Monday Morning Cubs Show

Cubs 1st Place Momentum Check

• Carl + Mahoney • Season 3 • Episode 106

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Back to back shutouts can mess with your head, but we’re not letting two quiet nights rewrite what the Chicago Cubs have built so far. We zoom out on a 5-2 week, the end of a brutal stretch without an off day, and what it really means when you run into a fully healthy Jacob deGrom throwing a masterpiece. Baseball does this to everyone, and the point is how you respond, not how you feel in the moment.

From there, we get into the stuff that actually holds up across a long MLB season: roster depth, a real “next man up” mentality, and the small leadership moments that show a young core growing up fast. We also talk about Craig Counsell’s approach and why the best teams don’t need a manager to police them every day, they carry the standard themselves. Along the way, we hit the broadcast side too, because organizational depth shows up in the booth as much as it does on the field.

Then it’s time for the Atlanta Braves series preview, the kind of matchup that tells you where your edges are. We lay out what makes Atlanta dangerous, why seeing arms like Chris Sale matters, and why Ben Brown’s development plan can’t get sacrificed for one extra inning in May. We close with realistic trade deadline talk: names like Logan Webb, Freddie Peralta, and Joe Ryan are fun, but you can’t skip the part where you figure out who the sellers even are.

If you’re enjoying the show, subscribe, share it with a Cubs fan who needs to calm down, and leave a five-star review so more maniacs can find us.

Thanks for tuning in! 

- Carl & Mahoney

Welcome And Mother’s Day Shoutouts

SPEAKER_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, May May 11th. We're recording this on Sunday night, on Mother's Day night. We're gonna get this out, but technically it's the Monday morning cub show for Monday, May 11th with Mahoney. A lot of alliteration here. Good to see you, my friend.

SPEAKER_00

Carl, it's good to see you as always. Um, you know, I myself, you didn't quite ask me how I was doing, but I'm strong to quite strong. And with that said, had an absolutely fantastic Mother's Day at the Mahoney household. First and foremost, happy Mother's Day to Potaties, the best out there that could do it. Of course, to my mom, to you and yours, Joyce, to all the moms out there, the maniac moms, the maniacs' moms, their moms' moms, and women in general. Let's just put that out there. So let's get that off the top. Happy Mother's Day. I'm doing well. And Carl, it's funny. Even coming in today with a holiday, so you're still feeling you know pretty good about yourself. You got the flowers, you got the card. But after our last 10-game win streak, I have similar feelings when we had lost two to the Dodgers, where we just go around and then you know, we're bound to cool off. We get a road win in Texas, lose two to them. I still feel like we got the momentum on our side, and that how do I say we're rolling, sir?

SPEAKER_03

You know, I was hoping they were gonna win today because what I need is a series victory to open with Tina Turner rolling, the 1993 version. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

That's how you mean.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, Nicole and I did that karaoke, Mrs. Carl and I did that karaoke at the bar the other night, really kind of brought the house down a little bit because that the two they had two Bluetooth mics, which allowed me to kind of explore the space a little bit, and then because she was singing weird channels, yeah. I got to freestyle a little bit more at the audience, who's been a bad girl, you know, kind of really do some crowd play, which is where I'm at my strongest pony.

SPEAKER_00

That I would pay to see in a heartbeat having those two separate channels where you can explore the space, give your voice just a little more range than maybe you think you have, or or do or don't, you know, whichever it may be. What a night out. And the fact that you were singing rolling is is just a thing of beauty on this Monday for the Monday morning cup show and the Maniacs.

Are The Cubs Still Rolling

SPEAKER_03

We'll bring that to the show when it's time, when it's appropriate. Maybe at the next time we record the show will be after we play the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field at 110 next Sunday. So I'd imagine we're we're rolling this week. Now we're off Monday, we're gonna be in Atlanta, then just quick just heads up travel schedule thing. We're in Atlanta for three, then we're back home in Chicago against the White Sox at guaranteed rate for three, then at home against Milwaukee for for three, then at home against Houston for three. So we do have a nice travel schedule here. Atlanta's an easy flight from where we're at right now. Texas to Atlanta back up to Chicago. So this is stuff I would I would also stress if we were coming off West Coast road trip, that's a lot of travel. What I'm trying to stress here is like this is a nice stretch for the boys for a number of reasons. I like to see them compete against the Braves. I'm excited to see them compete against you know the Milwaukee Brewers, obviously, and then sandwiched in between their you know, three inner city rivalry games that you very much just have a huge advantage to the Cubs in. So are we rolling? Yes, yes, a little bit, you know, and I think we can keep it going this week, but how about this? What a great freaking week. What a great week. We get off on Monday, which we haven't had an off day in forever, and then just three great games against the Atlanta Braves, who would be the team that right now we're in that argument against. Who's better, who's the best team in the National League, who would you rather, you know, blah, blah, blah. It's great we get to go square off against each other while we're while we're playing great baseball. One thing I just want to point out about the Atlanta Braves, they've only played one game this season against a team with a record above 500. So we're gonna come in there. We will be by far the best team that they have seen. Ballers strike, though. You are worried about the fact that we've got shut out back-to-back games.

SPEAKER_00

Uh ball. No, but ball, and that goes with the sentiment at the top where I had said similar feelings at the Dodgers after we had win 10 in a row. You're bound to lose a couple games in baseball. That's just how it goes. And doing so on the road against one, where the bats did cool off, and two against a Jacob deGrom throwing a gem. That's the type of stuff you will run into that's gonna break up the 10-game win streaks, which we've only had two of since 1935. I know you all have heard ad nauseum. However, no, I it's a ball carl for me. I'm not disappointed today. I feel really good about the ball club and where we, you know, left things with the week.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, how about Jacob Degram throwing the pill today? That's that's what you that's what you mean when you say a guy throwing the pill. That guy's so good when he's on.

SPEAKER_00

Hey, effortless, too. It's one of those guys that really just makes it look so easy. And you know, the type you've you've mentioned it before, and I'm not gonna go who's who, but the guys that are just like throwing hard, and there you could see it in them, and they're breaking his sweat. The Grom is not that to me. He's the type of dude that is just winging it and singing it and slinging it. And we ran into him today, so that that was that. And we, you know what? That you know, shit happens in baseball.

DeGrom Buzzsaw And Two Shutouts

SPEAKER_03

As good as anybody when healthy, just real sad that his career's been derailed with injury. So, you know, maybe a couple of years from now, we'll have a conversation. People ruled Chris Sale out in 2022. He then went and won a side young in 2024, has been one of the best pitchers in the National League since this conversation. But I do remember him vividly being ruled out, and it's how competitive is DeGrom. I don't think he's as competitive as Chris Sale, but what you saw today was just a very healthy guy who has an argument for the Hall of Fame, despite just a litany of injuries throughout his career, simply because everybody agrees when he's on, there is nobody who is as good as this guy when he's on. He was on today, and like you said, you run into that buzzsaw. It was one-nothing for a while. The one run they scored was kind of on a bullshit replay call. I can't believe that they called him safe after having a chance to roll it again. So, I mean, you can slice and dice that, however. I think mostly, though, for the tone of the show, five and two week, haven't had an off day in forever, have had a very competitive opening schedule, a ball or strike, you're happy with where we're at.

