Is Edward Cabrera the Chicago Cubs TOP TRADE TARGET?

Is Edward Cabrera the Chicago Cubs TOP TRADE TARGET?

What an incredible night at Wrigley Field. We tell you all about it. Plus, Edward Cabrera rumors and a Cubs for a Cure preview. Let’s go. 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 Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. I’m Matt Cozy. I’m solo. I’m taking your passion to discussion with you and all things Cubs. I believe I botched that intro because I haven’t been solo in a long time. Uh Sam’s out today. We’ll be back uh next episode together alongside Kyle, Ty, and Alex of the Setup Man crew. Uh today’s episode is presented by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with MonarchMoney. Use code locked onMMLB at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. I might slip up a lot tonight because uh Sam and I got a shout out during the seventh inning stretch at Wrigley Field. Shout out to Chris Jacobs. Uh and I’m not going to talk much about it this episode because uh I’m solo. And so very likely the last episode of this week uh we will break that down, give our reflections. I feel like we’ve been more reflective recently uh with the athletic survey. Sam and I were also interviewed last week uh by a Chicago newspaper uh that that you know we’ll get to once the article is published. We’re really excited to share about that. Uh so so yeah, just an amazing night. I will play the audio at least of the seventh inning stretch on which Chris gives us that shout out later in the show when we when we recap Cubs Royals on this episode because I’m solo. I have uh to close out things to preview Cubs for a Cure. Uh because of Cubs Brewers next week and the trade deadline, I wanted to preview that on the early side. Uh, Cubs for a Cure is a major fundraising effort by the Cubs in the fight against against cancer. Um, including a 24-hour radioathon on 670 the score that begins on the 31st. Uh, it’s really important to me. Uh, my mom died of cancer in 2018. It’s a really cool event the Cubs do. My wife, dad, and I went to it last year. It was very emotional. and the host of the radioathon, Danny Parkkins, formerly of 670, now of FS1. He’s gonna join me later in the show uh to preview it. We start with Edward Cabrera on Tuesday afternoon. I heard the Cubs not only have checked in on Cabrera, but we’re going to have a heavy scouting presence at Cabrera’s start against the Padres’s on Tuesday night. It’s unknown who was there. Uh, but if there is in-person scouting happening like this, it means it’s it’s very serious. And since I tweeted out that report Tuesday evening, uh, North Side Baseball’s Matthew True Blood confirmed it. He also added Cabrera as the Cubs top target. Uh MLB Network’s John Morosei and Jim Bowden first connected Cabrera to the Cubs earlier this week along with the Marlins willingness to trade him and and that willingness to trade him is is huge news for Jed Hoyer in his front office. Cabrera is 27. He signed through 2028. He doesn’t even hit arbitration until this off season. Uh he was excellent on Tuesday. He went five and two/3, one run, five hits, no walk, six strikeouts on the season. He now is a 348 erra in 92 strikeouts and 88 innings pitched. Since I got this information Tuesday afternoon, you better believe I made a point to watch Cabrera start Tuesday. And I did. I watched every pitch and he was electric at times. uh a little bit craftier than I expected him to be given his velocity which was up to 99. He sat 96 97. Uh pretty even distribution of a change up curve slider as well. And this would be a clear upgrade in the rotation. A clear uh person to slot in between Boyd and Nimaga in a possible playoff setting. He instantly makes the Cubs better. I’d like some of the other options. I could be sold Seth Lugo or Mitch Keller. Shoot, even Sandy Alcantra, if Tommy Hottie and everybody else in there really sees something they could change as soon as he arrives on Clark and Addison. But Cabrera might be the biggest name both because of his talent and his contract situation. Uh he did get an MRI following his last start before the break, but it returned clean and he pitched. He pitched Tuesday night. He was great. Um that that larger attraction for the Cubs and 20 plus other teams. Is his contract control through 28 arbitration eligible for the first time this off season? The rest of this season, he’s owed uh six figures. I mean, he he’s owed like $500,000 more this year uh as a controllable player. He he he he made about 1.3 1.4 this year and I really believe the Cubs would prefer controllable players. Who wouldn’t? But it would