a hole, giving up multiple home runs. I think
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: he'd given up five home runs in the two starts.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: It was well over twenty home runs twenty five I'm
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: going off memory right now. Yeah, twenty five home runs total.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: And he was in like the seventy somethingter innings. He's
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: like fifth in home runs allowed and a good twenty
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: innings below that group of pitchers that were that were
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: up there at the top of the league. Just too
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: much hard contact, too many balls going over the fence,
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: and it got to the point where they had to
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: let him go. A team leader, a great easy guy
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: to talk to, always a good quote for us, but
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: it wasn't getting the job done anymore.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: You're right side. There's a couple of different sides to this.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: I think leading with the person Dansby Swanson said jameson
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: Tyn is quote definitely on my mount rushmore of teammates,
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: you had players like Matthew Boyd just kind of raving
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: about Jamison's character. Even Craig Counsel, who this doesn't always
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: come across on the TV screen, but who does have
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: really great feel for clubhouse dynamics and culture. You described
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: him as a great teacher for how to act like
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: a major league player, and he acknowledged that sounds kind
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: of silly, like what's the big deal with that, But
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: a lot of players need help, and Jamison was exemplary
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: in terms of showing how you treat people behind the scenes,
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: how you conduct and carry yourself as a professional. And
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: you know, having said all that, he was a really
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: good pitcher for them last year. I mean he was
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: on the mound in October when they won two elimination
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: games at Wrigley Field wire to wire. From that contract, obviously,
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: you know he did not deliver, but for long stretches
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: during that he was exactly as advertised, very dependable, reliable,
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: had an excellent season in twenty four, twenty three, it
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: was a bad first half, very good second half, and
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: then you know, last year really helped hold the playoff
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: team together and I think ultimately the calculus here, you know,
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: according to counsels, they just didn't think he was going
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: to pitch for them again. That they felt that it
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: had sort of just run its course in terms of
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: their game planning ideas, you know, pitch mix, you know
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: this or that, Like it was just in their mind,
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: you know, it was time to give someone else an opportunity,
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: knowing that they're probably going to be adding at the
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: trade deadline.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm looking at these numbers and it's it's hard
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: like a twenty four great, great, really good season. Three
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: twenty seven era, uh, three sixty eight ERA. Last year, Uh,
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: he was hurt for a little bit, but then came
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: back and really delivered for them in the playoffs was
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: a you know, solid He started those two elimination games,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: looked good out there. The hard contact just skyrocketed this year.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: Home runs, this hard contact, everything was hit hard. There
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: was just not that it wasn't like there was anything
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: in the underlying data that said, like, you know what
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: we can fix this or this is here's some things
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: that look good that we can rely on. It's a
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: disappointing end to a guy that, like you said, as
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: far as Clubhouse goes, he's a he was a big
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: part of that group and he the other day we
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: were talking to Pete row Armstrong. I remember this, and
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: someone was talking about the funniest guy in the clubhouse,
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: and that was the guy that Pete mentioned first was
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: jameson ti own laid back guy that that you know,
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: knew how to talk to everyone, all types of people,
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: and he was very very good at kind of like
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: talking about the big picture, understand ending things like in
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: a holistic way. It was it was it was fun
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: to talk to him. That's for sure, a very easy
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: guy to uh. You know, if if it didn't matter,
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: like if you had a storyline and he had pitched,
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: it was like, oh perfect, I can ask Tyo about this.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: You know, it's like, you know, he'll give you a
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: good answer. We love those types of guys. They're very
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: easy to to to deal with. I think this sets
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: up something though, like what was the vibe you were
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: getting when when talking to people out there? Is this
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: like it we've been talking about it for weeks already,
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: but adding to the rotation feels like a must at
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: the trade deadline. They've already added David Peterson, who's made
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: five or six starts, really nice start Monday night against
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: Saint Louis after his only bad start was against Saint Louis.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: He's been a solid addition for them. But but they're
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: they're going to continue to add to this rotation and
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: I feel like getting rid of I think the one
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: surprise was how can you get rid of starting pitching depth? Uh,
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: they must feel good that they're going to continue to add.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: When I ask counsel that he gave me the he
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: deliberated for a moment or two and then just said
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: pass and then he started of thought about it so well.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: I think I think Jed's said he wants to add
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: start any pitch, and it's like, well, yeah, he said
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: that last year too and got Michael Soroca, who did
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: start then got hurt because he had already been hurt,
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: you know, within that season, within that summer, and for
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: long stretches of his career. So uh, you know, the
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: plan is for Javier assad to you know, make that
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: next start. I think that would be whatever Friday, you know,
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: this weekend against the Yankees. Obviously, Asad has been very good.
