BEST RIGHTY BATS | Cubs Baseball Rumors

BEST RIGHTY BATS | Cubs Baseball Rumors

What do you say everybody? Nar and Desai Mick Gillespie Cubs baseball channel. We’re going to talk about the options that the Cubs have for a right-handed hitting power guy because it feels like that’s the direction that they’re going. And on yesterday’s show, we got into Ian Hap’s comments about signing Alex Bregman. He’s part of this conversation, but it tells me that the Cubs are focused on that and pitching. We’re going to talk about the bat. Like, subscribe, thumbs up. Hope you’re having a fantastic day. [Music] [Applause] [Music] First off, thank you guys for hanging out. Love your comments every day. Narendon Desai, he’s the best at the comments and it’s always great to have him on the channel. He is a guy who follows the Cubs, loves the Cubs just like you guys do and just like me. And Darren was texting me. He’s like, “Hey man, like check this out, right? Like you love to play GM.” And the thing I love about it, Narin, is that you you actually have a lot of facts to back up kind of the your thoughts on what the Cubs could potentially be doing. So, let’s let’s Good to see you, by the way. Hope you’re having a great holiday season. Let’s jump right into it, though. All right. Best right-handed bat for the Cubs and why. Yeah, I mean, I’ve been going through the I go through the data. I I do all these different splits on fan graphs. I look at right hand like, you know, right-handed hitters that hit right-handed pitching, you know, with runners on base to me is a key stat. Yeah. I mean, it’s it’s hard because like good players sometimes have bad years and then it kind of fluctuates, but you can only go by the last year and a half, right? So, I’m going by the last year and a half and one of the best hitters in this spot is Yueno Suarez, okay? He is like an elite. He’s in the top, you know, and I’m not talking like 120 OP like way to runs created. I’m talking like 160 175 75% league average. weight is run created against right-handed pitchers with runners on base runners on like right-handed pitchers alto together runners on base right or left I mean and we do have an issue at Wrigley with left-handed power not being guys not being able to get into it with the jetream out to left out to right center so the the the the jester goes to right uh left center so right-handed hitters and we know our line of construction is going to be Bush it’s going to be PCA and it’s going to be half. They’re there, right? Like where they’re there and Danby are is weak at this area in the lineup, especially late in games when all the, you know, right-handed velocity comes in. So, I just looked at these numbers. There’s other players that are also fit in this area. But Suarez, I think, is a fit because he doesn’t block anybody, right? He can play third, but he’s not going to play every day. He can play first against lefties. He can DH. they just have this rotation and then he probably plays a little bit more if there’s an injury in the field, right? Plus, the contract is is right up their alley, right? He’s projected at 2 years 45 million to 3 years 72 million, right? So that’s 15 to 24 million. And we’re going to get into this later on in the show, but they don’t like to spend the money on the elite free agents, right? That is definitely Alex Bregman. He’s an elite free agent this year for that third base spot. But are there some other guys? And I love, look, I I love the idea of having Suarez. We we had rumors that Suarez could possibly be coming to the Cubs last year at the deadline. Obviously, the team that got him was, you know, a win away from the World Series. So, he was a and he was a differencemaker in the playoffs. Yeah. And he had a little bit of a hiccup towards the end of the year because he went to Seattle. He doesn’t see the ball well there for whatever reason. and he’s got some weird home splits. You know, if you take those out, he’s fine on the road. He’s he had really good numbers at uh in Arizona, but I looked at his away home splits that they’re pretty good still, like regardless, right? And like it’s all about balance, right? So, I’m just looking at some of this balance stuff, and I do think that the Cubs could go over the top, be like, “Hey, dude, we’ll give you three years, 26 million a year. We’ll give you an opt out so you can get 30 or whatever if the market’s higher.” in a year or two if they if he if they sign him for a year or two say his contract ends then he fits right into the D8 spot or whatever you know like he’s not block he does kind of blocker but you know you got to have a sure thing I mean Moaller is not a power hitter he’s a he’s a peer hitter which I love but at the same time like you’re trying to win the next two years right like these contracts for the front office the GM everyone they don’t go forever right yeah so Yeah, you can talk about the 2029 utopia team, but you really got to think about the next two years. And the Cubs don’t want to block their young players. And they don’t want these long deals going into age 36, 37, 38. I mean, Cub fans, look at Norland Aronado. He’s 34. People can’t they can’t give him away. Yeah, right. They can’t give him away. At the time he signed that deal, nobody said, “Oh, that’s a bad deal.” Right. It’s a bad deal now. And two or three years ago, he was great. He was like 31, 32. And the minute you hit 33, 34, it’s a wild card on projections. And that’s where the Cubs are. I think with how they do contracts, they just can’t project guys past age 35, four years, five years away. What do you think about, and if you don’t know anything about him, that that’s