require Jed Hoyer to get out of his comfort zone. And when has Jed Hoyer overpaid for a player? It wasn’t Kyle Tucker because Cam Smith was necessary to acquire Tucker. Cam Smith was always in the reporting. It was him or Shaw. It was Wasneski. It was Pedis. I don’t consider that an overpay especially because the offers by the Yankees especially, but the Yankees and Giants were reported by the Athletic and others. And if you put all three on paper, the Cubs had the better offer. Um, so I don’t think it’s quite an overpay. That was Jed going out of his comfort zone and getting a rental player, but I’m not quite sure for a player of Tucker’s fashion if they overpaid. It hurt, but I don’t know if they overpaid. What an overpay for Cabrera looks like. I’m not good at mock trades. I deserve to get mocked for them. Uh, but the Cubs should do this. And I’m at the point now, especially because entering Tuesday, the Brewers were 21-5, uh, since June 19th, winners of 11 in a row. If the Cubs don’t overpay for a player like Cabrera, then they should expect to finish in second in the NL Central. That’s where I’m at now. And a lot of that is because of the other team. Uh, but who cares? the Cubs can still do this. I thought Sam made an unbelievable point our last show and and we should repeat it because it’s it’s really up to us how we view all of this and for the Brewers to need to win 11 in a row entering Tuesday and to be 21 and five since uh PCA hit that homer off them and they’re only one game ahead. That means the Cubs have been really good. And guess what? We know that already. We have computers. We have television. The Cubs are really good. It just so happens that a team right now is better and they reside in your division. Uh and and 21 and five since June 19th is tremendous. And can you control what they do? No. But if you don’t overpay for a Cabrera, you should expect to finish in second. They have to bring someone in via trade. The only question is how big they go. But if a player like Cabrera is truly available, which he is according to multiple reports, and if he truly is their top target now according to at least one report from Northside Baseball, uh then they have to strike on this between now and next Thursday. And if they do, I’m really excited to see what what that deal uh could look like. We uh recap Cubs Royals, including playing the seventh inning stretch right after this. Today’s episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Ever wish managing your money felt easier? With Monarch Money, it can. Whether you’re growing your savings or planning a big purchase, Monarch puts you in the driver’s seat. It’s like having your own personal CFO, giving you full visibility and control over your finances. Monarch Money is more than a budgeting app. It’s a complete financial command center. You can track all your accounts, investments, and spending in one place. So, in addition to managing your money, you’re also building wealth. Well, since my wife and I have shared a joint account uh for a while now, it’s it’s no wonder an app like this is so beneficial. I can’t imagine a scenario where I didn’t use monarch money to to really be my financial command center to uh put everything in the buckets we needed to go in to put it into uh the investments that we have and really control our spending. It’s it’s really that easy. And you should take take control of your finances too with Monarch Money. Use code lockdown at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. That’s monarchmoney.com. Code locked on MLB for half off your first year. monarchmoney.com. Use code locked on MLB today. Cubs defeated the Royals 6 nothing on Tuesday to even up the series. Cubs are now 60 and 41 on the season. 33 and 18 at Wrigley Field. 30 and 11 after a loss. There was a few notable plays in this one, but just some some pretty clean baseball by the Cubs before they added on runs. I took note of a situation. Cubs were up at the time 20 only. Base is loaded, one out. Top of the fifth. Dansby Swanson makes a nice catch on a line drive, then tags the runner at second to end the inning. I thought that was really nice to see. Then in the bottom half of that inning in the fifth, uh there’s two outs, no one on. The game is is really at a a quick pace at that stage, Carson Kelly singles. Pico Cro Armstrong doubles to add to the Cubs lead. I I like to see that with with two outs. I thought that was that was a positive in that point in the game. And then they added a bunch of insurance or three runs more of insurance uh to make it a six nothing shutout win. And I it it’s a nice bounceback win. I I understand they