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[Applause] rants welcome everyone to the rant I'm
John fiss with my co-host Evan Alman and we are uh man it's been a little while
since we've done a show and quite a bit has happened which I'm not really used to that uh the last few
years uh and so that's great we have a lot to talk about yeah like and and good
like not just I I assume you're you're talking about the the monster move to sign backup catcher Carson Kelly right
that's absolutely mind-bogglingly good move I mean really Shores up the catcher
position for the Cubs in you know really they I think he was the last like
eligible catcher to be to that could be signed that wasn't a minor leager yeah
but the thing was like he's actually if you look at the guys like if you think I mean it was really the top three on the
market were were him Danny Janson and Kyle
higashioka right uh so it's like that was like Kelly was kind of the and he was probably the third of that Trio and
I think the Cubs did actually try for Danny jansson um and the interesting
part about that and I don't know if he's counting on kind of a bounceback or what with Jansen that is because I mean the Cubs tried to trade for him last year um
he was one of them that they wanted to get uh and then he kind of kind of didn't have a great season and and
turned down apparently multi-year offers or bigger offers to end up going to Tampa so I don't know again if if he's
banking on more of a bounceback or what I think they were they were in on him but it it but what's so funny to me and
the and the I don't know if it's ironic but you know in response to our reporting on it or whatever not really
reporting but just writing about it right that he was close everybody's freaking oh God this is all the Cubs do
every year which can we talk about how broken people's brains have gotten to
where it's like I get that the Cubs aren't pursuing guys at the top of the market but I it's it pisses me off to no
end that everybody's like they're so cheap like dude they got a tax penalty this year might not be happy with the
way they've allocated that money yeah but they're not cheap you cheap teams do
not pay luxury tax every team has to have backup catchers and I've got news
for you folks most teams do not carry two big money starter type catchers
right you have everybody's got to have backups that's how it works and the Cubs seem to do that every year why because
backup catchers generally don't get fiveyear contract s they they usually are short-term guys that's how this
works so but But the irony of it is that everybody when the when the move was
kind of announced as being really close everybody's bitching about oh this is all the Cubs do and the funny part is
they only finalized the uh the Kelly signing because they had a free up a 40 Man spot which they did with the trade
for one of the best hitters in Major League Baseball over the last several years in Kyle Tucker so it just funny to
me they're like this is all they do they never make big moves and the reason they were able to clear the space was because
they made what is clearly the biggest move whether it be a signing or a trade
that they've had since probably you Darvish I mean if we're talking about
like the kind of impact kind of uh the name all that stuff it's got to be
right yeah probably um I mean definitely and definitely the biggest offens
bat the bat offensive trade that they've made I can't even remember the last time
there's no they have not brought I mean we could argue like everybody wants to go back and relitigate the Jason Hayward
thing and talk about how the Cubs vastly overpaid and all this and and I will always counter with a at the time
Hayward was the by far the number one position player in the free agent Market
That season that offseason and had $200 million offers from both the Cardinals and the
Nationals so like the Cubs weren't even the biggest bidder for his services so if we look at it that way like it's the
biggest position player move one way or the other they've made since and and and again I'm not saying that I'm not
equating Kyle Tucker to Jason Hayward Tucker is a far more accomplished offensive player um and he's even got a
gold glove and so but but in terms of like the the cache right the and again
UD darich one of the top pitchers in that market but as far as adding from the outside in one way or another be it
signing or trade I would say the biggest move
they've made since Anthony Rizzo offensively to bring in a guy from outside the
organization yeah and I mean even at the time like the Anthony Rizo Rizzo trade what you didn't really know right like
he would did he he played a little bit he came up yeah he came up with the Padres and kind of sucked he wasn't ring
yeah yeah he was he was you didn't look at it like this right like I mean like I that's what I say like in terms of like
bringing an offensive uh player on in a trade it I'd have to go back really far
I even be before and even even then SOS but Sosa
yeah he was hindsight he wasn't that he was a speed guy yeah yeah yeah he didn't have the power I mean that built up not
yeah not not 60 home runs in like whatever it was three or four straight seasons and and and becoming just
mindboggling but but yeah I mean I to I mean we're talking about and that's what
C like and here's the thing that I think is is interesting with this and I I'll shut up because you I don't know if we
there's a there's a a place I want to go with this but I don't know that we want to necessarily kick off the the show
with it or or if you want me to run wild with it all right man so so here here's my here's the thing that that I think
right because we're about a month out from Cubs convention which we need to we need to talk with the Cubs about um but
I'm really interested because I know like every's oh his agents already said he won't sign like yeah no [ __ ] dude no
agent's gonna come out and be like yeah he's super stoked to just sign a he wants to sign a Team friendly deal right
out of the gate like of course they're goingon to say he wants to test free agency why because then he wants to get
the Cubs to pay up more right like if they want to buy him out of that but I'm interested to see because Houston's been
very good and and I I don't I'm not trying to be derogatory at all about the
