Cubs REKAP Podcast ⚾️ (S3 – EP39) – Will the Cubs start making moves w/Winter Meetings on deck?

Cubs REKAP Podcast ⚾️ (S3 – EP39) – Will the Cubs start making moves w/Winter Meetings on deck?

Welcome into the latest edition of our Cubs Recap podcast. A presentation of our recap YouTube channel and available audio only everywhere you get your favorite podcast. That’s Gordon Whitten Meer. I’m David Kaplan. We’re not going to bore you with any of the labor stoppage a year from now. Nobody wants to hear any of that stuff. bore you with regular stuff. We’re just going to talk Exactly. Right. We’re going to talk about what’s going on with the Chicago Cubs, moves that they could could make. We’d love your feedback on what you think they should do. We’ll get into all of that. Our podcast, as always, brought to you by our great partners at sinus and snoring md.com. Take it from this guy who used to snore all the time till my wife Mindy said, “Hun, love sleeping next to you. I can’t handle it. You snore. Go see these people at Sinus and Snoring MD. We have a friend. His name’s John. His daughter works there. I went My wife’s still sleeping next to me because I don’t snore anymore.” You should have heard this guy snoring at ball games in September 23. Yeah, we weren’t very good, the Cubs, so I would fall asleep in the press box. Not. I’m always locked in. Locked in. sinus and snoringmd.com. Best spot you can go. Same day procedures. They are awesome. And you don’t want your insurance money that you’ve paid into all year to run out. Sign us at sooring md.com. All right, Gordon. The Cubs go get Phil Mton. Good reliever. Solid. I like it. Good move. Two years 14 million. There’s a third year at the club option. That is the only other than Dansby Swanson. That is the only multi-year deal they have on the books going into next off season when we may be dealing with all that labor stuff. So they have him. He’s not a closer. They have said we’re not looking at him to close. We want him to be a high leverage setup type guy. They got to get a backend closer. Palencia can be there and compete for it, but they’ve got to get whether it’s um Edwin Diaz or they should have got Devin Williams. Yeah, he was out there. He’s not anymore. He’s gone. Yeah. So, as you look at this team, they also need a high-end starting pitcher, at least one. They’ve got Imanaga back. I’ve made my feelings clear on that. Would you sign Framber Valdez? I would not have given Dylan C seven for 210. Okay. Hey, why why not? Let’s let’s stop right there and and hesh that out for a minute. Why not? I thought that was a good signing for a top of the market pitcher. Cuz I don’t think he’s elite. He’s one of the top two pitchers on the free agent market. That doesn’t mean he’s elite in Major League Baseball. He He’s He’s throw as one GM and ESPN character. He said throws hard. Meh. He’s okay. I would not have given him seven years. I would not not a seven-year deal. Seven and 210 with a lot of that deferred, which means it’s closer to 180 something for seven years. I’m not locking my guy that guy. Just think of this. Now, I’m not saying that he’s Matt Sher in his prime by any means, but Sherzer over a decade ago signed a deal at the top of the market for seven years, 210. And they’re backtoback years. It was like I think David Price got one the next year for seven years 2017. It was 1 million more a year. Uh and so if 10 years later that’s the top of the market or roughly the top of the market that seem and and when we’re talking about 10 years later of revenue increases too. And if that’s the top of the market that to me doesn’t sound like a bad deal for a big market team. And then when you throw in the fact that there’s deferred money on that, so it’s worth even less in today’s dollars, it’s an even better deal. If you liked Dylan C’s, I’m not sure why you think that you could have or should have or would have got a better deal than that. Oh, that’s the price of doing business. That’s the price of doing business. He wouldn’t have got it from me. Not I would not have given him then. Do you not want to get a top of the market pitcher? I do. So I will have to go to the trade market. McKenzie Gore is going to be available. Joe Ryan is available from the Twins. He’s got one year and then two ARB years left, arbitration years. So, I would call Minnesota and see what would it take for me to get Byron Buckston. I’d like to get another bat for my outfield. I know he’s off to injured. Well, I mean, he’s a tremendous talent. If you can keep him on the field, he helps anybody. Correct. But I but for that reason and his injury track record, like I’m not sure you want to try to pay the premium to add him to the deal. So if I was able to get Joe Ryan and Byron Buckton from Minnesota, uh, and then I’m going to have to obviously put in a deal like that. Jackson Wiggins, my number one pitching prospect, probably either Moises Bisteros or Owen Casey. There could be a fringe major leager that goes in