Are the Chicago Cubs NL Central favorites with Matt Chapman or Cody Bellinger?

Corey and Brendan discuss whether the Cubs additions of Matt Chapman or Cody Bellinger or both make them clear-cut NL Central favorites. They also discuss the bullpen projected value with Nerris’ signing, and whether a lefty is necessary.

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#Cubs #ChicagoCubs #FlyTheW

This is the chgo Cubs podcast my name is Corey I am joined as always by Brendan and we are coming to you on Friday February 2nd Brendan it was 50 degrees in Chicago on Thursday B me okay okay and now yeah you’re on this fine Friday

For the Friday edition of the chdl Cubs podcast February spring training pitchers and catchers weeks away there will be Cubs baseball of the exhibition variety this month I was setting some scheduling towards the end of the month I have that IAL automatic loaded Cubs calendar so just

Like gets it from some RSS feed or whatever and I’m going through my calendar at the end of the month I’m like what are these blocks of calendar things doing here like wait a second that says Cubs and it hit me we have baseball in three weeks three weeks

Baseball every day until at minimum the first week of October for us hopefully are you ready so uh we do have plenty to talk about obviously since we last spoke uh the Chicago Cubs adding to their Bullpen uh bolstering that since Brendan and I last spoke uh we are still playing

The Cody Bellinger Matt Chapman everybody kind of waiting game for the Cubs to figure that out and then late on Thursday the Brewer Brewers traded Corbin Burns to the Baltimore Orioles so the Brewers getting a nice uh set of prospects a nice return uh for you know

Just a year but no Corbin Burns in the Brewers rotation so the Brewers are going to look pretty significantly different as we head to 2024 so we’ll talk a little bit about that kind of the the ramifications on the division uh though even just as first thought brenon

I think it just highlights everything we’ve already said and I think have been saying for a few months now this division is ripe for the picking go do it well you have two weeks three weeks maybe longer if these potential free agents go into spring training but

There’s still so many more moves to be made you and I were talking and we’ll talk about it this episode but even trading Burns and not having wough Milwaukee’s still too comfortably close to the Cubs in projections even with other teams as well so you can trade

Away Burns you can uh hope that woodu comes back on like a two-year pillow deal with his injury but still the Cubs have to significantly improve for the 2024 season lot more moves have to be made yeah and I I think that’s uh that’s going to be the the debate I suppose is

You know for us and I think most people we looking at it as this is the weakest this division has been in some time go like make sure it’s yours I I feel like you know you add Cody Bellinger maybe Matt Chapman too as we’ve talked about stabiliz continue stabilizing your

Pitching staff like I think you do come away with what we asked for like a team that definitely looks like they are the favorite in the division which is what I’ve been asking for the whole time but your still moves away from that at this exact moment

You’re you’re still not there and I think there may be uh fans or hopefully not but potentially people uh who work on Clark and Addison who look at things and go well we don’t have to get that much better because the division has gotten weaker I like where they are currently

Assuming they make a few more deals here but the hector n signing I thought was a quality cost efficient signing for that Bullpen the overall bullpen looks good in terms of high volume high ceiling with some stability I like how that’s shaping up I like the imanaga signing

Not just for 2024 but also Beyond with the optout uh for the next few years jet is making good moves to front office is putting this organization in a healthy position where there’s flexibility to improve now it’s just putting together the big pieces putting together the big

Signs like Chapman or Bellinger or both or making a high-profile type trade that’s going to be the necessity uh okay so I do want to get your uh thoughts breakdown on Hector nerys uh the Cubs new Bullpen man obviously you and I talked on last Friday about like Ryan stanik so a

Different Astro but we were close I similar pitch types honestly yeah I I do want to talk about that and and as I I mentioned I think in on Twitter you and I spent a good bit of time talking about the splitter and then a day later the

Cubs signed a reliever who throws a really nasty splitter so that well I do want to get to that want to get to where the division is projected at right now uh but first if you did not catch Cody Luke and Ryan’s interview earlier this week on the chgo Cubs podcast and the

Cho Sports YouTube page I do encourage you to check that out it was almost I think 45 minutes with the Cubs pitching coach really great interview he touched on his thoughts on imanaga Kyle Hendrick offseason preparation uh you know his reputation is kind of being a a mound

Visit Whisperer when he goes out for an hour too yeah crazy come on burying I know I was waiting for it were we seven minutes in I I well I wanted people to have a preview of what we were gonna talk about the preview no one cares about the

Preview if you didn’t catch the interview with Tommy hadavi one Brendan Miller did have the opportunity to interject with a pre-recorded video a question to finally not directly but close speak to the Cubs pitching coach which one Brendan and I have been doing this podcast since 2016

We started it out of our apartments no support backing anything just us and to be that close to the pitching coach of the Chicago Cubs insar absolutely insane so a a brief thank you to everybody who has listened to us or watched us or supported us because that doesn’t happen

Without you guys and that was really cool uh for Brendan to do and for me to watch Brendan do uh but moreover Brendan you asked a really good question on James and Kion uh and his process and what happened last year and stuff and again I direct you to the interview for

Tommy’s answer very thoughtful what stuck out to me though is that when Luke said we have a question from Brendan Tommy Tommy hottovy picks up a notebook and says I got my notebook I’m ready I’m sure Brendan is coming with some stuff plus questions man

And my first thought was I don’t think I don’t think we told him that so your reputation precedes you Brendan with with Tommy hadavi I don’t know what’s going on here you know listen like you said we’ve been doing this for coming up on nine Seasons now and we joked for

