Could Kyle Schwarber be an option for the Chicago Cubs?

Could Kyle Schwarber be an option for the Chicago Cubs?

Man, would this be a fantastic reunion. Could Kyle Schwarber return to the Cubs? You are Locked on Cubs. Your daily Chicago Cubs podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. You are Locked On Cubs, part of the Locked On Network. your team every day. Alongside Sam Olber, I’m Matt Cozy. Sam and I are lifelong fans taking our passion into a discussion with you on all things Cubs. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app. Create an account. Use code lockdown MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Gold glove winners for the Cubs later in the show. Also, lessons the Cubs could learn from the World Series. both the Dodgers and the Blue Jays, what they did, uh, what turned out to be an all-time classic series. And we start with a former Cub who was on the free agent market as the off season officially began on Monday morning. Kyle Schwarber in62 games. Wow, that could be a talking point in itself. Schwarber slash240 365 563 OPS of 928. What are you laughing at? So I’m just I’m reading ahead the stats. 928 OPS 56 home runs and 132 runs batted in. And a lot of that’s probably from the leadoff spot. It is. and Sam. We had a spirited back and forth in our episode to lead off the week on on Monday about Tucker. Well, it ended our friendship. And it did not. And you’re wearing the shirt. Yeah, I am. Out of protest. Yeah, don’t exaggerate too much. No, we may never we never speak again. Well, we’re speaking now. So, uh, but Kyle Schwarber, not only would he generate great interest and buzz, uh, in the off season, which would be a byproduct of a of a signing a star, uh, especially for a franchise that that’s a one of the crown jewels in all of sports on the planet, but they would also be adding a a star on the baseball field as well. I mean, he he had a career here last year and then some. This afternoon, as I was trying to do three or four different activities at once, which usually means I’m doing none of them at once, I opened up an article when I uh Googled the name Kyle Schwarber was from Newsweek. I don’t know if you’re familiar with that. No. And the uh the title of the article uh let me just pull it up. Philadelphia Phillies predicted to lose Kyle Schwarber to familiar destination. So I said, “Oh, this sounds great. Let me read this.” Yeah, they predicted him to go to the Red Sox, which makes a lot of sense. He was there. He was there like what, 50 games or something. Well, and that’s where I think Tucker may go. I know you said that a while ago because the Red Sox are going to be active, right? They traded Devers. Uh, so they have to go get one of these guys. Um, yeah. Look, I mean, I think the Schwarber thing is a really fun thing to talk about. Uh, a lot of a lot of the negative stuff that comes with it, we’ve already discussed in terms of do you want to take a gamble on that much slug with the way the wind is played, right? Would that how much home runs, how many home runs would 56 look like at Wrigley Field? Is it just would it go from 56 to 50? Fine. But if it drops, you know, more than that, that’s a problem because he doesn’t hit for a lot of a lot of average and things of that nature. Um, here’s why I think it’s more of a possibility than I think others do. Do you remember before the season? It was probably I think it was right around Cubs convention time when Jed sat down with Cap. Do you remember that? Yeah, it was actually might have been the day of the convention. We were talking about it on our ride over to the Sheridan. Yeah. And he was talking about like the big regrets and things like that and Schwarber came up and there were financial reasons. I don’t know. It just feels like it’s a contract the Cubs are probably going to be able to do and it gives, you know, we talk about Rickettts. Ricketts loves to do two things. Keep the fans interested and make sure he’s, you know, not overspending. Well, I mean, that would do it. That would do it, you know. I mean, five five for 150 would probably get it done. Yeah. It just seems like a deal that the Cubs would think about doing and then Ricketts could go, “But G, hey guys, I gave you Schwarber.” Just like just like when they traded for Tucker, one of the big parts of that was that Tucker wasn’t making Tucker money last year. It was like $17 million. So, you they saved they saved about 13 million when they swapped Tucker. So, you’re killing two birds with one stone by saying, “Oh, I get to be really happy with with Schwarber or the fans are gonna be really happy with Schwarber, and I don’t have to pay 250 for Tucker.” You know, it it just seems like something the Cubs would do. And obviously, I I mean, you know, these first segments, I got to do a better job. I’m just passing it right back to you instead of because I was going to get into another point and it’s just And then how do you even respond to that? I’m going right back to you. Well, it’s good that you’ve learned some of the mechanics of this uh now almost four years. Four years in. Yeah. So, going right back to you. I might take a walk. Well, and the total value, Sam, of the contract might be half of what Tucker gets, which is just crazy