foreign [Applause]
[Applause] welcome to the show everybody it's uh Wednesday November 9th and uh and it's
kind of an exciting time for the Cubs I mean the most exciting it's been with the
most uh optimism uh it that there's been in in a long time just just free agency starts
tomorrow so it's kind of like the world is our oyster there's uh there's a the Cubs have a very strong minor league
system they've got some pretty good pieces in place in Chicago a lot of questions there that we'll address here
in the show but uh but definitely a a lot of reasons to be very optimistic
heading into tomorrow let's hope we feel the same level of optimism or more uh
heading into spring training yeah I mean we'll see there's been it feels like there there's been a lot of uh a lot of
tempered expectations lately with uh with some of the reports coming out about you know uh Jesse Rogers is out
there with one of them I think you know we saw some stuff from sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney where
you know hey you might want to pop the brakes a little bit on the whole shortstop Pursuit thing
um that that the that intelligent spending deal is like yeah if one of these guys Falls to him but the Cubs don't want to go to the eight years it's
going to take to land one of these guys uh you know so so again I I think it's
it's interesting now part of that is because you know you're getting the reports you're you're hearing from Jed
Hoyer who is notoriously uh veiled I guess and in a different way
from what Theo Epstein was in terms of what he wants to do and so I think some of that is we we've
heard them connected for so long it's a very interesting thing to me that all of
a sudden we're kind of hearing this it sounds like a concerted effort on the part of the Cubs anyway Correa is
getting more than five years um but but it sounds like something
that they're kind of putting out there and I and I again I don't know how much of that is setting expectations I don't know how much of it is just smoke it's
very difficult to tell but I I do believe and have for a while that they're going to go aggressively after a
couple of of mid-range type targets you know whether that be uh kodai Singa and
or Jose Abreu that they would want to lock some of these guys down earlier who aren't going to require the huge money
to to sort of set that stage a little bit better for maybe what that allows them to do I certainly don't think
they're going out of the gate and trying to go here you go Carlos will give you eight years and 300 million dollars or
whatever yeah I mean that approach would be basically the same Playbook they brought into play last year right I mean
oh The Identical Playbook really to be honest I mean where they signed Suzuki and uh
right at the end although you know and we heard the talk it's like they were they wanted to go like seven years on
Korea you know but I but I also don't think that they were doing that I don't think they win as much with the
intention they certainly didn't say as much like I still think they want to try to be competitive I have a very very hard time believing if they're not
seriously in the negotiations with one of those top hitters right you say we need to add I mean
Hoyer has said that we need to add a lot of power to the lineup we need to be able to blow teams out we need to be able to beat them um oh God no bread oh stop it oh I'm
sorry I'm looking at the Andrew Chaffin Brad shapes the guy I went to school with um I I should look at the comments bad
enough to do but there's comments for the people on the podcast Evan is looking at the comments because we uh
yeah no we should not get chafing at like seven or eight million dollars a year who's like a mediocre reliever at
this point that's I mean he's cool he's neat guy I guess but anyway um yeah if they don't go after one of
those big hitters I mean I I know they have some guys coming up uh Matt Mervis right I I think you know my my uh belief
in him is not a secret but I yeah I'm just having a really hard time if they
don't go after one of the top pitchers and that's the thing that Jesse Rogers reported like they're not in on degrom or Verlander or rodon
and he said he'd be surprised if one of the shortstops fell to him now again some of that is he's got kind of a stick
that he goes with right and I get that uh but we're hearing it from some other people as well so I I just man if you
don't get one of those top at least one of those top guys I just don't see it I
don't get it yeah um I mean it feels like the Cubs like if they
don't do anything like have they convinced themselves because you know in the second half of last year they were
39 and 31 a 557 winning percentage which is good right it's good enough to
probably get you into the playoffs with the expanded version they're going with now and so
do you think there's a world where the Cubs brass has actually convinced themselves that they don't need to add
that much more because they've got basically what they need to win based off of what they saw in the second half
even though we all know their offense just isn't going to play if that offense
if you had a similar offense heading into the playoffs you would get swept probably in the first series because the
pitching is so much so Superior once you get to the playoffs that you've got to have some offense if the front office
believes that they're idiots yeah that's pure and simple I mean they're that that would be the dumbest thing and and I
forget what it was like and somebody mentioned it that they thought well they wouldn't go big this off season because there are too many holes to fill
okay that you know that super dumb um all right I've got a leak in my roof
I've got a couple leaks in my roof so rather than patch those leaks I'm
just gonna wait until the whole thing collapses into my home and then I'll fix the roof well that's
stupid yeah but that's I mean so so let's say they don't go out and get you
know one of the shortstops which feels like is kind of a must do if they're really going to be serious about
competing adding power there to the infield and then there if they find themselves
in a position where they're you know close to first in the NL Central uh at the All-Star breaker near the
trade deadline and then you don't want to be in the position where you're having to go and trade the guys in your farm system
you know and probably not get the same value that you would otherwise because you need to upgrade before the trade
deadline so that's my biggest fear is is that they find themselves in that position where they're competitive and
