Stinky Cheddar On A West Coast Road Trip w/ Special Guest CB (and a Bonus Bears Draft Recap)

The Cubs finally cool off after ripping off 10 straight, and we’re not interested in a Dodgers-series meltdown. We’re interested in what the last two weeks reveal: the vibe is back, the offense looks real, and the city is paying attention again. Our guy CB joins us to talk through what’s sustainable about a 17-11 start and what still feels like it’s waiting to explode.

We keep coming back to two names. Moises Ballesteros looks like a natural hitter in a way you don’t need stats to understand, which kicks off our debate about batting him second and letting him hunt fastballs behind Nico Hoerner. Then we go all-in on the Nico MVP chatter, from impact defense to “pro at-bats” that show up every night. We also hit the trickier roster questions: Michael Busch vs lefties, Seiya Suzuki’s return changing the middle of the order, Pete Crow Armstrong’s strikeout problem, and whether Matt Shaw is getting enough consistent run to stay sharp.

The dark cloud is the Cubs pitching injuries, especially in the bullpen. We read through the IL reality, ask whether it’s bad luck or something deeper, and talk about what Craig Counsell can realistically patch together while the schedule gets tougher. From there we peek ahead at trade deadline pitching targets and even indulge the big dreams, then we wrap with a quick Bears draft detour on speed, scheme fit, and why fans overthink mid-round picks.

Subscribe, share the show with a Cubs friend, and leave a five-star review if you want more Monday and Friday drops.

Thanks for tuning in! 

- Carl & Mahoney

Transcript

Welcome Back And Where Cubs Stand

SPEAKER_02 0:03

And we're clear. Good morning, good afternoon, and evening, Chicago Cubs fans, and welcome back to the Monday Morning Cub Show. It is your host, Carl, and today is Monday, April 27th. This is the 102nd episode of the Monday Morning Cub Show. At the time of recording, the Chicago Cubs are 17 and 11. Our winning streak is snapped, but we're happy to welcome our third recurring guest in Monday Morning Cub Show history. Welcome back, CB. It's good to see you, my friend Mahoney. You guys are Arlington Heights neighbors.

SPEAKER_04 0:39

Down the street, CB, it's a pleasure to have you on board here in the Monday Morning Cub Show. Our third recurring guest, I might add. And yeah, I'm just so stoked to see your face right now, having you in studio talking Cubs.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Yeah, thanks for having me again. I'm excited. Um much happier today than I was last time. We'll get into that, obviously, but uh it sucks not only seeing Mahoney's face on Zoom here. We're neighbors, we gotta see each other more. So let's let's get let's get talking and let's get together, buddy.

SPEAKER_04 1:07

Oh, dude, yeah, we're gonna be we're gonna be yucking it up at the bowling alley. What's it called? It's like the the hideout kill cove or what have you. We're gonna be playing some golf and shooting some stick down at Nick Knoll. Um, we got a lot of action going on this summer. Now that the weather's turning, CB, the mood's turning, the Cubs had turned a corner since your last appearance, as you had mentioned. We were on a run there. We had run 10 in a row, fantastic stuff. And then, of course, you're probably gonna get your asses kicked by the Dodgers out on the West Coast here and there, and then that happened to be the last two days for us. But yeah, CB, happy to have you back. Carl, great to see you two. You sound a little bit better, you look a little bit better. You're on the road to recovery, sir.

The Winning Streak Vibe Returns

SPEAKER_02 1:47

Hey guys, it's good to have the three of us together. I like these three-man shows, and I think it's good because you know, we don't need to overreact to a Dodgers series loss, we don't need to overreact to the offense going, you know, bankrupt after being so good for so long. We put a tight little show together, some baller strike. You know, the three of us know each other extremely well. We're in a very active group chat that follows itself throughout the cup season. So um, you know, if this feels casual and informal, that's because it is. I'm gonna start with CB here. What was your favorite part of the winning streak?

SPEAKER_00 2:22

Um actually, this is gonna be weird because it it's gonna it's gonna be part of the loss that happened yesterday. And I'll let me explain. Um, had a 40th birthday party, next door neighbor, big Cubs fan. Um, so I met up with him and some of his buddies for his for his birthday at a bar, our local bar here in Arlington Heights. And it was when the Cubs were were down, I think a run or two. And they got runners on first and second, didn't even score a run, and there was juice in the bar. People were excited, and they lost the game. But I was like, you know, you know, you're at a bar in April and May, and people aren't really paying attention to the Cubs. People were paying attention, and I got that feeling like, okay, baseball's back. Um, obviously the comeback Friday was amazing. This four-game sweep of the Phillies, but just that overall vibe I got where people are paying attention. This is cool. Cubs are back. So weird, unorthodox answer, but stuck out to me.

SPEAKER_02 3:14

I was waiting to see where you were going. I loved you. Stuck the landing on that one because I was at the bar yesterday. You know, Mrs. Carl and I did a little nine and nine and dine at the local, you know, at the local national. And uh, I know you're talking about. We walk in, it's first inning, it's buzzing. We just come off the 18th green, put the clubs in the cart. We know we're going into our regular seats at the bar, we're super excited, and they have the fucking game audio playing. And this is the same bar when I asked for the game audio for the Illinois-Iowa game in the Elite Eight. The general manager goes, 'I think I'll think about it.' I go, the fuck you will. Oh, I was I was fucking on one, but like I'm not saying they're not throwing game audio out there regularly, you know. Illinois, Iowa, you had to like stretch a little bit. No, we come in off the 18th green game audio. I think that's a great way to encapsulate the streak. And last time you were on, we were very salty. So, how about this? Mahoney, do you feel like we've seen the full power of this team? Is there another gear they can get to? Are we satisfied enough to say this is a very good baseball team? Where are you at with the Cubs coming out of the streak?

SPEAKER_04 4:24

The last part of your question is what I'm going to answer first. Yes, I'm satisfied with this baseball team in the roster built with you know, the anybody on the squad can hit one through nine, no matter who they're putting out there, right? And now, have we gotten there yet? Have we seen our full potential? I still don't believe so. Because while there may be some cause for concern with like PCA, I think he's still going to get better and pick up some of that slug that is missing entirely right now, as well as just kind of looking lost. Say is just starting to get going. So imagine having a healthy, consistent Suzuki that we've started to see this week and then have that a part of our lineup day to day. So that's going to be, I think, the kind of boost that the squad's going to need to really see, you know, the power of the build.

SPEAKER_02 5:15

Bush looks better too.

SPEAKER_04 5:19

He does he does look better. Um some of that like that cheese, the the stinking cheddar that those the lefties are throwing, and he just he can't touch it. It doesn't matter if it's nasty cheddar, smooth cheddar, or stinky cheddar, uh off that a lefty pitcher, he's not touching that. So just swing more when it's in the guest.

SPEAKER_02 5:42

I know this is where we're at. This is I talked so much about Michael Bush in him against left-handed pitching. The question obviously, are we gonna see what Michael Bush was last year against Reddies? If we get that, that's a 140, 145 weighted run created plus. It's an NL All-Star, that's one of the top five base, you know, first basemen in the National League for sure. He's awesome. But like we're there, he's just in this weird phase where he has to see left-handed pitching now. And I just don't know how much that messes with him impacts his overall approach. There is an adjustment phase, though. We talk about that a lot too. And so basically, this is just my way of saying I think Bush is turning the corner, and like that's something we didn't have for the first you know, three, four weeks of the season. If he's even remotely back to that NL all-star level, okay. This is it's just it's only gonna get better, I think. CB, I'm not crazy.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

No, he's not gonna be what he was the first few weeks. That's not Michael Bush. We he's got a long he had a long enough track record last season to show that he's uh he's a above average ball player. Um start off slow. That's okay. I remember last year, I don't remember correctly, but I think he started off pretty slow last year, too. Um, maybe he's just one of those guys that it takes a while from getting his groove. I don't know, but I've been encouraged what I've seen. And he's had a couple of these like duck snort singles and stuff, but sometimes you need that to get off the schneid. So uh I'm not concerned about Michael Bush. I don't like him hitting two really, um, but I that's a whole different story. But he's got to be in the lineup as much as possible. And you you're gonna want your first baseman to hit lefties. You know, I don't like the first base platoon that much. Um, can he? That's a whole different question. We'll see as it as it develops.

Thirsty Vaquero And The Mo Baller Myth

SPEAKER_02 7:19

And how much of it is Tyler Austin, his knee getting hurt. We're gonna get to some of the stuff later. Guys, it's later into the show that I like to do this, you know. A little bit. A little bit. But the three the three of us, obviously, before we go down any path, I have a talking point that's exclusively reserved today for this. But you better fucking believe we're doing a thirsty McCarrow head read right now. Mohony, all bite, no rattle. I have been mowing through La Mone Ladrone alongside some Mezcales, because typically I partner that with Mango Muerte. But we we were slow yesterday with a couple of mango muertes. I didn't think that I didn't think the I didn't think that you know Colin Ray got fucking shelled, so I went LaMone Ladrone today. I'm looking at CB. CB's having a spicy watermelon. How's your palate? That's a party in your mouth.

