Joe Ryan should be TOP TRADE TARGET for Chicago Cubs

Joe Ryan should be TOP TRADE TARGET for Chicago Cubs

Joe Ryan should be the Cubs top trade target. And it’s been 2 years since the Cubs hired Craig Council. Let’s go. Go Cubs. You are Locked on Cubs. Your daily Chicago Cubs podcast. Part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. You are Lockdown Cubs, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. I’m Matt Cozy and I’m a lifelong fan, taking my passion into a discussion with you on all things Cubs. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, they’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the FanDuel app today. All right, I’m solo on Thursday. Sam will be back solo on Friday. Lots of Cubs news right now. We’re in a a more active pocket as the off season is now underway and it’ll really pick up again in a couple weeks. Really the mid November to mid December uh should be that hot stove time. But it feels like it’s it’s hot right now uh with with Shota Imanaga decision coming up on Thursday whether or not the Cubs extend the qualifying offer and uh just some some rumblings, news, rumors, things like that. Uh also today, November 6th, is the 2-year hiring anniversary of Craig Council as Cubs manager. Third segment today, we replay the first segment from the day uh David Ross was fired and council was hired. Uh before that, I’ll do some reflecting on council’s first two years. And we start with the Cubs quest to find a front of the rotation starting pitcher this off season, especially in wake of their decision on Chota earlier this week, declining the club option that he declined his own player option. the Cubs can still bring him back on the qualifying offer or if they work something out uh shorter term beyond that just throughout the off season. The Cubs will certainly be in the starting pitcher market, but the signs right now early signs albeit point to them being active in the trade market. And if they are, I believe Joe Ryan should be the top target. Joe Ryan just completed his fifth season with the Twins this year posting a 342 erra 104 whip 194 strikeouts in 171 innings. He was named an allstar. He should be in the top five in the AL Sai Young voting when that gets released next week. Uh this is all according to Statcast these next few uh tidbits. Average fast ball vo 94. I thought it was a little bit higher than that, but that’s what Statcast has him at. He was very, very fast ball heavy this year, over 50% usage. And then a pretty even distribution of pitches after that with the sweeper, splitter, sinker, and slider. So, a a five pitch guy. Struck out a impressive 28% of hitters and walked only 6%. uh Twins traded 11 players if you recall that at the the trade deadline. Uh but Joe Ryan wasn’t one of them. Uh he was available and he reportedly will be again this off season. The price will be unsurprisingly high. uh maybe a little similar to to Kyle Tucker last off season when the Cubs made that big splash, but you know, really it’s not similar because uh Ryan is under control for not one but two more years. So he’s not he’s not entering a walk year. He’s under team control through 26 and 27. And his arbitration projection is only 5.8 8 million, which for an all-star caliber pitcher um is a is a great price. I don’t know how else to put that. It’s really a steal. Uh there is some some nuggets of information uh from from Wednesday. ESPN.com put out several pieces on on Wednesday that that that could be worth your time. I know it was for me. basically their first preview of the off season. Jeff Passen was in there, Jesse Rogers, uh a few a few others including Buster Old. I’m going to read an excerpt from from Buster Ol couple of minutes. basically laying out why because of the upcoming labor uncertainty, players like Joe Ryan who are who have their their walk year in 2027 which could be potentially affected that really boost not only their value this off season but like just the likelihood that they’ll get moved. Um so uh we’ll get to that in a in a couple of minutes. As I look at the updated top prospects list for the Cubs on MLB pipeline, I don’t see any untouchables. Uh I think nine of the 10 top 10 prospects should be available. Uh meaning the Cubs should pick either Casey or Bayister sticking around essentially marking one of them is untouchable just because one of them is the projected starter right now either at DH or right field. If Sei is either at DH or right field then Baseros would be at DH Casey would be at DHR right field. Of course, there is the possibility you you really say, “Hey, you know, these two guys are going to stick around.” Although, if you say that, then then the the likelihood of getting Joe Ryan is going to really decrease. Um, so I for this thought exercise, I think you should take one of them out and then the nine of the Cubs top 10 prospects are there for the taking. The top 10 right now is Casey bysteros Wiggins Rojas, Alcantra, Conrad, the first round pick from this