then they have to trade away guys where right now they have the ability to address that with dollars yeah and that
and that's the thing is and they've said the whole time and we've seen I mean the the payroll was dropping off again it's
dropped off significantly over the last several years it's dropping off again and it'll drop much further after next
after this coming year or the next year whatever we want to say right it continues to drop so they can add
meaningfully this winter and still add meaningfully
again and I know what people talk about I know what oyer said you know and you want to wait for the prospects mature or
whatever but hey they're not all going to work out and B as you mentioned if you're going to have to trade like you
have to trade good teams bring on better players you you have to trade from your farm system eventually
that's the reality of it well the best way to know the right trades to make is to go out there and ensure that you have
players locked into spots at the major league level so now you know hey shortstop in third or short and second
or whatever those are those are locked down now we know if we've got a the next
shortstop who's kind of in line to come up and we don't really have another spot for him well he now becomes a trade
piece that we can that's how glamor Torres work right because they knew they wouldn't have a spot for them for the
next several years in Chicago so they're able to go out and make that move because of it little did they know yeah
and and boy how'd that boy both of the two of the people involved in that whole thing ended up being just tremendous
but um it's those are the kind of things they they have to be able you you can
buy certainty right whether what do we want a degree of certainty right not 100 you can never buy a hundred percent but
spending money allows you to purchase greater certainty than simply waiting on a prospect to mature and develop right
and and so and you can always then if you have somebody in the spot and you got this Prospect you really love you can figure out a way to move pieces
around and make that work I I am concerned you know and hell and maybe it's Bogarts
maybe Bogarts ends up the last projection was he'd only be getting like six years and 168 million well that's
two years less than 100 million less than some of the projections for Turner and Korea and Turner uh apparently wants
to stay East Coast anyway so I don't know that that's even an option I just I don't see Turner I mean I think Turner would be a good fit but like a long-term
contract for him he's aging I just I don't like speed goes away a little earlier
three-year deal that'd be great oh yeah maybe which isn't gonna happen right but I was saying like hey if you can get
again Bogart's a little bit older but if you're only talking six years you know that's that's a much different sick the
difference between six and eight you're lopping off those last two years and it's actually the the projection of
crying from Kylie McDaniel at um ESPN like I said it's a hundred million
dollars less so we're also the aav was even lower than those other guys like everything was lower which was kind of
surprising to me but you know I I do think after last year and like watching what the Rangers did with uh with Seeger
and Simeon like I don't think we see something like that again I mean Seeger got that monster deal for 325 I don't
think Korea's I mean maybe he ends up getting I don't think he gets 10. I seriously doubt he gets 10 like some of
that may come down and that's where I wonder to what extent right and maybe this is
like we take it at face value and the Cubs are seriously not interested in that but I also wonder that they have
been so heavily implicated because you see all these things whether it's Heyman you heard John morosi saying we're going
to be hearing about Korea and the Cubs for weeks to come yet you've got Jim Bowden you've got all these people connecting the Cubs to some of these
guys several of them in many cases yeah and I wonder how much of that was them kind of now wanting to back off of that a little
bit in order to not you know not not say they're not going to be it not to say they're not going to be involved in it
but to maybe slow down the idea of this really early bidding war on this because
we know this stuff's going to drag out for a while this is not like these guys are all going to start signing contracts tomorrow or on Friday you know or even
the weekend I would you know maybe some of them in December but this this will go for a
while so I think a lot of this is is a message that the Cubs want to have out there
which I get to an extent but on the other hand if you're going we're going to spend we're gonna spend and I know they talked
intelligent but we're going to be competitive we want to do all this stuff boy it would feel really really Hollow
if they go back out and only get the kind of deals whether it be for senga and Abreu which would be very similar to
what they did with with strowman and Suzuki if you do a couple more of those kind of mid-level-ish deals and then
some ancillary stuff around there that you're unserious about really competing
right that well it's not clear what you're trying to do at that point right because it's like I think yeah if you look at the guys who
are you know kind of on the verge from the minor league system and you've got some pictures down there so that's fine
but when you start talking about power bats I mean you're limited right you've got Mervis and Davis pretty much Canario
looked like he was going to come up but obviously he's out for probably all of next season or you know probably not
going to be in Chicago next year at least where the Cubs were concerned certainly yeah and so from a power
perspective you've got to go out and acquire power I mean it's obvious there is no power and if you've got Ian Happ
who's not resigned or extended uh you know fallen off after next year you're
losing the Wilson Contreras so there's a power bat you know I wouldn't even call Contreras a power bat but he had more
power in the Cubs lineup he was a power bat because they have they have no power yeah and they literally have to go out
and get power if they're serious about competing yeah they they have to and I
mean and Jed Hoyer has said as much and that's the bothersome part is like you can't say we're going to spend from our
resources and you can't say we need to add power and then go out and not spend resources and not in power the wisdom is
not getting it done right Frank Swindell not getting it done those things don't work together and if you know again it
can be you don't have to go get right degrom