a deal like that as well, like Hayden Wneski last year in the Tucker trade. Somebody like that. But that would be the framework of a deal like that. Would you rather pay, let’s call it, seven for 250 to get Framber Valdez, who’s in his early 30s, or take 30-year-old Joe Ryan, who has one year of salary at 6 million is the approximate ARB award, and then two years you control him. Look, I like the idea of, and some of this is in the context of Cubs behavior, which we’ve criticized for quite a while now in terms of not living up to their big revenue status compared to their peers. I like the idea of making a trade for a guy like Joe Ryan who’s got a little bit he’s got some club control and he’s got some salary structure certainty in the short term. Mhm. It gives you a year, two years of club control. It gives you a year to see what the new CBA looks like and without going down the road on that, just to see what the new rules look like. And within the framework of that, you still got a year to try to get them extended if you want. Um maybe maybe the price goes up because of the new rules. Um and maybe and maybe it goes down because of the new rules. What about Buckston? He’s got 26, 27, and 28 at 15.14 each of those years. So, I like that. And if you could do if you could swing that deal by by Wiggins for those two guys, I would do it. I’m not sure that gets it done because if I’m the twins making that deal, first of all, it means I need to get a lot back because it means I’m giving up my now for for that. But your now stinks. Well, potenti and I’m taking all the Buckton money, right? So, but that’s the choice I’m making right now. But Buckton is that good that that’s not a bad contract if he stays on the field. But I’m going to tell you this, if he stays on the field for 80 games, he’s that good that that contract’s not a bad contract. I don’t know if I if I would agree with that. He’s a if he’s a 162 game player, he’s a $30 million player. Oh, there’s no question. So if he’s a if he’s a $15 million player, that’s a that’s 80 games. This is Byron Buckton. We’ll leave the co year out of it. In 21, he played in 61 games. In 22, he played 92 games. In 23, he played uh 85 games. 24 he played 102. And 25, he played 126. That dude, you have to go back to 2017 to find 140. That’s the most he’s ever played. He’s always hurt. But to to your point, like the second highest number on that list is the year he’s coming off of 126. So So that’s that’s a good sign. somebody’s figured out something, whether it’s him and his training in the offseason or whether it’s the way they used him. But the the the point is if I’m the Twins, I’m selling at the highest value on this guy in years. And so I’m probably going to split them up in trades to see what I can get if I’m if I’m the Cubs. So So short answer is yes, I would do that deal that you just described. If you brought Byron Buckston in and you I’m not saying platuned him with Owen Casey, but you played you used him wisely and he didn’t have to play 135 140 games. That dude hit 35 bombs with 83 knocked in, hit 264 with an 878 OPS. He’s healthy. He’s a star and he’s he’s a gold glove caliber outfielder, right? You just add another defender to your already best defensive team in the game. In 2023, I believe it was, they were so intent on keeping him on the field that when they got him healthy to start the season, they dhaged him for a long time before they put him in the field. Now he wind up on the IIL again. But you could even do something like that. Um, and and you you would be better off for it. So the short answer is, yeah, I would do a deal with that. the the longer more involved answer is I’m not sure the Twins would. But if you were just talking about getting the starting pitcher you need, I don’t mind trading those two guys just to get Joe Ryan because I think he could be that valuable to what you’re trying to do right now. Ryan’s a stud and and and the thing is he he does that with a with a rotation that’s already got Justin Steel coming back a month or two into the season. Um Kade Horton coming back to try to back up what he did for four months this past season. You you got Shota’s back. You know, I know I know what I know you have your opinions about him, but he’s just meh. He’s okay, but there’s just as much reason to think he might have some sort of a bounce back that gets him a little closer to what he was as a rookie um than what he was last year. And what he was last year wasn’t terrible. Um, so and you got Jameson Tyion back and you got Matt Boyd back that you put Joe Ryan at the front of that. You’ve got a division champion caliber rotation and and it almost doesn’t matter and I’ I’ve said this before, it almost doesn’t matter what you do with the lineup at that point on a bad Twins team. Bad 31 starts for Ryan. He had 13-10 record. He had an erra of 342. He was a 4 and a half war player. a whip of 1.04, which is outstanding, which is pretty much his career. That’s a hell of a You