Latest / North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast / Let the sell-off at the trade deadline begin

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Let the sell-off at the trade deadline begin · North Side Territory: A Chicago Cubs Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I would be stunned if like Jed, somehow like threads
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: is an needle and find some sort of like guy
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: that helps right now and next year and the year
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: after that.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Welcome into north Side Territory Foul Territory Networks Cubs Podcast.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: I'm Sahadev Sharma with Patrick Mooney, where your Cubs beat
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: writers for The Athletic and the hosts of this podcast
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: which covers the reeling Cubs. Patrick, you were there, I
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: was off all week and you saw the Cubs collapse
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: out of the gate. They didn't They've gone two and four.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: They needed to properly a minimum go four and two
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: for Jed to to reconsider here before what do we
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: five days before the deadline. But this is a team
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: that I mean, call what you want to. I know
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: Craig Council sees it more as a gray area, but
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: but this team isn't buying at minimum. There's no reason too.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: There's that they've shown no indication of a team that
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: can compete. We've seen flashes, but frankly, it's not been
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: good enough.
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: There's a reason.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: I think last time I was on, I said I'm
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: not you know, I'm intrigued, but I'm not buying in
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: on the offense because I believe it's now nine runs
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: in six games. I mean, completely unacceptable offensive performance, especially
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: with the way the pitching is performed.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: I mean, the last Cubs game you covered, they hit
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: like six home runs, right, and that was the oh,
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: maybe this is the start of something. And even you know,
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: Nico Horner, who is an extremely self aware, intelligent individual,
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: was still talking about that road trip and he was like,
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: I know, like that was really meaningful for us. I'm
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: sure you guys are sick of hearing about it. And
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: it's like, yeah, like as as good as they looked
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: during that stretch heading into the break, they looked just
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: as bad coming out of it. Inside of you've seen
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: these games over and over this year. There was nothing
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: really new coming out, you know, losing both justin steel starts,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: the first one stealed in pitch as well. I think
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: they were down five runs like a couple of innings
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: into the post All Star break stress. I mean, just unacceptable.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: I think you see just how weak this lineup is.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: You know, it doesn't matter how great the starting pitching is,
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: and you know the bullpen has finally come together, you know,
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: you're kind of, you know, wondering, like where was this
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: in April and May? But basically it's come together in
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: time to sell some guys move some guys at the
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: trade deadline. I think that even if we're a little better,
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: I think that scenario could have taken place. But at
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: this point there's no reason to keep it together. They
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: can't because we've documented over and over there's not a
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: lot of pieces to move. And you know, I think
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: just one thing, I'm glad you brought it up of
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: Craig Counsel's idea of that's a mistake to call it
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: this or that, Like, yeah, dude, in Milwaukee there was
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: a lot more gray area. Or like in Tampa Bay,
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: they're always simultaneously buying and selling. But Jet's twelve trade deadlines,
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: You and I have covered all of them. They've always
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: been buyers or sellers. Now there's various degrees to that,
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: but like, this is a front office that picks the lane.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: The front office that is not like I don't know,
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: wildly creative with some of this stuff. Like they're very rational,
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: they're measured, they have their approach, so like maybe they
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: surprise all of us do something far outside the box.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: But like if you've been paying attention to the cubs
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: of the trade deadline, you know how they operate very
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: very broadly. And so that was one thing where I
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: had to say, you know, Craig, that's a bad take.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I guess you can look at this
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: roster and say, there isn't much to sell, right it's
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: gonna be bullpen pieces. Maybe you know, we hear Jamison
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: Taian's name out there. I think it'd be mistake to
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: move guys from the rotation. I think I think you
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: try and keep as many pieces as you can that
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: can help in twenty twenty five unless you're getting bowled over.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: Unless I know it is a seller's market, but we
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: also know that teams just are like you just described,
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: Carter and Jed is very rational. That's how majority of
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: the teams are. It doesn't seem like AJ Preller. First
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: of all, a J Preller doesn't have much to sell
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: right now, and it doesn't seem like he's going to
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: be the super crazy aggressive guy. And the Dodgers can
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: be aggressive. Baltimore is a team that you'd love for
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: them to be aggressive, but there's zero chance that they
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: will be that's just not how they behave. They've never
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: shown that. That front office is known for being very
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: calm and measured. They come from Houston where they never
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: made crazy, bold moves and and I would be very
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: surprised if they pay the type of price that is
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: needed to get like an under control starter or something
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: like that. They just don't do that. The prices should
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: be high, and teams just don't pay for them anymore.