past summer, Ethan Conrad, and then the last forward long Ramirez, Birdcell, and Triantos. And I I I just I don’t really, you know, sneeze at prospect cost, you know, the Cam Smith thing. I’m I’m totally unaffected by it. It It doesn’t move me even a speck, you know. I I found it intriguing and really interesting that he won the job out of spring training for the Astros, the right field job, after just getting drafted months earlier. But, you know, if Casey becomes a a good twin or Bayisteros or Wiggins and it’s for Joe Ryan, especially in an all-in year of 2026, to me, that’s worth it. And players like Ryan might be more likely to get traded this winter because of the impending uncertainty of the 2027 season. The current CBA, by the way, ends in about 13 months, uh, December 1st, 2026. This is from Buster only on ESPN.com Wednesday. Quote, “Typically, the Twins could wait until next summer’s trade deadline to consider taking offers for Ryan. However, with many executives believing that at least some of the 27 season is in jeopardy, placing an appropriate trade valuation on Ryan will be much, much more complicated next July.” and teams might not be willing to part with significant returns if they believe the 27 season will be truncated or lost. So if teams want to get proper returns on players like Ryan, it could be better served to take offers this winter rather than waiting until next summer. Close quote. So Cubs I I think are going to be active in the trade market. There’s pros and cons to that, right, which is the prospect cost. Um, but a lot of the the financial cost really really decreases if you compare that to like a Dylan CE, even a Michael King in free agency, others. Uh, so we’ll see. We’ll wait and see what the Cubs do, but you know, late April rolls around, Steel, Ryan, Boyd, Horton, Tyion. I feel really good about that. And then of course uh you know when when if if and when uh as I’ll lay out even later in the show or next segment uh you know the Cubs make another postseason run which which they should. All right. Coming up next we reflect on Craig Council’s first two years as Cubs manager. Stay tuned. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA is back. There’s no better place to get in and on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of a game or want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team’s making that late push. And our team here in Chicago, our basketball team, the Chicago Bulls, boy, did they make a late push on Tuesday night basically for two and a half, two and three quarters uh quarters. They were uh basically all three quarters really, we should just round up. Didn’t didn’t play well. starting to to hint at a comeback in the third quarter, but really uh storm back in the fourth and and that could have been an active play on FanDuel. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. Uh just like the Bulls with their late comeback against the Sixers on Tuesday night. So, head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Shout out to the Everydayers. And you can become a Locked On Cubs Everydayer by joining us for every episode throughout the week. All right. On November 6th, 2023, two years ago, the Cubs fired David Ross and hired Craig Councel. Councel was the first big free agent in all of baseball that off season. It was unlikely he was returning to the Brewers. His meeting with the Guardians was known. His meeting with the Mets was known publicly, uh, but he had zero public connection to the Cubs until Ken Rosenthal broke the news that the Cubs hired him. Uh, we later found out Jed Hoyer met with councel couple weeks before that. Tom Rickettts got involved and then Hoyer showed up at Ross’s doorstep in Florida to let Ross know he had been released and Council was the new manager. Uh, from the opposite dugout, Sam and I admired Council’s work with the Brewers. We discussed him every now and then on this show. We might have even talked about him briefly on our first show that Sam and I did uh together before anyone knew who we were. Uh but I think we’ve learned these last two years what we actually admired was the Brewers and and their organization as a whole. It’s really uh something watching the the replay back of the first segment the day he was hired. We’re going to play that to to close out today’s show. I mean, one word to use just right away is, you know, hyperbole. You know, we we had a lot of strong statements that day purely out of excitement. Um, but looking back on it, it’s you do have some mixed feelings, but really it’s the feelings are this. The Brewers are a really, really good organization. The Cubs in many, many facets are are chasing them still. And the Brewers have owned the NL Central. And we learned pretty quickly after the Cubs snagged their their manager that the manager, you know, was was only a part of of the list. And that the list is pretty long for why they’ve owned NL Central the last several years, including being the first team to clinch each