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Cubs mailbag: Questions about the trade deadline are already starting · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Welcome into Northside Territory Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast. I'm
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Sahadev Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are your
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic and Patrick, it
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: is time for a mail bag episode. I sent the
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: call out and you guys delivered. As always, the Cubs
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: are red hot. We're recording on a Friday, so this
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: will go up on a Saturday morning. We'll see if
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: the Cubs, you know, are are winners of ten straight.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: But either way, they're playing great baseball and headed on
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: the road here Texas and Atlanta. Let's get to the
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: questions from JD. Is it more likely they try to
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: add multiple arms to get them through until post All
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Starbery coping they get buoyed and steal back at some point,
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: or is a top of the rotation starter needed for
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: the postseason. So to update everyone if you've missed this,
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: Matthew Boyd had a freak injury. He is out for
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: at least six weeks. Had surgery Thursday morning. The injury
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: occurred Wednesday morning. Pretty quick turnaround for everything. It is
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: a meniscus injury. They avoided the worst case of you know,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: four months to the season being out. We'll see when
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: he returns. They say six weeks right now is kind
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: of the estimate. Who knows when he returns. Justin Steele
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: post All Star break is kind of the estimate. These
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: are just these are estimates. Just like the initial estimate
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: for Justin Steele was what end of May, beginning of June. Yeah,
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: obviously he's had a step back, so we don't know
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: when these guys exactly are returning. I think you need
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: to add I think, honestly, I think kind of both
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: is the answer here. That's my answer. Like you need
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: ways to get to the trade deadline, you need ways
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: to like survive. Do you have enough is the question?
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: I think that's debatable. And then and then what do
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: you do to get that big arm? How do you
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: leverage your farm system? It's not a deep, tremendous farm system.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: But there have been some good, you know, breakouts, you
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: could say, some solid players that have kind of popped
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: early on Pedro Ramirez, Kevin Alcantra. There there are other
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: names that are doing well, Josiah Hartshort. I don't know
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: who they're willing to trade just yet, but those there's
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: some quality players that are major leaguers that are seen
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: as major leaguers that you could go out and get
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: a big name.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: I think this is a both answer. It's not an
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: either or situation. You're right, not just kind of help
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: you get through the trade deadline. It's worrying about what
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: happens after the trade deadline. Mean, Kate Horton went down.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: Was it late September last year? I mean mid to
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: late September, and there's no there's obviously no way to
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: just go replace Kate Horton in general, but certainly not
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: you know, days before the start of the playoffs. I
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: think we know how unpredictable bullpens are, so I think,
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: no matter what you were, like, at least getting a reliever,
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: if not two, ideally someone you trust in the late innings.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: I don't know if it necessarily has to be an
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: established no doubt closer, assuming Palencia is fine, but if
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: you look at Jed Hoyer's history, trade deadlines almost always
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: gets multiple arms. I want to say, that's just how
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: they kind of operate. And yeah, we'll get into this
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: more and more over the weeks and months ahead, But like,
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: how many top of the rotation starters are out there available,
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: healthy and performing. I don't quite know. I think the
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: definition of the top of the rotation starter has been
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: diluted somewhat. You know. I don't know if like Randy
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: Johnson in his prime is going to be out there.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: But there will be some interesting names, I think, some
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: tempting situations, and like you said, the they should have
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: a fair amount of prospect capital to get something like
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: that done.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, we'll see. We'll see. As far as
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: names of who they actually want to give up, I
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: think there was a question about that. I'm not sure
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: if I put it in there, but I don't think
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: there's any untouchables. I should say that. I don't. Someone
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: suld wondered if they're unwilling to trade like El Contra
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: or Wigan. They like these guys, They're not unwilling to
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: trade anyone, I don't think. You know, Yeah, it'd be
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: nice to keep as many guys as you can, but
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: you gotta this is look at how they're playing. You
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: gotta try and take advantage of seasons like this. With
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: the stockpile of starter injuries, can you provide updates on
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: the starting pitching plans and backup options? I can't seem
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: to keep up. That's from our buddy Tyler Dershell. It's
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: good to update you guys, like we could probably do
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: this once an episode really because it's such a it's
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: obviously important for those you know, if you this is
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: going to go up on a Saturday. So Ben Brown
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: is started last night. I guess we don't know what
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: happens because we are recording on a Friday. But yes,
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: Ben Brown is getting a shot. We'll see if that's
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: a real thing, if that's a rotation piece, if that's
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: multi innings and they're going to go bullpen games. I
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: think they're going to be creative as they wait for
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: Matthew Boyd Beck. After that, it's you know, it's Ben Brown,
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: it's Javier assad on the major league roster. Those are
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: guys that can give you length. I mean after that,
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: Patrick Jordan Wicks has like a ten e er in
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: triple A. I don't think you can count on him
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: right now. I don't think you can not only count
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: on him, I don't think you can consider him as
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: a major league option at the moment. I reported that
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: Kyle Wright pitched four innings in Arizona the other day
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: last Friday, did that and then then came back a
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: couple days later and was feeling shoulder pain, had a setback.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: I think it sounds like it may be pretty significant.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: I don't think he's an option at the moment. Jackson
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: Wiggins is again, we're recording on Friday. He's supposed to
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: throw in Arizona on Friday Live BP. He's been throwing
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: bullpens looking good, So they're building him back up. That's
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: a positive side. I don't I wouldn't call him an
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: imminent option anytime soon after that. I mean Patrick, am
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: I missing anyone? Like, there's not many options after that?
