I Love Mondays-Ep66, June 2, 2026

The return of SuperFan Tuesdays and "Treadmill Boy" as we discuss the Packers need to respond to the Rams trade for Myles Garrett.  I think they responded last August with Micah Parsons?  Also the Brewers are 22-8 since waking up at 14-13 and in last place in late April.  What decisions are in front of the Brewers??

Transcript

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I love Mondays with my heller. Broadcasting live from an undisclosed bunker in the Badger State. This is I Love Mondays with Mike Heller. Powered by determination and a little bit of duct tape. Here's your host, Mike Heller. Okay, so uh welcome in. It is uh the return of Supervan Tuesdays. I'll bring in that super fan dude here in a couple of minutes. He's been back. Uh we extradited him from Europe, had to go through there were attorneys involved, uh, but we did get him uh out of the country and the the stuff here that he's gonna face less severe than you know uh Turkish prison. Uh he wasn't in Turkey, but that was also they were in play uh on the concept. So it is uh I love Monday Super Fan Tuesday edition, and uh we welcome you in. There is some ground to cover today. The Rams made a significant move yesterday with Miles Garrett going to LA. It's the second time in about four years that the Rams have said, we don't need draft choices, we're going all in. The last time they did it, they won a Super Bowl. They might have been among the favorites in the horse race that is the NFC in 2026 before the trade. Now they add what is arguably the best defensive commodity in the National Football League. A year ago, when the Packers acquired Micah Parsons, I think we would have gone Micah Parsons, Miles Garrett 1 and 1A, and I would have gone either way with it. Miles Garrett is uh freakish, and I think Micah Parsons is freakish, but in a slightly different way. And Miles Garrett had always kind of been under the concept of I'm not, I don't want to leave Cleveland. And even in this last offseason, he initially said, I don't want to leave Cleveland. Then he signed the long-term extension, and then he probably said to him, Well, if you want to trade me now, somebody's got to take the contract. So I'd be okay if you find that to be what you want to do. Uh let's cover the the basis here with James. Good morning, Mike. Uh hey, James. Uh Vilker's here too. So good morning, uh, Mike and Tread, I think is what you meant to say. Same thing with Mark Benson. He says, good morning, all. Sometimes the uh second and the first and second L mix with the exclamation points, and then I don't know how many L's are in there. Uh Mark uh talked about UWM playing a great game. We'll get to that. Don't jump the shark here. Uh Spencer said, good morning, Mike, pen thief. That's true, Spencer, but I don't like to think of it as stealing your pen from last night's uh time in the press box. I like to think of it as borrowing and an appointment for when I get to return it to you. It's like appointment press box visiting. Next time I will come with a pen and maybe something more. So just temper the idea of Heller stole my pen. No, he borrowed it, and and you are very prepared. Uh he's an Eagle Scout, Spencer is. I don't know if if you're an Eagle Scout, does that mean you're always an Eagle Scout? Or do I say he was an Eagle Scout? Or do I say he is an Eagle Scout? Does it never leave you? I tread, are you no? Were you you are? No. Okay. Never mind. Uh John says, uh, what does John say? John says, good morning. And then uh my guy Michael says uh good morning. Morning to you, Michael. Um, all right. So I went to the ballpark last night. Hopefully, you tuned in to uh brew daily with Heller. It's a new feature I'm doing on a daily basis once the brewers game goes final. Within that hour or so, last night I was at the ballpark. So after Pat Murphy met with the assembled media and I had my hand raised, I don't go in the clubhouse typically with player interviews afterwards. Sometimes, but actually, when I say sometimes, I haven't done it yet this year. Um so when that finished, when Murph finished talking to us, then I went out into the right field corner and and cut my brood daily. So tonight I'm actually MCing the pairings party at the MFAM Championship, which is a tournament going on at CPC Wisconsin, and I'm uh gonna be down there with um the some of the people, all the people in the pro-ams that are finding out who they're playing with. So it's a pro-am pairings party. I don't get to play in the pro-am. I'm waiting for that first ever invitation in this, like the eighth year of doing the tournament. I've never been included. Uh, but tonight I'm there as uh that. So I will catch up. My my brood daily will happen later tonight um rather than you know shortly after the game is done. But we'll get to it. Uh so for those of you tuning in, uh I appreciate that. And we're gonna grow that piece so we can talk about it every day when it happens. And then when we get to