Is Seiya Suzuki The BEST Right Fielder In The National League? | CHGO Cubs Podcast

Hey Chicago, what do you say? It's the CHGO Cubs podcast and it is Wednesday. It is the

18th already on February month away from St. Patti's day spring training trip is closing

in. How many days to a trip? March 5th. March 5th. It feels like and five right 15 days

that sound right about that. It feels like two weeks running outside right now because it is

a gorgeous day in Chicago. It is unbelievable outside giving us a preview of what to come.

I needed my shady race. We have the window open right now. Look at that window open.

Flow in that air and all shady race going to make this trip special. I'm going to get a new pair of

shady race before we go. Again, we go on the 5th. Everything is on the card. If you want to go

sign up, we're going to go to Cubs games. We're going to have a golf outing if you want to go to that.

We're going to go to a bull's sons game if you want to go to that and we're also just going to

have some meet and greets or maybe you just want to go to one spring training and that's cool too.

Whatever you want. But we'll all be there and we're all here today. Luke Stuckmire,

Joy Krastopoulos, Justin Roman, Sarah on the ones and twos. Go Cubs. Go Cubs.

Very quiet. Very quiet. She's less enthusiastic today, I think. I don't know what that was all about.

I'm enthusiastic about how our AC is already broken and it is February because it's high in the studio.

It's all right. We just need a little cross ventilation for seasons. That's who we call.

Yes, Becky is here. She's feeling better. That's great to hear. Becky and we see that what you saw,

Mike Talkman going to the meds. The pal time powder gone. Our elected heights assassin.

Yeah. Also, all right. So let's get started with this. We're are going to talk Tony Clark.

We'll talk a little bit about KB. We've got Joey's game. It's top secret. Can't give you any of the rules

just yet. But first we want to ask you what we're asking the thumbnail. Where do the Cubs rank

in right field compared to the rest of the NL Central? Now, it's not just Sayah, but for the

most part, you're talking about the everyday right field. We talked yesterday about how it might be

Sayah and Shawl. Yeah. It could be almost a platoon out there in right field. But let's just count

Sayah as the right fielder. How does he stack up against the brewers, the pirates, the reds,

and the other team that doesn't matter in in right field? I will argue there's actually three names

for the Cubs. I just don't know who the three are going to be. It's Sayah Shaw. And is it going to

be Al Contara? Is it going to be somebody else? Okay. Dylan, Dylan Carlson, Chasmah Kormick,

Tyler Austin can play that field. It could be a mix for sure. I think it's mainly Sayah Suzuki

with a little Shawl sprinkled in there. It seems like that's kind of going to be our right field

situation. I got to be honest. I love that. I really do. Last year, there was somebody in the

division that was better in right field. Well, Kyle Tucker was pretty good for half a season in

right field. But let's just talk about South Freelink. Where is he compared to Sayah? Like,

if you want to start at the top, or do you want to go to the bottom? Yeah, let's start at the

bottom. Okay. They don't matter. Because Drake said we start at the bottom at the Cardinals and

they don't matter. Absolutely. You need the reps on the Drake. I'm the Drake hits. Yeah, let's

start at the bottom. It's the St. Louis Cardinals who really cares. But no, we do have Jordan Walker

there right now. Now look, again, you might see a little out burlison out there too as well.

They can move him around from first base, DH and also right field. But if you're the St. Louis

Cardinals and you're going to be bad this year and you stink, you got to find out what you have

with Jordan Walker. I got that I think turned a lot of heads. Three spring trainings ago

had a decent season with some injuries has fallen off the map. Just right now he's a minus 1.7

war player last year with a 584 OPS. And this was worse players in baseball. Right. And when

we talk about highly heralded prospects and we talk about guys panning out right now for the

Cardinals. Jordan Walker is the guy who isn't panning out. And that's why he's fifth on the list

right now. Well, and also to like, you know, they're kind of having some a habit of this because we

have one of their former top prospects in our camp, yeah, fighting for a roster spot as a backup

outfielder, you know, so I can't say it can't happen to a better organization because we don't

like them and they're boring. And yeah, moving on lights off. Here we go. Number four, moving on

to number four, we have Noelvi Marte, the right fielder for the Cincinnati Reds. So this guy's

really interesting. The part about him and he's coming in at number four, 1.4 war last year,

24 years old and 90 games, which is spot duty or guy that's came on a little bit towards the

end of last year, 263 300 on base for seven 48 OPS. The funny part about Noelvi Marte is that

Zips hates him. Zips thinks that he's going to be a minus war player, 0.2 minus. They actually

like Will Benson more who played a lot of left field. If you hung out with us in the 120

bleachers, we gave that Will Benson a nice hard time last year when he played against us.

So look again, nothing that's really blowing your hair back. Nothing that's making you scared

from the right field position in the national league, excuse me, the national league central

and look like the right field position used to be a position of power, right?

Used to be a position where you had to, you had to figure that out a little bit.

So sad Dawson. I mean, sure. I mean, go down. I mean, Eric Davis. I mean, like you can go cross.

Yeah, great length for it. All sorts of guys have played right field. And so far,

again, as we do this exercise, you continue to see that there is a lot of solid competition

from this position in the national league central, which brings us to number three, Ryan O'Hern.

Ryan O'Hern, we've done on a previous show. He might play a little first base for the Pittsburgh

Pirates, but again, you know, they're, they're a diamond of dollars short in a lot of different areas.

We liked their pitching staff. They're often still has a lot of question marks. Ryan O'Hern's

a guy with an OPS over 800 the last two years. But again, a guy that he's a guy. He's a guy. He's a guy.

He's a guy. He's a guy. He's a guy. He'll hit maybe 15 to 20 home runs. Provide you a little

bit of pop, but nothing that's getting you scared. It's a wheat. The division is weak in right field.