look at his career when he was a full-time starter starting in 22, 1.10, 1.17 whip, 0.99, and 1.04. That dude is a stud. An absolute stud. And you’ve got him under control for three years. So if you were to go get him now in my mind, you focus the rest of your off season on bullpen. And if you can pick up some bats around the strikes people out, by the way, 194 strikeouts and 171 innings, which is something you’d like to add to this rotation. Yes. Swing and miss stuff. Yeah. So, okay. And then you bring in a Byron Buckton. Then all I think you need to truly do is go out and add a back of the rotation type pitcher. back of the bullpen type pitcher. Yeah. And maybe and maybe a couple other depth guys out there. Maybe an upside dice roll type guy, but definitely somebody who you give a contract to that you can count on. Uh I don’t I I don’t think Edwin Diaz is going to be that guy. He’s right now he’s probably going to command more than anybody else out there. And you know, you start to think about it, there have been some closers come off the books now. What did uh what was Williams contract worth? It was Devin Williams. Yeah. What did he just sign for? He just signed for uh pretty significant money. 15 a year. Yeah. Um Rael Glacius got 16 on a one-year deal and he’s uh well into his 30s. Edwin Diaz is 31 almost 32. He made 20.4. His projected this year is 19.6. Yeah. you still have out there. And it’s only that that’s his projected market value only because he expects a long-term deal. He opted out of a $102 million contract. So if you look who else is out there, it’s a lot of older guys. Like last year when you traded for Ryan Presley, you spent eight or nine million dollars on Ryan Presley. Why not just pony up a few more million and get a better pitcher? Well, that was foolish. Go get Kenley Jansen. So, Kenley Jansen’s 38 years of age. He’s projected to get 13.6 on a one-year deal. Go do it. Why not get somebody better? Why not go get Edwin Diaz? Although, you would have to give up a qualifying offer, a pick. Yeah. And and they’re not going to pay Diaz money. Somebody is. The Mets will go pay Diaz. Yeah. So tiring to hear. I’m not denigrating you for saying it. It’s so tiring to hear they’re not going to spend that. You’re the freaking Chicago Cubs, man. And now you’re coming off being one game short of getting to the NLCS where anything can happen. I’m not saying you’re beating the Dodgers, but stranger things have happened. And guess what? What if you had a game where you’re like, “Oh, wow. We’re up two to one here in the ninth inning. We got to throw out somebody who’s not good enough. Oh, wait a minute. We paid the price. We’ve got an ace back there. Right. Right. That’s my problem. You’re you’re talking my language. I’ve been saying that for years. They they behave like a middle market team instead of the big market team than they are. And it’s an egregious offense against their fans given the division they’re in, given the moment they’re in, and given how long it was in between playoff appearances for this team. When this team started getting exciting, when it looked like a playoff team and then became one, it transformed that ballpark. You were there. It’s crazy. Ricketts talked about it and so he talks about replicating that again. Well, you know, dude, it’s time for you to step up and put your nuts on the line on this. So, the top end starters that are still out there for Amber Valdez, he’s 32, just turned it, 33 million a year, obviously looking for seven years probably. Ranger Suarez is 30. I would absolutely have interest there. 26.9. Well, how how old is Cece? 2930. Ce is turning 30. Okay. So, Framber’s probably looking at more like five. Okay. So, let’s assume he gets five times 33. 160 five five and 160 something like that. Okay. Ranger Suarez is 30. He’s looking at probably five at 26 a year. Michael King is 30 turning 31 in 6 months. He’s looking at 22 million a year. I don’t think he’s looking at five or seven though. I think he’s probably he’s probably a three or four year guy. I would think. The other thing that he’s not always healthy. The other thing that’s going to happen, Cap, is you know we talked about Joe Ryan. There’s a lot of pitchers out there that are suddenly available in trade. So if I like they might be available. Teroo’s one of those guys, but he’s got one year left now and he’s looking to get paid like 50 million a year. We’re not even going to talk about him when it comes to the Cubs because you can’t first of all you can’t trade for him without thinking you’re going to sign him to an extension and it’s going to cost in the R. You’re going to bankrupt your system to get him. That’s the thing. Then you have to pay him, right? And and he’s only going to be available if you blow them away with an offer. That’s correct. So So but he’s but they’re they will listen. They will very seriously listen to offers. So he could be available and impact the market with his availability. Um we’ve talked about