the fall, we'll talk about the Badger game after, you know, Badger Daily, which should just be once a week, and then Packard Daily, which should just be once a week. So all of that kind of going on. Uh, I do want to thank my sponsors. And when we do this, uh I tell you how much I value their partnership. So onecommunity.bank, uh, our friends at one community bank. We do our business banking with them with red and white wine and bourbon bar in Wanakee. And we do our business banking with them with Heller Pod. So it's the I Love Monday podcast, it's the Brew Daily, and it's Sippin' Spill with Kari, which is coming back. Uh she did uh four episodes. That's gonna return here. All of that work and the banking is done with one community bank. Please visit them when you're making your next banking decision, onecommunity.bank. Also presented by M3 Insurance. I got a chance to spend most of Friday with that great crew at M3 Insurance and a golf event that they did uh that I got to be part of. Really good people. If you're uh in charge or involved in insurance and employee benefit packages, go to m3ins.com. M3ins.com. So for those who have struggled through a workplace injury or uh a concussion, sports related, neuroscience group is the place to go if you're looking for relief and to get your life back to where you want it to be. Their experts are fantastic. Visit neurosciencegroup.com. We're also presented by Pottawatomy Sportsbook and Casino. And I got numbers and futures to share with you from Pottawatomy here in just a moment, and also by Habish, Habish and Roter, 13 locations to ensure you get a hometown attorney that takes care of your needs. Habish, Habish, and Rotir. All right, look at this guy. Welcome back in. I gotta turn a mic on. Welcome back in. You were, let's just do a little backstory. I don't want all the stories, but you were, we did extradite you. Uh Habish helped a little bit. Uh we got your back. You were in Europe for what two weeks almost? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Four or five days in London, eight days in Spain, Barcelona. Had the kids, the wife, so we uh ate all the wonderful food. Yeah. I got a bike underneath me for that's crazy. Six of the days in Spain, climbed. I got to climb. Uh I told Mike that I'd be willing to give a full Tour de France preview, but he was a little worried about uh losing losing losing people. At least back in the field. There's not enough. There's some controversy. So I got to ride quickly. The tour starts in Barcelona this year, which is it's always funny. It's the Tour de France, but it often starts in a different country just to get things going, like the NFL plan in Europe. And it launches out of the city center in Barcelona, so got to see that. And then I got to do three of the climbs that uh they're gonna do this year in the tour, which was they'll do it at somewhere between three and four times the speed that I did. But it was cool. Who's the most famous Spanish rider historically? Because even when Lance was winning them all, there was a uh a Spanish rider that was always in contention. See, now I've there's there's stumped you on there's guys like Alberto Contador, but they're not that's contador is one of the names that I'm thinking about. Yeah, but Contador is on a span has been on a Spanish-based team, movie star, but he's uh Latin America guy. I think Conti is there's a bunch of Colombian writers, a bunch of Ecuadorian lighters, so yeah. Um, but uh all good getting back in the country. There wasn't uh any uh issues getting through immigration for uh, you know. Easy travel. Yeah. I might have had too much fun in the Delta Sky Lounge at Atlanta. Oh, well, there's nothing wrong with that. That was that's a fig, which led to a nice nap on the way up from Atlanta. Yeah. Uh Mike brings up that uh he thought it was great that Murph had the UW Milwaukee hat on. Yeah, he walked in. Uh McAlby must have been tipped off because he stayed out in the the uh the runway, the inner corridor between the clubhouse and the media uh auditorium. So he got the picture of Murph with the big smile on his face wearing the UW Milwaukee hat. They got beat last night by Auburn. Uh they had obviously advanced to the knockout stage of the regional, and Auburn had to beat them twice. They beat them super late Sunday night. They're the home team, fourth ranked in the country, uh, and the one seed in the region, and then they they beat them last night. Milwaukee, well, they had a terrible start to the season, and then they got to this point. And I brought this up yesterday on the show. I think a lot of people wouldn't even be aware that they're a D1 baseball program at Milwaukee. And I've fought this, not this fight, it's not a fight, but I'm more realistic about the there has been a long time movement to bring baseball back to Wisconsin. And I would love it if they could do it. But I'm realistic to the point of saying it's not happening. And there are many reasons it won't happen. They're