Latest / North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast / Five Cubs who won’t be back next season

Transcript

Five Cubs who won’t be back next season · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Welcome into North side territory file territory networks, Cubs podcast.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: I'm Saturday of Sharma with my partner, Patrick Mooney. We
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: are your Cubs beat writers over at the athletic Patrick.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: It is officially off season time. And, uh, we are
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: going to be talking about what the Cubs can do. Well,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: it's not off season time for everyone. There's been some
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: pretty great playoff games. I'm not sure if people are
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: watching those Cubs fans are watching those, but, uh, that,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: that Brewers Padre series was, uh, every game was amazing.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: And like it was, you know, high drama to the
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: final pitch. That was a really fun series. I wish
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: it would have gone five just so we would have
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: seen another fun game. But obviously the Brewers are moving
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: on to the NLCS. Cubs fans can be angry about
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: that for another season now as Milwaukee continues to just
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: look like a, you know, a well-oiled machine as far
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: as an organization run top to bottom. And they're going
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: to face another great organization in the Dodgers. Uh, but
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: we are Cubs podcast and we will be talking about
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Cubs off season plans. In this one, we're talking about
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: players that, you know, we don't expect back. We're going to,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: there's some nuance to this, but, uh, you know, the,
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: these are five players we're thinking aren't coming back to
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: the Cubs in 2027, uh, for various reasons, uh, Look,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: let's start it off with someone that I think a
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: lot of fans would want back. And his departure would
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: instantly downgrade the offense. An offense that was number one
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: in baseball in many categories. Really strong offense. But Seiya Suzuki,
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: five years with the Cubs. My takeaway from Seiya Suzuki,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: great defense. five years with the Cubs, got better as
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: time went on. His last two years, he became a
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: high-level player, the key part of this offense. I just
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: don't see in this free agent class how the Cubs,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: who have made it very clear that they need to
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: allocate their resources towards pitching, are going to outbid teams
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: for a player who's arguably the number one position player
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: on the free agent market.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: I just about sums it up. I don't, you know,
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: I think say is camp, uh, and the Cubs front office, uh,
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: have left things on good enough terms and have worked.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: Both sides have worked very hard to make this productive relationship. Uh,
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: and in that context, I think you say it's a
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: never say never type of deal. Um, but if you're
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: trying to forecast, uh, what Suzuki is going to do
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: and what the Cubs are going to do. I have
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: a hard time seeing a reunion at this point. And
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: like you said, arguably the top position player out there
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: this winter. If he's not number one, maybe he's number two.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: And there's like a huge drop-off from say player four
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: to the rest. It's just not a particularly robust class.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: And I think you're going to see a lot of teams,
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: that missed out on say a last time he did
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: draw a substantial amount of interest. Padres were among them.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: I feel like our colleague, Mitch Bannon has mentioned Toronto
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: as an option this time around. You know, there's a
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: really nice track record of major league production here. And
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: the preliminary sense is just that some team will go
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: that extra year or we'll push the AAV to a
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: place that isn't going to make a lot of sense
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: for the Cubs. If their payroll was the Dodgers payroll,
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: even the Philly payroll, I think you could see more
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: of a clear path back to Wrigley for Suzuki. But
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: at this point, when you got how many guys on
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: nine-figure contracts on the position player side? You got Pete Groh-Armstrong,
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: Danji Swanson, Alex Bregman, Nico Horner. I would think this
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: would be another nine-figure deal. I'd imagine it's probably in
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: the ballpark of what he initially signed, which was five years.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: When you factor in the posting fees to his Japanese club,
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: it was about a $ 100 million investment. I would think
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: that's the baseline here. You never know when given the
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: supply and demand in this region class, how hard it
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: is to find impact right-handed hitting and just, you know,
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: say as overall, uh, sort of vibes of just as
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: a highly productive player on winning teams.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: It, you know, I, I think he's a, he's a fit.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: He makes a lot of sense to come back for
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: as far as, uh, who he is as a player
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: and what this team needs. But I, I just don't,
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: it's just not going to, it just doesn't seem like
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: it's going to line up for all the reasons we've mentioned.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: This is, this team has so much money allocated to
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: position players. I think it, it.
