North Side Territory

Cubs mailbag, Part 2: More questions about trades and free agents as winter meetings loom

The action within the baseball industry typically picks up after the Thanksgiving break. With some moves already in the works and the winter meetings fast approaching, Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic answer questions from listeners who want to know more about the Isaac Paredes trade, Yusei Kikuchi’s deal with the Angels and the overall direction of a team that has a lot to prove this offseason. Support NST! Please leave this podcast page a rating and review.

Duration:: 29m
Broadcast on:: 29 Nov 2024
Audio Format:: other

The action within the baseball industry typically picks up after the Thanksgiving break. With some moves already in the works and the winter meetings fast approaching, Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic answer questions from listeners who want to know more about the Isaac Paredes trade, Yusei Kikuchi’s deal with the Angels and the overall direction of a team that has a lot to prove this offseason.Support NST! Please leave this podcast page a rating and review.

Well, the Cubs are acting like a small market team, so maybe they need to behave in a small market manner with these things. I'm not sure. I see your point and I kind of agree with it. Welcome into Northside territory, File Territory Networks Cubs podcast. I'm Sahadeh Sharma with my partner Patrick Mooney. Patrick, part two of a Thanksgiving mailbag. The the Northside sickos came out in the course. Our people. Yeah. I sent out a request for questions and you sickos delivered. We love you. Thanks so much. We appreciate you guys reaching out and making sure to have your voice heard. Let's get right into it, Patrick. Let's find out what the fans want to know about. Kevin McNamee wants to has a question assuming the Cubs aren't pursuing top free agents. Yes, that's a good assumption. Will they instead be looking to acquire all-star level talent via trade? What do you think, Patrick? No doubt. And I think, Sahadeh, you had a couple ideas like in terms of pitching, right? Maybe certain teams that match up or. Yeah, I think Seattle makes a ton of sense. I mean, we're just going to hammer that until a deal is made or they they make a trade or they add a picture. Yeah, I think I think that makes a lot of sense that they have they have pitching talent. They're looking for bats. They're like, I think it's out there. They specifically want like middle infield athleticism like the Cubs have that even if it's not Nico Horner. Like talk about any of their like a lot like James Triantoes fits that as well, right? Yeah, I think there's there's some obvious matchup there and then you just continue to like. Do they continue to talk to Cleveland? You know, like do they like what is all-star level talent as well? Like, you know, Toronto's not moving Vlad, Jr. But is there is there a name? Is there a bat out there that we're not aware of, right? That that possibly potentially could be moved? Is that is that something the Cubs would look into? Yeah, I think I think they will absolutely be looking to try and upgrade in different areas. Catcher is the spot that we talked about over the summer. We brought it up during the offseason. I just don't know how it happens. I don't think you can get an all-star level catcher outside of developing your own when they rarely hit free agent market or for trading for prospects somehow. Like that's how William Contreras was acquired. That's how Logan O'Hoppi was acquired. And I'm sure if I think more, there's probably a few more. That's how these guys are acquired. They're, you know, as prospects or you develop them. I mean, I guess technically Jordan Montgomery has never been an all-star, but he's been a World Series pitcher that Diamondbacks have a lot of rotation pieces and be looking to move. And I would also say too, like the Cubs have put themselves in this position. You've seen the trades with Tampa before. You know, teams like Minnesota that are up for sale, but I've been dealing with this TV revenue crunch like the cub. They're probably teams we're not like thinking of because they're not as like interesting. But, you know, their financial flexibility is not as much as Cubs fans would hope this offseason, but it's probably a lot more than a significant group of their competitors. And like if you have some money, you can use, you have some prospects, you should probably start moving. This is the offseason for it. Yes. Yeah. I love the Jordan Montgomery idea. I actually looked that up. There was a question specifically about him. I didn't include it, but someone specifically asked with the Cubs pursue him and I looked up his contract. There's only one year left is. Yeah. And they liked him as a free agent, the prior winter. Yeah. I don't know why I thought there was more on that. I think that makes a lot of sense if the Diamondbacks are looking to move him. Yeah. I mean, he makes a ton of sense. I love the Minnesota idea. They have a lot of offensive talent that gets hurt a lot, right? So it's the type of guy that they have guys that it's like, well, do you want to take this? Well, do you want to take this risk? Maybe the Cubs are like the team that needs to take the risk right now in the injury risk if they're not going to take the financial risk, right? So, you know, I think that, you know, who's Minnesota willing to move is would be my question and then, and then beyond that, like what does it cost, right? Speaking of cost, Matthew Friedman wants to know, is there any chance of PCA getting a Churio Jackson Churio like extension? I think