SPEAKER_00 8:10

I love this. You know, I was with some family today, had a couple glasses of wine earlier in the afternoon for dinner. Um, you know, I came home, played in the yard a little bit with my kid, and this is great, just a window of the day with some of this spicy palette and some of this watermelon. So I'm excited.

SPEAKER_04 8:28

Do you think that Moises Palesteros may end up being like Thirsty Vaquero's first actual like spokesperson? Like I saw you tweet something, just all bite, no rattle, moballer, and it just thirsty Vaquero, he just exudes Thirsty Vaquero with every single one of his at bats.

SPEAKER_02 8:48

He is all bite, no rattle. That's he does have a signature spicy finish. I mean, he's a Mexican-style soda with three bold fucking flavors. He's his consistent, it's no coincidence we partner with Thirsty Vaquero, and all of a sudden there's just this remarkable Latin infusion by way of Moises Biasteros. And what a fucking name. That one pairs nicely with the Lamon Ladron, Moises by Esteros. If you like Moises Biasteros and you like supporting the Monday morning cub show, go to Amazon, check out Thirsty Vaquero, throw a throw a four-pack in the cart, throw a variety pack in the cart. You will not be disappointed. And I I think someone brought it up earlier in the middle of this head read. You're around family. I mean, there's nothing I you know, my parents come over. I know exactly what my dad's gonna take. Is he gonna take a double shot of espresso? You know, my mom would prefer a glass of wine, but she's nice, she won't turn you down just to turn you down. So, like, they'll take what you give them, you know what I mean? When you host people, I'll fucking guarantee you you got somebody coming over walking through that front door. You reach into the fridge, you're like, hey, you want to try you want to say, can I get you a beverage? You want a thirsty vacaro? Non-alcoholic, you're gonna be the king. You're the king. Go get some thirsty vacaro.

SPEAKER_04 9:59

Yeah, Aunt Yudie's favorite flavor is mango muerte as well. And like we have that in common. And what a thing to discover with one of your favorite ants, you know, at this point in our lives. It brings people together, and it's just like I'll bite, no rattle, thirsty vacaro. We love it.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

I I love this Mo Baller idea. We gotta get some to him. So someone, one of the maniacs has to ship some to Wrigley, or maybe we'll get in touch with our guys at Thirsty Vacero and get him some.

SPEAKER_02 10:24

I know I want to get Mo Baller over to Yaksis, but see that I think we might be playoff run, so I gotta figure out what our what our you know, what our situation is physical. They're exploding, so we don't need to turn this into a Thirsty Vacaro fucking podcast here.

SPEAKER_01 10:38

We and we will do one.

Ball Or Strike On The New Core

SPEAKER_02 10:41

We will you're gonna come in here for Cubs news, and it's just gonna be me sitting down talking about the fucking non-alcoholic beverage market for like an hour and a half. So, but here's okay, here's just the talking point for you guys. So let's just kick this off. You know, obviously, we when we do a three-man, we like to do baller strike. I want to say thanks to everybody for tuning in, by the way, with the maniacs. It means a lot. Community continues to grow. Um, it it also means a little five-star review if you get a chance. Spotify or Apple, you know, we keep track of this stuff, certainly helps with sponsors. So, the one big baller strike I'd like to kick things off with is that like baller strike, are we just at the point where Moise's Biasteros can hit second?

SPEAKER_04 11:23

I would say strike that I just I don't see why you wouldn't have him in the two-hole. A guy who could just drive the ball into the gap consistently on base, does not strike out, checks every single box for a two-hole hitter, as far as I know.

SPEAKER_02 11:39

CB, your eyes lit up when I mentioned this because we just talked about Bush in the two-hole.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

We didn't necessarily like that, but boy, a bot Steros is like made to hit the two-hole. That's that's the the biggest strike you've said so far since I've been talking to you about ball and strike. He is perfect for the two-hole behind Nico right now. Um, he's everything we wanted Michael Bush to be, but a little bit more pop and a little bit. I mean, I hate to say this is he's got a little he's got a little rookie schwarber in him. I mean, look at him right now. The way he swings the bat, the way he's fearless. If you could put rookie schwarber in the two-hole, you could put Moises by Steros in the two-hole right now. What's he hitting? Is he still hitting around 400?

SPEAKER_02 12:17

Yeah, no, he's hitting 397. He's got a 450 OBP, a 700 slug. Hey, right away, I would just say once Nico gets on first base, the first baseman has to hold Nico on the bag. The second baseman has to pinch up the middle to play double play. I mean, that's just the idea of Moises Biasteros hitting with Nico Horner on first base gets me rock hard.

SPEAKER_00 12:39

Yeah. It's a no-brainer. I think last time I was on, we were talking about did we just put Brecken in the two-hole? It was a little earlier in the season. We weren't really talking about Moballer as much. I guess he wasn't as hot yet, but um, I was like, yeah, Brecken's a two-hitter. I'm fine with that. But you know, as we're talking through it right now, there's no better spot for Moises in the lineup than two right now.

SPEAKER_02 12:59

I I would be I would just be curious how good he can't, and I hate to beat a dead horse on this, but like I have no reason to believe he can hit left-handed pitching.

SPEAKER_04 13:09

That's the thing. I was gonna ask you on this very episode. Like, do we know that he can or can't not hit lefties? Because I know who can't, but voices by Asteros, we could definitely see that. Now, this is the type of guy that you go, hey, let's see him against lefties, and what the hell he could do. Because the way he sees the baseball and the way he approaches it, bats. It's I I can't see him failing there. Sorry, Carl.

SPEAKER_02 13:35

No, it's as I mean, it's as good as anybody I've ever seen come up as a young hitter. And so now I'm just kind of at this point where here's the balancing act. We are a win now, win mode team. We're good enough. So then is it a develop? Let's see how good he can be. But in my head, I'm like, I think he's better than anybody else we could put in the two-hole right now. I mean, him against a right-handed pitcher is like one of our best matchups. It is good as Nico versus a lefty.

SPEAKER_04 14:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:04

So we're agree on this. I'm a strike. You're a strike, CB. I'm a strike. You're a hard strike. Okay. And then ball ball or strike, Nico Horner is going to finish top five MVP right now. Gun to your head. Ball or strike. Strike?

SPEAKER_04 14:20

CB?

SPEAKER_00 14:22

That's a strike. I don't see there's no flaws in this game right now. What's he gonna fall off? I mean, maybe maybe the power gets down a little bit. I don't see it. He's swinging the bat well. He's playing great. That play he made at second base the other night with the ball bounced to him and he just fired it right away. Those are the type of plays you see from Nico Horner. He's gonna be making headlines, he's gonna be getting votes. He'll be right around that mix. He should be.

SPEAKER_02 14:44

This had this had to feel like like when Sandberg got hot, you know, in '84 when you were like when he won the MVP because he was good in '82, he was good in '83. You know, Nico's been here much longer. But now all of a sudden you're just seeing like impact plays. I think Sandberg put up like a nine more season the year he won the MVP. But I just I just I'm wondering, you know, 40 something years ago, 43 years ago, was it the same feeling of like, damn, this second baseman is just like so much better than everybody else who saw it coming?

SPEAKER_04 15:18

Yeah, dude. And CB, what you're saying with that play, you know, it seemed seemed magical, right? The ball bounced to him, but he made a like a perfect play. It was all in unison, straight to the first baseman. But like he was even laughing himself with like, how good is this shit going for me right now? The immediate play before he had that hose to third. I can't remember who he threw out, but it was the perfect relay, perfect throw. The next play, the bang, bang, ball bounces to him, awareness off the charts, just the perfect second baseman hitting the ball, you know, just driving it. We're seeing some pop within the and he's stealing bases. Like he's literally doing everything right now.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

He there have been no flaws in this game. He's having great at bats. I think I've been sending that to you guys. That's a great Nico. That's a pro at bat. I could probably send that same text every day.

SPEAKER_02 16:10

He improves throughout the season, too. If you guys look at his numbers, like he typically ends up playing better in the second half, too. So there is a chance that I'm not saying Nico's getting he's uh he's been incredible, but I'm not ruling out a nine more season at this point. I'm not ruling ten more, I'm not ruling any of that out because I think he's how about this baller strike, his batting average won't go below 300 this year.

SPEAKER_04 16:37

Strike, have you strikes, strike down the middle?

SPEAKER_00 16:41

Strike. I can't I can't there's no reason for me to believe it will. The way he's the way he's taken his approaches is just unbelievable.

SPEAKER_02 16:50

So do you guys have some let's let's get I have a full mailbag too that some of the maniacs have sent in. I don't know if you guys want to trade some. I could keep going. I have a thousand baller strikes.

