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Bold predictions for a Cubs season that won't be boring · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

0:05
Speaker 1: Welcome into North Side Territory. Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast.
0:09
Speaker 1: I'm Sahadev Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. We are
0:12
Speaker 1: your Cubs beat writers over at the Athletic Patrick. The
0:16
Speaker 1: season is kicking off. Let's do some season predictions. Uh,
0:21
Speaker 1: let's let's kind of see what we how we feel
0:25
Speaker 1: about this team, the division, what may happen. Uh, you
0:30
Speaker 1: know it's we're bound to be wrong. I saw, like
0:34
Speaker 1: you know, everybody's predictions are coming out now on Twitter
0:36
Speaker 1: and they're getting yelled at. Uh. Half those things you
0:40
Speaker 1: get yelled at are right, and half the time you
0:42
Speaker 1: know you're gonna look like an idiot. So uh, I
0:46
Speaker 1: guess we'll we'll take our arrows coming our way if if,
0:49
Speaker 1: if people are upset by anything we have, but we
0:52
Speaker 1: may as well kick it off with the point of
0:55
Speaker 1: the season. Uh. The biggest, the biggest thing that Jed
0:59
Speaker 1: Hoyer has to be concerned about, and that Craig Council
1:03
Speaker 1: is stated as the obvious goal. And will this team
1:07
Speaker 1: make the playoffs? How do you feel about that?
1:11
Speaker 2: Well, our editors make us do these prediction preview type pieces,
1:15
Speaker 2: so I had to put something on record so I will.
1:18
Speaker 2: I'm not going to run away from it, even though
1:20
Speaker 2: they lost two games in Tokyo and did not look
1:24
Speaker 2: all that compelling while doing so. But I had them
1:27
Speaker 2: winning slightly more than eighty three games and winning the
1:32
Speaker 2: division after in part a blockbuster trade for Sandy a
1:39
Speaker 2: Contra from the Marlins this summer. So that's the general
1:44
Speaker 2: outline of the season. How I see it. They're gonna
1:49
Speaker 2: hang on. They're going to scrape and scratch and claw.
1:53
Speaker 2: It's not going to be like a comfortable smooth ride.
1:57
Speaker 2: I think the roster will kind of turnover a bit.
2:02
Speaker 2: I think they're gonna push their chips in at the
2:05
Speaker 2: trade deadline, and I don't see anyone running away with
2:10
Speaker 2: the division, which is probably good for the Cubs and
2:13
Speaker 2: that they make the playoffs. Jed Hoyer in this front
2:18
Speaker 2: office kind of survive in advance to another contractual term.
2:25
Speaker 1: I also have them making the playoffs. I think they're
2:28
Speaker 1: they're gonna push ninety wins. I don't I don't know
2:31
Speaker 1: if they'll get there. I just you know, we'll see.
2:36
Speaker 1: I agree that there will be a move at the deadline.
2:39
Speaker 1: It'll be a big move, probably for a starter. But
2:43
Speaker 1: I have Here's why I would hesitate on Sandy al Contra,
2:48
Speaker 1: and it's because I think he's gonna be the prize
2:50
Speaker 1: of the deadline, and there's gonna be like four teams
2:54
Speaker 1: out of it obvious sellers and everyone else thinks they're
2:58
Speaker 1: they can they can compete, and they're just going to
3:00
Speaker 1: be too many teams competing for that. But the reason
3:04
Speaker 1: you could be right is because of everything that's online
3:08
Speaker 1: on the line for this season, and maybe Jed Hoyer
3:11
Speaker 1: and company will be the boldest of those teams that
3:14
Speaker 1: are competing. Do they have It's all going to depend like,
3:18
Speaker 1: how's you know, James Treanto's doing, how's Owen Casey doing,
3:21
Speaker 1: How's Moses Biastero's doing, How's you know the next to
3:26
Speaker 1: the next picture that they've developed doing, How's uh, you know,
3:30
Speaker 1: Jefferson Rojas doing? Like, how are these guys doing? Do
3:34
Speaker 1: they have what it takes? And then are there guys
3:36
Speaker 1: that we're not that I'm not talking about that pop
3:39
Speaker 1: right that that that's very possible. I I just don't know,
3:46
Speaker 1: Like I guess we need to see it. Right, Hey, listen,
3:49
Speaker 1: they've they've done a good job developing talent or unearthing
3:51
Speaker 1: talent in the draft, right, I mean, Sire Hope is
3:54
Speaker 1: a top one hundred prospect according to many, Jackson Ferris
3:57
Speaker 1: is a top one hundred prospect according to many. And
4:00
Speaker 1: and now Cam Smith has made the Astros and just
4:03
Speaker 1: an insane development over the course of spring training. Like,
4:07
Speaker 1: I am not going to criticize that trade. I think
4:10
Speaker 1: it was you had to be bold, you had to
4:12
Speaker 1: go get a superstar. They they're the ones that picked
4:18
Speaker 1: Cam Smith, what was it, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, something like that.