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: They don't pay enough. The Dodgers are maybe one of
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: those teams that would so definitely listen if they they
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: come calling. But other than that, I just don't see it.
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: San Diego isn't it isn't giving up like Ethan Sallus
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: or those type of prospects right now.
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: So I'm not sure what they can do.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: It's it's an it's a situation where they have to
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: start thinking about twenty five. But when Council says what
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: he says, I can I think I can see a
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: scenario where they're still fine in the second half, and
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: by that I mean yeah, yeah, largely the same team,
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: and where they tease you for a week or ten
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: days and say like huh maybe, but it's they're not
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: good enough.
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: They've the.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: Issues have been exposed, and I think maybe that's for
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: the best. Uh, you didn't need a fake run like
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: last year. Last year, I thought, you know, they we've
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: said this before. I've said this a lot. They performed
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: better than the record, right for two or three months
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: or whatever it was. I always felt that way watching
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: the team. I was like, they're better than their record.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: I've never really felt that way. This year, I've felt
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: like there's more talent here. I thought they'd be better,
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: but the way they're playing this is bad baseball. And
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: last year it was like, this is a better team
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: than the record suggests. I feel like they're not playing terribly.
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: So it was a different feeling, even if some of
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: the results early on were the same. And the big
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: issue was the bullpen last year being overused and then exposed.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: This year, it's it's falls squarely on the offense. I
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: don't think you can point to yeah, yeah, you can
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: point to early issues with the bullpen, like you said,
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: but it's kind of come together.
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: I don't know what you know.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: I would, you know, the guys, I would focus on
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: as far as trade deadline goes, and I did talk
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: to some people while I was on vacation and it
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: seemed like teams are hearing similarly. It's bullpen arms right,
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: and you know, Drew Smiley makes a lot of sense.
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: Expiring deal quietly does really well. Has has been moved
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: at deadlines before and helped teams win in the past.
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: I think a lefty reliever is always valuable, even if
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: he's not like a straight upfty specialist. Hector Nars makes sense.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: He's he's finally looking good. I had a scout tell
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: me that the splitter looks pretty nasty. He left one
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: up yesterday and it got blooped. I think into the outfield.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: You know that that was if you want to call
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: that a mistake, you can call it a mistake.
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: But the fastball does look hittable. It is hittable. But
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: he walks a tightrope and always has for his career.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: The one guy I'm curious about now, if they move Smiley,
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: do they also move lighter? And then if they do
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: move lighter, how does counsel tell us that they're still
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: trying to You know that it wasn't a straight cell right,
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: because now you don't have anybody coming out of your
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: bullpen that's supposed to be that you can use for
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: lefty pockets. You've downgraded your bullpen significantly. I wrote this
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: when before he came off the deadline, before he came
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: off the eye l those bad numbers that you were
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: looking at, they're not as bad as how he was pitching.
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: He was pitching well. He had a lot of bad life,
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: and now you're seeing just a little break and feeling
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: one hundred percent. He's a nasty reliever. He's a really
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: good reliever. I believe he's under control for two more
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: years beyond this. Is he even our bell? Was he
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: even our ur Bell.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: Has an ARB deal? I think it would be that
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: he's thirty three years old, he's a guy they had
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: signed to multiple minor league deals, and that there are
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: gonna be really good teams that are like, I want
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: that guy for that matchup in that inning against that opponent.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: I think that would be the Just get back to
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: how this front office views relievers is very, very interchangeable,
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: and I realize that's kind of an industry sort of standard,
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: but the Cubs do seem to take it to an
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: extreme at times.
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I look at his numbers. The era
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: is the only thing that looks bad. He gets a
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: ton of ground balls, he gets a ton of strikeouts,
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: he doesn't walk too many.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: I mean, this.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: Guy's a really good reliever. If you can get a
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: really good prospect for him, I guess it makes sense.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: But it's that would be for me, the clearest indication
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: that it's just solely focused on twenty five. And we
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: can hear Craig Council say all he wants about don't
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: look at it black and white, and and I agree
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: to an extent, I don't think you can look at
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: I think there's no other way to look at it.