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: It's less about he doesn't work for this team anymore.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: And, and more about they have other needs and I
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: just don't see how they're going to, spend that much
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: money on Seiya Suzuki. We'll get into this more as
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: the offseason really gets going, but they're going to have
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: to be creative to try and keep this offense at
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: a similar level. It's going to be hard to be
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: the same. It's just not realistic, really, to keep it
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: at the same level. Maybe a different type of offense
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: and maybe you platoon someone there. uh, a platoon, a
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: few guys in the corner outfield spots because another, the
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: other outfield spot, the opposite side, their left field, Ian Happ, uh,
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: has been, you know, with this team since 2017.
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: Am I remembering that right?
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: He's been here since 2017. There was that brief, uh,
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: moment where he was sent down to the minors in 2019,
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: but pretty much just been a staple for this team
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: starting pretty much every day in left field, uh, since
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: the sell-off, right? In 2021. And kind of changed the
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: type of player he was. I'd say this year was
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: a step back offensively in some ways. Highest strikeout rate
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: since 2018, I think I looked up.
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: He's just.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: It was a weird season for Ian, you know, an
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: emotional ending for him, a guy who has spent his
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: entire professional career with the Chicago Cubs. You know, I
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: think we've seen him grow as a person and as
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: a player. He, you know, I think Jed mentioned some
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: of that in his end of season presser. I think
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: they had some battles over the years. They pushed Ian
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: to become a better player. I think he sees some
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: of these things in his own way. Was that trip
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: to the minors worth it?
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: Was it what he needed? I don't know.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: That's a separate debate, but it, you know, is he
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: coming back? Would he sign a deal that makes sense?
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: I think like for me, I think the, it's harder
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: to envision that. I think, and I think part of
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: it may be, they just need a different type of player.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: Ian Happ is a really good, right now he's a
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: really good platoon bat. He can hit righties really well.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: He cannot hit lefties. He did not, I shouldn't say
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: he cannot hit lefties. He did not hit lefties in 2026.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: Maybe that's something that he can, maybe that's a, you know, one-off, season. Um,
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: but I think you could find a different style of
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: player who could just focus on righties as well. More
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: contact oriented. It was a little bump in power early
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: in the season. It kind of tapered off and, and
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: his power wasn't, you know, it was kind of the
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: same as the last couple of seasons by the end
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: of the year. Uh, So you didn't get that full
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: tradeoff of, hey, this guy's swinging and missing more, but
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: he's hitting 35 homers. I think he needed about 10,
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: 15 more homers to kind of feel like that strikeout
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: rate jump was justified. That's just what he brought on
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: the field. I think, you know, you talk to the
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: players around the clubhouse, they have a lot of good
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: things to say about Ian Happ. I'm not sure if
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: this is the front office to pay up. For those intangibles,
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: they do have a lot of those intangibles in other
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: players also, but they're not going to just keep Ian
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: Happ around strictly for how much he's valued in that clubhouse.
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: I see a very narrow possibility of, say, Hap's love
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: of Chicago and the roots he's established here leads him
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: to sort of take an open-minded approach and then the
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: Cubs look at how much they have to spend on
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: pitching and And they look at the rest of their
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: options in free agency. And maybe there's a shorter-term deal
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: with an understanding that they're going to maybe give certain
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: opportunities to other players. But the more I say that,
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: the less convincing it sounds. Like, yeah, that's a great
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: idea in theory. I still think when you look at
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: this free agent class, Hap is going to be among
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: the better players.
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: Like, probably... easily top 10 position player and maybe like
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: top five, six. So when you're talking about a guy
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: who's been an all-star, a gold glove winner, who has
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: big market experience, who's been in the playoffs, who does
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: bring those intangibles, who shown he can post up, you know,
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: 150 games year after year, like that is valuable. That
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: is very hard to do. difficult to find those types
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: of players. And so I think ultimately he'll probably find
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: a deal where he can be a complimentary player on
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: maybe a more of kind of emerging team that could
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: use some stability, some know-how, some experience. And we'll see
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: where that leaves us. The Cubs, it does seem like
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: Pedro Ramirez and Matt Shaw could get some more playing
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: time in those corner and field spots, even though that's
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: probably not the best way to utilize their skills. But
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: if you have them, maybe a Tyrone Taylor type or
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: some sort of Brewers-style matchup system in the corner spots,
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: I think that seems to be where they're leaning.