and Korea and somebody else but singer gonna bring who's not getting it done
the other thing that would be weird is like to me and and we've heard multiple times again from Bruce Levine uh we also
Jessie Rogers said that that the White Sox are moving Andrew Vaughn over to first base which again is another sign
that that they're not either willing or able to to bring or brayu back
but getting a two-year deal on an aging veteran like that now again we could argue that like oh it's moved with butts
and seats because people know the guy because he's from Chicago he played for the White Sox but like Jose Abreu is not somebody who increases
season ticket sales uh on his on his own right and so that is a move if they were
to make it Rizzo's not coming back he's not Rizzo's not coming back we'll talk I'll address
that after this you don't go and sign Jose Abreu for two years
if you don't plan to compete now I I could have said the same thing
about strowman I thought that was sort of the case that is another signal that you you've got a guy who you feel like kind of rounds out your lineup kind of
helps bring along your first baseman the future that sort of thing so here's the deal with Rizzo Rizzo was never coming
back to the Cubs period now I I suppose I could end up eating my words but this is you know I'm not just making this up
right I have this on on fairly good authority there were Bridges burned there Rizzo was the most vocal of the guys who left
last year who who definitely and Rizzo has had words kind of publicly about and toward the front office anyway
he wasn't happy with the way things went down um and now he has a qualifying offer
here's the thing so even if if we set aside pride and ego and all that stuff there's no way the Cubs go out and sign
for a dude they used to have who they know he's got some back issues who no longer has a short who wouldn't
have the short porch at Yankee Stadium to Aid those home run numbers for a two or three year contract that
he's going to want to get right when they're also going to have to give up a draft pick an international
pool money because he's got a qualifying off there's no way that's not happening it doesn't make any sense at all and for
Rizzo's Market it doesn't make sense for him to come to Chicago because he's not going to get as much now from another
team as what he would get from the Yankees so the the Rizzo thing was not
going to happen Rizzo is if Rizzo's like 38 39 years old yeah or you know if for whatever reason
the Yankees are like no this is it we're not even going to negotiate with you we're just giving you this one year and literally no other team will give him
anything and the Cubs are like here's 25 million for two years right and that was his last offer but it it's funny here's
what I laugh about somebody was like I saw this yesterday so I'm just like oh that's pretty silly to opt out of 16
million dollars when you're kind of an injured you know 31 year old's like dude he just gotta qualifying off like he
guaranteed himself at least 3.65 million dollars more than he would have made it was a very smart move on his part
because he's guaranteed more money yeah exactly he's yeah he's like yeah exactly
so he he had a contract for next year that was it 15 16 and so this guarantees
him close to 20 right yeah 1965. yeah and so obviously why wouldn't you do
that and I think it but I think it also is the Yankees yeah want him there next year
so they just agreed to pay him more really at the end of the day but do you think the Yankees are interested in
negotiating a contract with them or are they just so you think they will negotiate a contract versus just keep
them on the one year yeah I mean because and I think he I think he wants to be there as well this is kind of one of
those procedural things again right like uh his his desire his reported desire is
to stay there in New York with the qo attached it almost assures that he's gonna have to be there right because I I
can't see another team wanting to Forfeit those penalties and also giving
him the money I mean there's there's projections all over the place the one I saw was you know Bowden who
for everything I I don't really care for his work Jim Bowden at the athletic but he does a really good job with these
salary projections and things like that he had projected three year 54 million which you know
maybe a little on the high side yeah right if we look at it that way
um because that would be what 18 uh 18 a year but uh but
and and again I don't know if this is coincidental or not but Rizzo made 16
million with the Yankees this year if they were to pay him 54 that's the same 70 million dollars over four years that
the Cubs had offered him except it was over five years so the the salary figure being there and if that's the case then
Rizzo absolutely one out and and I think like we said on here before here's
another thing whether or not the deal with the Cubs was was legit whether it would have taken it or what like the last two years
it comes have been awful he has been on a playoff team and a
World Series favorite for a while obviously that didn't work out but at least he was playing on a competitive team over these last two uh the you know
year and a half last last end of last season and then this past one so um you haven't won anything you know
they haven't but but would you rather be fighting I mean being in New York obviously would you rather be playing
there on a team that's winning 100 games or would you rather be on a team that's that looked like it was going to lose 100 for most of them so I think that's
you know if you're looking at trying to if if I have my best chance to win another championship
um you know that that's what I'm looking at too in addition to the money but I mean I think he'll he'll end up making out better in New York than he would
anywhere else but he's not he's not coming back he he's going to be he's 33 now he's going to be 36 if he were to get a
three-year deal very hard to think I mean I would imagine that if he gets a three-year deal it's a it's around 15
million a year I'd be surprised if it was much more than that just because the fact yeah I could see it with like some
incentives or something right you throw some incentives on the thing maybe maybe you throw in an option with a buyout or
whatever to kick some of that money back down the road um you know that sort of thing they have to be with New York because it's like it
doesn't seem like like you said who's going to go out there and really pay for him you know it's at this point
uh yeah it's just hard to see but you never know yeah I mean it could happen
