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Cubs mailbag: Communication issues · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

0:04
Speaker 1: Welcome into North Side Territory. Foul Territory Networks. Cubs podcast
0:10
Speaker 1: totally lost track of my my.
0:14
Speaker 2: I'm Ron Burgundy, I'm Saani Patrick Mooney.
0:21
Speaker 1: We are your Cubs beat writers for the Athletic. Uh.
0:25
Speaker 1: We we just wear the same clothes, Okay, day after day.
0:28
Speaker 1: This is a different day, different different podcasts altogether. Just
0:34
Speaker 1: because we're wearing the same clothes, it does not mean
0:38
Speaker 1: we just recorded back to back podcast.
0:40
Speaker 3: Come on now, people. Uh we did.
0:45
Speaker 2: Over questions.
0:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, we we sent out well Patrick sent out
0:51
Speaker 1: the bat signal. Uh you all responded, we got we
0:55
Speaker 1: got too many questions. So maybe we'll do another uh
0:58
Speaker 1: mail bag later in the week again. Uh, we'll change
1:02
Speaker 1: for that episode.
1:03
Speaker 3: Okay. Uh.
1:05
Speaker 2: A lot of logistical issues too, if you you're coming
1:08
Speaker 2: down to Arizona soon and I'm leaving Arizona soon. So
1:11
Speaker 2: I was actually doing the sort of math today joking
1:14
Speaker 2: with one of our colleagues that I think I may
1:16
Speaker 2: not actually see you in person until like April fourth
1:18
Speaker 2: at the uh Wriggley opener, because me and Japan one
1:23
Speaker 2: of us will be in Arizona. Yeah, and then yeah,
1:27
Speaker 2: maybe the Wriggly open.
1:29
Speaker 3: So yeah, Okay, well we'll see.
1:31
Speaker 2: That ye black each other on slack and yeah you
1:37
Speaker 2: constantly but not actually first.
1:41
Speaker 1: All right, so you guys delivered with good questions. We'll
1:44
Speaker 1: get to some of them to today and and hopefully
1:47
Speaker 1: more uh you know later this week.
1:49
Speaker 3: We'll see, we'll see. I think, uh, you guys, you.
1:52
Speaker 1: Know there's some frustration, but but also some legit excitement. Uh.
1:56
Speaker 1: This one is I think a good question from Tyler
2:00
Speaker 1: Dershel what options are there for first or third if
2:03
Speaker 1: shar Bush get hurt. Seems like depth is still an
2:06
Speaker 1: issue for this team. I'm going to start off by
2:08
Speaker 1: saying a couple things, which is, I think.
2:12
Speaker 3: We got a few questions like this.
2:16
Speaker 1: The depth can't be like superstars or like really good players,
2:20
Speaker 1: Like that's just not like that's not realistic, right because
2:23
Speaker 1: I'm not saying Tyler saying that, But there were some
2:25
Speaker 1: questions where like what if these guys get hurt. Yeah,
2:29
Speaker 1: if guys get hurt, the people that you're replacing them with,
2:31
Speaker 1: in all likelihood are not going to be as good.
2:34
Speaker 3: Like it's just not.
2:35
Speaker 1: But you do need better depth. Absolutely. John Birdie is
2:39
Speaker 1: a quality depth piece. I know he's not a big name.
2:41
Speaker 1: I know he's not exciting, but that's kind of what
2:44
Speaker 1: depth is.
2:44
Speaker 3: Like. Depth is a guy like John.
2:46
Speaker 1: Birdie and he can play third, He's played a little
2:49
Speaker 1: first right now. That is i'd say number one depth
2:53
Speaker 1: piece right at third at and I guess first right now.
2:58
Speaker 1: But also I mean then you have like gauge workmen.
3:02
Speaker 1: We have no clue what he is outside of we
3:04
Speaker 1: know he's a good defender, right Vidal Bruhan question mark,
3:09
Speaker 1: big question mark right, former top prospect. I think he's
3:13
Speaker 1: lower on the depth chart right now when you have Birdie.
3:17
Speaker 1: Other than that, you know Nicky Lopez solid depth piece, fine,
3:21
Speaker 1: and that's fine, you know, experienced guy. But Patrick, there's
3:26
Speaker 1: there could be more coming right like this isn't they're not.
3:29
Speaker 1: It doesn't seem like they're done. At least there's a
3:32
Speaker 1: chance to add some more depth as far as backups
3:35
Speaker 1: at these spots too.
3:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, Tyler, I think your concern is shared by the
3:41
Speaker 2: front office, the manager, and the coaching staff. Look, Justin
3:49
Speaker 2: Turner is a name that we've heard a couple of
3:52
Speaker 2: different times. Postpregnant. The Cubs have looked at a variety
3:58
Speaker 2: of names. From what I'm told, I don't know if
4:02
Speaker 2: Justin Turner can like legit play third base anymore. Buddy
4:08
Speaker 2: would be a nice partner from Mike Michael Bush at
4:11
Speaker 2: first base. He can DH and he's strung together like
4:16
Speaker 2: several solid seasons in his late thirties, and he's interested
4:23
Speaker 2: in Chicago. The idea of the Cubs in Wrigley Field
4:29
Speaker 2: kind of kind of got mixed signals on Jose Glecias
4:31
Speaker 2: I'd mentioned that earlier of like I mean, had been
4:36
Speaker 2: a fantastic defender earlier in his career. This like amazing
4:40
Speaker 2: energy presence with the Mets, you know, his offensive profile.
4:48
Speaker 2: Like no team, no analytically driven team, is going to
4:52
Speaker 2: be like yes to that very much. I'm sure looking
4:56
Speaker 2: at their IVY calculations, like not sure how strong the
5:02
Speaker 2: interest is on either side. But Glaciers is a name
5:05
Speaker 2: that you know, has kind of been on the radar.
5:10
Speaker 2: One thing that popped up as well, like Alexander Canario
5:13
Speaker 2: trying our first base. I think Uncle said, like, do
5:17
Speaker 2: not make a story out of this, like this is
5:19
Speaker 2: just kind of trying something out for a guy who's
5:21
Speaker 2: out of minor league options.
5:25
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was about to say no options, Like yeah, that.
5:28
Speaker 2: Could be a way to help them make the team
5:31
Speaker 2: or stay on the team in general, in terms of
5:36
Speaker 2: like the bench council addressed us like look cubs out
5:41
Speaker 2: like a essentially roll out the same line of every day.
5:44
Speaker 2: There's not a ton of like platoon mix the match pieces.
5:48
Speaker 2: It's very much like this is the core. I mean,
5:52
Speaker 2: that's why Alex Bregman was viewed internally as such an
5:57
Speaker 2: ideal fit for this roster. But I will say the
6:05
Speaker 2: depth piece that is very nice is if Nico Horner
6:09
Speaker 2: gets back to being able to play shortstop like that
6:12
Speaker 2: is a huge deal for him, his future value, his
6:18
Speaker 2: his career wherever it goes. And also in case something
6:21
Speaker 2: happens to Dansby that they could plug him in. And
6:23
Speaker 2: I think that's another The idea of depth will also
6:28
Speaker 2: pop up with Saya Suzuki. I think we'll probably get
6:31
Speaker 2: into that later, but like he's the DH now, but
6:35
Speaker 2: we'll see if everyone can post, you know, for one
6:37
Speaker 2: hundred and fifty games or wherever.
6:39
Speaker 1: His council said anything about backup centerfielder, is that Canario
6:43
Speaker 1: at the moment.
6:44
Speaker 2: That is a good question. I mean Carnario was last
6:49
Speaker 2: year and that was a guy they had talked about
6:52
Speaker 2: like if we don't sign Bellinger, you know, let's put
6:54
Speaker 2: Canario out there. I think Sale will work in left.
6:59
Speaker 2: That was an another thing that came out that like
7:01
Speaker 2: he can only play right, like and only give Tuger
7:05
Speaker 2: days off there that you know he'll see some some
7:07
Speaker 2: time in the corners. I mean, John Birdie's depth. You
7:13
Speaker 2: can play the outfield as well. I think he has
7:15
Speaker 2: played center field. I don't know if you really feel
7:17
Speaker 2: that comfortable plugging him in, but yeah, I mean Tyler's right,
7:21
Speaker 2: I mean so out of you said it before, like
7:23
Speaker 2: a lot is riding on the Matt Shaws and the
7:26
Speaker 2: pre Co Armstrongs and the Michael Bushes of this roster,
7:29
Speaker 2: no doubt.
7:30
Speaker 1: Right, So I just want to give some numbers here,
7:33
Speaker 1: Like Justin Turner is a really quality bench bat.
7:36
Speaker 3: If he's going to be your bench bat, you know,
7:38
Speaker 3: like he'll be forty.
7:40
Speaker 1: He played one hundred and thirty nine games last year,
7:42
Speaker 1: five hundred and thirty nine polate appearances, and had a
7:45
Speaker 1: one to seventeen way to runs great a plus. That's
7:47
Speaker 1: I mean, that's like it's really quality. And if you're
7:50
Speaker 1: a part time player and you give them that, it's
7:52
Speaker 1: great like that. That is just a great player to
7:55
Speaker 1: have on your bench, great veteran to have on your bench.
7:58
Speaker 1: If you can get him three hund undred played appearances
8:01
Speaker 1: or something like that, I think.
8:02
Speaker 3: You'd be thrilled.