Astros as a as a team organization fan base any of that but the Cubs are
different in a lot of regards from a lot of other teams in that sense as far as the fan base loyalty and all that stuff
and I'm I'm interested to see because when you think about this I mean this dude is literally in the top 10
definitely 15 maybe top 10 over the course of his career his first two seasons he played very sparingly and
since 2020 he's been a regular so in Five Seasons this dude is easily one of
the best 10 to 12 hitters in Major League Baseball in that time and yet I will guarantee you if you took a poll no
one would have him up there right like this dude has flown under the radar because he's got Jose Altuve and Alex
bregman and for a Time George Springer and you got yord Alvarez there are multiple players on that team who have
much to I would say Q rating right as far as how the public uh perceives them
Tucker is like an unknown dude if he's playing for the Cubs during the last five years he's one of the biggest names
in baseball guaranteed so I'm interested to see first of all what the reception he gets it'll be awesome at Cubs
convention how he feels about that and then getting to play a summer in Chicago
at Wrigley Field right and that's what that's part of the reason why and I I
could talk for 20 minutes and I won't that's part of the reason why you take this the stab at getting this dude as a
as a quote unquote rental because of what you can do to recruit him for the next year yeah and and and let's just
hope that the weather at Wrigley is good enough for him to hit you know with uh with h saying the weather was so bad
last year um oh I got I got thoughts on that too so we can we can we'll we'll
dive I can I've got I could I could get down to some nitty-gritty [ __ ] here and
I have on on Twitter but I just to me I think that this is a dude who and like I
don't look I don't want to talk about like you got plucked from obscurity like that's uh that's not correct but I you
know I know baseball a little bit I'm I was familiar with Kyle Tucker but until
recently when I really started like diving into the the quality of his
career I didn't realize exactly how good he was but I mean we're literally
talking about a dude who's his we'll say his first five seasons just because
again the first two were up and down again he played very sparingly but since 2020 you look at a fiveyear stretch he's
every bit as good as what Chris Bryant was over his first five years in the league with the Cubs every bit is good
potentially even better especially when you count 2020 being a very short season
and this past year Tucker had to go on the 60-day iel had some issues with his right shin I believe and so that that
limited him to 78 games so really he's got like two half seasons in there so really it's only four seasons his
production is is right there the only he's he's behind Bryant a little bit in OBP he's behind in homers but that's
only because he has 700 fewer plate appearances which is more than a full season he's only he's he's over five years so
so KB first five seasons SL 285 uh 284 with a 385 on base 516 slug 383 woba 139
homer I'm sorry 139 WRC plus 138 homers Tucker 279 average so he's about Five
Points behind 358 on base so again that now we're talking about 27 points but
not terrible 525 slugs so he's he's nine points higher than 373 woba 10 points behind 143 WRC plus
four points ahead 121 homers he's 17 behind but that's in more than a full
season's worth of plate appearances you give him another full season you're basically adding 30 to that and he's probably 152 homers ahead of
Bryant I love Chris Bryant there's not a bigger Chris Bryant fan in this country
other than Mike Bryant and maybe Kevin Fiddler um but this is insane
like this is you're taking Peak Chris Bryant and putting him on this Cubs
team which which is very exciting and and we've said you know I think the last
podcast we had we were talking about how the Cubs have to add a power bat they
have to add a power bat and most people don't think Kyle Tucker when they think of a power bat but listen like you said
last year he played in 78 games he had 23 home runs in 78 gets half half a
season yeah right so that's over four you know double that over 40 home runs
over season do you know how many so if we're looking at ISO raw power he had a
296 ISO this past season yep only two players in Major League Baseball were
better than that Aaron judge and Shai OT sh Otani that's if his
OBP right so he he had uh last season he had a 408 right so we said career was
only 350 only 358 last year he was a 408 on base you know the only person higher
than that was judge and Juan stto the only people right so I mean if you look
at the people who are around him and you look at historically like we this dude
is on par with MVP like like god tier
future Hall of Fame track type dudes and and it's and again he's overlooked on
his own team but what he has done I mean and we're looking at like last year if you like
you said he plays a full season like he had 4.2 or 4.1 war in 78
games we said the Cubs need a six plus War player they just got one and PCA
could be there and Dans B Swanson is in that if he plays to his you know like
the I again I'm not saying this one dude but like we we I think I talked about on
our on our last one it's been a while but about how with a little more consistency right and I think what we
saw like Dany Swanson just had to have core muscle surgery right and and like for a
hernia how long was he playing through that right he he he was nied up for a while and we know he was for a while
right he didn't tell the Cubs about it because he's he's like my dad dealing with kidney stones being like I'm just G
to take some Tylenol you know until this thing blocks my urer and I have a UTI
and now I have to get a stent p in and then have that [ __ ] blasted like and I've been cursing more than usual but
whatever um but that's the thing it's like dby look be out there every day but like dude if you're hurt and and I get
like you have surgery you're gonna be out for a lot longer than just if you got a a bum heel or whatever but I I'm I
am just so stoked about this move and this dude and it all it came together in like three days four days it was like
Monday like oh the Astros Tucker not Untouchable and then it was like everybody's going hey Cubs should get