SPEAKER_00

Uh strike down the middle, Carl. The the Wrigley winning streak is still intact. And that said, I am very, very much down the middle, piping hot fastball, feeling that baby first strike, because how can you not be right now sitting what second in baseball behind Atlanta or Tampa Bay, actually, I think now.

Sponsor Break Thirsty Vaquero

SPEAKER_03

We'd have to get the standings. While Mahoney gets the standings, I'm gonna tell you guys that we are lucky to announce a partnership with Thirsty McCarrow, a Mexican-style soda with a signature spicy finish. That's critical. Jalapeno pairs with the watermelon, habanero pink uh pairs with the mango, and obviously the chili pepper and the lime is a match made heavy. Like peanut butter and jelly, my friends. Okay, these are the three bold flavors we talk about when we say all bite, no rattle, Mexican-style soda. Now, lurking underneath all of this is the fact that there's 100% organic agave. 100% organic agave, 90 calories per 16-ounce can, and about half as much sugar as you would get from a traditional 12-ounce can of soda pop. Mahoney, what's your favorite bold flavor on a Mother's Day evening like tonight?

SPEAKER_00

You know what? I'm so, so glad you asked that question, Carl. And it's almost a tie. And I got a bold take, not only for you, Carl, but I have a challenge for the maniacs. Go out there, get yourself a vigilante variety pack. Get yourself a vigilante variety pack. Each pack is gonna contain all three flavors, which has four 16-ounce cans with 100% of grave that Carl had already mentioned. You're gonna get your lemon ladrone, you're gonna get your manga marte, you're gonna get your Sandea Salve Salvaje, Salvahe. You're gonna get your Sandee Salvae, the most ruthless band of thirst vigilantes this world has ever known. Folks, get it at the website thirstyvacaro.com, or just go straight to Amazon. They're gonna take you there anyway. It's almost too easy. Get all the flavors, those are my favorite. Thirsty Vaquero is my favorite.

SPEAKER_03

I'm having a watermelon jalapeno right now. On the can it says, I can't, these guys are so good when I've said that they're like industry experts in the beverage space. This is how smart these guys are. First off, they spent a little extra on the can so that there's texture when it's in your hand, and it's not like a paper plastic wrap that like you could peel off with your finger now. You cannot peel it off, but the reason they did it is because they want it to feel different, they like want it to be it's obviously different, it tastes different, but this is how smart these guys are. They like want it when you reach into the cooler, like the first thing you do is touch, and they're like, We want that first to we want to own the first touch, we want to own your first sense experience. When you like, dude, these guys are so smart. The can feel obviously the logo and like the detail, like the reflective, like you can move it in the light, it like sparkles in the light. But the message on the can, which is what I want to read to you, because they have like on the bottom thirstybakero.com, sabor hasta la muerte. I don't know what that means. I think that means we speak like do we speak deaf or make yeah, make my death. I am deaf. Yeah, I'm not, I don't know. It says Ciudad though, which I think means welcome. I'm not sure. This can contains bold refresh refreshment, armed with sweet watermelon juice and loaded with a spicy jalapeno finish, only found in vaquero country. This trio of sabor will have your taste buds begging for mas, por favor, and then it says 90 calories, it says everything's in Spanish, so I can't read a lot of the stuff. But aguasavaje la originale, 90 calories. I don't know what that is. So again, just go check it out. This stuff's awesome, it's so good.

SPEAKER_00

It's all bite, no rattle, and that's a fact, Jack. All bite, no rattle, and that ain't no cracker, Jack, Jack. That's a fact. All right. So sorry, I'm hitting some high levels on the microphone right now, but yeah, you gotta get yourself some thirsty vaquero. Check out the vigilante variety pack. It's a it's a must.

Ball Or Strike Leadership Moments

SPEAKER_03

So we got a lot to get into in today's show. I've enjoyed doing the Friday solo shows. If you guys get a chance, do please leave a five-star review when you get a chance on Apple or Spotify. We're coming out of a five-and-two week. I asked Mahoney, just to keep him sharp, prepare some talking points for Mahler Strike. So I'm gonna turn it over to Mahoney, and then we're gonna talk our way kind of through this Atlanta Braves series, and I'm gonna readdress some general stuff when it comes to starting pitching, where it comes to trade targets, just as you see more specific names pop up. Logan Webb in particular, Joe Ryan was another name. So we're gonna get to some of that stuff, but without further ado, Mahoney, what's your first solid baller strike you want to set the tone of the show with?

SPEAKER_00

Well, I want to set the tone with one thing, and I did take a look at kind of an angle here with these baller strikes, Carl. And it is kind of looking at that top-down approach of organizational health. And I'm not talking about a leadership review, talking about buy-in from the folks, the players, the guys sweeping the hallways, collecting the dust bunnies, the guys cleaning up the lockers, the whole kit and caboodle. So, but let me start you with this. And now it was earlier in the week, but it goes along with the theme, and we'll kind of get these through these semi-quickly. But Carl, baller strike. Earlier in the week, PCA immediately talking to Mac Shaw after the slide staff who is a sign that the Cubs core is already developing leadership qualities and communication skills.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, if you want it to be a strike, it's a strike. You know, and I think if you want it to be a ball, you can figure out a way to make it a ball, but I think it's easier to make that one a strike. I think it just that's like a 3-0 strike to me. Like it has to be a strike. What jumps out to you that makes that such a leadership, you know, core moment?

SPEAKER_00

Um, not saltiness, also the fact it's probably an easier conversation given that you scored the run, the ball wasn't particularly close, but maybe that PCA is trying to take that step of saying it right away to a maybe slightly younger player in Matt Shaw. They're at the a similar level at in their careers, however. And then the fact is this might happen all the time, and the cameras just happen to catch him moving his hands from right to left and saying, Hey, next time, and he might not have even been talking in you know the way that I'm presenting is he did or the media did.

SPEAKER_03

Well, I mean, I think it's interesting. Your first ball or strike is about PCA and Matt Shaw's leadership. Because that's if that's where your head's at. I mean, for me, it's PCA the last 25 games and the evolution of his you know approach, whether whether he's talking to these guys in the dugout or not, you know, I don't know, but I think it is interesting how Matt Shaw fits in as a puzzle piece here, you know, and whether or not those guys necessarily like him. Keep it rolling, my friend.

Next Man Up Across The Roster

SPEAKER_00

So we have baller strike, that next man up mentality that we're reading about, hearing about with the national loot news. That is now like the defining trait of the roster, and particularly obviously the pitching staff. Is that a ball or is that a strike?

SPEAKER_03

I think it's a strike. The defining trait, you know, defining trait. What do you want tough one?