8:04
Speaker 1: Jose Iglesias had an insane season last year, a one
8:07
Speaker 1: thirty seven way to runs great A plus. He's always
8:09
Speaker 1: been a great defender career high according to Fangrafts two
8:13
Speaker 1: point five war. Okay, but he's not that type of
8:16
Speaker 1: offensive player. That's not happening again three eighty two Babbitt,
8:20
Speaker 1: Like it's just not happening again, right, I mean, really
8:23
Speaker 1: good defender.
8:23
Speaker 3: You know you're what you're getting with the glove.
8:25
Speaker 1: My guess is that offense goes back to what it's
8:29
Speaker 1: been pretty much for his career, which is like his
8:31
Speaker 1: career is ninety way to runs great A plus, so
8:34
Speaker 1: below average bat. You know, I know Council loves offense,
8:38
Speaker 1: I mean loves defense and will play a guy if
8:43
Speaker 1: you know, purely for their defense. I don't know, I
8:47
Speaker 1: think you want like I think i'd like to see
8:50
Speaker 1: a bench bat like Turner. I that's just my thought
8:54
Speaker 1: on this. You did you missed out on Bregman. I
8:57
Speaker 1: think Turner's a really good fit for what the team
9:00
Speaker 1: needs coming off the bench.
9:03
Speaker 3: I really like what he could bring.
9:06
Speaker 1: I don't know if they can get that done, but
9:09
Speaker 1: I think that would be like a really, really nice ad.
9:14
Speaker 3: I'd be impressed if they could pull that off.
9:16
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10:22
Speaker 1: All right, let's get back to some of these questions,
10:26
Speaker 1: A lot of Jed questions, right what's up with Jed
10:29
Speaker 1: and Ricketts?
10:30
Speaker 3: Essentially what's the deal.
10:33
Speaker 1: With from cubnach here we have After hearing Jed's comments
10:38
Speaker 1: after missing on Bregman, I started wondering, are the Rickets
10:41
Speaker 1: restricting Jed on twenty twenty five payroll or future obligations
10:45
Speaker 1: after his contract expires?
10:48
Speaker 3: What do you think on that, Patrick, I.
10:51
Speaker 2: Mean, there's clearly limitations on the twenty twenty five payroll.
10:54
Speaker 2: I don't think that's necessarily a statement on Jed as
10:59
Speaker 2: much as the Cups thinking that, you know, almost three
11:05
Speaker 2: million people show up at Wrigleyfield no matter what, they
11:08
Speaker 2: got a team on paper that should win between eighty
11:13
Speaker 2: five and ninety games, and that this payroll is pretty
11:20
Speaker 2: similar to what it was last year before Bellinger I
11:24
Speaker 2: mean that's what I heard loud and clear, that it took,
11:28
Speaker 2: you know, an appeal or a presentation to ownership to
11:33
Speaker 2: get the Bellinger deal done. I do think the future obligations,
11:41
Speaker 2: there's a couple of things going on there, like the
11:44
Speaker 2: CBA expiring after twenty twenty six. That is something the
11:47
Speaker 2: Cups have is certainly on their radar. I don't know
11:52
Speaker 2: if it's like determinative or like an absolute sort of
11:58
Speaker 2: like rule, but if you look at it, I think
12:00
Speaker 2: Dansby is the only guy on true. Yes, yes, that's right,
12:07
Speaker 2: that's right, that's right. Showdo We'll see what happens after
12:10
Speaker 2: this year. There's a couple of different ways I basically
12:13
Speaker 2: showed to Dansby Jed was not authorized to get off
12:19
Speaker 2: of bregmant a fifth or a sixth year. I think
12:24
Speaker 2: Jed's status is like a little bit of a factor there.
12:29
Speaker 2: But again I don't like I think they trust Jed.
12:32
Speaker 2: I think that he's running the team the way they want.
12:35
Speaker 2: It's just that they don't. They don't like to go long,
12:38
Speaker 2: they don't like to reset the market. Their only way
12:46
Speaker 2: they use deferred money in the sense of like mutual
12:49
Speaker 2: options or a payment a portion of a signing bonus.
12:55
Speaker 2: But you know, the financial mechanisms given to baseball operations
13:02
Speaker 2: are not like that, you know, overwhelming. I would say,
13:08
Speaker 2: it's like a payroll that's bigger than everyone else in
13:12
Speaker 2: the nash League Central, not really commensurate with market size
13:16
Speaker 2: or keeping up with sort of baseball inflation when you
13:20
Speaker 2: look at where they were in twenty nineteen. So right,
13:25
Speaker 2: that's I don't know, what do you think where do
13:26
Speaker 2: you think they're they're at? Yeah?
13:28
Speaker 3: I mean like, so, I don't know what it is.