fine, too. But Katzuma Okimoto, do you He’s a guy coming from Japan. He’s a right-handed slugger. dude hits a ton of home runs, but he also strikes out more than anybody do. You know, I I don’t know what hit what he’s gonna project to do in the big leagues, but when you think of right-handed power guys and these guys coming over from Japan, they’ve been really good to great, do do you think that’s a potential? I Yeah, I know I know the name. I haven’t really looked at them. The reason I haven’t is because I do think the Cubs are in a position where they need sure bets, right? So like we saw with Seya with the adjustment with like just the schedule and you know just living in the US and all that stuff like they need sure bets, right? And yeah, you’ve got one of these guys like oh he’s high power high strikeout. I just don’t know if that fits the Cubs thinking. I do think the Cubs are all in on MI because he’s 27 or 28. Yeah. So do I next year? I think he’s gonna they’re gonna get outbid like they’re not going to go to 200 million unless they do some kind of like friendly like really friendly contract like they did with right with Soda. I don’t I think they’re going to get out bid because because of Yamamoto’s success he’s going to get elevated contract like there’s a chance they can get him but who knows right. So, I do think they really want to buy because of his age and they might go to six, seven years with opt outs and all this stuff so he can cash in again. But, you know, I do think they want to buy. I just don’t think they’re going to go with these guys that they can’t pencil in on their projections for next year because this is what I’m saying. Like, you know, I don’t think I think they have to dominate the Central next year. I don’t care if Milwaukee wins 95 or 97 games. They got to win this. They got to dominate the the Central regardless head-tohead or in playoffs, whatever, because I mean, how many years is it supposed to take? You know, like Oh, I know. You feel like But I don’t feel like if they lose Tucker, they’re the same team. But here here’s the issue kind of just finishing up the right-handed bats that are available, right? You got Bregman, you got you got Okimoto. We don’t know because he’s a young guy from Japan, but you know, who knows, right? Is a question mark. You got Suarez. Once you get past Suarez, I mean, it’s like Jorge Palanco, Mark Hannah. Um, the other guy that’s Jesse Winter, Mitch Hanner. I mean, like it it’s a steep cliff. The other guy I think that fits the Cubs mold in terms of like how they like to GM, how do they do payroll is Brandon Laauo. Like his numbers are great. I I went through them as well. He’s popping up uh in all the important categories, right? He’s a trade. He’s one-year rental. He He’s not blocking anybody either. He’s He’s probably not even going to play the field that much. He’s a DH, part-time DH and then backup utility guy and he’s bad. He’s bad defensively. So, it’s not like you want him to play the field, right? So, and then who knows if that was injury related or what. He he he profiles well. He doesn’t block anybody. 11 million bucks. I know that inside those inside those offices at Wrigley, they’re dreaming about a clean payroll going into this lockout season. And who knows what the outcome of the lockout will be like what the new deal will be like maybe they’ll negotiate something different where like you know that gives them an advantage having a clean payroll right so who knows right and and that’s where it’s like we have a clean payroll we can go signal right and that’s going to be like where we spend our money right like we’re going to spend 45 million here and then we’ve got Casey and all these other prospects making nothing to balance out the payroll you just never know if that’s like you’d love to see the Cubs get more topheavy in the payroll like four studs and then you know sprinkle around prospects and lower level guys you know throughout because like if you’re going to have a budget like why are we spending $40 million on Tyion and Shoda I’d rather have Scoo right yeah we’re paying like Ian Hap $16 million for Hap to me is he’s making 20 D is he making 20 yes 26 that’s 46 so that’s the same amount So, he’s at 20 now. Yeah, he got a three-year $60 million extension when he got his like his final year arbitration, right? And I don’t think he’s a bad player, but not 20 million. Some of you guys are going to be like, “That’s the way it is.” Where do you allocate payroll? Where do you allocate the payroll? Left field production is cheap relatively to shortstop to top end starters. Right. Back. Yeah. Left field shouldn’t be a $20 million position. All right. Look, before we get to the next topic, I want to tell everyone and I want to tell you this, too. And make sure, Narin, that you text me your email address or your mailing address cuz I’m sending you some some swag. But we got the swag now, right? The the the Cubs baseball channel swag. Got some hats in. Hit that QR code right now. Avenue D. Our our site has been popping off because of you guys. We’re we’re doing a uh for the Alabama Oklahoma playoff game. $250. pick the quarter. So, you get four chances to win in that game, uh, cash, right? It’s like fun to do that, too. It’s all free. And then, um, you know, obviously it’s our place to stick together. Eventually, we’ll have our our our store there. It’ll be our home on the web 3 market. So, uh, check it out, though. There’s there’s the QR code, Avenue D. And, um, we had over I think a a million clicks here in the last day or so. So, you know, between this MC Nation and our our college football site, like a lot a lot