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah, something like that. Matt Shaw, Pedro Ramirez.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: I don't know if Kevin Alcantara is a part of
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: the plans moving forward, but I believe he's out of options.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: So either he's traded or he's on this team next year.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: You probably want a lefty, a pure lefty in the mix.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: So I think going back to Tyrone Taylor or Michael Conforto,
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: Tyrone Taylor is obviously a righty. I'm just saying, you know,
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: kind of creating a platoon. Like you said, brewers do that.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: San Diego did that in left field.
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah. And left field, you know, it works.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: You have to, these are, it would be the type
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: of move to fill that spot that Cubs fans are
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: not going to like or notice, you know, like, but
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: it's kind of has to be like, this is the
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: type of small move that, different teams make that, like,
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: you know, like Tampa Bay and Milwaukee, that they make
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: every offseason that fans barely pay attention to that pays
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: off in the end. I didn't even know Victor Mesa Jr.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: was on Tampa Bay until last night when he hit
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: that home run.
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: I was like, wait, what? Who's that again?
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: So, like, these are the types of small moves that,
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: could pay off, and that may be how they fill
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: left and right field along with guys like Shaw, Ramirez, and,
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: you know, to a lesser degree, Kevin Alcantara.
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: All right, let's take a quick break and talk about pitching.
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: The 2026 MLB playoffs are here, and guess what? SeatGeek
• 13:55
  Speaker 4: has you covered. Let's go. If you're looking to go
• 13:57
  Speaker 4: to a playoff game, which I know everybody is, your
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: favorite team, if they're around, Go find SeatGeek. They're going
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: to find your best seat that you can get. If
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: that green light is on, that means it's the seat
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: to go. If it's red, that means no. Guess what?
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: There's some big teams going. Kratzy, tell us about it.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: I'm definitely going to a Brewers game. There's no bad
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: seats in Milwaukee because the stadium is right on top
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: of the field.
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: It feels like you're in the grass. And you know what?
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: If your team lost this year, go get yourself some
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: concert tickets.
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: They have it all. And, of course, we have a
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: code for you. You can use code TERRITORY10 for 10%
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: off your next set of tickets at SeatGeek. That's 10%
• 14:37
  Speaker 4: off any tickets with promo code TERRITORY10. Make sure you
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: click the link in the description to download the app
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: and have the code automatically added to your account so
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: you can use it later.
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: Go to SeatGeek.
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: All right, Patrick, let's talk a little bit about pitching
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: and let's make this our Fox 1... Patrick, the pitching
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: in this playoffs, I think people are noticing that pitching
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: wins in the postseason. And maybe if you're paying attention,
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: you're noticing that it's really hard to score.
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: It's really hard to perform well.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: At a high level offensively in the postseason because either
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: you're getting a dominant starter out there or a reliever,
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: a nasty reliever is coming in in the third or
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: fourth inning.
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: It happens pretty early.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: So, you know, I think there's something to be said for, look,
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: the Cubs were short on pitching. I don't, you know,
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: I don't want to take too much away from a
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: two-game sample as far as their offense went.
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: We saw what their offense can do. It's the pitching.
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: So I think.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: Ruling out completely any pitcher, any starting pitcher coming back
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: would be a mistake on our part. But I do
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: think we're going to talk about three pitchers that we
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: don't think are coming back. I would also say I
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: wouldn't be completely surprised if one, two, three, I guess
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: all of them coming back would.
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: Be a little bit weird. But look, they need pitching.
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: They need a lot of pitching.
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: The beggars can't be choosers in a sense. But I just,
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: I think they may go in different directions in the
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: three names we're mentioning here. Let's start with Shota Imanaga.
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: Shota Imanaga arguably had his best season, you know, in
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: some ways with the Cubs. I talked to some people
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: with the Cubs that thought it was his best season
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: with the Cubs.
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: He had some.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: Moments where the home runs got really out of control,
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: but I think one thing that was overlooked by some
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: of us while watching that happen was the first two
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: seasons he was with the Cubs, the wind blew in
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: a lot during his starts at Wrigley.