Years oh we we’ll get Tommy HBY on this podcast one day like legitimately joking about this he’s on the podcast and I’m asking this guy a question after talking about it for five years it’s it’s crazy I think I don’t know how you feel about

It but you know doing this is fun we’re genuine fans and to get to your point that close to the people who are doing this on a daily basis is hilarious and extremely fun I’m listening I’m listening to this go ahead go ahead go ahead I was just gonna say that I I

Appreciated that I I literally forgot what I was gonna say that’s fine but what I was what I was you’re like in you’re in Star Struck right now that’s going on but when I was when I was listening to the episode I was you know doing my daily

Job got my headphones in you know I got the the screen on a minimum view so no one can see I’m not working right and 20 minutes through unprompted like you said Tommy HBY says I’m waiting for Brendan’s question I’m I got my headphones I’m like whoa what like what was that you

Know I’m jolted I’m distracted I can’t do anything for the next 40 minutes right that’s how like fun this stuff is and to get an opportunity to to even not lie but you know interact with Tommy joke with him in a humorous way he did not he

Did not take my offer though not yet my of my of my phone number it’s still out there I feel like Tommy and I would get along quite well you know we both like baseball we both like sports we both even play fantasy sports he likely didn’t want to come on too strong

Brendan if he had called you and invited you to shing training like that’s true you know yet it would be like whoa okay like chill should I give him the DAT couple weeks maybe you get a non roster invite something like that what I was

Gonna say when I had a little bit of a brain fart earlier was I was glad one of the reasons I think you and I have joked so much about you being able to ask Tommy questions is because I I don’t know anybody that comes up with more

Questions about the Cubs pitching staff so what I was going to say is it was very nice that instead of texting me at 2 in the morning these thoughts about jamus and tyone you can just go straight to the not Jameson himself but close to the direct source and just ask the Cubs

Pitching coach and then I don’t have to get those text messages you love those text messages though and by the way some players unprompted like Tommy hoty like talking to me too you know I’m a hit around the clubhouse apparently it’s just we’re matters of months away don’t

Give me that what on Earth is that in reference to well we’ve had a few pictures you know who like my graphs you know I’m not going to give more information and spill the beans but people like my graph scor actual our guy Ryan Herrera just tells

You that so that it makes you feel better but I got I got direct confirmation from the guys you know I’m gonna be on the team by the end of the year so anyway do check out that interview like I said it was I think close to 45 minutes with Tommy hoty and

Just touched on so many different topics and gave really good insights uh into the Cubs pitching staff not only just what happened last year but what he’s looking forward to in 2024 what they can build on in 2024 and it was just a great interview

So uh kudos to our guys Luke Cody and Ryan great interview and always appreciate the time even if you and I aren’t conducting the interview uh from Tommy hot was very generous with his time and everybody at the CHD Cubs podcast appreciates that so do check that out let’s talk pitching and let’s

Talk about the Cubs Bullpen now so they make the move they add uh a veteran a guy that can throw hard a guy that has playoff experience World Series experience one of the most durable relief pitchers over the last several years in baseball extremely reliable talk to us about the signing and

Then where like do you think that the Cub you know I I know some people have said you’d like they’d like to see them add a left-hander uh which this move does not check that box but do you think they’re done do would you like to see

More how do you feel about the current state of the bullpen after this week’s signing I feel good about it I feel good about it because you can think of all the potential scenarios and there’s so many different scenarios where the bullpen looks good if one pitcher doesn’t perform even if two pitchers

Don’t perform to your point what about the lefties one of the reasons why I do like the bullpen is because we have a variety of different pitchers who can actually get lefties out despite them being right-handers Hector nerys is one of those guys he has a split finger uh

Pitch that does very well against L had batters the second guy who does well against lefties is Merryweather he is more of a tighter north to south slatter he can get lefties out as well the 2023 lugie ironically is Ry which is lighter who also has that splitter he was used

Against those Lefty matchups almost exhaustively by David Ross and then you have right now the presumable closer in abber alai who also has more of a sharper north north of South slider those are four pitchers all of whom have high leverage experience who can get left-handed batters out and then you

Start thinking about corre council’s utilization of those guys given the specific context of certain lineups that’s where I get excited because those are The Fringe moves that Ross may not have capitalized on where Jed hoer then thinks Council can make those improvements and you can get maybe a

Half a win to two wins to three wins more as a result of optimizing those sequences I feel good about it Corey I do like the hector n signing a lot I don’t think it makes sense to spend a high amount of money on the remaining

Free agents in the bullpen nor does it make sense to go out and trade top tier prospects for relievers who might have similar value as Nur do you think that they need a a true like better left-handed option in this Bullpen would that be something if they could possibly address it that you’d

Like to see or do you think they can I’ll take it I don’t think it’s a necessity it what would require them to get a lefty is if they don’t have pitchers that can get Lefty batters out what more do you want do you want a a a

Pitcher to have like a 200 W against lefties a 300 under 300 Bulba against lefties they already have guys on this staff in that Bullpen who can do that we have nerys lighter who had wbas under 300 against left-handed batters last season so they already have the capacity

To get those left-handed batters out now of course I’ll take that Lefty because then you can use the bull in a more Dynamic fashion and it gives more flexibility I wouldn’t say it’s a necessity I would say it adds value even though it’s still not a necessity well

And can that person be Drew Smiley that could be Drew Smiley as well who by the way by the way he’s developing a splitter this offseason supposedly given his uh social post’s he’s developing this like split cut looking thing we’ll see if he actually uses it but he was at

Drive Line testing that pitch out maybe just having fun who knows but keep that in mind yeah I I I like this a lot you know we we ended up talking about Ryan stanic uh last Friday because that was what the rumor was I think from Bob Nightingale and Bruce Levine and you