I should have edited that Jackson Churio. I apologize for spelling your last name wrong. I think he had, I think PCA is represented by CEA, which I think did the Corbin Carol deal, which would be one template, but I'll let you run with this one, Saude. Yeah. So is there chatter? I haven't heard it. Jackson Churio got eight years, 82. I just looked this up. Eight years, 82 million, including it. So, come on. I mean, that's, that's very little money for a guy that turned into like by the end of the season was like, wait a second. Do they have a superstar now? That's how good he was the last couple months of the season. This could be a whole other episode, honestly. Milwaukee's offensive season was really fascinating about how they never really hit like an extended skid, despite their players being really up and down, because someone seemed to step up the moment someone else went in a slumper got hurt. Like Christian Yellich was playing like the superstar he was. His back went out. And then Jackson Churio was like, Oh, yeah, I'm going to develop into the superstar you need. It just like amazing how it all timed out for them really, really interesting kind of like up and down season for their, for their offense. But PCA didn't have that level of production. But with his defense, you know, he's, he's, he's certainly an intriguing player. Here's my, my thing when I think about this when, when fans wonder why don't the Cubs sign deals like this. So the players and the representatives, they know what team they're playing for and what team they're negotiating with. Right. So Jackson Churio comes up in the Brewers organization understands what it's like to be in the Brewers organization is happy, likes it there. And says, I'm willing to sign this deal because I know Milwaukee will treat me well. And they're not going to be able to give me the type of free agent deal that I made demand in six years. PCA and his representatives probably are like, the Cubs can afford to give me the big money. Why don't I wait for free agency or try and get a much bigger deal in security right now. Will this be some huge deal if they even get to talking about this. I just like players are hesitant to give teams like the Yankees, the Dodgers, the Cubs, the Mets, the Red Sox, these types of discount extensions. Right. It doesn't happen as often like Ian Happ probably felt he took a discount and he got it. And he got a no trade clause. Right. Nico Horner is not a home run hitter. He's he's not like this sexy player that would make bank in in free agency. They both love Chicago. I think both of them, either. Like Matt, I think he and Happ met his wife in Chicago and she's from the area. And I know Ian or Nico Horner's fiance girlfriend is works in Chicago and is kind of anchored here. Like they both want to be here, you know, for reasons beyond baseball and they love the organization and the team. Maybe maybe when I when I talked about how Nico probably isn't the sexiest of free agents. I think PCA. Yeah. Is he going to hit you 30 40 homers? No, but, you know, how many elite center fielders that can play, you know, plus plus offense. If that's who he is offensively. Right. We don't know yet, which is why you take the risk now if you can extend him, you take the risk now like that's there's the balancing right. It comes after taking risk and PCA is taking risks. They're both taking risks, but they end up in a happy place where where he signs a team friendly extension and he gets security. Right. But very, very rarely does that type of talent hit the free agent market if he's really a plus plus offensive player. Plus PCA is already under a long term structure. And my thinking on this change, Jeff Barry, the former CAA, baseball agent was on the main foul territory show this past season. And really kind of hammered the point of some of these extensions just kind of are front offices trying to like look good or, you know, the surface surplus value illusion like he's under club control through 2030. Go out and prove it like the Cubs don't need to like worry about whether or not they can afford PCA in the future. Of course they can. And you know, Corbin Carroll did not have the same type of year this year. And so it really, it's worth listening here Jeff Barry after he kind of exited the agency business. Now, an advisor to Buster Posey in San Francisco, because he had represented the longtime Giants catcher. And it's like, what's the rush? I mean, I know this is a big thing. You know, like, you know, Cleveland did it, you know, way back in the day. And it was kind of ahead of its time. But now it's like, you know, go out and prove it. Be a great player. And then, you know, see where he's at like I, and I think we'll get into this too with with Justin Steel at some point too like it'll be interesting to see what they do with him. But in general, these big market teams unless it's, you know, something the player pushes for and really makes a ton of sense like there's no no need to force it in, in my opinion. Right. Right. I think it's more important for the small market teams to get it done. Right. Like, locking up Jackson Churio is really important for the Brewers. The counter, I think, that fans would make is, well, the Cubs are acting like a small market team. So maybe they need to behave in a small market manner with these things. I'm not sure I see your point and I kind of agree with it, you know, like, act like a big market team and see if he's if he's worth the extension, you know, like, give it one more year. And maybe one more year doesn't see the price go up insanely but if you can see him at least say like, okay, there's