Whatever trade they make this off-season will end up blind siding everyone like the Michael Busch trade last off-season. Point being if they do make a trade it's going to be for someone that nobody is suspecting.
Guys I think if you're interested in trading for a big fish it's going to have to include Matt Shaw. So you can't just assume you pencil him into a starting lineup once a big trade is made.
People consistently seem to be assuming that the Cubs are who they were in May when in fact they're who they were in late August and September. The only significant player they are missing now is Lopez who was quite good in the bullpen. So the August September Cubs of 2024 playing at that same clip in 2025 should come up with 89 wins or so. But 89 wins is not enough to get us strong enough to do something serious in the postseason and we need to keep the players excited to keep from regressing so we need a big signing like Fried and perhaps D'Arnaud. And the next thing we have to do is shore up the bullpen. We lost Lopez so we must replace him with an ACE. Remember the same basic lineup was winning games in 2023 despite a crappy starting rotation and crappy Bullpen because they got so much hits. If we find we need more power in 2025 we can add it at the trade deadline
Great trivia question Matt! Bonus: It’s baseball. Anything can happen. Soto’s stock would tank. (He’s already won a chip, so wouldn’t a person want to try and beat them (not join them)? Where’s the competitive spirit of the game? That film - man i liked the cut of their jib - we got nobody like that on this team. We’re soft. That’s where real scouts at the MLB level are needed. NOW!
@ I agree, and why it’s always wait, wait, wait..wait for what all these free agents to get multiple offers and then they turn around and make the Cubs wait!! F that Jed let’s get aggressive
@ yeah I’m not quite sure why so much of their “plans” become public knowledge. I’m also tired of hearing how every one of top free agents is signing with either LAD/NYY/NYM or Phi
I’m here for Fried if we don’t get Roki. I don’t know that we need both, although a luxury of riches would be a nice change. And some bold moves are definitely needed for next season. And I like the idea of the Fried/d’Arnaud combo deal - does that come with 🍟?
I am having a hard time even thinking about what the Cubs may do or who may meet their needs. There's just so much uncertainty around their "budget" and what direction they will take.
Here’s the problem I love Travis also for this ball club but if you are laid-back as Jed is, you’re not gonna get anybody forget about it. You needed Max Fried yesterday. That’s the problem with this front office. If you really like somebody go out and get them quickly forget about waiting forget about these analytics. You only risk losing good players like Travis would have been
There is this misconception that Cubs did not involved in Soto. But I believe Cubs did, just the initial price range is way out of Cubs mind, that’s why they pulled out. I am ok with it that I don’t want Cubs to be used as a tool for Boras to jack up his price. If Boras tell you Soto price is at least 600m for 12yrs, how much Cubs payroll will be over adding other needed bullpen pieces? And if you know the price will be way over that number in the bidding, are you still trying to “fool” fans that we are going for him? Just to “cheat” the fans?? Which GM you want? A straight shooter or a lier?
Thanks for all your hard work, even when things are slow! One super silly thing I did want to mention, the red ring around your intro makes it hard to tell which videos I have already viewed on the mobile. Not a huge deal but I prly miss videos sometimes 😜
As for a pitcher, I would rather get Roki Sasaki. Max Fried....I would be happy to get, but I am not wild about 3 lefties back to back in the rotation. No matter how good they are. I just would want to see 2 righties that break it up so that that teams can't just go righty heavy lineups against the Cubs.
Anything below ... I have absolutely no trust that Hoyer will pull off anything that will actually make the Cubs a 90 win team. He will wait and wait and wait, maybe sign some reclammation players, then wait some more. Then at the last minute, after all of the top free agents or trade possible stars are gone, he MIGHT make a move. And, of course, Hoyer would never make move on someone like Fried.
I don't get it sometimes - we had such good talent, could've kept them all but spent on the most important like catcher and then slowly get pitching again
If the same fix to his batting stance is adopted by Paredes that saved Amaya's season then I'd say keep Paredes, but if he's unwilling to change, trade him!!!
So, y'all wanna turn the Cubs into 'Braves North'?!?! ;0) ...I'd love to have Fried and Roki both.... pay the $Million fine!!! ...still well worth the bargin!!!
The Cubs are absolutely NOT signing Fried. They'll play in the tier of Manaea, Pivetta, Kikuchi, Eovaldi, etc etc. That's the most we can expect. Move on.
Wins and loses do matter. I wish people would start seeing the entire picture instead of just the sabermetric side of it and dismissing the entire other side as not mattering at all. I swear Moneyball ruined so many people's brains. You get one half of the story from traditional stats, one half of the story from the sabermetrics. Combined it gives you all of the story with a player from a statisical line. The only thing stats can't do is predict the human element. Who is going to do what when. Who is going to have a good day vs a bad day. Who is going through major shit in their lives and it is affecting their play on the field. Who might be fighting through an injury because they want their team to do as well as possible. Those things stats can't tell. Everything a player does or doesn't do as performance, it can. But all of it matters. You can't track OBP without base hits and walks. You can't track slugging without every type of hit from a single to a home run. OPS, same. Get into the metrics and it is the same story. It takes stats to make stats. If a player goes up and does nothing but strike out, it is still a stat line. I don't care how good a pitcher is, if they go 5-17 with a 5.73 era, but the metrics say he pitched like a 20 win starter, no he didn't. Even putting in offensive issues that would have cost him many wins, he still didn't pitch well enough to come close to a 20 win season. He shouldn't get the Cy Young over a pitcher who went 18-5 2.73 and 200+ K's, even if the metrics say he he was more like a 14 win pitcher with luck on his side. Pitcher B still had the better season.