of the last two and leading baseball in wins this season. Uh meanwhile, Council’s first year with the Cubs, while not a waste, seemed like an observatory and factf finding season for for him. He pretty much admitted that in the final week of the 24 season during a press conference, it was during that same press conference. The council had that big quote of the Cubs goal should be to build 90 uh plus win teams. and and in this in his second year, you know, they they did they won 92 games. They made their first postseason appearance in a full year since 2018. They won their first postseason series since 2017. It’s clear that Council has exerted his influence with this roster. Shoot, he might have even had influence over the Imanaga decision uh club option andor the the qualifying offer. He’s clearly had a voice in the room. I would say especially with with pitching and the bullpen, you know, with Hoyer, with Carter Hawkins in the front office, uh, you know, taking stock of the players, the players respect council. Many, many of them are on record. They appreciate his his evenness, right? his even keel nature that he just he keeps it, you know, at the same line pretty much all year. Uh, in terms of how he’s handled each part of the team or even just thinking about it from an offensive and and pitching perspective, I think he’s had mostly an easy job handling the offense. When I reflected on this today, I’ll I’ll admit I did I I think I’ve I’ve done maybe too much questioning of the lineup. That’s part of the fun though of baseball discussion um and realizing that the sport, you know, is entertainment. It’s escapism. It’s a daily sport. So, we should be posing daily questions. It’s like that’s that’s part of the fun. But to use Hoyer’s term from a couple weeks ago, in totality, we probably do a little too much of that, right? The lineup was easy to write the last two years. And especially if you use the playoffs as an example, and why why wouldn’t you? the last two years. And maybe you could poke at, you know, this being an indictment of the bench and that it’s been weak two years in a row, but they’ve had nine clear regulars and that’s who played just rolled with the nine guys. This year they didn’t they didn’t seem to run out of gas at all, you know, like they may have in 24. Um, you know, they all were very healthy despite, you know, a lot of them playing 150 plus games. Um, so that’s offensively. I think we really got a feel for how Council handles pitching this year and it was magnified in the playoffs. Both the regular season and the playoffs, he handled the pitching well. This was something that you’ll actually hear about next segment from two years ago. Sam mentioning how council doesn’t chase wins in the regular season and we’ve that’s come to fruition 100%. Like he just doesn’t do it. Um, and I need to dig a little deeper on this, but you know, is it worth doing? Right? I do think you need to stack wins when possible, like that that 21 game stretch in May this past season when they went 16 and five, but chasing a single win out of 162 might not be worth it to them based on the numbers in front of them or based on feel or based on both. So, I think that part’s been proven true. Council doesn’t chase regular season wins. For the most part in the playoffs, it’s all about chasing wins. And then I would say it’s even more paramount in the wild card because you only need to win two games to advance. And we saw that council chased wins from the first inning, you know, whether it was with an opener, whether it was going to the bullpen in the fourth inning. And I look forward to how that evolves maybe in the regular season, but definitely in the playoffs in 2026, you know, if and when the Cubs end up there, and they should. But even just considering the final four teams, uh, Brewers, Dodgers, Mariners, Blue Jays, I thought Council’s usage of pitchers, especially the bullpen, it it uh it held up. You know, he did he did better than the Mariners for sure with that. Uh, you know, the Brewers against the Dodgers, a tough task. Um, you know, did council manage his pen better than John Schneider with the Blue Jays? Maybe. Uh, so yeah, I think I think that, you know, there’s a lot to be learned here, but um, yeah, it’s it’s it’s hard to believe it’s been it’s been two years and, uh, we’re going to end the show right here. Uh, this is Locked On Cubs, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. To close out today, we have the first segment from the day David Ross was fired and Craig Council was hired, November 6th, 2023. And uh thank you so much for listening. Sam will be back on Friday. And let’s get to the flashback from Craig Council’s hiring right after this. Today’s episode is brought to you by Price 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 place 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 at least two player stats, and if you get them right, you win. takes less than 60 seconds to make your lineup and you can play anywhere. Prize Picks operates including California, Texas, and Georgia. You got to use prize picks for Bears Giants noon central this Sunday. You could pick more on Caleb Williams yards. You could pick more on Kyle Manungai touchdowns and so on. 