um but I think I I think again New York can probably give him more years again because they don't have penalties right
they have the qualifying Law Firm so they can resign him um and again I I think he's gonna
I would say he ends up like you said 15 16 maybe 17 million a year he ends up
doing two to three years right he'll and it'll make some sense for for him
and uh and whatever and yeah does he end up making a little bit less than what the Cubs but this is this this goes back
to where I was talking about before and why he would not have come back anyway and you know we kind of I won't
relitigate this but in his mind the Cubs lowballed him he was not pleased with
the offer that they got and so he was not willing to to negotiate up to a certain point right so it's like
all right hey uh you know spring training is coming to a close nope we're done that you know you're not serious
about meeting me where I want to be on my offer we're done now and so a lot of people look to say oh look how the Cubs
offer stacked up I'm like yeah but if Rizzo would had a season in 21
like he had had let's say in 19 because he's kind of sucked in 20 right but if
he got back to his old ways in 19 or even like he had this past year with a bunch of home runs
now all of a sudden that market is much greater for him at the end of that the the fact that he and he came on strong
for the Yankees right there actually like right at the beginning after the trade he had that hot stretch where he's
like knocking in an RBI in every single like six straight games or something but um you know his performance hurt him I
think that's where we look back on it but but again that's what he he looked at that as if you know this is
the guy who screamed respect me you know a while back um and I think that's kind of what he
felt toward the Cubs and I don't think he felt that he was getting the proper respect I don't believe that he was going to be an option for them
regardless he was a weird situation too because here you had a core of players who won the World Series and then they
just you know it's it's just and so it's it's like there was a sense that that
they didn't really want those they wanted to reset things and they have speaking of that uh we did get good news
on Brendan Davis uh the other day close to 100 so you know we were really
concerned with him being uh held out of the games in the efl we didn't find out what was going on until you know several
weeks after he left the game early found out it was back tightness and now uh we
find out that he's close to 100 so that is a huge relief uh if you're if you're the Cubs if
you're a fan and if you provided we can put trust in what they said because uh
also didn't say it was the back he just said General soreness again so he didn't even he wasn't even forthright about
what it was so but but yeah I I think they don't want to they're trying to quell the concern there right yeah but I
I think as as we uh as we had eluded you know or or it kind of speculated so we
speculated initially that it was it's probably a back tightness thing you know and then and then I think shortly after
our last show or two weeks ago was when zahadev came out and said that's what it was yeah and uh you know and then it was
probably a precautionary thing because it's one of those like hey man if you take all that time off and then you try to jump back into it and then you know
you're doing all this other stuff it's it feels like one of those where like let the guy you know yeah like hey I'm
feeling something here and you tell a trainer and they're like okay nope nope you're done all right you're shut down
you got a cricketer neck sorry nope no more play for you yeah so which is let's
hope that's the the issue anyway because uh man the Cubs have been snake bit with a lot
of their uh injuries yeah he really needs to step up and Miguel Amaya uh there's a word that
he is coming back from is I'm just going to call it a foot injury because Frank technical term yeah yeah and uh but he
should be back in training and then Ed Howard is to resume probably to resume
like baseball activities which I imagine is just maybe just running around and throwing uh playing catch uh after
Thanksgiving so that's you know in like next week or something two weeks whatever
um and so this is all good man this is lining up really interesting let me ask you just a random question off off these
guys but PCA will PCA be in Mesa for spring training
well he'll have to be you mean will he be with the big league club or yeah I mean he'll definitely be in Mesa because
you know of course minor Leaguers are down there too but uh yeah no I think I think they'll have him in uh I think
they'll have him spend a lot of the time in Major League Camp to try to just to be around those guys I mean he'll make
sure my parents do some some games too I don't think he'll be you know because of of all the 40-man stuff that I have
going on but but I think they'll have him hanging around those guys a lot more than maybe what a normal double a lift
because he should I mean he should start the season at double A right unless they're going to jump him all the way past Tennessee which I doubt
I think they want to have him in Tennessee seeing some of that pitching that would make sense yeah there's no reason not to because you can call him
up straight from Tennessee too right absolutely yeah I think that I think that makes sense he'll be he'll be
spending a lot of time and uh you know and we've seen that with a lot of guys before kind of those top prospects they
want them to be around the big league players and and in that environment seeing those guys prepare just even
though again it's it's certainly different during spring you know than it is when when the guys can knock off
after three Innings and go play a round of golf right it's not quite this but I think certainly working out with them
and part of that depends too on like who do they get to play center field right because who the hell was Pete Crow
Armstrong going to learn from last year you're going to take Rafael Ortega out there to show him how to run routes hell no be the other way around like hey
here's yeah you know some of the rats I saw PCA run I I do think that he doesn't
need much help in that that area but yeah but if they were to bring somebody you know if it's a Kevin Kiermaier if
it's uh if they were to work a little trade with Michael a Taylor for Michael a Taylor you know with the with the
Royals somebody like that who's been around who has played Elite level defense before and who can just kind of
