BETTER TUCKER OPTIONS…| Cubs Baseball Podcast

BETTER TUCKER OPTIONS…| Cubs Baseball Podcast

Cubs are going to be looking for options to replace Kyle Tucker because it would be an absolute shock if they spent the $400 million to keep him around. So, if they don’t, I got three really good options that could help the Cubs win. And you know what? Some of these options may be more than just this or that. Maybe you get two of the three. Maybe you have all three. That’d be great. We’re going to talk about that on the Cubs baseball channel. Avenue D. Hit that QR code right there. Mick Nation and you get an opportunity to win gear like this right here. Swag gear, whatever you want to call it. All right, let’s get this party started. Good to see you guys. Go Cubs. Everybody, I’m back in my studio. and you’re going, “Hey, look, he’s back home.” Yes, I’m finally back home. It’s been a long trip, but back. And the first thing I did when I got through the door was come out here to give you guys some more content. So, like and subscribe and give a thumbs up. I ask you guys that all the time, and you’re like, “God, this guy’s complains.” No, I’m just asking. Like, that’s the payment that you get for throwing content out. But I love you guys. Thank you for being here. And let’s get this thing started. So, here here’s the thing. Um, Kyle Tucker, I hate to say it, but I just don’t think he’s going to be a Cub. I I just don’t. Now, we gave up a ton for a one-year commitment, you know, and I wonder if the Cubs would do the same thing for a player this year. Scubble seems to be that guy that everybody might, you know, give give the house up to get. I don’t know. But the Cubs did that last year. They gave up a first round pick and they gave up a bunch of other guys. Tucker was good, then he got hurt. And all in all, I think we saw what he could do, but he hit .266 with 22 home runs, had 25 stolen bases, and uh an OPS of 841. He was a Silver Slugger award winner. And And I get it, man. And I mean like he’s I I can’t sit here and say that 266 with 22 home runs and 73 runs batted in was bad, but then you add in the 87 walks and he is really uh just an absolute pro hitter. Like he his approach is as good of an approach as you’re going to see. And there’s I get it. Like I can’t sit here and and and say, “Hey, you know what? Like Cam Smith could be a Hall of Famer. I don’t know why you guys would make this deal. No, I get it. You tried to go out and get a premier player and you did and he was great until he was hurt and then after that, you know, it was what it was, right? And the Cubs uh were awesome and then they, you know, they they made the playoffs and then they lost to Milwaukee in game five and then Milwaukee got swept by the Dodgers and then the Dodgers won the World Series in seven, right? So, I mean, that’s how close the Cubs were. So, now you got to replace Tucker because I just don’t know that they’re going to pay the $400 million. I feel like it’s this is a Yankees, Dodgers, Mets, maybe the Giants, you know, the team that just doesn’t care that he might not make the last five years of the contract. You’re like, well, he’s in his late 20s. Yeah, but you know, guys get hurt. You know, things change. So, who are you going to have to replace him? And it starts with this guy here, Owen Casey. He’s the in-house pick, right? I mean, this is the guy when I think about if the Cubs, you know, are looking for the next Pete Crow Armstrong, then that guy is going to be Owen Casey. Well, I’ve said this since last year, which one of my biggest gripes with the Cubs was that this guy didn’t play more and then when he got there, he got a concussion and he didn’t play. So, I love Owen Casey, what he brings to the table. I know he’s got some weak, you know, some blind spots, but he’s played 266 games with the Iowa Cubs, right? 24 and 25. and he’s got 41 home runs and 130 RBI’s. He’s also got 128 walks. Now, he strikes out a ton. Uh, but he also has a 282 batting average and a 381 on base percentage. He’s a lot better defensively than people want to give him credit for. I’m one of those guys that gives him a lot of credit and I I take crap for it sometimes. I’m not saying he’s a gold glover, but he’s not going to you’re not going to lose because of him. It’s really good. like he’s got a good first step. He’s got he’s good diagonally. He reads the ball well off the bat. He’s got a decent arm. He’s going to be a good outfielder and you’re going to love him because he’s going to hit a ton of home runs. So, that’s an option. I And I don’t know what’s going to happen with the Cubs. No matter what, this guy’s going to be a part of it because if he wasn’t, they would have traded him at the deadline. right now. The other guy, and I’ve talked about him with you guys on a daily basis, is Kyle Schwarber. This is my, you know, the Cubs and and baseball is a business guy, right? Like, he’s the guy that I’m like, “Okay, so you you’re going to lose Kyle Tucker and everyone’s going to be pissed off, right? Because you gave up so much to get him. How are you going to get a big market team and their fan base to be happy? Well, you’re gonna go and you’re going to get Schwarbs. You’re gonna bring him home. I would love this. He’s 31 years old. Uh and and what did we do last year, right? What did what did Schwarbs do last year? Uh well, he won the home run derby. Okay. I I loved that. That was great. And then the guy hit 56 home runs and was a 240 hitter. You know, he walks a lot. He strikes out a lot. And he was great. Uh some people call him a Cubs prodal son. So, okay, I’m I’m with that with Schwarbs. Um, I would I would just love to see Schwarber rejoin the team because I think that he would help them win. I mean, I I’d love to see those home runs come as a member of the Cubs and this front office