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Chapter 1: What sparked the debate about trading Seiya Suzuki?
Rahimi Harris and Grody. Middays 10 to 2 on 104.3 The Score. Cubs trail by a run. Here's the pitch. Suzuki drives one in the air. Deep left field. It's got a chance. Grand slam home run. Seiya Suzuki with a granny.
That was Pat Hughes on the call on the Northwestern Medicine Cubs radio network. The grand slam by Seiya Suzuki that really got the scoring broken open for the Cubs after their win over the Colorado Rockies yesterday. This is Rahimi Harrison-Grody on 104.3 The Score. Just when things start to go right for Seah, we've seen a couple of really good hits.
I think he has had a better to the eye at least few weeks. Ken Rosenthal, on foul territory yesterday, pitched this trade idea for the Cubs.
Seah Suzuki, because he is a right-handed hitter, has particular value in today's game because... Basically, you cannot find quality right-handed hitters. It's a real problem. And I have a stat in the story today. Going into yesterday's play, the OPS for all right-handed hitters in Major League Baseball was 696. That would be the lowest since 1992. So Suzuki would have value in that sense.
Teams covet right-handed hitters. And the Cubs... because of the situation they're in, not just with the number of potential free agents, but the team in general, they've fallen apart. So they're a team that probably will look to shake it up. You remember at one time they were 27 and 12, since then they're seven and 22. At one time when they were 27 and 12, they led the majors in runs per game.
Right now, since that time in this seven and 22 stretch, They're next to last ahead of only the Padres. You see the numbers right there. It's incredible how they've fallen. They're scoring almost two and a half runs per game fewer than they were when they were hot.
I don't know how to explain this, but this is a team that back at 500 now, and I imagine at some point they're going to need to make some difficult decisions. Suzuki could be one of them. Now, he has a no-trade clause, but at the same time, players in their free agent years generally will be open to waiving their no-trade clauses because it takes off the qualifying offer.
And that would be enticing.
Okay, I see why he's saying it, and Ken Rosenthal is the best at explaining things. But what do you want? For the Cubs to lose every game 1-0 then? You have to retain some of your hitting. I don't know what to do about this. I think the bigger illustration here, Mark and Marshall, is the fact that this is triage.
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Chapter 2: What value does Seiya Suzuki bring to the Cubs as a right-handed hitter?
I mean, I'm sure he doesn't want to just give away half a season on a team that isn't necessarily a contender.
Yeah, like you're not trading him for Scooble.
Right, right, right. Well, isn't it going to be a contender that's going to be going after him?
It might be just a team that needs a boost and thinks they can contend. That's part of the issue. So many teams now, when you lead up to the trade deadline, like let's say the week and a half, two weeks before the trade deadline, still believe that they're in it based on the fact that there are three, four games maybe out of either a division lead or a wild card spot.
But we know only six teams are making it from each league. I think the main stat I want to point to here when you talk about what the Cubs need to do to get better, whether it includes, say, a Suzuki being traded or not, when the Cubs score three runs or fewer this season, They are 6-24.
And that's a big number given they have only played so many games so far this season.
Yeah, it's a big number because this. To realize that, understand, the Cubs have only played 69 games. In 30 of those 69 games, they've scored three runs or fewer.
I mean, that's roughly half when we put the math together.
And so because of that specific stat, I wonder, now that Matt Shaw is back... And you have obviously had more than what maybe you expected out of Michael Conforto. And we know Moises Ballesteros is capable, even if he hasn't shown it consistently over time. Is your team better off without, say, a Suzuki on it if you get a starter?
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Chapter 3: How has the Cubs' performance changed this season?
That's a responsibility they gave him. And this is obviously prior to Kyle Tucker. So that's kind of where I still see him. And I know his numbers have not been indicative of that. But we did just talk about a grand slam by him. I think it says more about how we need to view the Cubs. Because Ken Rosenthal is viewing the Cubs in this way. Where you might have to cut off your ear to save your nose.
then what's more important? You know, that's where this comes down to.
You mean pitching or hitting?
Yeah. I mean, that's it. You have to get rid of something very important to save something else that's also very important. And if that's the case, we know you're not a complete team. So what are you trying to salvage at this point to try to get yourselves to stay in a playoff race?
And if that's how the league is seeing this, if that's how the rest of the league is seeing this, then that's a pretty interesting assessment that's been made.
You know who brought up something that was great earlier today?
and i was not shocked that he brought it up it was just funny the source brad biggs i don't know if you guys heard him with mullion hall brad biggs baseball trees with did you hear what he said about the iowa cubs and their team era oh not good and it's last in the in in the uh international league and even if you take the other triple a league the pacific coast league which we know more prone for runs home runs than anything of the sort
they would still be like the third worst in all of AAA baseball because there's no answers down there as far as pitching goes. And when you don't know what's going on with Jackson Wiggins and you don't know what's going on with Jordan Wicks and there's no... Unfortunately, I think we found out what was going on.
We may know what's going on with Jordan Wicks and he's not a viable option going forward. But my point is, I think pitching is more important than hitting because I think they have other ways they can come up with some hitting. But the pitching, man, you've got to have guys who get outs. And right now they don't have enough out-getters. Who's your opening?
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Chapter 4: What challenges does Seiya Suzuki face with his no-trade clause?
But one is when he's inconsistent, it's really bad. And the other one may still get you from point A to point B. No, no, here's why, here's why.
Before yesterday, do you know how long back you had to go to see an Edward Cabrera start where he gave up Less than three runs?
Yeah, it's been a long time.
He was the starter in the 18-3 game. That just crushed him. It crushed his soul. It crushed my soul.
But you know what's so frustrating is here we are talking about these guys when the Cubs said in the offseason, well, we really need pitching. So their solution was getting Edward Cabrera.
No, no, no. Which looked great. I mean, they did address the pitching issue.
You know, I will say to our texters' credit, we had a couple of texters express concern at the time about how many miles were on his arm because we knew he was coming off of a career high in innings and how there were some injury concerns. We did have a couple of texters say that.
And to everybody's credit, we had a few people say, oh, have you seen how Michael Soroka's velo has been down before the Cubs traded for him? And the Cubs claim they do. And at times I feel like I don't entirely know how much they knew.
For the Edward Cabrera portion of this conversation, I just want to lay it out so everybody is on the same page with this. Edward Cabrera threw six innings of one-hit scoreless ball in his season debut. He followed that up with five and two-thirds innings of one-hit ball in his second start. Since then... Yesterday was the first time he gave up less than three runs.
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Chapter 5: What factors should the Cubs consider before trading Suzuki?
People are like, you two are crazy. Well, are we crazy now? We weren't supposed to be happening. Somebody's been dependable. One pair of sunglasses you keep losing. The other one you keep keeping even though it's cheaper. The cheaper pair of sunglasses that you don't manage to lose is Colin Ray in this situation.
What about the readers I keep losing, though, Layla? What about these?
How much money are you spending on them?
Oh, I don't know. I've spent about $10 a week on readers, I think.
I'd say you're even Steven then. A week? A week?
Yeah, something like that.
What is your umbrella and readers budget every month?
It's pretty high. I have to set aside a special bank account just for the loss of readers.
And umbrellas. Do you find them in your house later after you lose them?
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Chapter 6: How does the Cubs' current hitting performance impact their trade decisions?
He has played with all those and chewed them all up.
He's a unique cat.
That's a good way to get into our next conversation. There's been some, dare I say, woody banter in the NFL when it has come down to the Caleb Williams, Micah Parsons, who's in the top 100 discourse. And Caleb Williams was asked about it yesterday. So we'll discuss next.