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Dumb. Stupid. Crazy. Dangerous. Stinks. These kids are right. Hi, I'm Emmy Award-winning
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sportscaster Luke Stuckmeyer. Don't be a dope. Don't trade, Nikol Horner. Just say no.
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The Giants want Nikol Horner, the Yankees want Nikol Horner. Don't trade Nikol Horner. Guys, what are we
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even talking about here? You just went all in with Braggman. Yeah. Why would the Cubs even consider
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a Nikol Horner trade? I think the Cubs consider it because they're a business and you got you. My
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opinion is you have to at least answer the phone and hear what people are offering because you have
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Matt Shaw and because you believe in Matt Shaw. I've said all along. I believe I would be thrilled
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if the Cubs extended Nikol Horner. But if you can't extend him, you can't let him walk for nothing
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either. So I think this is good business. Will they actually pull the trigger and trade him? I
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don't know. I'm not sure. I would love to have him and Shaw and just be like a stacked Cubs
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team going into 26. But you got to pick up the phone and you got to at least listen to what other
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teams are offering. You can't help but feel like the Cubs are in a tight spot of trying to figure out
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his value actually is. Yeah. So you're wondering, one, are they canvassing the trade market
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to try and get a little sense of that value on the open market of what would it take to actually
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extend Nikol Horner? Because let's be honest here, his value is never as high as it is right in
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this fair and unfair. He just led the team in war. He was a fantastic player for you. Again,
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this season with the gold glove almost hit 300. A guy that only six other players in MLB
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baseball even hit 300. This is almost on the batting tile. Almost won the batting title. He had
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some incredibly handsome. He's a homegrown player. He's a guy that rise through the ranks of the
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system, graduated. And once he came up to the major leagues, Luke, he stayed there. So I think the
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Cubs would like to keep him around. They don't maybe know what his prices if they had to extend him.
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So maybe they're seeing how high of a value. Could they get overwhelmed? Could they get blown
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away? For me personally, I think this would take a whole lot for them to even push that button
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off. I'm going to trade Nikol Horner. And I hope they don't push that button.
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Overwhelmed in that they might get more value than what actually Nikol is. But is that still enough
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to actually trade for them? Because you're getting prospects back. That's what you're really
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going to be getting. And so for me, the answer is no. Like, you're not talking about putting
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Aaron judge out out there. And somebody's going to be like, we'll give you our top four prospects.
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That's not what you're going to get for Nikol Horner. And if and when he goes to free agency,
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now he may ask to be a shortstop. And that might get him more money in free agency. But
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Nikol is the kind of guy that also loves it here and might give you a discount. Like I don't
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know how many guys give you a hometown discount, but a born and raised Cubs might do that. I just
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don't think you can send that message to this team right now. Like why even acquire Braggman if
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you're doing it and just going to save a few pennies by getting rid of Nikol because you won't be
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able to form. Aren't we past that now? We know what Braggman signal that we're past that point.
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Look, I don't think it's about saving pennies. I don't think it's a money thing. I really don't.
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I think it's you cannot afford to let Nikol walk for nothing. I think, again, I'm all for an
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extension. I wish you signed a long term. I really do. But if you don't, and if you can't,
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you can't let him go for nothing. I can't. I can't. We got Alcantara for Tobias. We got PCA. I mean,
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like you don't want Swarber to walk away and get nothing for him. You know, it's one of those
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things where it's just good business to listen. I'm not saying I'm not advocating to trade on
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what you got to listen. Joey, I just disagree with the fact that you I love the got to listen part.
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Yeah. Can I let him walk away for nothing? Yes. He's Nikol Horner. He's not Swarber. He's not MVP,
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Chris. Brian, you're not rebuilding everything and starting all over. You can let guys go and get
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nothing for them, especially if you're drafting well. That's what you got to hang your head on.
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So for me, I agree with a wholeheartedly 50% of what you're saying there. But yet, that's good.
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I'll take it. No, no, no, no. Good business to listen. Also good business to try and maybe drive
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the price up with the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants if they're looking for a
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second basement. That's not the worst thing in the world. But again, with the Nikol Horner situation,
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we're not having this conversation with Sayas Zuki. A guy who had 30 home runs and has 100
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RBIs and a season who's also entering a walk here. So he's also at his highest value too as well.
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I understand that you could be overwhelmed by a prospect haul and they could be guys that
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could help you in four or five years. But this team, this team right now is primed to win in this
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moment today in 2026. That's why you make the trade for Edward Cabrera. That's why you say
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Alex Breggman. I just, I feel like it's, it's two schools of thought to go out there, outbid
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the Boston Red Sox for Alex Breggman and then trade away Nikol Horner in the same season when
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you think you could be really, really dangerous in the National League. If I were the Cubs and I
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answered the phone, which they should, I would say to the other team, okay, how many of your top
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10 prospects am I actually getting for him? First of all, and when they say none, then the answer
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is, okay, well, here's what would you give us for Matt Shaw then? And I listen to that answer too,
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but I likely say no to both because I want to win this year. I agree, but Joey, to counter your
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Sayas Zuki comparison, we need Suzuki because we need the outfielder. Right now we have an abundance
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of riches in the infield, but Breggman, Dan's B, Nico and Matt and Michael Bush. So it's like one of
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those things where, you know, trading Nikol Horner and getting top value, never been higher, top value
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for Nikol Horner right now and sliding match on the second base where he's played before, you know,
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the drop off, I don't know is that great. You need Sayas and you could, but like, but I don't know
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again, I think I kind of thought after yesterday they weren't going to trade on and then Jeff
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pass in tweets this and he's not just putting rumors out there for nothing. So it feels like
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they're where there's smoke, there's fire. We'll see how it plays out, but I do credit the cubs
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to at least listen to all offers and then make the best decision. Do not trade, Nico Horner. That's
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where I'm at with that. I look at and I'm with you on the extension too. I just don't know if it's
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going to happen before opening day. And maybe my just my final part about all this is I understand
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Cubs fans are saying themselves, if we don't trade, Nico now, if we can't extend them, we might
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get nothing for him. You know what you'll get for him? You'll get a five-war player,
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a possible friend, a star, and a gold glove player on the 2026 Cubs. And if they win and it's huge
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and they go deep in the playoffs, maybe that solves everything. They will have financial flexibility
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heading into 2027. We don't even know what the baseball landscape looks like around then. I just
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he's a great player. He's a solid player. So many Cubs fans love him. He's a great steward
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of the franchise. Don't do it. Don't trade Nico Horner. Why? You're still trying to catch the
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brewers. Why would you trade one of your best players just because he's in the last year of his
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deal? Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it.