Yeah. And we talked about it as some other spots. Well, like this is a spot where the Cubs

need to put a stranglehold on the vision. Like you're just breaking it down position position.

Like we are. Here's another one, right? Like it's pretty much Cubs and Brewers when you get to

the top. Yeah. When I look at O'Hern, Marta and Walker, the thing that comes to my mind is

this is the cautionary tale for everybody that says, well, this is the last season for Sayah.

Okay. Okay. Yeah. For all of you that want our light and let's move on. I get upset by Sayah

because when when he's out of his comfort zone, sometimes for as good as hitteries, like his

strike out, you're like, what was that? Like his, his, his bats can look horrible sometimes.

And I don't like him defensively. But who on this list? Who would you be replacing him with?

Like there aren't a ton of great options in right field. And we're looking at it here. And he's

to me is the cream of the crop. Well, I think you're also looking at it. Like who

replaces Sayah if he walks or think Matt Shaw replaces on, you know, like we kind of have

been in house. Now you're losing two corner outfielders, potentially. So, you know, I don't want to

speak for you guys, but I would be more apt to to resign Sayah Suzuki. And I think that bat can be

elite. I think it's been elite and stretches. I think it still can be elites. But bottom line is

you're right. Who you fill in these spots with? I do think Matt Shaw is probably one of them.

But that being said for this year, that makes the, the Sayah Suzuki Matt Shaw combo. I think

leaps in bounds better than the names you read so far. Yeah. And that's what's intriguing about Sayah

Suzuki this year is that the part that I keep thinking about. And I know we like talking about

on the show about extending Nico Horner. I just think like the disparity of what Sayah Suzuki could

possibly earn this off season. I think it is leaps and bounds larger, wider and more lucrative

for Sayah Suzuki than Nico Horner. Like Luke, there is a world where he's a $20 million

player right now. If Sayah Suzuki, it's 30 bombs again, drives in 100 RBIs, maybe jacks at OPS

up closer to what he was the previous two seasons in the 850 area, makes an all star team,

plays solid enough right field defense. Do you think he could be a $30 million a year player?

Or do you think that's maybe just a little too rich? He's got the talent.

But that's the question. Could he price himself out of even the Cubs?

Well, it only comfort abilities it only takes one team. It only takes one team with a lot of money

looking to fill that void. So yes, the answer is yes. Is that possible? Sure. Yeah. He was a 2.6 F war

player last year. They they're predicting 2.9 this year. Now, Freelik was 3.6 last year.

Zips has him only as a 2.1 this year. And when I when I mentioned third base a couple days ago,

we looked at Braggman and I was like, wait a minute. Depending on what season Shaw has,

we might have the two best third baseman in the division. It's less likely in right field.

But if Matt Shaw is the prospect that Cubs think he is, and his bat is consistent with the guy

we saw in the second half, not the postseason at the very end, and not the first half. So he's got

to even it out for sure. Say it and Shaw could easily be the top two right fielders in the division.

It's not crazy. Freelik hit 12 home runs and batted 288. I don't know if Shaw is going to hit 288,

but Matt Shaw already hit 12 home runs last year in limited in second half in the 11 and the

second half. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So if he plays a whole season and he has the second half is now his

full season. Well, he's going to be a way better player than South Freelik. A way more valuable

player. And I would expect him that, you know, okay, Freelik was 3.6. If Matt Shaw played the whole

season like he did in the second half, he might be a three four war player, right? That's the key

with the value, right? Is like, Matt Shaw is a gold glove caliber third baseman. If you can take

like 80% of that out to right field, he provides a lot of value for the team, like which he can.

Right, right. Former shortstop. I mean, best athlete on the field at all times. He can do that.

Yeah. Yeah. And like, and look like we're getting excited about the Cubs. Like real talk just

for right now. South Freelik is better than Matt Shaw. Yes. Okay. Okay. Okay. As long as we're

today right now. Yeah. Right now. But I do the season. Who knows? Yeah. And I think if you talk to

people in the Cubs organization, how they feel about Matt Shaw, I promise you a couple of them would

think that his potential in his ceiling is definitely higher than South Freelik, right? He just has to

go out there and do it. But for right now, South Freelik stands number two right now in the

nationally essential right field rankings, which brings us to say it with a bullet. And I think it's

again, like we were doing with Michael Bush. I think this is a sizable gap between the quality

of player of say is Suzuki that you would want on your team. And I got like South Freelik.

I think it's it is very sizable. I think that say as a Zuki's going to hit what three four five

in that lineup, right? Right in the heart of the lineup. A very, very good deep lineup. Say

as a Zuki, I've said before, I'll say it again, his bat is elite. Now, I know it's not elite

every single time, but he goes through stretches where his bat is elite. And it can be elites.

There was some stats about like when he's playing in the field, his bat is like he literally,

like he is an elite hitter at times. And I think putting it all together, giving him a role. Now

last year, last off season, don't forget, there was a lot of like clouds over this whole thing,

where we traded for Tucker. Say I wasn't happy about not playing my field being only, hey,

say now you're our right fielder. Go get it. His mind is right. Play by field. Be the

hitter that we know you can be. And by the way, we're also going to move around a little bit,

could be at this like super utility guy match. So all all in all, the say as a Zuki match shot combo

is leaps in bounds better than anything else in our division. But say I by himself as well

is better. I just watched the marquee video this morning on their Twitter page or ex page or whatever

the heck you want to call it. And it's Alcantara talking about the adjustments he's made. And he says

I got powered every field. I'm ready to go. So let's just play. You know, it's wild thought one's

day. Love it. What if he develops this year? What if this is the year finally that he takes that

next step and all of that athleticism that we've seen down in the minor leagues clicks. And he

becomes another guy in right field. Okay. Now am I just completely delusional? Do I need my own?