more he can do and he was an average league average for a full season offensive player. Maybe like a potential for improvement. Okay. Now, now I'd be like, okay, now let's talk about it. But yes, I, I think this is a good question and a fair question. And, and one, you know, I think it's important to see if they start doing it with any of these younger guys to avoid what happened last time where they're all coming up at the same time and they're all exiting at the same time. That's true. The other, the counter to that then is, well, what if they don't extend them and and Jed starts trading them at three years in four years and things like that to kind of reset clocks and get prospects and. So that that that'll be a whole other segment in a very angry podcast. I'd assume fans would not be happy if they finally start winning and they're trading established players but that's, that's, that's, I don't need to predict anger. Yes. We have enough now. Yeah. Yeah. All right. You want to read this next one, Patrick. All right. Strand 34. Have you heard any leanings on the Cubs expectations for bring up Matt Shaw this season if he had a crazy spring any chance he makes opening day. Oh, look, I think because of the new rules and the chance to make a, you know, if he's, if he wins rookie of the year or finishes top three and MVP voting or gets top three MVP votes, something like that. Now I can't remember the exact, I think it's finished three and MVP and you have to win or win rookie of the year, not, not get rookie of the year votes. Then then the team gets a draft pick, right, and that they have to be up there from the, for the beginning of the season. I just don't get a draft pick for Paul Skeens winning rookie of the year, because they waited 20 days. And, and that, you know, that completely changes everything about his outlook and is his contract situation, right. So, yes, I think there is a chance for this depending on the moves we see this winter. And what type of spring Shaw has, what openings there are, you know, if Niko Horner isn't ready to start the season. I'd be surprised if they call up Shaw, if it's like a two week thing for Niko Horner. If Niko Horner is traded, and they don't sign a stop gap second baseman or they, or they sign a, you know, what's essentially a backup second baseman and they want Matt Shaw there. Yeah, I could see this happening. Like, and I don't think it's going to be because he had a crazy spring or anything like that. It's going to be because they feel like he's ready and AAA won't have any significant development needs for him. They won't meet any of these significant needs he has. Like, I know he's he's had some good plays that made highlights a defense that were making the rounds on Twitter. I haven't heard anything that makes me think he's a good defender at third base yet. Like, that's, I haven't heard it yet. Now, is he, is he bad there? Is he a mess? I think they're like, I've heard some of that from other people. I don't think the organization feels like it's, it's a mess there. I do think he's he's a solid second baseman. Niko Horner is a special second baseman. So it would be a downgrade defensively there. But what he's done, like this type of stuff that he does repeatedly during the minor league season and then this tournament that he was just in. It's impressive stuff. And I don't think it's the type of stuff that you just kind of like ignore and say like, well, he's, he's just a prospect. I'm not interested. I think he's a really good prospect. And I think he's emerged as their top prospect. And when that's the case and you're trying to win anything as possible as far as opening day is does he give them the best chance to win. I don't think it. And the reality that he has a chance to win Rookie of the Year is that type of prospect. Then, then you, you add that into their decision making because it could get them a draft pick. And, you know, years ago, I would have said no, right? Because we all know how front offices think. And this was not a, this is not a front office that's like, oh, it's worth the chance to win a couple more games because that's not how they look at. Because they don't believe there's that much of a difference as far as the wins it'll add for 15 days or whatever it is. I mean, couldn't just be as simple as he has a normal off season looks pretty good and Nico is not ready yet. Yeah, my only question to that is would they do that for two weeks of. Okay, right. I don't know. We haven't gotten that far along in the process to actually talk like this. They probably don't know, right? Yeah, how the off season unfolds. Right, right. I think we need to see more, but I think, yes, is there a chance? I think there is. I think there is a chance. We need to see how this off season plays out in multiple ways, right? Not just like, there's so many little things that we need to see happen. But yeah, Matra is that type of talent. He's really good. And I think he's going to hit at the highest level. I don't know if he's that superstar bat that everyone's pining for. But he's a good ball player. I think that he's shown that much in his pro career. What does the USA kukuchi contract with the Angels mean for that level of the pitching market? The Athletics Tim Britain nailed it at 363. So maybe not much any intel that the Cubs were in on him. I don't know if the Cubs made an offer. I know the Cubs were interested. That's the level that they were looking at as far as that tier of the pitching market. They were looking for pitchers with no qualifying offer attached to them. He fits the mold. He fit the mold of what they're looking