the only Big Ten team without baseball, and I totally get that. It doesn't make any sense. But in today, in in any of the economic times since they dropped it in '91, bringing it back is such a dramatic financial undertaking. And I know that they've had people who said, you know, we'll fund it for the facility and scholarships. But it is a financial drag on a university in the upper Midwest. And I know that they do it at Minnesota, they do it at Michigan, Michigan State, West Lafayette, Indiana, all the Iowa. Their weather is no better than ours. But they didn't lose the sport when Wisconsin did, which is after Don Morton and very tough economic times. And Pat Richter, who is a very good businessman and a baseball guy, and a baseball guy, looked at it and said, There's there are only certain ways we can do this. And the budget shortfall. And to me, hate to be so pessimistic, yeah, but to me, it's not coming back. Yeah. So I'm, you know, part of the the dugout club in Madison and part of that charge is to bring it back. So uh what I'm saying is not very popular in that grouping, but I think that's the reality. Yeah. All right, let's jump into uh let's go Green Bay Packers first because the Rams made that move yesterday. And I want to um I don't I don't have the previous numbers, but let me share with you what this kind of means on betting odds. So this is from Pottawatomi Sportsbook and Casino Bet Above the Rest. NFC Championship odds. The Rams are now plus 310 to win the NFC Championship. Don't look at my computer. Give me treadmill, give me four of the top five in the NFC on the odds line right now. On the odds line. Uh so I gave you one. The Rams are plus three ten. Green Bay. Green Bay is number six on the list at plus one thousand. That's some bullshit right there. I'm heading a Padawany right after this. Green Bay is plus one thousand. The Bears, by the way, I'm giving you another one that's not in the top six. Yeah. Uh they're plus 1,300. The Vikings plus 2,200. So they're so I'm gonna go Philadelphia. Philadelphia is number four on that list at plus 900. I'm gonna go Seattle. Seattle's number two at plus five fifty reigning Super Bowl champions. So you got the Rams as the best odds plus 310. Uh Seattle next best at plus five fifty. You said Philadelphia, they're fourth at plus 900. Yeah. Uh by the way, as you think about this, I will make a bold prediction that Philadelphia doesn't make the playoffs. I think there's regression coming in Philadelphia. I think they're gonna get old in a hurry. There's some quarterback issues there because there are people that think he's not good enough. I think there's some infighting within the facility there. Not that I would know that. Um, but I think uh bold prediction here on June 2nd, Philadelphia doesn't make the playoffs. But they're number four on the betting line to win the NFC championship. That division's terrible. I mean, that I mean maybe Dallas comes out of it at some point. Commanders are not gonna be any good, and the Giants, Jackson Darts great if he's not concussed half this season. So you got one, two, and three. Yeah, I'm gonna go. Or one, two, and four. You're missing three and five. Yeah, and I I they belong here, particularly if they stay healthy, because the guys they're getting back are world beaters. San Francisco belongs. San Francisco is number five at plus nine hundred, and the Packers are plus a thousand, they're sixth. Yeah. So you're missing one team. I'm missing. And I also don't think that they're gonna make the playoffs. The team that you're missing is third on the betting line. Yeah. Um Jesus. Oh, no? Carolina? No, they don't belong at the no, and I don't I don't I didn't even go down to to list them. Uh, they're also the favorite to win the NFC North, so I just gave it to you. The Detroit Lions. The Detroit Linors are the third uh third on the betting line to win the NFC Championship at plus 850. They're the favorite to win the NFC North at plus 160, the Packers next to plus 215, the Bears at plus 320, and the Vikings at plus 550. If I'm making a bet in the NFC, how does that happen coming off last season, knowing we're getting like w why are they a better team? They win nine times last year. Did everybody everybody in the division win nine times? Detroit Detroit's a good team. I I'm not, I mean, they are a good team, but what did they do to get better? To have them. Yeah, I don't know. It's it's uh well, they they get Aiden Hutchinson back. I mean, uh to me that yeah, it's one of the big things. I mean, they yeah, uh that was significant. So health, yeah. I I would suppose. So yeah, the the lions in the division, lions are the favorite, and then the Packers, then the Bears, then the Vikings. There are a lot of Bears fans who are running and making that bet at plus 320. Yeah. I've said this multiple times, uh, and until it changes, um, we'll probably continue to say this. I would pick the Bears to win the division, but I think Green Bay's got a real shot