and then four days later they got him like yeah this doesn't it doesn't happen that way doesn't happen that way right
we build all this stuff never Lally never happens that it doesn't how many
rumors never how many rumors do we cover and everybody gets pissed about it you know I'm like folks I don't know what you expect me to do this time of year
like I'm I'm trying to cover what's out there like these things are being reported and and you know Jed hoyer's
talked about it and and Carter Hawkins has talked about it like most tra and this is just the nature of the business that's not what we do trying to write
about rumor it's just there are most of this stuff has not just a kernel of
truth but it could be a whole ass bucket of popcorn that these talks happen and then and Jed Hoyer talked about it
falling apart on the two yard line right this stuff gets a lot of times way down the line and then just falls apart for
one reason or another the fact that this and I'm not saying the Cubs did it because everybody on social media was
talking about it but it really I tweet about it feels like we as a collective
manifested this like it to happen yeah and it did and usually it's like man
this sh like we're all oh yeah Cub should get Otani they should get SoDo and then but I you know I
really and maybe it's you know I'm I've had a sip of a couple sips to this oldfashioned so I'm not I'm not three
sheets to the I'm not even half I'm not even a quarter sheet to the wind but I wrote about this last night I tweeted
something about it but you look at things that that J and I know like dude
the the faith in in Jed Hoyer and the Cubs and Tom Ricketts to get an extension done is is nil like it does
not exist other than maybe me and and a few other people Ju Just because I love
to be hurt right I love to be disappointed it is it is my my Kink
right I don't know what it is I have this terrible disappointment Kink when it comes to the Cubs to the extent that I can look back
at some of the things that at the quote Hoyer said when he was kind of addressing not pursuing Juan
stto and and the fact that they don't make moves like this and the fact that they did and then you look back at his
words you start thinking like man I don't know dude I really feel like this
is the guy that they looked at and identified as the guy that get bu around
yes like the Cornerstone like we we are willing and and I want to I want to read
this right now this is from Jed Hoyer there is nothing that precludes us from being involved in those players speaking
about Juan stto and and dudes at the top of the market he said we did organizationally decide not to pursue
that one it doesn't mean in the future we won't but that was one we didn't and
I know a lot of people because this is pre this is you know like on Sunday or Monday the winter
meetings but I find it very interesting right it does not preclude us from being
involved doesn't mean in the future we won't and then a couple days later they go and acquire a quote unquote rental
who's maybe going to cost 300 350$ 400 million for an extension or in free
agency next season I just to me that that wasn't just Jed Hoyer
blowing smoke I really feel like knowing what we do now that that
was kind of foreshadowing now that doesn't mean they get it done he could he could be
W if he you know woda turned down a $440 million extension with the Nationals
right before he got traded now if they offered Kyle Tucker 440 I think he'd be stupid not to take it um because what
happens if he gets hurt again who knows but anyway I something about the
situation and what Hoyer said there and I won't go through all the Hawkins quotes right now I just I have a sense
that they have identified Tucker as the dude that they want to keep in Chicago
as their the star that we've talked about ad nauseum they must have because
he makes so much sense with this team it's crazy yeah he really does and I
mean you start looking about looking around him and and at the at how you can
build around a guy like that I mean what's he making $12 million this year is that right uh the the well that's
what he made I think last year so they they don't you know they don't know yet because this is his last year of arbitration so but the thing is like
he's only expected to get like 16 million bucks and so you you just you you extend him right you you renegotiate
you pay him more this year um and and then you extend them I
mean 10 years 360 million let's go do it
uh doing that but I don't know man yeah but well yeah and and and possibly uh
possibly they go you know I'm hey blow it up go even higher but and I and I do
think like they would rather go 8320 and have a $40 million a aav than 10
360 right and may maybe even bump it up who knows or8 36 [ __ ] I don't know but
but I like this is this is just I mean imagine getting this dude at for
16 million bucks yeah right and that's the thing that's that's what a lot of people are overlooking as well again
it's only for one year you're getting a top 10 hitter for 16 million bucks
that's worth a lot even again even if it's just a year and that's what they're like I'm I am so ready to start swinging
on people who were like oh but we gave up cam Smith John I'm gonna ask you this
how many hits does Cam Smith have for the Chicago Cubs he has no hits which
would be weird if he did right because he's never played for the Chicago he's played 32 Minor League games I it seems
like a good kid came out of the box like home runs in five or six straight games or
whatever it was for the Pelicans like that's awesome that's great he was their number one draft pick number 14
overall but I I just and I just got a great
0.1% Immaculate grid score by using brilin Marquez for pitched at least one
inning or pitched made at least one pitching appearance because he didn't pitch one inning and only one team ever
because bran Marquez only pitched a total of two-thirds of an inning at the end the last game of the season on the
Southside in 2020 between brillan Marquez and and Brennan Davis both of
whom spent time as a Cub's number one Prospect that's all the action they've ever gotten so I you know and it's well
what about this I'm like yeah dude I'm not saying that they all fail what I'm
saying is that prospects are just that and so if you tell me I'm gonna have to
risk the possibility that cam Smith is a dude for even if it's only a year of a