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: Because Luke Little's out for the season.
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: You know these if Drew Smiley's gone, you don't have
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: anybody in your bullpen that you use for lefty pockets.
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: That's not a team that can compete.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: That's not a team that can that you look at
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: and say like, oh, I get it, I see how
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: you can do both here. But because he's so valuable,
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: you're right, he's thirty three. You don't know when he's
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: got two more years after this, twenty five and twenty six.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: He's a leader in the bullpen along with Nerris. So
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: you can lose veterans, but it's probably worth seeing what
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: younger guys can do, and then you're going to have
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: to backfill in the off season. The off season, we'll
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: dig into it, but then reliever to get out lefties,
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: power bat beefing up the bench. I know, yes, you know,
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: I think that's that's a huge thing. And then probably
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: number one is you have to get a catcher.
• 11:19
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• 12:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I go back to actually twenty twenty two
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: when the Cubs went thirty nine thirty one after the
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: All Star break, and if you remember, that is when
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: they traded away David Robertson, Chris Martin. Yeah, Michael Givens, So,
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: like can you had a couple young pitchers pop up,
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: and I get what counsel is saying, and like you
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: and I both talked to him enough that, like I
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: get his general point, but like sitting in the interview
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: room saying it's a mistake to you know, write this
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: or that just didn't really sit well with me because
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: clearly you're either like increasing your oughts to make the
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: playoffs or you're decreasing your oughts to make the playoffs.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: And clearly by not acquiring more rental players, which we understand,
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: I would say, of watching this team for this long,
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: you know, the way the schedule is set up too.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: I mean, we're past that one hundred game mark at
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: this point. It's not like there's half a season to go.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: I know, the All Star Game was just last week,
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: but we're like pretty deep into this at this point,
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: and I get not want to sink more into this group,
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: But like you know, I would be stunned if like
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: Jets somehow like Threads is a needle and find some
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: sort of like you know guy that helps right now
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: and next year and the year after that. It just hasn't.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: It's not really what this marketplace is any anymore. Like,
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: like you said, there aren't teams that like back the
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: truck up. And I think I'm glad you brought up
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: tie On because that's probably what I'll write for like
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: the off day of you know, okay, you trade him
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: for what, like is this piece gonna help you next year?
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: Like I don't think you need another, you know, a
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: ball outfielder, right, You don't need like some double a
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: guy who's gonna need who might not be a capable
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: major league player like another four years from now. And
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: you know, teams that are in it aren't looking to
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: subtract guys that can help right now and if you
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: get rid of Tyon, just look at all the injuries
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: that comes out on the pitching side this year, Like
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: are you really gonna trust name a young pitcher to
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: absorb the like thirty starts that Tyon's shown he is
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: due year after year after year. Or you sign a
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: free agent and then then with the cost of inflation,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: like it's gonna be more than the deal that tie
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: Own sign. It's going to obviously be for more years
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: than two. If it's a guy that you that you
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: trust in the industry high he values and like we
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: both know, like Tywn's a grown up, Like he's a professional,
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: and he's someone who's been pretty honest about like this
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: isn't good enough, And I don't know that subtracting that
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: is a great idea. Obviously you know he's not. And
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: this goes back to the kind of cost of acquisition,
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: Like he's probably not going to start the first game
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: of a playoff series for a team. So I can
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: see like both sides of that of you know, if
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: you're the Cubs, why hang on to him if he's
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: not like that guy? Or if you're the acquiring team,
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: what are we going to give up for a guy
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: who might be start game three or game four, or
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: be like a two times through the order guy in
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: a playoff game. But that, to me, I think that's
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: the player that will define this trade deadline for the Cubs.
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: Like if he stays, it's like, okay, there is a
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: more reasonable path of you know, staying in it, going
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: back at it again in twenty twenty five. But if
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: he moves, I think that will be the one where
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: you'd feel it in the clubhouse. You'd be taking away
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: from council like a real piece, not just kind of
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: a bullpen guy here or there. Like that would be
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: a significant subtraction that I think would be very revealing.
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: Yeah right, and then then we don't debate the.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: You know what area yeah yeah, yeah, yeah. But also
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: they have to listen on everything, right that this isn't
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: working when it doesn't, when it goes to this extent
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: where it's just like nothing, nothing seems like it's going right.