SPEAKER_04 17:00

I have a couple cooked up that I can go just get out of the way right now because I do know that there's a mailbag that might align with some of these anyway, so it all works out and it all works together.

SPEAKER_02 17:12

We are gonna do so. Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry. You're good. We are we do have Bears draft reaction too.

Pitching Injuries Pile Up Fast

SPEAKER_04 17:19

So well, yeah, that goes almost goes without saying, but yeah, for both of you, Carl, I'll start with you. We're gonna work down the line. You go, Carl, baller strike, and then CB. You uh answer the same question or call as it is, not a question. So, guys, baller strike. I wanted to have a baller strike on Riley Martin being our new guy in the bullpen, but then it was announced today that he's going on the IL. It's a strike, just so you guys know. That was the one I wanted to have a ball or strike on, and I see that in the morning. Like the one dude I'm like, yeah, I really like this guy. You know, oh, you know, maybe one home run against the Phillies, but a really good week. And then I wake up and he's another dude on our staff in our bullpen that is now on the 15 day.

SPEAKER_02 18:04

Hey, elite breaking ball sucks. I think that's nine. So here's a lizard king one that I sent to you. I think I think the organization between triple A and the big leagues now has almost 20. I think it's 18 guys around the IL pitchers are on the IL in this organization. So Riley Martin's the most recent one, which obviously blows for a number of reasons. I mean, if you watch and follow the team, I don't need to do too much of the character assessments. Guys, awesome. You're supposed to go to pharmacy school, D2. Wasn't even good at Quincy until his like fifth year senior year when he learned how to throw a big left hand. I shouldn't say learned, but just mastered his big breaking ball. And then he ended up striking out like 180 or 175 and 90 innings. Like he averaged 16. He liked his numbers from college are insane. And then such an unassuming, likable guy, quick recovery back, want him back. But these are the type of guys, CB, we've seen these guys a thousand times in our lives where like you just carve out a career because you got balls the size of our head. You can just pitch in confidence and you can snap off a great breaking ball. I love Riley Martin.

SPEAKER_00 19:11

Yeah, yeah. I love I I love I love what I've seen from him so far. It's this this pitching staff injury list is starting to concern me a little bit. Um, I'm I used this line last time we spoke. This is why you pay Craig Council the money you pay him. We he's got to figure out who can come up, where to put people in the right place. During our wedding streak, I can't complain. He did he did a pretty good job with that. Um but at a certain point they're gonna be calling Sturkey and say, or Carl and saying, hey, come by. We need it, we need some 84 from this from the three-hoar slots to strike someone out. Uh, we're running out of guys.

SPEAKER_04 19:46

So to answer to what Lizard can mention as well, that I honestly had no idea, and this is why we have guys on the ground in Des Moines. But the fact Des Moines, I do that on purpose, gang. But the fact that nine guys in the farm system as well are down, and nine in the bigs is just that's like, wait, what are they doing with these arms? You know, what lab is actually going on down there, and who are they cutting up? What drugs are they giving them? It's not working. Reverse course. Uh, I like the results, but not all these injuries.

SPEAKER_02 20:20

There was a little there was a little smoke on Cubs Twitter. I don't know how close you guys follow Cubs Twitter, but Michael Saramie's a big presence on Cubs Twitter. And then there's this guy like setup man. I don't know if it's setup man Kyle or Brian, but he's got a YouTube page and he does Cubs videos, and he tweeted out today something to the effect of like, we need to fire every trading staff member of the Chicago Cubs. My reaction was similar. I was laughing. I mean, I was laughing because he was like, We need to fire everybody. You know, he had like an ass like fire the hot dog guy. Like anybody who has anything to do with player injuries, fire them. But then there was some beef. Sir Emmy came back, he's like, Surely you can't be serious. You want to see people lose your jobs, or you know, people it kind of got a little serious there. Um, because last year, and this was kind of the point, the Cubs did a great job of not putting guys on the I. So I hate this part of the sport, I think is what I want to say. Because I think it's unavoidable part of the sport. I I guess I don't know how to handle this because last year we didn't have guys on the I. L. Now it seems like everybody. Like, I can't even make a joke about Jackson Wiggins. People are just angry, almost 20 guys on the I. L. So, CB, do you do you think this is an organizational thing, or do you think it's just it's just part of the sport? Where are we at on this?

SPEAKER_00 21:38

I don't think it's part of the sport. I don't know if maybe you know, we didn't have a lot of guys in the WBC, but maybe it was a different spring training where guys were back and forth. Like you said, last year we didn't have a ton of injuries. Now, if this is something that's been going on for three, four years, I kind of agree with that guy who cuts up videos. Like, hey, let's let's fire someone, let's figure it out. Not trying to take money out of anyone's pocket, but um. You know, we it's part of the sport. That's I'm gonna go with that right now. I mean, I trust the Cobbs are spar organization. They gotta they just we're we're in a rut right now as far as pitching injuries.

SPEAKER_04 22:09

And it's it's because of the the concentrated aspect of where these injuries are taking place. It's in critical parts. We have a closer goes down, we have Caleb Dilabar now going down, we have you know our that's our specialty. Um, everybody that can be going down is in is in the targeted area because when I did look at like injuries across the league, you know, other people are of course hurt, and there's been teams that are plagued with injuries. The Yankees have Stan down, Carlos Rodan down, etc. But it's just it's all in the bullpen. I mean, of course, we had the Kate Horton thing. We know Justin Steele's coming back. So I think just where it's happening is just so much in our face with what the hell is going on with this pitching lab. Let me just it would be more consistent. Yeah, I get it. It would like I I don't I think it's just coincidence, but we'll see.

SPEAKER_02 23:02

Let me just read off some of the injuries we have, okay? Somebody, this is send this is I'm reaching ahead into the mailbag, but somebody just sent this to us. All right, so 60 day Porter Hodge, 60 day Kate Horton, 60 day, Shelby Miller, which we knew at the start. Uh 60 day, still Justin Steele, 15 day Hunter Harvey, Riley Martin, Phil Maton, Daniel Palencia, Ethan Roberts, Caleb Thielbar, and Jordan Wicks. Like, we can't even get a Jordan Wicks appearance right now. It is brutal.

SPEAKER_04 23:36

It's full, that's like a full staff disruption.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

That is an entire staff disruption right there. Literally a far full major league pitching.

SPEAKER_00 23:46

You you could have you could have just read the opening day pitching staff and just been like, this are the guys on the team. Okay, that makes sense. That's how many people, and it's all arms. So it's it's it's it's a coincidence, in my opinion, right now. Um, and it's something we need to get through, and hopefully, but it doesn't keep happening throughout the year.

SPEAKER_02 24:04

Faller strike. You guys are worried that Ray and Asad are not going to be cut out for these jobs. They got hit hard recently.

SPEAKER_00 24:14

That's a strike. Um I uh we love Colin Ray, and I love Assad too. I'm a big Assad fan. Uh something uh something about him out of the bullpen maybe doesn't uh doesn't jibe with him a little bit. Um I'm very confident when he starts games. I was happy he was in the game yesterday. I was excited, or on Saturday, I was excited. Um he didn't have it, Ray didn't have it. Um but I I still have confidence in him.

SPEAKER_04 24:39

Um I have that as a maybe challengeable ABS, but I had a ball on the bottom corner because of the fact and the lineup that they just went against, and it's the Dodgers at home. Tough atmosphere for a baseball player to go pitch again, you know, a pitch against maybe one of the best lineups top to bottom in the league, whichever. And all that said, I go, Oh my god, you know what? I just kind of lost my freaking train of thought there. Let's rear it back in. We're gonna rear it back in. We have I could see them being perfectly effective in these spots over the course of a couple months, but they're not gonna be, you know, being able to compete against teams like the Dodgers regularly and others that they're gonna be also coming across.

SPEAKER_02 25:25

Yeah, I mean the Dodgers are a good team, like they have good players at the top, they're deep, their matchups are great, they've got good pitching. It's a tough place to play. I am a little bit now like I don't want to get ahead of myself. We still have to go compete against the San Diego Padres, too. So I don't you know we want to like look ahead, but so coming out of this Dodgers, like I'm much more in aligned with the team that won 10 in a row that came back against great circumstances Friday night against the Dodgers than I am with a team that kind of lays an egg today against Tony Roblowski. Like, that's just where I'm I'm more you know, I'm I'm fine on that. But I'm excited to see the Padres because they're fucking great. I want to just continue to compete against really good teams while we're playing hot baseball, if you guys know what I mean.

SPEAKER_04 26:09

I do, and I I do have to agree. I I took that winning streak and that Friday night win, and that was enough caffeine to kind of get me through to not, you know, to this week, Monday, and moving forward. Yeah, I will take a win again against LA and then laying a couple eggs after Rafflin off 10 straight and eight at home or whatever it was.

