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Cubs encounter GIANT loss · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: And lining up one phase of the game only to
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: have another one glow up. Very much on brand for
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: this team. Welcome to North Side Territory, the Chicago Cubs
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: podcast on the Foul Territory Network. I am Patrick Mooney
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: and this is a special emergency episode after the worst
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: loss of the season so far. Now I am flying
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: solo here because my co host and Kyliet the Athletic
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Sahadev Sharma, I had to scramble into rewrite mode after
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: Monday Night's devastating seven to six loss to the San
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field. That is only one game
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: of one sixty two. It's a long season. If you've
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: been paying attention, listening to any of the sound bites
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: out of the clubhouse or the interview room, or reading
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: our quotes in the Athletic Craig Council, Jed Hoyer, the players,
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  Speaker 1: they're all saying the same thing. Long season, a lot
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: of time to turn things around, and they're right. They're
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: certainly not wrong. But this game embodied so much of
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: what has gone wrong so far. Now let's work backwards
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: from Hector Nerris and his blown save in the ninth inning.
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  Speaker 1: It was a weird yet predictable sequence with the catcher's
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  Speaker 1: interference by Miguel Maya, a nears walk, and then finally
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  Speaker 1: the three run homer from Tyro Estrada that landed in
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  Speaker 1: the leftfield bleachers. The Cubs are definitely feeling the heat
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: wave that has blanketed Chicago. I mean, the booze that
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: echoed out through the friendly confines were about as as
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: you're gonna get on a Monday night in the middle
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  Speaker 1: of June. And honestly, sitting up in the press box
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  Speaker 1: before that Estrada bat, a colleague turned to me and said,
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: they're gonna blow this right, or jokingly said something like
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: there's no way they could blow this right. And I
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: think just about any Cubs fan who's been following along
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: this season it could not have been surprised by just
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: a gut punch loss that really left this team reeling.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: They're now season high five games under five hundred, and
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: this one's done because the Cubs finally got a few
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: big hits and they rallied back and they created just
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: a little bit of a breathing room for a bullpen
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  Speaker 1: that has been under duress really all season long. So
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  Speaker 1: now let's here from Cubs manager Craig Council. You know,
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: who's finding out what life is like without the all
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: star closers he had in Milwaukee. You'll hear some hot
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: of his voice in the Wrigally interviewed your room, asking
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: about Naris and the closer situation moving forward.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: We you know, we had an error on we had
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: the catcher's interference. We'll walk and you know, frankly, it's
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: a fly ball. You know it's the wrong night to
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: give up fly balls, and that's three runs. So you know,
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: I mean, I think if you've really asked me to
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: valued hector performance, the walk is is the only is
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: the only bad at bat.
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  Speaker 3: I'm assuming when you say that, it's not a consideration.
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: You're moving from saving situations right now.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: Look, we got a bullpen. We gotta find guys to
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: get outs, and Hector has been a guy that's been
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: reliable for us, So I wouldn't anticipate doing that. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: we're gonna, you know, always examine every best way to
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  Speaker 2: get twenty seven outs every I'm gonna.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: Have to be a part of that now. Early hours earlier,
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  Speaker 1: Cubs President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer met with the
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: media in the home dugout, which is something he normally
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: does just about every home stand in good times and bad.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: And Hoyer, to his credit, might be the most accessible
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  Speaker 1: sports executive in the city of Chicago. And Hoyer talked
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: about showing up to work every day, you know, hoping
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  Speaker 1: this is gonna be the game that turns things around,
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: sticking with the process, you know, expecting good things to happen.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: And the Cubs did get a few breaks, and they
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: got home runs from Michael Bush and he and half,
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: but his team has been just out of sync for
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: a while now, and the roster overall is just kind
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: of disjointed and lining up one phase of the game,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: I need to have another one blow up was just
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  Speaker 1: very much on brand for this team. I mean, Ners
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: simply has to say that game. The bullpen overall has
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: to be better. You still can't expect them to be perfect.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: And there's going to be a cost when every pitch
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  Speaker 1: or seemingly every pitch is high stress. And that's on
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  Speaker 1: an offense that Hoyer still believes in. This group is
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  Speaker 1: largely his hand pick group, kind of the core that
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  Speaker 1: he assembled to move forward, move out of that twenty
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: sixteen zone and if you listen to him, hear it
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  Speaker 1: from himself and this is how he diagnoses the situation.
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  Speaker 1: At this moment, this group.