SPEAKER_00

Right. I said defining trait is that next man up mentality, and it's because I've been reading a lot of the articles and the national news coverage talking about the pitching, the bullpen, the moving parts, the injured injuries, and so on. So defining might be a strong word, but maybe it's the defining trait of this roster to this point in the season.

SPEAKER_03

Well, I've I just love the fact that if you are one of these guys that's coming in, whether you're making a debut, you're making a resurgence, you're an unknown guy from AAA who's getting a shot because you know we got we got six guys on the IL, etc. Just on it goes and goes. Now, some people like Corbin Martin don't take advantage of it. You blow a save, you get DFA'd. That's the way it works, my friend. But there's other guys that are gonna take advantage of it. Now, what's really interesting about this is I can't think of like a better circumstance where, like, hey, you get to come to Wrigley Field, you're gonna pitch in front of 40,000, you have one of the best defenses in the history of the Cubs behind you, also one of the most consistent lineups. They're playing some of the hottest baseball in the history of the organization. We're quite literally just gonna come up here, ask you to come up here and throw strikes. You couldn't build a better set of circumstances for these guys because it's not even a pennant chase, it's not August, it's not just this is like literally the best circumstance for young guys to get their debuts, both with circumstance of the time on the calendar and with the team that they're getting to pick that plays behind them when they're pitching and is in the dugout. It's a great group of veterans, they're obviously tough, they compete, they're good, you know, all that stuff, but they catch it, they throw it, you know. So the next man up thing is it's it's really a holistic thing about this group, is what I would say. But the other thing, dude, I think next manup is also can be applied with how Craig Council manages the lineups. I love how often he sits guys, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, no, and man, like literally being adaptable and the fact that we are flexible within the actual lineup itself. Um, and back to your earlier point, you know, guys taking advantage of riding the momentum. Imagine being transferred out of a division that you love, you love the people you work with, everything's been going great, you're hitting quota left and right, and then you get transferred to like you know the brake pad division, which is dying for whichever reason, you know, and that sucks. You're like, that fucking sucks. So imagine being a part of an organization that blows, you get called up, you get your shot, whatever, you have to do good for yourself. But at the same token, how much funner would it be to be a part of a Cubs organization going to Wrigley Field, guy like Trent Thornton getting that midnight phone call, right? He gets the call. The last time he's pitched in the big leagues, I think he tore his fucking Keys. Excuse my language, King. But as a Keyes dude covering first base, he comes up, doesn't really know what his role is even gonna be. Boom, immediately, what six pitches, three outs, something along those lines. He came up and delivered right away. So if you have the juice and you have that momentum, and you're coming into a clubhouse with everyone who's buying in from the top down, organizational buy-in, buy-in of the mentality, buy-in of the approach, however you want to fucking put it, excuse me, king. It is just one of those things that will boost anybody who's gonna come in and and and you know, try to contribute or want to contribute. So I think it's a beautiful thing, and that does make it easier for dudes, and that may be the reason why we are where we are today with the pitching, you know, situation, people going down, coming up in almost an interchangeable mix.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that's two different. So there's the lineup aspect, and there's the pitching staff.

SPEAKER_00

The lineup aspect is next man up, you know, has been more the Michael Conforto pitch hitting and showing up on days, the Balesteros. But I mean, that's 90.

SPEAKER_03

I was gonna say, like Bragmans gets time off. You know, when Dansby Swanson gets the left butt cheek strain, he can go right to the bench and Nico goes over and Shaw plays second. So I think that uh just allows guys to be healthy, and I like that we're only using you know, 13. You know, we we've really only used 12 or 13 position players so far this year, which have gotten meaningful playing time, which I think is solid. And again, yeah, the pitching staff has more of a next man up mentality. So give me your next baller strike. What do you got?

National Media Hype And Fan Bait

SPEAKER_00

So now I have a little bit of context for this, Carl. And I know you don't like me to fill the void between baller strikes, however, what we have noticed, and and I want to know how is this important to you and do you care or not? So that's why I just want to let's frame it like that. So baller strike, the national media shift matters. The cubs are being discussed like an actual October threat throughout the landscape, baller strike, Carl. Yeah, are you asking me if it matters? Does it matter to you the shift in the narrative and the cubs getting more coverage? I know we traditionally always do get the coverage, but when we're good, there's a bigger magnifying glass on this organization. So ball or strike, does that matter? No, ball. Ball fair, that's fair. I like the juice, and I have that as a ball as well, Carl. And I'm gonna tell you and the maniacs why. I believe that we're in it no matter what. 162, we're in it with the community, we're in it with the maniacs. It's me and you talking, so it's no matter what. However, I do love seeing them show up on like the McAvee show and then the national outlets talking about the Cubs, like Wrigley the ball or strike has Wrigley became the biggest stage in baseball again. No, I that's still right. Okay, dude. It's tough. I'm just saying because that's what the media wants to highlight throughout the week. And I'm not blaming the media, I'm just telling you what they're delivering to me. All right, I'm a catalyst here right now.

SPEAKER_03

No, I I think that I think it's still too early. That's we're making too big, that's too big of a you know, do to do. And you know, I'm trying to fix the audio here, so I said I'm sorry if I've sounded different. You know, we're just gonna boost the now we've we've switched over to the professional side here.

SPEAKER_00

Much more clear, Carl, but you know what? You're such a pro. I had no idea you were even adjusting or doing anything that entire time.

SPEAKER_03

Thank you. But we've made the switch over there, and I won't we are not going back and redoing the first 21 minutes of this show, my friend. So um, with that adjustment in mind, can you please repeat the ball or strike?

SPEAKER_00

The ball or strike for this one was just the national media outlets talking about the Cubs. We already kind of said ball here. Fuck that, dude. It's not the biggest stage again, is what we had said. Wrigley is not the biggest stage right now.

SPEAKER_03

No, no, no, and I don't Yankees Stadium Stadium. No, we're not, we're still, you know, we gotta play, we gotta keep this rolling. It just feels good right now, but we gotta keep it rolling. Dude, maybe we'll have that conversation in July. It's gotta be going in the all-star.

SPEAKER_00

Baller strike, it just feels that good to me right now because of how well the team has performed before, you know, May 11th.

SPEAKER_03

We'll strike because they've been to trash to open the season lately, and you know, they're hot. And the last time they were super hot to open a season, baller strike. We won a World Series.

SPEAKER_00

Strike. I mean, come on. And it's baller strike. There's a spider right now dwindling from me that I gotta flick and get the hell out of here before I freak out. Carl.

SPEAKER_03

Are you afraid of spiders? Baller strike?

SPEAKER_00

Uh strike absolutely down the middle. One, two, three, one, two, three, strike out.

SPEAKER_03

I'm a pussy.

SPEAKER_00

Get out of here.

SPEAKER_03

Pussy. No, thank you, please. Hey, okay, baller strike. I was always afraid of stuff generally and was uncomfortable with everything until you moved to sugar grass. Now I'm like, buddy, I'm talking to stuff. I'm collecting stuff. I have no problem handling things, talking to there is a coyote lurking in on my property. I think he's nestled in between me and my neighbor's house. And so I know he has a rifle. I saw it today and I was gonna, I was trying to corner it, and it jumped over a fence. So we got we do have some problems here. Nothing a great Chicago Cub season can't put me down from because I am so pumped. I have so many games on the radio. 104.3 lossless audio coming to you. Coom dog is crystal clear as ever. Like just so many good summer nights in front of me. Baller strike, very jacked about that.