go through some of that stuff and maybe you know again there I I think Crow Armstrong is is one of those rare
talents who you know his his body control
um right we've talked about the proprioception before and uh and kinesthetic feel is what he refers to it
as the same thing uh just kind of sliced in into two different really big words but it is such a like he he's got he's
worked really really hard at it so I don't want to pretend like this is just some skill that he was born with that
that he has that but but I do think he's got a better innate athleticism and a way to
translate that athleticism onto the baseball field then then what most have like kind of like an Andrew Jones
somebody like that who could play and even Jim Edmonds if you want to go there I know a lot of people probably don't want to give a a former Cardinal even
though he was also a former Cubs great the kind of guys who can just they can play shallower than most because they
know how to get those jumps and they're they're able to kind of sacrifice their body on some of those Dives and make
those incredible plays we've seen that with him how much ground he can cover and that's not just a matter it is I
mean you have to be fast to be able to do it but you also have to have tremendous instincts and understand how
to get your body through space when you're diving and jumping and um all that kind of thing so I I just
he's one of those guys I'm really really looking forward although it does scare me a little bit because the brick wall
at Wrigley and I just kind of Wonder yeah you know what I'm running into that thing yeah I don't I want that because
he you know Aaron Rowan style or whatever um but yeah I'm I'm really interested to
see it but I do kind of Wonder I think more for the um probably just the hitting aspect of it too right if you get some of those
professional guys in there if you do kind of hopefully revamp that lineup a little bit and and also get those
veteran guys a little bit more familiar with him right because eventually he is going to
be up there and playing amongst them so yeah I'm interested to see how that plays so I mean as it stands right now
going into spring training I think there's a lot to be excited about if anybody has any thoughts of maybe going
to spring training if you've never been to spring training before I would definitely say this is the year
to get down there I know it was very exciting and you know when the Cubs are good and obviously after the World
Series was amazing but so it's not like that but it is going to be there is going to be a lot to be excited about
between minor league Camp which is going on at the same time as big league uh spring training
you're going to have just I mean the backfields there's going to be baseball every single day that's going on down
there with with guys that are going to make make it into the big leagues and and probably have a big impact
um between the big league team and the minor league guys and then you throw in
the possibility and the likeliness that they end up signing whoever they end up signing there's going to be a lot of
excitement and I know you're planning to come down um you know a bunch of people are planning to come down the World Baseball
Classic is going to be going on during the same time I mean it's gonna be man
it's gonna be fun I'm looking forward to it March yeah that should be really I'm I really really want to get to the WBC I
mean that's that's the biggest thing and I missed it the last time if you if you recall we went to the game at Sloan
where the Cubs scrimmaged against team Japan I mean it's an official-ish game and and that was when she Ohio Tony was
supposed to play but he had sprained his ankle rolled it or whatever like the previous week and didn't end up
traveling to that game with them and playing with him and so I was really disappointed because then it was kind of like and that's when we saw some random
dude named David Bowie hit a home run and just like didn't have his name on there wasn't even up on the screen like who the hell is this guy
um anyway we figured it out later of course but um but yeah I I would I would love to
get to some of those because and not even to go to a game that the US is playing in I'd love to go to like Puerto
Rico in the Dominican and just I don't know are they are they going to be down I'm not sure I don't know who's I don't
know what teams in it yeah they're gonna be here whatever it is I'm sure there'll be
something completely one of them and if Japan is playing in that one
yeah you want to say so so if it's Japan then obviously that could be very exciting
is Otani playing for him too I know Seiya is maybe Sangha I'm gonna pull it up yeah
yeah well yeah I guess he he conceptually should be signed by then
okay here we go I'm looking right here oh no it's uh Japan's actually playing in Japan so it's a U.S Canada Mexico and
Colombia ah I mean it'll still be cool but like
that's not that's not as good yeah that's that's not nearly as fun as uh man you watch some of those like the the
Caribbean Nations and it just like just oh the vibe in that place would be so
fun uh the place to be is Miami dude Puerto Rico Venezuela Israel and Dominican Republic
in Miami how does Israel fit in that mix I don't know I don't know ah come on
over um that seems like Robert stock is is pitching for a team Israel former Cubs
reliever there you go it's been over in uh I think uh we've been in Korea I think uh
this last year he and his wife just had a baby not too long ago so that's cool uh but no I mean it's a fun stuff like
that it's just it's just such a different deal and I think what we you know what we've seen like unlike the
All-Star Game and I'm not saying guys don't care about the All-Star game but it's still not this you don't take it as seriously
while also having like this is the I think the highest level of fun
plus competitiveness that you can find in something like this like Beyond even the Olympics and things
like that like this is a big deal and it's nice that it's also happening during spring training it's not like
they've got to try to take a break in the middle of a season or anything like that like it's happening at a time when
you know they're not playing quote unquote real games anyway so and and like if you look at that us team man
like that that's the key here just look at like basketball on some of the Olympics or World Championships and
we've seen it baseball too before where you know it's like the Pro Bowl in football where you know the first five
guys like Mitchell trubisky made the Pro Bowl because the first six quarterbacks who were voted into it who couldn't go