13:30
Speaker 1: Was it the twenty eighteen season where they kept spending, right,
13:35
Speaker 1: they went out and got Moro Garbish and and who's
13:40
Speaker 1: who's a third one?
13:42
Speaker 3: My picture?
13:43
Speaker 1: It was the Rockies picture while Chatwood, yeah Chatwood. They
13:48
Speaker 1: got three guys and none of them impacted the team
13:51
Speaker 1: and they still won ninety five games. It seemed like
13:53
Speaker 1: there was kind of a cutoff there where Ricketts wasn't
13:58
Speaker 1: thrilled with the return on investment of those free agents,
14:03
Speaker 1: like bought into the you know, free agency is inefficient. Yes,
14:06
Speaker 1: it is the most inefficient way, a very inefficient way
14:09
Speaker 1: to build a team and kind of turned off the
14:11
Speaker 1: money spigot.
14:13
Speaker 3: Was it just Covid was.
14:15
Speaker 1: It, you know that did that kind of change his
14:18
Speaker 1: thinking with spending.
14:19
Speaker 3: I think it's a combination of things.
14:20
Speaker 1: And I think, yeah, like someone asked, like, how much
14:23
Speaker 1: did the world winning the World Series change the thinking?
14:25
Speaker 1: I think all of those impacted this what's happening now.
14:31
Speaker 1: I don't think there's some like huge fissure here between
14:36
Speaker 1: Jed and Tom. I think it's the reality of the situation.
14:39
Speaker 1: And I think Jed came into the job kind of
14:42
Speaker 1: knowing the situation, and maybe it gets frustrating at times
14:47
Speaker 1: when you're constantly saying, like, you know, there's more that
14:49
Speaker 1: we can do. We should leverage the power that we have,
14:53
Speaker 1: the financial might that we have, and they're not Like
14:56
Speaker 1: if they're at two ten and it takes special presentations
14:59
Speaker 1: to get two forty for special players, it's kind of
15:03
Speaker 1: silly in my opinion, right, And it's his money and
15:06
Speaker 1: he gets to do what he wants with it.
15:07
Speaker 3: It's his team.
15:09
Speaker 1: So like there're people have asked like a bunch of
15:12
Speaker 1: different things, like the CBA thing is not I don't
15:15
Speaker 1: think it's just limited to the Cubs. Someone was saying, like,
15:17
Speaker 1: why are the Cubs only team that are so worried
15:20
Speaker 1: about the CBA. Why is Rickets so worried? No, no, no, no,
15:22
Speaker 1: this is this is most teams that aren't named the
15:26
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Dodgers in New York mets like they're all
15:29
Speaker 1: thinking about this because what they want is to have
15:33
Speaker 1: in place is a salary cap or some sort of
15:36
Speaker 1: space or to.
15:37
Speaker 2: Know the you know, the rules. They want to know
15:39
Speaker 2: the rules.
15:40
Speaker 1: In general, right, right, because there's a feeling that spending
15:43
Speaker 1: could be curtailed in some way.
15:46
Speaker 3: Right.
15:46
Speaker 1: There is a feeling that, you know, if we don't
15:49
Speaker 1: have to spend this money, you know, why why spend it?
15:52
Speaker 1: Maybe the rules will be an owner's favor in some
15:55
Speaker 1: way where they they can get a star without having
15:58
Speaker 1: to think about a four hundred million, five hundred million
16:01
Speaker 1: dollar contract. Right now, that could mean a couple of
16:03
Speaker 1: years without some of these teams signing one of those
16:07
Speaker 1: four hundred and five hundred million talents like Kyle Ducker.
16:09
Speaker 1: But that's just the reality that it looks like we're facing, right.
16:13
Speaker 1: I don't think it's a cub specific thing. I think
16:15
Speaker 1: it's an owner's looking for ways to like, Okay, what
16:19
Speaker 1: what's it going to look like in two years?
16:21
Speaker 3: What's the landscape gonna look like? Do I not?
16:23
Speaker 1: Am I spending this money foolishly? And I don't have
16:26
Speaker 1: to sign this guy to a huge contract, and then
16:27
Speaker 1: I can go after big free agents after the CBA,
16:30
Speaker 1: you know, after that's done. I'm kind of speculating there.
16:33
Speaker 1: I haven't heard specifics on like the exact thinking, but
16:37
Speaker 1: that like that kind of adds up.
16:39
Speaker 3: They're they're looking for ways to curtail spending. We know.
16:42
Speaker 1: That's what the issue is with the CBA, Like what
16:44
Speaker 1: they're going to beout heads about.