Joe Ryan. Freddy Peraltto is another guy. Now the Cubs aren’t going to get him. Same division rivalry. That’ll never happen. But if he’s on the market, if he’s in serious trade talks involving other teams, that impacts the whole market. Correct. So now that So the more What about Sandy Alcantra? Sandy Alcantra is definitely out there. What about Edwin Cabrera? Edward Cabrera. He’s out there. Uh you mentioned Gore. Mackenzie Gore is out there. The the Reds have said they don’t see trading pitchers, but they’ve got an abundance of pitchers. Brady Singer is going to make the most. He’s an innings eater. He’s going to be a a lower cost guy for a contender, but uh uh but he’s going to make the most money on the red staff. So, they might move him. And Hunter Green has been talked about their ace, who who would be I mean, he’s in the he’s in the Scooble Ryan Freddy Peralta uh level of discussion when you talk about the kind of quality pitcher he is. Uh it would take a lot to get him. Uh I think it could be done. So, these are players that might be out there who people didn’t necessarily think about when the free agent period opened. And now you’ve got those with the Framber Valdezes and the Michael King. Pablo Lopez. Yes. If if if Joe Ryan’s on the block, certainly Pablo Lopez is. So, so, uh, when you start adding all these names together, you get a pretty large supply in the supply and demand equation. And what does that do to prices? They go way up. No, they go down. Why? When you got more supply. I’m talking about the high-end. I’m talking about there’s not going to be that many high end. If you got this many more guys in the marketplace, but not all high-end. Well, but some of them highend start there’s a bunch more Yes. the price supply then then there’s less pressure on demand and when there’s less pressure on demand there’s less less price theoretically if if but I’m talking about I want someone who in game five if I have all my starters another one I just saw that in front of my face. Okay. If if I am playing game five to go to the NLCS in Milwaukee and I’m paying a guy 22.05 million who I can’t by my own admission can’t give the ball to show not good enough I can’t start him. I want a highend and there’s very few of those guys. Well C you know I love these thought exercises we come to the table with on these podcasts because uh I I I appreciate you and where you come from on this. I agree with you from a consumer standpoint on this and certainly from your fan standpoint on this, but we have to keep things in the context of this team’s behavior historically and in this moment. We know how the front office operates and more than that, we know how ownership operates. So, what fits that behavior? That’s what we got to look at. And it can only help that all these extra names are suddenly on the available market for starting pitching when the Cubs are definitely in the market. Would you add a high-end bat not named Byron Buckton, Cody Bellinger? Cuz they’re not signing Tucker. I’ve resigned myself to that and that’s okay. Would you sign a guy like Cody Bellinger back? Listen, if I’m or you Eugenio Suarez, my guy, so if you’re asking Alex Bregman, if you’re ask if I’m in Tom Rickett’s seat and you’re asking me, I say yes, I need to step my game up. I need to do something for my fans. Now, so I will go after the bat and the arm. If I’m Jed Hoyer, you’re asking me. I’m saying no, I can’t do that because I don’t have the resources given to me. So, I have to prioritize the pitcher over the bat. If you’re asking Gordon Whittener, then [ __ ] yes. Get it done. Yeah, you’re the Chicago freaking Cubs. Agreed. But if you brought in an everyday third baseman, Eugenio Suarez, Alex Bregman, I like Eugenio Suarez on a number of fronts. I think he’s a good guy in the clubhouse. Uh he’s obviously got a power bat. Um, but what are you saying to Matt Shaw, who actually had a really good second half? Well, that’s the choice you have to make. You’re saying, Matt, you’re included in a trade because we’re gonna trade you for something. So, you’re going to develop all these guys and then you’re moving them. These are choices. You’re asking me? Yeah. I probably would not do that. Okay. I I now you told me I’m getting a superstar back. Yeah, anybody’s available. But to sign Eugenio Suarez, who I liked at the deadline, I would not trade Matt Shaw to open a spot up for Eugenio Suarez in his 30s. And the thing we know about Eugenio Suarez that we can’t say we know about everybody out there is this guy has performed on the hottest, brightest stages in October, late in October. Um, he knows what that’s like. He knows what it is to win and he knows how to perform uh against the best pitching in the in the in the clutchest moment. So, all right, let me ask you this before I wrap this up and you’ll be at the winner meeting. So, we’ll have you from there. If you looked at the Cody Bell, excuse me, the Kyle Tucker contract, do you believe he gets more than eight years? And