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: As far as uh, the one loss record, I think
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: you have to listen to try and figure out can
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: you improve your team there are you know, I've seen
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: stuff about how Baltimore is willing to give up some
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: of their uh, some of their current players on the
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: roster right to to open up space for younger players.
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: I get that.
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: I don't think that works so much for the Cubs,
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: But maybe the Cubs need to think creatively and see
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: if guys are willing to move, you know, uh, take
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: down their trade deadlines, or or wave their trade deadline.
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: Trade deadlines.
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: Trade Uh, no trade, no trade clauses. Sorry, I'm recovering
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: from a cold and my brain is clearly clearly not
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: functioning at one hundred percent.
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: But I don't know.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: We just talked about there, you know, I don't know
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: if they have that in them, if if they're going
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: to be able to swing a move that that kind
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: of surprises us all.
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: If anything, I think they make the.
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: Smaller moves now and look to really reload and and
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: change things up for twenty twenty five in the off season.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: One thing I think we all know for sure, right
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: and fans may not be one hundred percent clear on this,
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: but they have to that they intend on taking a
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: step forward in twenty twenty five. There's no debate about that.
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: What you see now, and I agree with you Patrick,
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: you you trade tie on It looks really bad for
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty five. But that just means that they're they
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: have more work cut out for them in the offseason
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: because they cannot go into twenty twenty five saying like
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: this roster is a step back, but we're we're looking
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: to the future. We're you know, we're we're gonna be
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: better in twenty six and twenty seven. That's when we
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: really expect things to to shine in on the north side.
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: Anything like that is that.
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: That's that's a death now for Jed Hoyer and the
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: front office.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: Like you're you're begging for change then, like Tom Ricketts.
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: Say what you will, but he's not.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: I can't imagine that he's going to be much more patient,
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: uh with with this group right like they have they
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: likely have another year, but beyond that, you know, they
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: have to show real progress and that has to come
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: in the form of a team in the playoffs.
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and things can change, you know, so quickly too.
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: Of the tie on trade idea, like as kind of
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: game planning this out, Like Max Freed was a name
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: that was mentioned of, like, oh, this is a guy
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: you know that you know, keep an eye on him.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: It's again he's out with forearm issue, now, you know
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: what I mean? So it's like, it's great to think
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: about this is in a mailbag episode that be coming
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: out soon, Like Corbyn Burns his name edge, Like sure,
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: great relationship with Craig counsel, but you know he hired
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: Scott Boris, and Scott Boris, I'm assuming we'll be looking
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: at Derret Coles deal, Steven Strasser, so like stuff that
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: the Cubs have just not historically done and will this
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: season shake them out of it? Yes, to that extent,
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: I think it'd be disingenuous for us to be like, oh, yeah,
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: they're going to sign Corbyn Burns and Wan Sota, you
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: know what I mean. Like, it's just this has fundamentally
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: shaken like what they thought about this team, and I
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: think we'll see, you know, a reckoning of sorts, to
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: use a theophrase, like coming out of this year. It's
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: hard to imagine the roster staying intact, the coaching staff
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: saying intact, the front office kind of going along on
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: the same path. Like I think everything is kind of
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: up for grabs here, and that's why this trade deadline,
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: even though the Cubs don't have great pieces to sell
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: and they're not going to be adding, it's still is
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: very much like a front and center event that will,
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: you know, show us a lot about where this team
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: is at.
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, at Corbyn Burns is going to be thirty in October. Patrick, Yeah,
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: this front office spending the money that it's going to
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: take to get Corbyn Burns at age thirty.
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: I don't see that.
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: Like there's there're definitely pictures on the market that that
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: I think they should be interested in, especially if they
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: move a pitcher. I think offense, we all know it
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: should be the primary focus. You know, bulking up the
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: the bullpen is always is always a need.
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: But yeah, come on, thirty year old Corbyn Burns makes sense.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: I just don't see this front office ponying up the
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: cash to get that Scott Boris contract done.
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: And I think you made a good point about the bench.