loves home run numbers. Like, they love them. Like, it’s like, hey, how many home runs can a guy hit? Well, that’s a guy that hits a lot a lot of home runs. So, I said he was 31. He’s 32. He’s a DH. I’m fine with that. There DH is in the National League. I grew up and it wasn’t. You know, now the DH is a a position I know that Craig Council likes to use the rest guys. You know what? Forget that. And it’s another f word I’d love to really use, but I don’t want to do that to you guys on this show. But let’s get a guy that’s the best in the league at the DH where we know we can put him in the lineup and he’s going to make Pete Crow Armstrong and Owen Casey and the rest of those guys better and you’re not spending $400 million to keep him. You know, his contracts like in the ones somewhere, right? So there you go. And then the other guy is this guy here, Alex Bregman. Cubs were in the Alex Bregman sweep stakes last time around and he went to the Red Sox. Well, guess what? He didn’t get the deal he wanted and he opted out of the Red Sox. Now, he’s a lot like Tucker where he had a good year when he was healthy, but he just wasn’t healthy very long. So, he’s a 31-year-old third baseman. He is someone that when he’s healthy, he’s really good. He hit 273, 18 home runs, 62 runs batted in, and he was an all-star for the Red Sox. Helped the Astros win the World Series. Cubs get him. I don’t know what’s going to happen with Matt Shaw. I’m guessing he’d be more of a utility guy. But bottom line is this is that you could for the same money have Tucker on a different team and have Casey Schwarber and Bregman. You could have all three of those guys on your team. And I’m not opposed to that. you know, like like Bragman, and I love where Matt Shaw could potentially be, but he’s not there yet. You know, the other position to me that we we don’t seem to talk about a lot is catcher, and I think that the Cubs should go all in on uh Adley Redmond of Baltimore of the Orioles because they they’ve got an extra catcher now. And that would be I think he would be a great fit. I mean, you’re not looking at a whole lot of guys around the league that could bring that offense and actually be pretty good on defense to a team. So, anyway, that’s where we’re where we’re at right now when you talk about things that are are going on and exactly what the Cubs are doing. Now, another set of news is what the Cubs did yesterday as far as uh some of the players that they decided to non-tender. One of those guys was Reese McGu Maguire, right? You know, um they could have with arbitration kept him, but they were like, I’m we’re not paying this guy top dollar. you know, he was a great fill in for Miguel Amaya. I think we all kind of liked him, but you know, they just didn’t feel like he was worth two million, you know, and he was the what, the fourth catcher on the 40man roster. So, you know, he’s a guy that the Cubs non-tendered. That means that they have a 40man roster of 31 guys, which is crazy because they had all those like, you know, talented like prospects that they didn’t put on there that are going to be eligible in the um uh the the rule five draft. And we see we don’t know about Eli Morgan, uh Justin Steel, of course, I mean, I’m sure he’s going to be there. Javier, Assad, you know, those are arbitration eligible players. They’ll they’ll work it out, right? Um, you know, I think what Morgan was non-ender, they they can’t give up Morgan after trading for him, and I know he got hurt, but, you know, if the if the Cubs have a a 40man roster that’s down to 30, a lot of that’s bullpen, and and how’s that going to play out? Now, I think th those are things I’m keeping an eye on right now. But we knew that, you know, are they going to go out and try to sign Pomerance? You know, they have some other guys that they want. This time of year is so interesting because they got to manage the team. So, you got on one end, you got Kyle Tucker who’s the top free agent in the market and then on the other hand, you know, you’re 10 slots or nine or 10 slots available on the 40man roster. and what are you going to do there? So anyway, thank you guys for hanging out. Again, please um subscribe, like, be a part of what we’re doing. Appreciate you so much and uh hit our Avenue D there, uh Mick Nation. Hit that QR code. Got a chance to win some of these. If you guys like our logo, we got some hats, got t-shirts coming. We’d give we try to give, you know, one away a week. You got an opportunity to pick the Bears. you, you know, to pick with B no baseball right now. Um, college football and other stuff at Mick Nation. So, uh, thank you for being part of our our, um, web three home and we’ll try to do it again tomorrow, man. I mean, like, this is what we do here on a daily basis, but thank you and go Cubs. And the other thing I want to tell you is that as you plan your vacation, and I’ve got, look, Thanksgiving’s coming. We got family coming to town. I’m looking at Christmas. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a Christmas in the mountains, the Smoky Mountains, Sevirville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, uh that they put all the lights up there uh winter time, they’re so fantastic and uh we appreciate their help. When you head to the Smoky Mountains, it’s only natural to visit Sevirville. Even we had to check it out. And we’ve been here our whole lives. Experience the adventure of a lifetime. I’m king of the world. Even you can get a bird’s eye view of the Smokies. You’re going down, Billy. Wa! Your smokers start here.

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This Episode:
– Replacing Kyle Tucker
– RF Owen Caissie.
– DH Kyle Schwarber
– 3B Alex Bregman

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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.