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: I mean Tyler once again with a very good question,
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: because I brought this up to a Cubs person. I
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: think I had inquired about Wiggins and I just kind
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: of off handedly said like, I don't like what is
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: the depth that iowa And basically the response was like, yeah,
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: don't look like you don't want to see kind of
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: what is left there at this point. I mean, these
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: injuries have just battered this group. I think I think
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: you're gonna have some games where you almost sort of punt.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: Not that they're just giving up, but yeah, there are
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: some days like when they were at Dodger Stadium, you know,
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: one of the rare losses during this stretch of like, yeah,
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: the odds weren't in their favor that day, and so
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: instead of pushing it, you know, some sometimes guys have
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: to wear it for a couple extra innings. And this
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: will certainly test the creativity of a group that has
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: demonstrated some pretty good problem solving skills in real time.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: All right, Question three from Corey Seacrests, Given the current
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: play of some of the pending unrestricted free agents, who
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: do you think earned their way to an extension? All right,
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: we're gonna make this our Daily Dingers segment. Now it's
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: time for Daily Dingers presented by FanDuel. Okay, so that's
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: Corey Seacrests. Given the current play of some of the
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: pending unrestricted free agents, who do you think earned their
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: way to an extension? That'd be Ian Happ and say, Suzuki,
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: what do you think, Patrick, who's who among that group
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: has earned an extension or what like? Has anyone earned
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: an extension? Yeah?
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: I think the extension questions we had coming out of
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: Cubs Convention, going into spring training leading into Opening Day,
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: it was all about Peek Armstrong and Ego Horner, and
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: they locked both those guys up. They went two for
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: two on the players they sort of had to have,
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: given who they are, where they play, and what they
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: sort of mean to the organization, the franchises brand at large.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: I think you can't rule out either one of these
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: guys returning to the Cubs next year whenever the lockout ends.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: I think their performance, their relationships, their comfort level in
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: Chicago makes it a non zero chance that, you know,
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: the Cubs could find a way. I just have a
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: hard time thinking that they're going to make either player
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: a sort of like absolute priority. I don't know if
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: they're going to view them quite like the way they
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: viewed Alex Bregman during his forays into free agency. I
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: think happ obviously loves it in Chicago. He's having, you know,
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: a very good start to the season, and he'll probably
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: wind up having the same season he always seems to have.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: But you know, as a corner outfielder who's already done
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: one extension here, I don't know what the models you
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: say about that. I don't know how many guys they
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: can realistically keep position players they can keep stacking on
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: like twenty to twenty five million dollar deals given the
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: state of their pitching. You know, sayah, you know is
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: the guy that I think when you talk to Cubs
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: players they view him as like their most purely talented hitter.
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: But again, like who's left after the trade deadline in
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: terms of their stockpile of prospects, Like do they think
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: they have another guy they can plug and play the
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: way they did with have done thus far with Moist's
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: by Asteros, I think you'd probably want to balance your
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: payroll a little bit, So I guess I'm not really
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: answering the question, but that's kind of where I see this,
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: Like I think, you knowing how Jed and Carter operate,
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: like they hate to rule anything out. They always like
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: to defer decisions until the last minute. I think it's
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: reasonable to think that they would want Sea and have
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: to sort of establish their value on the open market
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: and then maybe see where it goes. I just have
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: a hard time envisioning them, like, you know, at the
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: All Star breaking like we gotta these guys right now.