literal top 10 hit and maybe better if you look at if we extrapolate last last
season over a full campaign I'll do that six days a week and twice
on Sunday I I feel like what the Cubs gave up was less it I don't feel this it's less than what I Hayden wisneski
fine I was pissed about that move in the first place because Scotty fros is my dude but and wisneski was fine but he
was never as consistent as he want and ESO paradus I hated hated his fit at
Wrigley I didn't like the move I understood it you know better higher floor than what Morel was providing
but like that like paradus was not going to do anything at Wrigley it just was
not good and I and I thought from the beginning that it was a good flip like I
yeah dude give me all day I will take this so anyway I'm I'm getting fired up
about it but like you're excited you're excited and you should be excited because it's been a while it's been a
while do it like and I feel like Jed's doing this to save his job [ __ ] yeah he's doing it to save his job of course
he is he doesn't have a job after this year right now and it just so happens that saving his job correlates directly
to Cubs winning baseball games which makes us happy right and I I just what what I love the funny thing is like
everybody's like Hoyer needs to get more aggressive he's got to do something better he can't just keep doing this oh [ __ ] no no I didn't mean that don't
don't do that it's like what what do you guys want everyone's fine everyone's fine I mean anytime that's what
prospects are there to improve the team the big league team right I mean that's
seven they're the on doing cam Smith wasn't going to make it to wasn't going to crack the uh the big league lineup
for at probably two years at least uh I mean everybody's like he's
GNA be your third Bas of the future like folks he's played 32 games in the miners
let's feel better about Matt Shaw I I love and that's part of the thing for
for me is like there's a a very large percent of people that don't feel like Shaw can play Third Base I'm like I
don't know man I saw him playing that Premier 12 I heard Mike Soha talk about how how much improvement he made and I I
feel like he's got that ability but like Shaw is a dude who and and it right I
say this right after I came off of saying like cam Smith's only played 32 games Shaw's obviously played more than that but I feel way more strongly about
Matt Shaw than I do about cam Smith and I truly believe
maybe he doesn't end up there for the bulk of his career but I I believe Matt Shaw can hold up they let Chris Morell
play third base for most of the first half I'm pretty sure Matt Shaw can play
as good a defensive Third Base as what Chris Morell did in his time in Chicago there is no doubt and I'm sold on the
bat so like give me that give me I mean you're telling me effectively what
you've done and especially if they trade Bellinger which I think they will and should
Tucker's a big upgrade and I can get into the real nitty-gritty on this if we want to over Cody Bellinger and his fit
at Wrigley is significantly better than Bellinger has been to this point and and
I think Shaw's an upgrade over ESO paradas so boom yes that's that's really to me the more well not more interesting
but but it adds to the Intrigue and the interests of the the trade uh for Kyle
Tucker in terms of the domino effect which we're going to have to see play out because we really don't know what
it's going to be because still have Bellinger and I don't what's I mean Suzuki is he just he's just the DH like
he's not playing I mean at this point you know because and I think you know unless they
kind of flip some stuff around and and then you know somebody's like oh he's gonna demand a trade if he's a DH like
you know I know what his agent said man again we we gotta be we got to be smart about how we're doing this right
but I do I do think that what we've got here is a
deal where you they got to figure out a way to keep him make him happy figure this out because with with that
right-handed bat again and when and the funny thing is like I get it dude you want to play in the field but like his
his numbers were better as a DH because I think and and that's what's and I
don't know if if his agents you know Joel wolf is he if he's protecting say his ego or or what it is but like do
dude was lost half the time like he's a freaking space cadet out there in right
field he not looks like he's picking dandelion and chasing butterflies and to me I'm like
your if your mind is not if your if your brain is just like oh [ __ ] I just made
this terrible play and now I'm you know he was B he had like a 150 WRC plus he's
the Cub's best the last two years combined you know Bellinger was better in 23 SE was better in 24 but overall
se's better he's been their best hitter the last two years and he's been much better when he's a DH if you can retain
him if you can work through this with him you know hey you get to play a little right field we'll rotate that DH
spot a little bit put Tucker in there sometimes put Bush maybe in there you know whatever um that is a very very
potent combo and the lineup again is significantly better and it's more
balanced especially because you have against the righty you're going to have three left-handed hitting outfielders you know regularly I just I I
want everybody's talking about oh you gotta trade Suzuki now and it's like I know like he's the better but but what
team I guess here's my thing he doesn't want a DH so what team is trading for him to be the right fielder how bad is
your current situation at right field that you want to take this guy who routinely just biffs fly balls and line
drives just his his defensive score was minus 10.8 yeah
he just that was worel regularly so if you didn't like Morell at you know listen at the end of
the day he's gonna he's gonna do what the Cubs tell him to do because they're paying him to play and if he's going to
be a DH when by God he's going to be the DH and to be honest with you it it makes the most sense like keep him at DH all
year right I mean that's his position that's what he does and that's what he's going to keep doing and he'll go in
there and he'll rake like I mean you've got the right-handed bat you've got Tucker at left with the Lefty you've got
hap that that hits from both sides of the plate you got Bush as a lefty um you