SPEAKER_02 26:30

But I'm just nervous that that might happen, is where I'm at, because we've been so high. CB, you got any nerves going into San Diego?

SPEAKER_00 26:37

A little bit, yeah. That's a that's a strike. I I do have some nerves. I two out of three, I'd be incredibly happy. One out of three, it'd be okay. You know, we we we did okay out west. Um, you can't get swept after having that one streak and then laying two eggs. That's it.

PCA Struggles And Matt Shaw Usage

SPEAKER_02 26:53

I think that's as simple as saying as long as and now, but we've talked a ton on this show. We want to win series. Like the whole point of this is that you win two out of three. Don't measure yourself if you get mad. Now, it does suck we lost the series of the Dodgers, but I'm trying to stress that enough to maniacs as possible that I want you to view the series in a chunk of like 54 three games or however many series we play, 45 to 50, how whatever, however, that shakes out. So as we go into the Padres one, just like a couple, just quick like lineup things, I guess I want to stay on baller strike, Ian Hap's at three hitter. How do we do this? Like he he hits three, he hits four. Because the part of me, I'm like, there's part of me that loves an idea of Ian Hap being the six-hitter and being the last guy out of like the first wave of a lineup. But uh what am I bitching about when our offense has been top three and our pitching staff has been injured? It's pretty, it's pretty obvious like what this team is right now. We don't have much pitching, we've got great defense, the lineup has been sensational. So for me to sit here and nitpick, well, Ian Happ three or four, maybe he should hit six, you know, ball or strike, that's just a bunch of fucking hot air, Mahoney.

SPEAKER_04 28:04

Strike, hot air, and you're really just wasting your time and energy because one, either he's gonna move around throughout the course of the year in the lineup. I don't think we're ever gonna have a whole set one through nine, especially in that, you know, six, seven, eight roles the way council traditionally has managed. And yeah, it's you're just wasting time kind of to spinning the wheels deep in there. Yeah, because I'm already doing it right now, and there's no reason to.

SPEAKER_00 28:31

Yeah, C B give me your next give me your next baller strike. Um I sent you guys a video, and and Carl, I don't know if you if you want to bring this up. It's um something that I was I didn't really see in live time on Saturday's game, um, where Dalton rushing after Miguel Omaya stole a base on him. You could see him, and I'm sorry for using the F-word, I'm just going over, I'm doing what what happened here. He says to himself, fat fuck about Miguel Omaya, who just stole second base. Now that's not my ball or strike. My ball or strike is Nico Horner's hitting, and he kind of like froze a little bit and then gave him a glance. Like, what the hell did he just say? Now I want to know, ball or strike. Did Nico have the right reaction? Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:20

Strike. I think he gave him a nice stone cold stare. That dude's a rookie and is telling people, like, get out of my way, you're using my locker.

SPEAKER_02 29:29

Is he not like he's no, I don't I don't I think he's young. I don't think I'll have to look.

SPEAKER_04 29:36

Maybe not a rookie, but a younger catcher in the league that I'm aware of.

SPEAKER_02 29:39

Dude, hard asses are not well received in Major League Baseball unless you are a closer and you throw like 105. Like the only guy who can like motherfuck you like that is like Mason, you know, Mason Miller, maybe, who can call you a bitch or like talk shit like that. But a catcher, like a the catchers are like the last guys in the world to be like, yeah, you fat fuck pussy. Like it's a great moment because the broadcast just catches the catcher can't help himself but call like whatever, he's just in his competitive moment. Yeah, but the reaction from Nico Horner, just him instantly sizing this guy up, it's almost like, dude, you you got a fucking problem, man. Like you see, you must have some serious issues in your head.

SPEAKER_04 30:28

Yeah, some kid at a party who tried to say something cool, and then the cool kid looked over at him and is like, dude, douchebag. I think that's that was the look he gave it.

SPEAKER_00 30:38

And that's an MVP stare, Nico. Let's talk about an MVP staring game like that. That's a strike. Now, can I I want to ask a follow-up question on that? And I have my answer. Who on the Cubs, if anybody, is motherfucking that catcher after he says that about Miguel Maya?

SPEAKER_02 30:55

Um Bragman, Swanson. Happ but not as hard or as mean. Probably the loudest guy is probably Swanson. It's probably the loudest guy. And it's gonna happen so fast you don't even know. It's probably like shut the fuck up.

SPEAKER_04 31:14

It's it's something real cutting, real cutting. Cameras aren't gonna pick him up because he's a veteran, he knows how to hide that, but also not probably knows how to cut to the bone on a younger catcher in the league.

SPEAKER_02 31:27

Hey, if this happened, if this happened on the World Series team 10 years ago, like here's a little lovable reunion moment for you. We would have 15 guys on the first step telling them to suck our fucking dicks, dude. Yeah, I got three catchers, Miguel Montero, David Ross, Wilson Charles, every single one of those guys be barking up a storm. We don't really have that now. Maybe Mo Baller, Mo Baller might be a guy who's like, you know, that's what came to mind.

SPEAKER_00 31:56

He's young. He's probably buddies of Amaya. You know, we don't have a lot of the Latin guys on the team, so they're probably pretty tight. I'm just guessing. Um, and he I don't know a lot about Mo Baller, but he seems like the kind of guy that would be like, hey, what the hell did you say?

SPEAKER_02 32:09

Do you think PCA is less inclined to talk trash because he's been so bad offensively? He's just striking, he just looks awful.

SPEAKER_04 32:20

Probably. I mean, I would be. You know, if like I'm not if I'm not hitting the ball right now, I'm probably just sitting back there with a bat on my shoulder, you know, looking the other way and pretending like I didn't hear anything.

SPEAKER_02 32:33

Mahoney's analysis is to compare himself to the all-world center. Well, this is how I would do it. Thanks, Mahoney.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

I I don't I don't think. Do you see the clip Friday night? I've been walking off the field. He was saying to the there was like not a lot of fans left, obviously. He's like, Where are you guys? Where are you guys? Because he had that comment in the summer. If you haven't seen it, go look it up. He had a comment in the summer about Chicago Cubs fans being real fans, and he was saying that, where are you guys? Where are you guys? And I saw something on Twitter before I jumped on the show today, where someone I think was a Dodgers fan, or maybe just a PCA hater, was like, Where's PCA after this? He didn't do anything the rest of the series.

SPEAKER_02 33:13

No, he's been he's just still he's so good defensively, but we'll be specific. I mean, he's hitting 235 with a 291 OBP, which is kind of what you would expect. What is that? Like a 50. That's a 55-point difference. I think that's gonna be right around what you're gonna see from him. But he's got six walks against 34 strikeouts, his strikeout rate's insane. You know, his OPS is 605, it's absolutely brutal. But it he's so good defensively. The problem is you're gonna like our ball or strike. We gotta start. We're we're we have to start considering platooning him with Matt Shaw in center field.

SPEAKER_04 33:51

I think that's a ball. I don't think you platoon PCA in center field. But Shaw can play center, got another start out there.

SPEAKER_02 34:02

But I know what you're saying, not don't pull the trigger and turn this into a platoon project. You know, I agree. Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_04 34:11

You also had a sly smile on your like on your face, looking like I was being baited one way or the other.

SPEAKER_00 34:17

You almost baited me. I almost said strike. No, I agree with Maloney. It's a ball. You you PC has got a playthrough, he's got too much talent. There's spots we could put uh Shaw in, and he'll he'll he'll do his best job. And I love I love Matt Shaw.

SPEAKER_02 34:31

So should he be playing every day, regardless? Do you guys think?

SPEAKER_04 34:36

I thought he would be playing more. Maybe not every day, but I really I thought he was gonna be playing more. And then when you see now them having you know Alex Bregman DHing, we had Scott Kingery playing third for whichever reason. He's I think he's already been DFA'd, but he can throw the ball very well over the first base. So I was a little surprised that I'm not seeing more of Matt Shaw like at third when Bregman, you know, spells as a DH or you know as a rest or whichever, but we're seeing it at first and center. That's been a little bit can more, I guess, confusing to me. And I thought I would see more of Matt Shaw this year.

SPEAKER_02 35:16

They're using him against lefties, although he has played obviously significantly less since say his comeback. And I shouldn't significantly less comparative to the beginning of the season.

SPEAKER_04 35:24

That probably fresh on the mind.