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: That was not the case.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: You know, it, for majority of the summer this year,
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: we had like three months of the wind blowing out
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: at Wrigley, which just did not happen in 24, 25. He,
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: he got his velocity back after a down year last year.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: He was missing bats again. I, you know, he, he
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: was mixing in different pitches. I did think it was
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: a nice bounce back season for show to him and Naga.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure if him coming back is, uh, is
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: likely at this point. I think this may be a, let's, let's, uh,
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: let's agree that this was a great three years.
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: We enjoyed the time together.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: Uh, but you know, I, I, I think they need,
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: and this is going to be kind of a theme, uh,
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: you know, especially when we talk about who could come
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: back in our next episode, but, um, they, they, Fly
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: ball pitchers may not be the direction the Cubs go
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: for at least the immediate future. I think they need
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: both swing and miss and ground balls. If you can't
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: get both, you take one of them. Yes, he gets
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: swing and miss. Fly balls are really difficult right now,
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: and I just think you don't take that chance.
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: You see it watching the Brewers and Dodgers, this idea of,
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: all hands on deck and operating with urgency. And I
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: think you just watching Imanaga's time with the Cubs, it's
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: just clear they don't trust him to that level. I
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: think they really respect his competitiveness, his adaptability. His performance
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: was very good to great over most of the past
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: three seasons and It just didn't quite build, I think,
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: to that next level that seemed possible when he was
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: a Cy Young Award contender in the first half of
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: his rookie year. And I think if you're Shota, this
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: is not me speaking for him. But I would imagine
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: that you might just want to change the scenery. Maybe
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: work with a different team, a different group.
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: Maybe.
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: As much as he loved Wrigley Field, a different ballpark.
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: You know, if you're a fly ball pitcher, we saw
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: how it played in the summer. I mean, Ian Happ
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: said it was might have been the best best offensive
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: environment he's seen during his time at Wrigley Field over
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: kind of the long haul of 162 and so that's
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: why look when they don't use you in a playoff
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: game talking about last year when they don't pick up
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: the three-year option in your contract when they give you
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: the qualifying offer. It just seemed like they were ready.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: The Cubs seemed ready to move on. And I would imagine,
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: I would think that Shota still has several good years left.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: Fantastically entertaining pitcher when he's on. Absolutely exceeded everyone's expectations,
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: which were pretty low at the time if we go.
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: Back to that winter.
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: We heard a lot of the concerns and questions about
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: how his game would translate. He answered pretty much all
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: of those and showed a lot of intelligence and composure
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: in figuring out how to stay a step ahead of
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: major league hitters. But I think it's the, the main
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: idea here can actually be applied to Matthew Boyd as
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: well of just like, It's been a good run. I
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: think both sides have sort of come close to maximizing
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: the partnership, and it might be time to move on.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: Yes, I think I agree with all of that, and
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: let's move on to Matthew Boyd since he started it there.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: I think that's where I'd start. It's like a great
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: two years, really good job identifying him. They targeted him early.
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: They loved him, and they pursued him. This was a
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: guy that they targeted and went after and got I
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: think it was a good two-year deal. I think when
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: I talk about ground balls and swing and miss, Matthew
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: Boyd doesn't bring that anymore. The swing and miss disappeared
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: this year. There were some characteristics to his pitches that
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: just were not the same. And that happens. They got maybe,
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: I'd say, one and three quarters, one and a half.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: really great, uh, seasons out of Matthew Boyd. Uh, you know,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: the playoff performances probably weren't what people wanted. He had one,
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: I'm trying to remember last year's, I think it was
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: one really good start. And then the disaster start to
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: open the, the series against the Brewers, uh, that, you know,
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: that was less on him and more on the Cubs
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: just being short pitching at that time. Uh, it kind
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: of happened again where he was forced into action when
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: probably shouldn't have been, uh, against the Padres, whatever it is. Like,
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: I think, I think it was a great two years
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: with the Cubs. Uh, I I'm concerned about the lack
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: of swing and miss. It was, it started to become
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: a little bit glaring at times. Uh, I think here's
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: the one thing with both this guy, like with anybody,
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: I think you need to find someone that's a veteran that,
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: that can kind of lead the group still. Like, I
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: don't like, that's what I think you lose the most,
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: the biggest part about letting Matthew Boyd walk. I think
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: it's like, he is, he was a, you know, Jamison
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: Tyone kind of fill that role. And when Tyone was
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: let go, Matthew Boyd kind of took over that role
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: veteran guy.
