PODCAST: This is Not a Rebuild, Jul. 24, 2024: Closers Playing Screw the Team

[Matthew Trueblood]

In a de facto trade deadline preview episode of This is Not a Rebuild, four Cubs heads try to figure out what this team thinks it should be, and how they'll get from where they are to that destination.

Image courtesy of Matt Trueblood via Spotify for Podcasters

It's been a few weeks since our last episode, but all the important facts of Cubdom remain unchanged. Jed Hoyer is ready to acknowledge that this team can't be a trade-deadline buyer, but it's not yet clear whether he understands that they need to be sellers. More importantly, it's hard to figure out how this team can best be a seller, given how they're built.

We parse takes from outsiders about the egregiousness of the Cubs ever being sellers; weigh the team's options with Justin Steele and Jameson Taillon; try to convince ourselves to feel encouraged about the recent developments in the bullpen; and nerd out a little bit on the subject of close plays requiring a tag at home plate, and how a catcher should set up for one.

Speaking of catchers, we also try to guess how and on what timeline the Cubs will heal the scar that has been that position this season. It's going to be a slow process, at this point, but Moises Ballesteros makes it a fairly promising project--if his tiny, round self can stick at the spot. We close with some musings about whether it would be a good prank to tell a solid, respectable veteran player they were traded to the White Sox this week. Enjoy.

Apple Podcasts:

Spotify:

We'll be back next week, with a comprehensive review of the team's activity at the trade deadline. Tune in then!

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