4:22
Speaker 1: The guy looks like you should have been a top
4:24
Speaker 1: three pick. And I said that at the time, I
4:26
Speaker 1: was told that by other people outside the Org, this
4:29
Speaker 1: guy's a stud. They made the they did the like
4:32
Speaker 1: they nailed this pick, like they didn't overthink it. They
4:36
Speaker 1: trusted the info that they have and they went and
4:40
Speaker 1: got a guide that I think. You know, a lot
4:42
Speaker 1: of scouts told me, we're going to look back on
4:44
Speaker 1: this draft in five years and say, why wasn't Cam
4:46
Speaker 1: Smith the top three pick. I think some people are
4:49
Speaker 1: saying that already. But we'll see, We'll see how camp
4:53
Speaker 1: Smith does. I mean, that could be like a way
4:54
Speaker 1: too aggressive. I'm not going to make a bold prediction
4:57
Speaker 1: on Cam Smith, but you know, we'll see how he
5:01
Speaker 1: does it. It's going to be hard for him to
5:03
Speaker 1: adjust right away. Well, it's one thing to do in
5:05
Speaker 1: spring training. Let's see how he does it in the
5:09
Speaker 1: regular season. I'm gonna say this, This is my prediction,
5:13
Speaker 1: and it ties into what we just said. I think
5:16
Speaker 1: their rotation is going to struggle in the first half.
5:19
Speaker 1: And when I say struggle, I don't mean be like
5:21
Speaker 1: a like a bottom ten rotation, but like it's going
5:26
Speaker 1: to be middle of the pack and it's going like
5:27
Speaker 1: it's like people are worried about the bullpen and the
5:30
Speaker 1: offense right now. I think it's the rotation that is
5:33
Speaker 1: just like it's it's not bad, like it has a floor, right,
5:36
Speaker 1: it has a floor. I just worry that it's not
5:40
Speaker 1: going to be this obvious strength. And I think you
5:43
Speaker 1: need everything to kind of be an obvious strength. You
5:47
Speaker 1: need to like, you know, you don't want to have
5:49
Speaker 1: to worry about fighting for a division that seems very
5:53
Speaker 1: winnable and seems weak.
5:55
Speaker 2: Uh.
5:55
Speaker 1: And and I think it's going to keep them around
5:57
Speaker 1: the pack. There's there's going to be moments where people say, man,
6:00
Speaker 1: they should have a six to seven game lead in
6:02
Speaker 1: the division and they're tied with whoever. And I think
6:07
Speaker 1: we're going to look back and say, well, in the
6:09
Speaker 1: first half, you know, this is why they have to
6:11
Speaker 1: go out and get a starting pitcher. They're They're pitching
6:14
Speaker 1: is good, They're starting pitching is good. It's not great,
6:16
Speaker 1: and it's you know, some suspect outings here and there
6:20
Speaker 1: are costing them. So that's like, I you know, who knows.
6:24
Speaker 1: Maybe showdam minaga is is as good as he was
6:27
Speaker 1: last year, and Justin Steele's first start was a blip.
6:31
Speaker 1: But and I'm not predicting either will take a huge
6:34
Speaker 1: step back. It's just that I think I think the
6:37
Speaker 1: rotation as a whole is kind of just going to
6:41
Speaker 1: look average in that first half of the season.
6:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you're our resident weather conspiracy guy too,
6:48
Speaker 2: of like if Wrigley Play is a little different, if
6:52
Speaker 2: any of them just take a slight step back, Like,
6:56
Speaker 2: this is a team that does not have a lot
6:59
Speaker 2: of margin for And that's why if I'm going to
7:01
Speaker 2: pick the Cubs to win the division, implicit in that
7:05
Speaker 2: is that Kyle Tucker will have a good enough year.
7:08
Speaker 2: I think there are going to be times where being
7:12
Speaker 2: a left handed hitter at Wrigley Field is going to
7:14
Speaker 2: be frustrating for him. I think he's going to miss
7:19
Speaker 2: playing with the Bregman's and Alvarez's and two days of
7:24
Speaker 2: the World. I think there will be some degree of
7:29
Speaker 2: Walkier pressure. I know he has not. He's shown himself
7:33
Speaker 2: to be extremely resilient and focused throughout his career. I
7:37
Speaker 2: just think it's kind of natural and almost always happens.
7:42
Speaker 2: But if he carries this team to the playoffs, I
7:46
Speaker 2: think cam Smith is a distant thought, and if I
7:50
Speaker 2: had to predict it, I would be I would bet
7:53
Speaker 2: that he'd wind up back in Triple A at some
7:56
Speaker 2: point this year, more than he's going to be in
7:58
Speaker 2: the All Star Game or playing in October. Again, that's
8:02
Speaker 2: nothing against Cam Smith. He has a wonderful future in
8:05
Speaker 2: front of him. The Astros have so many times, so
8:10
Speaker 2: much such a bigger opportunity to win this trade. I
8:12
Speaker 2: think it was maybe fourteen years of club control the
8:15
Speaker 2: Cubs gave up for one year, one season with Kyle Tucker.
8:19
Speaker 2: So yeah, I mean Predis did not look all that
8:22
Speaker 2: good at wrigley Field, but playing in Houston, in that
8:25
Speaker 2: ballpark whatever it's called, now probably you can have a
8:30
Speaker 2: real big season and was Nesky, we've known he's had talent,
8:35
Speaker 2: change of scenery, going back to his hometown. He could
8:37
Speaker 2: put it all together one of these years. And then obviously,
8:41
Speaker 2: if you're taking the first six years of camp Smith's career,
8:45
Speaker 2: he's probably gonna be pretty good at some point. Just
8:48
Speaker 2: looking at his track record as a major college program,
8:52
Speaker 2: Cape cod League first round pick guy, Like, yeah, he's
8:55
Speaker 2: probably gonna be pretty good at some point. But if
8:58
Speaker 2: the Cubs make it to October, uh, I think it
9:02
Speaker 2: is well worth it. Like we can't sit back and
9:05
Speaker 2: kind of roll our eyes that, oh, they have all
9:07
Speaker 2: these prospects and then you know, the one time they
9:09
Speaker 2: actually make a huge trade, then all of a sudden
9:11
Speaker 2: start you know, you know, scolding them for giving up
9:15
Speaker 2: a prospect, Like you're a big market team, you have
9:17
Speaker 2: to go for it. And I think the bigger issue
9:20
Speaker 2: I think where this season hinges is going to be
9:23
Speaker 2: like did they do enough around Kyle Tucker? They do
9:27
Speaker 2: enough around hiring Craig Council, Like you kind of hire
9:31
Speaker 2: him and then kind of run things more like the
9:33
Speaker 2: Brewers and the Dodgers. You trade for Kyle Tucker and
9:36
Speaker 2: then do a lot of sort of incremental gradual moves
9:40
Speaker 2: like that. I think it's kind of the larger tension
9:42
Speaker 2: within the organization right now.
9:45
Speaker 1: No, absolutely great. I agree with a lot of what
9:48
Speaker 1: you just said. I think, uh, if I were going
9:51
Speaker 1: to predict a Tucker season, I think he's going to
9:54
Speaker 1: get some down ballid MVP votes if not, like maybe
9:57
Speaker 1: even he has, maybe even has like a full an
10:00
Speaker 1: MVP type season and he gets top three votes. My
10:04
Speaker 1: prediction for the offense, I talked about this with some
10:09
Speaker 1: other writers early in spring training. I'm gonna stick with it.