The same fix to his batting stance is adopted by Paredes that saved Amaya's season then I'd say keep Paredes, but if he's unwilling to change, trade him!!!
Holy Cow! Great show and good news. Thank you for making my day.
Really enjoyed listening to this episode and really enjoy this time for baseball gossip 👍🇬🇧
Matt dropping the bad take soundbite 😂
LAD: I’ll have a side of Fried with my Glass now
Whatever trade they make this off-season will end up blind siding everyone like the Michael Busch trade last off-season. Point being if they do make a trade it's going to be for someone that nobody is suspecting.
Get Dansby to campaign for him
d’Arnaud is a much possible and reasonable target for Cubs, although I would try to trade for A’s Shea Langelier or Angels’ O’Hoppe first.
Guys I think if you're interested in trading for a big fish it's going to have to include Matt Shaw. So you can't just assume you pencil him into a starting lineup once a big trade is made.
He's a good pitcher,but just reading Zac Gallen possibly traded they seem to want prospects,He's damn good
People consistently seem to be assuming that the Cubs are who they were in May when in fact they're who they were in late August and September. The only significant player they are missing now is Lopez who was quite good in the bullpen. So the August September Cubs of 2024 playing at that same clip in 2025 should come up with 89 wins or so. But 89 wins is not enough to get us strong enough to do something serious in the postseason and we need to keep the players excited to keep from regressing so we need a big signing like Fried and perhaps D'Arnaud. And the next thing we have to do is shore up the bullpen. We lost Lopez so we must replace him with an ACE. Remember the same basic lineup was winning games in 2023 despite a crappy starting rotation and crappy Bullpen because they got so much hits. If we find we need more power in 2025 we can add it at the trade deadline
He's a good pitcher but we have so many holes, just hope it all works out.
I guess you just trade Paredes for a bag of balls? What if Paredes has an all star year this year? You'd have to trade him for nothing right now.
Great trivia question Matt!
Bonus:
It’s baseball. Anything can happen. Soto’s stock would tank.
(He’s already won a chip, so wouldn’t a person want to try and beat them (not join them)? Where’s the competitive spirit of the game?
That film - man i liked the cut of their jib - we got nobody like that on this team. We’re soft. That’s where real scouts at the MLB level are needed. NOW!
Keep hearing Matt looking to Seattle for a pitcher. Any thoughts on trading position players to the Sox for Garrett Crochet?
Well this didn’t age well D’arnaud just signed with LAA 2/$12m, grrrr
Can you believe it? I hope Jed has a better plan B for catching help. Argggggg
@ I agree, and why it’s always wait, wait, wait..wait for what all these free agents to get multiple offers and then they turn around and make the Cubs wait!! F that Jed let’s get aggressive
Yeah Cubs announce they're targeting a player and then a couple or few days later some other team signs them.
@ yeah I’m not quite sure why so much of their “plans” become public knowledge. I’m also tired of hearing how every one of top free agents is signing with either LAD/NYY/NYM or Phi
What about his struggles in July august and September.??.??
I also bet Lions at halftime, wish i had bet more lol
The mold count is very high, Sam that’s what your problem is
the Bears fired their OC, Waldron
I’m here for Fried if we don’t get Roki. I don’t know that we need both, although a luxury of riches would be a nice change. And some bold moves are definitely needed for next season. And I like the idea of the Fried/d’Arnaud combo deal - does that come with 🍟?
I am having a hard time even thinking about what the Cubs may do or who may meet their needs. There's just so much uncertainty around their "budget" and what direction they will take.
Here’s the problem I love Travis also for this ball club but if you are laid-back as Jed is, you’re not gonna get anybody forget about it. You needed Max Fried yesterday. That’s the problem with this front office. If you really like somebody go out and get them quickly forget about waiting forget about these analytics. You only risk losing good players like Travis would have been
Matt you are excited about changing the toilet paper in the joys ai
T wiggle field😊
This is now a back up plan if they don't sign Sasaki...
Add Fried and fix the bullpen and enjoy the playoffs
Travis d’Arnaud to Angels 😢
There is this misconception that Cubs did not involved in Soto. But I believe Cubs did, just the initial price range is way out of Cubs mind, that’s why they pulled out. I am ok with it that I don’t want Cubs to be used as a tool for Boras to jack up his price. If Boras tell you Soto price is at least 600m for 12yrs, how much Cubs payroll will be over adding other needed bullpen pieces? And if you know the price will be way over that number in the bidding, are you still trying to “fool” fans that we are going for him? Just to “cheat” the fans?? Which GM you want? A straight shooter or a lier?