Do I need my own reality? Careful when I spread myself, I almost blinded myself to do it. But

what if the Cubs had three of the top four right fielders in the division? You know, the only

problem with only it only takes Alcantara emerging. Yes. Just as much as new Elvi Marte or Jordan

Walker. Like, is he any less likely to do it than one of those guys? Tom, I have with that. And

I listen, the reality spray. I think you deserve a spray for that. I love the optimism.

It was a question. But yeah, but I think that the only problem I have here is where are those

that bats coming from? Right? Yeah. With this roster being as loaded as it is, you're looking at

say is your starter. We all agree on that, right? I think, you know, Bruce Levine had said that

was a Craig Council who said that ultimately say I was going to be a DHs against lefties.

Shaw is probably going to be in there. So I don't think there's enough at bats for Kevin Alcantara

to really kind of become the third or fourth best right fielder in his division. But like I said,

earlier in this podcast, at the end of this season, we have two corner outfield spots that are going

to be open. Maybe the young guns get them. Shaw and Alcantara, maybe we resign, say, uh, and who knows?

But there is going to be a spot on this team as a fourth outfielder and then moving into next year,

there's a chance for someone to take that and run with it and be like the Jaguar being our right

fielder or left fielder for years to come. Well, it's, I just say this, it's another position

where the Cubs are at least one or two and there's no debating that one where if you're any sane person,

they're at least one or two. All right, coming up after the break, we're going to play this new game

with Joey and we're going to take the temp with it. But first a word from our sponsors at CHG.

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health. Game day CHGO.com to find locations closest to you. Back on the CHGO Cubs podcast,

we've decided that say a Suzuki is no worse than one or two in the central. He's one. He's one.

We believe he's one. We believe the Cubs situation is one and I went as crazy as to say they might have

the two best right fielders by the end of the season in the national. You actually said they

could have the three of four three four, which I'm right. Optimism. Yeah, right. Well, I'm hungry.

I haven't eaten so there's a lot of craziness going through my mind. Wow Wednesday. That's right.

That's coming up. Hey, we're going to play Joey's new game. Reduce or prepare at spring training

and it is sponsored by four seasons. You're trusted local experts for heating, air conditioning,

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coupons either, by the way. All right. So prepare or produce what does this player have to do in

cactus league action in order to be what they need to be this year. Right. So easy example,

right? When you talk about a player like Alex Breckman, Alex Breckman doesn't need to hit

350. He doesn't need to produce in the cactus league at all. All he needs to do is prepare for

opening day, prepare to play 162. Now a guy like we mentioned in the last segment,

I guy like Dylan Carlson or Chasm McCormick. I do. We all can agree. Produce. They need to produce,

production. Yeah. Hit the ball. I can tell you which one it is. Bring it in spring training to

make a compelling case that you deserve to be on the opening day roster. So here we go. Here's

the first one that I want to throw at you guys. The first one is Moises by Starros. This he needs to

produce or this is simply need to prepare the first opening day. First thing he has to arrive.

Good. He needs to arrive. Baby steps. I mean, it's not correct. Not his fall, but he needs to get

here to do that. You know, I'm pretty sold on him. I still think he needs to produce though.

I still think I need, I mean, listen, he's not a veteran, but I think that no question the guy

can hit. I think he proved it in the bigs last year. I think he's proved it his entire time

in the minor leagues. That being said, even though we're basically handing him the DH job,

he still has to produce this spring. I want to see him, you know, back over 300, good

knocks, good looking swings, you know, to feel good about it. I would not feel good rolling in

the opening day if Starros batted like, you know, 134 and looked lost at the plate. I would not

feel good about that, but so I say for him is produced. I agree. I think it's produced. I think

you want to see a good spring. That doesn't mean he has to hit five home runs and have the best

batting average in the cactus league or anything like that. You just want to see him have a good

approach and look like he's seen the ball well and things are going well. I think he's breaking

with the team anyway. I agree. But would be nice if he produced. If he had, if he had just an

absolutely horrible spring, then what are the Cubs doing at DH? You know, it's like, okay,

does that mean Shaw would play even more? Yeah, I mean, right field and say it would be the DH or

I mean, he'd give Braggman more time off and let Shaw play a little more third. No, I don't think

that's the answer. But I hate thinking like negatively, but you are kind of covered in that

situation because say I can slide it to you and Shaw can be your right field. I think you are

covered that way. Best case scenario. Mobile or is your DH from day one and there's a rotation of

say I and Shaw and Bragg the whole thing. We are a better team because of it, but we're not

totally screw it if it goes the other way. Yeah, that's what I think is fun part about this game

is it isn't really cut and dry, right? I agree with you. I think he'll be on the opening day roster,

but I think he needs to produce, right? I think he needs to check the box. Yeah, and barrel up

some baseballs in the spring and make us all feel really confident that we can run him out there.

When we talk about what those matchups are going to look like, you know, I think Moises by

Stereo still needs to earn his spot to get the predominant amount of that bats against right-handed

pitching. So I think he's in the produce category. I got a good one for you guys. Producer,

prepare Hunter Harvey. Oh, prepare, prepare. Okay, prepare. Okay, interesting. I say prepare

because he is a veteran. I think that he has shown elite stuff in the past. I mean, produce from

a standpoint of a health, from a health standpoint, produce, right? But I'm just saying like I

rather him prepare and be healthy for the season because I do know that he has done it before. He's

not some rookie we're waiting on to see if he's got, you know, he's not Jackson Wiggins or anything

like that. So I say for him, it's more about preparing, especially when there have been health

questions in the past. I want him to prepare to be healthy for this upcoming season. Yeah, and

maybe the answer to this depends on the other fringe options in the bullpen, right? Like what if