to me. Cubs can go five for 150 for Schwarber. The Red Sox turn around and go 300o on Tucker. No, that’s and that’s really where the the when when you lay it out like that when I think about it, I’m starting to warm up to the shorter thing, man. Oh, really? After yesterday where you basically told me, you know, to go find a new show to do. What runs created last year? Bulls are no longer undefeated. First in WRC Plus, Show Otani. Yep. Second, Juan Sodto. Third, Kyle Schwarber. I thought Sodor didn’t even have a good year. Here’s my only concern. Schwarber in 2022 hit 218. Yeah. And in 2023 hit 197. That’s my only concern. Only one. No. That’s I mean that’s a great that’s a really high level concern. Wait, he hit 197 and 23 only two years ago. Yeah. Geez. Um, you have any 40 I mean the home run numbers home runs last four years 46 47 38 56. Wow. So, can I tell you what I would like to see happen if Also, they have a little bit of a log jam because he always dhes. Yeah, sure. No. Anything else, sir? Um, so I, uh, exactly. So, this is where I think the hat no trade clause really hurts you because I would love to see left. I’d love to see Pete in center. See if they could do I guess I guess technically like you said, Schwarber can’t play the outfield. I just my the point I’m trying to make is Bas play some left. Bayisteros and Schwarber really complement each other well. So you’d love to have them in the same lineup, but neither one of them plays a position. And then Hap Suzuki are kind of redundant in their skill set. So to your point, we’re both just we’re both just going back and forth. Now I’m I’m I’m taking your stance from yesterday. To your point, that’s where Tucker’s a better fit because he he does hit for a higher average and things like that. But let me just tell you something about Schwarber and we can continue this. There’s something about him in big moments. Like let me let me just put it to you like this. That 3-1 pitch from Ashby. I think that ball might have left the park. Do you know what I mean? There’s broke a window back there. I mean, how many big homers does this guy hit? No, he’s become It’s not like he hits. It’s not like he he’s the guy you go up Schwarber another one, but we’re down nine nothing. No, I’d say that’s one of his calling cards. He hits big home runs and you know, he’s heroic and I don’t know, maybe I’m getting a little bit too into the nostalgic part of it, but bringing him back after 16 and what he did for this franchise, coming back from the ACL tear. Yeah. I don’t know. It seems like something that that could come full circle, that could be a really nice story. All right. Well, do you want to continue to navigate this then? Yeah, maybe for a little. Yeah. All right. Let’s continue to do that right after this. Wow. This episode is brought to you by Game Time. The NFL season is back and honestly, there’s nothing better than being in the stadium surrounded by fans cheering on your team. But let’s be honest, getting tickets can be a hassle between cues, login screens, and prices jumping at checkout. It’s frustrating. That’s why I use Game Time, the app that gives the advantage back to fans. Game time is fast, easy, and backed by the Game Time guarantee. You always get 100% authentic tickets delivered on time and at the best price. Plus, all fees are included. So, the price you see is the price you pay. I pulled up Game Time and in just a couple taps, I saw amazing deals. I’m talking about your favorite NFL games as low as $100. The app made it super simple. I could even see the exact few view for my seat before buying. So, please download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code lockdown MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, that’s promo code L O C K E D O N LB for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. Download Game Time today. Shout out to the Everydayers. And you can become a Lockown Cubs Everydayer by joining us for every episode throughout the week. And we really appreciate that, especially in the off season. And it’s episodes like this one, Sam, uh, the one last Monday, uh, so a little over a week ago about Dylan CE. I I really get that excitement back and and I think the Cubs on paper, the 2026 Cubs now as we’ve really turned the page officially as currently constructed, they would be in the mix for the wild card. I don’t think that’s a reach to say, which is why they need to inject more impact into their roster to get to that 90 plus win mark and really make a run again because that that’s what they’re capable especially what looks like to me a one-year window. And Kyle Schwarber out after doing the whole episode back and forth yesterday now almost 12 minutes in today. This this does get me really excited. And yes, I agree with you. One of the reasons is nostalgia. Did you know that Schwarber I don’t think you knew this? Schwarber was he was one of the only jerseys I got during the the the run there from from 15 plus. uh uh and you know what the financial concerns after the 2020 year, you know, they they non-tender him, he leaves, and he he’s become a star player. Man, I’m gonna ask you a question. And uh man, him I I got to get my notebook out tonight. I It’s just too bad they they handed out no trade clauses