If we’re stuck with Amaya as our number one catcher, we’re screwed. Perades doesn’t thrill me either.
They aren’t going to start three lefties in a row no matter what else happens.
...and grab their catcher too, why not! Sounds Perfect!!!
Thanks for all your hard work, even when things are slow! One super silly thing I did want to mention, the red ring around your intro makes it hard to tell which videos I have already viewed on the mobile. Not a huge deal but I prly miss videos sometimes 😜
As for a pitcher, I would rather get Roki Sasaki. Max Fried....I would be happy to get, but I am not wild about 3 lefties back to back in the rotation. No matter how good they are. I just would want to see 2 righties that break it up so that that teams can't just go righty heavy lineups against the Cubs.
Matt Cozzi, what do you think about Cubs signing Paul Goldschmidt!?
Anything below ... I have absolutely no trust that Hoyer will pull off anything that will actually make the Cubs a 90 win team. He will wait and wait and wait, maybe sign some reclammation players, then wait some more. Then at the last minute, after all of the top free agents or trade possible stars are gone, he MIGHT make a move. And, of course, Hoyer would never make move on someone like Fried.
If Soto goes to LAD, then YES, I would be disappointed in Baseball, in MLB leadership for allowing it to happen!!!
Why? if LA signs Soto they have every right to, they would not be doing anything wrong.
Who else watching this when Travis darnaud signed with the angels? 🤣 Common cubs get your shit together!
I don't get it sometimes - we had such good talent, could've kept them all but spent on the most important like catcher and then slowly get pitching again
Could have kept who, everyone the Cubs traded/dumped has pretty much sucked since leaving except for Shwarber
Yes please Max Fried.
Shaw is he hitting like Mervis??
Logan Gilbert if we trade for him do we also trade for Cal Raleigh in return send Nico Caisse and Alcantara and other prospects in return
If the same fix to his batting stance is adopted by Paredes that saved Amaya's season then I'd say keep Paredes, but if he's unwilling to change, trade him!!!
matt is kyle tucker
Fried to the cubs is that like Soto and Ohtani and Chapman or Solar???
So, y'all wanna turn the Cubs into 'Braves North'?!?! ;0) ...I'd love to have Fried and Roki both.... pay the $Million fine!!! ...still well worth the bargin!!!
Adames over Fried for me, so many pitchers on the market and Adames would lock up third base for the next five years
Pass
Agreed. But Tom is so cheap that he will not spend the money
Too much young talent my dude, gotta utilize Shaw. Can you imagine Shaw being on a different team and being a stud? Wouldn't be good
Only 30. Ha.. I'm not giving up a blue chip.
Hidy-hooooooo!
Sign Bauer nowadays!
I don't quite understand the penality or how it could influence future international talent, sign a Japanese pitcher than Fried
Im hearing Bellinger is on thr trade block , great idea as 7 or 8 teams need a 1B
The Cubs are absolutely NOT signing Fried. They'll play in the tier of Manaea, Pivetta, Kikuchi, Eovaldi, etc etc. That's the most we can expect. Move on.
Fried will go to the west coast. Cubs are not interesting for him. Plus, who wants to live in the Chicago area…by choice?
I predict the Cubs dont sign anyone new and go 62-100. And the Ricketts blame the fans then raise beer prices.
45-117 is my pessimistic approach.
This world is going to shit, so why not everything I love with it?
Matt would you trade Matt Shaw for Logan Gilbert. I want to know your threshold of pain.
Wins and loses do matter. I wish people would start seeing the entire picture instead of just the sabermetric side of it and dismissing the entire other side as not mattering at all.
I swear Moneyball ruined so many people's brains.
You get one half of the story from traditional stats, one half of the story from the sabermetrics. Combined it gives you all of the story with a player from a statisical line.
The only thing stats can't do is predict the human element. Who is going to do what when. Who is going to have a good day vs a bad day. Who is going through major shit in their lives and it is affecting their play on the field. Who might be fighting through an injury because they want their team to do as well as possible.
Those things stats can't tell.
Everything a player does or doesn't do as performance, it can. But all of it matters.
You can't track OBP without base hits and walks.
You can't track slugging without every type of hit from a single to a home run.
OPS, same.
Get into the metrics and it is the same story. It takes stats to make stats. If a player goes up and does nothing but strike out, it is still a stat line.
I don't care how good a pitcher is, if they go 5-17 with a 5.73 era, but the metrics say he pitched like a 20 win starter, no he didn't. Even putting in offensive issues that would have cost him many wins, he still didn't pitch well enough to come close to a 20 win season.
He shouldn't get the Cy Young over a pitcher who went 18-5 2.73 and 200+ K's, even if the metrics say he he was more like a 14 win pitcher with luck on his side. Pitcher B still had the better season.
The same fix to his batting stance is adopted by Paredes that saved Amaya's season then I'd say keep Paredes, but if he's unwilling to change, trade him!!!
Remember that Amaya hit something like .195 in September