10:12
Speaker 1: As far as breakout guy on the offense, I think
10:14
Speaker 1: it's Michael Bush. I think Wrigley hurt him a little
10:17
Speaker 1: bit last year, probably decent amount. He was a monster
10:20
Speaker 1: on the road. I think he's going to be one
10:22
Speaker 1: of the best all round first basement in baseball. He emerges.
10:25
Speaker 1: He was kind of like fringe that guy like he was.
10:28
Speaker 1: There was the tier of like Vlad Bryce Harper. I'm
10:32
Speaker 1: missing one other first baseman that's a stud, and then
10:35
Speaker 1: there's another this year, Freddy Freeman. That's who I'm missing.
10:39
Speaker 1: Like there's that tier and then there's the other next
10:42
Speaker 1: tier and he was about to enter or maybe he
10:45
Speaker 1: did enter that next year of like Pete Alonzo in
10:47
Speaker 1: that group a very solid first basement Christian Walker guys
10:51
Speaker 1: like that. He was like kind of hovering in that.
10:54
Speaker 1: I think he takes it up and he doesn't quite
10:56
Speaker 1: get to Bryce Harper, Vladd Junior, Freddy Freeman level, but
10:59
Speaker 1: he's knocking on that door where people are like, is
11:02
Speaker 1: Michael Bush a stud? Like there's going to be like
11:04
Speaker 1: a month where he has where people are like, well,
11:07
Speaker 1: this guy's a monster type thing. That's that's my prediction.
11:10
Speaker 1: I don't I don't think he ends the season and
11:12
Speaker 1: in that elite level, because that's those are like guys
11:15
Speaker 1: that you're talking about that are either like looking like
11:19
Speaker 1: Hall of famers or or knocking on the door on
11:22
Speaker 1: the pathway to that, which is a very high bar
11:25
Speaker 1: for first base right Hall of Fame level production. But
11:30
Speaker 1: I think he's he's going to have a really big season.
11:33
Speaker 1: I just have a feeling. I think when you talk about,
11:37
Speaker 1: you know, Kyle Tucker doesn't have the same type of
11:40
Speaker 1: bats around him that he did in Houston. It's absolutely true.
11:44
Speaker 1: He doesn't have that established track record of guys there
11:47
Speaker 1: aren't many bats like you were done Alvarez. There are
11:49
Speaker 1: not many third basemen have the history that Alex Bregman
11:52
Speaker 1: does in this in this league, so he needs guys
11:57
Speaker 1: like Michael Bush to step up. And I'd even say
12:01
Speaker 1: he has the second most power output on this team.
12:05
Speaker 1: If we're going to measure that, I'd go buy ISO.
12:08
Speaker 1: I think that's bold because I like, if I was
12:11
Speaker 1: just going by the numbers, I'd probably like it. The
12:13
Speaker 1: safe bet is Saya behind Tucker, but I think it.
12:16
Speaker 1: I think that Bush is going to have that type
12:18
Speaker 1: of season.
12:19
Speaker 2: This isn't a prediction as much as an observation that,
12:23
Speaker 2: like Pete Crow, Armstrong is going to be this like
12:28
Speaker 2: amazing X factor, unpredictable element to this season. I think
12:32
Speaker 2: we've joked about this before that Marquis could just change
12:35
Speaker 2: their call letters to PCA because he is that electric.
12:42
Speaker 2: He is a really sharp guy, like we love talking
12:47
Speaker 2: to him. He's very honest. He's constantly sprinkling in F
12:51
Speaker 2: bombs to his answers, and his teammates really embraced him.
12:58
Speaker 2: I think it could have been hard walking into that
13:00
Speaker 2: situation last year, and he did not perform well in
13:04
Speaker 2: twenty twenty three, he was put in a tough spot
13:06
Speaker 2: as a September call up and really looked had a
13:09
Speaker 2: bit of like a deer in the headlights or just
13:12
Speaker 2: was trying to do way too much, forcing the action
13:14
Speaker 2: way too much, and so like, I have no idea
13:18
Speaker 2: if Pico Armstrong is going to get like sent back
13:20
Speaker 2: to Des Moines at some point, or he's gonna be
13:23
Speaker 2: like the starting center fielder in the All Star Game.
13:26
Speaker 2: Like I guess I wouldn't be shocked by either one.
