Should The Chicago Cubs TRADE Nico Hoerner?!

0:00Dumb. Stupid. Crazy. Dangerous. Stinks. These kids are right. Hi, I'm Emmy Award-winning sportscaster Luke Stuckmeyer. Don't be a dope. Don't trade, Nikol Horner. Just say no. The Giants want Nikol Horner, the Yankees want Nikol Horner. Don't trade Nikol Horner. Guys, what are we even talking about here? You just went all in with Braggman. Yeah. Why would the Cubs even consider a Nikol Horner trade? I think the Cubs consider it because they're a business and you got you. My opinion is you have to at least answer the phone and hear what people are offering because you have Matt Shaw and because you believe in Matt Shaw. I've said all along. I believe I would be thrilled if the Cubs extended Nikol Horner. But if you can't extend him, you can't let him walk for nothing

1:02either. So I think this is good business. Will they actually pull the trigger and trade him? I don't know. I'm not sure. I would love to have him and Shaw and just be like a stacked Cubs team going into 26. But you got to pick up the phone and you got to at least listen to what other teams are offering. You can't help but feel like the Cubs are in a tight spot of trying to figure out his value actually is. Yeah. So you're wondering, one, are they canvassing the trade market to try and get a little sense of that value on the open market of what would it take to actually extend Nikol Horner? Because let's be honest here, his value is never as high as it is right in this fair and unfair. He just led the team in war. He was a fantastic player for you. Again, this season with the gold glove almost hit 300. A guy that only six other players in MLB baseball even hit 300. This is almost on the batting tile. Almost won the batting title. He had some incredibly handsome. He's a homegrown player. He's a guy that rise through the ranks of the system, graduated. And once he came up to the major leagues, Luke, he stayed there. So I think the Cubs would like to keep him around. They don't maybe know what his prices if they had to extend him.

2:06So maybe they're seeing how high of a value. Could they get overwhelmed? Could they get blown away? For me personally, I think this would take a whole lot for them to even push that button off. I'm going to trade Nikol Horner. And I hope they don't push that button. Overwhelmed in that they might get more value than what actually Nikol is. But is that still enough to actually trade for them? Because you're getting prospects back. That's what you're really going to be getting. And so for me, the answer is no. Like, you're not talking about putting Aaron judge out out there. And somebody's going to be like, we'll give you our top four prospects. That's not what you're going to get for Nikol Horner. And if and when he goes to free agency, now he may ask to be a shortstop. And that might get him more money in free agency. But Nikol is the kind of guy that also loves it here and might give you a discount. Like I don't know how many guys give you a hometown discount, but a born and raised Cubs might do that. I just don't think you can send that message to this team right now. Like why even acquire Braggman if you're doing it and just going to save a few pennies by getting rid of Nikol because you won't be

3:09able to form. Aren't we past that now? We know what Braggman signal that we're past that point. Look, I don't think it's about saving pennies. I don't think it's a money thing. I really don't. I think it's you cannot afford to let Nikol walk for nothing. I think, again, I'm all for an extension. I wish you signed a long term. I really do. But if you don't, and if you can't, you can't let him go for nothing. I can't. I can't. We got Alcantara for Tobias. We got PCA. I mean, like you don't want Swarber to walk away and get nothing for him. You know, it's one of those things where it's just good business to listen. I'm not saying I'm not advocating to trade on what you got to listen. Joey, I just disagree with the fact that you I love the got to listen part. Yeah. Can I let him walk away for nothing? Yes. He's Nikol Horner. He's not Swarber. He's not MVP, Chris. Brian, you're not rebuilding everything and starting all over. You can let guys go and get nothing for them, especially if you're drafting well. That's what you got to hang your head on. So for me, I agree with a wholeheartedly 50% of what you're saying there. But yet, that's good.

4:10I'll take it. No, no, no, no. Good business to listen. Also good business to try and maybe drive the price up with the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants if they're looking for a second basement. That's not the worst thing in the world. But again, with the Nikol Horner situation, we're not having this conversation with Sayas Zuki. A guy who had 30 home runs and has 100 RBIs and a season who's also entering a walk here. So he's also at his highest value too as well. I understand that you could be overwhelmed by a prospect haul and they could be guys that could help you in four or five years. But this team, this team right now is primed to win in this moment today in 2026. That's why you make the trade for Edward Cabrera. That's why you say Alex Breggman. I just, I feel like it's, it's two schools of thought to go out there, outbid the Boston Red Sox for Alex Breggman and then trade away Nikol Horner in the same season when you think you could be really, really dangerous in the National League. If I were the Cubs and I answered the phone, which they should, I would say to the other team, okay, how many of your top 10 prospects am I actually getting for him? First of all, and when they say none, then the answer

5:14is, okay, well, here's what would you give us for Matt Shaw then? And I listen to that answer too, but I likely say no to both because I want to win this year. I agree, but Joey, to counter your Sayas Zuki comparison, we need Suzuki because we need the outfielder. Right now we have an abundance of riches in the infield, but Breggman, Dan's B, Nico and Matt and Michael Bush. So it's like one of those things where, you know, trading Nikol Horner and getting top value, never been higher, top value for Nikol Horner right now and sliding match on the second base where he's played before, you know, the drop off, I don't know is that great. You need Sayas and you could, but like, but I don't know again, I think I kind of thought after yesterday they weren't going to trade on and then Jeff pass in tweets this and he's not just putting rumors out there for nothing. So it feels like they're where there's smoke, there's fire. We'll see how it plays out, but I do credit the cubs to at least listen to all offers and then make the best decision. Do not trade, Nico Horner. That's 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

6:16going to happen before opening day. And maybe my just my final part about all this is I understand Cubs fans are saying themselves, if we don't trade, Nico now, if we can't extend them, we might get nothing for him. You know what you'll get for him? You'll get a five-war player, a possible friend, a star, and a gold glove player on the 2026 Cubs. And if they win and it's huge and they go deep in the playoffs, maybe that solves everything. They will have financial flexibility heading into 2027. We don't even know what the baseball landscape looks like around then. I just he's a great player. He's a solid player. So many Cubs fans love him. He's a great steward of the franchise. Don't do it. Don't trade Nico Horner. Why? You're still trying to catch the brewers. Why would you trade one of your best players just because he's in the last year of his 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.