Luke Little is lights out in spring training? What if Ben Brown shows you that he's absolutely in

the bullpen? Go on down the list. Wicks, whoever you want to say is Assad, how do those guys play? And

so I will say for Hunter Harvey a little bit of both. Although I lean towards what you're saying,

they didn't acquire him to have him sit and not be ready. I think almost no matter what he

does in spring training unless they think the results are bad because something's wrong. He

mostly needs to prepare. But they would like to see him produce. That's this was I think maybe the

hardest one for me personally because you're both making great points. Prepare. Yes, because yes,

every show. He's been so. Yeah, where you been? Every single thing says that Hunter Harvey, if he's

healthy, he's going to be a dynamic piece for us in the bullpen. So you want him to prepare and

just get to opening day. I'm slightly leaning towards produce though because I want to see

that 98 rock and again in spring training. And I want to see him like, wow, he's mowing down some

guys. He's got that mojo back. Not only is he healthy, but he's feeling really good. So it's

it's curious clearly health first for him. I'm 100% with you on that prepare. But I think

Hunter Harvey is just a tiny little bit to prove. I don't think he's going to lose his spot

necessarily. But I think he can maybe earn a more trusted role out of the gate if you were to

produce a little bit. Listen, if there was a world where Ryan Pressy was our closer just because we

handed it to him. I think that's what happened. I'm saying Hunter Harvey is going to have a little bit

of a leash here to mate the club because his stuff can be elite when when healthy. I got a good one

for you. Produce or prepare match. Oh, what do you got? What do you know? I'll go first. I'm a big,

big, big, big matchoff fan. I think that he took the feedback the coaches gave him last year

with that big high leg kick went down to AAA subdued that a little bit. Came back second half.

Look really, really good. Then again, looks horrible in the playoffs overmatched in the playoffs.

I will say produce only from a standpoint of I want to see match shot be motivated and I want

to see him not I said last year, guys. I thought him being overmatched in the playoffs was one of

the best things that could have happened to match off from a career standpoint. I think now he knows

like, it's not as easy as it was in every other level. Like I got to I got to tweak my swing a

little bit more. The fact that he also is now been delegated to backup or super utility. I want to

see him not proud about it. I want to see him produce. I want to see him embrace that role.

Embrace your inner Ben Zolvris. You know, and really you can really help this ball club still

by being a great super utility guy. So I think what match shot I'm the talent is there undeniable

to me. But I still want to see him produce for the reasons that I mentioned. Yeah.

I agree that the answer is produce. It doesn't mean that I don't think prepare is a possibility.

Like I don't think he's going to go oh for the spring. But because yet again, he's adjusted the

light kick. And we had such a horrific finish in the post season where he was overmatched.

I think the Cubs have already sent the message that it's produced just by acquiring

Braggman to take over third base for the next five years. They've already said, hey buddy,

you got to produce. And they've also already said produce by showing the past

hap back to Iowa. He's Shaw's gone to Iowa at some point, right? Schwarber went back to

guys have gone back to Iowa. So it's in the in the unlikely scenario that match Shaw with this new

swing. And now the hesitation of I'm learning the outfield is so brutal in the spring that he's

just totally thrown off. I do think there's a tiny percent chance that the Cubs would say

to just calm down, go work on all this stuff in Iowa. It's not going to be long.

Outcontraurs can help us out in right field. We don't need the backup because we can get

get enough at third. If we need you, we can call you up instantly. I say it's produced and I think

it's the message that Cubs sent by getting Alex Braggman. It doesn't mean he needs to hit 500.

He just needs not to go oh for the spring. Right. And to Justin's point, like you want

match Shaw to be really motivated. Yes, spring. He is a young player who wants to take a step forward

offensively and needs to also prove that he can play a different position, which is the outfield,

whether it is right field or left. So yeah, like when I say I saw Cory in the chat saying,

you know, he needs to prepare to play right field. I think we're getting into the semantic of

we're in agreement that he needs to produce and show that he can play right field and check that

box and get to opening day. All right. I think we got two minutes for the break. I got one for

you. And here's the deal. Here's the deal. Oh, producer prepare. I'm going to give you two players.

You cannot pick the same for each player. Oh, one of these players has to produce. One of these

players has to prepare. Okay. Kate Horton and Edward Cabrera. Oh, is it? Is it easy? I'll answer super

quick. Produce Kate Horton. Okay. Because he already, I mean, we saw what he did last year.

I don't care that he's young or whatever. I think he's more than capable. And I think he knows

what it's like to be at that level. Cabrera is the one who's new. He's on the new team. I think

he has to prepare to even play with all these people. Oh, that's different. He's been with a whole

team. He's been with the team for a whole year now. It's a different spin. That's a different

spin on what I was thinking. I was going to go the opposite. I would go Horton.

Just prepare. Get ready. You're going to be fine. Yeah.

Well, I would like to see production out of Cabrera in that the fastballs made some adjustments.

It is semantics a little bit. Oh, sure. Kate Horton's in the rotation and Cabrera. I'm forcing

you to answer because I think both these guys are probably a prepare at the end of the day.

But if I had to force you, the only guy out of that mix that would go to the bullpen in some

crazy situation is Cabrera. Which I don't think will ever happen. No, I don't either.

But if I was saying like one of them could end up in the bullpen, it's not Horton.

I think the parameters of this game and I think Sarah is kind of saying what we're saying here.

It is different spin on the words. I do think Kate Horton is prepare. You're coming off an arm

injury. No, I'm sorry. You're coming off an injury, though. It wasn't our our rib rib. You're

coming off an injury. You pitched more innings last year and you're like prepare. We know what

you got. We know you're still. You know, we know that you're our our ace. I want to see you 100%

healthy for opening day. That's what I want out of Kate Horton. Cabrera, I also want him to be

obviously healthy as well. But the I do want to see him, you know, I don't want to see him walking

five, six guys a start in spring. So for me, it is a little more result space. Now both those

guys are going to be in the rotation. No matter what, if you ask me. But I think if you're

going to my head, it's prepare for Kate Horton. Produce for Edward Cabrera. Yeah, I'm going to roll.