or didn't want to go and so I think with this it's like no like they want to play they want to be a part of this it's such
a unique uh experience that they don't get to have very often kind of like the World Cup is for soccer in a way so uh
that part's cool because you know these guys care and that's that's what's really kind of neat so
um yeah and you probably see a lot of guys some of those other squads that you know or maybe some up-and-comers that
can make a name for themselves that that might not otherwise have been uh you know on the radar maybe because of
limited MLB action or or maybe none so uh that's just that's fun stuff I'm looking forward to it
yeah it'll be cool um and then we've got something that I wanted to touch on that you had touched
on actually was a a report about um Matt Mervis and and some comments
that Carter Hawkins made which really just reinforced what we've all been saying uh you know all along which is
Matt Mervis really belongs in Chicago arguably belonged in Chicago this season uh but if there was ever any doubt uh
he's certainly uh proving that he belongs there in the AFL he's there's nothing more he can do no you know I
mean if he doesn't start the season in Chicago I I don't I don't want to say I'll be shocked because I think the Cubs are
capable of doing things that just make no sense but from a just a complete logical perspective he absolutely should
be the first the the first baseman on day one next season
yeah I mean at the very least you know and let's say they go outside somebody like Jose Abreu right and the two kind
of platoon a little bit and Mervis spends more time at DH right while he's still you know because I think that's
part of it is as a as a two-way player he's a pitcher at Duke you know it's not as if he was in the field and he dh'd a
lot there was one summer he had hurt his shoulder so he DHS the whole time and didn't play in the field so he does have
maybe a little bit more of a limited I did some DH this year too right so maybe
it takes a little while to keep working on some things over at first base but he should absolutely be on the roster he should be an everyday player whether
it's DH or first base and it you know and I've seen a couple people out there one way they'll either question it and
it was funny oh next Michael Hoff power it's like okay let's let's dial that one
back a little bit right there's there's all kinds of things we could look at but but I think that you know so many times
people don't truly understand you know they'll look at obviously hey started calling him Mash Mervis
that's what they look at they see the home runs they see the RBI totals but you're looking at a guy who's I think
he's walked right at South Bend was like six percent somewhere and they were four percent maybe and then it jumped to like
eight something at Double A and then it jumped at 10 something at Triple A and at the same time his strikeout rates
went down and down and down at the Arizona fall league 61 plate appearances he struck out six times and hit six home
runs so I mean that's ridiculous that that doesn't happen right and this is
and the thing is too this is not part of this isn't some random like a lot of
these guys people will talk about it it'll be some dude who was like nothing nothing then busted out out of
nowhere that no one expected and you could say that about Mervis but realistically uh you know he was the
first person as soon as the draft ended within a minute two minutes whatever the Cubs were on the phone to him right the
Yankees wanted him too they saw some of the stuff in him they worked specifically through it a lot of what he had to change was was mental uh in terms
of how he's approaching his at-bat so uh you know when when people or or some people say oh you know it's always moved
pretty quickly from uh single a all the way up he needs more experience like no he doesn't we saw how he destroyed
double a pitching we saw he did how he destroyed AAA pitching and now we've seen what he's done now are there some
things he's gonna have to fight through and learn from yeah absolutely but for a Cubs team that needs power that needs
left-handed power and if you look at their totals from their first baseman from all first baseman
overall I think they had like an 86 or an 87 WRC plus I think it was 86 and
negative 0.6 war that they got from first base last year so a literal replacement level player
would be significantly better than what they were able to get from the combination of players who were at first
because they patched worked the hell out of that right so like even if he's not if we didn't come up and immediately win
rookie of the year right all he's got to do is like just not suck go out there and hit 20 bombs bet 260 which seems
inevitable yeah I I think he can be I I mean I'm looking for like a 30 to 40
home run level I think it I think he's capable of doing that and I and the
thing is I think and there's there's a difference between I I think he believes he's capable of doing that now whether
he would come right out and say yeah I think I will or can hit 40 home runs in the majors I don't think he would be so
bold as to as to come out that far but uh this is the exact same thing Carter Hawkins said it's something that we've
heard from Mervis it's something we've heard from Justin Stone Mervis himself is not surprised by the success I I
think you know he did not set for himself like oh I want to hit you know 37 homers uh
36 homers and then six more in AFL and have you know have 42 homers 130 RBI and bat 297 or whatever
um but I think he knew that he I know he knew that he had the capability of being
this kind of a player and and you could see it that's there are there are certain guys that you can just look at
you know they get it and and he's one of them and so yeah I I very much look forward
and for them to say you know he's earned it I think unless something goes drastically wrong
and I mean hell we've seen guys have bad spring trainings and that means nothing for what you're going to do in the
regular season yeah right or vice versa we've seen guys that that Mervis what the only thing
Mervis needs to do is show in spring training I totally disagree with that spring training is meaningless he
doesn't need to show in spring training to get a spot on no uh on the Cubs I I think that's really doesn't have
anything to do with it the exciting thing about all of this is that we're going to be able to find out firsthand from Matt Mervis because he is coming on
this show and so uh just as long as you Evan have told him that it is a video show yeah
because remember when we had uh Len Casper Lynn Casper came on well this is a