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, same, I'd be surprised. You know, I've reread the
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: question just to make sure I thought he was focusing
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: on position players. So I should also mention Shoda and
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: Tyon are free agents. Yeah, I would be surprised if
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: any of the like showda. I feel like the way
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: he's pitching, it's just like, go hit the free agent
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: market and see what you can do. Like it, that
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: just seems like the logical thing. Uh. And I also
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: think it's risky to extend a pitcher in the middle
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: of the season. Tyne is kind of like I think
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: that they both love to come back. I think all
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: of these guys would love to come back. I think
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: I like, i'd be surprised if all four, if any
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: of those four actually come back. Like Hap loves Chicago.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: He I think he wants to be back. Maybe maybe
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: one of the four comes back. If two of the
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: four comes back, I think that'd be a surprise to me.
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: It just like it. I just don't see them recent.
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: Like you made a good point, like how many like
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: they have to kind of spread they have to make
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: this like some young guys, some you know, they've they've
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: spent quite a bit of money that they've invested in
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: Alex Bragman, Dansby Swanson, Nico Horner. Pete's not like a
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: crazy contract just yet, like the but you know it's
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: gonna get expensive. That's that's significant money. So I think
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: they do need to invest in the rotation. There's gonna
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: have to be some spending there. So so you have
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: to balance this stuff out. You have to start letting
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: guys like Matt, Like, is Matt Shaw going to be
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: a corner outfielder for the future since this infield is
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: locked in, I don't know. Uh, you know, Pedro Ramirez
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: I saw as working in the outfield. They I know,
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: they love him. Is he part of the future? Like
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: where is he a trade bait? Who knows? Like that's
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: I think these things matter. These things are the things
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: we need to discuss. I'd be surprised if extension talk
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: is going to happen during the season at this point, Like,
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: I think we've you nailed it. Like the people that
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: we were focused on were Nico and Pete. Those got
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: taken care of. I just don't see anything happening beyond that.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: They're playing great though they're they're setting themselves up for
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: paydays showda. I mean even Tyne. Tyne is having a
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: solid season, Saya has been great since he came back,
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: and Happs having one of his best power seasons in
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: a while. They're doing a really good job all right.
• 14:43
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• 15:47
  Speaker 1: Okaypatrick, what is the next question? Here? We got W.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: Kennedy kind of touched on this. Here you see the
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: Cubs trading either Biasteris or Shaw in order to get
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: starting pitching, especially considering the extreme strength of the bench
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: at the major league level and the unwillingness to part
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: with Wiggans under al Contra. Okay, so I did include
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: this question. I thought it was two separate questions. W. Kennedy.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: I don't think there's an unwillingness to part with Wiggins
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: or el Contra. I think like Wiggins, you know, yes,
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: they probably would prefer to keep young pitching, but there's
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: already injury concerns with him. There were injury concerns from
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: the start. Does that ding his trade value?
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: Do you?
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: I don't probably yes, but he's I don't think there's
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: any unwillingness to move either of those guys. Al Contra,
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: I'd be surprised, but we did just talk about their
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: need for you know, they have two pending free agents
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: in the outfield. Is al Contra part of their future?
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: Is he not? I don't know. I don't think think
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: that should keep them from trading either of those guys.
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: You have to like this season is a rare opportunity.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: They are twenty six and twelve. They have obvious needs.
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: Go out and get it, Go out and be aggressive.
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: The whole point of building a farm system and building
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: a you know, building out the front office and making
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: sure player development, amateur scouting, all these things are really
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: good is so you can replenish the system and go
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: out and do these things and not feel like, oh, no,
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: what did we do? We traded these guys away. You
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: don't want to feel like twenty sixteen, like in twenty
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: eighteen when they're like, ah, we have no prospects to
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: call up. You don't want that situation. You have to
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: build a rail organization, a deep organization. Bias Starris and
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: Shaw Patrick. I'd be really surprised, certainly by a steros Shaw.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: I guess again and get back to is Shaw part
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: of the future. Can you put them in an outfield spot?
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: And is that his future for this team? I don't know.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: I don't think you mess with the major league roster
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: unless you get like this crazy return.