I think I'm going to roll with Sarah on this one just for fun. These were I want Edward Cabrera

to be healthy. So prepare, right? Just get to opening day. Give us those 25, 26 starts if you can.

Right. The thing that would be really cool about Kate Horton and produce is that what if he just

has that type of spring that says like, I'm ready to like explode on the scene. I'm ready to

compete for a sion. I'm mowing guys down. We talked about him throwing 98 in a bullpen session.

What if he's pumping 98 on the regular all throughout spring? And it's like game on, you know,

shackles off pitch count who cares innings up. So what if Kate Horton produces Edward Cabrera?

Exactly. What you just said, Joey, he wants a sion this year. He had his, you know, his time

last year to prepare. He showed all of that. But this year is a different story now. He can

absolutely win that if he wants it. So it's like he has to produce that and he's been on the team.

Yeah, producing the regular season for sure. Yeah, look, cactus league. I don't know.

Yeah, and that's fair. And I think both of those guys, if they had a 6.0 ERA in the spring,

I think we're not, I think we're going to easily on the show. Shluff it off and just say,

all right, well, when the bell rings, everyone will be ready. I think the Kate Horton produce is

more of a luxury pick. Oh, it would be nice. If he's just, oh, my God, he's tracking everybody out.

Well, this would be an easy both prepare. But you made the game where we had to pick one of the

other. Exactly. It was a jerk. Yeah, it was a jerk. If it was no role, it was both prepare. I

think we all can agree on that. All right. Let's do a couple more of these after the break.

Then we're going to talk about Chris Bryant. And we are going to talk about Tony Clark. But first,

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1963 Ray likes to say together. Let's draw. All right. We're playing a little game of prepare or

produce in cactus. Leg action, which what players have to do each some have to do both. Right.

Obviously, but as you said, Alex Bragman doesn't need to produce in cactus. Leg action. He

just needs to get ready for the season. He's looked good. By the way, those homeruns is a bit hidden

and bad man. Nobody's playing first face. Michael Bush could have a bad spring. It wouldn't matter.

You just needs to prepare Dan's B Swanson, Nicole Horner. Right. Those guys are just prepare and get

ready. But there are produce guys. Right. So the easy one. Let's just rip this one really fast. Tyler

Austin, you got to prepare. It won't be here. I said produce. Yeah, produce. I mean, yeah,

produce. Yeah, they do need to hear. Yeah, do needs to hit. Right. I mean, that's the bottom line

there. Like they brought him over. Everyone likes them. Zips loves them. You think he might be the

Justin Turner replacement. Might be the right hand. It's up off the bench. Do needs to hit in the

spring. There's no two ways about it. My mind got mixed up. He needs to produce or prepare to go

home. There you go. Perfect. Good sex. Good sex. A little bit of both. Exactly.

All right. Let's do the next one. Produce or prepare, ladies and gentlemen. Daniel Polencia.

Prepare. Just prepare. Prepare. Right. He's already been named the closer. Exactly. Right.

And he gave up five home runs. He'd still be the closer. And he was great in that role last year

for the majority of the season. I've seen him do it. He was phenomenal in the playoffs. I've

seen him handle high pressure. So for me, like, yeah, I mean, yeah, I love for him to strike out

every batter he faces. But just prepare. Get ready for opening day because I expect a big leap out

of Polencia in your number two as a closer, which speaks volumes about how hard this guy has worked.

And the opportunity that he got last year and the fact that he locked it down and even that little

wobbly moment and they brought him back. He ended up being the sixth inning, seventh inning guy.

The fact that cracks come out and put a lot of confidence in him in spring. I'm with you guys.

I think more just prepare, right? Get through spring training. Feel healthy. Make sure the

velocities there and then game on, right? And Corey has a very good comment here. Prepare for more

gasolina entrances. Yeah, you go. Rigly get ready. You're going to hear a lot of gasolina this year.

So let's just do two more. One really quick show to Imanaga. Producer prepare.

Prepare. I would say prepare as well. But I would, I would say prepare with an asterisk because I

would love to see it. It'd be nice to see it. Well, it'd be nice to see that you're back to the

year and a half show to versus the bad showed us. So prepare. Yes. But I want to see some results

before opening day. It wouldn't kill us if we saw some splitters diving. And if, you know,

yeah, but I'm with you guys again. Prepare. He's earned the benefit of the doubt. Just get through

spring training. Get your workload in and get ready for the season. The final one. And I'm

trapping you guys again, because that was really fun. Producer prepare. You can only pick one for

produce, only pick one for prepare. Ben Brown, Javier Assad. Uh, produce is Ben Brown.

Prepare is Javier Assad, not because I think one is better than the other. I think that

one got hurt in spring training last year and his whole season got wiped. Yes,

but I believe Craig council has more faith right now in Assad as his swing guy.

Then he does Ben Brown. I brown has way more potential. And I think he could be

a really good option in the bullpen as well. But I still think there's more faith at the moment

in Assad. If he was a little rocky, I think here's here's another question off it. Like what if

Wicks had a great spring and Assad had a horrific spring. Yeah, I mean, with the roles flip,

with the confidence level flip over council go back to his trustee man two years ago Assad was

so good for us. What are we going to do? Well, did you hear, uh, tell me how do we kind of dismiss

everything I said about Ben Brown being reliever, reliever, reliever came out and said that he thinks

that Ben Brown's a starter. So yeah, I don't know where or how it fits in. But like, so maybe council

has more faith in Assad. But it sounded to me like how do he was really, really hitching his wagon

to Ben Brown as a starter. I will say because, you know, Assad has been a great story. I love the

guy like, um, I love seeing pitch again. I think there's just so much more upside and Ben Brown

that I want to see Ben Brown be the one to produce. Um, because I still think sky's the limit.