16:46
Speaker 2: I mean, just two kind of historical comps here of
16:48
Speaker 2: like just a general feeling we know, like whatever sort
16:53
Speaker 2: of thing is going on or like a trend or
16:55
Speaker 2: an idea going on in baseball. Usually the Cubs like
17:00
Speaker 2: take it to an extreme right of some of the
17:02
Speaker 2: like conservative risk averse, like cost cutting, budget conscious stuff.
17:10
Speaker 2: Cubs usually take it to a degree that other organizations don't.
17:16
Speaker 2: That is just kind of a gut feel. That's kind
17:19
Speaker 2: of my read on it. The others like when THEO
17:22
Speaker 2: got here, you know, that new CBA kicked in and
17:27
Speaker 2: it totally changed his game plan or like severely curtailed
17:31
Speaker 2: something he wanted to do. He wanted to do what
17:33
Speaker 2: they did in Boston of like just blowing it out
17:37
Speaker 2: in the draft and internationally, and all of a sudden
17:40
Speaker 2: there were restrictions and that had to change their strategy
17:44
Speaker 2: in a major dramatic way. And so no one knows
17:48
Speaker 2: what the next labor deal will look like or you know,
17:52
Speaker 2: it's probably wishful thinking ownership's part in terms of what
17:58
Speaker 2: they were getting.
17:59
Speaker 3: Ont they're not getting a cat.
18:01
Speaker 2: But like you would like to know the rules right
18:04
Speaker 2: like before you So it's not it's not totally you know,
18:10
Speaker 2: crazy to like be aware of that.
18:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I mean it is. It's it's an inconvenience
18:18
Speaker 1: for fans. Certainly. I get the frustration there, and and
18:22
Speaker 1: I saw some people kind of like suggesting the opposite, right,
18:26
Speaker 1: like they shouldn't spend money, Like why are you demanding
18:28
Speaker 1: that they spend all this money or that they spend
18:31
Speaker 1: on free agents. The argument isn't that they shouldn't build
18:35
Speaker 1: with youth or they shouldn't you know, draft and develop,
18:38
Speaker 1: Like it's about doing all of it, Like that's the thing,
18:41
Speaker 1: Like that is the advantage of being a big market
18:44
Speaker 1: team with a smart front office. You should do it
18:47
Speaker 1: all like the Mets aren't just going to spend money.
18:50
Speaker 1: The reason they brought David Stearns in is to revamp
18:52
Speaker 1: the front office and and have a draft and development
18:55
Speaker 1: machine like the Brewers did, and then they spend. That's
18:58
Speaker 1: what Andrew Friedman did, took that what he didn't Tampa Bay.
19:01
Speaker 1: He's doing the draft and development. They're a machine and
19:03
Speaker 1: they spend, and like, that's what you want. That's what
19:06
Speaker 1: fans should want, Like spend, don't just spend? Do it
19:10
Speaker 1: all the Cubs can, Like that's the argument. It's not
19:14
Speaker 1: just spend, only spend and do that and do nothing
19:16
Speaker 1: else is not the argument. Like I want to see
19:19
Speaker 1: Matt Shaw play. If Bregman would have come, great, but
19:22
Speaker 1: Matt Shaw's fun peek or Armstrong great. I'm glad he's
19:25
Speaker 1: getting every day burn and center field. You know, like
19:27
Speaker 1: there there is a way to do both, and we
19:31
Speaker 1: can see it on both coasts. The Cubs should be
19:33
Speaker 1: able to do it as well. Here's a question on
19:35
Speaker 1: Saya's zuki. I think this is I'm really curious on
19:40
Speaker 1: what you have to say here because I wasn't there,
19:42
Speaker 1: so I don't have full feel for it. How valuable
19:44
Speaker 1: can say it be as a DH. I'll that's an
19:48
Speaker 1: interesting question because defensive value isn't their thoughts on the
19:51
Speaker 1: disconnect between him and council. I want to know your
19:54
Speaker 1: thoughts there. What did you feel? If I can just say,
19:57
Speaker 1: like from what I read, it felt like Counsel was
20:00
Speaker 1: going out of his way to kind of say, like
20:03
Speaker 1: to kind of take some heat there and and make
20:05
Speaker 1: sure that it's like this is my fault. I should
20:08
Speaker 1: have communicated more and be like the I'm the manager.
20:12
Speaker 3: It's all on me.
20:13
Speaker 1: I take the blame, not some like huge like wedge
20:18
Speaker 1: issue between the two that like can't be resolved, or
20:20
Speaker 1: like counsel had major screw up. How could he not
20:24
Speaker 1: talk to this guy and communicate with this guy? Kind
20:26
Speaker 1: of felt like that's and I'm not there, so I
20:29
Speaker 1: didn't get the full feel of it. Well, why don't
20:31
Speaker 1: you tell me and tell the listeners what what what
20:34
Speaker 1: you got from that?