SPEAKER_00

That's a strike, Carl. I appreciate it. I was I almost pitched a walk there with the last few. You know what? And I've been feeling the juice too from the national. Maybe I do buy in a little bit more when I have Espn or whatever on in the background.

SPEAKER_03

Well, it's just easy to, it's like Cubs fans are easy to bait. You'll see that in the national media a lot. So in social media graphics and posts, whether it's within power rankings or talking about players that you know, underrated players, graphics, best second baseman, best they'll always do it in a way because they know Cubs fans lurk online more than anybody else. Whereas we're as active as anybody when it comes to replying on Twitter to defend our guys, but we're not mean, I don't think so. We're a little dorky.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I would agree with that. That's a strike down the middle. Um so ball or strike, how's about this? Seeing Alex Cohen get more games this week, that's just another example of how healthy and deep this Cubs organization feels, top to bottom.

SPEAKER_03

Strike, I think he lost his first game today, right?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and it's just so great though. Like, because I was thinking about like just ever how we could just fill in guys left and right, you know, Boog has to do whatever, Cohen comes in and it just it's like just music to my ears sometimes. I love love hearing him call a game.

SPEAKER_03

I've come to really appreciate JD too while we're talking about the booth. I think JD's having his best season yet. I think he's been through a little bit here, Len Casper leaving him, having to just get adjusted to Boog. I feel like he does a great job with JD or great job with Alex Cohen. But it most the way JD shows up has been really solid lately. And just I want to give him recognition because I think he's when we do this stuff. I said mailback last week, I got a number of people asking me who's most underrated or who's the underdog or who's the guy that surprised you the most. And I think it's silly not to include JD into that category because he brings it every single night he's on the broadcast. That said, those Sutcliffe games in San Diego, I know you're boy, my boy, we enjoyed those ones so much, he was out of his mind, dude.

SPEAKER_00

Man, you know the one I got, I'll tell this very quickly. My buddy ran into Sutcliffe on a highway. Maybe in in Monday morning cub show lore, I've told this. He pulls up next to Sut. Sutcliffe it in its 9094, backed up to the gills. And at the time, Sutcliffe was on Waddle and Sylvie doing like a regular weekly appearance. He might still do it, I don't know. My buddy goes, Hey, Sut, Waddle and Sylvie, baby, and he just came, he was like, Oh, yuck, and just gave like the biggest thumbs up out the window. He goes in, tells that story about the interaction on the highway with my buddy on the show, and it then becomes a part of their promo leading into the introduction, and it's Sutcliffe going, Waddle and Sylvie, baby. It is the funniest six degrees of separation story that like I had happened to like hear develop over the course of one week's time. And Sutcliffe has so many different gems in my life that way, where it's like he just followed me on Twitter too. Son, if you're listening, thanks for that follow. I appreciate it, man.

SPEAKER_03

Dude, I got a great Sutcliffe for you. It's like my favorite. Oh god, I have to like catch my breath because this is because Suckliff Suckcliff brings this out of me. He makes me lose my muscle.

SPEAKER_00

You just want to have a couple beers, like watch the game, girl muscle cash.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, he doesn't give a fuck, man. All right, and like, dude, we live in a day and age where people are so sensitive and nervous, and they they're just there, everybody wants to come across a certain way. It's succliffs out here on broadcast just going, I don't think this guy can play very much. Has not changed since 84. All right, so I see Sutcliffe was quote quote tweeted somebody on Twitter. I have to gather myself to tell the story. All right, so cliff Sutcliffe had get had quote tweeted somebody on Twitter, and they were talking about Mark Grace. And it was like Mark Grace is one of the most underrated players of the 90s. Yeah, and he goes on to list a bunch of numbers about Mark Grace. Most hits of the 90s, six All-Star Games, you know, had won a world, you know, I guess a world series in a center one. Um, you know, fourth in doubles, you know, ninth in total bases, eighth in games played, seventh in RBIs. You know, it's just like somebody's like putting together the resume of Mark Grace and being like, it's remarkable how good and underrated Mark Grace was, especially for the Cubs. Like, what a great ball player. So then Sutcliffe had quote tweeted it, and Sutcliffe had said, you know, like Mark Race should be in the Hall of Fame. And I hid I HID replied to Sutcliffe who was like, yeah, but I heard that I also heard he led the league in big ladies. Like my understanding is he loved a big slum buster, and then he slept with lots of big ladies.

SPEAKER_01

And Sutcliffe quote tweeted that just a reply, not a reply, a quote tweet. And all he said was lots of fucking Rick Suckliff.

SPEAKER_03

I'm dying. Oh, God bless you. God bless Rick Suckcliffe. Hey, and the great guy in the booth. I get what a real mock I made that such a long story. He should be in the Hall of Fame. I replied, I go, Yeah, I already also had a lot of big girls under his belt, huh, son? You know, lots of big ladies, too. And he just quick quote tweets it lots.

SPEAKER_01

Lots.

SPEAKER_00

I don't know why. I think the quote tweet for whatever reason is one of my favorite parts of that story. Just because it's like the reply is still just as funny, but quote tweeting it to the masses is is just gold.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, a quote's a megaphone. Yeah, that's you're yelling it to the you're yelling it at the top of the mountain. The reply is a sneaky, you can get away with a couple sneaky replies here, here that fly under the radar. You know, he can always argue in his defense. He's like, I just said, what are you talking about, dude? I just replied to him. It's not a big deal.

SPEAKER_00

Like you can like delete a reply and it might just you know be gone to quote tweet, somebody's already been involved.

SPEAKER_03

No, Rick had a call from HR. He's like, What? I quote tweeted what? So anyway, so Suckcliffe in the booth, Alex Cohen. That's a ball or that's a strike. It is a great sign of how deep this organization is that he can just get in there and call a great game. So, you know, we're big fans, Alex Cohen. What else you got for me, Mahoney?

SPEAKER_00

Well, you know, that pretty much kind of summed up a lot of my ball or strikes, but I do have one more, and it was just when I was listening to Nico Warner talk on ESPN 1000, um, really about leadership and accountability. So, like him talking about I don't know if you heard it, so I guess you'd have to hear what he was saying, and I don't have the exact quotes, but what you're gonna have to stumble. Let me just make a point. I'm just gonna make a point. He had talked about Craig Council, he's a little funnier than people think he is, and you know, it's his group, and he's like, no, dude, he can get under people's skin in a good way, whatever. But the way he had talked about it was more that this culture is player-driven, and that council does allow them to be the players that they are, and it's not so much of a coach-driven, overwhelming culture where it's like this is how we're gonna do things, it's letting people be themselves on the field, and I'm not saying on and off, but mostly on the field to end their play and their approach. Yeah, and again, I see the walks. We have, you know, number I think number one walks in the league. Sorry, Carl. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_03

But what does that have anything to do with what you were just saying? The walks and cred council, like a bot, like the culture and player-driven. I mean, those are two completely. I'm too I want to be kind to you because you're a close friend of mine.