We got to define his role what that looks like. But I would love to see Ben Brown come out

in the spring and be lights out. Yeah, nothing wrong with how do we try to gas up his guy? And,

and when you look at Ben Brown, he is the even with your eyeballs, the physical stature from says,

wow, this guy could be a rotation guy. You see the fastball. You say, wow, that could play 32

times a year on the mound. You see the curve ball. Looks pretty good. And then yeah, you see him

against teams like the brewers, twirl six or seven shut out innings. He is, I'm going to

go with you guys. He is the produce for me. We can keep trying to cast him into these roles.

But he needs to go out there and he needs to go out there and take it. If I had to choose,

I think Javier Assad, I'm with you. I think he also needs to produce. But if I had to pick one,

yeah, let's just go prepare with Javier Assad because last year he heard his oblique,

tried to come back, heard it again, basically wipe out all season long. And he can be an important

swing man that doesn't have the best stuff. But he's very crafty and he can fill in the gaps

in a lot of really important innings in a long season that, you know, maybe don't make like the end

of season montage, but they're also like really important stuff. So Ben Brown is, it's all sitting

out there for him. Goes out there has a good spring. I think he can create his own role by producing

in spring training like show us who you want to be, man. And that's what I think that comes down to.

Assad will be at the World Baseball Classic. Robert, I agree with you. Starters have higher trade

value. That's why you're not going to say somebody's automatically joined the bullpen. Yeah.

That's fair. That's fair. Although I do think, again, if we're talking, if they're,

if they are saying for now, he's a starter and he's worked on this and we still feel confident in

him. That's where I'm talking. It's about those biggie backs early in the season. Ben Brown,

right. He might be a starter, but he might be a for any start. Yeah. And there might be a lot of

those guys. Or he could be a piggyback to someone like show to him a naga. Yes. You know, a little

softer tosser than Ben Brown comes in firing from the different side from the left. You know,

there are things you can do, but it's great to have depth. And I think for the first time in a

long time, it feels like we do have depth on the scene. All right. Did you guys see the sound

from Chris Bryant finally talking spring training where he said it's not fun

having to get out of bed and your body hurts. It's hard to get out of bed because your body hurts.

It makes me sick to my stomach that anybody out there, even a Rockies fan who is mad about this

contract. And they are mad about this contract. Right now, this is not. Yes, he could walk

away, but if there's $90 million, what person in the world out there would be like, I'm good,

$90 million. Just listen, I would rehab for five years if they paid me $90 million. That's

their fault for signing the contract. He doesn't have to do the right thing and retire. He doesn't

have to. This is about his life. This isn't even about him as a baseball player. If somehow Chris

Bryant and his back rejuvenated and he became an average player again because he went from being

a top five top 10 player in baseball, an MVP in baseball, top five for sure. Down to a guy that was

one of the worst players the last like two or three years because he's just not even available.

And when he is, he's a shell of who he was. I feel horrible for him, but more importantly,

this is the back. I want him to be able to play catch with his kids. When he's talking about

pain getting out of bed, I'm worried that the guy is not going to be able to walk at some point.

Right? Like a back is a horrible thing. You see people with bad backs and then once they can't

walk, the rest of the body just falls apart. Right? Like that's it's anybody that has an older

parent. Keep walking. No matter how bad it hurts, keep walking, keep walking, keep walking,

keep the body moving. I'm one that should take that advice, keep walking. But I just want him to

have a healthy life so he can enjoy the millions of dollars at this point. Yeah, it was said to watch.

You could just tell in his face and his demeanor that just like he seems like he's broken.

Like he said, he said, you know, those very sad eyes said conversation. It's said to watch

from a fan standpoint. Again, we got Chris Bryant who's bigger than life. We got the rookie of the year

MVP champion. We got all that stuff. That's the Chris Bryant that we know. The Rocky's got a completely

different version of him. My like kind of hot take on it all. I got to wonder if, you know, whether it's

this year or next year that there's some kind of like deal restructuring by out of like,

you're obviously never going to play again. We made this commitment to you financially.

Let's make it work for both sides. Something because I just I don't think he's ever going to

swing a professional bet ever again. I really don't. And I think that maybe the Rockies and him at some

point will come up with some kind of solution to make it go away. Yeah, that's the worst part is

he's got to ask himself the question. Can I do what I love or what I've known my whole life,

but at what costs, right? And it also sometimes like with this stuff, I know we like to make fun of

busts. Who's a bus contractor, whatever. It's not a bus. That's the problem, right? It almost

changes how you consider it because if the guy can't play, is he really a bus? I get it that is

checks sign and cash all the same. But is he a bus if he can't even play like that a bus?

There's a bus. No, I think I think, but okay, so he's not a bus. We agree. He's not a bus.

But Joey, to your point, one of the worst contracts in baseball history, it's bad. No, look,

in Anthony Rendon saying, hold my beer on that one, too, and we can have that conversation.

