Which current All-Star would you add to this Cubs team?

Contract situations matter in this hypothetical exercise.

Transcript

00:00The answer, if you really want to be the Moneyball Cubs, is Adley Rutschman.

00:05Guy makes less than a million dollars, he plays catcher, you get absolutely nothing

00:09offensively from the catcher position, and he's got 16 bombs this year.

00:13So, he's not the best offensive player, he's got an OPS under 800.

00:16It's a pretty damn good one, though.

00:18But he's a pretty damn good one, and you take your biggest offensive weakness and you make it

00:22an all-star caliber player at that position. That is cheap, your biggest weakness, best player,

00:29young, guy's arbitration eligible next year, he's not an unrestricted free agent until 2028.

00:34This and three more years of Adley Rutschman.

00:37If you're playing Moneyball, that's the answer.

00:40That's an incredible answer.

00:42I think it's the answer.

00:43But he's also, well, he's also an incredible leader and teammate and handler of pitchers with

00:52incredible team chemistry vibes.

00:54That is a phenomenal answer of somebody you'd grab and put in there.

00:58I mean, Soto's amazing.

01:00Soto's incredible.

01:01He's a better lefty slug and all that, but he's not under contract to be on this year.

01:03He's about to get paid, so you're going to have to get in big with superstar money

01:07and lock yourself in and hope that he's healthy and productive,

01:10and it will preclude you from a lot of other moves.

01:12Right, but in the context of this game,

01:15I mean, yes, if you're saying I also not only get to put him on the Cubs,

01:18but I also get to sign him to an extension, then I do think Soto's under the...

01:22But I would definitely prefer Shohei to Soto, because I know I have Shohei beyond this year,

01:27whereas Soto could sign with anybody in the off season.

01:29And Shohei's pitching next year.

01:32Which is valuable, I've heard.

01:32Which is really valuable.

01:35If I don't care about Tom Ricketts paying a higher tax bill, and I don't,

01:40Shohei would be my answer, and then you figure it out.

01:44You figure out where you move, say, or DH or whatever the case may be,

01:49and you just have Shohei Ohtani, and thank you.

01:51You're our DH and our pitcher.

01:52Everything's fine.