KING CONNECTION? | MAKE IT HAPPEN! | Cubs Baseball Podcast

KING CONNECTION? | MAKE IT HAPPEN! | Cubs Baseball Podcast

Major League Baseball’s GM meetings are rolling ahead here soon and the Cubs talking about what they could potentially do to make their team better. How about Michael King? Heard some rumors about the Padres’s right-hander. We’re going to get into that. And Kyle Schwarber. I still think there is a good possibility that the Cubs are going to be in the mix for the slugger to return back to his rightful home at Wrigley Field. We’ll get into that here on the Cubs baseball channel. Like, subscribe, thumbs up, hit the bell. Appreciate you guys. And know we love you in the comments section, even if you’re Cardinals fans. [Music] [Applause] [Music] What do you say everybody? Mick Gillespie. Great to talk to you guys today here on the Cubs baseball channel. So on the road, but still throwing content your way and during this off seasonason, we’ll continue to try to do that as this team starts to put itself back together again. Now, show Ianaga surprised me a little bit taking the qualifying offer, but $22 million makes him the second highest paid player on the Cubs team. And when you look at the way that the Cubs payroll is constructed right now, even with Shota returning, there’s definitely some money there that the Cubs could go out and spend, right? So, uh, will they be in the mix for Kyle Tucker? You know, what what are they going to do as far as really getting after it to try to figure out how to improve this thing? you know, and it doesn’t always mean throwing money uh at a you know, at a roster is going to make uh you know, going to make the team a lot better, but sometimes it does. I mean, you got to be smart with the way that you spend your money. And uh it feels like right now just from some of the reports that you read, now I’m no expert on the amount of money that a that a team has, but uh Cubs payroll has gone from 231 million24 to 21425 and right now it’s 148. Now that that to me means that there should be some money to go out there and spend on some talent and I and I want to see that, right? because I’m hoping that the Cubs will continue to get better. Now, the rotation I think you show is going to help you. I don’t think you want him to walk away. $22 million. The guy’s been pretty durable. I know he gave up some home runs at the end of last year, but you look at the body of work. I still believe that there’s some really good innings left in Shota. I love his personality. you know, the Cubs are going to try to sign maybe an international player from J Japan or two. Having Shoto on the team is only going to help the team, only going to make the Cubs better. So, um, having him to me is, um, it’s it’s a it’s an asset. And, you know, I know on in the comments section a lot of you guys were happy. Some of you guys weren’t would have liked to have seen the Cubs go a different direction. Now, uh, this was interesting to me, the gang on Marquee talking about Michael King rumors, maybe where Michael King would be a guy, who the Cubs would be interested in. And you guys know King, he pitches or last year pitched for the Padres’s and then uh you know turned down his qualifying offer was you know what, like I think 15 or 16 million and now he’s a free agent which means if you go and you sign him, you’re going to have to give up a draft pick to be able to get uh you know to to get him. That’s part of the deal, right? The competitive balance thing. But he’s a 31 years old 31 year old right-handed pitcher, two-year starter. Before that though, he was with the Yankees and he was a really good reliever in New York. Um, and he’s had like a 288 erra and uh 20 I think 27 holds and and you know a little over a handful of saves from 21 to 23 and then the Yankees traded him and the Janoto deal to the Padres’s. Then they turned him into a starter and he he when he’s been healthy he’s been really good. Now he he had some injury issues last year. uh shoulder and a knee. And so he came back for the series against the Cubs and uh pitched some I what do you have like um an inning right in game three. So he came back. I mean you know the the hope is is that you go and you sign a guy like this and that he’s healthy and maybe he’s kind of like your this next season’s Michael Boyd, right? Um, but look, I think that when you look at the free agents that are out there, we’re hoping that the Cubs maybe hit a bigger home run than Michael King. Now, he’s a controloriented right-hander with uh five different pitches and he generates a lot of weak contact. I mean, that’s one of his things. And strikeouts, which you know, which th you do those two things anywhere, you’re going to be successful. but even more so at Wrigley, right? Um 93 mile per hour average on the sinker with a sidearm run, right? Um gets a lot of ground balls with that. He’s got the four seam fast ball, which in this day and age with everybody trying to