13:31
Speaker 2: I guess if I'm picking the cups with playoffs, I
13:33
Speaker 2: think he'll in the long run wind up being very
13:37
Speaker 2: good this year. But I think just watching him on
13:39
Speaker 2: a daily basis, he is just someone we haven't had
13:44
Speaker 2: as a from a media perspective, someone like Hobvi of
13:47
Speaker 2: like you never know what sort of like viral moment
13:50
Speaker 2: he could be a part of. And that is what
13:52
Speaker 2: I am looking forward to covering this year.
13:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it was fascinating to talk to him
14:00
Speaker 1: this spring. He continues to like you said, he's just
14:04
Speaker 1: he's easy to talk to. He seems to get what
14:06
Speaker 1: our job is, and he's not afraid to speak his
14:09
Speaker 1: mind and it doesn't come across as like over the
14:12
Speaker 1: top or no, oh, you shouldn't say that, and like
14:16
Speaker 1: what are you doing? It never comes across that way.
14:19
Speaker 1: He seems like it, And it's not like I don't know.
14:22
Speaker 1: It doesn't come across as like I'm super polished with
14:25
Speaker 1: the media and I know exactly what to say. It
14:27
Speaker 1: doesn't come across that way either, right, like they're saying
14:30
Speaker 1: he's genuine and it can be a little raw sometimes,
14:34
Speaker 1: but I appreciate it. I like it. He seems like
14:37
Speaker 1: a good kid and so exciting on the field, Like
14:40
Speaker 1: the fact that there were PCA chants in Japan was
14:43
Speaker 1: really cool. He seems to embrace it. He seems to
14:49
Speaker 1: enjoy it, like he likes the energy of it all,
14:51
Speaker 1: Like you said, like Hobby, Like Hobby loved that. I
14:54
Speaker 1: think PCA feeds off of it. There was this hit
14:57
Speaker 1: that he had Tuesday and I kind of I looked
15:00
Speaker 1: to Jordan and I said, if he does that this season.
15:04
Speaker 1: It was just like this slapped ground ball the other
15:06
Speaker 1: way that got past the shift and I was like,
15:09
Speaker 1: that's just such a like a nothing single in the
15:12
Speaker 1: like when you think about it, but then like you
15:14
Speaker 1: see who he is, Like that's gonna like if he
15:17
Speaker 1: can do that along with finding the gaps and putting
15:20
Speaker 1: a couple over the fence, like just get on base man,
15:23
Speaker 1: like you are a menace.
15:24
Speaker 2: Uh.
15:25
Speaker 1: And if he does that, it's going to be really
15:28
Speaker 1: impactful for this team. If, like I talked about Michael Bush,
15:33
Speaker 1: If PCA and Michael Bush are impactful offensively, we're talking
15:37
Speaker 1: about a really good offense, right, assuming everyone else plays
15:40
Speaker 1: close to what they're the back of their baseball cards says,
15:44
Speaker 1: I just think that there's a lot of potential for
15:47
Speaker 1: this offense. And I've said it for most of the offseason.
15:51
Speaker 1: I liked it. I think that after they got Kyle Tucker,
15:53
Speaker 1: I like it. I agree with you. One more piece
15:56
Speaker 1: and Alex Bregman would have been really nice and made
15:59
Speaker 1: you feel a lot more comfortable. Talk about margin foreer
16:03
Speaker 1: that reduces it, right, and like if it just makes
16:07
Speaker 1: it like having Matt Shaw's the first bat to call
16:09
Speaker 1: up instead of starting the season as a huge bat
16:13
Speaker 1: really changes the field. But I still like this group.
16:17
Speaker 1: I like it. Patrick. Before we get to the rest
16:19
Speaker 1: of our predictions, let's take a quick break here.
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17:20
Speaker 1: Ft Fan, get after it all, right, Patrick one, Here's
17:25
Speaker 1: here's a random one for you, very random, and it's
17:28
Speaker 1: it's just like purely had heard some things maybe two
17:34
Speaker 1: years ago. This guy's not been great in the minors,
17:38
Speaker 1: but they need lefties, right, Like, I'm not sure if
17:40
Speaker 1: the Cubs have a lefty that you fully trust. Riley
17:44
Speaker 1: Martin missus batts. He's got a really good breaking ball.