podcast I was like no you weren't but but anyway and he thought it was a podcast like the moment we're getting
ready to go on obviously it was a video and so uh yeah he went through with it and he was so cool about it and
everything like that that was dirty but I literally shared with all yeah I went back and I was like man did I screwed this up and I was like no this is like a
live video show that we you know that we used to anyway maybe Lynn was in a sensitive mood that morning or something
but Matt Mervis is going to be in the show in two weeks November 23rd so uh be
sure to join us for that that should be exciting your calendars we should uh we should maybe figure out a way to to
bring in I mean you know we got to curate him but maybe we can get some questions even from uh from
some of our frequent listeners maybe there's a way we can uh we kind of do that maybe I'll do something uh like in the in the days heading up to
that yeah yeah throw up a post and just put some out there and questions any comments yeah because I I'm really interested I
I'm looking forward to talking with him you know we are we are business partners um and uh it's on the on the T-shirt
side of things with uh with Joe from obvious shirts and um but it's been again it's it's been a
really cool thing because you know and listen there are plenty of
times when people get it wrong myself included I know it's hard to believe uh but when you kind of look at somebody
and like identify man I I think this guy's really going to do something I really like what I'm seeing and then to
watch that continue you know as I as I've noted before uh at every level a
but yeah just it just kept going and now you're like and and then to see how it's
really like it's cool that that that that his his status is like it's beyond
just you know Cubs Prospect heads right like people on a national level like a lot of
people are showing up to to watch him hit and and you know the mash Mervis nickname has really kind of taken off
and they're you know people on a on a national scale and my brother was like I was listening to Fantasy Baseball
podcast and they were calling it match Mervis saying fans were wearing these shirts and I was like hell yeah man and they there hasn't been this much
Buzz around I mean PCA there's definitely this much buzz but around uh a prospect that is this close to being
in the big league since really since Chris Bryant there hasn't been this this much production from a prospect since
Chris Bryant and the difference between Kris Bryant and Matt Mervis and and why it feels like you're like kind of
pulling a tooth to get Mervis up to the big leagues versus Chris Bryant he was prodigious right I mean like Chris
Bryant was great always right he was great at every level he was winning Awards MVP awards at every level so it's
like oh yeah of course he's going to be at the big leagues Matt Mervis wasn't always that way right like he was
undrafted right and and so it's not like he's this guy who like everybody expected to be like this super but if if
he had been there'd be no doubt he was going to be he'd be right at uh in Chicago and so we wouldn't be having to
have the conversation about you know whether he gets up to Chicago and what more he needs to do because it would
just be a no-brainer it is yeah yeah at least I mean Bryant was you know the
number two draft pick and really only felt that way because uh you know the Astros drafted Mark uphill
um but but yeah Bryant had been you know great high school player college player of the year set home run records in
college minor league Player of the Year everything and so it was like and he even he you know was like man why why
isn't he up earlier and like you said you know undrafted had there been a draft Mervis more than likely would have
been a six-round guy he was hurt by the fact that he was a college senior so he had no leverage at all over any of us we
may have fallen a little bit further because teams can can kind of skimp you on the on the draft bonus as it was I
think you only got 20 grand because undrafted free agents that's their that's their cap so they really got screwed that season yeah because it's
only the five years so crazy so that part stuff so you know I I think like he deserves it so he can get a Payday that
he never got to as an undrafted free agent but but I still you know it's not that big of a Payday at the end of the day well
no more and it's it's not anything that no and I think what people ultimately realize this dude's 24 years old right
he played four years of college this is his second year in the minors right so he's got a lot of experience it's not as
if he's some high school guy who's only been in the minors for two years he's you know 19 or 20. yeah kind of come up
like he's he's uh you know he had to put a little more polish on it because of being the two-way player
um but but it's you know I think a lot of times people don't look at the context of all this stuff like that's not uncommon at all for someone who had
several years of college experience to be able to move through the minors quite a bit more quickly because at the early
ages at those low levels and he and he had a rough season again because mentally he was in his head too much but
he's he's as old as or older than the average at the lowest levels of the miners then you start moving up through
now you're facing some more seasoned guys and I think you know his plate approach and everything else is is one that's going to
to Aid him as he moves forward he's shown that he can't left these that's another thing we've seen so anyway yeah
I'm I'm uh I'm looking forward to being able to talk with him and have him on the show have people get some uh some
more access to that because it is it is really neat to see not only how that's taken off but
you know just how he has at each level and as that notoriety is
increased he's up this game right that to me speaks volumes not not just about
moving up a level period and facing different Talent doing well but getting more of those interview requests having
your name in the headlines more often have more people talking to you and about you and all that stuff and to
still then be able to go out and perform at a higher and higher level um that speaks as much to me about the
numbers yeah yeah I mean he'll be 25 before basically
as the season starts he turns 25 in April and so so yeah it's it's kind of seems like he's he's at that age where
he'd be ready to go ripe and ready to go um a lot of things happening around the
league and with the Cubs a lot of guys opting out and uh you know Drew Smiley