Know part of what we talked about was again you know they don’t need to necessarily go out and get the a top five reliever they just need more reliable options and I mean truly reliable options for cig Council to make this Bullpen deeper and I I think that

This checks all those boxes you got a guy that can bring the heat he’s got playoff experience he’s been in a winning organization you look at and you know you can chop up the sort of sample size as much as you want uh but he’s got you know of relievers since 2018 he’s

Got the 24 21st most wins above replacement like this is a a Quality quality reliever and somebody that Craig Council can depend on and really adds to this Bullpen so uh yeah I mean look you can always use more pitching depth so if they want to continue adding um I’m fine

With that but I feel like the bullpen is in a pretty good place at the moment especially when you consider what we’ve talked about before like and they talked about this with Tommy hoty in the interview the other day that you do have so many guys who are kind of in a

Uncertain role at the moment you do have guys who could potentially be starters depth starters guys that go multiple Innings out of the bullpen or maybe like alel ey you see them sort of shift the focus of some of these guys to just being hey we’re going to turn you into

Rel this is what you’re doing now we’re done with the starter stuff so they have a lot of options I think they have a lot of depth um you know do you look at this pitching staff and think this is going to be the best group in the league

Probably not but it’s strong and I think definitely good enough to compete in this division which is what we’re asking them to do right now this would be the bulk of pitchers whom Council can call on from day one alai neris Mayweather ligher Smiley those are five quas Alon Valencia

Little Thompson that’s 10 then we get into the swing guys Assad wisneski that’s 12 Michael Rucker is 13 no Michael Rucker is who went for Hector oh well there he go he’s gone well you know who’s back on the team for you World Series champion Carl Edwards J didn’t

Talk about that either now talk about that Carl Edwards J back on this team and then you want to go even deeper you have guys like Ben Brown you have Camp Sanders if he gets his command under control but really you have about 12 guys right now from day one who might be

Competing for an opening day spot depending how they perform and how they adapted during the offseason so it’s a high sum of guys high volume of guys that you can imagine eight work out and if a few don’t you still have a crop of picturers to choose and did you mention

Luke little did we talk about Luke little okay good yeah another left-handed option but yeah he would need you know he we’ll see if he breaks camp with the team or exactly how they treat his role he’s a weird pitcher in a good way he’s got you know that Big

Frame he’s got that sweeping looking slider got that odd release point for a big guy he’s he’s one of those outliers in in every uh sense of the definition so I like the relievers that are I mean LC little is 68 220 I like that a

Reliever it it I I I would imagine that that puts some fear into people when that’s coming out of the bullpen and this is a weirder lower release Point too so you know when you try to use Stuff Plus for example to quantify the value of that pitch there are a few

Pitchers in the league with his release points and his Heights therefore it’s hard to actually confidently project what that slider would look like so it’s going to be fascinating if he get gets his command under control he could definitely be that Lefty guy we want but

That Command right now is a big gift and and the durability if you’re a full season we’ve seen recently even someone like Brandon Hughes great year injured off the team all within a matter of 14 months yeah uh so yeah I I feel like it

Is indeed in a good place um and and I’m happy to have Carl back he was uh he had a solid year with Washington in 2023 and just an all-around great dude and of course as we discussed uh he did win the World Series with Chicago Cubs in 2016

Wish year 2016 2016 yeah he actually appears in game seven which they the Cubs do win okay yeah so okay there you go just just making sure all right G let’s do our first ad break here and we’ll get back into it first ad break here from Circa

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A free inhome estimate today all listeners can receive a $350 off discount when they use the promo code cgo restrictions do apply C empiretoday.com chgo for details all right Brendan so as you and I are recording this we still await as I said Cody Bellinger Matt Chapman some of the other Boris

Clients I hate that guy Scott Boris is rooing my life he’s ruining my life he’s been ruining my life for the past 10 years yeah so we wait and we see how the Cubs decide to fill out their roster and finish competing in this division it’s an interesting spot because there’s so

Many guys available and we are now in the month where pitchers and catchers and everybody is going to report to Spring training it’s not necessarily a new thing I know you were tweeting I think yesterday or today about some guys that sign signed late in February in

March like Etc so we may be in for a long wait hopefully not but we’ll see as we’ve always said if Cody Bellinger someone sign if Cody Bellinger signs anywhere the chdl Cubs will have an emergency podcast you can tune in here but if anybody morning Cubs we will also

Have an emergency podcast so we’re prepared for that we’ve been prepared for that but we remain waiting so we know the Brewers brought B in ree Hoskins but then I think it was about a week later now trading Corbin Burns their Ace a guy that has given the Cubs fits and many

Other teams in this league fits um so I think it’s worth while to kind of take a look at where the division is right now we don’t expect the Cubs to be done with their offseason work that is not what we have heard from anybody remember we’re

In the fifth inning I think Jed said at Cubs con so I don’t know if you know now we’re a couple weeks removed from Cubs con I don’t know if now we’re in the sixth inning I don’t really know how that scale works Brendan I don’t know if

It’s based on moves or time it’s hard to know maybe he’s just making it up so lot of pitching changes I don’t know yeah but we hope that the Cubs are not done with their off season on especially on the offensive side but let’s let’s talk

About where we are now because I think it’s it’s an obvious interesting position that the Brewers are in they’ve lost David Sterns they’ve lost Craig counil who is now the manager of your Chicago Cubs they lose Brandon Woodruff now obviously he’s going to be somewhat of a Reclamation project but still they

Decided that he was not going to be their Reclamation project coming off of injury and they they trade their Ace I mean one of the best pitchers in baseball and he goes to the Orioles so they’ve added but they’ve also subtracted a lot and the Cardinals spent some money to