to take that from them, which makes you look at uh Sunday, October 11th, a 325 game in Green Bay against the Bears, and it makes you look um at the second matchup on Christmas Day in Chicago. Yeah. Christmas Day in Chicago. By the way, did you like that release? The Packers playing Christmas Day in Chicago. I I'm neutral on it. It's a Friday. I mean, I'm I'm gonna love watching football on Christmas Day. Yeah. It'll distract me from my outlaws. Yeah, it's fine. It's I mean, it's fine. I'm gonna love it if we I'm gonna love it when we beat them. So let's go back to the original concept. The the Rams become the favorite even if they weren't already, and I think they might have been already, but they go get Miles Garrett. So he and this this kind of crosses sports boundaries about the all-in concept. So I would make an argument that the Packers last year in August went all in by getting Micah Parsons. Yep. They they went, they said, here's our chips, center of the table. At the time I'm doing radio, and one of the things that we all talked about was that Brian Gutenkoz was kind of GMing for his potential job. Uh Ed Policy had taken over as team president, and Gudekunst kind of said, Okay, F it. Uh I'm putting all chips in. Policy had to agree, they had to figure out the deals, uh, but giving up the draft choices, we're all in. And when they were 9-3-1 in December and leading by uh more than a score, what are they up 10 points? Third quarter in Denver at 9-3-1, at that moment, stop the moment in time. Yeah, third quarter in Denver, they're the NFC favorite to go to a Super Bowl. Absolutely. I I I mean, I would I'll I'll fight that fight. Seattle had, we all still thought that Sam Darnold would sink them at some point. Yeah, yeah. And he didn't because their defense was that good. But the Packers would have been the favorite at 9-3-1 and leading at the best team in the AFC, Denver, uh, by two scores in the third quarter. Yeah. And then Micah Parsons got hurt, the game fell apart. Next week against Chicago, they had Chicago dead to rights, and the game fell apart, and then they they just couldn't find the win column again, and the playoff game, we don't need to reconstruct what happened. Yep. But the Packers went all in a year ago. So for those, there were those out there yesterday, yesterday, that were talking about well, the Packers now need to respond. Fuck that. They already responded. They responded last August when they now are they in on a potential trade? Yeah, there's some conversation about the Packers being involved in trade talks. Yeah. But I don't think they have to. Yeah. I think the Packers, and they believed throughout the entire offseason, we can run it back with who we were, with a healthy Tucker Kraft and a get healthy Micah Parsons. And we can, the Packers, we can get to a Super Bowl as we're constructed. Yeah. They still might make a deal. Yeah. Thoughts? Yeah. Well, a lot of people went to, and I I don't understand this logic. I mean, I understand we got to make a splash. We made the splash. And it's when you make splashes like this, it's not that you're leveraging your future just because you gave up draft picks. And any Green Bay fan that is objective and paying attention should know that giving up some first and second rounders isn't the end of our future because frankly, we haven't hit on enough of them. We're really good rounds three through six. So you're not you're not. Let me add in, but it's also something Green Bay hasn't done. Other organizations have done that. They've mortgaged, they don't care about the draft choices. Green Bay has coveted all of their draft choices. They seldom have traded them. Go ahead. They've often they've mostly added. I mean, it's if we don't have 14 picks in a draft, it's like the sky's falling. Right. But you are leveraging your future based on the financial situation you're putting yourself in. Yeah. When you pay a defender like Garrett or Parsons quarterback money. So that that is the big splash. It can't happen. It it's generational talent grab. It can't happen every year. It can't happen every couple of years if you want to sustain a winning deal, a winning program. So we don't need to go out and get sweat. I mean, there's been talk about that, you know, obviously it's like, but we do, and this is where I think, and I'm not saying we need to make a move, but here is where where we do need to respond. Jordan Morgan, I wish I had a camera. Jordan Morgan, I'm talking to you. I mean, like you, you've got to be for yeah, you don't need another damn defender. You need to make sure your offensive line, that house is ready, deep, talented. And we spent first rounders on some of those guys. I broke, they've rolled dice. Go get Jonathan Ogden. I mean, like, there's you know, that's where we really need to be tight. They've rolled the dice on Jordan Morgan being a left, a left tackle that can hold up. You know, the the Last left tackle that you said, okay, plug and play was Bakhtiari. Yeah. And he he tears up the knee in a practice, yeah. Uh just right around Christmas and tried and tried and tried to never get back. Two and a half. So yeah. Um they haven't had, they plugged in a left tackle, yeah, with Rashid. Um serviceable, yeah, but not a go-to. Jordan Morgan is he's got to answer the bell on this. Yeah. Maybe he's your your left tackle for the next six years and you don't worry about it. Or maybe he's serviceable and you got no answers because there's no backup. Anybody that thinks, well, go out and get the backup. You can't get the backup will be him. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the backup would be a guy like him or lesser. Yeah. The backup is not your next starting left tackle. You you have to invest draft capital, and they did. Yeah. And the roll of the dice is that Jordan Morgan will live up to the billing of being a first round tackle taken in the NFL draft. Huge question mark. Huge question mark with Zach Tom. Yeah. Can he get fully healthy? Because he was a he was health-wise from a knee standpoint. He's a mess. Yeah. Was a mess. Don't know because they don't tell you and you can't see it. Don't know if he's back. Center, I like what they're doing there. I I like Sean, I like Ryan. Yeah. Um, and banks was an issue last year. They spent a lot of money on him. He was an issue, and they'll tell you, and maybe this is true, that it was health related, and he wasn't healthy till the end. And at the end, he was pretty good. Yeah. So they're kind of banking on all of those things coming together. What you did there, banking on banks. And and that is, it is the one thing, it's the least sexy thing we talk about in football is how does the line play? And it's probably the most important thing you can put on on paper. It's not both sides. Yeah. Both sides. You look at the Super Bowl teams 90, you know, 96, 97, the potential 97, 98. You know, Gilbert got run over against them. Yeah. And you look at 2010, 2011, it is it's all in the trenches. That's there's a reason. That is a saying. And it's not one side, it's both sides of the ball. Devontae Wyatt goes down. Yeah. In addition to Micah going out, and and we go from a, I mean, look what we did against Detroit game one last year, where Micah did that thing where everybody around him was better and he was great. Your secondary gets, you've got to be good on the O-line and D-line to win a Super Bowl. Or your and and I'm not worried about the five starters for Green Bay. I'm and Goody said this. I'm worried about week six when two of them are out. Sure. And that's that's always gonna be the question. Zach asks, what's the cap situation look like? So this is an admission from me. Uh I don't I don't study it. I read when people write about it. And then I've always trusted what Andrew Brandt has told me so many times on the radio. If they want the player, the money won't be the issue. It they can there are always ways to structure and to figure it out, to use the cap as an excuse for not to go get a player or to not draft a player, not make a trade of a player. Uh Andrew Brandt has always said that it that's what Rust Ball gets paid for. Yeah, he they will find ways they can maneuver. It's a little bit of a shell game. Yeah, yeah, there are cap issues, but I don't know. Brandt always said when I've had him on, uh, if you use that as an excuse, you're an excuse maker. Yeah. Yeah, and there's been cap casualties already. I I when I had this show all to myself, um remember that was remember that. Hey, remember when he had the show all to himself from uh 2600 miles away, I joined from the deck of a boat. 3600 miles a dude was in uh Spain and all parts of Europe, and uh did he uh you know, hey, um I can log on if you want me. Never never offered from the top of a mountain. Um I I referenced an article and uh I'll dig it up and see if I can get Mike to post it because it's by f it is a read on the cap situation. It was written January, February. Do I need a degree in finance to understand it? You don't. It it is deep into the weeds, but it doesn't do it doesn't get into the number things. It really addresses player personnel and what has to happen. And oh, by the way, and these weren't some of these calls weren't rocket surgery, but some of the calls around Jenkins and Gary came to fruition, right? So there have been cap casualties. I do think the team largely is in a good place right now that doesn't, based on what that article laid out and what has taken place, uh, but it's strenuous. We're not it it ain't easy to manage right now, and it would suggest we can't there, we can't go out shopping. No, yeah, not for not for the you know in Ogden, not for like the guys we were talking about. But they could make uh the the trade for sweat is doable, yeah. 100%. And one of the things that does is it if they were to go down that pathway, then you have a three-edge rotation in LVN and with Micah when he comes back. And we don't know yet, but I would think Micah