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 locked on MLB for $50 in lineups after your first $5 lineup. Prize picks. It’s good to be right. One of the most shocking moves in Cubs history that also stunned the baseball world. The Cubs on Monday fired David Ross and hired Craig Council. This move was out of nowhere. A few weeks ago, Tom Rickettts and Jed Hoyer both praised Ross’ performance. Council reached free agency last week, immediately interviewed with the Guardians and Mets. Also was discussing a return to the Brewers. But Sam, the Cubs swooped in and elevated their franchise with the best manager in baseball. Here we go. Matt, I uh look, there’s so much to say and after I talk, you’re going to talk about, you know, this is not going to be our only show today. We’re going to do a lot of stuff with the listeners. We’re there’s going to be a lot of engagement today. And look, I’ll start by saying this just just out of respect. I have nothing against David Ross. I’m not c I not in the I’m not in the business of celebrating when people lose their job. Like I I don’t like doing that. And so I hope people understand and can separate my excitement is because I think this was the best thing for the organization that they got the best manager on the market versus adding insult to injury with somebody losing their job that you know we are our job is to talk about and and say how we feel and what’s best for this team to win games and that’s our job. So you know and we’ll talk about Ross a little later on but let’s talk about what just happened. Matt, it is November 6th, 2023 at 3:31 p.m. Central time, and the Chicago Cubs have just become serious contenders. They are serious. It is real. It is a real thing. Okay? And I am not in the business as well of trying to say, “Hey, I told you so.” But you know this better than anybody because we’ve had so many conversations off the air before we had a show. I did not think that this specific manager, David Ross, was the answer and could seriously win a World Series. And not only not only did they move on from him, but they got the best possible guy because if you watch my show on Friday, I had my birthday wishes. What was number one? Does anybody remember? Anybody remember on my wish? It was improving the margins. The margins are done. It’s done. We don’t have to worry about it. I don’t think I’m gonna say the word margins from no November 7th on. It’s solved. Why is it solved? Why is it solved? Because we got a manager that wins 90 games a year with no money. We got a manager that wins one-run games for breakfast, that makes the right decision, that has a plan. It is it is the absolute solution to the margins. I believe, and maybe I’m overreacting. We know I’ve done that before, but I believe that if you got the exact same production as the Cubs did in 2023 with Craig Counsel and just subbing Craig Counsel to David Ross, I think we’re talking about a 90 win team. Wow. I I think he’s worth about six to seven wins. That’s a lot. I’m serious. I’m serious. And if people think I’m overreacting, so be it. This is the best manager on the market. Look, I get it. They paid for him. You’re going to talk about that. The Brewers are a good organization. But I’m telling you, here’s the thing, and then I’ll pass it over to you. I apologize. I’m going long. Here’s the thing. Jed Hoyer has always had this small market mindset that he’s trying to combine with a big market team. And there’s no better small market manager than Craig Counsel. And now Craig Councel is going to come to a team that has big market resources. He’s going to be able to get things on his ball club he just wasn’t able to get on Milwaukee. It should be a perfect marriage. Big payroll, big talent merged with the best small market manager in the league. The Cubs should be favorites for the division. I’m buying the Kool-Aid. I’m drinking it. I want it all. I and I am I I think this is one of the most significant days for this franchise since November 2nd, 2016. I will pass it to you. Well, it is it is very significant. Not only do you you dismiss a manager who had some some clear deficiencies. We’re going to get to those later in the show. We’re going to highlight some some points that 522 people do in the middle of the weekday where we recognized it. But then you bring in the best manager on the market. I am so interested to hear and get the inside scoop on how this was done. The day began it looked like Mets or Brewers. He council interviewed with the Guardians last week and you were like the Guardians. What? Well, why possible incumbent to Tito Franka and you know c can we talk about the team that he’s coming from? You just stole from your your biggest competition. Great point. So, we were all about to