SPEAKER_00

No, you don't have to be right now. I'm feeling great.

SPEAKER_03

I know it's like, dude, can I reel you in for a second here? If we're gonna talk about council and the culture, can I tell you something?

SPEAKER_00

I just skipped over my notes and read two separate lines of separate things, okay?

Counsell’s Style And Player Control

SPEAKER_03

It's mothers, I understand, but like council, and I've said this before. Now I'm not, I want so this is maybe a point of re-emphasis. Yes, and so this could come from a Friday show or something where I'm just kind of rolling, but like the best baseball teams police and kind of control themselves. Like the manager is not influencing day-to-day behavior. The manager is more of an authority figure that has your back with the umpires that sets the fucking lineup that gives you a day off, you know, that like has your back generally, but he's not. Come on, rah-rah, let's go. I'm sick into like the best managers definitely keep their cool with their guys. Bobby Cox is a good example. He was generally like a pretty straightforward manager with his guys, he'd blow his fucking stack on an umpire in a second. Um, Council is very much a guy who played 15 years as a fourth infielder and just has so much respect for the professional and really doesn't ask too much of these guys. I think it, I think he does have a good relationship with them. I'm frustrated as a fan. I think he's a terrible manager, as a fan. Like, I mean, he's a terrible fan man. Like, he's he gives you no sound bites, he's not interesting, he never gets kicked out, he doesn't do anything cool. He can he's there's nothing cool about him as a fan, as a fan, but as a player, I'm sure they like him quite a bit. And I think the culture that he's built is he does I don't think he gets on people's ass. I don't think he bitches at guys, but at the same time, I don't think these are guys that you know need to get bitched at. I think you know, we'll see, and we'll see how they bounce back. This will be this test against the Braves, and this is a good segue into the next three games against the Atlanta Race. This is such a good test for them because you have that off day, you get shut out back-to-back games, you've been playing such great baseball. Now you're off on Monday, you have an easy trip over to Atlanta, you're gonna be staying in a super nice hotel, you're playing at a great ballpark. It's just such a comfortable place to go play. They're really very a very good team. So you're just like, man, what a what an opportunity for Colin Ray after losing a series and just kind of pick the boys up a little bit. We've said before on the show, it's gonna be tough for them to lose more than three games. They've lost two. So, like they have the off day Monday. It's just an opportunity to get fresh and healthy. You're gonna see your best lineup. I haven't seen if Atlanta's announcer starting pitcher for Tuesday, but just generally speaking, like baller strike, I feel very good about getting to watch this team compete this week.

Braves Series As A Measuring Stick

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's a strike and baller strike. It's nice to have an off day on Monday.

SPEAKER_03

Need it, it's been so long, you know.

SPEAKER_00

As a fan, even like you know, you're trying to pay attention, locked in. Sometimes you need a breather too, just to read up on the statistics. You know me.

SPEAKER_03

Now, I do think the Braves are a team that can make an argument to say that they have more talent than we do, like they might be a little bit more talented. You know, Drake Baldwin is we have great catching. Drake Baldwin's one of the best catchers, you know. He's like a catcher who slugs over 500. Matt Olson is probably the best first baseman in the National League, not named Freddie Freeman. You know, Matt Olson's leading major league baseball again in doubles. Uh, he slugging six almost 650. You know, he's awesome. He plays every single day. Ozzie Albies is a switch-hitting second baseman who's awesome, you know, and just can do a lot of damage, swings the bat very well. They have a nice veteran mix here. You know, Austin Riley is solid. Michael Harris is a very good outfielder. You know, he he's kind of like in that convert, in that maybe that step right below PCA, or maybe in that conversation of being as good as like there's times when Michael Harris is he as good as PCA. Like they've had a very talented team. It's not that they're just hot because they were shit last year. Um, and then they've got solid guys in the starting rotation. Again, I don't know who I'm gonna who we're gonna see from them in the you know, we will see Chris Sale on Thursday, that's for sure. And that should be awesome because he's just he's just so good. And I and listen, I know these are tough games, losing to Jacob deGrom, getting shut out. We gotta see these arms. I can't go through the whole season looking at Rhett fucking louder from the Cincinnati Rets. Like you at some point, you're gonna see the buzz saws. So get them out of the tool shed, pour the fucking gasoline in them, fire them up, give me Chris Al, you know. Give me a fan, you're unhealthy.

SPEAKER_00

You want to see the good, you want to see the we gotta see all-star cy young caliber pitchers, anyways, just from an excitement level. I mean, it would snuck if we were just drubbing teams left and right and yeah, seeing their shittiest versions.

SPEAKER_03

A week from now, we got Mizerowski coming to Wrigley Field. That's gonna be awesome. A night game against Jacob Mizerowski who just went into Yankee Stadium and pitched his balls off. Like, of course, I want that. Because here's what I know opposite that is Shodi Imanaga, who's throwing the pills, but uh you know, I keep saying a pill, but like when you're throwing it real well, that's what it looks like to the hitters. You know, when he's he's dialed in right now, so we're gonna see Shodi Imanaga versus Jacob Mizerowski. We're gonna talk about that all next Monday, next show. But this is an exciting time because, like, yeah, I understand it sucks that we got shut out. We did we did run into like you know, Cabrera didn't look that good on Saturday, Jacob deGrom just shoved it up our ass today. You know, we did kind of get fucked there, but here's the other thing Jamison Taeon competed. We didn't lose the game because of Jamison Tayon, and again, that supports the point that like he's fine, dude. We're fine. It's not it's not a risk area when he takes a bound. The risk is that Jacob de Gram was completely feeling himself, completely shut himself down. And like, not to bury the lead, I did cover the three walk-offs from Cincinnati on the Friday show. So this is why we're spending a lot of time on the Texas series.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, yeah, absolutely. And Carl, something too that I think you said on the Friday show was just talking about Jameson Taeon and how, yeah, you might want him in the game four, and which would be perfectly serviceable. But I promise, like, I would never want to see Jameson Taion and did and Jacob deGrom, you know, on my scorecard. And because then that's like you just see Jacob de Gram. It's one of those names, it's a it's a name that has the backing with the stuff, and that's what we saw. But Jameson Tayan pitch is fine.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, he's fine. He's good, he's he's underrated, he's one of the most underrated players in Major League Baseball. And you know, Jacob de Grom is so good that people will argue he should be in the Hall of Fame, even though he's missed so much time. So, you know, it is what it is. A five and two week, I'll take that all day, every day. Sweep a four-game series, lose a series on the road, five and two, fine, whatever. Move on with ourselves. You know, Texas is a talented team. We're off Monday. What thank God we get some finally at some point, you know, here towards the end of May, things start to like I, you know, I'm I'm actually pretty excited about the fact that like we do have we got six games coming up, I should say, in June against Colorado. You know, we got a couple games against Pittsburgh coming up. That's gonna be nice. San Francisco's playing like shit. We got six against them. There's a 12-game stretch here where we play Colorado, San Francisco, Colorado, San Francisco. So that's gonna be set, that's gonna be outstanding for the boys when we get in that stretch where you can see us rattle off another one of those solid 9-3, 10-2 stretches because we're just significantly better than those guys. So we just duke it out, we just duke it out until then.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and you know what? Put your dukes up, boys, because we're coming for you, and this is a baseball team that's been putting it together. I think one of the reasons why, and Carl, I think you're gonna like where I'm going with this, but I did read that Patrick Mooney article about Ian Hap, and he had he painted Hap as kind of outwardly unemotional, and I love that term about him outwardly unemotional, and that's just Mooney at his finest, right?