know and then you got Swanson that's a righty uh Armstrong or right pca's left
yeah so you got a lot of Versatility there Matt Shaw's right-handed Miguel Amaya's right-handed I mean you you
balance that out but it's just it is it's a a significant upgrade and I a
lot of people D it was dude it was wild to me that somebody was like just keep Bellinger
he's the same as Shaw or I mean sorry the same as Tucker it'd be the same thing we were talking about you know when it was all hypothetical it's like
folks I don't think you really understood like first of all this ain't Cody Bellinger from Rookie year second
year like MVP yeah like he was good a couple years ago and it was he wasn't bad like Bellinger is not bad I want to
make sure we're we're clear on this but the thing is and this is what I've been harping on the whole time this is what concerned me a great deal about reigning
him about giving him what in the end was was a deal like the Cubs did not want
him to opt back in right like I think we can be pretty clear on that they of
course can't come out and say that but like they didn't want that and the issue
is and this is the whole thing that that red flagged me badly was just his batted ball numbers are not good and a lot of
people well that's cuz with two strikes yeah like I I get that right but he's not
taken half his Swings with two strikes right like he's this is this is an overall when we put this thing together
but if you look at it and and I think and I'm gonna hopefully be close here but out of there were 264 players that
took at least 500 swings that were tracked by stat cast and the Major
League average swing speed is around 71 and a half miles an hour and Cody
Bellinger is at nice 69 miles an hour so it's two and a half below the league
average and that's like out of 264 that's like 229th right so he's he's like close this
is new though this isn't new I mean he's been there for a while right it's been a couple years uh interestingly enough
isak perus is like 68 and a half miles an hour he's like 244 like he's he's
literal 4th percentile exit velocity which is different from swing speed but swing speed creates the swing is much
because you know a lot of times people like oh dude's throwing a 100 just just get your bat on it let the pitch do the work like H that's actually not true so
when we look at Rough numbers here the the pitch velocity accounts for the the
um the multiplier is 02 0.2 if we're looking at at x velocity this is Max x
velocity whereas swing speed is 1.2 right so we're talking about six
times as as important to exit velocity swing versus pitch and so when you look
at Bellinger's exit velocity I think it's somewhere in the neighborhood of like 88 and a half it's it's somewhere
in there and and uh and Tucker is like
71.8 I'm sorry 91.8 so like Tucker's way he's it's like three point whatever it is a 3.3 miles an hour better average
exit velocity that doesn't sound like a lot 3.3 miles an hour is pretty slow
when you look at it that way but when you consider that each mile an hour of exit velocity is worth somewhere between
four to six feet of ball travel let's say five times 3.3 now we're talking
about 16 feet on average every Kyle Tucker batted ball is GNA go 16 feet
farther than Cody Bellinger and when we're talking about wind well when you put it that way why
are you being so like practical about this you know numbers you're replying and it's crazy
right 16 Feet's a long ass way when you're talking about that basket at Wrigley that's a a ball that dies in the
middle of the warning track and one that makes it to the basket right and and so those are the things that when you look
at it because and they're both left-handed hitters so we can we can put those together um it's just th those
thing and I I will guarantee you that's something the Cubs were very well aware of right in in doing this and being
willing to to spend what they did and that's why I say like that's a it's a massive upgrade I mean not only is he
younger not not by much but like three years and that's pretty significant when you're talking about an overall commitment to somebody and the fact that
he's got a gold glove in right field and I mean so does Cody Bellinger right so that's kind of a wash but he's younger
he's got more power it it's and again he's right now entering his Prime versus
Bellinger being in the middle of it or possibly Pass based on some of the injuries that he's had particularly with
the shoulder um and so I just there is to me there is nothing not to love about
this outside of the potential limited duration and even then I look at a team
that that blew something like 26 saves that that had so many losses
that were preventable that had multiple players with just startling splits from
first to second half right that that you could you could
easily in my opinion then this is right because I say easily this is not very
objective add 10 wins to what they got I think that was last year should have
been a 90 plus win Team without having to really finesse a whole lot I don't
have to say like well if these five things had gone differently I'm like if you just had up if you had just spent a
little bit more money on the bullpen and had a couple of these dudes not suck in the first
half it's like it's over just don't have a really really
crappy month in one of these and they've got a lot of work left to do
in the bullpen I think um agree you know they they just
they signed Matthew Boyd which is the biggest head scratcher I mean like you go and you get a guy like Kyle Tucker
and it's like like genius and then you sign a guy like ma Matthew Boyd and it's like huh like where does he fit in I'm
I'm kind of like I'm I'm actually not UPS I well another pitcher yeah it'll
make a ton more sense if they For the Love of Christ they better
not go get Jesus lazardo especially if not if they given up James triantos or or Owen Casey and again I understand how
hypocritical that may sound when I said about cam Smith but the cam Smith deal involved the guy who's a top 10 hitter
in baseball Jus Lardo is like hurt all the time he's got back problems he's
never really had an outstanding season I don't see that at all but the boy thing
is like you're looking at a dude who who kind of in the mold of Walker buer like
is is right in that same right been hurt a lot has has been up and down with his