SPEAKER_02 35:27

Emmett Shean, who's a big strike swing and miss guy that, like, you know, he pitched well against us on Friday night. He didn't start against him. Then Roki Sasaki, who's obviously big swing and miss ready, he doesn't start against him either, but he gets a start today against Roblowski. I can't say that last name. It has been such a challenge since I read it on a fucking scorecard. But it's just a question that, and this is something that came up in the mailbag, you know. So I should I should actually give appropriate credit here. Um let's see, who has this one? I don't have it in front of me, but I'll I'll read it off when I get to that point. So it's just a question of like where are we at the point where Match should be playing every day? Should he be hitting in the top five of the lineup? You know, I mean, I'll just read off the stats is here. He's hitting 300, 338 OBP, 483 slug, 822 OPS, 137 OPS plus, 37 above average. Um, you know, 12 strikeouts and 66 plate appearances. What's that, 20%? That's a little bit less than major league average, maybe a little bit more. I just don't want to get him in a situation where we're like expecting him to be a good player and not giving him regular playing time. I think you're gonna see a dip.

SPEAKER_04 36:36

I do, I do too, and I can't see him batting the top five if he's not going to be getting those consistent starts. And that is from Gary Crowell at Gary Crowl.

SPEAKER_02 36:47

Shout out Gary Crow on Twitter. It's a great name. Do we want to let Mahoney get some of those mailbags prep? CB, you got another baller strike?

SPEAKER_00 36:58

Um yeah, baller strike. Um I don't want to go to the division. I don't have a uh yeah, I was a third to talk about like right now. It's too early. Um it's too early. Let's let's we we were kind of talking about Matt Shaw. Um with Mo Baller being the DH and we want to see him hit against lefties. Baller strike, Matt Shaw should be playing more third base, putting Bregman somewhere else. Where do we see it?

SPEAKER_02 37:30

I just made the argument that like it's a little like I feel like you just have to pick a third baseman. I feel like asking two guys to play third base, you're instantly both guys are just gonna be worse off defensively. So my immediate reaction is one guy has to play third. I think this is an unfortunate, it's like unfortunate it has to be Alex Brad, because Matt Shaw is a better third baseman. I think if that's what we're trying to get to. Matt Shaw, every if we had to play everyday third base, yeah, of course. Matt Shaw is a much more dynamic fielder.

SPEAKER_04 37:59

Yeah, I had that as a strike, too. I mean, just based on the defensive prowess alone and what you've seen from Bregman's less than stellar play at third, or I guess from what we're used to. So, yeah, that's a strike, man. I don't think it's gonna happen, but if you want the per the best person feeling the position, that it would be Matt Shaw.

SPEAKER_00 38:18

Yeah, I love Bregman. This isn't me trying to say he should replace it, but I I do worry about Shaw where he's gonna play, get two, three starts a week, and it's a positions he's never really learning. Is he ever gonna find a groove? Are those numbers gonna dip? Because his numbers are solid right now. Um, I don't want to lose that production. Although the offense has been great. So, you know, we're kind of finding things to bitch about here, but um, he's a guy that needs to be in the lineup more.

SPEAKER_02 38:40

Well, I don't want to come in, and I think I've I've done a good job with this with maniacs. I've have always told them that when things are good, you're not gonna get us sitting around here. Like it's never the the way I talk about the bad will never be you'll never get that same passion talking about the good because that's just not the relation you have with the game. Like when you want to dig into the nitty-gritty stuff, and this is exactly the type of stuff I want to be talking about, is Matt Shaw's usage. Now that say Suzuki's back, because we do have to balance the fact. Mahoney brought it up at the very top of the show. Just wait till Suzuki's back gets rolling. And you saw the difference it makes at home in that Philly series. I think he homered in back-to-back games, and you just have that big right-handed presence hitting four fifth, you know, fourth or fifth in your lineup, and it's fucking awesome. Well, if you want that, it's gonna be harder to get to Matt Shaw. So it's almost like, how about this ball or strike? Can I get some voodoo baseball god magic here? And like, I would rather we're like, we can take an IL stint from a position player. We like if we're taking I. L stint, like we have so much room with position players, we have no room with our pitching staff.

SPEAKER_04 39:47

Strike, dude. Yeah, heavy strike episode, but it is. I would have taken a couple injuries to the roster in comparison to what's been going on with the pitching staff. It there is so much more plug and play, it's bananas.

SPEAKER_00 40:02

Yeah, it's a strike, and I I hate even thinking about it, but the the depth is there. Shaw can play anywhere, he's a solid ball baseball player. Um, let's not let's not try to do any voodoo magic like you said. Uh but you know, we don't go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 40:18

No, I'm just saying if we can sustain, say, Suzuki, which I think is the hardest person to sustain at this point. Well, maybe P PCA's offense is bad, and so now Shaw can play center. And so I guess that maybe those are the two ones that are really hard to replace, but everybody else, like, and nothing against Dan Smith Swanson. But if Danceby Swanson went down, we have one of the best shortstops in Major League Baseball that can go play in Nico Hoarder. And it's the same thing all the way around the infield. If Bregman had to go play second, he could go fuck around and play a little bit of second base if we needed it, or Matt Shaw, etc. So there's so much interchangeable stuff. What's not interchangeable is losing Kate Horton before Justin Steele comes back while Matt Boyd just goes on the IL. What's not sustainable is now we're gonna have Colin Ray and Javier Assad pitching back to back off each other, which is such a similar look for a lineup. I mean, that that's it's very uh, you know, I don't want to call them identical, but you want to get into a rhythm, have those guys pitch back to back for you. So, you know, it's a little troubling. Mahoney, give me a great mailbag. Let's stay let's interplay some mailbag stuff.

SPEAKER_04 41:26

All right. I have something that it does kind of go in with the the Moe Baller theme. I know that we were heavy Moe baller, but I have from Sean, our boy, Toasty Grunts, Sean C D, baller strike. His counsel deserves credit for how he's managed Balastero's usage so far this season. I think I hate it, but I appreciate Craig's vision, slowly rolling him out, righty specific, good for development, or leaving runs on the board. Is that Sean's commentary? Sean, that's Sean. Yeah, he's one of the best maniacs out there.

SPEAKER_02 41:56

He is this guy's unbelievable worth of follow back uh and a great part of Cubs community. Um, so shout out to the shout out to Sean. Thank you guys very much. Excited to have a beer with you, pal. All right, so I this is a nuanced question because I agree with him that I kind of hate it, but at the same time, I'm looking at Moe Baller's slash line 397.4. Like, how am I gonna bitch at right? It's working, it is working, but then there's part of me I'm like an addict, like I just want at all at all. So I I I I I will give most of the credit to Mo Baller, but maybe there are managers in the big leagues that could get too excited and use moballer too much already. I don't know, CB.

SPEAKER_00 42:46

I'm gonna need your help on this one. That you this guy just took it from my brain. This is a strike because the way he said I think I hate it, because I hate it too, but you can't argue with the success. And then, like, we talked 10 minutes ago about hey, this kid needs to be hitting two, rip the band-aid off, it's time for the play. But the way uh after reading this, I'm like, what's wrong with me? Sean's got it right. Moe ballers, it's Craig's done a good job with Mo Baller. It'll be interesting to see when he does rip the band-aid off and how how he adjusts. So um, it's a strike, dude.

SPEAKER_02 43:14

We got a long dude. I know it's not even May. All right, so like, but can we just the three of us plays just for one second, just think it's like what if Mo Baller's the starting DH for the all-star game, dude?

SPEAKER_04 43:29

Brad Honcho says, Is Mo Barler the next Tony Gwynn? And like that's kind of where I'm at right now.

SPEAKER_02 43:37

Now, here's a fun thing about baseball is that there is a level, right? The reason we keep statistics is so that we know who's better. And the reason we need to keep these statistics is because sometimes it's hard to say who is better and who's not better. So the genesis of the statistics is to understand. Player performance. Do we all agree on that? This goes back to the fucking 19th century strike. Okay. Now, there is a world though where like you wouldn't have to keep the statistics because you would just know who is better. That guy's the best player or whatever. And what I'm trying to say with Mo Paul, Mo Baller's one of these guys, I don't have to look at them. You don't have to tell me what he's hitting. Watch him. Just watch. You don't even have to know so much about baseball. You could be watching baseball for the very first time, for the second time in your life. You can watch a full game and you can watch all nine guys get in the box. And you're trying, I'll guarantee you, someone who's at least remotely astute watching sports would be able to pick up immediately that Mo Baller is the most natural, God gifted hitter in the lineup. Just the way he walks around the field. Did you hear Nico Horner's comments about him where he was like, I'm jealous of how good of a hitter this guy is already?

SPEAKER_04 44:58

Right, trying to figure out like who his coach was or something along those lines was like, What did he do?

SPEAKER_02 45:03

He's so I didn't get that. Yeah, I he's like, I don't know what he does in the offseason or how he prepares, but he is just I wish I had the leg kick. I wish I had the plate vision. And this guy's 22, he's never even seen it. He's most of these pictures he's seeing for the first time in his life.

SPEAKER_04 45:21

Yeah, it's unbelievable.

SPEAKER_02 45:24

CB, am I overreacting?