it was a drubbing in the series opener Monday. I thought it was a top five loss of the whole year if you want to play the scoreboard that way. Um but but somewhere in their record of 30 and and 11 after a loss is notable. It’s why the Brewers have had to have this outstanding run to even be where they are. Why? Because the Cubs are out on an outstanding run. Out of 101 games, they’ve won 60 games. That’s fantastic. There’s a chance here to do a lot of good things. That still remains the same. It even remains the same even despite what other people in your division are doing. even if they are uh the top story in the whole sport right now. Um but but the Cubs being able to bounce back is is is nice. Uh the goal is to win series at this point. I know we teased out the first episode this week, maybe sweeping the Royals. Monday was a tough matchup on paper anyway and the game got away from them. Uh, so counsel everybody else in the dugout, they they needed to flush it and I really think they did that on on Tuesday night. Now, it helps to have your ace on the mound. The Cubs current ace is Matthew Boyd. Um, seven more shutout innings. What is going on with this guy? He has everything working. He has a moxy out there, a presence. You can tell that Carson Kelly, Reese Maguire, Hadiv Councel, everybody that’s in that dugout there along the third baseline, they really attach themselves to this guy uh to Boyd who who was a tremendous veteran pickup by Jed Hoyer and he was the uh if I remember correctly, the earliest signing of the off season. Um funny how that that works out. I guess after some, you know, certainly some questions we posed in the winter when there’s no baseball, but now the real thing between the lines, he’s been good from Jump Street and, uh, it’s been really, really nice to see Caleb Thebar and Daniel Palencia continued there. Uh, really impressive runs as well. I would say when you get when you look at the whole pitching output of the Cubs this year, Boyd’s number one of of of really nice performers. Uh is Imanaga number two? Probably just because he pitches more. And then you get to the relievers and Theelbar and Palencia have led the charge. Uh Keller and Pomerance would be the next couple of names there. Ryan Braier would maybe even be the next name. But what Fieldbar and Palencia have done has been really really impressive and and fun to watch. And if it’s Theelbar in the eighth, Palencia in the ninth down the stretch, great. uh like it was Tuesday night as those guys got some work and what was ended up being a blowout win. Uh but really interested to see, you know, when we wake up next Friday, August 1st, what is the Cubs roster going to look like, right? You know, what what’s the roster going to look like? Are these guys going to be slotted back? Imagine if you could use Theelbar, Keller, Pomerance, Braasier combo in the sixth, seventh, Palencia eighth, new person ninth or new person ethia ninth if you want to stick with Palencia in the in the closer role even though he’s not officially that according to council, but we all know that he is. Um, so nice bounceback win. Cubs can win the series at 120 Wednesday. Colin Ray and Seth Lugo, who also has been connected to the Cubs as a possible trade target. Him and Chris Bubich of the Royals. Uh Michael Garcia would be a nice addition as well for third base. He crushes lefties. Oh man. Um what a moment after the the top of the seventh at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night. Uh Chris Jacobs. We’re going to get into his details later this week. Uh most likely our last episode of the week. The setup man crew. Kyle, Ty, and Alex join us for our next episode in a collab in which we’re going to do an hour show. 30 minutes on our feed, 30 minutes on theirs. That’s pretty revolutionary. Um, but Chris Jacobs messaged Sam last week teasing, “Hey, I’m going to give you and Matt a shout out.” And I don’t think we heard from him again after that. You know, I think Sam sent a message like, “Wow, amazing.” But what, you know, like what are you talking about? I’m not sure he ever actually got confirmation. Uh, but wow, did we get that during the seventh inning stretch on Tuesday. Listen to this. Guest conductor for Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Television host, Chicago native, and lifelong Cubs fan Chris Jacobs. What’s up, Wrigley Field? It’s great to be back here at the Friendly Confines. Shout out to Matt Cozy and Sam Olber, host of my favorite podcast, Locked On Cubs. All right, Cubs fans, let’s sing this one for Azie. [Applause] Oh, one on two on three. Take me out to the ball game. Take me. All