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Historically in season Jed Hoyer does not like trading
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: off the major league roster. I think Shaw is worth
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: asking about it in the sense that they are so
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: high on Pedro Ramirez and that maybe he could bring
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: some of that. But again, Shaw's value as a two
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: way player, as a versatile player, I think that really
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: kind of lights up there their model and would be
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: hard to part with that, especially if like what happens
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: on August fourth, if Alex Bregman gets hurt, or if
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: Nico Horner gets hurt, or if danzybe get hurt gets hurt,
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: and then Nico has to move to shortstop, like I think,
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: to protect yourself for the entirety of the schedule, you
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: want to keep Shaw. I think Biasterio. I mean maybe
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: Bia Stereois is the guy we should be talking about
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: with extensions. That's not any inside information I have, but
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: probably you know more of how they would perhaps want
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: to operate. And then I think on the last half
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: of this question, I don't think there's an unwillingness with
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: any particular name. No one is untouchable. It's just that
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: when they sort of when you start bundling prospects together,
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: the model does not like that, when they start looking
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: at future value and feeling like in their eyes that
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: they're just going to be losing the deal almost no
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: matter what I mean, like the Kyle Tucker do, right,
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: I mean, they're like, we're gonna lose this one, but
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: they made the playoffs. It was you know, I don't
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: think they really miss any of those guys like that
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: much at the moment. And I think it'll be fascinating
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: too to see, like after how underwhelming last year's trade
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: deadline was, and how like we're already starting the trade
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: deadline stuff, and it's actually more pertinent now just with
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: all these pitching injuries, like they're gonna be exhausted by
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: the discourse about that, Like are they really gonna walk
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: into Wrigley Field, you know, in early August and just say,
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: look like the prices were ridiculous, you know, like no
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: one else traded for a top of the rotation starter either.
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: I say, well, you have to boot go out and
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: boost your World Series odds in a meaningful way, even
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: if those odds still, you know, say, you probably won't
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: win the World Series. That's just how baseball works. But
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: there are only so many seasons you have that are
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: truly sacred, and this one is looking like it could
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: be a special one.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: And when it comes to are you giving up too much?
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: Are you Are you gonna regret giving up that prospect?
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: Here's a couple ways different examples. They don't regret giving
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: up Sire Hope and Jackson Ferris. Jackson Ferris, who's really
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: struggling by the way, the miners for the Dodgers. They
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: don't regret that because Michael Bush, because of how it
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: turned out, what the return is. Ronnie Cruz is tearing
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: it up in the miners for the Washington Nationals. Do
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: they regret giving up Ronnie Cruz? If Michael Soroca had
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: pitched for two months as well as he's pitching for
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: the Diamondbacks right now, they would not because they desperately
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: needed what Michael Soroka's doing right now for the Diamondbacks.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: They needed that. It didn't work out, so they that's
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: what they they They regret that they maybe they should
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: have paid more attention or been more adamant, like we're
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: not going to give up any prospects for this guy
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: because he's trending in the wrong direction right now. So
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: that's the part of the process that they probably regret.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: You're going to give up good prospects eventually when you
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: make you know, four smaller trades, one of them is
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: going to end up being like that. You know, it's
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: really hard to not give up a quality piece at
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: a certain point. So like, yes, there are moves that
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: cost a lot, there are moves that you think don't
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: cost much. Sometimes they end up giving a quality player away.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: That's just the reality of it. But you know, when
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: you give up Labor Torres and you win a real series,
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: you're okay with it. You know, when when you give
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: up a player and the guy that you get in
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: return doesn't help as much or doesn't impact the way
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: you expect, that's when it's less about what you give
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: up and what did you get. Did you get impact?
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: And you cannot dwell on the fact that you gave
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: up a quality prospect. You just really can't. Yes, you
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: go through the process and like, did we miss something
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: with this guy or is he just like yeah, we
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: liked him. I mean, they drafted Ronnie Cruz in the
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: third round. They obviously thought he was decent, and now
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: he's exploding. I don't I'm not saying Ronnie Cruise is
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: going to be a star like he could. He could
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: you know, burn out and double A or triple A.
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: I'm just saying he's probably more valuable now, you know,
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: and he could have been a piece to get, like
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: a huge piece at this deadline. Sometimes these things work
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: out that way. It's just the risk you take when
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: you're when you're buyers at the deadline. That's just what happens,
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: all right. Final question of the episode from David Kep.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: Are there any names being talked about in an early
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: trade market or should we expect that not to come
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: into fruition until the deadline. Look, there are some bad
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: teams right now. I think teams are gonna wait, that's it.
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: They want to they want to see where their seasons go.
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: But there are some bad teams with some talent. The
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: New York Mets, the San Francisco Giants, Marlins, Boston. Do
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: we see it challenge trade there? You know, like that
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: could be interesting Minnesota, Like those are all teams that
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: we've mentioned, these players that we've mentioned players from them.