for. Yeah, like three year deal. Yeah, like, I think the Cubs are looking for something in that range. Veteran that they trust can be in the middle of their rotation, give them 150, 160 innings. Yeah, I think that's what they're looking for. You know, someone, you know, that, that may be about to hit the best part of their career, even though he's in his mid 30s. All this all it at all of it added up to making sense to me. I don't know what if they offered anything or whether it was competitive. If they did offer something, all I know is that he fits the mold. What does it mean for that market? I think it's like it's kind of what they expected. I don't think it, you know, I think they were looking, they were expecting if they were going to go shopping and free agency there. It was going to be in the 20, 25 million per. And, and in the two, three, four year range, because those are the players that they're looking at, right? Like, if all these probably going to get to. Maybe someone push it. Maybe if the market's robust enough for him, it pushes to three, but my guess is he gets around to, and a little more AAB because of his history, and especially because he's a playoff performer to get the teams will pay a little more for that. Yeah, I'm looking at this deal of, like, okay, the angels jump out and sign someone with all due respect to Kyle Hendricks, like, don't the angels do this? Like, they kind of jump out, sign a guy. I was like, Oh, wow. And then like you never hear from them again. Where the angels playoff appearances. This is also a pitcher who, I mean, I remember at the trade deadline, it was, you know, Oh my God, I can't believe the Astros. I mean, you know, they gave up all this stuff and, you know, Toronto's just going to be, you know, win this deal and guy gets hot, has a couple good months and all of a sudden, you know, it's a three and 63 deal that to me, just kind of looking at his overall body of work does not scream Cubs target. I mean, James and Tyone, for example, had a very long steady track record, right, and got a deal, you know, a little longer, a little more money. But like he had proven his durability, his consistency. You know, this guy was kind of a disappointment in Seattle. He was pretty good in Toronto at times and wasn't pitching as well. And obviously in Houston. We discovered himself is going to be 34 next year. What struck me when we talked last week, Sahadev was, I think the way he framed it was the Cubs need to do dig in on him a little more and do a little more research, which to me. It sounded like, okay, yeah, he's on the radar, but it was never really like the priority. Right. And by the time they get around to it, the angels swoop in with, you know, as the what the only team that's really kind of doing stuff actively several fronts right now. So. And, you know what, and, you know, I don't know enough about the angels to go too far on this, but they're also a team in a front office that needs to do a little bit of PR with their fan base, right? Yeah. Like they need to do stuff like this. I don't, they can't stop now. Like, they like, they still, they've done all this now. And now that my question is, where's your superstar? If Mike Trout is an healthy, right? Like, I guess if Mike Trout's healthy, it's interesting enough. But that's a, that's for an angels podcast and their fans to dwell, I suppose. You know, I think this is, this question is kind of spinning things positively. And I think it's worth talking about, because I think there are some, like, so much of what we talk about sometimes is negative. And this question from staple gunners, he had a couple questions, including, like, a fair question, in my opinion of, like, why even, why are we talking about the offense? Like, they should be focusing on pitching all their talent coming through the system is, is offense. I think it's a valid question, because I think the Cubs are almost doing that, right? They are focusing on pitching. Even though we, I think it's important for them to find a way to make sure that the offense is a little more stable. But here's, here's his question. Would you rather have Isak Pritis as is, or Alex Bregman on MLB trade rumors, seven year, $182 million deal. And if it's close, should the front office get credit for essentially getting a top five free agent on the cheap. Look, his two months with the Cubs is going to cloud fans opinion on him. It just is. Okay. Like, I think it's really hard for us to ignore what we saw, whether we're fans media, whatever it is. But what I try my, what I do is I try and look back at the history of the player. I try not to judge him on the two months. We saw it like, it's a very easy to get carried away with what Nick Castellanos did with the Cubs for two months. And it's very easy to get carried away with what Isak Pritis did for two months. Did the, did the race see something very well possible that they were like, you know, he's peaked. I think he's as bad as he was with the Cubs, though. I'm not sure if he's like a 150 weight of runs greater plus guy like he was the first two months of the season. I think he is what he is, which is around a 125 weight of runs greater plus I think his offense is going to his power output is going to dip a little, but not to the point where it's like, you know, nonexistent. Was it really the two months that he played there. And it wasn't because of the wind. It just wasn't. We, there were no, there was, like, there were no like all these fly balls to the warning track that we saw we didn't see that with him. That wasn't his problem. He just wasn't comfortable and wasn't swinging the bat well. My