20:37
Speaker 2: I think you're right to an extent of like when
20:39
Speaker 2: the manager uses the word lazy to describe himself, like
20:42
Speaker 2: that's a quote that's going to catch anyone's attention. I
20:48
Speaker 2: don't know if it's like council versus Saya as much
20:53
Speaker 2: as counsel is the one who kind of has to
20:56
Speaker 2: deal with Saya because Saya would rather not be a
21:00
Speaker 2: time And this all took place against the backdrop of
21:05
Speaker 2: the Cubs firing Saya's translator in the middle of last season,
21:11
Speaker 2: which both Saya and council said that personal decision was
21:16
Speaker 2: like unrelated to any sort of issue between them, but
21:20
Speaker 2: it was curious. Then you had Saya's agent, Joel Wolff
21:24
Speaker 2: at the winter meetings after his Rokie Sazaki press conference,
21:29
Speaker 2: is asked about Say and says, oh, yeah, you know,
21:31
Speaker 2: I mean Jed's approached us about, you know, teams where
21:36
Speaker 2: he might approve a trade to when he has a
21:39
Speaker 2: no trade clause. And I think Joel said that was
21:41
Speaker 2: a very small universe. So that has been kind of
21:45
Speaker 2: just out there. And then you have Joel also saying,
21:51
Speaker 2: you know, when Say was coming over from Japan, the
21:54
Speaker 2: team told him he was going to be a full
21:55
Speaker 2: time DH, he probably wouldn't have signed there. So you
22:00
Speaker 2: have those things that the Cubs Saya all have to
22:08
Speaker 2: sort of piece together. And again, like Saya is extremely talented,
22:13
Speaker 2: a tires worker, is well liked by his teammates, So no,
22:16
Speaker 2: it's not like it's some sort of you know, enormous
22:22
Speaker 2: clubhouse distraction. But there's like a lot of stuff going
22:26
Speaker 2: on here. And oh, by the way, like they spent
22:30
Speaker 2: roughly one hundred million dollars, They invested a one hundred
22:32
Speaker 2: million dollars roughly in say it to be a huge
22:36
Speaker 2: part of the next great Cubs team. Cubs have not
22:39
Speaker 2: made the playoffs during that time. He has not played
22:42
Speaker 2: like one hundred and fifty games. He's not been an
22:44
Speaker 2: All Star. He's been good, No doubt Saya is good.
22:47
Speaker 2: But I think what what council said to Saya, what
22:50
Speaker 2: he repeat to us was like, people think there's more
22:54
Speaker 2: in there, because I think you can do it. And
22:56
Speaker 2: like we've were talking about depth and have the Cubs
23:00
Speaker 2: seem kind of thin certain areas, Like I mean, you've
23:03
Speaker 2: been writing this like from the jump, like you look
23:06
Speaker 2: at certain traits of say, you look at stretches where
23:11
Speaker 2: he's produced, like they need that monster season from him,
23:16
Speaker 2: and like so all of this stuff going on to
23:20
Speaker 2: me made it a really interesting just dynamic to present
23:25
Speaker 2: the beginning of spring training and then we'll see what happens.
23:28
Speaker 1: Right and how valuable can he be as a DH
23:31
Speaker 1: I think that's just like kind of you touched on it,
23:34
Speaker 1: Like council, the team, everyone, like the organization. They believe
23:39
Speaker 1: he has like a really high ceiling as an offensive player,
23:42
Speaker 1: right if like no defensive value from him, like he
23:47
Speaker 1: if he can scratch that potential, which is like I
23:50
Speaker 1: just quickly looked it up. One fifty way to runs
23:52
Speaker 1: created plus from August first on that was one point
23:57
Speaker 1: six war. You do that for six months, that's almost
24:01
Speaker 1: five war according to Fangres. That's awesome just from a
24:04
Speaker 1: DH that's really good if you're getting just offensive value,
24:08
Speaker 1: I mean a one fifty way to run screat at
24:10
Speaker 1: plus is gonna get you MVP votes, you know, like
24:13
Speaker 1: that's an All Star and that's one of the best
24:15
Speaker 1: offensive players in the game. Like that's so if he
24:19
Speaker 1: can be that guy, I don't know, like I want to.
24:22
Speaker 3: See the consistency.
24:23
Speaker 1: I want to see, like I really wish you wouldn't
24:27
Speaker 1: have gotten hurt that at that point when he did,
24:30
Speaker 1: like he was crushing the ball last year and I
24:32
Speaker 1: just remember watching his spring and being like, if he
24:35
Speaker 1: brings this into the season, this guy's a freak. Like
24:38
Speaker 1: everything was being hit at like insane velocity. It was
24:42
Speaker 1: fun to watch it in the spring, and I thought
24:44
Speaker 1: he was going to carry it into the season, and
24:45
Speaker 1: the injury kind of slowed everything down. But he's an
24:48
Speaker 1: impactful offensive talent and there's no doubt about that. He
24:51
Speaker 1: needs to stay on the field, stay healthy, and deliver
24:53
Speaker 1: a full season. And then I think you have this
24:57
Speaker 1: really talented one two punch in him and Tucker, and
25:00
Speaker 1: we'll see who else develops.