of you guys have have been uh joining and being a part of it. So, as that happens, the more engagements we get, the more we’ll make we’ll do prizes and stuff, which I know you guys love cash, but you also want some hats, too, right? So, so check that out and thank you guys for the support. All right. Second thing I want to talk to you about, this was a conversation that you and I had when Theo Epstein was the Cubs president. The thing that I admired about him and I learned is that you win a championship with super elite talent. And I don’t feel like that’s where the Cubs are anymore. Like there’s no super elite guys on this roster when you get rid of of uh of Tucker. Now Bushy could be one of those guys. We saw Pete look like that. Hollywood Pete was for a half a season. Uh I think going Casey has the potential to be somebody really special. Say a Suzuki was there for a little while off and on. But you look at the team that won the World Series and you had those guys all over the roster. John Lester and Araldis Chapman and Chris Bryant and um Anthony Rizzo was kind of on that verge too. Jav Bayz, you know, and I know you developed some of those guys, but you also went out and and and, you know, bought Lester. Your thoughts on why the Cubs are staying away from these super elite free agents. The Dodgers have won back-to-back World Series. They’ve won three since 2020, and their roster is built on these guys. Yeah, the league has changed. Um, it’s very it’s much more of a top heavy league. You need three studs in the rotation, three hammers in the in the in the lineup, and three or four hammers in the lineup, and then you need two or three uh, you know, thumb shut down guys, shut down guys in the bullpen. Yeah, the Cubs have not adjusted. They think they can do it a different way. It doesn’t work. You can win the Central that way, but I mean, can you match up against the Phillies or the the Dodgers in a playoff season? We couldn’t even beat the Brewers, right? Like, I’m still like I I’m in the comment section with like a lot of people. I’m like, we haven’t beat the Brewers yet with 100 million more than them. So, I don’t know how you’re going to get 150 million more in payroll and then like you better like if you that’s you you have to beat the Brewers first, right? Right. The reason they’re not the reason they crazy they keep winning too, Narin. I It’s like every year I’m I like that’s the like smoking mirrors, but they do it. The argument is they find a way to take guys that are fringe and they ask them to play a certain way, right? And or you don’t play, right? fringe guys like either you don’t you do what we ask you or you don’t play right and if we tell you like do this then do that but if you got a guy that’s on a seven-year deal he’s gonna do whatever he wants. Yeah. You know um so that’s the issue but it’s also harder to play in Chicago with the media and the fan base right so that you need a different type of player to play here. Um the reason they don’t go for these elite guys is they don’t like the 37 and older age contracts. They don’t mind paying guys from 31 uh 29 to 35. They would do that. And I think that’s where I really think that’s where you could see some negotiation on this. Like the next contract is like, hey, let’s offer earlier free agency, you know, one or two years offer and then six year max contracts. No cap on salaries, no caps on contracts like the NBA or the uh these NFL teams have. you know, you can make whatever you want, but we’re not gonna pay you into age 36, 37, 38, 39 when it’s six, seven years down the road. We don’t know anything about you. We don’t know what you’re motivated by. We don’t know if you’re going to be healthy. We don’t know if your body is going to change at age 33. I mean, a lot of these guys, they play elite sports from like 12 until, you know, whatever, right? So, and everyone’s body is different, right? So, who knows like who’s going to break down. You see how these guys get super slow at age 33. They can barely run. It’s hard, man. You get older and your body changes, right? And without steroids, which the steroid air guys got bounced again trying to get into the Hall of Fame, like they they’re they extended their careers because of the steroids. I I think like just getting to that age now where you’re you’re older. Like when you get a muscle injury, it takes a long time to heal. Steroids would be nice to kind of get you over the hump. you know, without that, this is how it always has been up until the steroid era. Now, it’s back to that again, you know, so age does matter. Uh, I think you you’re making a great point. They don’t want to pay people for these contracts where, you know, they’re not like the do there’s going to come a point where the Dodgers are going to have this giant payroll and all those guys are going to be gone. They’re still going to be paying them. Uh, which is interesting. But right now in the now they’re killing with the Dodgers they have a 25 30-year brand with with Asia with Otani that they’re going to have so much money coming in for the next 25 years it won’t matter because they they they they have strategy business strategy that like you know let’s say like let’s say MI really wants to play for the Cubs right but he’s like I don’t want to play at 2 in the morning on you know when I pitch it on a day game at Wrigley it’s going to be at two in the morning in Japan. Like would the Cubs be like that progressive to be like, “Hey, we’re going to work with the city and we’re going to get make sure you pitch on Fridays at whatever and then that way the game’s on at 8 in the morning, you know, uh uh Japanese time