Drasper, the other part is obviously like we love KB and we've rooted for him,

you know, from the moment that he got drafted, right? Like the day that he came up to the big leagues,

I ran around the house and I said, Merry Christmas to my wife and she thought that was corny and weird,

but I loved it. And there's been two times in my life where I can really empathize and relate to

how he feels about when he says waking up every day in pain. And for people that maybe that

haven't experienced it, I just got to tell you like it seeps into every aspect of your life,

mentally, how you look at life, how you feel about yourself, not only is it a pity of like why

did this happen to me, but also like there's something wrong with me and then that can make you have,

it can alter your relationships with other people because they don't know that you're in pain,

but you aren't pain, so you're a little bit short, you're a little bit more annoyed. And yeah,

Justin, man, you're bringing up a good point of like he will have to ask himself the question,

is it worth swinging a bat or is it worth me just trying to get back so maybe I can walk a

couple miles around a pond or whatever it is and just sort of get through it. And it's,

yeah, it's incredibly, incredibly sad and we have this conversation Luke,

when we did the mini-pot about Chris Bryan for Starrick Rose, one of the questions was,

there is an irony to it, and it is better sweet that could you imagine if he had signed that

220 million dollar deal with the Cubs, and all the goodwill and the legacy that he had built in

Chicago would have evaporated and disappeared because he still would be on the books with this

injury and the way that we think about Chris Bryan would would forever be changed because of this

bad deal that the Cubs would have like handed out to him. Yeah, Chris Bryan, the difference for

me between D-Rose and Chris Bryan is Chris Bryan got him to the championship before it all fell

apart. You got him one. He got him a championship. That's that's the difference right there. And

obviously Derek Rose is from Chicago, so that makes that part of it different. And never forget too

in the 10th inning, almost hits that ball out and right center, right? The ball that Elmora tags

up on everyone goes like Elmora, good for you for tagging up. Chris Bryan, the MVP of the league,

almost hit a game, a go ahead and winning home run in the 10th inning of a game,

seven of World Series to break the job. I know we love saying it for Zobras, but Chris Bryan,

what five feet is incredible. Let me take it once that further. I was at game five of

really feel the World Series. I really feel with my dad last game. We ever saw together in person.

And you know, very uneasy. We're down three. We're down three games of one. Yep. You know,

and listen, we weren't scoring. And it was very uneasy. But how did you you're about to be

eliminated from the World Series? And everyone's starting to get nervous as it are seats,

who comes up? Chris Bryant hits a bomb. The crowd changed like that. And history changed forever

from Chris Bryant's home run in game five. If you don't for the people that are angry and saying

horrible things about Chris Bryant, before he was married and had kids, the first 20 some years

of his life easily, what do you think his first love was baseball hands down? Sure, his family's

right there, but baseball is his true love. It's been ripped away from him in his prime. In his

prime, it's been ripped away. And I know money makes things feel different. But have you ever been

really sick? Some people have gone through things like cancer or been in an accident,

had bad legs. If I get the flu and I'm miserable, I've known it recently. There is nothing you

want in life more than to be healthy. You just want I'm such a weakling that if I get a stuffy

nose for two weeks, I'm just like, please just like let one nostril open up. And I will be so happy

today. If I can breathe out one side of my nose, anybody that's been through anything like

knee surgery, certainly cancer, they go through those things only hoping for health, only hoping for

health. That's potentially been taken away from him as well. So it's not just baseball. It's

health and baseball. Stop worrying that he didn't live up to $180 million or whatever it is.

That's the Rocky's problem. She doesn't have to give back any of it. And I don't,

for instance, if he had signed the $200 million deal with the Cubs.

Yes, it would have been frustrating as a Cubs fan because you know they wouldn't have spent

the money on somebody else. That would have given them sticker shock of all time that they

would have regretted for the rest of their lives. But teams that sign players that then get hurt

and can't perform. I don't know that the Rockies were going anywhere. Anyways, they weren't.

They gave them the money to try and draw in some crowds. Okay. Like, I can't be mad at a player

that's really hurt. I can't be mad at D Rose for the injuries. People were, I can't be mad at

a client's career for what's happening now. Whether I'm a Rockies fan or Cubs fan, it's the players

that show up, get the money and then bag it. Just don't even try it. And then you run

don'ts of the world. Yes, that's not what's going on here. A lot of the white socks guys did it.

They didn't want to get better. That's not what's going on with Chris Bryant. The guy's lucky that

he's getting out of bed without paying some days. Or maybe no days. I think it's absolutely absurd

that anybody out there is dogging on Chris Bryant because he's starting the season on the injured

list again. And you're never going to get value out of that contract. Oh, I can tell you is

don't read the comments because they're really, really bad and people are awful. Yep. In Colorado,

they are very vocal about the fact that they are not happy about the situation, which is funny.

They're honestly just projecting their own frustration probably with their owner and the lack of

spending and lacking competitive play and channeling it into a guy who I'm sure wants nothing more

than just try and compete and produce for his team. And I would throw back at the Rockies fans.

You I bet you money. Chris Bryant, a healthy Chris Bryant probably signed that deal because he thought

you know what I would play there for a couple years and then they would trade me just somewhere

interesting. Right. You know what I mean? So the Rockies fans can kind of wrap it up really fast.

Does Chris Bryant ever swing a meaningful MLB bat ever again? What do you guys think? No,

because he's on the Rockies. Well, meaningful for him. No, no, my point. I'm sorry, a professional.

Does Chris Bryant get another hit in Major League Baseball? Does he ever take another a bat

in Major League Baseball again? I want him to, but again, I don't know what's in his heart and his

mind right now. I want him to be healthy. I think it would be so cool. And you'll see this from

time to time. If he could somehow come back as a DH and just be a guy that could be a Justin

Turner. I know. Be a Justin Turner type and and how many bombs? Dominic is my answer. I don't

think he ever does. And it pains me to say that because he is really tall. I understand just the

ultimate guy, but I just I don't see this ending with him playing baseball ever again. I don't

I don't know if I don't know if I'm not sure if the answer no is the worst outcome. No,

I would like to see the team work out something and I know he wants, but I would almost like them

to rip off the Band-Aid form, say, here's here's your money. Go we we will help you with our doctors

seek any medical help you can get. Stop wasting time twisting your backs, swinging a bat.

Right. Stop worrying about that. Worry about yourself. And if baseball comes back miracle,

sure great. It's it's a horrible situation. And people that are saying bad things about him are

horrible people and speaking of horrible people. I was going to say that you got a real horrible

transition, baby. Tony Clark. No, nothing's been proven. I don't know anything for a fact. We're

a podcast so we can just go on rumors. But Jeff pass in his suite of the zone. He's pretty legit.