right, maybe we’ll play the whole thing uh later this week. Borderline borderline tears for me. I I couldn’t sit down. Really really cool. Uh to borrow a line from Seinfeld. I’m speechless. I’m without speech. Um I can’t wait for Sam to get back and we can recap this in full. Um, but amazing amazing of Chris to do that and the the passion and that this fan base has, the support that this show has received, uh, it’s unmatched and it’s why we’re the number one destination at Talk Cubs and uh, we’re so so thankful. Cubs for a Cure is a really important event that the Cubs put on. Uh, it’s important to me. Uh my family went last year and to kick that off uh so Cubs for a Cure game is Cubs Orioles next Saturday the 2nd of August but it’s going to be kicked off with a 24-hour radio thawn on 670 the score hosted by Danny Parkkins and Danny was so kind enough to join me right after this. This episode is brought to you by Open Phone. If you’re running a business, you know that every mis call is money left on the table. Think about the last time you had a service emergency, like a burst pipe. If the first plumber didn’t answer, did you wait? Nope. You called the next one. That’s why having a reliable business line is so important. And that’s why you need Open Phone. Open Phone is the number one business phone system that helps you streamline and scale customer communication, all from an app on your phone or computer. Did you juggle two phones just to keep business and personal calls separate? Open Phone solved that instantly. Your whole team could share one number and respond to customers like a shared inbox. No more who’s handling this. Open Phone is offering Locked on Show listeners 20% off your first six months at openphone.com/lockedonmlb. That’s op.com/lockedonmlb. And if you have existing numbers with another another service, Open Phone will port them over at no extra charge. Open Phone. No missed calls, no missed customers. Cubs for a Cure returns this year in collaboration with Stand Up to Cancer and other organizations to raise funds in the fight against cancer. Fans interested in donating to Cubs for a Cure can attend the August second game against the Orioles. There’ll be all sorts of pregame and in-game activities going on to help the fundraising effort. My dad, wife, and I went to that last year, that August game against the Blue Jays. You can donate anytime online as well. I’ll post a link in the description of this episode. And a major part of this also starts at 10:00 a.m. Central, Thursday, July 31st, as 670 The Score will once again host a 24-hour radioathon where listeners can call in and donate. And hosting the radio thon once again is Danny Parkkins, formerly of 670 the score, currently at FS1. And you could also catch Danny still doing radio as the main pinch hitter on Mad Dog Sports Radio, literally filling in for Chris Russo uh this week on SiriusXM. Danny, thank you so much for joining me today. Please tell us the story behind the radioon because I know it’s it’s very personal to you. Yeah, thanks for having me on, Matt. I appreciate the opportunity. Um, so I’ve done radiothons since high school, uh, when I did high school radio. Um, you know, I’m an old school radio guy. I feel like if you’re on the FCC airwaves, you’re on public airwaves, you know, you should, uh, do something to give back to the public. And, um, the first radioathon I did at the score was to fund the construction of a grocery store uh, in a food desert over in Austin. And I’m proud to say that Austin Harvest is now up and running year round. And that initial class of kids uh who works that grocery store, most of them are in college and it’s making a real difference in that neighborhood on the west side. Um and while after that radiothon uh my brother Brad got diagnosed with glyopblasto, which is terminal brain cancer, brain cancer without a cure. And um you know it devastated me and my family and my niece and nephew, his kids and you know to watch the best most hilarious vibrant guy ever uh you know go from that to gone in 34 months and then you learn more about that uh disease and you realize that he beat the average by you know nearly 20 months. Uh you know it goes fast and it’s brutal. I got involved with Brain Up, which is a Chicago based brain cancer charity that funds research and clinical trials at other at Chicago area hospitals. Um, and through a weird twist of fate, and I’m telling a long story as quickly as I can, so I apologize, but Crane Kenny, the president of business for the Cubs, has lost some people in his life to glyoplast. when he heard about my brother, he told me about Brain Up and