on Saturday.” Like that’s the type of strategy you want. Like you want someone like that’s the kind of like thinking you need saying like, “No, we’re going to pitch you every Friday or Saturday and we’re going to like work with the city uh at home. Yeah, you’re gonna you’re gonna pitch at uh like, you know, six o’clock and the game will be on at 8 in the morning in Japan. Like that’s the kind of like vision you got to have. Yeah. All right. Last question, Narin, as we wrap up. And it’s always great to see you, my friend. This one’s not as serious, but it’s a great question. What’s the best Cubs Christmas gift that you’ve ever gotten? And you and I have been lifelong Cubs fans, so I I can tell you one one year I got this Cubs lamp. I don’t know why I loved it, but it was in my bedroom forever. I had the Cubs, remember those Cubs trash cans? I got that for Christmas one year. Those those tall like, you know, thin metal trash cans. I got that. Uh I can’t tell you how many Cubs I got a Mark Grace shirt one year that had like Gracie doing a bunch of stuff on there, you know, and uh many Cubs gifts, but my favorite one is this Cubs Christmas ornament and it’s the marquee. I love that thing. Yeah. Well, when after the Cubs won the World Series, just because of timing, uh I got the champagne the champagne bottle, the Cubs championship champagne bottle. Um nice you know that year. Um my buddy, it wasn’t for Christmas. My buddy when I turned 30, um he got me the throwback, you know, 89 jersey that I still wear and uh it’s like one of my favorite items. Um so yeah, I mean those are some of my favorite Cubs items. So, um, I cherish those things. Uh, they don’t make those jerseys like they used to. They’re a lot different now. So, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It’s hard it’s hard to get like the stitching and and the weight and all that stuff. So, yeah, they’re very different now. They’re like, uh, they’re almost like Under Armour kind of material, uh, you know, the jerseys are. So, they’re like pajamas, um, if you ask me. So, yeah. I mean, they don’t make them like they used to. So, yeah, those are some of my favorite items. I’ve had some cool jackets, too, over the years. Um, they don’t fit as well. still got my Cubs starter jacket that I mowed, you know, 13 yards to get was a hundred dollars back in the day. And that was a lot of money then. I don’t even know what that would even be like a $500 jacket now with inflation. Yeah. But you remember the It was the one that like Ronald Reagan threw out the first pitch. Yeah. Yeah. It’s still in great shape. It’s got buttons instead of the zipper. Yeah. Um I still have it. It’s a little too small for me. That is one I don’t have a lot of prized items. Right. I caught a Harold Baines grand slam at a game. His 287th home run. That’s a prize possession, right? That’s super cool because he made the Hall of Fame. He may be the last guy in. Uh Dale Murphy should have got in, by the way, people. But anyway, that’s a whole another topic. Um I’ve got my obviously my World Series ring, my Smokies Championship ring that has my catchphrase in the middle in in the ring means a lot to me. My dad’s flag that was on his coffin when he died that that the military puts it on there and they hand it to you. That’s prized possession, you know. But that jacket’s like with all that, you know, like a handful of things that you really love. That jacket means so much to me, man. And I bet if I sold that probably vintage like that, probably be could probably get five, six hundred bucks for it right now. You don’t need five, six00 bucks. Come on. I don’t need it. I’m not I’m not selling. But I’m just saying like it’s just that cool, you know? Yeah. I mean, uh that’s the thing, you know, the sentimental value, right? Like just being a Cup fan, it’s like I don’t know. Sometimes I think it’s like a curse to be like a super fan because, you know, it kind of like consumes you, but it is a great escape uh from regular life and uh you know, we we uh you know, they’re always there. you know, like your friends come and go or friends are, you know, they they they sometimes they’re, you know, they call you back right away, but you know, when baseball season’s there, Cubs, good or bad, they’re there. Naron, always great to see you. I hope all you guys get in the comments section and tell us what your favorite Cubs item is. Maybe I’ll bring that jacket on when I’m at home next time. Yeah, you should have it on, guys. Yeah, next time we get together, let’s bring like some of our favorite Cubs items on and just talk about them. Show and tell at the end of the show. Who do you guys think we should have as a right-handed power guy? Are we going to spend all our money on pitching? Get in the comments section and tell us that. Don’t forget about Avenue D right there. Our QR code, Mick Nation. Stay connected and we will tell talk to you guys later. Show was brought to you by Severeville, Tennessee in the Smoky Mountains. Beautiful time of year. Christmas lights, Dollywood, all of that stuff. Chicago Land Supplies. The third or the fourth most amount of visitors down here. So, you guys know about this already. And did you know Narin bears talk? When you head to the Smoky Mountains, it’s only natural to visit survival. 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. Whoa. Your smokies start here. [Music]

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This Episode:
– Best Right Handed Bat For The Cubs?
– Cubs Stay Away from Elite Free Agents
– Best Cubs Christmas Gift

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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