uppercut their swing. When you throw that four seamer and you kind of get it above that swing zone, it’s a really effective pitch and and that’s where a lot of the strikeouts come and then you get the fly balls on that. He’s got a sweeper, which is a slider obviously, and he actually learned that pitch from Cory Clubber. It’s not a bad guy to learn from. Change up, which is my favorite pitch for any pitcher. And again, that’s kind of a sidearm fade type sync. Um it’s not one of my favorite pitches for him, but it it it gets outs and then, you know, his regular slider, right? um sweeps across the zone and um you know so he kind of misses those the the sweeper and the slider mixes those up. But the guy in 24 was really good. I mean you’re talking about 30 starts, 173 innings, had a 295 erra was really effective for the Padres’s pitching in what is become arguably the uh toughest division in baseball when you’re in there with the Giants and the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks out in the West Coast. So maybe it’d be a little easier in the Cubs division. Although I I don’t know. I mean, when you look at the Brewers and the Reds and how they’re getting better and the Pirates are going to be tough and, you know, the Cardinals. So, he’s been in a tough division. You know, sometimes guys can hide in and in and bad spots. Now, Pod San Diego’s stadium is a pitcher stadium, but yeah, it was a $15 million mutual option and uh and he opted out of it. So, uh we’ll see. you know, uh, is he going to be durable enough for the Cubs? Would this be the home run that you guys want? You know, that’s the question that I have. And I don’t know that that’s the answer. I think that a lot of us are hoping that Dylan CE is someone that the Cubs are truly interested in. um you know a couple of really solid potential star pitchers from Japan and and I imagine that and then with Shota and the Japanese players have come over and they’ve been like kind of like the Europeans have been in the NBA. They they’re some of the best players in baseball. I don’t want to say they’re taking over the game, but Show Otani is the best player in the game and then everybody else kind of you know slots in off of that and you know sale was so good for the Cubs in the postseason and and you hope that he continues that. Now, let me ask you guys this. Do you like free stuff? Do you like swag? And I think the answer here is yes. You love swag. And that’s why I want to throw this up here. There’s the QR code right there. Join MCN Nation. Hit that QR code avenue D. That’s our web 3 home. So, eventually we’ll have a store on there. We’re building up to this, right? It’s a place that we can go and talk Cubs baseball. It’s the future of the web, right? And so, we’re we’re on the cutting edge right now. That’s our home. But right now, we’re doing, you know, pick contests and and and weekly cash giveaways and then swag. We got Cubs baseball channel swag and and our our first round of stuff hats and we’ve been giving those away. So, uh, please be a part of that and thank you for your support. And a lot of you guys get in the comments section here and tell me what you think about Avenue D and maybe how we can make it better or what you like about it and uh what maybe you guys want to to bet on. you know, would like I mean, not necessarily bet, but me to put in there. Would it be something like would the Cubs get Kyle Schwarber? Because that’s where I’m going next. You know, there’s a there’s a lot of talk about what could happen with Kyle Schwarber. And when you watch Josh Naylor get $90 million to stay with the Mariners, now I feel like Kyle Schwarber is a much better version. he would immediately elevate the Cubs lineup. I’ve said this before. I’m and I’m going to put it up and then go back a little bit, but the marketing value of a Schwarber would be enormous to the Cubs and they should value that because wouldn’t it be fantastic if he’s part of the next Cubs World Series team? and nobody in baseball seems to be as good as he is in the clutch in those big games. So, I would love to see him. I don’t think the Cubs are going to pay the $400 million for Kyle Tucker. Yeah, I know Schwarber’s limited as far as what he does in the field. He’s become a permanent DH. You know, would it be possible to get him to play some first base? Uh could he play in the outfield? You know, I I’m I don’t know. but his bat plays and D the DH spot in this day and age when scoring can be so difficult. It’s a it’s a big position and the Phillies are going to try to sign him. There’s a there’s a rumor that maybe the Pirates would be interested in him. Who knows? Probably some other teams that are going to try to slide in there and get him. But it would be such a great story if Kyle Schwarber ended up coming back to the Cubs. Now, uh, I feel like with a guy who I really believe is going to be an impact player for the Cubs this year, and you guys got a taste of him last