results but ended last season or this past season whatever I want to say really strong has the potential if he
can stay healthy which he hasn't proven his ability to do can be a very solid
number four if not even higher I think it makes a ton more sense if man I I dig
the Luis Castillo idea if they're able to get him to wave his no trade and come over from Seattle that'd be pretty cool
I still like the idea of berer right I I like the idea of Shane Bieber before he resigned in Cleveland so if if they
upgrade that number five over what now appears to be Javier Assad or possibly
Jord probably not Jordan Wicks because they they don't need to have four lefties in there necessarily although Garrett crochet I would have dug that
like is is there a big move out there that then you're basically making Boyd your five and if he's hurt you've easily
got depth to fill that spot I'm cool with it but it is a little bit weird that was like their first move of the
season the offseason yeah yeah it's and what are they going to have three left-handed starters
now right now yeah and that's and that's only and
that's that's why I kind of liked the crochet thing before obviously the Red Sox went and got him and every was you can't have four lefties it's like well
gar crochet is a vastly different pitcher from the other three like the Cubs have three kind of like low 90s
these guys right Boyd is in that same same with with shoda and and with Justin
steel where it's like 91 92 maybe 93 you know and crochet is like 96 97 different
arm slot and actually has reverse splits that's the thing I think people don't pay attention to they just look at him
being a lefty and it's like yeah but if your pitch mix and your style is such that you're actually better against
right-handed hitters I'm not saying it's the same thing as having a righty but it's very different because all the
other three Boyd and steel and imanaga all have traditional splits they're all
better against lefties Lefty batters right but crochet was better against Ry batter so I would see that so I I think
that's something you really have to weigh pretty significantly which again the thing with Lardo uh that doesn't make much sense to me but I I don't know
you know Castillo would be great um don't really like the three years of of
uh remaining control if he continues to kind of kind of backslide a little but
there again who who's out there right what are you gonna do but I do think that if I'm talking Luis Castillo in a
bubble different but Luis Castillo versus Javier and Javier side's been fine but if you could tell me like
you're gonna get Luis Castillo to be your four or five hell yeah dude sign me up let's go
like all of a sudden and then and then go get Kirby Yates right spend some money on the bullpen or something like that a big time strikeout dude who can
get in there and who's got save you know or the other one you know I wanted Jordan Romano he's gone I still like
Kyle Finnegan I don't know maybe he's already gone too dude with closing experience right I solidify that Bullpen
give Craig Council something where he knows that he doesn't have to spend the first three months of the Season
figuring out who the hell is gonna work the seventh eth and Ninth you know get five or six competent really strong
starters I look man it it's not just on Tucker but if you Shore up those other
areas on the pitching staff now you look at what could be with that lineup I'm I'm feeling you're feeling
good about 90 wins yeah I really am in their division yeah because who's the
Cardinals are getting worse they're spinning off their dudes yeah the the Pirates aren't pushing the gas pedal on
what they like you know they got some studs the Reds yeah the
Brewers feel like they're due for a down year they well and they just just lost Deon Williams and that do funny ANL
Central got weaker is what I tweeted when that happened well he didn't really play most of the Season like okay yeah but but he's still not
there right like I get it and they got tons of devil magic but to remove one of
the game's best closers from even that possibility you know I mean at some
point they've gota they've got to slow down right like they they get rid of Josh haer they just get better that
Devin Williams has broken back they just keep winning and like at some point it's got to stop so I I like this to be that
year I or so I will pray let's manifest that like we did the Tucker deal yeah
and so the Cubs ended up non- tendering Mike tochman Nick madreal adbert Alay Brennan Davis former
number one Prospect and Patrick wisdom how could they give up on him what if he ends up being
great uh and I don't even know did he did anyone pick him up I don't think so
they did it would have been in a minor league deal but um and so you know there's those are some pretty
significant names like those are some guys that that have been especially when you talk about Alay Davis and
Madrigal uh you know wisdom they were he was yeah time to move on from him uh
tochman I think was kind of a surprise as well and so uh but it's good to see
them kind of cleaning out their closet so to speak and and making room for some
of these young guys to come up and so I think it makes it from at least from the
the the position player perspective pretty interesting like to see what's
going to happen this coming year particularly with a bat like Tucker uh in there and you know PCA what's he GNA
do I mean that's I think that could be real fun for sure um because it feels
like like he really started Ed hitting well there towards you know the last month or two um of the season last year
and so there's there's a lot of things that we can be very excited about and
and I mean it's December 14th right I mean like the there's there's a long way
to go in this off season and a lot of moves the CBS probably are still going to make and so I don't know like I'm I
think there's a lot to be excited about here yeah I I mean I I agree right like they the have now and that that's the
other thing about the the Tucker deal right is it is it feels not certainly
not like John leester but in that vein of okay we
we're strapping on the big boy pants now right like we are we're we're gonna go
for it and now if they extend him that's that would be akin to and the John Lester deal