SPEAKER_03

I know it is, dude. I honestly like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Patrick M. Mooney, like one of the all-time great writers.

SPEAKER_00

He really is, he's phenomenal, you know, takes the behind the scenes look, but I do agree with him that hap is kind of that, you know, dude who is helping this season kind of be what it is. Well, he's one of the driving forces behind this historically hot start, however you want to put it. Now, what I also think is kind of historic, if you're a fan of the compound, and if you're a fan of you know, watching on Marquee with Hap and his boys, they yuck it up, and it's it's really good, you know, it's good information, it's very loose, kind of like this, you know, because you could tell that they're friends. But one thing, Carl, there were some clips that they put out, whoever's doing their clips of the software they're using. I mean, right away, it was like hap, it was like right on his face, and I'm like, okay, that's cool. Then it went ultra zoom on his buddy's face, then it went even zooming big. I don't know if it was a joke or the way that they spliced it together, but holy shit, dude. I it's unironically hilarious. Like you said it to me, and I thought like they were doing a bit, and it's not a bit, it's like no, it's not, yeah. And it's like, let me agree with you more and more and more. And I'm leaving my face into my camera so you guys can't see that.

SPEAKER_03

Well, we don't put out clips, that's kind of on purpose. This is more of like a hidden gem. You gotta come get it. You know, I'm not out here slinging it on the street corner. You know what I mean? There's a little bit of this, like, you know, kind of you gotta there, I feel like you gotta be in.

SPEAKER_00

You gotta be in, you know what I mean? Right, easy. We're like a with non-alcoholic, thirsty vaqueros as well to serve whoever's in need.

SPEAKER_03

Well said, because if I did ever have an establishment like called Hot Carl's or something, it would be like a back alley place, hard to find. You know, I may advertise I may advertise on the side of a Chinatown shuttle bus to fucking forced four winds casino. Come to Hot Carl's, but otherwise, um no, I I I I think it's some of the funniest shit on the internet unintentionally, dude. These clips from the compound, I want to harass Ian Hap publicly. I know he's a busy guy, he's playing left field, he's got a coffee company, but like they're distributing this on Marquee Network. They like have this cut-in zoom on Dakota Meeks where like I think you can only see one of his eyeballs because it's zoomed in so closely.

SPEAKER_00

And it's like I'm not saying it's like a difficult thing, but there's something that's just there, it's just grabbing it and and churning those clips out with subtitles.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, and I know a lot of people want us to talk a little bit more about the nuts and the bolts of the baseball team, but I did send that to you, and I said I know it. I want to make that public. That if you do if you do have it. A lot of people listen to this like the compound. I have no problem. I like the compound. Congratulations to Ian Hap. Good, it's a great show. Uh, the clips will get you. I also will find myself watching an episode of the compound because I don't turn off the marquee network app. So I get like Sam, I wonder what their view count is from. People that are sucked in.

SPEAKER_00

And I enjoy watching it when it's on. It's one of those things that the marquee is pretty much on, you know, in my living room. And yes, I find myself watching that big bearded dude. And on the show, it looks fine. It's just the clips that they're putting out there. Either way. And that those aren't the only ones, dude. I did some digging.

SPEAKER_03

Well, no. I mean, you don't have to, I don't, but take the investigative hat off, okay, Pablo?

SPEAKER_00

By digging. I clicked on the profile and I looked at like four other clips that they had posted like within multiple days.

SPEAKER_03

Well, and then I wouldn't refer to that as digging. I would say I looked. You were you went digging?

SPEAKER_00

Takes a lot of effort to do minimal amount of work over here in Mahoney Land.

Ben Brown Starts And Development Plan

SPEAKER_03

Okay, Bowler Strike. I just want to look at how do they the Atlanta Braves series for a second here? Colin Ray is pitching um game one. And then we have Shoda Imanaga pitching game two, which brings me to game three. The Atlanta Braves have not announced starting pitchers for game one or two. They have announced that Chris Sale will pitch against Ben Brown. Ben Brown will be starting for the Chicago Cubs. Again, I was most interested in him pitching out of the stretch and him throwing a lot of strikes and only working four innings. I thought going into the start, it would be nice to see him compete as hard as he has been out of the bullpen. He doesn't need to throw six innings. And I'm just very interested in how Cret Council manages him now that he's going to get some starts. And it looks and it feels like it's going to be some sort of different situation than like maybe an extended opener when he gets his starts, where it's like you kind of have that opener feel. You only need to go through the lineup one or like one and a half.

SPEAKER_00

Four innings, probably four innings max.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, 65 pitches or something.

SPEAKER_00

I personally like ballar strike. I just love that plan with him because it doesn't shake up anything that's been happening with you know when he's come in late in the game pitching for two or three. And right, he still has some familiarity with starting the ball game, but like you'd said, interested coming out of the stretch. That was cool. And um yeah, it was great to see, man, him getting a start, and it didn't shake up too much of his you know progression coming, you know, out of the bullpen as normal, which I guess it shouldn't.

SPEAKER_03

Well, no, I mean like the bigger, you know, it's four hitless innings, right? Like there is an argument there easily, like to keep keep him going. Come on, you know, 46 pitches, four innings.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, no, and I was fine with it for sure.

SPEAKER_03

So big talking point. If we do go down the path of Ben Brown being a starter, Craig Consell has to put Ben Brown first, first above the team, first above everything has to be what's best for Ben Brown's development. And it's just a great example because we're gonna see him pitch again this week against Chris Sale and the Atlanta Braves. You know, no disrespect to Kumar Rockers, who he pitched against on Friday. But like this is an this is another step up, and so I thought it's just great managing from council to give Ben Brown, even though I know it's probably frustrating if you're Ben Brown, you go four hit lists, you 46 pitches. Hey, I don't want to come out of the game, I want to keep going. But the reality is you haven't been over a 46 pitch count, have you? 50 pitch count much this season, I would guess, if at all. And so if we are going to transition him into longer roles and stuff, this is just a great confidence building block for him to take into the sale game, as opposed to stretching it out, putting him in a situation where, you know, he could have taken a step back. Instead, he gets to take another step forward, and that's the most important thing that council continues to give him opportunities with the mindset of giving him things to step forward on, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00

It does, and I mean plenty of rest going. That's a game I absolutely have circled on my calendar coming this Thursday against the Braves, you know, against Chris Sale with Benjamin Brown taking the bump.