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: You know, I would guess that's a temporary assignment in
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: the rotation unless something else happens or you know, I
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: guess you could also move Colin Ray back to the bullpen.
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: But clearly this season is just getting shorter. The calendar
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: is shrinking. Like if this was May, I think you
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: kind of work through some of Taiwan stuff more, particularly
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: seeing how you know depleted, you know, their pitching reserves are.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: But you know, we'll get into this later. Like there
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: are some optimistic updates when you when you look at
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: that outlook for August in September, in terms of you know,
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: guys getting healthy. You're right to mention Peterson. I think
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: he'll make seven starts before the trade deadline, which is
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: pretty good. I mean, obviously he was not performing for
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: the Mets, like you know, he was probably you know,
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: he was kind of trending toward DFA territory if he
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: didn't turn it around in New York. But you know,
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: Jed Hoyer went out and got him. He's been kind
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: of exactly what you know, you would have hoped for.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: I think in those six starts he's been you know,
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: at least serviceable, if not a lot better than five
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: of those. So just that really, you know, blowout loss
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: against the Cardinals at Wrigley Field. You know, he turned
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: it around at Bush Stadium on Monday night. And so
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: you know, Council said, he's like the trade deadline's a factor.
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: The amount of season we have left as a factor.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: What we saw within Jamison's season is a factor. And
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: so like the the pictures we'll talk about in a
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: bit were getting healthy. He said, that's not really you know,
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: part of it. But you know, I think you do
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: since a little bit of urgency, you know, with a
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: move like this, you know, as Matthew Boyd said, it's
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: not like it's a wake up call. And you know,
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: Nico horn or nod at his head when I said,
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: I know, you guys, you try to treat every day
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: the same as the same day. You know, that's a
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: big kind of counsel. That's the environment, the bubble he
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: tries to create. But you know, you can tell it's
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: kind of getting to go time here, and you know,
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: instead of those dog days of August, they might get
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: a nice like boost between the deadline and guys getting
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: healthy like they really, as Pete said, they've really had
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: to grind through a lot of the first half and
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: now you know, you'd like to think they'd kind of
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: see the rewards from that.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Okay, what you're touching on about the health, Let's
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: take a break because I think this is I'm very
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: curious about how this will play out and with tying
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: it into the deadline because the bullpen starter stuff is
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: going to be interesting to talk about. Let's take a
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: break and come I can talk a little bit about
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: who's getting healthy and what the timelines may be.
• 10:04
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• 11:04
  Speaker 1: Use it later. All right, Patrick, I was thinking about this,
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: if if these guys get healthy, there's a lot of
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: stuff going on with health and who may come back.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: It seemed like you almost had to add like multiple
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: big pieces in the bullpen at one point. Now, I'm
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: kind of curious to see how this plays out and
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: what exactly they're they're going to add. Is it. I
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: feel like it's risky, but let's get some updates where
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: are we with some of these pictures that there was
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: a surprise to me that, you know, Hunter Harvey was
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: even like a positive update. But what are you hearing
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: on the road, What are the updates for these pictures.
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: I'll get to that in a second, But your your
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: thought there is exactly what I had when we were
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: talking to Counts on Monday, of like, you know, if
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: these guys are in a mid August time frame, do
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: you feel better about the bullpen than you did, you know, months,
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: if not weeks ago, And He's like, yeah, we're on
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: a path towards getting more bodies out there, but you
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: can always get better. And that's what I would say.
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: I was like, there's only so many good pictures out there.