SPEAKER_00 45:27

I mean, I love this Brad Honcho guy. He's not Tony Gwynn. Come on. I mean, you need to next time you're bored, instead of scrolling Instagram, TikTok, whatever, go look at go look up some ridiculous Tony Gwynn stats. That dude is a god. Um, if he's half Tony Gwynn, word for an unbelievable career. But I love Brad Honcho. I love that it's on your brain already, and I'll give you a lot of credit for throwing that out there because that is absurd.

SPEAKER_04 45:56

It has entered my mind, though, when I do see some of that spray I see in Mo Baller. It had a little bit of Tony Gwynn in there, but like you said, if it's half, we're all right. Um, this one's just great. It's the Chinatown Four Wins Casino free shuttle uh at Colt McAdams. Does Alex Bragman know how to play defense? And I'm gonna answer this. We know he does know how, but no, he hasn't been playing a great third base. So wanted just to get that out there. I know we kind of touched on it before, but absolutely I love the question. I love it in the mailbag. Um, I don't think we're gonna see Bregman moving off third anytime soon.

SPEAKER_02 46:34

Please repeat the name.

SPEAKER_04 46:36

Oh, that was from the Chinatown Four Wins Casino Free Shuttle, and that's at Colt McAdams.

SPEAKER_00 46:41

Free Shuttle Enjoyer, free shuttle enjoyer, it's not the shuttle.

SPEAKER_03 46:45

Enjoyer, yes. I apologize.

SPEAKER_02 46:47

Oh, dude, just be careful. My maniacs that are still living in Chicago renting apartments, be careful with these shuttle buses. It's not hard. It's not hard to get on a Hammond. It's not it's not hard to get on a shuttle bus to the horseshoe at 2 a.m. coming off Clark Street. Um, I don't even know what the question was, Mahoney. What's uh that wouldn't know how to play defense, yeah. Bregman knows how to play defense. He's here's if you want to criticize Bregman, it would just be like if you played on a softball team and he's the older guy. Like he has years where he's taking the ball off his chest at third base. He's had years where he's he's you know, like sacrifice, he's not doing that. Like he's not gonna do shit to his body that's gonna pull a hamstring or fuck with his ankle. He's older and just a little bit smarter and more seasoned. So I think that goes into some of the way he plays, which people may not like, but we're just gonna have to get used to it. We haven't had a sweet veteran like this uh in a really long time. And I mean, just kind of like that level of respected ball player. Maybe, you know, Dansby's a different, he's there's he's just a tick below, but Bregman, as far as like being a big league veteran, clubhouse presence, you know, I think this all goes into some of the defense. Where like I could have made this much more succinct and been like, does how about this ball or strike? Alex Bregman has a little bit of Roger Dorn to him.

SPEAKER_04 48:12

Yeah, I'd say I'd say ball. A little bit, a little bit, like AD is a challenge because he will kick one here and there.

SPEAKER_02 48:19

No, he has a little bit of that. Like, I'm not fucking that's I'm not diving for that. Like, that's the single. That's okay. Like, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 48:28

No, that's strike, and you know what? He just he's earned it.

SPEAKER_05 48:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:33

Bregman's the guy on Cubs. We we the Cubs have one every year when they're good. They have one every year where Cubs Twitter tries to find one guy to kind of shit on here and there. It's it's been Bregman so far, and it, you know, he's got it's maybe it's because of the little Roger Dorn, but he's gonna be just fine. Bregman's a stud. I love watching him too.

SPEAKER_02 48:51

I mean, as ABs, we're so lucky. I mean, right, yeah, I've sat through years, dude. Coy Hill, Nafy Perez. I mean, just awful stuff. So, like the fact that we can look at this lineup and go, Well, you have Nico, Moballer, Alex Bregman. Uh, you know, do you want me to lump like when Bush is rolling into it? Suzuki. These are guys that have such profoundly good approaches at the plate. You know, they're not even taking big, like, they're so locked in on what they want to hit, which is why I love them so much. Mahoney, give me some more mail back.

SPEAKER_04 49:28

I think I just tabbed off on accident. Here we go. We have from our board uh boy Blake Cowell. So we all know Blake Cowell. He asks if we're worried about PCA's offense. Yes, yes, I'm worried. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:41

Here's one from here's one from I mean, yeah, we are. And I love Blake Powell. That's an obvious one. We got I should do the next, I should do Friday show with Blake. Um, here's Reggie Lasagna. Please address the mental weakness.

SPEAKER_03 49:55

Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 49:56

Reggie Lasagna, that is great. It's his thing. Reggie Lasagna says, please address the mental weakness on this team when the bases are loaded with less than two outs. I'm not crazy when I say it happens way too frequently for this organization. So I'm gonna say I think you are a little too crazy here, Reggie Lasagna. Like, I mean, or maybe is it coincidence? CB, what do you think?

SPEAKER_00 50:20

I've I've I've thought Reggie Lasagna's thoughts before as a Cubs fan. I feel like it is like an organizational thing. I don't know. As there's times when, you know, throughout the years watching the Cubs, bases loaded, nobody out, it's one run max. Um, but I I'm not worried about it with this team. I don't I'm not gonna address the mental weakness like we just talked about. These guys have pro approaches. Um, you know, we had a couple strikeouts with bases loaded on Saturday, PCA being one of them. A little concerning there. That's a different topic. I don't think that's an organizational issue. Um, I think this team's just fine.

SPEAKER_04 50:51

Yeah, I with their approach and how these ball players just bring in every day and what we've seen, you know, over that winning the 10-game stretch. We're not gonna have to worry about it. But is like it's a fresh baked lasagna, Reggie, because you know, we left 20 runners on today, I think 13 or something the day before runners in scoring position collectively. So when that happens, it's right in our face. I that's what we could come on. That was like one of my baller strikes earlier on. Is how many runners in scoring position are we leaving? And it's just because it's just what happened and it's how we lost the game. We win the games when we don't leave those guys on base. All right so that we don't talk about it.

Trade Thoughts And Surviving The Gauntlet

SPEAKER_02 51:30

I'm with you guys 100%. I think those thoughts just come and go is like within the game. Like we suck at this, we're horrible at this year. I don't know, it's an emotional reaction. Here's one from Troy, who's a very great maniac. While trades rarely happen this early, so we've talked about that on the show. Trades rarely happen. Assume these teams are trading towards sellers Red Sox, Phillies, Rockies, White Sox, Astros, Royals, Twins. Who are you eyeballing come June, July? Keep in mind the Cubs' future luxury cap space in coming years. So we do have a lot of room, is what he's saying. And I would just the one name that jumps to me is Joe Ryan. So I don't know if anybody has got like I just love Joe Ryan from the Twins. I love his mix, I love the way he pitches, I love how competitive he is, I love how cool he is. And one thing that I'm gonna consider now more than I would here years past is coming into this clubhouse. So you can't be a volatile presence, you can't be an asshole, you can't be some high upside jag off. You have to be like a legit, controlled, solid, dialed MLB professional. It's like Joe Ryan checks that box harder than anybody that's gonna be available as far as fitting into a clubhouse. So that jumps to mind. I don't know if you guys have anybody, it's very early to start doing this, but like I've been in love with Joe Ryan for a minute here.

SPEAKER_04 52:40

Yeah, I remember talking about Joe Ryan at the last trade deadline. And given that sad note, I think it's way too early to talk about the who's and what's that could happen, but I love your approach just now saying the type of person that they can bring into the clubhouse and what they would need to bring. It's too early and going down that rabbit hole. I still have some PTSD from last year's deadline, you know, just over guessing, overthinking too many different things. And then I went into like the the reliever open market. What the hell was I doing? So um, I can't start thinking about the deadline at this point, and that's just me.

SPEAKER_02 53:16

Now, Mahoney says this. I maybe I should know. I will get 3 a.m. messages from Mahoney where it'll be like a link to a Reddit thread of like, you know, which reliever do we like more for the Chicago Cubs? It'll be two guys like I've never heard of, you know. I'm like Mahoney, we get I gotta pull you up for everybody. Like, I gotta pull you up, but you're digging, and that's why when you say PTSD, like you were really looking for nuggets last season.

SPEAKER_04 53:43

I was, and it was the hardest I ever have looked, and then like a lot didn't happen or anything that I guessed was kind of just like not even close.

SPEAKER_00 53:52

We had some picture, yeah. One picture, and I'm only half kidding here, is is we're going scooble.

SPEAKER_02 53:59

Well, we I did I said that. Were we on that thread? Was this a different thread? I like Scoobyl for the code.

SPEAKER_04 54:05

I was actually gonna I love that. I think that would be I mean definitely push us over the edge right there. But what I want to tell the maniacs, and I don't think that you were talking about this on Friday's episode, but you were given a full breakdown of like how it could work with Scoobo. And and I don't know if it was a conversation we had or a text, it was like how it makes sense. Yeah, it makes sense radar.