That's correct. Okay. I don't know. I wasn't there. Thank God. I wasn't part of whatever

went on with his family, but he's been he's been investigated. We know that by the Eastern

District of New York for financial dealings as the head of the MLB Players Association. And I

believe it's got to do with a youth league that was getting a ton of funding, but it seems a

little iffy on what was actually going on there. How many games were really being played and it

didn't need all that money. Right. Okay. That's bad. That's bad. The other part of it.

Let's just throw out a hypothetical and it doesn't we don't have to use Tony Clark. Okay.

It could be Clark Tony. Let's use this guy Clark Tony. Okay.

Clark Tony is not only stealing money, but Clark Tony during that time also

decides that he is going to hire a relative. And Clark Tony is going to

allegedly this Clark Tony guy. He's he's going to

have an affair with either his brothers, wife, wife, or his wife's sister. Clark Tony is

having an affair with his sister-in-law. Correct. They will not reveal her name. So the question

that my wife and me. Yes. The question that my wife immediately asks why can't we all there.

We're not saying you definitely did it. Is it the brother's wife or is it the wife's sister and

frankly, which is worse? That's a really good question. So your brother's wife or your sister's

sister, which is worse. So I would throw the third one in there. Stealing. Stealing. Okay.

Potentially millions of dollars. I mean, there's okay. There's a lot. There's a lot of unquestionable

things going on here. I think the question though is the whole like which is worse on which sister-in-law

is this, right? Brothers, what? Brothers? Yeah. So wife or sister's wife's sister, wife's sister.

wife's sister. I originally and look, look, there's no, it's all wrong. It's all terrible. So we're

not like scoring this like around the horn right now. And again, I don't want to pile on a guy who

clearly has made some mistakes. Maybe he can. He's going to get it. But this situation, we're just

talking about the situation. And Clark Tony doesn't say any more. Tony Tark. Okay. We'll go with that.

Tony Tark doesn't exist. I originally thought that the brother's wife was worse because not only have

you betrayed your own marriage, but the brother that you've had your whole life, you've blown that

up and you've tarnished that. My wife though brought up a really good point where if this guy is so

selfish that he is willing to have this kind of behavior, including stealing, that would it only

continue to further the internal selfishness to say like, well, it's about me. It's about my

relationship with my brother. We're like, the wife's sister I think is worse because this guy,

whenever they got married, went into his wife's parents' kitchen, sat down and said, I would like

to ask your permission to ask her hand in marriage. Okay. And then went off and cheated on her with

the sister and the family. Right. So he's kind of ruining another family. Right. Like if you're

going to ruin a family, ruin your own damn family. Okay. Maybe that's where I'm landing on that.

But I don't think both of them are awful and I don't know if there's a right answer. So great

points. Okay. I am going to say I think the worst situation and they're both horrible. But the

worst situation is the brother's wife. Okay. Here's why I say that because if you're cheating on

your wife and both instances, you're cheating on your wife. So that's horrible and it's for and

it's all right. So you're cheating on your wife. One, now you're betraying your blood brother.

That's two that you might have been the bigger brother of or the little bit. Yeah. So for me,

again, they're both horrible. But I think the brother's wife would be the worst of the two.

Break the tie, Luke. Break us home. Well, there's something we haven't considered yet. And that

answers the question. Okay. Do both sides have children involved? Yeah. Good point. Do you like? Yes.

If you're impacting the children and you're not only you're not only

ruining the relationship with your wife and or your brother,

are you impacting all these children that now have to live through this on at the same time?

That's that's part of it. When is he going to jail?

That's my question. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. You know, cheating aside, you know,

horrible. Yes. But he also committed a crime. Yes. Not to be cynical, but sometimes what

crime takes a while. Okay. Well, let me know when he's behind bars, the bars.

Bad. I was trying to find out for as for I would say it's the brother. Yeah. Because you've

already your your marriage is over. Right. Okay. But I would assume your marriage is over. And

you are not going to see that other family again. True. Your brother has probably been with you

almost your entire life. Yeah. That relationship with your parents if they're still around or

nieces and nephews, other sisters, that is that is not going anywhere unless they stick you out

on an island somewhere, which is possible. Thanksgiving is going to be rough. It's going to be

holidays are going to be on my table for one for I think the kids are the main answer.

If I'm saying there's no kids on either side, then I would say but train your brother is worse than

your. Okay. As for Tony Clark, the guy who's resigning from the MLB PA, he was set to make like

three and a half mill this year. He made four and a half mill last year like collecting big checks

and all this money doesn't buy everything. No, it does not. Money does not buy everything.

That said, we could all get raises here at the CHGO Cubs podcast. Final. We're all welcome.

We're all welcome to that. And we're morally way better guys than cloney. That's right.

Tark. That's right. The last maybe cynical part about it too is just kind of wonder how many

people probably knew about this and frankly, they said to themselves, we need a new guy here and

they just decided to dig up all of his skeletons and that's how we get him out. And I hate to

say it like that, but that's sometimes how business works. And if he already was a bad guy,

I bet you there were people covering for him for years, who should be just as ashamed as he is,

that just now decided to flip that card over to get him out to bring someone. In the hypothetical

about Cloney Tark, the sister that sheets on her sister basically, ruins her sister's marriages

also a little agreed, a little bit in trouble. A lot of it in trouble. Yeah, yeah. She also made

some very poor choices. Don't be a cloney Tark. Don't be a cloney Tark. There's our next

for the season. Don't be a cloney Tark. Just Korean Brendan with a Thursday podcast coming

up for you. That is Cubs related. We are back on Monday with another fresh. When unless there's

some big breaking news, we're back over the weekend. We're going out to enjoy the sunshine.

Thanks for checking out the CHGO Cubs podcast. Thanks for watching. Thanks for listening and