just uh opted out and Wilson Contreras declined his qualifying offer it wasn't
official yet he's going to get when he's going to decline him he has not officially declined it yet yeah yeah I'm
not sure what the way I mean can be there but I don't think there's any I don't think there's any doubt that
that's going to happen but uh yeah he's done so so yeah it might be bad
yeah so so a lot a lot of kind of moving pieces there that it's you know we'll get some clarity on it here well okay so
the qos have to be when is the deadline on that is that by tomorrow yeah
the same same as the five because there's a five-day uh moratorium on negotiations with other teams so there's
from you know November uh what was it November 5th or whatever sixth that free
agency officially began and then they have until the 10th the deadline is that what I don't know if it's like 4 P.M 6
p.m I forget what the actual time is on the deadline uh on the 10th it's when they have to have any any decisions by
the team or the player on options um by the team on uh putting a qualifying offer on a player and then
the players have until the 20th to decide uh whether or not to accept or
decline the qualifying offer uh most of those I'm sure are going to be happening pretty quickly you know there are some
guys who might that sit and wait on it depending on how many are out there in the meantime then the the 15th is the
deadline uh where teams have to set their 40-man rosters which is wild because it used to be like December 2nd
3rd it was you know a few days before the rule five draft now it's like two weeks three weeks before the rule five
draft so that's where that's wild to me that they pushed up that that I think
the 18th is the non-tender deadline uh I believe what we see with the Cubs
and their 40-man moves well we see them start making moves before the 15th or will it all come down right around the
15th um I mean I think it could make some because they've got you know that that five to six days or whatever depending
on again where the time Falls that that they may start and that's when you'll see some of those trades because it's
like okay if we have some of these guys we can't protect you know we're gonna try to go ahead and
move them rather than have them lost in a trade so I could see that I but again if you're if there's somebody that you
because you're you're doing that but then you're because the roster crunch right you're making that move with a
team that probably has more spots but then you'd be taking on someone who is not going to be eligible I mean unless
you're trading multiples of them for like one main starter type player you know that you can you could slide in
there so I I think there will be some low level moves I think for the most part the Cubs will probably uh hope that
a lot of their guys can pass through um but they got a ton of guys eligible that's the only problem and then it's
then there's a non-tender so that I can see the Cubs making some moves there on players who have gotten non-tendered by
their teams maybe that's Cody Bellinger right I don't think there's any way in hell the Dodgers pay that dude the 18
million dollars or so that he's projected to get in arbitration do they
do they try to you know let them clear through all that and pick him up on some kind of a deal I don't
know so yeah I think between now between tomorrow and the 20th
uh there's gonna be a lot of activity on those like teams looking for extreme value right in in rule five eligible
trades and guys who have been non-tendered I think that's most of the activity we'll see some of that and then
after the 20th is when we know for certain what the value is of everyone because if they decline that qualify I
mean if they accept the qualifying offer they're off the market it doesn't matter and if they decline it then we know for
sure who's on the market what's attached to them in terms of the penalties and then that's when I think the actual you
know the real kind of big bidding can start to to take off so when if the Cubs trade guys at a Rule
5 eligible and they go to their team that team in order to keep them has to put them on
the 40-man right yep yeah they have to uh they'd have to protect them still
um and and so I think and I don't know how many of those guys
I mean they have so many I mean there's some no-brainers right I mean listening unless they swing a trade for you know
unless they try to move Ben brown or somebody like that but I mean you've got wisneski and brown
um or time it was netsky's obviously he's already been well he's already been protected Brown uh yeah
I see I could see him he gets moved somehow you know Johnny Cruz Davis
obviously Luis Devers Endeavors will be I gotta think he'll be protected
um Darius Hill Danny's Correa is another one oh Jen see there's a bunch there are
a ton of pictures on there and I just want like there's no way they can protect all of them I think I think Danny's Correa
and Brandon little some of those those are guys who I could see a team picking up on a rule yeah for sure you know
because if you're looking for pitching I mean Correa is a guy who throws triple digits with the fastball Wipeout slider
um I was super impressed watching him at Iowa uh that is absolutely a dude who I can see getting picked off in the rule
five and it's somebody who I can see the Cubs want to call up and work with although they might look at it and say look we've got a ton of relievers and
guys that we can pack into that Bullpen so we're gonna just but I I wonder if
there are some little deals to be made in there that they could you know kind of do that without having to lose them for for nothing
yeah yeah that'll be very interesting and in fact what uh the 15th is Wednesday right
is that next Wednesday what's today today's eighth yeah yeah no today's ninth next Tuesday next
Tuesday so yeah so we will Circle back obviously we'll have a show on Wednesday and we'll be able to break all of this
down uh for for you guys and so that should be a fun and interesting show but
I think that about does this does does it does US does it does it for this week does
something we'll uh we're gonna have a lot to talk about over the the next few weeks that's for sure over the next well
basically uh the entire off season so be sure to join us all off season as things develop
with the Cubs and they make moves and they sign players and this Rule 5 draft coming up is going to be a lot of excitement so we'll keep you guys
informed either here or uh follow us on Inc at cubsinsider.com
and that's about it until next week we'll see ya see ya
yeah [Applause]
thank you