25:02
Speaker 3: Who else? I mean, I like you and half in
25:04
Speaker 3: the sense that he's a.
25:06
Speaker 1: Really consistent, solid piece, and then you have talent all
25:09
Speaker 1: across the diamond.
25:10
Speaker 3: It's just who's going to step up and really be
25:13
Speaker 3: impactful offensively.
25:14
Speaker 1: It has a chance to be a good offense, right,
25:16
Speaker 1: and say is a huge part of that. Like the
25:20
Speaker 1: key along with Tucker, those two guys have healthy, productive seasons,
25:24
Speaker 1: it's going to be a good offense in all likelihood.
25:27
Speaker 1: Last question for Mike Taylor, sound, if we basically have
25:31
Speaker 1: our team out at spring, what names are the most
25:34
Speaker 1: likely to be targeted arm or bat that Like, that's
25:38
Speaker 1: a I believe I didn't edit that fully, but I
25:43
Speaker 1: believe that's a trade deadline question, right, And look, it's
25:51
Speaker 1: impossible to know what they need right right now, and
25:55
Speaker 1: we don't know. Like, I think it's really dangerous to
25:57
Speaker 1: say these are the teams that are going to be bad,
25:59
Speaker 1: because there's going to be four teams that we think
26:01
Speaker 1: are great that are gonna stink, and four teams that
26:04
Speaker 1: we think stink that are going to be good. Like
26:06
Speaker 1: that's just how baseball is.
26:07
Speaker 3: It's weird. We can't predict it.
26:09
Speaker 1: It was two years ago, twenty twenty three when people
26:11
Speaker 1: are like, what's the the Cubs have no chance because
26:14
Speaker 1: these six teams are going to make the playoffs and
26:16
Speaker 1: no other team has a chance in that now And
26:18
Speaker 1: like three of those teams made the playoffs, three of
26:20
Speaker 1: them didn't.
26:20
Speaker 3: Weren't very good. You know. It's just baseball is like that.
26:25
Speaker 1: Reliever, I'll say that, I will right, I will put
26:30
Speaker 1: I will put a bet on that right now that
26:32
Speaker 1: the Cubs are trading for reliever, if they're in contention
26:35
Speaker 1: at the deadline, that that is for sure.
26:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, you can take that to the bank. Actually, like
26:40
Speaker 2: you had said this a couple episodes ago of kind
26:42
Speaker 2: of I forget what wise baseball person told you this,
26:47
Speaker 2: but just the idea of like you don't as a reminder,
26:51
Speaker 2: you don't know what your needs are going to be
26:53
Speaker 2: in June, you know, like we're gonna wrapped up in February.
26:55
Speaker 2: It's like, s let this play out a bit. That
26:58
Speaker 2: is the spin zone version of missing out on ragmant.
27:02
Speaker 3: I don't have.
27:03
Speaker 2: Disability for that point that was made to me recently.
27:07
Speaker 2: Part of why you know, we don't think the Cubs
27:12
Speaker 2: are going to make a major trade is like there
27:15
Speaker 2: are many teams that are just flat out not really
27:17
Speaker 2: trying this year. It's basically the White Sox they're going
27:20
Speaker 2: to be really, really bad, and the Rockies are just
27:23
Speaker 2: kind of like a weird organization that they're hard to
27:26
Speaker 2: like category are than just they're an odd operation. So like,
27:35
Speaker 2: I don't know, would Ryan McMahon makes sense if Matt
27:38
Speaker 2: Shaw doesn't you know, pan out, but with the Rockies
27:42
Speaker 2: even uh trade him? Uh? You know, I'm curious too,
27:47
Speaker 2: Like the Cups pretty healthy and pitched really well in
27:53
Speaker 2: the rotation last year, Like is that going to continue?
27:56
Speaker 2: I know you're a big weather conspiracy guy. Let's come
28:00
Speaker 2: up here in Masa like it could flip the other
28:03
Speaker 2: way and all of a sudden needing more of a
28:07
Speaker 2: frontline type starter, you know, I'm interested to see, like
28:15
Speaker 2: the Blue Jays seem to be approaching that sort of
28:17
Speaker 2: like twenty twenty one Cubs, but they don't have the
28:20
Speaker 2: World Series title. That's a team to circle in a
28:24
Speaker 2: really tough division. You know, the Rais will trade or
28:30
Speaker 2: anyone at any time.