17:47
Speaker 1: He's I think he's gonna be twenty seven or twenty eight,
17:50
Speaker 1: like he's it's it's time, right, and like he walks
17:53
Speaker 1: way too many guys. It's like almost like you do that,
17:57
Speaker 1: you're not usable. I could have said that about Porter
18:00
Speaker 1: Hodge at one point, where he walks too many guys
18:04
Speaker 1: nasty stuff. But this is Riley Martin from the left side,
18:08
Speaker 1: has a really good curveball, sits like ninety three ninety
18:12
Speaker 1: four with his fastball. I'm going out on a limb
18:16
Speaker 1: here very much so, but I want to be I
18:20
Speaker 1: want to give like a really bold one and random one,
18:22
Speaker 1: out of the blue one, and that's that's my guy.
18:24
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna come up and have and be
18:26
Speaker 1: the maybe not Porter Hodge level, but like kind of
18:29
Speaker 1: like the out of nowhere reliever that comes up that
18:32
Speaker 1: you know, like there's gonna be someone like Kate Horton
18:34
Speaker 1: that comes up that everyone knows about, right, like they're
18:38
Speaker 1: gonna be guys like that, but Riley Martin, like nobody
18:41
Speaker 1: has them on their radar unless you're like super prospect nerd.
18:46
Speaker 1: I just have a like, it's just my random I'm
18:50
Speaker 1: not even going off anything like concrete here outside of
18:55
Speaker 1: Missus bats and and like you just get that walks
18:59
Speaker 1: slightly under control and now you're now you can and
19:03
Speaker 1: they have a need for lefties. Everybody has a need
19:05
Speaker 1: for lefties. So, uh, that's just a random one that
19:08
Speaker 1: I'm throwing out there. And if I'm right, great, If
19:11
Speaker 1: I'm wrong, get used to it.
19:15
Speaker 2: Well, we do three shows a week, you know, I'll
19:18
Speaker 2: get not as random. But I do think Brandon Hughes,
19:23
Speaker 2: another left hander, will play a big part in this bullpen. Uh,
19:28
Speaker 2: like the fact that he's had experience and success in
19:33
Speaker 2: Wrigley Field before, did not have the contractual leverage you know,
19:40
Speaker 2: coming out of spring, but you know, from what I
19:44
Speaker 2: had heard, he was really good for the Diamondbacks Triple
19:49
Speaker 2: A affiliate last year. Was really in a position to
19:54
Speaker 2: maybe even be added to like a playoff roster if
19:57
Speaker 2: they had actually made the playoffs. If you're they were
20:01
Speaker 2: one of those teams kind of like watching I think
20:03
Speaker 2: it was it a game in one sixty three the
20:05
Speaker 2: Mets and Braves whatever, or they played a doubleheader. There
20:08
Speaker 2: was kind of that mad scramble at the end of
20:10
Speaker 2: the regular season.
20:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, because there were rainouts or something like that.
20:13
Speaker 1: Yeah like that. Yeah, but like if.
20:15
Speaker 2: He you know, is healthy, you know, he had a
20:20
Speaker 2: kind of an I think it was a knee issue
20:22
Speaker 2: coming out of the Cubs a couple of years ago.
20:27
Speaker 2: Seems to me like a guy who had very quickly
20:31
Speaker 2: entered David Ross's circle of trust. And David Ross is
20:36
Speaker 2: not someone who'd kind of easily bestow that upon a rookie.
20:41
Speaker 2: And David Ross, I think we both agree, had a
20:44
Speaker 2: pretty sharp eye for guys who had it or didn't.
20:50
Speaker 2: He seemed to have a good feel for that. So
20:52
Speaker 2: that would be you know, my you know, quasi random
20:56
Speaker 2: name to pop in the bullpen, especially since they're going
21:01
Speaker 2: to be scrambling here in April.