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: And I think sometimes like people focus too much on
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: like that one number eight hitter against you know, one
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: late inning at bat, But in terms of the overall
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: talent level of this team, I think that's a fair
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: criticism of just looking at you know, Ian Happens having
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: a really good season. He's a really good major league player,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: Like is he a cleanup hitter like he was yesterday?
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: I just don't think on a true World Series caliber team,
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: I don't think he's batting cleanup. I mean, if you're
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: one of those like game planning analysts or scouts from
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: the other team looking at the Cubs, I mean, are
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: you just kind of like half paying attention once you
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: get past one or two three names. I mean, the
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: middle to the bottom of that lineup is just not
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: at all imposing. And part of that is Dansby Swanson.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: Part of that is Cody Bellinger being injured. But even
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: when he's healthy, he has not been the slugging, dynamic
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: presence that the Cups had hoped for. You know, this
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: was the I think Jet called the worst baseball on offense,
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: worst offense in baseball for two months. Like it's really hard,
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: and I'm sure you've had these conversations with scouts as
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: well of just like you know, you don't look at
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: this and be like, well, this is like a truly
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: terrible team. Like the pitching has just been so good,
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: particularly in the rotation, and the bullpen is like organized
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: now and they seem to have their act together on
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: that side, but just when the offense is I think
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: Council used words like quiet like, you know, no pressure
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: like all. That's like all those descriptors have applied to
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: so many games this year that it's just hard to
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: take it. Take them seriously.
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And the reality is offense is down all across
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: the league. Right, every team is looking for offense at
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: the deadline, but what they have are one, two or
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: three like absolute rocks in their lineup. Right, So the
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: teams like the seventh through nine for most teams, aren't pretty.
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: You look at the Brewers and and while their offense
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: is down from where it was early in the season,
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: there's no.
• 24:20
  Speaker 3: Like absolute dead spots.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: That's that's kind of the difference to right, Like I
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: don't like especially without Yelich. Now the Brewers aren't like
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: this terrifying offense, but there's no really easy spots. The
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: Cubs seven through nine, six through nine, there's with Dansby
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: Swanson not hitting, there's just too many easy spots in
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: their lineup, right. And when I say that, it's not
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: like they're seven hundred ops. Guys, they're struggling. Some of
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: them are struggling to get to six hundred ops. That's
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: that's not that's the that's the issue. It's not that
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: they're not. It's not that they're just like eh guys,
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: they're they're bad offensive players. And the bench is you know,
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: I like Miles Master Bonie's defense, I like his versatility.
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: I think he's a quality player. He's not hitting Dansby
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: Swanson plays elite defense. He's missing pitches down the middle
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: and can't can't hit heaters when challenged like this is
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: this is a problem. Miguel Amaya is on a hot
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: stretch and is up to it's not it's still not
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: good enough.
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: He is five nine five ops at this point.
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, seventy two. He's he's worse than he's got
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: a seventy two way to resigrate a plus. Okay, Daisy
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: Swanson's at eighty, Patrick Wisdom one of your power bench
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: guys eighty seven, like Christopher Morrell is in a horrific slump.
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: Ninety three. Nico Horner's at ninety eight. You know, like
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: Nico Horner doesn't crush the ball. He's usually around one hundred.
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: He's not having a terrible season. But you need more
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: pop in the lineup. You need where you need more
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: production in the lineup. It can't be like you know,
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: I thought, sayas Auzuki would take a leap this year.
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: He's kind of the same player. He was a very
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: good player, but not the guy you build around. Michael
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: Bush is a very nice addition, very good player. Like
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: it's nice to have Michael Bush, say, as Azuki and
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: Ian half, you need a star in this lineup that
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: that's a step above all three of those guys and
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: make it makes it a little simpler and then just
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: pat it with some depth.
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: Uh. I think we'll talk about this a lot more.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: We're gonna have to and we're gonna probably have to
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: dig into it in the second half. But Dansby Swanson
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: and his offense, it can't. It can't be the same
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: next year. It can't. And they have to figure out,
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: like what's going on there is this lingering knee issues?
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: Is this just confidence and and and.
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: Uh, mechanics? What is it?
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: Like what's going on at the plate? And can it
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: be fixed for next year? Otherwise that's that's a major issue, right,
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: like five more years on the deal. Listen, elite defender
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: at shortstop. This isn't Jason Hayward because elite defense at
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: right field doesn't impact the game like elite defense at
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: shortstop right, he's still an elite defender, but it cannot
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: be this bad a ninety five way to run screen.