Make their rotation better but also quite old at the same time and other than that have not done much and you know like I said the Pirates and reds have a lot of young Talent they make some moves but I don’t think either of them have taken the necessary steps to

Threaten the top of the division though the Reds did go on a nice little run last year so we’ll see but for you where do you find the Cubs right now where does the division stand and you know when we look at some of the moves that we’ve talked about does does just

Signing Cody get the Cubs there do they have to do more than that like where do the NL Central stand right now if the season were to start today there’s still huge degree of variance I even I hate showing these graphs sometimes but if the season were to start today the Cubs

Would be projected to have around 37 to 38 total wins above replacement now last year they finished at 42 wins above replacement and they finished with 83 wins in a 91 pythag expected record currently with about 37 wins projected 37 War projected they’re almost neck and neck with Milwaukee although they just

Traded Burns so this might be lower and they’re below the Cardinals current estimate of about 41 wins so they’re not the favorite by projection standpoints right now now again War does not equal wins in this specific type of scenario but the point being is that they’re within range of several teams within

This division the degree of air is still way too close for this Cubs team now if you sign Matt Chapman you basically go neck and neck with the St Louis Cardinals at around 41 or so wins above replacement okay if you sign Matt Chapman for 20 to2 25 million then you

Are about 15 million below that first TI of the luxury tax now if you sign Cody Bellinger for let’s say 25 to 30 million then you go neck and neck with that second tier of the luxury tax and by doing so you become the favorite from a projection standpoint and you surpass

The total amount of war the Cubs had in 2023 in your projections what Jed will have to reconcile is how confident are these projections that’s the that’s the key these are just your average projections how confident can he be that signing Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman truly

Put the Cubs in that 2023 win territory is it worth justifying signing both to go at that second tier of the luxury tax my gut tells me he won’t do that Jed won’t do that because there is a lot of variability with this team right now and

You may want to keep that open for trades at the deadline and save some money for 2025 it’s still so close even signing those two guys put you as to as a on paper favorite no doubt but it’s still a little uncomfortable seeing teams that close at least from an onp paper

Projection standpoint my expectation going into the year that we would be you know 45 4850 total projected War among those top five teams stupid projection stupid expectation right but that that is what I remember when we were dreaming of Otani remember that the same off SE doesn’t it feel like a different season

I was dreaming of Otani and Yamamoto and Cody Bellinger right so this is where we are right now maybe you can get one of those uh yeah I mean right now with the Brewers like I I think this is a a solid hall for them I’m not you know you and I

Aren’t Prospect guys but like the initial reception seems like it’s pretty good for the situation I Greg huster show I’m kind of a prospect guy okay uh anyway and I’ll looking at their obviously I think they’ve gotten worse that’s a a big blow to not have Corbin Burns in the

Way that he can Dominate and Lead that pitching staff you look at their roster I it’s uninspiring I think even after the Hoskins Edition but we’ve been burned by looking at a Brewers Roster that we felt didn’t really waren performing that well before now Craig council’s not there Etc but I’ll believe

It when I see it I’ve been burned too many times I’m not gonna say anything that’s gonna hun me you know I want to say what I want to say but I’m not going to say but what I want to say is that it’s over that the whole double magic

Thing that they Bor from St Louis it’s done council’s gone their front office is gone Burns is gone W of shoulders being repaired I think it’s over but I’m not going to say that because that will come back and hot me yes uh you know

Again and I I might have done this a couple weeks ago but uh to quote the great movie Miracle in her Brooks big speech before the game against the Soviet he says uh their time is over this is your time now go out there and take it and I would give the same

Message to Jed I’ve been that’s what we’ve been saying the whole time like great movie the team that has been running this division for a few years or as at least your one of your biggest headaches has gotten worse they’ve had brain drain and they’re losing one of

The best pitchers in baseball go win the division don’t right because right now you have probably a few teams projected in the low 80s low to mid 80s in WIS the Cardinals maybe if they figure stuff out but obviously you know even for as bad

As they were last year like a lot of talent there they added a old older in their rotation which was certainly a decision but like you know Sunny gray has been very good like some you know so I wouldn’t expect them to be as bad as

They were last year I think is the point the Reds lot of young talent definitely on the come up so you have a lot of teams in that range you have to separate yourself from that group because otherwise you’re dealing with the same stuff that we went into the season last

Year worrying about where it’s now it’s all these little margin things how do you perform in one-run games how do you hold close leads and stuff and of course that’s the game of baseball but we always go back to that quote from Jed where the best teams blow teams out it’s

The easiest way to remove so much of the variant and those little things that can disrupt your plans in the game of baseball and right now the Cubs have not done enough and I don’t expect them to get to the point where it’s like you know unless a meteor hits the Earth

They’re winning this Division I don’t think they’re going to get there in this offseason but there’s moves out there namely Cody Bellinger and maybe more that pretty easily put you in a position where if you don’t get in your own way you should be winning this division yeah the the move Baltimore

Made is a good comparison for what I hope the Cubs do in value acquisition you acquire and burns on paper three three and a half wins and then you put yourself from you know maybe top eight teams all of a sudden you’re a top four team just that one trade even though you

Gave up maybe a top 50 top 60 Prospect the Third 34th overall uh pick in next year’s draft and then then a flyer that might be ready as soon as next year I I I get the value in that but the risk giving those guys up is worth the reward

Given that you move yourself up those standings you move yourself up those projections and you shrink the possibility of the team not performing that well where I’m concerned is even if they go out and sign Chapman and Bellinger it still may not be a comfortable position by the way I want