Parsons, the the Packers bye week is well into November. So yeah, I I would have thought when the schedule came out, potentially the game against the Chicago Bears on October 11th, yeah, which is game five of the season, or game six, which is also in Green Bay, and against the Dallas Cowboys, either one of those might be the return. Or he could be he he could show that he's the freak that he shows on the field, yeah, and he could be back when you play game three, game two. He's way he's way ahead of schedule, right? That's all we've heard. You know he's biting at the bit. I I it will not be his decision to be on the bench day one. Game one. It won't. It'll be it'll be Delta protect him from him, they will, and the doctors uh will end up making that call on his behalf. Um, but I uh again, one of the things that we we that I wanted to talk about today was responding to what I sometimes call knuckleheads who say now the Packers have to respond because the Rams made a trade. What? That that's if you're playing the uh we're going to counter your move with this move, if you're gonna be reactionary in this league, I think you're gonna lose. You have to be proactive. And I think Green Bay was proactive. They were proactive last August when they got this deal for Micah Parsons. I mean, did you really think that that's what Green Bay would do a year ago was go get Micah Parsons? They did. Yeah. That's the move, that's the response. The the Rams have a track record, and they did this a few years ago when they made the big deal to get Stafford, and then I think it was OBJ that they got mid-season, and and the Packers were on that list, and the Rams won a Super Bowl off of those moves, and people go, Well, that's the model. Um, maybe it is that year it was, but nobody has the enough foresight to say, hey, if we do this, we're gonna win the Super Bowl. It's the same kind of I I get into this every year. We're um almost exactly two months to the trade deadline in Major League Baseball. And I get into this fight, I used to in radio, then it was a fight with uh Josh Albrecht or others um who would say, when Doug Russell, when are they gonna go all in? When are the Brewers going to go all in? And I would say, like, okay, what does that mean? Yeah, and if if you argue with me, or if you argue the point that says, well, with that's how you win a World Series, is it not for the Mets? Last year, not for the Yankees, not for the Red Sox, and they've all been there. The Mariners went out and got A Eugenio Suarez. He delivered three home runs for them in the postseason. Yeah, but he hit less than 200. Was that what we talked about prior to the show? Yeah, I called up his stats 192 in postseason, maybe after they acquired him last year in Seattle. He hit 1899 in the regular season. He did have um 13 home runs in Seattle, but his OPS was 682, and he hit 189. So he did not hit in the postseason last year for Seattle. Again, he provided some thump, which is I think what Brewers fans are looking for. 12 games last year for Suarez in the postseason. He had 10 hits, one double, three homers, eight runs batted in. He his OPS was 700. But even in the postseason season, he hit 213. That's an old gen batting average stat. It's an old guy stat, I suppose. But when you make the argument about uh the Packers and you say all in, I would argue that they went all in, as I've mentioned now a few times last August. As it relates to the Brewers, I brought this up yesterday, Tread, and that is they're so good right now, yeah, that they're threatening, threatening maybe, and and Vinny said this last week when he was on the show. He said they're gonna run away with the division. Yeah, I loved it. And they're certainly threatening right now to go ahead and make true on that promise from Vinny or prediction that they can run away with the division. But the question is two months from almost exactly today, is the trade deadline. It's the second or third of August. So and it's the same quandary. How are you gonna manage third base? Can you get somebody that thumps the third base? Luis Renjifo had a good night last night, but he's not been consistent. No, he's not been the guy. Uh his homestand two weeks ago was really good, right? Yeah. Hamilton is your do all everything late inning, bring him in to steal a base. Um I think that's his role. Yeah. I don't think he's your everyday guy. He's your everyday somewhere else guy. Yeah. In the regular season, and then he's your uh your postseason seventh inning. Uh, let's, you know, put him in after Vaughn gets on and see if he can steal a base. Yeah. Um my question is, what do they do at third base at the trade deadline? Right now, we haven't identified who might be available. That's the issue. But you know there are teams that are gonna sell. The Mets are probably in a position to sell, um, the Red Sox probably in a position to sell. Let's just see where that ends up. But the Brewers, if they go there, and you and I talked about this before