SPEAKER_00 54:30

The tigers aren't signing him, the Cubs wouldn't sign him either, so you'd be giving up a shitload for them. It's that's why I said I'm half kidding. But like if if if if the tigers aren't looking good and they're trading them, I want to be in that mix. I don't know who it'll take. We'll take a lot of a lot of guys, but that'd be that'd be that'd be my my pref my preference there with the C school boy at Wrigley.

SPEAKER_02 54:51

I'm just saying next year, no Shoda, no J Mo. Uh say Suzuki's contract is up and Matthew Boyd's contract's up. Between the four of those, it's around 80 million dollars that becomes available for the Chicago Cubs, 75, 80 million dollars. If you include Colin Ray, and then you include half, right? Yeah, maybe half. Yeah, did I say half? You said I think say the say up or half. No, say is not up. Hap is up. So the right, yeah, it's half, not say, okay. Which is more money. He means he makes five more million than say it. So thank you for that correction, CB. I need to I need to be kept honest.

SPEAKER_04 55:30

So you guys know I try to stay out of contract details.

SPEAKER_02 55:33

Well, you always have my honey, and that's why I value you as a close friend because uh there's nothing worse than when you're going and someone's like, I thought it was actually the fitness.

SPEAKER_03 55:41

That's what happened to me on an episode. I'm like, doesn't Justin Steele have a couple more years of control?

SPEAKER_02 55:46

He's like, wait, no, no, I should have known that. I should have known that. That's a good catch. Here's a question from Rico Suave. I'm gonna start with UCB. 26 of the next 32 are against teams currently above 500. 26 of the next 32 are against teams above 500. What record over that span would you feel good about while the Cubs tread water with a triple A bullpen? And are Asab struggles concerning? Does he need to bring back the specs? So this is a two-parter, I should have said, or maybe he should have said when you're asking that, because that was but this is from Rico Suave. So over the 32, I'll just say I'd like to 17 and 15, and I'm not gonna lose my mind.

SPEAKER_00 56:24

I'm right there, too. The state if we can go over 500 of the next 32, um, right now, or six over. Um the bullpen's gonna look different over the next 32 games. We're gonna have probably people pitching we've never heard of. Um and maybe Palencia comes back and looks good. Uh stay above 500 next 32. You're sitting pretty. I think the Reds will fall off. And I told myself I wouldn't go talk about the division, but here I am because I always think about it. But uh Assad, I kind of touched on earlier. I I don't mind him starting. I like him as a starter. I don't like him out of the bullpen. Uh, it's just a different beast. Maybe he does warm up correctly out of the bullpen. So um I'm not exactly I don't exactly remember the question regarding Assad. Should we be worried? I think is what he said. I'm not really worried about him. Um, you're not depending on Javi or Asad to win game seven at some point in the season. You just need him to kind of get through.

SPEAKER_02 57:11

Bring back the specs, bring back the spectacles, bring back the specs.

SPEAKER_04 57:15

Carl's doing the upside down finger glasses on his face to me in CB. Uh, I think he's better with the glasses. I like him better starting as well. And over the course of you know, a tough stretch, it's the bigs. Um, let's just play competitive baseball and win. We got the big 10, you know, big strike. I'm having a hard time saying 10-game winning streak. I don't know why. I've had a hard time all episode. We had a big winning streak. We had that, that we're gonna need a couple more of those throughout the year to go on a little bit of a run, but this is when you just play some consistent baseball head down and plug away.

SPEAKER_02 57:51

Yeah, I'm pretty satisfied. I think we've I'm I think we've nailed a lot of the spell bag that I wanted to, you know.

SPEAKER_04 57:59

Like without getting redundant, you know.

SPEAKER_02 58:01

I think one thing we're missing here, like obviously, what's the like Justin Steele comes back? What's the likelihood he pitches as a as a one or two? This is from Joe Madden's glasses. Um, I think the likelihood is very high. So I'm not worried about that at all. I don't I think he's always had great stuff. He's very competitive, he's chopping at the bit, chip is on his shoulder. There's a whole bunch of reasons here to like him. The only reason where you're nervous is just because he is coming off injury. So we just have to trust advances in modern medicine and like you know, take an injection, whatever that injection is, just take it.

SPEAKER_04 58:38

Yep, I don't see nothing wrong with that.

Bears Draft Reactions And Roster Fit

SPEAKER_02 58:41

So, um, quick little roundup here on the bears. Obviously, I said I was gonna do this just because, like, you know, I mean, I have to. We get a white safety from Oregon that runs a 4-3-5, like an absolute fucking Cuban missile. This dude, are you out of your mind? Did we hit the jackpot? Did we just get one of those 10-year all-pro safeties? Did we just get Eric Weddle? And is there any reason I should not be getting a the animan jersey or whatever? This fucking guy, DT in the backfield.

SPEAKER_04 59:16

I he's gonna be calling the defensive plays, Carl, maybe after his second year with a C on his chest. He'll be a team captain. His speed is uncanny. He makes plays or smart plays. He's a well-prepped individual. He's got the swag as well and the style, but you know, he's got the smarts. So think about it. If he's gonna be replacing a brisker type, this isn't somebody who's gonna be running, you know, a brisker style speed and getting concussed, which brisker had a lot of those issues. This guy's gonna be there in the flat making smart tackles, smart plays, and he is a plug-and-play guy on day one.

SPEAKER_00 59:54

Yeah, and I I I read a little bit about this too. I'm not excluding on the Bears as most people, but um apparently Dennis Allen Brisker didn't really fit his scheme. So he inherited Brisker and the safeties there. And uh who's the guy they signed, Kobe Bryant? Yeah, the other safety they signed, Kobe Bryant. Um, and the and this this guy apparently are just our true Dennis Allen type defensive safeties. So uh I was excited to read that, excited to hear that. I know they went with a lot of offense later on, another tight end, which seems weird to me, but you gotta trust Ben Johnson at this point.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:27

So that's yeah, some people are mad because they're saying, like, obviously, Ryan Paul's isn't making the decisions, but it's like, yeah, I think that was clear when Ben Johnson took the head coaching job. I think it was clear when Colson Loveland got drafted 10th overall last year that like it's obviously Ben Johnson's decisions. I think some of the criticism when they take the tight end early there, the kid from Stanford, and you start hearing like Bears Twitter being like he's got short arms, he's not a great run blocker. Like, that's the line you cross, and that's where somebody has to come in and tell you to shut the fuck up. Because when we're online talking about arm length in the draft because we don't like the mid-round tight end we took, I think the better question is what formations is Ben Johnson want to run now, and what is he gonna do differently? And how is he gonna have this guy on the field with Kamat and Colson Loveland? Does it help in the run game better? Zero fullbacks got drafted, so obviously it's you know, I mean, no, of course, no fullbacks are gonna drafted, but like it's obviously just speaks to his scheme that he wants to inject as many of these big body pass catching options as possible because I think that gives him the maximum amount of creativity, you know, to be to to fucking do the shit that Ben Johnson does. Like, that's that's a home run for me. The thing that does bother me is that Drew Dahlman retired and we had to use our second round pick to replace him. Now, I like this Ben Jones guy, I think he's probably gonna be obviously he's this won the offensive lineman award of the year, was the center of the year, is just like quintessential Iowa football, comes in as a team. Converted to a center, yeah, third team All Big Ten, second team All Big Ten, first team All American, just in subsequent seasons. So, like obviously, this guy's awesome. The problem for me is it just sucks that we had Drew Dalman of like a Pro Bowl all pro center, as good as it gets. He retires, so now we have to burn a second rounder on him. So it's one of those. I think it's a great pick. He's gonna be a great bear, but I do have a bad taste in my mouth just because at the start of the season or at the start of the offseason, this wasn't a gap we were trying to fill.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:26

No, it I you could tell that it wasn't that definitely not a part of the plan with Dallin retiring and then having to address what is now a much more important position in the NFL today at the center. So it's clearly Ben Johnson's team. They went straight speed throughout this draft, top to bottom, was a little bit surprised. We didn't even see them to kind of take a flyer on an edge rusher and trading up to get that corner or corner back on a Texas. I like the move, and it's later in the round. We didn't give up a ton of capital. Um, so they must have knew that that this is the guy that they wanted, but I just don't typically like trading up that many picks for uh somebody and you know 124th overall, right? Use those to see, and you can get a couple other defensive line guys and see who really works out. But like you said, this is not a Ryan Poles draft whatsoever.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:24

Oh no, and there's that's totally fine with me. I think we we have to be like obvious with ourselves. I think I think we so you're obviously talking about Malik Muhammad. The Xavier Thomas pick, so a lot of people are mad.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:38

Like he goes, he's a gadget round, be a gadget guy, but that he had a seventh round grade.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:44

So this is again the thing where you go back to Bears Twitter, you go back to us, and it's like, guys, we don't know shit. No, what do you mean he has a seventh round? You gave him a seventh round grade? You didn't fucking give him a seventh round grade. You fucking read that on a mock draft somewhere.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:57

Now I saw three things. I saw two things on him, Carl. I saw exactly what you're saying. The the seventh round grade, and then I saw this guy's Tyreek Hill. So which one do you want?

