THE NICO MARKET | BREGMAN UPDATE | Cubs Baseball Rumors

THE NICO MARKET | BREGMAN UPDATE | Cubs Baseball Rumors

Could the Cubs be considering a trade of Nicoer to the Giants? We’re going to talk about that. Also, would them signing Alex Bregman maybe contribute to making that deal if it were to happen? I think they’re connected. Cubs do sign Tyler Austin from Japan. We’ll give you an update on that. And not great when you’re watching some of the Cubs best bullpen pieces signed by other teams. So maybe the Cubs are being outbid in that process. All that right here on the Cubs baseball channel. Like, subscribe, thumbs up, hit the bell. Great to see you guys today. And uh we will talk to you about the Cubs like we do every day. So get in that comment section. Let’s go. [music] Hey everybody, MC Gillespie Cubs baseball channel. Hit that QR code right there and join us at McNation. That’s our web three home. That’s where we hang out. That’s where we have swag that we give away cash prizes. We’re all picking the uh Alabama Oklahoma game tonight and $250 per quarter. It’s all free to you for for you to do it and then you can win that and then another what 500 for the winner. So, five chances to win. So, take advantage of that. But we also do that during the season with baseball. All right, let’s get into a couple of things. And I want to start with this. Um, Nicoer from the Bay Area could be going to the Giants, right? Well, at least the uh the rumor was that the Giants checked in on Nicoer and that that’s been out a little bit. That was on the uh that was on December 17th. uh that Suzanne Slusher of the San Francisco Chronicle said that that the Giants checked in on Nico. Now, Nico won a gold glove and he hit 297 and he’s really good with runners in scoring position, right? And he’s about as solid of an everyday player as you can have. And the Giants need a second baseman. And so Nico, who’s from the Oakland, California area, and I asked him, I said, “Are you Giants fan?” He said, he told me he was an A’s fan growing up, uh, like some of those really scrappy A’s teams, but I think he could be a Giant in a in a in a snap of a finger. And that Giants team, it’s going to be a lot of fun. Tony Vitello, their their new manager, but they also have like guys like Bruce Bochi hanging around. It’s going to have like this I I’m guessing like this new old vibe should be should be pretty interesting to see if they’re able to contend, right? And um the other thing is that Nico is going to be a free agent at the end of the year. And you wonder if the Cubs are going to be willing to pay what he could potentially make, right? And and it makes a lot of sense because the Cubs have Matt Shaw and if they sign Alex Bregman who plays third, uh they’re not going to want to get into the same situation that the Red Sox got in last year, um where they had two guys playing third base and then one guy got mad and then they asked him to play first. He didn’t want to do it. he’s a DH and then they end up trading him to the Giants, you know, which is which is was pretty pretty crazy because Raphael Devers is such a good player and and you figured that the Desgman combination would have been great, but it just it just didn’t work, right? So, will the Cubs make this deal? I think it’s interesting to see if they would do it. Now, some of you guys are going to go from just a fan standpoint that you don’t want this guy traded. You love him. You love the way that he plays. He shows up every day. Um, he’s been about as consistent as any of the Cubs players have been over the last couple years. Really, since he’s been in the big leagues, he’s he’s been as advertised. The the only thing that makes him to me uh tradable is the fact that he doesn’t hit for power. And I think that probably drives analytics people bonkers, right? Because he’s maybe like a singles hitter. You hit some doubles, but he doesn’t hit have a lot of power. Um and and it’s because, you know, the exit VO is isn’t good enough to to generate power, but he barrels the ball up. He’s a really good player and and you’re taking a risk of getting rid of him. Now, I think part of this is are the Cubs serious contenders for Alex Bregman? And I think the answer is yes. Um there I I was reading a a story on the um the Sports Illustrated Cub site and it said they they ranked the three most likely Alex Bregman landing spots. And uh right in at number three was the Cubs. And and basically they went off of a report that Bob Nightingale put out basically saying that the Diamondbacks have started to kick the tires on possibly um you know adding Fragman, right? And and and then you keep hearing that they want to trade Kendall Marte who had such a weird season last year off the field. remember he got upset about the fan heckling him said something about his mom and then he his house got robbed and he missed time um you know and and the team ended up a couple games short you know maybe he him as an all-star could have helped I don’t know felt like just some of the reports gave you the idea that that maybe the clubhouse wasn’t happy with them so they said in this report it’s like the Cubs are number three Right. Um, they offered him a four-year contract Bregman last year. You know, you feel like they I bet you that they would like Matt Shaw better than Nico depending on what they could get back from Nico because look, he’s under contract and he’s got power. You know, he’s not a gold glover like Nico, but you don’t necessarily need a Gold Glover at second base. I’m sure they they would give up maybe some of the defense for more of the power. And then you look at what Shaw did in the second half of the season. It makes you feel like he’s going to be better uh down the line. Now, the Diamondbacks, I just can’t imagine the Diamondbacks signing Alex Bregman or even him wanting to go there after uh you know, they they they sold a lot of their players away last year, but they maybe they they they kind of went out Mel Kelly to resign, you know. Um and when’s Corbin Burns going to be back? I mean, that was what killed their team last year. They went out and spent all that money on a guy that had to have Tommy John. But, um, to contend in that division that they’re in, they’re going to need players like Breman. And then the most likely landing spot is the Red Sox. Like, he’s just going to resign with the Red Sox. You know, I wonder when he opted out of this if he opted out thinking that he would eventually resign or if this was one of those deals where, you know, he just kind of looked at it and said, “Yeah, I I don’t know. Maybe he didn’t