Those two guys I think if they sign Bellinger or Chapman my optimistic side tells me they’re probably a 90ish win team on paper they may not be a 90ish 90ish win team and if you want to be realistic about it there’s a lot of uncertainties with the pitching staff

The starting pitching staff despite the high volume but my optimistic side tells me projections be damn that if you sign chamman you sign Bellinger you’re probably the clear-cut favorite and I would bet significant money they do win that division it’s just different from the front office point of view trying to

Project value and their risk associated with some of these guys yeah I mean you know again we’re we’re playing the waiting game here but I do you think they signed both those guys no I think it’s possible I think you asked me this a week ago or two weeks ago I think it’s

Possible but it’s it’s the same answer like unless one of those contracts has to come to you I think they’re both the market isn’t going to be what they would hope or what Boris would hope but you’re going to need Chapman likely but one of

Them to be willing to take one of those short-term maybe opt out filled type deals so I don’t know I don’t know if that’s going to happen or not is it enough for you going into the year you set your expectations for Otani you and I bought into Yamamoto for a second is

That enough if I went back to the beginning of the off seon and you laid it all up out my initial Instinct might be no but for where we are and relative to the division because I think that does matter of course like we want them to get to the point where they’re

Competing with the Braves competing with the Dodgers competing for World Series titles and you know again I I know neither of those teams won the World Series or even appeared in the World Series but it’s good process they have good process that’s what we’re trying to emulate

Here but at the mo you know I said I wasn’t going to move the goalpost and what I wanted out of this offseason given the lofty expectations that we came in with and then ratcheted up when they poached Craig Council was you need to be the favorite in this Division and

They have not gotten there yet and I feel even more emboldened in that after the Brewers trade Corbin burns like they are not going for it they are going the opposite direction like they haven’t necessarily launched a fullscale rebuild but that team is not better than it was

Last year and in fact it might be markedly worse the Cardinals bolstered their rotation but not in a way that is I don’t want to say transformative but it you know what I mean certainly interesting the Reds Pirates you know have not done much it’s not been that

Exciting of an offseason for this Division and so I I would like to see that finish this off seon by being aggressive and planting that flag in the division and saying you know what there’s a lot of parody right now in this division it might be close you

Could pick out of a hat maybe which team you thought was definitely going to win this division right now take yourself out of that group go make the moves to take yourself out of this group and make yourself the favorite it it’s it’s frust it would be very frustrating if that is

Not the case because you look across the game of baseball and you’re so fortunate that you are in this division right now blessed to be in this division there are nightmare divisions in this league the AL West is a total nightmare an absolute nightmare the AL East always

A nightmare like just I so the NL too yeah imagine Dodgers just sitting on top yeah like imagine being those you know and then they didn’t they weren’t even the team from that division that won the pen so I think you have to take advantage of that it would be the the

Wrong attitude and a very disappointing one from this franchise if the attitude was we’re just gonna hope that we can win a bad division yeah like ensure it nothing is guaranteed but you you have the ability if you can get to a 90 win projection you are way above everybody

Else in your division just get there it it’s it’s it’s not even a a crazy like what are the Dodgers projected for right now 105 wins and I’m not even joking 3,000 wins yeah 3,000 150 believe it or not even the the Braves are still projected to be better than

Dodgers their team is just unreal I know yeah it’s just crazy anyway like go go do it don’t settle for just slightly being the best of a lesser group go go grab the division and take it by the Reigns and then you do that now you have

Your prospects coming up you continue to build make it your division for the next how long is Craig counil here six years go my mind he’s GNA retire here yeah I feel like when you’re when you’re talking about all the risk and taking the division and talking about the

Prospects I was thinking about the last few years and how Jed has operated kind of keeping some of those windows open those possible windows for having cheaper cheaper value in the the thought came to me don’t make fun of me for for this but I do think it provides context

Here there was a situation where Marcus strowman was available just before the lockout and they they signed him for a three-year deal they commit around 20 to $22 million and you have that second year opt out and strowman opted out that was a good contract low risk it yielded

Value despite the injury strowman had and they had a competitive 2023 at the time the contrast to strowman was giving more years with the same annual average value don’t K me for saying this to Kevin Gosman and I’m I’m being serious to be honest with you I’m surprised

That’s not what you asked Tommy hotovy about I want to be I want to be serious here and Jed’s uh desire to limit the risk while trying to be competitive even in the short-go I think that’s the delicate balance because if we were to look at this team right now strowman’s

Gone Gosman is making 20 million per year he’s on the team for the next uh well it be three more seasons now and you can you can look at that situation similar how look how we’re looking at this now and even the mat Chapman versus Bellinger if it is a comparison the two

Being Chapman likely going to get a shorter contract Bellinger right now assumed to have a longer contract how much risk is Jud willing to accept in the shorter versus longer deal and will he kind of backrack and sacrifice um some longterm term value by Sonny chadman and not getting Cody

Bellinger and maybe trying to supplement Bellinger’s value in a platoon type role by going out making a trade or doing something that’s not even currently on our radar I I I personally that’s where I differ as a fan from this front office where you know I want to go out and lock

Down the longer term years and accept that risk and I think Bellinger and Chapman if it comes down to Bellinger 6 seven years versus Chapman 3 four years I really do think JB will offer Chapman and will not offer Bellinger long term I know you would give out 10e

Contracts to anyone at this point no would you wouldn’t I said explicitly that we should not do that oh okay I know I’m messing with you um yeah I look we’ll see I mean there there’s there’s directions to go and of course you know I know that Jed is always going to be