SPEAKER_02 1:04:09

Here's one right from the Bears website, miscellaneous, distant relative of late Pro Bowl Hall of Famer running back, Walter Payton. You know, welcome to the team, Xavion Thomas. And we don't have we've needed a gadget for a while. Like, if we did we had we tried to get a gadget, remember that who was an asshole from Tennessee that I ratioed on Twitter during the playoffs he plays for the Velas Jones, fuck that piece of shit. Yeah, motherfucker.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:34

They try to make Devin Hester a gadget and as a receiver, it didn't work great, but he was trying.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:42

And then I don't know if you see this guy we got in the sixth round, Jordan Vandenberg. His dad competed in the original Mr. Universe, or his grandpa did, against Arnold Schwarzenegger. His grandfather, Francois, placed sixth in the medium division of the 1967 Mr. Universe bodybuilding competition. That was the same year Arnold Schwarzenegger won his first title. This Vandenberg kid is a South African rugby player that converted, yeah, that like came over to the United States when he was 10 years old. I don't know if they were escaping some political drama or whatever, but he did come to the United States and picked up football. So I just feel like he's, you know, like he's just getting into the culture. What does he think? He's been playing football 10 years.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:24

It's an exciting rookie class. They say that that kid, yeah, from South Africa is an absolute athletic freak. And I don't know where I read this, so no credit here for whoever. But apparently it's the most athletic draft rookie class, uh, you know, based on the NFL's 2026 draft class. So I was trying to say there. The Bears have the most athletic players, and I think that goes to Don Johnson. And it'll be a fun team to watch, definitely. I'm super excited about it, but it's a long way to go. A lot of overreactions. Funny story. I go to my uh my I go to my niece's my niece's flag football game. She actually she took one of the house and had a two-point conversion. But there's some dads, you know, back, you know, sunglasses on. They're all just starting to talk the draft. My dad's over there in his chair. He just slowly stands up and just starts going over there and just addresses like every pick. Didn't like the tight end. Like he could hear these guys all talking the draft. It was like a mosquito attracted towards like that white light, just about to get zapped. And he just goes in, starts giving his two cents and instantly controlled the conversation. It was hilarious. My dad's a big bears go. But yeah. Any anybody, any other dude like here's draft, like, yeah, what do you think?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:45

I I love that visual. I've never met Mr. Mahoney. Um, but I'd love to hear him tell me how the Bears drafted. I'd I want to know. That's the guy I want to hear from. I don't care about knows his stuff.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:56

Knows his stuff. I just saw the last thing I have on Bears coverage. I saw someone had put this tweet out. They said, fill in the blank. The Bears will have a successful draft if they and it was fill in the blank. And so this I just want to re-emphasize this. The Bears will have a successful draft if they drafted good players.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:17

I don't know. What the fuck are we doing? That's like gonna be a right, that's a right answer. Like you're not you won't if you can fill in the blank, why why would you preach what if like if you put that to me in the beginning, like you know, it was Monday, I would have said if they addressed the edge rushing situation, like they didn't, and they whatever. I I still don't know what I'm talking about.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:37

Yes, that's the other thing, too, right? Because I think I love that CB just brings up Dennis Allen's system, like it's uh it's that's it's hard to I don't know. I as um when you see such a big departure from where the fan base is going, we need edge, we need pass rush, we do. We do like we need to figure out a way to get to the quarterback, especially in a four-man front. Like, we just need to be able to do that. And the fact we go this entire draft without without even sniffing it. Now, we do get like the best athlete on the board at 25. This Dylan Theeman guy, like he it seems like he's so good you can't pass on a safety. So it's like, do we have a safety that we want to start for 10 years, or do we want to go reach for edge when edge is like 27 edges got drafted? 27, the most of any other any position on the defensive side of the ball. You know, we have to replace Drew Dalman. So, of course, like of course, Logan Jones. Here you come. I think in round three is where obviously people get pissed off with the tight end, and that's the breaking point. If we're not gonna take an edge in the first three picks, this is clearly Ben Johnson's roster. How's that going for us so far, guys? Pretty well. Come on, pretty well. So strike.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:47

I like to really not knowing or guessing who I'm gonna pick. It's like opening up a secret Santa gift kind of thing, and then you get to go look and like, oh my god, he ran a 4-3-3. Like this that dude was on my radar. I saw him play at Oregon and what have you. He was from Purdue before, but like then you actually you dig in a little bit more, and I'm I'm more impressed with who they got, when they got him, and I'm really happy with their at least their first overall selection.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:16

This is our first time ever talking to Bears on the Monday morning cup show, Moni.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:21

We talked about it with Caleb. We had a couple reactions, and after the Packers playoff game, how could we not?

Wrap Up And Listener Requests

SPEAKER_02 1:09:28

Oh, you're right, you're right. We had to because we were actually gonna shut the show down the offseason for a little bit, and then we were like, fuck it. Nope, I'm doing shows in London. We're doing we're just sticking on Mondays in the offseason. I'm glad we did that in hindsight. I'm glad because it's it's just not something you want to pick up and put down. It's up, it's up, and now that it's up and running, boys. This is the Monday morning cub show. Can everybody say thank you to CB for joining us and giving us a good balanced discussion, please?

SPEAKER_04 1:09:56

Yeah, thanks, CB.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:57

You know, thanks for having me. Oh always here. I love talking clubs with you guys. So um, I'm really happy where we sit right now. Obviously, you can't be discouraged after a 10-game win streak. I don't even care that we lost the last two games, honestly. Um, I'm excited for the see the bounce back at San Diego. I think this team has it, so um I'm I'm ready. We're we're rolling. The the show is rolling. I've been hearing people talk about your show that don't know that I listen to the show, which is really cool to see. So um, I'm I'm excited for you guys, and I'm always happy to help.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:26

Hey, we're this is a community, and you're part of it. You're our third recurring guest. So this is good, this is fucking awesome. We had Tui on for a hundred, you know, Mole and Arrow. We're starting to mix people in. We're we're really getting people, it's just really coming together. So thanks to the Maniacs. Obviously, again, thanks to CB for joining us today. You guys can subscribe to the show, you guys can leave a five-star review, you guys can get some thirsty Vaquero. You can follow Mahoney on Twitter. He's a great follow during games, especially on weekends, you know, especially on those late. I I really if you can see the volume, I mean you it's usually after 9 p.m. Once those kids are down and the IPAs come out. So Mahoney, are you doing weather reports though? I haven't seen those.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:11

You know what? Wrigley Winds does such a good job for me and what I actually want to get after. So if I ever see big win, I repost there and I'm I'm hitting the where the ball could go, you know, with my finger, and I'll do a little bit of a video. But no, no weather reports so far this year, but that might come, you know, around June is when I like to pick it up when I have the backyard and the ferns are are taking the shape that they need to.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:35

This is ridiculous. Can I can I offer up an idea? Yeah. Because sometimes it gets daunting to do a full weather report, and it's like, oh, this is all like a lot. Like, what's precipitation, what's humidity, what's whatever? So why don't you just pick one weather feature that is like the most important weather thing of the day, and then just keep the video under see if you can do it under 45 seconds. And you don't have to do it in front of ferns, you can just say, Hey, our due point, you know, one thing I want to call out today.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:10

Does it have to be my workflow with the animations and the graphic packages? Um, I don't think that I was getting as much engagement through minute two as I was, you know, in maybe the first seven seconds or so. C B, do you know he like he like but he like he like subscribed to this?

SPEAKER_00 1:12:32

Like I was impressed. I loved it. I love seeing him on his back patio. You know, I would like to you do some maybe at Buffalo Creek Brewery, you know, in that beautiful area. Oh, you know, something like that, maybe change this change the vibe a little bit, but maybe you don't need all the graphics, but maybe you do. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:48

Maybe that maybe that's how about this? Here's the last one. Can we do an in-person in Arlington Heights in one of your garages if I come up there with the equipment? Yeah, dude. Too easy. I could make the space. I think that oh, yeah. All right. All right. I it's I had right now. I bet, mom. Tim, it's that time of year. I bet.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:07

You've been here when you were actually thinking about calling like the authorities or something because it was it was the fire hazard.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:15

This is a Monday morning cup show, guys. We play the San Diego Padres tonight at 8 40. So, you know, if you miss that one, you miss that one. Don't don't beat yourself up on these early West uh West Coast road trips. In the meantime, follow Mahoney. You'll see CB on Twitter. We appreciate the five-star review. We will be back on Friday. I will have a guest for our Friday show. Maybe it's Mahome. We'll see. Until next time, guys, we love you. Um, and thanks for tuning in.