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: If he had the same way to run screen.
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: Plus as as Nico, it wouldn't be as as awful.
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: It just wouldn't be as big of a problem. People
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: would still be complaining, I'm sure, but it wouldn't be
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: as awful. Like that's a that's still a really valuable player.
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: I just don't know what you do there. I don't
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: know what the solution is, but it has to change
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: for next year. It can't be the same because that's
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: just one more spot in the lineup that's too easy
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: to get out. You have to address the other issues.
• 27:43
  Speaker 3: Of course. You have to address catcher.
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: You have to address the bench, you have to address
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: figure out what's going on at third base. But Dansby
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: Swanson is there. He's going to be your shortstop. So
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: you've got to figure out how to fix that. You
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: got to figure out what the off season plan is
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: for him and how he gets back to being just
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: at least an average offensive player.
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and you'll you'll be in Kansas City. I'll be
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: in Cincinnati at some point during this trip. It's possible
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: that Cody Bellinger will be activated. That is another one
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: where look, is he gonna opt in to next year?
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: Is he gonna be a thirty million dollar player? I
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: think you like having him on your team. There's a
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: lot he brings to the table, but it's not exactly
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: what they hope for. And maybe this is kind of
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: a weird year with injuries or whatever. I mean, he's
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: had several over the course of his career, so that
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: couldn't have been like a total shock. And you know,
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: some of its freak stuff. You know, get hit by
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: a ninety seven mile hour fastball like in your hand,
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: like yeah, you're gonna wind up on the injured list.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: But just a really weird mix and just the I
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: think this year is all so exposed, like how close
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: are any of these hitters in the upper levels. I
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: think that has been I think the not saying none
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: of these guys will impact the team eventually, but clearly
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: there was not you know, a Kyle Schwarber walking through
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: the door the way he did in twenty fifteen, or
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: even Ian Happen twenty seventeen, you know, the way he
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: impacted that group, Like when you have the worst offense
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: in baseball by your own admission, and there isn't really
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: a lot bubbling up. It's not a good sign for
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: like where things are going, and that I think will
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: be interesting too of how some of the playing time
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: is redistributed in August in September, are they going to
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: give any of these guys run? Like have they even
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: earned it? And also this enormous gap between Iowa and
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: the majors, like have they closed? Is their way to
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: close any of that at all? And so that's why
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: I don't counsel we'll have the same reaction on his
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: face no matter what happens at the trade deadline. But
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: I do think it'd be really interesting to hear kind
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: of what he has to say and about just how
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: healthy or not this organization really is.
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Patrick will have one more podcast, I believe, before
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: the deadline, and then the one after that should be
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: right after it. We'll have a little clear right obviously,
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: we'll know what's going on. Probably by the time we
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: talked to the listeners again. There will be at least
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: I would assume there's going to be a move this weekend,
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: like you don't do them all on the thirtieth. Maybe
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: I'm wrong, but there's a good chance there'll be a
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: move consummated either the next time we talk to you
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: here soon after that.
• 30:56
  Speaker 3: But this team needs to shake things up.
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: It needs to look different, and unfortunately we're already talking
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: about twenty twenty five and what to expect for that,
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: but not what.
• 31:10
  Speaker 3: We expected to be talking about at this time.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: But it's been three months of this now, it's been
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: three months of us talking about this, of them going
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: in the wrong direction. They did this to themselves. The
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: offense fell apart. This is the team that was built.
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: It was a team that won eighty three games last
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: year and should have taken a step forward to really
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: good additions, and somehow it's a worse team. It's a
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: very very odd way to see it unfold, but it's
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: what happened, and it's the reality Jed and Carter face,
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: and that they've got to figure out a way to
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: fix it. We'll be back at you early next week,
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: plenty of trade talk and then probably trade analysis to do.
• 31:48
  Speaker 3: Thanks for listening. This is Northside Territory.
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: Make sure to subscribe, rate and review on your favorite
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: platforms there and.
• 31:55
  Speaker 3: Then give us love. If you would, please subscribe to
• 32:00
  Speaker 3: the athletic and keep on listening. Thanks for listening, Take
• 32:03
  Speaker 3: care everyone,