Thinking about the future how do we get better now without sacrificing the future it’s a line he said before and certainly something that I would consider in the rest of these moves but I there’s hidden cost in that like you sacrifice like going back to those two

Three years ago like this is the future now yeah so J was making moves back then thinking that the future Gosman wouldn’t be this valuable therefore I’m going to go out and get strowman to offset that risk that was a miscalculation sure like ultim that’s what it was strowman’s not

On this team and you have a void in the pitching sty and you know as we talked about last week in terms of how you’re managing the prospects and things like that like you are getting to the point where you are going to have to as we

Said last week you got to have conviction in some of this stuff you you have to start planning out like we envision this person playing this position starting next year after the trade deadline whatever it might be for each person but as someone running a front office you have to have that conviction

You know starting in 2024 or 2025 or 2026 Matt Shaw is going to be our third baseman that is what’s on the vision board that is what we’re working toward I’m not I’m not saying that you don’t you and I talked about this like go get

Chapman don’t worry about it but as a front office they have a lot of prospects B you can’t believe earnestly that all of them are going to be in your starting lineup in a few years or all of them are going to be your rotation you have to kind of start planning these

Chess pieces years in advance and thinking like these are the guys we really believe in here are guys maybe we would trade here are guys we wouldn’t there’s a lot to consider in in this offseason and even when making some of these moves so to finish this this part

Of the conversation before we hit our last ad break I I understand all that and I know that Jed has a multi-year plan and he’s sort of seeing this all as the years go into the future but but I I won’t be able to to shake it man you we

Have lived even when you and I were podcasting in a time where the Chicago Cubs won 97 games and they came in third place in their division they had to go on the road for a one game Wild Card which is what the format was the time to

Another team in their division to then go play another team in their division in the nlds now credit to the 2015 Chicago Cubs they got rid of both of them okay so thank you Jake arietta and that group it was one of the best seasons of my life but having lived

Through that I I will not let them off the hook for not destroying this division this is the lightest this division has felt in a really long time you have the resources you’re set up with a lot of this team go fill it out and go win your damn division that right

Now doesn’t have anybody projected to win over what 85 games go do the work Jed all right get in the kitchen and start cooking again please you’re working yourself up no I’m not worked up yeah I know it’s nice to feel something again Brendan like we it’s been a while

Since they did anything these long breaks before anything happens you know it’s just a lot of like oh you know whatever like you know there will be a time in July where I would kill for it yeah yeah because we have lost God forbid five plus games in a row

And you’ll be thinking I hate watching this I wish it was the offseason yeah I know I know so enjoy it while you can Corey I will enjoy nothing fine all right let’s take this second ad break here uh first from FCO get fitted out in

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You got it Brendan go now and see how going electric connects us to a better way of doing business and a better future for generations to come all right Brendan I think we’ll wrap up here and I I I was gonna ask you a trivia question because I’m terrible at trivia I know

But you might be able to get it we’ve talked about the bullpen editions we’ve talked about where the division stands we’ve talked about the big Brewers trade news and here we are once again left with not much to discuss if you’re looking for breakdowns on anybody in the

Cubs rotation we’ve talked about it if you’re looking for guys who are already in the bullpen we’ve talked about it the offense we’ve talked about it SE Suzuki Christopher Moro where should he play talked about it 50 times so for the last segment here we’ll start with the trivia

Question let’s just see where it takes us because I think trivia I think it’s gonna take us somewhere so I was looking at this was a a tweet uh from Bleacher Report walk-off I think their their baseball thing the since the year 2000 now you and I too many years relax it’s

Loow there’s no Stakes here I don’t know why you’re like freaking out about being as makes me feel like stupid you know it’s not it’s not okay uh we are an F War family this chart was compiled by BW war from baseball reference so I’m prefacing with that adjust the

Calculations in your head since the year 2000 they they calculated the worst season by war for each team by a single player so the worst single season by a player for each team since 2000 do you know who had the Le the lowest War for the Chicago Cubs since

The year 2000 according to baseball reference I’m pretty sure I do let’s hear it uh if you get this there’s no I mean I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know what I would have I saw the list so I I didn’t really have sometimes when I

Get into this range of years they kind of blend together but there was one year I know damn well he had 600 play appearances he was pretty bad was it nafy Perez 2005 no dang it am I CL again this is this is BW and I’m going off of

This tweet so man I can give you hint can I yeah can I give can I get a hint here uh the I’ll give you the year 20 oh man 2002 oh man 2002 I honestly don’t know I honestly that’s like first off I’m like nine

Years old 10 years old you know I got I can tell you in 2002 the Cubs beat the Mariners in a three- game series two to one in the summer and that but that brought me into it Samy supposed to hit a home run in that series I can tell you

That it is a pitcher starter no man now we’re really going back uh Alona was he on the roster in 2002 uh I do not know I don’t who was it just tell me who it was I hate doing trivia for this exact reason a fight with Paul Wilson was it Kyle Farnsworth

Yeah he was that bad negative 2.5 that makes no negative what 2.5 listen I’m looking I’m looking doing this live on the 2003 wasn’t he I mean I’m looking he had uh he pitched 46.2 innings for the Cubs with a 7.3 was it that bad that is interesting I don’t remember

This why did he keep pitching wait so that was Don Baylor right 2002 man dude I these are tough you and I were like 10 years old I don’t know I was 10 years old man I should know this though I have memor didn’t Dusty start in 03 or am I making

That up no Dusty was 03 yeah yeah it would had to be Don Baylor 2002 uh yeah 7.3 ra and 46 and two3 let me ask you a question 1.65 whip so it was not a good season for Kyle Farnsworth I would never I don’t think I