question will be, how does he look come spring training? How is he feeling come spring training? Is he, is he healthy? Is he mentally where he wants to be and where the team needs him to be. I'm not saying he wasn't putting in the work or doing what needed to be done. I'm just saying getting traded in a very comfortable situation from a very comfortable situation to an unfamiliar situation in the middle of the season is never easy. And I think there were human elements that impacted his second half along with just like, you know, the randomness of baseball. He was a good player on the road. Do they get credit for this? Look, I thought it was a good trade at the time. Like, and I think, you know, we'll see what Ty Johnson turns into. We'll see if Christopher Morrell is better next season. We'll see if Hunter Biggie's a great reliever. I don't think you worry about those things. I saw a great point made on Twitter. Go look at all the trades they've made over the last few months, over the last year and a half, and all the players that they got that they traded, a lot of them were from the draft. And many of them were from like the third, fourth, fifth round on, 10th round, 11th round, 12th round. That didn't happen before. That did not happen. That was a big issue. Why couldn't they be in on Paul Goldschmidt? Why couldn't they be in on really Nolan Aronato unless they were trading Chris Bryant? They had no prospects to trade. Nobody wanted their depth pieces because they weren't interesting. Now they do have those guys. They have guys that people are interested in that they've drafted in the fifth round and the 10th round and the 12th round. That's that I think is is a good sign for the way things are going. He's a paratus needs to perform that contract. Yes, I would not. I that the projection for Alex Reggman. If you're comparing those two, I say, take paratus in the trade. That's what I that's my personal opinion. Maybe pregnant, maybe pregnant will prove me wrong and go on to put up, you know, multiple more all star MVP caliber seasons and paratus is on the downswing at 20 something. But, you know, that that would, that would be a misevaluation, I guess, on their part. I mean, one thing I will say, obviously that farm system, you know, by 2019 heading into 2020 was one of the worst in the game, but they did use guys, they drafted to get Nick Castellanos to get Cole Hamels like they use those pieces. And the difference, the big thing that was like those guys performed at Riggly, they were dudes, they, you know, captivated fans. They brought a lot of energy. They, you know, I mean, Cole Hamels kind of rejuvenated his career like he looked almost done. He made, you know, made a lot more money off of that. And, you know, what I mean, I mean, it's, I mean, I don't know, obviously caught fire in Chicago. So like, parades is, if he's a player of the Cubs thing, he is. It's fine. I think it just the issue of like, you know, there's going to be a lot more chances for break men for that contract to look bad right because it's just longer, right as this wind is window here, where he has to be, you know, and every day above average third basement of impact and, and to clean up the defense, too. We realized he wasn't going to be, you know, Nolan Aaron Otto over there, like Brooks Robinson, but there was a lot of like, really, like what's going on here. It was worse than it had looked when he was with the Rays. I also think, you know, like, I think Parades is a placeholder in the sense like he's an impact, potentially impactful placeholder, but I don't think he's going to be with the Cubs for the next six years. They're not going to extend him, right? I wouldn't be shocked if if Cam Smith has like this awesome season, if, if, you know, the Cubs are looking to trade Parades in a year and a half or something like that. I'm just, I have no information on that. I haven't heard them say that, but I, that's how this front office is going to look to roll, right? If you have a guy that can take over like there's a reason Nico Horner may, you know, we're hearing Nico Horner's name on the trade market, right? Because they have a guy that they think can maybe impact the team and they can do different things now and that's, that's how it's going to be going forward, I think, with this front office. They'll look to make moves with established players or prospects, depending on what, you know, what, what type of moves there, where they are in their contention cycle and what they're trying to do, what's the goal, right? It's like we talked about with, when we wrote the big story, it's like the model, the model doesn't dictate strategy, right? The model may give you value, but now you, now you see what the value is. Okay, we all agree. We agree with the model. This is the value. Okay, what's the strategy? How do we maximize that value? And, and that, that's kind of how I think you should look at all of these players and it peritus. I don't think it's like a lifetime cub. Don't expect him to be around forever. But, but yes, I think it, yes, they deserve some credit. If he turns out to be the type of player he has been for the last few years, because that's, that's good value. That's, that's the type of player you should be aggressively pursuing when those opportunities arise. All right, thanks so much for listening. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. This is Northside territory. Make sure to rate review and subscribe, subscribe on the YouTube channel. Make sure to subscribe to the athletic. Patrick and I are writing all your Cubs news and information. Thanks for listening, everyone. (upbeat music)