21:05
Speaker 1: Right right, Well, I'm very curious to see how the
21:07
Speaker 1: bullpen shakes out. I like Brandon Hughes too. That twenty
21:11
Speaker 1: twenty two season was I mean, he was really good
21:14
Speaker 1: getting save opportunities, if I remember correctly, like a really
21:19
Speaker 1: really strong season in twenty two, and that knee was
21:22
Speaker 1: just really sidetracked things in twenty three. I'm curious about
21:28
Speaker 1: the division. I don't know. Look, the Cardinals didn't have
21:34
Speaker 1: this huge selloff that kind of was expected, so I
21:38
Speaker 1: don't think they're going away. I don't think they're that
21:41
Speaker 1: good though. I just don't think they're that good. They're
21:45
Speaker 1: going to be pesky, They're going to be annoying. They're
21:48
Speaker 1: still the Cardinals. They have some talent there. I don't
21:53
Speaker 1: think they're the team you worry about, like I think
21:56
Speaker 1: the Pirates and Reds are talented. When you add when
22:01
Speaker 1: you have Paul Skeans and you have a ton of
22:03
Speaker 1: young pitching, you never know what can happen. That offense
22:08
Speaker 1: still hasn't produced. It just hasn't. I'm not like they're
22:11
Speaker 1: They're one of those teams that I'd look at it
22:12
Speaker 1: and be like, I don't know, like if the offense clicks,
22:16
Speaker 1: maybe they make some noise. I just don't I'm not
22:18
Speaker 1: buying it. I think I'm a little like I would
22:20
Speaker 1: be looking over my shoulder at the Reds. Terry Francon
22:23
Speaker 1: is there. They have a so much talent on both sides,
22:27
Speaker 1: like like you want to talk about like offense pitching.
22:31
Speaker 1: They have a lot of young, exciting talent. Ultimately, I
22:35
Speaker 1: think this division comes down to the Cubs and yet
22:39
Speaker 1: again the Milwaukee Brewers. I don't know how they continue
22:42
Speaker 1: to do it. I'm not going into another season saying
22:48
Speaker 1: the Brewers are no good. I'm done doing that. I
22:51
Speaker 1: know they've lost to everybody that we know on that team.
22:55
Speaker 1: They don't have the same roster. It's like Christian Yelich
22:58
Speaker 1: is the only one that's left. William Domas is gone,
23:01
Speaker 1: Devin Williams is gone, Josh Hater's gone, Corbin Burns is gone,
23:05
Speaker 1: Everyone's gone. I don't know if they're much worse, just
23:10
Speaker 1: because they're so good at finding talent, getting better on
23:15
Speaker 1: the fly, changing, Like it's really impressive what they do,
23:19
Speaker 1: and I think they're going to be a good team again.
23:24
Speaker 2: I mean, this is a moment where they have supplanted
23:28
Speaker 2: the Cardinals as kind of this primary rival. I mean,
23:32
Speaker 2: if you go back to when Jen and THEO showed
23:34
Speaker 2: up here, it was the Cardinals winning the World Series.
23:36
Speaker 2: They were setting the standard. Then. Obviously there's decades and
23:39
Speaker 2: decades and decades of history there between, you know, these
23:44
Speaker 2: two iconic franchises and maybe or hopefully it'll get back
23:49
Speaker 2: to that point again where they're kind of fighting tooth
23:54
Speaker 2: and nail. But at this point, the Brewers are the
23:58
Speaker 2: team that one really stopped that twenty sixteen team in
24:06
Speaker 2: its tracks from becoming that sort of dinasty or they
24:09
Speaker 2: were one of the factors we should say, I mean,
24:11
Speaker 2: chasing them down in twenty eighteen and forcing that game
24:17
Speaker 2: one sixty three.
24:20
Speaker 1: That was big.
24:21
Speaker 2: And you know, in Wrigleyville you had people running the
24:25
Speaker 2: team looking at the Brewer's payroll and wondering like, how
24:30
Speaker 2: are they doing this? And then obviously hiring Council away
24:34
Speaker 2: from Milwaukee, Uh you know where he is this you know,
24:39
Speaker 2: hometown hero, you know, like Little League Field named after
24:43
Speaker 2: his family, you know, a multi generational connection to the
24:48
Speaker 2: franchise because Council's dad had worked there, you know, Council
24:53
Speaker 2: growing up, you know and working with all these you know,
24:56
Speaker 2: amazing you know, Brewers Hall of famers over the years,
24:59
Speaker 2: and then to just come to Chicago. So how this
25:04
Speaker 2: plays out this year with the Brewers being managed by
25:08
Speaker 2: Counsel's old college coach at Notre Dame, a guy who
25:13
Speaker 2: and Pat Murphy. Who Council really even though Murphy had
25:18
Speaker 2: already transitioned into professional baseball and Council gave him a
25:21
Speaker 2: huge lifeline in his career of like, Okay, come be
25:24
Speaker 2: my bench coach and let's build this. I think those
25:29
Speaker 2: games up in Milwaukee are going to be fantastic to watch.