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: Kind of showed everyone.
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: This is how you do it, this is how you work,
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: this is what you do to prepare properly for your
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: start in X number of days. The Cubs need that.
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: All good teams need that. I know it's not the
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: number one thing. I do think in this process the
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: Cubs should make sure to get someone that is going
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: to be in that mold. Uh, whether it's, uh, you know,
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: whoever it may be, whether it's like going to be
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: the fifth starter or the number one starter, you need
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: someone that can do that.
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: Uh, it's, it's a pretty in it. Like right now
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: we don't even know who's going to be in that group.
• 24:05
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: Uh, as far as the starters and, and you could
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: argue that maybe Justin Steele is that guy.
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: I like, it's just been such a long time since
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: he's pitched. Uh, And I just think it's good to
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: have that veteran that just kind of goes about business
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: the right way and kind of leads. And especially if
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: the Cubs hope to develop some pitching over the years,
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: you want someone around that can do that. And maybe
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: that's not even for next year. That's just a long-term
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: thing at some point. You need to make sure you
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: have that veteran to kind of lead the group. Matthew
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: Boyd has that ability. I just think it's time to
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: move on. And I think they need a different style
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: of pitcher. That's no disrespect to Matthew Boyd. This is
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: just what this team needs right now. Uh, he, I
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: think his strikeout rate was around 18%. Uh, not a,
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: like the ground ball rate was like a round league average. Uh,
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: but it just wasn't it. I think they need something different. And, uh,
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: maybe it's similar to Ian happened that way where it's
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: just like, you know, I won't rule this out because
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: like I said, they need pitching. And if he's going
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: to come cheap or at a discount or something like that,
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: you have to consider it. But I think there are
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: other options and they're going to have to look elsewhere.
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: Matthew Boyd, as you know, total class act, a true gentleman,
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: an exemplary teammate, all of those things. I did not
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: look this up, but it's hard to think of how
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: many pitchers in franchise history have been made back-to-back playoff appearances.
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: I just think, to your point, there could be a
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: role on this team For him, for sure. I think
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: it just has to be more of a complimentary piece
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: and not kind of the opening day starter, the game
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: one playoff starter. Obviously, the pitch characteristics, the kind of
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: pitching profile doesn't seem to be exactly what they want.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: I think the health is also a concern when you
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: talk about a guy in his mid-30s who, to his credit...
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: has forged a really nice second half of his career
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: and stayed largely healthy with the Cubs. I know there
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: was kind of two things this year. One, that knee injury,
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: leaning down to play with his kids, like a cubby occurrence.
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: That might be a little different, but expecting him to
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: post and make 30-plus starts next season, I mean, whatever–
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: next season looks like after lockout a new cba like
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: who knows but um i would imagine he because of
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: his reputation because of his talent he'll probably have some
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: nice options out there as well that makes this reunion
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: seem kind of unlikely.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: Patrick before we move on to the final guy i
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: just want to say one quick thing about fox one
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: mlb on fox is streaming on fox one Uh, the
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: post season is here and we have your front row
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: seat to the wildest walk-offs lights out pitching and clutch
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: plays all playoffs long stream. Each NLCS game, then the
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: 2026 world series live on Fox one at home or
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: on the go live or on demand. Never miss a
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: moment stream. Now start your Fox one three day free
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: trial today at Fox one.com.
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: Uh, all right.
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: Uh, Kevin Gossman, uh, Of the three, I would say
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: this is the guy that.
• 27:48
  Speaker 3: Makes the most sense to come back. The ERA wasn't
• 27:52
  Speaker 3: good with the Cubs. It was like.
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: Three great outings, three bad outings, and three bad outings,
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: I think is the way I would describe it, of
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: his nine starts. And then, you know, the playoff start
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: was fine. Nothing brilliant. Obviously, the left shoulder injury left
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: us wanting more. he struck out a ton of guys.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: Didn't walk a ton of guys. The peripherals were good.
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: Okay. Ground ball rate.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: I think that's, those are all the things that make
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: me say like, I can't rule him out because of that.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: I just get the feeling that he's going to end
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: up somewhere else. Like it may be less.