he was impressed with the Radioon that I did for Austin Harvest. And after my brother passed, um, you know, Crane invited me to a Cubs game and him and I had never done anything like that together before. And he said, you know, how about we combine your radiothon and my ballpark and we raise a bunch of money for cancer research. And I was like, what? What are you talking about? And he was like, your radiothon, my ballpark. and we had a few beers and the idea for Cubs for a Cure was born and we’ve been working on it ever since. Um, last year we raised 554,000 during the radioon and I’m proud to say 100% of it goes to cancer research. I always like to highlight that because um you know I I my brother got treated at like the Malnati Brain Tumor Institute at Northwestern for example and they’re absolutely amazing people and they had me MC their gala this year which was a tremendous honor and we raised about 790,000 that night. Um and I’m not privy to the particulars and so this isn’t a shot. It’s just a reality of most charities. Brain up. We host a 5K. There are expenses that go with that 5K. permits, security, t-shirts, the whole food, the whole thing. You know, you do a event at the Four Seasons with an open bar there. You know, not all 790,000 went to the cause, right? Like there’s expenses. But 100 if you donate to Cubs for a Cure through the Radioon July 31st, 10:00 a.m. uh to August 1st at 10 a.m. I can accurately say that 100% of your donation will go to it. And so, um, you know, my wife, I was telling you before we started, my wife says that in the few months leading up to the radioathon, it’s like a part-time, it’s like a second full-time job for me. Um, I I book every guest, I get every sponsor. Um, I I host the full 24 hours and I program the full 24 hours. I have tremendous support from the Cubs and the score and the promotions team with figuring out the website and the donations and the fulfillment of the incentives. And there’s a ton of people behind me and all the people at the score that give their airtime like Ila and Marshall and Lawrence and Spiegs and Grody and Mully and Haw and all that. It’s that that it’s amazing. Uh but it’s a true labor of love in honor of my brother and everyone who deals with cancer. Amazing. Thank you for so much for sharing. Yeah. So, sorry that might have that might have been too long of what you were looking for. Sorry about that. No, no, no. It’s it’s it’s great. I’m glad I’m glad you took us through that like like you did. giving us a glimpse of the 24 hours on the radio. What is your favorite part of of that when you actually the the light comes on and you’re in it? What’s what’s your the favorite part of that? If you could give us a glimpse of, you know, the guest coming in and out whether it’s in person or on the phone and otherwise. You know, it’s um so I plan it as closely as I can and then you kind of just have to let go. Um you know, people are dealing with cancer and they cancel on you because they don’t feel up to talking or it’s too personal or someone, you know, last year when I was doing the overnight portion of it, the donations like really slow down. Like I do it for the 24 hours mostly frankly for the spectacle and it gets people paying attention and it gets news coverage of it and I think that that drives more attention to the prime time hours but the donations slow down overnight because less people are listening. Uh but that’s when we took the calls. We open up the phone lines and people just call in and say who they’re standing for because we also do it in partnership with Stand Up to Cancer. That game on August 2nd like you see at the World Series or the All-Star game. We’re going to stop the game in the fourth inning and everyone will stand with their placards and say who they stand for. Um, we had an anonymous donor last year who was just moved by the individual calls who started dropping thousands of dollars in the in the bucket after a bunch of calls. and I didn’t know who he was and uh I do now. But um you know at the end of it uh this person had donated $30,000 just in the overnight hours just listening to calls of people and it was amazing and he gave us a shot of you know Tom Rickettts called in and I didn’t know that he was going to do that and he donated 25,000 last year. Uh my brother grew up in Whitefish Bay. Uh my he’s my older technically the half brother but he’s my brother. uh he grew up in Whitefish Bay and was childhood friends with Craig Council. So I’ve known Craig since I was like six years old and um Craig told a story of my brother on the air that I didn’t know he was going to tell that was just a