SPEAKER_03

So just some other general things about the Atlanta Braves, like they do have like way more like just general talent than the Chicago Cubs, and I don't think that's an unfair like thing to say at all. We I don't believe we're gonna see a cunha. I think he's on the 100. Yeah, I think he's on the 10-day IL. You know, he's obviously one of the best players in the world, but like, even though Mikey Ostremski's having a shit season, like he ain't bad at all. Michael Harris is very good. Again, I went through this before. Drake Baldwin is so good, he displaced Sean Murphy after he got traded by the Athletics to the Braves, signed a big extension. Drake Baldwin's such a good catcher that he displays Sean Murphy. Matt Olsen's one of the best first basemen in the world, probably in the National League, not named Freddie Freeman, like I said. Like, there's some very good players on this team. If we get one of three on this series, that's way okay. Like, we're going in the road. I'd like to get it in the first game. You know, we talk about expectations. If we lose this series, if we if we happen to lose back-to-back series, like what do we are we looking for opportunities to hit the panic button? Like, absolutely not, under no set of circumstances. Now, if we get swept and we look like shit, but we do have an advantage here. Little off day, we play good baseball. The difference between us and the Braves, I do think there's way more team camaraderie within the Cubs Clubhouse, and I do find us as a much more balanced team where I do see the Braves as more of a talented, individualistic, you know. And I know that they've had some issues. They brought in Walt Weiss here. It's his first year after firing Brian Snitker, who is with the Braves for 40 fucking years or whatever. So uh interesting little turnover situation here for the Braves as they enter a new uh category leadership with Walt Weiss. We should be jacked up for the series, like just as much as we were against the Padres, against the Braves. It's great to have this on the calendar while we're playing great baseball.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, no, it really isn't. I'm I'm not gonna lie, and I'm not looking past them, so I'm very excited about this Braves series to kind of level set, you know, against another one of the best teams in the National League in the league as a whole. But I'm also kind of happy that the White Sox are relatively competitive and they're doing some things decent on the South side, so we're not just going over and like dog walking. We could still have that competitive edge, you know, against another competitive baseball team heading into the weekend. So I'm looking forward to this week really as a whole. I'm excited that it's Monday. Excited to be here with you, Carl. And I'm not taking us out right now. I'm just saying I'm an excited son of a gun.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I had a little doubt there. I didn't know if you were taking us out, yes or no, ball or strike, but I'm pumped to play. Yeah, I'm pumped to play the White Sox. I should we'll have a show out before the cross our crosstown classic show. I'll invite you back for that one. We should do that because we play the White Sox on Friday night, so we should release it on Thursday night.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I'm in wide open.

SPEAKER_03

Or not. I don't fucking care to be honest with you. Like, I don't want to stress you out too much. I know you're busy with work.

Braves Probables And Matchup Talk

SPEAKER_00

Well, I appreciate that, but it's a big weekend coming up, and it's a big week, and I'm busy with the maniacs too. Let's roll.

SPEAKER_03

So the the Brave series too, like my understanding is we're gonna miss some of their great starting pitching. And I don't know if I should say some of their great starting pitching, but like we could run into like I don't love him necessarily, but he's having another good year, and that's Bryce Elder. He's tough to hit. It doesn't look like we're gonna see him. You know, Ronaldo Lopez has been better. It doesn't look like we're gonna see him, or maybe these just haven't been announced yet. So I'm not sure what's going on with the Braves pitching staff. I'm sorry, I tried to do my research on this, and I can't find the pitching probables at all for games one or two. I just see Chris Sale in the game three, which is gonna be a nightmare situation for us because we're tough against, we're not tough, we're not good against lefties compared to we're much better against righties, I think. Even though we just got shut out back to the games.

SPEAKER_00

Well, it looks like game two. I have a Grant Holmes, according to my notes here, Grant's Grant Holmes pitching against Colin Ray. And that's according to the MLB.com. I'm just pulling it up, doing my research here as fast as I can, Carl. And I do not believe tomorrow.

SPEAKER_03

Well, it's fine by me. Stop it right there. No, he's a huge but like Grant Holmes is a huge pussy. No, this guy's this guy spent Grant Holmes spent like ten years in the minor leagues.

SPEAKER_00

He is firm. He looks like fucking what's his ass.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Kenny Powers. He was drafted in the first round. He's an undersized right-handed pitcher. And when I say undersized, I mean he's just like maybe six feet tall. He's got a good lower half to him. But he got drafted in the first round by the Dodgers and spent like 10, 11 years in minor league baseball before he got to the big leagues, which blows. I mean, that blows. Your signing bonus is gone after like year three. So like he's just riding the triple A double A bus making 47 grand. No offense. Congratulations on making it to the big leagues. But he's not, he's not very good. He's not anybody we should be worried about at all.

SPEAKER_00

Well, I'll be looking forward to that lineup preview come Tuesday when you break that guy down.

SPEAKER_03

I'm gonna break him down, all right. That's Tuesday or is that Wednesday?

SPEAKER_00

I have it as Tuesday, which would be May 12th. So, yeah, their first game of the week.

SPEAKER_03

Okay. Okay. So we do have a pitching, we do have a pitcher for that. Grant Holmes. Good.

SPEAKER_00

This is breaking news, just announced, just announced, Carl. Breaking news on the Monday morning cub show while we're recording.

SPEAKER_03

No, I mean he yeah, we're gonna hammer this guy. No, I shouldn't say we should hammer this guy, but he walks too many people. It's a great matchup for the Chicago Cubs. This is the Monday morning Cubs show, just kind of a light little fun show here, trying to pick our spirits up after a Texas Rangers series loss. Where, like, really, when you just get shut out back-to-back games, I mean, guys, like it just happens in the big league sometimes. And this is the fun thing about having the back-to-back 10-game win streaks.

SPEAKER_00

It is, it softens the blow, but at the same token, Carl, I had like a big, you know, 12-game winning streak episode prepared and that kind of it does take a little bit of the wind out of the sails, but hey, we're still we're still moving with that motor.