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  Speaker 3: Has kind of failed to produce for the last forty
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  Speaker 3: six games. We had a really good offense last year,
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: We had a really good offensive April. Since then, we
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: have not hit period. And you know, no one player
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  Speaker 3: is going to change that. We have to this collective
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  Speaker 3: group has to figure this out. And like that doesn't
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  Speaker 3: mean there won't be additions, but you know, the answers
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: have to come from from within. And I said, there's
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  Speaker 3: no reason to believe this this group suddenly for we
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: got out of hit, but certainly it's been a longer,
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  Speaker 3: longer downs bell than expected. I think everyone goes to
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: up Sinnadras season. This is a much longer, longer, longer
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  Speaker 3: trough than we ever expected, and we have to get
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: out of it. You can't keep digging this hole, and
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: we can't keep the pressure we're putting on our pitching
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: staff and our bullpen at night in night out. I mean,
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: every every game seems to be you know, up one down,
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  Speaker 3: one tide, you know, going into seven seventh dinning. This
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  Speaker 3: is not you can't you can't. You can't win enough
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  Speaker 3: that way. You just can't.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: Look, You're not gonna suddenly believe in the offense just
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: because the Cubs scored six runs in a loss. I
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: mean Logan web is lined up to start Tuesday night
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: opposite Justin Steele, So that may very well be another
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: low scoring repeat of the same game we've watched over
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: and over and over again this season. So let's assume
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: the offense will be a priority upgrade this summer. Now,
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  Speaker 1: how the Cubs perform over the next several weeks is vital.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: It goes to how much prospect capital Hoyer is willing
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: to give up to supplement this largely underperforming group. It
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: also goes to how much money ownership is willing to
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  Speaker 1: kick in to improve the team for a playoff push
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  Speaker 1: and possibly push them over the luxury tax threshold. But
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  Speaker 1: a catcher's interference and the ninth inning is a subtle
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: reminder of another area where the Cubs are among the
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: worst in baseball, and Nears is miscast as a closer.
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  Speaker 1: He's a great dude in the clubhouse. He signed up
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: to be that veteran mentor to work as a setup guy.
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  Speaker 1: In the seventh and eighth innings. I mean to be durable,
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  Speaker 1: available and reliable and offer his significant World Series postseason
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  Speaker 1: experience on some the hugest stages and biggest markets in
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  Speaker 1: the game. He's mostly been what the Cubs hope for.
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  Speaker 1: He's just not a lockdown ninth inning guy at this
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  Speaker 1: stage of his career, not if you want to be
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: considered a serious October contender. So Hoyer's got a lot
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: of things to do between now and July thirtieth. But
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: even if he desperately wanted to do it deal, like tomorrow,
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: is a trade store even open yet? I asked him
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: that question and got an answer that cups fans probably.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: I don't want to hear a different times like you explain.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: I like, even if you desperately want to make a trade,
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: but tomorrow and the trades you are just is it open?
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: Can you explain the factors and.
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: They take play?
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: It's still two things. I think a lot of teams
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: are not willing to make deals yet, you know, anythink,
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: especially when you look at the standings and throw a wildcard,
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: there's a lot of teams right around us. You know,
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: there's like you can look at that. You look at
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  Speaker 3: the standings, to today, there's just a lot of teams
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  Speaker 3: that are that are really close to a wildcard spot
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  Speaker 3: or or you know, so that I think has changed it.
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  Speaker 3: There's this fewer sellers. There's a lot of teams at
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  Speaker 3: this point, always at this point that like it's not
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: going to make that decision yet. There's a few teams,
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  Speaker 3: but there's not Manty and most teams was not willing
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  Speaker 3: to make that decision today because there's a message to
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  Speaker 3: the fans. You know, we're selling on June seventeenth. So
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  Speaker 3: those are two factors. And the third factor is simply
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  Speaker 3: like the teams that usually want to make trade right now,
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: they are willing to do it if you pay a
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: massive premium, which let's face it, most people say it's
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: so hard to do that. Yeah, you're doing something that's rational.
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  Speaker 3: So asoul as they trademarks not open, it's just incredibly
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  Speaker 3: difficult to make those kind of transactions on June and seventeenth.
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  Speaker 1: And that those are some of the fact Teresa. The
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  Speaker 1: Cubs are thirty four and thirty nine and in last
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: place in their division. They're already trailing the Brewers by
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: eight and a half games. A Brewers team, if you
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  Speaker 1: hadn't noticed, let counsel walk and trade it away aside
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  Speaker 1: on an award winner and still just keeps unrolling. They
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: have already lost or are losing season series tiebreakers to
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  Speaker 1: wild card hopefuls that they're going to be going against
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  Speaker 1: the rest of the season. I mean, this gut punch
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  Speaker 1: loss is the one you look back on in October.
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  Speaker 1: If the Cubs again missed the playoffs by one game,
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  Speaker 1: and that for an organization that really rip the band
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  Speaker 1: aid off at the twenty twenty one trade deadline, that
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  Speaker 1: would be an absolute organizational failure. So thank you all
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  Speaker 1: for listening. Thank you to the behind the scenes crew
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: at the Foul Territory Network. I'm honestly not sure when
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: or if they sleep, but they hustle around the clock
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: to produce shows for you guys, which is very much appreciated.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: We'll get some hot of going back here again soon.
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  Speaker 1: We'll be back with regular episodes and new guests later
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: this week. Please rate, review, subscribe all that good stuff
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: and we'll be back at you soon. Take care,