25:33
Speaker 2: When the Brewers come into Wrigley Field, it should be rocking.
25:38
Speaker 2: And you know, I'm with you. I think they'll probably
25:42
Speaker 2: take a step back. Like, I don't think they'll go
25:44
Speaker 2: wire to wire and win whatever ninety plus games. But
25:48
Speaker 2: I have a hard time believing the Brewers are just
25:50
Speaker 2: going to like fold and like sell at the trade deadline.
25:56
Speaker 2: And you know, every year it seems they have very
26:00
Speaker 2: little money to spend, but they find guys in minor
26:03
Speaker 2: league free agency. They get great buy in within their
26:07
Speaker 2: pitching infrastructure, and really like they've changed over the manager,
26:12
Speaker 2: the gm U, their style of play, their frontline pitchers,
26:18
Speaker 2: and yet here they are. They still have a pretty
26:21
Speaker 2: good shot at this, in part because the Cubs didn't
26:24
Speaker 2: stomp their foot on the accelerator of the Saw season.
26:27
Speaker 1: Right. Yeah, I'm like, I'm just baffled at how they
26:32
Speaker 1: do it. It's it's really impressive. Uh. It's like with
26:36
Speaker 1: Cleveland and Tampa Bay do Uh. I think we've said
26:40
Speaker 1: it over the past year, like they've they've become that
26:42
Speaker 1: they're in that echelon with those with those teams that,
26:45
Speaker 1: like the small market teams that don't have aren't given
26:49
Speaker 1: the budget to really go out there and make any noise.
26:53
Speaker 1: But somehow they've they've created this front office machine. Like
26:57
Speaker 1: props to those people that have figured it out whoever.
27:01
Speaker 1: And I don't think it's one department. You don't just
27:02
Speaker 1: say like they've nailed this, you know that they they're
27:06
Speaker 1: it's uh, it's impressive to build an organization like that.
27:10
Speaker 1: It takes a while to figure things out and get
27:12
Speaker 1: it right and have it moving like that. But like
27:14
Speaker 1: you said, it's it's buy in not just by the players,
27:16
Speaker 1: it's buy in by like everyone in the org trusting
27:19
Speaker 1: like this is how it works, this is how we
27:21
Speaker 1: have to do it, this is our path to success.
27:23
Speaker 1: And and they've bought in and they've found they've found
27:26
Speaker 1: ways to succeed. It's certainly an impressive way to go
27:30
Speaker 1: about things. The Cubs, Uh, you'd love to see them,
27:34
Speaker 1: you know, using that financial might to kind of say like, oh, oh,
27:38
Speaker 1: that's that's cute what you guys are doing. Well, we're
27:41
Speaker 1: just gonna blow you out of the water and not
27:43
Speaker 1: make it competitive because we have this financial mind. This
27:46
Speaker 1: is our advantage. We're using it. And and they're they're
27:49
Speaker 1: they're spending more than them, but they're not they're not
27:52
Speaker 1: blowing them out of the water in that area, and
27:56
Speaker 1: and maybe they should be in order to really put
27:58
Speaker 1: this division away. We'll see, we'll see how it goes
28:02
Speaker 1: in the season. Opening days here. Excited for a season, hope,
28:07
Speaker 1: hope the listeners are too, will be. We'll be coming
28:10
Speaker 1: at you three days a week, breaking down series, breaking
28:13
Speaker 1: down what's going on over the course of the season.
28:16
Speaker 1: Looking forward to it. Thanks so much for listening. This
28:18
Speaker 1: is Northside Territory Foul Territory Networks Cubs podcast. Make sure
28:23
Speaker 1: to rate, review, subscribe, subscribe to the podcast, Subscribe to
28:26
Speaker 1: The Athletic, where Patrick and I will be on top
28:28
Speaker 1: of all things Cubs all summer long. Thanks so much
28:31
Speaker 1: for listening to everyone. Take care and they all