Trade Deadline Targets And Unknown Sellers

Arenado Intel And Modern Clubhouse Life

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, we are. We're a very good baseball team, and we have everything we need. Guys are healthy, you know, in the position player lineup. Now, one thing I should finally address is just some pitchers at the trade deadline, and I'll get more into this later in the week. And I've talked extensively that for trade deadline purposes, you just need tape on your minor leaguers. You need guys to get cracked into the top hundred, you know, list that comes out in June. You just need the buzz to pick up, and it takes weeks for the buzz to pick up, and until that buzz picks up, like you don't really have much to trade, unless you're telling me we're gonna trade Matt Shaw or something that's just like insane. Like, I mean, absolutely insane. So another reason that we just probably maybe the most important reason is that we just still don't know who the sellers are. Like the Mets have come out and said allegedly, if by June 1st they're not back in some kind of contention, then Freddie Peralta gets on the trade bet, uh, you know, is on the trade block. Okay, like now we can have a substantive conversation about would Freddie Peralta fit into the Cubs. But like they're not, I don't know if they're sellers yet. Now, uh for purposes of that conversation, I think he does. Would I give up the house for him? No, because we have major leverage because the Mets are sellers, so you know that's just like a deeper conversation, but the bigger, broader point here on May 11th, you know, May 10th, as we record this, is that we just don't know who the sellers are. And even then, we don't even know if we want these guys. If the Giants are sellers, like they should be, Logan Webb should get traded, but there's a huge question mark about how healthy Logan Webb is because he's put 200 plus innings on his arm, 178 innings plus on his arm, for like the last five or six seasons. You know, this is like a bulldog pitcher. So are you getting a guy who's gonna be breaking down towards yet? Again, I don't know these answers to these questions, but this is stuff that plays out over the course of the season that then Jed can operate on. Now, I do have some intel for you. I think this was interesting.

SPEAKER_00

I'm interested.

SPEAKER_03

So a very good friend of mine uh was recently had grown uh had grown up in the minor league system with Nolan Arenado. Okay, okay, so they're like, you know, are they best buddies? One of my best buddies is like one of his his closest friends from professional baseball is Nolan Arenado, and one of Nolan Arenado's best buddies from Pro Bowl is this guy, right? And so they were just in town to play the Cubs, the Diamondbags. And so they went out to dinner, they went golfing, they spent time together. He came out to the house, he was with the girls, like they're very close. And so I thought there was a couple interesting nuggets that came across my desk because I was recently down with my buddy at Illinois, so we'd spent some time together. But one, he had said Jed Hoyer is one of the best minds in baseball.

SPEAKER_01

Love that.

SPEAKER_03

I had said like Cubs fans are lucky because my buddy's a Cubs fan, and so he's like, You're so lucky that Jed runs that team, like of all the guys that are in charge of teams, like Jed Hoyer is just about as smart as anybody in Major League Baseball. Unprompted, wasn't digging for it, so I did love that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I love that. I mean, especially hearing it with someone of the pedigree of a no one aren't I know, it's not just some a guy on a rotation that you've heard of a couple times, it's a legit, absolute perennial all-star that just drops that knowledge. Yeah, that's fantastic.

SPEAKER_03

Maybe a first ballot hall of famer, probably. Okay, one, two, said in conjunction, Corbin Carroll is probably the best player he's ever played with in any team. Like the most hand that includes Troy Tulowitzki, that includes you name it, guys that he's taken the field with. I think he's taken the he's like, I took the field with Albert Poohholz for a year, and I would I can make an argument that Corbin Carroll's a better baseball player than Albert, like he's the best player of all time. Like that's what Ellen Arenado thinks about Corbin Carroll, which I thought was wonderful. But he also said that young players do not go out anymore, don't party, only play video games, will not hang out, and that the last time that he's gone out with teammates on the road and like actually partied has been several years. Like it just got it just got cut out of Major League Baseball sometime after COVID where the guys just stopped hanging out. So there's your update from uh the Monday morning cub show correspondent Nolan Arenado, and I will continue to get more information from him uh as I continue. I do have juicier stuff, but this is the stuff that we have for right now.

SPEAKER_00

No, and that's funny, it validates the things people ask us are these Cubs players, are they going out and just like the initial like instant reaction? I mean, you're nope, they don't. And at that, there you go. It's probably across the board.

SPEAKER_03

Addison Russell went to Bottle Bond.

SPEAKER_00

You'd see them. I mean, you'd see the guys running around town, different world, different age, Carl.

SPEAKER_03

Anthony Rizzo would be underground DJing with Dante, throwing water cups on the girls.

SPEAKER_00

Dude, he was the Anthony Rizzo would be at Sedgwick's on off days at uh 3 p.m. just hanging out and having like one beer. I'm not saying going crazy. That would happen in in this world, and it just doesn't anymore. What what a time to be alive though. At least we got to come up and witness some of that. Carl just took a bite of something real good. Uncrustable. Oh no, there you go.

SPEAKER_03

No Arenado. Well, I'm sitting here having a thirsty Macaro. You know, and that just ignites the taste bud.

SPEAKER_00

So such a baseball player move, too, just take chop, just chomp on an uncrustable in the middle of the an hour into the show. Just get your juices flowing again.

SPEAKER_03

That is a big like baseball guys love peanut butter and jelly. You see it all the time. I roomed with the guy who took our meal money and would get go to the convenience store and get a loaf of white wonderbread, peanut butter, and jelly, and then he would save his meal money, and like he was saving money for his for like an engagement ring or something. We'd be on the road, you know, guys are going to RB's crushing, you know.

SPEAKER_00

The way you said that in the beginning, it sounded like somebody just like stole your guys' meal money and went into the store and was like, guys, don't worry, I got the food, and it would just be peanut butter and jelly.

SPEAKER_03

No, he he saved his money. His meal money would this a bad story, but there's there's people like that that are out there that exist in this world that get like$75 a day per diem, spend four dollars at the grocery store, pocket the$71, then like go home and like take the$71 to like you know flip a generator on eBay or something.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, for sure.

Final Takeaways And Review Ask

SPEAKER_03

You know, made a$200 profit storing up a generator. Congratulations, buddy. So I don't think we missed anything that I really want to hammer on. I think it's tough to come in here and talk generally about just the the line that's been shut out back to back days off day. We'll see what we roll into with the Braves. You know, there is some holes. People saw it Moises by a stereo strikeout three times against Jacob deGrom. Again, we tried to just set the tone off the top. Like you run into de Grom like that, there's a reason he's in the Hall of Fame conversation, despite having 40-something career war. Like that's Sandy Colfax level stuff. That's just like once a generation level arm. So we saw it today, healthy. That happens, that could happen in the playoffs, whatever. You know, and just trade deadline stuff we'll get to this week. I'll do your sport research and try and get some names to target because again, it's impossible. I don't know who the sellers are. You can you can say Logan Webb, I'll say I don't know if he's hurt. You can say Freddie Peralta, I don't know if the Mets are gonna sell. And if they would sell to us, you know, David Stern's a price tag is gonna be through the fucking roof. You know, and I don't want to have some conversation about Joe Ryan if Joe Ryan's on the I. So we'll get into that. But for right now, guys, this is a Monday morning cub show. Mahoney, would you encourage fans to please leave a review on Spotify or Apple?

SPEAKER_00

It would be wildly appreciated for any of you maniacs, old or new, if you have not before, leave us a kind review, five stars, Spotify, Apple Podcasts. But then more importantly, maniacs, I want you guys to have a fantastic Monday and a fantastic week.

SPEAKER_03

Let's go cubs rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling out a river, rolling. One of these days, we'll get it.

SPEAKER_00

We'll do the mashup of rolling down all man, we'll get it.

SPEAKER_03

We'll get it. Until then, go cubicle, and then we'll get to the city.