do you believe he gets 400 million or more? Well, the only way he gets 400 is if it’s eight years. I I would guess, see, I’m I’m thinking in terms of the CBA right now. Uh, and I’m thinking in terms of the teams that have needs. I’m gonna go ahead and say I say the overunder on his uh I think eight’s a good overunder number. I think he gets I think he gets eight and maybe the eighth is is a vesting option of some kind. I think he gets I think he gets a contract that includes the number of eight in the length. And I don’t I don’t think he gets more than 400. But does he get more than 350? I think he gets more than 350. I don’t. Yeah. So, I think he gets somewhere around 8 time 37 8 time 38 something like that. How much is that? It’s closer to That’s 240 and closer to 3, right? Yeah. It’s like 3 304. Yeah. That’s where I think he comes in. And that’s not it’s not crazy to think that could be it. Yeah, that’s where I think he comes in. Yeah. I I don’t I don’t see over 400. It’s funny. We were talking in June saying, “Shit, is this guy going Look what Vlatty got. This guy’s going to get 500 for sure.” Right now Vlatty was 26. Kyle’s turning 30, 29. And you could give Vlatty a lot more years, but even then you figured AAV Kyle might get as I heard Vlatty on an interview with it. There was a few players talking and he said, “I made it clear to the Blue Jays. I don’t care if you make this an 80-year deal. I want $500 million. However you want to divvy it up, I do not care. Whatever helps your books, I’m in.” You know, I don’t remember how much of that was deferred. Uh, they spread it. It’s 15 years. So, his average annual is 35.7, I believe. You know what I was thinking and I didn’t look this up on the cease thing. The the it used to be uh the Blue Jays would cry not poverty but they would cry disadvantage over the fact that they had to 14 years. Okay that Well, that’s just the length. Is there any that that’s different? Let’s see. He gets uh his average annual salary luxury tax 35.7 all the way through 2039. Nice. So the the thing I was thinking is like you know Blue Jays used to say for years we make Canadian money and we have to pay US money. Um, and I forgot to look up the Canadian exchange because I think it might be more favorable to Canada now. Uh, one US dollar is Nope. Nope. Nope. It’s It’s worse than it’s been. Uh, it takes a$140 in Canadian to equal a US dollar according to according to Google AI. So, what the hell does AI know? He he wanted all he wanted. Uh the deal includes a $325 million signing bonus that’s paid out over the contract’s term, which is the major reasons for the absence of any deferred money. Okay. Okay. So, you know, when the when the Cubs signed John Lester years ago, uh there were there was 30 million of it that was the signing bonus, but they didn’t pay the 30 up front. I believe they paid 15 up front and the rest and the other 15 was ju it wasn’t it wasn’t stipulated that like the due date on it was toward the end of the contract but it they had a handshake deal that because of some of the the bank restrictions they had at the time we will pay you from the sale every year based on how much we have left and so you might get a million this year you might get six million next year but over the course of that contract it’ll all get paid you’ll all you’ll get all the money. And I I thought that was no deferred money. And apparently Blue Jay’s ownership does not want to defer money, but they did this year, I believe, for Dylan CE. They did. They did quite a bit for Dylan Cease. There you go. Gordon, travel safely to Orlando, Florida. Thank you, sir. I I will be reporting live from there and we’ll maybe have an emergency podcast even. Maybe there’s a big deal that goes down. So, that’s I tell you what, the way things are moving this week, I would not be shocked, right? But I’d be kind of shocked if the Cubs did it. Come on, Cubs. Wake up. Let’s go. I’m getting tired of watching that damn team operate for the resources they have. Let’s go. Gordon, have a great night. All right, you too, man. All right, thank you for listening. We’re just two guys who cover the Cubbies and on this side have a deep love for my favorite baseball team. Have a wonderful rest of your evening. Get your holiday shopping done now. We appreciate you greatly. For Gordon, our crew, I’m Cap. Take that.

As the #mlbwintermeetings get set to take over #orlando next week, the #chicagocubs have thus far been relatively quiet this offseason. Off the board is #dylancease. Expected is a frenzy among teams vying to make a big splash next week with former #cubs #kyletucker and #kyleschwarber expected to be two of the biggest bats to sign elsewhere. And, after the cuts this week at #marqueesportsnetwork, what does that mean for the Cubs finances? #kap and Gordon Wittenmyer discuss when, if at all, the Cubs will sign players to help compete for an #nlcentral crown and more in 2026.

#takethat

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