28:31
Speaker 1: And right, I was about to say that just going
28:35
Speaker 1: on the list, you know, I'll give you another team
28:37
Speaker 1: that if they're out of it may need a reset
28:40
Speaker 1: is Seattle.
28:41
Speaker 3: If they if they're struggling, Yeah, I.
28:43
Speaker 1: Think they that's a team that could kind of need
28:45
Speaker 1: to shake things up. Miami does have pitching if they're healthy,
28:49
Speaker 1: it could be interesting there, Padres if they if they struggle,
28:53
Speaker 1: they may have to sell just to kind of get
28:56
Speaker 1: like move some money right or or like shake things up.
29:00
Speaker 1: Outside of that, like it's gonna like you kind of
29:03
Speaker 1: eliminate the n L Central teams. There's nobody that like stands.
29:06
Speaker 3: Out to me. The Al West is kind of a
29:08
Speaker 3: up for grabs.
29:09
Speaker 1: Like I said, Seattle is like in this like in
29:11
Speaker 1: this like Malaise where it's like they just kind of
29:14
Speaker 1: have been there and and they're good, not great.
29:18
Speaker 3: So I that's why I kind of circle them. I agree,
29:20
Speaker 3: with you on the Rays.
29:21
Speaker 1: If the Rays are like one of the most aggressive
29:23
Speaker 1: teams in the sense that like if they like if
29:27
Speaker 1: they're not in it, they just they know, they know
29:30
Speaker 1: how to like they make moves, they shake things up,
29:32
Speaker 1: and I think they're gonna be good this year just
29:34
Speaker 1: because I don't, like I couldn't name, like I couldn't name.
29:38
Speaker 3: A lot of their rotation right now.
29:40
Speaker 1: But by mid season, like they're gonna have two All
29:43
Speaker 1: Stars in their rotation and like, you know, five top
29:47
Speaker 1: prospects that came up that are just like mashing the ball,
29:51
Speaker 1: you know, like I think Junior coming Arrows like a stud,
29:54
Speaker 1: you know, like all these like they have all these
29:55
Speaker 1: guys that are just like really exciting and young, and
29:58
Speaker 1: they always you know, they always surprise. So that they
30:01
Speaker 1: had an off season last year, so all the more
30:04
Speaker 1: reason why I expect the Rays to be back. But yes,
30:07
Speaker 1: if they're out of it, they will trade guys and
30:09
Speaker 1: they'll be aggressive with it, and they're they're always looking
30:12
Speaker 1: to make moves. I like that organization a lot. The
30:15
Speaker 1: way they run things and the way they think. It's
30:18
Speaker 1: like they're they're very willing to kind of switch on
30:21
Speaker 1: a dime. What they need to do, and they're always
30:24
Speaker 1: thinking outside the box. Cleveland's kind of a team like
30:27
Speaker 1: that too, right, always willing to move guys. Cubs fans
30:30
Speaker 1: wouldn't want their teams to behave like that. Like, I
30:33
Speaker 1: don't think you should want to do that, but at
30:34
Speaker 1: some point you may have to make these tough decisions
30:37
Speaker 1: and be creative.
30:38
Speaker 3: Maybe that's you know, if Tom Rickets is.
30:40
Speaker 1: Going to not spend two hundred and sixty million plus
30:44
Speaker 1: every year, then maybe maybe maybe we end up seeing
30:47
Speaker 1: some of these types of moves with the Cubs in
30:49
Speaker 1: coming years. If not, you know, and if they struggle,
30:52
Speaker 1: I mean, who's to say that they're not. We can't
30:54
Speaker 1: just assume they're buyers. They have a bunch of.
30:57
Speaker 2: You a lot.
31:00
Speaker 3: You're right, you're right, you're right.
31:01
Speaker 2: To see them out of the playoff race in July, Yeah,
31:08
Speaker 2: that would be make a very interesting season for us cover.
31:11
Speaker 2: But yeah, I would a highly motivated front office.
31:16
Speaker 1: To I agree, you're right, You're yeah, they're gonna have
31:19
Speaker 1: to be aggressive. They're gonna have to get creative. If
31:21
Speaker 1: they're not, If for some reason, they're out of it,
31:24
Speaker 1: all right, Patrick, we maybe we'll have another mail bag
31:27
Speaker 1: episode later this week, but that's it for today. Thanks
31:30
Speaker 1: so much for listening everyone. Make sure to rate, review,
31:32
Speaker 1: and subscribe to north Side Territory, subscribe to the YouTube channel,
31:35
Speaker 1: and subscribe to The Athletic where we are on top
31:38
Speaker 1: of all things cubs. Thanks so much for listening to everyone.
31:41
Speaker 1: Take no, I wived, I lived,