Ever would have guessed that even if you said reliever I don’t think I would have gotten I mean I remember where I was and forworth did that you know the the Paul Wilson I was going crazy I liked forworth because of that solely because

Of that see and I knew this was going to take us somewhere because I think when I think of teams that I hate the most growing up the F you want to know the first name that comes to mind I might have said this to you before so you

Might remember this if you ask me from being a kid like like 2000 to 2005ish already working myself up the the person that I think of that I just despise the most I mean we can go in a variety of directions here Austin Kerns for me one I hated that guy that

Guy so many weekends for me and that could be one of those things where because I was 12 if you told me he was a sub replacement layer you know level player every year I I I have no idea I couldn’t tell you what his numbers ever

Were I just know he was the bane of my existence as a young Cubs fan oh that entire team man I remember uh and they had those vests where they were like the the little fast there was one game I think Aaron Boon hit a hit a leadoff home run and I

I hated Boon ever since that exact moment and then you have like kind of the the the mid-2000s with Willie mopa you know hated that guy too and this is of course you know like obviously you know Albert phol guys like that you know of course but I feel like you know that

Those guys are great so it’s just like well yeah you know who was your like outside Sammy SAA who was like the one like favorite player like Vivid player like vivid memory player that you have watching the Cubs like your earliest Cubs memory easy and it’s he’s number

One like so is not number one for me it’s no but like even before that was that like your first like like I’m not talking like favorite favorite player I’m talking about like who was the one guy you remember from your earliest Cubs memories I mean just so are would

Honestly you know that was just what stuck out from those early years I I really didn’t get obsessed with it until you know 2003 cement it of course but like 2001 is no mine was like I was following baseball I started getting into baseball when I was like maybe

Eight years old you know so I was following into 2001 season somewhat closely 2002 that subedit it for me because I knew again just going back to that point it was it was the Mariners series when because the Mariners were so good you had L Panella they were winning

Like 110 games whatever it was that one year I’m like wow the Cubs the the the terrible Cubs just beat them in a series they must be good Sammy SSA hitting home runs on baseball tonight you got the animation going going gas Amy SSA I’m

Like oh this is pretty fun you know he went on a hot streak and that was it for me and then 2003 just made me psycho I remember like certain guys from playing like the Ken griffy Jr game on n60 before but beyond so like I remember the

Names like I’m looking at the 98 roster now like uh I was too young for that Scott service Jeff blouser those things like I remember that playing that game but 98 I remember I I don’t remember if we were we probably listening to the radio and

Then waiting for Sammy to come up then we would like run inside when we were playing outside and Carrie would you know that was like sweeping the sweeping the nation so that was sort of my earliest M Mark Grace too of course yeah yeah yeah I very for me it was like the

Pitchers John Liber Kevin tapera those guys came to mind uh honestly my first position player two of them actually uh too Kevin tapy right what did I say you combined Kevin tapy and Ryan tapera to make Kevin my God yeah sorry disrespect to Dy that’s bad but position well I

Mean Ryan tapera got an MVP vote so it’s true yeah but uh Delo the Shields and Eric Young uh yeah I was at a Dbacks game in Arizona of course uh and I’m somewhat close to the Dugout and this may have been man late 90s I think and I

Like you know I like infielders and you know my you know childish voice I scream out Eric Young and he turns over and he like Winks at me and gives me a thumbs up I’m like oh my God that cemented my law for Eric Young at that time nice guy

Nice guy so yeah those are my early my earliest memories yeah um there you go I I figured I was more of a I was more of a triple play video game player by the way I didn’t play I play the Ken gy junor games but like the trip the Sammy

Sosa cover 200000 Triple Play I know played that game non-stop yeah nonstop yeah uh so I figured that would take us in an interesting direction if you had I feel like sometimes when we have these like reminiscing conversations we need like a bingo board because it’s like if you had napy Perez

And Kevin tapy getting a mention on the show today like we we need to be able to I think we should be be able to give like a reward to the listeners if they can predict some you know I will say there’s one player I think I’ve said this to you

Maybe I haven’t but uh Nick magical reminds me of Augie OA and I wish remember that Nick magal played agio hater roll instead of like the everyday third basement role that we saw you know for half the season but that’s that’s one guy also uh crap what is his name now I’m blanking

Swit well I I got this guy has to come to mind he’s SW he’s a switch hitter um Mark bellhorn Mark belhorn loved Mark bellhorn I believe he hit two home runs from the left side and right side okay yeah yeah that sounds right yeah like if

I’m remembering correctly he was a high Soxs guy very much high socks long hair went to Boston had a good career in Boston I was gonna just interject though if you had I know I know uh I I think this line is available on the circus Sportsbook app

If you had uh over 58 minutes on Brendan’s first attempted disc at Nick magal you’re a winner go cash your B listen a lot money was heavy on the under that’s late into this show I’m not dissing the guy by the way I know $2 million this year you know let’s stop

Treating him with Kitty gloves he’s already in arbitration let’s call for what he is low 10th pertile offensive production you know he plays he plays in on the infield grass I you know I didn’t mean to get you going but you got me going up saying it took 58 minutes I’ll

Take $2 million I don’t make $2 million I’m not gonna feel bad for someone to make2 million doll if I want to talk bad about Nick matrial I’m gonna talk bad about Nick matrial I don’t enjoy Washington play baseball we can do much better and I’m sick sick of having this

Conversation I really am you know I’m sorry if that offends people I really am but I am sick of having this conversation that was there’s a good meme response to that it’s like imagine how tired we are imagine how tired we are Brandon dude I like he’s reaching albertto MOA