right of like okay the Cubs are here to play again um you know you you take that a couple
different ways but it's definitely it's it's just it's exciting it's the first truly
exciting on a broad scale not like hey I'm this Giant baseball nerd and they
picked up this pitcher who's kind of unknown but does this one thing that if they can really get him to figure it out
could maybe possibly be a dude at some point right like you in in the past we've kind of had to like convince
ourselves or I have at least that some of these moves are are really solid for them this is the first thing they've
done at a major league level in the last several years that is worthy of of excitement
and there was so it was it was great there were a bunch of people who I saw you know like one way the other kind of
I don't know and so you know some dude was like yeah you know sometimes I get a little concerned about this or this but then I remember that they just traded
for k Tucker and then I get happy again I'm like hell yeah dude that is the Outlook to have they just added a top 10
bat let's go like let's worry about the future in the future let's be excited
let's enjoy this how many times like some people are totally stuck and like I
they're just gonna pan everything the Cubs do right because they just want to be angry they just wake up in the
morning and piss in their own Cheerios not somebody else's their own
and then they'll it be like this tastes like piss it's like yeah dude like that's what happens when you're just
bitter all the time just take a moment right to
enjoy the Christmas spirit and the Cubs giving us this gift of exactly T the
season yeah TI the freaking season let's go let's let's be Clark Griswald let's
be unabashedly positive watch five minutes Christmas
Vacation um you know I'm looking at the 40 man right now like Matt mvis is still on the 40 man I mean you know I don't
know that he's going to stay there uh there there's some people on the 40 Man uh I don't know what's going to happen
with Master bony um how is he how is he still on the
roster by the way like yeah what uh yeah and so those are the
obvious ones and then the Cubs signed G G Workman Good Old Gage Workman well they
you know they picked him up from yeah he's on the roster for now and he's on the roster and it's just like
was this just a waste of money like it's not my money I mean some of it
might be but you know at the end of the day they're G they would they had to pay $100,000 to where did they where did he
come from but uh the Tigers the Tigers yeah I mean they had to pay him 100,000 or something like that
they got pay it to the Tigers they gotta yeah they'll have to they get the first write a first refusal or something like
that yeah I I know he's a third baseman and you know it's kind of like it it
feels like providing depth to that spot knowing that they were going to make this move or wanted to he's a double a
guy I mean he's he hasn't right for like three years leagu yeah for like three years and and pretty big strikeout
numbers they reduced a little bit but like I think if I'm recalling I'm not looking this up but like
27.8% I think this year at dou but was at like 40% a couple years
ago uh but still not gonna like if that's the dude
you're leaning on to be like a okay you're gonna be our our backup for Matt Shaw at that spot right now let's we do
something else I don't know but hey $100,000 which you know back when Carl
yky got it you know people were like no baseball players worth that much and now you know you pay 100 Grand to pick up
some dude ATA on the rule five right it's changed 765 million is kind of
reset things but um I I don't know I I feel like it was just more one of those
flyers I would be I don't want to say shocked I'll be pretty surprised if he
makes it to the beginning of the Season still on the 40 man roster yeah moves
they'll make but it feels like one of those were like Hey we're really trying to gotta be on the 26 man well just
active yeah so oh yeah that's that's right so yeah I let me rephrase that then I
will be shocked because I'm I'm backing myself up because like why like what is
that's the thing that's really shocking to me is it wasn't so much I mean if it was just like him being on the 40 Man ah
yeah you can see that kind of sticking around but I mean keeping him on the 26 man that's where it becomes because to
move him down off the 20 six man I believe he has to go through waivers
yeah he does and then and and the Tigers can get him back um
but if based on what I was just you know he wasn't protected based on some of
those other things I think the chances are pretty good that he gets through
waivers and they can keep him I would imagine right and so now that provides you think so but you don't know I mean
maybe Detroit wants him back I have no idea I yes something tells me I who
knows right who knows for him there I mean if they get him back I don't know if they have to keep him on their 40 man
I don't think they do because then he he got it's waivers right but they gota what they gotta pay like 10 grand or something like that to get him back I I
know the the rules have Chang slightly but it's still like I just I I really when I when I write that
stuff up like when the CBS pick up a dude on a minor league deal when they do a rule five pick rare though it may be
and I know they got a knuckle ball guy in the in the minor league phase of that that I didn't even write up it's been
kind of kind of hectic but I I just I do my best to look at these things from the
eye of okay there's a reason they acquired this guy right which
again face to be a reason the reason they acquired him is because he's cheap
that's what people you know it's like okay dumbass like yes that that's why
they did it oh yes because they just wanted to add another player with limits on your organizational overall roster
like 180 or whatever yes they just went out and goty got a guy specifically because he's cheap no there's I mean
they're look they're Scout they have so much data so many Scouts looking at these things scouring through them
there's something they saw and yeah I mean this kid has little pop he he's he's you know can maybe he can really
pick it at third base I don't know um that's tough to really discern clearly haven't watched and played looking at
you know St cast to baseball reference doesn't really tell you much and so it's