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: I think San Francisco is interesting to watch. Robbie Ray
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: is a guy that I know this front office liked
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: in the past. I don't know if Logan Web's going
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: to be available, but if he is, I think you
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: pay up. You pay a crazy price. Like, that's a
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: guy that you put on a winning team. That's a
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: game one starter. I think you have to consider it.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: You have to consider whatever the crazy price may be.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: I don't know if he's going to be available. Those
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: are just a couple of names that I thought of
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: because San Francisco's in a rough position right now.
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd look at the Diamondbacks as well. I mean,
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: you just talked about Soroka, Zach Gallen having said all that,
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: the Cubs don't expect anything to come to fruition until
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: much closer to the deadline, and maybe they surprise us.
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: You know, I think back to the Josekintana trade that
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: sort of came together during the All Star break and
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: you know they had that was there just like an
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: awful game, like the last game before the break, and
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: then you were all over the that trade news and
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: I remember hearing it and being like, White Sox aren't
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: going to trade with the Cubs, because that's why that
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: was the last thing that I had heard, And you know,
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: that surprised us. But even that was still you know,
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: a couple of weeks you know, give or take before
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: the trade, and that was like a surprise. So like
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: if you think a trade's gonna happen in late May
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: or early June, I think you're gonna be disappointed a
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: trade of significance. But like I kind of laugh sometimes
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: when you know commenters or people on social media like, oh,
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: why are you talking about this now? It's like that's
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: their job, Like that's what they're talking about. And I
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: realized some elements of the trade deadline coverage maybe are
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: have jumped the shark. They're too far out there, they're
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: too much speculation. But just knowing how this group operates
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: and seeing their track record at trade deadlines, uh, just
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: the urgency of the situation with their pitching staff, and
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: just the level of performance that we've seen out of
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: this club thus far, it is absolutely relevant and appropriate
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: to be talking about. Like they they talk about players
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: and trades and other teams all the time, like that's
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: literally their jobs. So like that's gonna be reflected in
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: our coverage.
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, there's there. I'm very curious to see how this
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: deadline plays out because there are some bad teams, but
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: also the al is just like there's where the good teams.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: I'm looking at the standings right now, it's the Yankees
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: and Rays, and then everyone is like the best teams
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: are one game over five hundred Cleveland and the Athletics.
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: Those are the other teams. Like it's two great teams
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: and then a bunch of average to bad. What does
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: that mean? As far as the trade deadline, I think
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: the front offices that are probably on shaky ground probably
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: avoid selling. This is me just kind of speculating on
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: May whatever. But you know, I think we may see
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: some like five hundred teams sticking around if that's unless
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: you know, teams get hot, right, like someone's gonna get
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: on a run, and maybe maybe we'll see like four
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: or five clear playoff teams emerge in the AL. But
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: right now it's a little murky in the AAR. But
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: I think in the NL there's there's some obvious sellers
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: and if and if teams like the Mets, if the
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: Mets continue to struggle like that, they're going to be aggressive.
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: They were two three years ago when they had Sureser
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: and and uh Erlander, right, yeah, they had Schurezer and
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: Verlander both traded. Uh David Surtins isn't afraid to make
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: those types of moves. He'll he'll jump ship and know
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: that it's like, this is my chance to restock the
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: farm system, and they have a solid farm system, it
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: can be better. So we'll see what what type of
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: tactics they take. But that like the Cubs are going
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: to be aggressive, I'm sure of it come July. Right now,
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: it's more about like the smaller moves. I know fans
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: like to point to Quinn Priester last year. Uh, that
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: was a hefty price. It was also like kind of
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: a perfect storm type thing, and it like worked out
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: really well for the Brewers. If if that, if that
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: players have a al you know, I think more realistic
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: is like the smaller move. Can you find a Drew
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: Pomeranz type deal? Again, is there someone at Triple A
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: that is pitching well that the Cubs are like, this
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: guy doesn't have a spot on a major league roster,
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: Let's go grab them, see if we can get them.
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: Things like that until like getting an impact starter just
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: is going to be hard at this point of the season.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: All right, thanks for all the questions. As always, we
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: really appreciate it. Make sure to subscribe, rate, and review
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: to Northside Territory, subscribe to the YouTube channel, and subscribe
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: to the Athletic where Patrick and I are on top
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: of all things cubs. That's it for this episode. Thanks
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: so much for listening to everyone. We will be back
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: next week with more episodes. Thanks take care.
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: I know that I leave
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: Leave