year, and that’s Owen Casey, you know. So, Owen Casey, I think’s going to be in right field with Seiya Suzuki, and then what? Moise Bayister. Maybe you trade one of those guys and get something valuable back, you know? Maybe you trade some of the guys you have right now in the rotation. Um, you know, Colin Ray, you got him, but there’d be value for somebody, you know, another team out there just because of his versatility and durability. I love the guy. Justin Steel is going to be back. You know, uh, Kate Horton’s going to be there. So, the Cubs have some some good pitching, but what I would want to do if I was the Cubs is I would want to instead of having, you know, a lot of fours and fives in the rotation, I’d try to figure out a way to have more top end guys because I think it’s going to take that to win the division over Milwaukee and win the World Series, right? I mean, you you got to have an Arietta, you know, you got to have a Leester, you got to have a Hendrickx. I mean, it takes that. We know. And I don’t think the team last year had that. And then you got into the postseason, you get into the last game and and um you know you’re you you’d rather pitch the bullpen than the starter. And part of that was on Shota. But anyway, he’s coming back. Shota uh Michael King talked about him. Kyle Schwarber could could definitely help the Cubs as far as his uh ability to hit home runs. Can you imagine him coming back and and and you know putting them out on the streets again over the bleachers? I I can. It would be such a great story. But the the financial part of this too is I I think the Cubs have the money to make this happen. And unlike Tucker, you’re not going to have to pay Schwarber. I wouldn’t think 10 years. 10 years is a long time in baseball. You know, would you go five? I mean, four, five years. Yeah. I mean, I I would for Schwarber because at you get to that mark and he’s going to be around if everything goes as as planned. And I think he’s going to be around 500 home runs and and that would be from a a marketing standpoint huge. I mean, can you imagine the the chase and all that stuff? But the other part of it is that he delivers. So the Cubs are still being mentioned in in the mix for him. You know, I guess that people are kind of saying, “Hey, the Phillies want him back, you know, and I guess that I don’t think that makes the Cubs a long shot here, but the the the Phillies I’ve heard the Reds pop up before. He’s from Ohio. Cincinnati’s kind of one of those teams that if they added somebody like him, you know, maybe they could, you know, jump in and uh and he’d make a difference. But even just having his presence in the lineup would help this entire team. When Tucker was that guy and he was healthy, the entire team was better. And I feel like that’s what the Cubs were missing towards the end of the season. And when Tucker was hurt and he and he was inconsistent. I feel like with Schwarbs, he could potentially be that guy. Maybe. Maybe. And look, I may be wishful thinking right now, but it just makes too much sense to me. And when I hear people that, you know, that are on different shows giving their opinion and they’re poo pooing it, I’m going, you know what? No, I mean, this is I think this is potentially something that they should do. And and look, maybe you you trade them eventually. You know, you doesn’t mean you don’t have to give a a no trade clause. So anyway, that’s where we are. I wanted to put this show together. I’m going to keep following the Schwarber thing because I really feel like this could catch fire. But we’ll see. There’s an opening. Not hearing much at all as far as the Cubs and and and Tucker are concerned. And the Cubs know they gave up a ton for Tucker. And in some of these trades they made, you know, you look at the players that they gave up like Cam Smith and if you’re not going to get Tucker, one way to get everybody off your back is to get Schwarber because I think everybody would be fired up about that. Anyway, you guys give me your opinion. Uh get in the comments section. Like, subscribe, thumbs up, be here for the shows. Thank you. We’ll do it again tomorrow. We’ll try to get you through the weekend. And uh go Cubs. Kind of a kind of a fun time of year just seeing how this roster is going to be put together. [Music]

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This Episode:
– Michael King to Cubs Rumors
– Kyle Schwarber Could Make Sense…
– Owen Caissie Is The Future
– Kyle Tucker to …

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Mick Gillispie has covered the Chicago Cubs since 2007 and has been a fan of the team since the 1984 season. He has broadcasted spring training games or been heard on Cubs.com, MLB.com, 670 The Score, WGN, CSN-Chicago and Marquee Sports Network. He is an award winning play-by-play voice for the Tennessee Smokies Cubs Double-A Affiliate. He has also hosted many forums over the years at Cubs Convention including Down on The Farm.