possible but I feel again it feels like hey they they got rid of Mel they just
got rid of paradus so you're depth that they're assuming they will get rid of Master bony uh wisdom is gone Madrigal
is gone so all these that's that right there is at least four guys who have
played a vast majority of your third base Innings over the last two to three
seasons that are gone and so building back some depth organizationally at that
position is fairly important even though and and got rid of Cam Smith right so there's even though he hasn't played
there yet that's more so to me it's like hey it's a $100,000 flyer which is
nothing it's a lottery ticket on a guy we pass him through waivers if he makes it through we've got more depth at that
position in Iowa or Tennessee or whatever and so that to me that's
probably all it is is because there's no way they can legitimately be projecting
this guy to give him Innings at the major league level yeah yeah well if anything I I think we got way more to
talk about than we normally do and so that's kind of exciting I mean it feels like uh yeah it does feel like Christmas so uh I'm pretty excited about that and
I think going into these it'll probably who knows right I mean it could be quiet over the next couple weeks it could not
be quiet but we'll see what happens but I think uh looking forward to uh future
episodes maybe try to do it I mean I was traveling so that's why we didn't we haven't done one in about three or four
weeks I think four weeks maybe uh but we'll try to get back on a on a more
regular schedule maybe every couple weeks uh we can get a show in probably I
would guess around between Christmas and New Year's maybe sounds good yeah I got a lot of PC
coming up I got nothing else to do there you go yeah sitting around you know get on the podcast real quick and oh
hopefully we have something to talk about uh if nothing happens over the next two weeks we might not do it uh
we'll come back here and talk more about Kyle Tucker yeah we could do that maybe something will have changed I doubt it
but uh definitely a lot to to look forward to for spring training coming up uh I think it's going to be exciting and
fun and and it's cool that we don't have to to sweat like we have every season
every offseason it seems like you know you're just waiting for that big move to
happen and it just never really happens and then spring training starts and and
yeah I mean I guess when the Cub signed Bellinger that was probably one of the biggest moves that they've made in a long time um but this this to me like to
your point is is a much more legitimate uh move that that should put
them in a really good place this year and and hopefully you know hopefully within the next two weeks we find out
that the Cubs have extended Kyle Tucker and signed him to a multi-year contract
yeah as the centerpiece of their team that would feel great that would give us something more to talk
about so I dig it we'll see if if that transpires but until then it's been good
it's been good uh getting back together with you and spending some
time you know just kind of of it's like the deep breath moment you know you're
like like I feel like the Cubs can do well yeah well I I
like yesterday when all this was going down there were some other things there were some rumor post and I you know I
wrote I don't know three or four or five I could look at it and I know caner had
a had a piece that went up that I got out there late um but I you know I think
so look at published on 12 13 holy crap okay so we go back so I wrote a piece
Danny rocket had a srant show then caner had a piece about some
rumors again Kyle Tucker and and then I had the piece about Kyle Tucker then I had a brief one about Carson Kelly and
then I wrote another thing about Kyle Tucker and then there was a rundown so like I I wrote and published one two
three four holy [ __ ] one yeah four four pieces
I wrote like several thousand words yesterday which I don't know if everybody understands how much that is
um you know while also like I was in the tattoo chair when the Tucker news broke
so I couldn't really right about the time and I had to drive home and and kind of be manic in terms of getting that out there and then my son and I
went to a movie so there like all this stuff I'm doing and and it's kind of nice I'm like glad they haven't done
anything because I I really still think they're going to trade Bellinger pretty soon here but I'm glad that hasn't happened because I tell you what like
and it's interesting because I still haven't had anybody take me up like the people who turn into real [ __ ] on especially on Facebook and I'm like all
right here's your challenge you know give me a 500w article on the topic of your choosing I'll go ahead and put it
out there not once has anybody ever done that and most of them don't even respond after that point because they know damn
well they couldn't do it that's 500 Words and I don't want to go back and look at it but I would guess I was
somewhere in a neighbor neighborhood of 4,000 words
yesterday which is like a lot if you've ever written still like that's a lot and
I'm not trying to like like it's just it's kind of mentally exhausting even though it's fun when the topics are good
like that so um I'm just asking the Cubs not to do anything for like the rest of
the weekend yeah just sort of sit back you know I think they've done it rest Jed God rested for a day you could take
two right hopefully hopefully they do something before Christmas or a couple
things uh would be my hope and I'd be really surprised if they don't um I mean
and you know I mean like Juan stto um the the gr crochet
trade uh like those things really opened up the market and and made it so that things can really start happening much
more quickly than they have in you know the last couple of offseasons and so it
feels like the Cubs can really be in a good place they are in a good place but can really be like more selective and
and and kind of perfecting the roster instead of trying to figure out core
pieces of the roster going into January yeah for sure and that's a nice feeling
so all right well great uh thanks for joining us everyone it's been a a good show and uh we will Circle back with you
uh in a couple of weeks or so and until then have a happy holidays and thanks
for joining us see you that's it
[Applause]