Territory he really is like at least in my personal chamber on Twitter it is incredible I’m not even dissing him on Twitter but the responses I get are so vitriolic as if I yeah yeah well comes with a territory I guess but it’s like I’m sick

Of it so I mean I I think we can get toward wrapping up here um that was fun I didn’t know where that was going to go it’s always risky to bring up those early 2000s teams um not some great memories for some of us but those formative years Brendon I wonder the

Type of people we would be fans we would be like I I’m curious what it must have been like to be like I don’t know like our age but a Yankees fan or something like you just see your team win a bunch of titles like do you think and I

Obviously you know growing up in Chicago Yankees fans friends you can talk to them about this yeah see what the Yankees fans friends I have are just as sort of psychotic and it really doesn’t matter I was just curious like I always do think about that you’re right like

What if 2003 didn’t end in complete and utter disaster would it would it have sucked me in do you think we would be as like angry about the aforementioned Nick madal situation or like the the the trading of the core in 2021 like if they if that was if 2016 was their second

Championship in our lifetime do you think we would be like a little Chiller as people or no probably not I think not I don’t I don’t know I think I think I’m a chill person given our personalities it would have only ratcheted our expectations and like standard

More where now we’re not even enjoying 2015 we’re pissed off that they’re not winning a title every year we’ve gotten greedy we would have gotten greedy I think at that point it may have made us worse is what you’re saying there’s no way anything makes us serer people that’s really what I’m

Saying I think we would have converted the energy into complaining or worrying about something else I thought it would be more chill after 2016 that’s that’s not the case no I I mean to some degree has made some of the losses a little bit easier listen man I thought that and

I’ve said on this show before like when I was in the stands at game seven I remember during the rain delay thinking to myself like and I’ll I’ll leave it to you whatever entity you believe in or however you believe the universe works I put it out there they win this game

Never asked for anything as it relates to Sports in my life this is it I’m done I won’t put out in the universe that I want any I’ll just root along support my teams that’s it and I I believe I’ve stuck to that attitude I don’t really

Ask for anything like that but in terms of being Chiller I remember how I felt when and I’m assuming you already know where I’m going with this when John Lackey pitched to Justin Turner in 2017 and the idea that I had gotten any Chiller uh very much out the window that

Might have been the angriest I’ve ever been in my whole life so no I did not calm down I did not get any Chiller I think I was just very happy to have the one why did you go to that game you gotten for punishment I mean you had the

Choice you can go to the game or watch at home I made the choice I did not go to that game I went to game one I said screw this I’m not putting myself through that torture again if they win great but I’m not going to be there I

Think between and me I think the boys can feel my support in the stands yeah but like you was kidding I like that you entertain that you’re like I was I was in my mind I’m thinking you know what maybe I’m more like Jed than I thought

Can I explain why I’m gonna explain why the reason is because I don’t want to risk the emotional damage so I’m not going to go to the games yeah like there is zero regret I said this for years I’m not going to Cubs World Series games I

Don’t want to W and the reason being I don’t want to walk out of that Stadium wherever they are on the on the road I don’t want to walk out and feel sad I don’t want have to go on a plane and go through that misery if they win great

I’m going to be happy regardless but I’m not going to put myself through that emotional risk yeah I hey I hear complete opposite yeah I mean especially them winning the World Series I remember since we’re talking about being kids I remember probably as soon as 2003 ended

I knew in my head I was like if they ever do this I have to be there it never and that might have been formed by the fact that I went to game seven I watched the Paul B fly out to left field to end

That season and I remember it quite so I needed I needed to get rid of that I needed to uh but dude can you imagine cleanse those demons But to answer your question about like the Dodgers in 2017 I think my attitude was I’m walking around with a John Lester Jersey that

Has a World Series champions patch on it and I’m goingon to go watch the defending champs baby you know it I wish I hadn’t gone now but yeah at the time I was like sure why not we’re playing with house money I mean mine was like am not g to spend 100

Plus bucks on a ticket go sit in 3,000 hours of traffic and deal with all this you know that was that was my thing and I made the right decision I really did that was the one decision I made it right in my life uh yeah well it is what

It is so it is what it is I think we will uh call it a show there as I said if the Cubs do get to the seventh eighth or ninth inning in their off season again however that very weird timeline works for Jed Hoyer the chgo Cubs team

Has been ready is ready and will be ready in some form or fashion to be live within minutes of any transaction that is worthy of an emergency podcast we’ll put it out on our socials if you subscribe to the chgo sports YouTube page you can find it also want to direct

Your attention uh if you visit allo.com check out becoming a Die Hard member I know Cody has been hosting some exclusive chats in the chgb Discord Channel just for die hards of course you get uh free shirt when you sign up discounts on all the events I know we

Have a bulls takeover coming up have had Blackhawks takeovers we had a Cubs takeover last summer Christopher Morell hit a walk-off against the white socks it was great fun to see that amongst the chgo community so do visit allo.com and check out becoming a Die Hard in all of

The benefits that come with it Brendan and I will be back with you next Friday hopefully we have an emergency podcast somewhere between then would love to hop on and do that but we are at the mercy of Jed Hoyer and maybe more so the mercy

Of Scott Boris so we continue to wait we hope that Cody Bellinger is coming soon pitchers and catchers will be reporting soon and we’re going to be watching some Cubs baseball not that long folks so uh do subscribe to the chdo sports YouTube channel if you’re listening on your

Podcast feeds we app appreciate it we are ready for a big season when we get there until then Brennan and I will talk to you next Friday back with the regular crew on Monday don’t forget to tune in we appreciate your support for CHD and the chdo Cubs podcast we will talk to

You again soon and as always go [Applause] Cubs like the May