we started the show. If you go there, you are in the truest sense of the phrase, you are renting. Yep. You're renting somebody for August, September, October. That player is not re signing, and the biggest reason why you're not resigning is you've got those guys. Yep. Andrew Fisher at Single A, uh, Jesus Made, Cooper Pratt, Pina, uh, Jet Williams. Yeah, you've got that guy, those guys. They're not. You could bring up Pratt now and play shortstop. You wouldn't be any worse off than you are with Ortiz, but you might hurt him because the evolution of a hitter through the minor leagues matters. It's not like other sports, and you put him at this level and he fails repeatedly and dramatically offensively, not defensively, you can you can do some damage. I think they'd like to be patient with him. That's why they signed him to the longer term deal. Yes. So Ortiz, to me, is likely your shortstop. I wouldn't be shocked if they brought up Pratt, but they want to have the option to say, hey, we're gonna send you back to Nashville. You can't just plug him in and say he's our shortstop for the remainder, the next, you know, 90 games. Yeah. The question is, what do you do at third base? And I do think that the Brewers are in the market. I think they might make that deal this year. I believe they believe that this team is good enough to win in October to be one of the last two teams standing. Yeah. And adding a bat at third base might be the element that pushes you over the top. Yeah. Yeah. We, you know, we talked about where we were last year at this point. Yeah. And in by early June, we were certainly feeling much different than we felt March, April, part of May, because the team had got it on track. And then it just ripped from there. It had an amazing. Well, we ripped early this year. I mean, May, May was one of the best months of Brewer Baseball in the history of the franchise. I don't think that's debatable, right? I mean, that the it what they did in May. Go go back to this. Uh, they woke up on April 26th, yeah. 14 and 13, and in last place in the division. They are 22 and 8 cents and five and a half clear of anybody in the division. Incredible. With uh 22 and 8 with an 88 run differential. Oh gosh. Um, somewhat, you know, three gate, three blowout games in that 88 run, but that matters. Everybody's got the same thing if they have a high run differential. Yeah, there, and you we talked a lot at 14 and 13 in last place. A lot of guys weren't back. You didn't have Vaughn and Curio back, and pitching looked right past the the sniff test, the eye test. It looked, we you everybody should have felt pretty damn good. Not as good as we feel now, but everybody should have felt pretty good about where the Brewers were headed, even though they were where they were in the standings. Yeah. Because we knew we were getting healthy. I mean, we and that matters deeply. I mean, you I want the splash move. I always want it. I'm a fan. I don't want it in Green Bay because there are salary cap constraints that are going to hamstring your franchise for the next five years if you make that big splash move. You can't do it. Baseball, sadly, as we've discussed, because it's so much inequity. Baseball, that's not a consideration. The only consideration is whether or not Mark wants to spend the damn money. And and by the way, the second consideration there is do you which prospects are you willing to give up for that fair? That challenge. I love it, I love it. Can he be the deal in one project? Nice five. I know. Um, yeah, so fair. So I want that splash move. I uh when I think about I have two hesitations. I concern's not the right word. When I think about where Milwaukee's gonna finish this year, one of those considerations or concerns is just who the fucking Dodgers are this year. It's just so we talked before the show, we knew they were good last year, but at this point they weren't they get bored, they weren't well, they were bored, they're gonna get bored at some point this year, they're gonna get bored at some point this year, and then they're gonna be who they are in the postseason. So that's a concern. And then how to, and Murph is awesome at this, so I'm not concerned, right? How to get everybody that's good at bats? I mean, look at Jake Bowers and Andrew Vaughn. That it's to the point where Sal had a good night last night. I think we're all waiting for that mean reversion with him at the plate, although if he falls down on that knee on the swing every time, damn it. Uh, and he's gonna um Vinny fix him. So you you it's like, how do you get how do you get all the guys that deserve at bats? Because they're so deep. Yeah, we took I I talked about this yesterday. Think of the the concept. So last night they did it again. Um in the roster, the lineup construction. I think there was a change yesterday. I don't think uh I don't think Yelich was in the lineup initially, and then he was, and Garrett Mitchell didn't start as a left-handed bat against a right-handed