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: You only have so many trade chips available, and if
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: you have this cluster pictures kind of on the mend,
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: where are you gonna put them all? And now that
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: would be a good problem to have. I don't think.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: I think I'm saying you can always get better is
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: probably the takeaway there of like they can you know,
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: there are pictures that kind of help you get to October,
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: and then there are those who you know, truly make
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: a difference in the playoffs, and you know, high leverage
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: relievers who are locked in have an outsize impact you
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: know during those series. So yeah, Hunter Harvey, it's kind
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: of a wild card, you know. I'd say right before
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: the All Star break, the talk around him was like,
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: quoting Council, you know, we're gonna we're gonna have to
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: push through here, Like you know, it hasn't really gotten
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: too a great place. We're kind of running out of time,
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: like things are lingering, but we've been trying, and like
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: this is the moment to kind of push forward. And
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: apparently he had some sort of breakthrough or at least
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: they found, you know, some sort of compromise here to
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: get him on a path back towards the majors in
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: a way that makes sense. And so both he and
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: Daniel Polanci are on a similar timeline, like they're kind
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: of bullpens how you would map out or rehab assignment
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: are pretty close, and so you'd be looking at middle
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: of August if everything goes well with no setbacks. I
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: think Palencia and Harvey are sort of two different entities
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: in terms of like we've seen Palencia comeback, We've seen
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: him come back quickly. We all remember last September when
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: it looked like you know, his his arm was in
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: really really bad shape, and he wound up being awesome
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: in the playoffs. Harvey, you know, the Cubs knew the
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: risk when they signed him. He has an extensive injury history,
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: but he does he does have that sort of X
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: factor that they've been looking for in terms of the
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: swing miss stuff. If they could get get him reincorporated
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: into the bullpen. Hoby Millner would probably the first guy
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: back from that. You know, his appendectomy was, you know,
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: a fairly straightforward recovery plan. You know that, you know,
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: I think he maybe starting He won't be active for
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: the Yankee Series, which I think the Cubs would have
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: liked to have him available for that, but you know,
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: you'd be looking at early to mid August with him.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: Shelby Miller another name that you know, we had kind
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: of heard as someone who's pushing through. He has kind
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: of a longer sort of ramp up, but he's throwing
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: live bps now and like they think there's a chance
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: he could come back at some point this year. So
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: that's what like, you know, for four relievers before we
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: even get into you know, maybe getting a high leverage
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: guy at the deadline.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it seems like it. It's risky in the
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: sense that all these guys are coming back from injury,
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: and it's like, what if none of it works out,
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: you have to So it feels like you should get
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: one more guy.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: For sure, should.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: Get one more guy. I think I still feel like
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: the focus has to be on starting pitching. That's a must.
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: You have to get a guy. I think if you
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: look at it out all the injuries and you want
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: to be optimistic, you could say, like, do you even
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: need a starter? I think that's crazy way to look
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: at it. You shouldn't. You absolutely do need a starter,
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: not only for this season but beyond. I think it's
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: really important to try and get that off season shopping
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: check a little bit off your list. It's going to
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: be hard, it's not going to come cheap. I do
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: believe the Cubs are willing to move almost anyone in
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: their system, almost anyone for the right piece. But where
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: are we with the starters. I'd say Edward Cabrera is
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: the only one that we have like a real map
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: out for. I don't believe there were updates on I
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: think Steele is in the same spot, and we're not
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: expecting him to be a starter this year. But I
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: don't remember reading. Maybe maybe I'm there's been so much
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: that I've read of yours while you've been on the road.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: I don't believe there was a Ben Brown update, but
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: maybe there was, and I'm forgetting uh. But Edward Cabrera,
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: I believe is the one that we have the most
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: conflict update for.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, he's scheduled to make a rehab start
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: on Friday with Triple A Iowa. He's scheduled for three
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: rehab starts, so you can just kind of map the
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: days out there that would put him in I did
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: this last night. It was right right squarely in the
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: middle of August. You know, he's healthy. You know, according
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: to council that he is scheduled to throw a bullpen
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: session this week at Bush Stadium and then go out
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: to Iowa. So like there's a very reasonable expectation for
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: when he will pitch for the Cubs again. Like that's
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: assuming like no setback with this or not, like a
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: different kind of injury popping up. They were all really
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: curious to see, you know, has this downtime helped him
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: and what sort of pitcher the Cubs are going to
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: be getting back. Obviously, they thought he had the stuff
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: to be at top of the rotation starter when he's
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: been healthy. We haven't really seen it. We've seen very
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: brief glimpses of it. Justin Steele still as of last
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: weekend scheduled for kind of bullpen sessions first week of August,
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: and Ben Brown was still kind of in the same
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: place of like nothing noteworthy or that they were willing
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: to share. I think that's just kind of another lower one,
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: but I'd imagine we'll try and get something more concrete.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: It's just been kind of a weird injury, a lot
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: of factors going into it. I think you can't. I
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: think you have you have to count on Cabrera coming back.