• 28:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 28:34
  Speaker 3: It seems like.
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: Obviously we, we know how emotional he was when he
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: left Toronto. It already sounds like he wants to go back. I, I,
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: it just seems like that's his preference and he's nearing
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: the end of his career. That's going to be a
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: team that's expected to compete. They're, they're going to be
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: looking to add guys. Um, he makes a lot of
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: sense for them. I think it may be what I,
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: I haven't, I didn't talk to him about this, so
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: I don't want to speak for him, but I, I
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: get the feeling it's kind of what he wants. Uh,
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: he made it pretty clear when he left, like he
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: didn't even want to leave in a sense. Uh, understood
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: the way the game works and the business works so
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: it wasn't like he hated his time in chicago or
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: was angry about any of it i just think like
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: it it may make more sense for him i think
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: that's where logic kind of leads me.
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: I spoke with him towards the end of the season
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: we had a one-on-one conversation i brought up the idea
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: of like what do you want to do next and
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: he said Obviously, the focus is on winning this year,
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: wants to go out with the World Series ring. That
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: obviously did not happen. He acknowledged that. the lockout is
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: a factor. You could want to do something, and then
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: who knows how this offseason is going to unfold. He
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: didn't linger on that point, but it is in the
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: back of his head, and I'm sure with a lot
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: of veteran players of like, okay, do you.
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: Ramp it up?
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: When do you ramp it up? What is the season
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: going to look like? Is it kind of what you
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: imagine your end to be? I know another Mitch Bannon shout-out.
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: He's kind of mentioned the possibility of him going back
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: to Toronto. Unprompted, I was talking to someone from a
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: different organization, not the Cubs or the Blue Jays, but
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: Gossman's name came up, and this individual– unprompted said, well,
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: he's going back to Toronto. So, uh, like that's not, uh,
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: obviously a guarantee, but that is, there's at least a
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: perception out there, right? Kind of what you're acknowledging of that.
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: If he continues playing, which I think he would have
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: that option, uh, Toronto makes a ton of sense. And
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: I don't know if, how hard the Cubs would push
• 30:58
  Speaker 2: to bring him back. I think they really like him
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: as a player, as a person, certainly can bring something
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: to the table. They need a ton of pitching, but like,
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: where is he on their priority list? I just don't
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: know how high, maybe it's high amongst this group we're
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: saying won't come back, but compared to the guys we'll
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: get into the next episode and then just kind of
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: the open market, the possibilities, I think they're going to
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: be excited about just like something different, something newer pitchers
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: who are maybe younger and can be molded in different
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: ways as well.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah. And, and with all of this being said, I
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: think it is important to remember what Jed was saying
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: at the end of the season presser about how like
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: things didn't work and they have to look at everything. They,
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: he was not happy with the way the pitching ended up.
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: So maybe that like, I don't think maybe it's, it
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: was pretty clear that like some philosophical shifts are going
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: to have to take place. So I think like naturally
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: that leads you to believe that different types of players
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: are going to be looked at. I just think that's,
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: you know, that, that has to be the case that,
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: and now Gossman was a mid season acquisition. So that
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: it's a little different, but that makes me feel like
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: Shota and, and, and Boyd are like, okay, this we're,
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: we're shifting the way we look at things. Like there
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: is a different philosophy taking place. Not that these guys
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: were bad, but we're going in a different direction. Like
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: I just think, you know, we have to we have
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: to listen to what he's saying there. And remember that,
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: you know, the ground balls stuff swing and miss.
• 32:45
  Speaker 3: Some of that stuff, you have to add it. You
• 32:47
  Speaker 3: have to add it.
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: You have to make sure you lean on your defense,
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: but also that you can get some swing and miss.
• 32:53
  Speaker 3: They just didn't do it enough.
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: And we'll talk about that next episode when we talk
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: about two guys that make sense coming back as far
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: as the pitchers go. All right. Thanks so much for listening, everyone.
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: This is Northside Territory. Make sure to rate, review, subscribe.
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: Subscribe to the YouTube channel and subscribe to The Athletic
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: where Patrick and I are on top of all things Cubs.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: Thanks for listening and watching, everyone.
• 33:13
  Speaker 3: Take care.