like it was Halloween night and like Candy a few years ago. H has one, Seiya has one, Swanson has one. Uh, shoot. Jameson Tyion has a partial one. Wait, really? Yeah. And they were handed these things out like Milky Ways on Halloween. Tyion has a partial no trade clause. He does. Yeah. What does that mean? There’s certain teams he could wear. Certain teams that he can’t go to. And is that public info? No. Someone would have to do the reporting on that. All right. I got a question for you and we can move on. I got to get him in this lineup, man. Schwarber. I’m gonna say five for 140 just hypothetically. Okay. Yeah. I mean, even round up to 150 if you want. I don’t want to do that. Five for 140 for Schwarber. Okay. Tucker 28V. Go ahead. Tucker seven. No, Tucker. Eight for 250. Okay. 31.25 AV. Go ahead. and Alonzo four for a 100 with those three deals. Who would you pick if you if you could have on the Cubs? Schwarber. Rest my case. Schwarber one, Alonzo 2, Tucker three. And if I remember correctly, I believe you pronounced eight for 280 yesterday for uh Tucker, which would be, you know, um the problem is is Yeah, it’s just it’s figuring out the fit. Uh with like Wait, what were the Tucker terms you just gave? I think I said I think I said eight for 250. Oh, I do Tucker one, Schwarber two, Alonzo three. Sorry. Oh, okay. You you so you’d rather have you’d rather have Tucker at eight for 250 than Schwarber at five for 140? Yeah. I just don’t know like where all these I just think I just think that’s crazy. I don’t know where these guys play, man. Well, Suzuki will play right field for Tucker. It’s crazy that you have three DH’s that. So, you want three DH’s Schwarber and Bayister. So, so I’m crazy because I don’t want three DH’s. So somehow that’s crazy now. Well, with the way Tucker played right field, he was at DH. Suzuki played a better That’s a good comeback. That’s why you’re the best. Suzuki play Let me tell you something. Suzuki played a better right field than he did this year. I’d have to think about that. That seems like a reach. It It does feel like a reach when I said it. It feels like a reach when I said it. He’s not a exactly a sharp uh fielder. No, it feels like a reach, but I He was better. He was better last year though. Well, perhaps the greatest left fielder ever. The greatest of all time. I mean, you know, he’s going to finish his career with eight straight gold gloves. Is there anyone else that plays left field? So, I mean, you can Schwarber play right? Schwarber can’t. No. Look, in this in this exercise, Bisteros gets traded. None of us want that. It seems like the Cubs don’t. He He’d be He’d be in a deal to go get a Joe Ryan. I wouldn’t mind that. Yeah. I I mean, the greatest thing would be I just think that he’s the closest guy to her, Sam Theos. It’s a fact. Is there any way he could catch? I I think they would try to have him catch a little sure. Why? Because you would include Amaya in a deal. Well, it just it’s a lot easier to carry three catchers and have Bestros be there and then it opens up another D, you know, it opens up a spot, you know, then you if Beros, let’s say let’s say the catching tandem next year is Bastos and Kelly or Baststeros and Amaya or something. Then all of a sudden you got Schwarber dhing and you got Seiya and right happened left, Pete and center, Bush at first, your problems are solved. I just don’t think that I think people don’t realize how difficult it is to catch at that age if you’re not it just it’s something that gets exposed late in games especi especially in the playoffs. I mean the job that Will Smith and Kirk did speaking of lessons from the World Series which we’re about to talk about. I mean those guys I mean you you got to have a catcher that can handle pretty much everything. What would your rankings be Tucker Schwarber or Alonzo? those deals probably probably Schwarber or Tuck or Alonzo. Do you have interest in Alonzo? Like would that was that something where you would like you would be excited that day if they got him? Yes. Okay. And so Suarez isn’t in that category anymore. No, he was a deadline guy for me. No, not a free agent. No, he’s not good at I I don’t just a half year. The only thing that excite would excite me about Suarez is it just seems like he’s a different hitter at Wrigley Field. But it’s just he’s I mean if you think happened and Suzuki are up and down. I mean this guy he’ll hit he’ll hit 090 for two months and you look up at the end of the year and he’s got 41 homers and he’s at 205. I don’t know if we need a guy like that. I mean Bregman, he’s another guy that’s available. Bregman would be a the other the probably the other big name that we haven’t mentioned yet in our the last the last week. Right. Yeah. I’m not as excited about that proposition. I know. And they went after him last year and they they didn’t get him. Yeah. What kind of year did he have? He was okay. He just didn’t play much. Yeah. 8 Yeah. 820. No. No. He had a good year. He had a good year. He did. Okay. Yeah. 114 games. Three and a half war. Well, he’d be an upgrade over Shaw in a way. Well, sure. Yeah. Yeah, offensively for sure. There’s no question about that. So, so, uh, you know, maybe they revisit that with Gregman. Is Willie Castro a free agent? I’m serious. No, he is. Yeah. Okay. I wonder where he’ll go. Thanks for paying attention to the couple of the other shows. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, maybe he’ll maybe he’ll get signed by the Socks or something. Why take a shot at the Socks? They had a better year last year. Well, of course they did. The year before they won 41 games. If they if they didn’t have a better year, I mean I mean they could they improve. Go ahead. Go ahead. They improved by 19 analogy. No, I’m just saying if they if they did have a better year, I at some point you got to think about shutting down shop like relegation. Yeah. If they went backto-back years of 41 wins or less in baseball where a triple A team swap them out for another team. I mean aa team can win 3540 games. All right. Coming up next, what are our lessons that we’re taking away from the World Series? And Ian Hap won his 50th gold glove in a row. Uh we also discussed that right after. Yeah, you can’t win 42 games. Today’s episode is brought to you by Prize Picks. You and I make decisions every day, but on Price Picks, being right can get you paid. Don’t miss any of the excitement of this sports season. Whether you’re following the NFL, NBA, or both, there’s no better time to jump in on the action. If you haven’t tried it yet, prize picks is the simplest way to play. Just pick more or less on two player stats, and if you get them right, you win. It takes less than 60 seconds to make your lineup, and you could play anywhere. Prize Picks operates, including California, Texas, and Georgia. Man, what a football Sunday it was yesterday. And you should be using prize picks during that more or less touchdowns, perceptions, uh, rushing yards, all these crazy games that go back and forth. Uh, you could pick your favorite players like Patrick Mahomes, maybe Caleb Williams, and see how your predictions play out. Download the Prize Picks app today and use code locked on MLB to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That’s code lockdown MLB for $50 in lineups after your first $5 lineup prize picks. It’s good to be right. Make sure you’re subscribed to Locked On Cubs on your preferred audio platform or YouTube. That way you don’t miss any of the great Cubs content we’ve got for you. All right, last segment of the show. good times when uh you’re having fun here. And uh lessons from the World Series, Gold Glove finalist, and one little small trivia history there as well when we talk about Gold Glove. So, Sam, it was an all-time classic World Series. I think getting to the baseball part of it right away. Did you learn anything about Craig Council from watching the World Series? I felt like I felt like I did appreciate him and his bullpen usage a little more. I didn’t feel that way, but but I No, it’s a fair thing. Yeah. Like like Are you saying like you could see him managing in games like that? Is that what you’re saying? Yep. Yeah, I think that’s fair to say. Um but he handled the last four plus innings in the playoffs really well. I agree with that. Okay, I agree with that. But I didn’t learn that in the World Series. I don’t think the Blue Jays did that necessarily or the Dodgers. Well, the Dodgers didn’t. They they pitched they pitched a guy that threw 100 pitches 24 hours earlier. Rubber arm. I learned what I learned from that World Series is that this is a cruel game. Um, and I just, you know, you’re going to continue to see me handle losses better as I did this past year because, okay, I mean, how h if you’re a Blue Jays fan, I mean, if we if we were locked on Blue Jays, I mean, how do you how do you handle something like that? I still got to check out that episode. Miguel Rojas hits a solo home run in the ninth to take you away from winning a world championship. uh you your your best hitter, the best hitter on the entire in the entire series gets a three-0 green light against Blake Snell just just misses it by a hair. One of your best bat-to- ball guys hits into a double play with the game on the line down a run, runners on the corners, one out. It’s a cruel game and it’s really hard to win. And you know, and I guess the other lesson I learned is that you know, as much money as the Dodgers spend, they also have a quite a lot of grit on that roster. you know, quite a lot of fight. Some of it comes from their high price guys. I mean, who knew Yamamoto, you know, was was going to do that. And um, you know, a guy like Miguel Rojas, he’s not one of their highest paid guys. And, you know, that mean that is is that the biggest hit in Dodger history? I mean, I don’t know. I mean, Freeman’s walk-off, Kurt Gibson’s walk-off, but like that they were done. I mean, I I that was they they were done and and a guy and he made a play the next half inning, too. Yeah. you know, and and and that’s how you have to fill your roster. It’s not just about, right, the Otanis of the world because at at the end of the day, Otani had a had a had an up and down playoff some unbelievable moments. He was good overall. Freeman was just okay. Betts wasn’t very good. Smith was good. Tayscar wasn’t great. They kind of starting pitched their way and just gritted their way to that uh to that win. But I I would say those would be my lessons. But man, I was so