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: You know, they're expecting that, you know, steal. We'll see
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: what he's able to do. And I think similar to
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: similar case with Ben Brown, like they think he can
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: pitch again this year. I'm sure it would be great
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: for his frame of mind. It would help the Cubs
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: plan a little bit. Maybe he can give you some
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: innings here or there. Maybe in the playoffs if they
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: get there, you can kind of reassess things and you
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: know what everyone is comfortable with, But those two guys.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: Are in a separate category for now, okay, which also
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: makes it interesting. As far as the adding to the
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: bullpen aspect, it's just like they're such wild cards you
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: don't want to have to like you're not one hundred
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: percent sure what they can give you. But you know that,
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: especially with Ben Brown, that if he's healthy, he can
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: give you a lot right now, Like I just don't
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: know where I don't want to say that for Justin Steele,
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: just because he hasn't pitched in so long. I know
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: when he's right, he can give you really good innings,
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: no matter whether he's a reliever or a starter. But
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: I just don't know where he's at right now, so
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: I don't want to say that for sure. With like,
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: as far as what they can trade, we've talked about
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: this a lot. As far as the prospects go, I
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: think there's a few guys that we can talk about
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: that are on the major like either have had some
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: major league experience or currently on the major league roster.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: I guess like we can just name him the four
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: guys I would mention our Pedro Ramirez, Matt Shaw, Kevin
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: El Contra and now James Treanto's who just came up recently.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: You know, I think the biggest deals, if you're making
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: a big deal, it would either be Pedro Romirez or
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: Matt Shaw would be ones that you could see getting
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: a really big piece. We just saw Curtis Mead for
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: Connolly early, the two under control players, position player for
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: a pitcher. Those trades don't happen that often. But that's
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: kind of made me think of Matt Shaw or Pedro
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: Ramirez that that I mean personally, I like, for everything
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: I've seen of Pedro Romirez, I love the guy. I
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: don't know where he fits in the future of this team,
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: but I also think, like you find a place for
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: a guy like that. I also don't want to just
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: miss Matt Shaw because you know, it's like we haven't
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: seen him in a little bit. So it makes me
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: like I don't want to forget that, Like when he
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: has been healthy this year, he's been really good and
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: he's really versatile. Both those guys are valuable in their
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: own way, which makes them valuable on the trade market
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: as well.
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, Shaw council confirmed will not be activated
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: before the trade deadline. That doesn't mean a trade involving
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: Shaw can't happen. I mean, we saw that in that
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: National's Red Sox trade that you know, I think, and
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: I think taking on injured pitchure is different than taking
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: on an injured super utility guy. But I don't know.
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: I think it's harder to line up if you're so
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: obsessed with value and you know Mattshaw was untouchable not
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: that long ago because you thought his future of value
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: was just through the roof. I have a hard time
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: seeing like two data driven teams come together on the
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: right value of an injured guy who I'm not sure
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: how much he's even like swinging a bat right now,
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: and obviously no one's untouchable. Maybe this is nothing but
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: listening to the way counsel raves about Pedro Amir's is
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: maturity and baseball iq uh and skill set is very noticeable,
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: and so he sounds like a keeper to me. I
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: think the Cubs are concerned about all the free agents
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: they have looming on their roster. They don't know what
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: the next CBA is going to look like. I think
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: they think young talent will be young, cheap young talent
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: will be even more of a premium. Uh in the
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: years ahead when you have those flexible pieces, obviously, you
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: know you got to give up something to get something,
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: and you know, maybe that's they're they're kind of forced
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: into something like that. But yeah, yeah, I think we
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: all think, I mean, Kevin Alcantra should probably be on
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: a new team by by August third, and you know,
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: Trianta's is an interesting one. Like I think it would
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: probably be best for his career to find, you know, somewhere
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: that you know, second, third, second and third aren't occupied
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: by guys on long term nine figure deals. Council also
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: said he'd be comfortable putting him in left, like those
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: are kind of the three positions, but he also said
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: James is not going to play a lot like that
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: was the and I thought that was kind of an
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: interesting insight into how Council views the roster and the
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: idea of developing talent at the major league level. It's
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: not just what happens in between the lines on the field.