like the way that the whole Raphael Devers thing went down even though they traded Devers.” Um, I mean, I I don’t know what the inside was on that, but it feels like one of those deals where, you know, Devers was playing third and they signed Bregman. They were acting like he was going to be a second baseman and then they put him at third and then they’re moving Devers and Des like I just signed like a 10-year deal. You know, you don’t want to be either guy in that situation. So, I wonder how much of that plays into this. But if the money’s right, I mean, I’m sure he’ll get over it. Trade endeavors. Um, a couple more things to get into on the show and one of them is that the Cubs, they’re going to have to rebuild their bullpen. Uh, since the last show I did, the Cubs lost like o over the last day. Um, Drew Pomerance signed with the Angels, then Brad Keller signed with the Phillies. So, I mean, those are two guys that you wanted to bring back. Taylor got two years 22 million from the Phillies and and I tell you what the Cubs really I mean just it’s like this guy came out of nowhere. I mean, he I felt like he was on the scrap heap and instead, you know, now he’s leaving with a team high 68 appearances and a 207 RA and a whip that was under one and opposing batters hitting under 200 against him and he was one of the best the Cubs had last year. So, he’s going to the Phillies. And then Pomearance, I mean, what a story that was. I mean, they the the Cubs went and found him in Triple A with the Mariners and so Theo Bar got a contract and the Cubs went and and you know, they made it uh they signed uh another lefty and I guess maybe they just didn’t feel like they were going to pay Pomerance the money. I I don’t know, right? Um but they got some help for the bullpen, right? Mton’s one of those guys that they signed and then they added Hobie Milner. So that’s the other lefty. Maybe he he replaced Pomerance. I I don’t know. But it it’s it sucks when you have some of these guys that have been so good for you and now they’re going to other teams because, you know, look what they did. But the Cubs have done an excellent job of going out and finding and developing um some of these, you know, or helping kind of with their pitch lab get these guys back to being stars or even making stars out of them. Pomearance was crazy. I mean, remember how long it was he didn’t give up any runs, so he earned that contract and so did Keller. But they were two guys no one would have ever considered that they were going to be two of the best pieces the Cubs had in the bullpen at the beginning of the year. And that was what Craig Council was talking about. Hey, we thought we’d have a good bull punt. Just wasn’t the guys we thought were going to be the guys that had had us in that area. So, you lost two of them. Uh, another another prediction is, and I saw this one, that the Cubs would sign left-hander uh, Framber Torres, excuse me, uh, Framber Valdez uh, to a contract. And I I saw this and this was uh ESPN’s David Skolenfield 6 years 168. Um I mean I don’t know. I mean gosh if if if you’re going to spend that you know would you go after I instead? Um, you know, and and I’m wondering if one of the reasons that Houston wants to get rid of him is remember last year he was the guy that crossed up his catcher after giving up a home run and like hit the guy in the chest with a fast ball, which I’ve never seen [laughter] that before. I mean, maybe that’s why they’re going to get rid of him. And is he that is that the kind of guy you want in your clubhouse, you know? Uh so I I’m I’m curious about that. Um I don’t know. So I haven’t really heard his name come up a whole lot. Zack Gallon supposedly signed, but he didn’t. Um Ranger Suarez talking about him. And then uh I we’ve talked a lot about him. So those are the three that I’ve kind of focused in on, but you know, who knows? is I mean I I’m sure that they’re not that worried about the cross up anymore if he can go out and win you 15 16 games. Uh so and then then the final thing was this. The Cubs went out and signed first baseman outfielder Tyler Austin to a contract. Uh this was this guy was in Japan the last six years. You remember he was a member of the Yankees and he he’s pretty good in Japan. had a a good batting average, power, and and maybe he’s a guy who the Cubs could see as a replacement for Willie Castro. Um, but played for the Yankees, the Twins, the Giants, the Brewers. Last time he was in the big leagues was 2019, but you know, first base, DH, bench player, you know, you can use him in the outfield, I guess. Um, and we’ll see. You know, I I’m I’m kind of curious to to maybe they found somebody else. I mean, that’s what the scouts do. You know, they go out there and try to find these guys. So, uh, this one I saw it come across the, uh, ESPN clicker and I was like, “Oh, wow. I mean, is this this for real?” Okay. Well, you know what? When they signed Drew Pomerance, did you imagine that he was going to be a guy who was going to lead your board? All right, look, that’s it for the show today. Appreciate you guys. Again, don’t forget about Mick Nation, Avenue D. Uh get out there and uh and try to win some money. It’s all free. Have fun. We also got swag, some more hats to give away and stuff like that. So, thank you. Get in the comments section like you always do. Tell me what you think. I know some of you guys are just like, “No way. Trade Nico.” Well, I mean, he’s a free agent at the end of the year and teams are checking on him. And I guess the reason why teams are checking on him is because he’s a winning player. You know, you put him in that Giants lineup and he’s pretty good. Uh, and and then they need a second base. So, uh, but but and the Cubs have two really when you think about Matt Shaw. Uh, and then, you know, maybe even some guys in the minor leagues. James Triantto plays second, so he does three. Anyway, uh, thank you guys for hanging. Like, subscribe, thumbs up, and uh we will do it again tomorrow. And uh hopefully you guys are having a great Are we Are we in We’re in the holiday season. Yeah. Got Hanukkah going, Christmas coming. So, merry Christmas. Happy.

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This Episode:
– Nico to the Giants ???
– Giants “checked in” with the Cubs on Nico Hoerner
– Cubs Lose to Key Bullpen Arms to Free Agency
– Alex Bregman to with 3 Great Fits
– Cubs recently signed American first baseman/outfielder Tyler Austin
– Cubs predicted to sign LHP Framber Valdez

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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