celebrate. Oh, council out of the division. Now, he’s on your team player. He is the Cubs manager. He has done more with less his entire career with the Brewers. He overachieved with zero resources. Zero. And they were a force every single year. the last six years they made the playoffs five out of those last six. It’s a clear upgrade. It signals the Cubs want to win. They want to win big and it signals perhaps that they’re ready to win. And this is a shrewd move by Hoyer. He’s been a part of this before. But shoot, I don’t know if if this type of move on this type of escalator has really happened. We could talk about him and Theo firing Rick Reneria, hiring Joe Madden, but Renteria was only here one year. Ross was here for four. Council was with his team for a decade. And now you have a monumental news story. And and we’re not going to squeeze this all into one show because you you mentioned it in your monologue. What do they do with the roster? I would love to know, Jed and Craig at the at the Starbucks last week, what was promised, what players were talked about. Um, and so we’re going to continue, you know, with this. We’re going to talk about Ross’ dismissal, Ross’ firing. We’re going to talk about council’s huge contract. And let me run this banner right now. We’re coming back in a few hours. 7:30 p.m. Central Standard tonight is going to be a big time hangout for you, the Cubs fan. It’s going to be us. It’s going to be you. We’re just going to sound off on this. We’re going to enjoy it. Um, and we’re going to really move forward to 2024. Matt, I I know we’re going to talk about the contract a little bit later on, but I just want to answer your your rhetorical question that you probably don’t even want me to answer of of, hey, how did this go down? Well, I think a big part of it went down is because Jed Hoyer put his big boy pants on and gave him a lot of money. I think that’s that’s a big reason. And look, I know and I want to make I’m sorry, I’m laughing at some of these comments. They make me laugh. And we’re gonna go through a lot of comments tonight and and and I want to just say this. I know there’s an element and I’ve gotten a few texts like this. You know, my phone hasn’t been this active ever. Um I’ve gotten a few texts saying, “Hey, don’t you kind of think it’s not fair to Ross that they did this and it’s a little bit blindsiding and it’s like here’s my here here’s the thing.” Okay. This Yes. Yeah. Right. Like Tom Ricketts came out three, four weeks ago. So it was only three weeks ago. Yeah. Came out and said gave him a support of confidence. He had no idea this was coming. The the thing is is this is professional sports and sometimes the fair thing isn’t the best thing. The best thing is how do you win baseball games, right? And my guess is and I don’t know Jed Hoyer although I starting to think he may know me if you know what I mean. Uh I don’t know Jed Hoyer well or if at all but my guess would be he did not think that Craig Council was a possibility. So when Tom Rickettts and him made those promises and then somebody like Joe Madden or Craig Councel uh came available and you feel like you’re in a window time and that window’s opening, it’s time to win. You got to make that move and and it may not be fair to David Ross and that’s just how it goes. Professional sports now you have to be ethical. You can’t be unethical. You can’t be you can’t cheat. But sometimes you have to go back on your word if the best thing in the the best thing to do is to win championships. And this this gets the Cubs not not smaller, not just a little bit closer, but a lot closer to winning their next championship. And that is what matters most because I personally believe with all due respect that David Ross I and I said this on this morning’s show that with David Ross’s manager in order to win a championship you had to make it kind of margin proofs. You Yeah. You had to you had to make it Ross proof. Now you really, you know, now you have a guy that I feel comfortable in October saying that guy’s making the moves. And look, there’s going to be some things people. Yeah, there’s going to be some things you guys disagree with. He’s very analytical. He’s very he thinks he thinks very long term. If if the Cubs are down 5-1 in the third, he likes to scrap those type of games. He likes to play the long game, but over the course of the year, this guy is going to win you 90 plus games for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And I I’m telling you, I this is probably this is probably the happiest show we’ve ever done, including some of the walk-off wins, because I just feel like now we have a real chance to be a world champion.

Find out why Joe Ryan should be the Cubs top trade target to upgrade the starting rotation this offseason. Plus: Reflecting on the 2-year hiring anniversary of manager Craig Counsell, including replaying the first segment from our show when he got hired on November 6, 2023.

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