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: It is exposing someone like Pedro Amirez early this year
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: to the club and then a couple of things happened,
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: and he makes a couple of plays and you know,
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: passes the eye tests and all of a sudden, you know,
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: he hasn't gone back to Iowa. So I would think that,
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: you know, Triante Contra, if a couple other players at
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: Triple A that I think you could get something for,
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: Like you're not getting Scooble, you know, for your your
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: des Moines leftovers, but like those players I think would
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: have value kind of out on the marketplace that if
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: you're a rebuilding team, I think there are worst worst
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: pieces to get. Then you know, some of these interesting
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: position players the Cubs have, I'm not over hyping them
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: just so pups have a pretty good track record with this.
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: They have like no opportunity here. The Cubs, it's in
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: their best interest to like move on from some of
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: these players and get some like right now pitching value
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: because it's not like their farm system is producing a
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: lot of arms right now.
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it really depends what the acquiring team is looking for.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: A guy like Johnny Long. You know, it could be
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: a nice secondary piece in like a smaller deal. Think
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: back to the Soroka deal that was Ronnie Cruz was
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: kind of like the younger piece, and then Christian Franklin
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: was like the Triple A guy like on the verge
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: that could maybe help BJ. Murray's a little older. I
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: think he's like twenty six. That's an older guy. Again,
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: not a ton of value, but could be a piece
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: in a deal for a reliever, or like a third
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: or fourth piece in a for a starter. And like
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: we didn't even talk about him. I don't I don't
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: know if they'd be willing to move him. But moyses
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: by Asteros is still a triple A. He hasn't started
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: raking yet, but you kind of know that he's going
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: to hit. You want to see him get his confidence back.
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: And I still think he's a part of the future
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: for the Cubs. But you know, in the right deal,
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: you can't say that he's, you know, untouchable. I don't
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: think anybody is all contra I do believe is it's
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: tough to get him proper value, like as a part
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: time player. I just don't think he is a part
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: time player. I think he's a guy that you need
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: to let him play and see if that talent kind
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: of takes over, because he is like even in the minors,
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: he's the type of guy that, like, you let him
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: play and then he gets red hot and it's like, oh, Yeah,
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: this guy's incredibly talented. It's hard to show that when
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: you're getting you know, very few at bats and starting
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: against lefties on occasion. It's it's I don't think he's
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: that type of player. So, you know, I do think
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: he has value. I don't think he can be like
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: the centerpiece of a deal for like, you know, a
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: controllable starter like Red Depmers or something. I don't think
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: he's like the headliner, but I do think he has value.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: All these guys are solid pieces that I agree with you.
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: Treanto's and l Contre just kind of makes sense. Like
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: I want to see these guys get every day playing
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: time somewhere, and I think we're on the sane, like
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: the way the council has talked about Ramirez like this
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: really since spring training. Yeah, and you know, we'll see
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: if we'll see if he's still a part of the future.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: Sometimes you have to give up players that you just
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: love to get that right piece. But you know, I
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: do think he can impact the team now and in
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: the future. And like you said, there, we don't know
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: what the new CBA will look like. All right, Patrick,
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: that's it for now. We'll have a few more episodes
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: this week. Thanks so much for listening to everyone. This
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: is Northside Territory. Make sure to rate, review, subscribe, subscribe
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: to the YouTube channel, and subscribe to The Athletic where
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: Patrick and I are on top of all things cubs.
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: Thanks for listening and watching everyone. Take care.