really special moment and a special thing and um you know so it’s you you plan the whole thing and then there are surprises. You know, last year Ryan Sandberg announced that he was cancer-free and it was an unbelievably powerful moment and he cried on the air and obviously we now know that Rhino’s cancer has come back and you know he’s he’s facing it as bravely as he possibly can and as strongly as he possibly can with the support of you know a global fan base in his corner but it’s um you know there are just I know there will be things that I am not expecting uh that will be powerful that will be sad that will be funny Um, and it’s it’s exciting to go for it. And um, and then the adrenaline, the snowball effect, right? It absolutely, you know, the number gets bigger and bigger and it it kind of fuels you throughout the 24 hours. The Cubs have been a great partner with you on this and you mentioned the, you know, couple beers with Crane Kenny. How have they been to to work with? as you reflect, it’s it seems just like it’s it’s there’s just a a real specialness to it from the top down. Yeah. You know, um obviously Crane Kenny calls a lot of shots over there and so if it’s his baby, a lot of people kind of fall in line, but um but they’re amazing, man. They they they are they are truly world class and it it’s just a it’s a crazy run of circumstances, right? like Crane Kenny taking an interest in the Radioon and then us having that conversation and him having a connection to Glyob Blasto. Colin Faulner, their head of marketing, has become a buddy of mine. Like I said, I’ve known Craig Council since I was a kid. Um, I got to know Nicoer pretty well from the appearances on the right on the old on the old radio show over a number of years. Um, you know, just all of it. Like Jed Hoyer, I wouldn’t say that Jed is a friend at all, but like Jed Jed always liked me. Uh, and we had like a really good onair and off-air relationship like professionally. Like we would text about the NFL and about football picks and about his fantasy league, you know what I mean? So, like I just have I just have really good relationships with all of those people. And then obviously the score um you know they donate the the Cubs donate tens and tens of thousands of dollars of incentive items for me to facilitate so people can golf with Ryan Dempster or be in the booth with Pat Hughes or get autographs from Pete Crow Armstrong and Ryan Sandberg like in exchange for their donations. Plus, the Cubs guarantee their 50-50 raffle for the weekend series to help me do dollar for-dollar matches. Like, I I it’s a cliche. Uh they helped me book the guests uh from the Cubs, you know, Rick Sutcliffe and John Lester and Ian Hap and Pete Crow Armstrong and Craig Council and Jed Hoyer are all coming on this year. So, like I I 10 out of 10. I I could not ask for better partners. And I’m not I’m not just saying that. like it’s it’s it’s a anything I have asked for they have either said yes or their reason that they have said no has been like we’re legally not allowed to do that and I’m like oh okay um but like they they have been they have been amazing truly amazing 670 the score radioathon for Cubs for your cure begins at 10 a.m. Central Thursday, July 31st. I guess I do have one more thing. Yeah. The Cubs make a major splash. What’s What’s the game plan there that day? Oh, we got plans. You know, we’ll we’ll we’ll talk about it, but the main thing is cancer research. Uh, you know, I’ll I’ll fund raise off of it and uh Jed Hoyer and Craig Council will be joining the radioon after the trade deadline. I think it’s going to probably be the morning of August 1, but they’re both coming on. So, you know, uh we will talk about it. We will mention it. Uh I’m hoping and I’ve told Jed like, “Hey, can you make the buy like the 29th or the 30th so as not to mess up my my programming.” Um but we we will talk. But yes, we will talk if they make a big trade on the 31st, we will talk about it a little less than you normally would get on the score, but it’s because we’re going to raise hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars for cancer research. And then Jed will just come on when it’s all over to tell us all the news anyway. All right, Danny. Thank you so much. Thanks, Matt. Appreciate you, man. Congrats on the success of the show. Appreciate it. Thank you for Danny Parkkins. I’m Matt Cozy. This is Locked On Cubs.

Edward Cabrera is the Cubs top trade target, Cubs/Royals recap, Cubs for a Cure preview, and much more. Plus: Matt and Sam get a shoutout during the 7th-inning stretch!

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