impressed with the catch. So so impressed with the catching in that series. H yeah, it’s um that’s two two stories now that I could think of where I I just I’m like, wow, that that was really really bad for that fan base. The first was the Luca trade. Oh, and second is this Blue Jays loss. This Blue Jays loss is just I mean, it’s just defeating lit literally. Yeah. I I I think I I’m I’m warming up to you like the Blue Jays, Sam played a lot of young guys. They allowed for development of their younger players. You look at like a barger, right? You know, the Cubs do that with a Casey or Bayister Theos or a Wiggins in 26. Um you know, couple of their pitchers as well, younger. Yeah, the blend of for the Dodgers. I I great points because it’s not just about the dollars with them even though that’s such a big factor. Um and the Blue Jays took bold chances too, especially on pitching a 41-year-old Sherzer before the year. Dominguez and Bieber at the deadline there. There was pitching at the deadline if you wanted it. Well, I mean, sure, it might not have been McKenzie Gore, but it could have been Shane Bieber. And we talked about Sherzer. I mean, he I mean, He started a a winner go home game and you know he did enough he did enough to win. Maybe the Cubs finally bring in Justin Verlander this off season. Uh Pete Crow Armstrong and Nico her named Gold Glove winners Sunday. First time in their careers. Uh Pete trailed only Raphaela in DRS. Her led in DRS at second. Both were first in in the NL. Uh Ian Hap won the gold glove for the fourth straight year. Can you name the other five Cubs who have won four plus gold gloves? That’s so funny that you just asked me that cuz I tweeted that that same question yesterday. I don’t I I only You did? Yeah. And I know two off the top of my head. I don’t know the other four. So obviously uh Sano did it and and Sanberg did it. Yeah. Sano five. Sanberg nine in a row. Yeah. And so I my tweet was or nine total, excuse me. My my other So my tweet was is did anyone else do that besides those two? And I don’t think anyone I didn’t I didn’t look at any replies. So I’m trying to think. Yeah, there’s three more names in not including half, right? Yikes. Um Rizzo didn’t do it. Um yeah, he did. He won four in a row. I don’t believe that’s true. Four total. Four total. Oh, total. Total, total, total. Oh, got it. Sanberg and and um Sano actually did four in a row. Wow. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know. That’s impressive. Oh, four total. That changes the thinking here. Okay. So, Rizzo’s And actually, one of the names is wrong. I’m sorry. Because he went to another team, Greg Maddox. Yeah. Greg Maddox only won three with the Cubs. Yep. So, I I got that wrong. So, there’s one more name. Yeah. So, Maddox, Rizzo, but Maddox is done. I got Sano. I got uh Sandberg. I got Sandberg. Oh boy. Um Yeah. Right. Uh give me Can you give me like a some sort of time frame? Yeah, I can. Uh 90s Mark Grace. Correct. I was gonna say that. Ed, really the la the last question I have for you is if Pete wins the platinum glove. When is that announced? This weekend, Friday, I believe. Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know. I I I think the C I mean, I would love for him to win it. I think the Cubs had too many miscommunications out there uh for him to be the the best defensive player in baseball, but I’d be thrilled if he won it. Yeah. I have this nugget from Jordan Bastion of MLP.com. Pete completed 19 five-star catches. Those are catches with a zero to 25% catch probability, setting a single season record since Stack Cass has been tracking that type of play. Well, then maybe he’s going to win it. Yeah, I mean, Raphaela was really good, too, though. Yeah, but can Raphaela can’t win it, right? He um he beat him out for the gold glove. He can’t win the pat platinum glove if he didn’t win the gold, can he? Well, he won it in the AL, right? Oh, I see. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I don’t know how this works. No, no, you’re right. You’re right. You’re right. I I I thought you said Pete beat him out, but I wasn’t thinking that he’s a Red Sox. So, yeah. What’s your final prediction on Shoda? Because I think that’s going to happen Tuesday. The same as yours. Okay. So that hasn’t changed since you recorded it, too. Yeah, I’m really I’m really interested to hear hear when that leaks. Okay. So, I think there’s a small chance that he picks up his player option. I’ve changed my mind on that. At 15. Yeah. And that would be like music to the Cubs ears because you could still have plenty of room for cease. Yeah, that’d be great. Plenty of room for Schwarber. That’d be great if he did that. And uh All right. Well, we’ll keep tabs on all the news. And another fun show. It’s 5:10. It’s pitch black outside. He’s Sam Oliver. I’m Matt Coy. This is Locked On Cubs, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day.

We explain why Kyle Schwarber could be a free agent target for the Cubs this offseason. Plus: Lessons learned from the World Series, Gold Glove winners, and more.

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-cubs/

Locked On MLB League-Wide: Every Team, Prospects & More
🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/mlb/

#Cubs #ChicagoCubs