pitcher. Yeah, um, so they moved Churio to center. Yeah. So Bowers was in left field, I think, to open and Churio and center and Freelick in right. So the problem and the dilemma they face is Andrew Vaughn has been so hot, and it doesn't matter, right-hander or left-handed pitcher, so hot. He's got to be in the lineup. Well, Yelits is gonna be in the lineup, but he's the DH. They're not gonna play him. I don't know if he'll maybe he'll lobby to play a game or three in left field. He's your DH. So then you got Bowers and Vaughn. Yeah. And Jake played right field and left field on consecutive days over the weekend, yeah. And then left field again yesterday. But that's a that's a real dilemma because Garrett Mitchell belongs as your center fielder every day, and that means Churio is your left fielder and Freelix your right fielder. I say that with just a touch of hesitation. I know. Um there's a dilemma built in, and how do you handle that? And so I I laugh because I'm down on the field yesterday. Uh I got there for Murphy's presser uh that he does about 3:30. And then I go back out. Um, you know, and one of the cool things about um being there as media in the afternoon for a night game is you're essentially standing at the top row of the dugout, right? And you're just sharing stories. Like so I sidled up to Vinny Ricino and Steven Watson and Rock, and then uh Dave Fleming, one of the Giants broadcasters, he came over. And so I'm just now I'm just a listener, right? So those similar conversations are had, these guys have the same conversations. That's a fan hands. Yes. I mean, which is awesome because it's so rare that we we shouldn't share any of that intellectual strategic space with a skipper or a smart guy because we're fans and we don't do it for a living. And anybody that thinks they're a smart fan, that's fine. I'm a smart fan. Well, a smart fan is like an 18 handicap next to the guys out there, they ain't shit. Yeah, um because it's not what we do, because we're not talented enough to do it, and we don't have the experience, so we're double screwed on it. But it is awesome when those universes collide where fans and skippers and media professionals agree on a topic, and I love that I love that depth, and it's going to matter. I it do it probably knock on wood. Injury's gonna make it matter. Um, what do we got? Well, no, I was just uh so uh I I trying to figure out why I had brought that up. So they're out there um taking a little concentrate, a little infield after the Brewers, yeah, while they're still hitting, but then you know they're hitting um in some infield in between pitches for the hitter in the batting cage, and taking balls at second base is Jake Bowers. What he's left-handed. No, okay, listen, um, Mike Mustafa Travis Shaw. I mean back in the day, the Bruce moved some guys around. What about him at third? Yeah, there I'm trying to think that I don't know that there's a case to be made for the last time uh you had a regular left-handed third baseman. Yeah, but listen, just to get Bowers is really good with the glove, yeah. Uh, the problem with a left-handed third baseman is starting a double play. Yeah, you've you've got to turn the entire body, correct. And that five, four, three around the horn double play is such an important part of what you do. What are the percentage? I don't know. It's low, I know you know we turned to five, four, three this weekend. Yeah. Um, and I thought, man, I thought, man, I don't see that a lot. Yeah, I don't think we do. And I thought, wow, that's a hard play to make, unless it's an absolute liner down the line, which so our our listeners uh and viewers will help me out, but um Mustakis and Shaw both played at second base. That's my recollection. And I know Shaw did, but it was the shift era, so they would move them you know from spot to spot, yeah, and it was way different. Now you can't you can't be on the outfield grass, you can't be uh to the left side of second base if you're a second baseman or the right side if you're the shortstop. Um I wouldn't be shocked if they if you see some of those creative moves, and the guy to make them with is Jake Bowers. Yeah, because Bowers, like I said, played right field one day, left field the next day. His bat needs to be in the lineup, has to. He's found it. And um that that he didn't by the way, two guys didn't have runs batted in last night that were in the original starting nine in the batting order. He was one of them. He struck out tight twice and walked three times, and then Hamilton was. The other and he deserved an RBI. He had a couple of hits, including a double to the gap, but it was off a position player, and the base runners were running slowly. Uh tangent. I I asked Murph, and he kind of pushed off on it. I asked Murph postgame about you guys ever consider the idea that Major League Baseball should um insert the mercy rule. I have my hand raised. Like there would be traditionals. I was calling for it last night. Traditionals that would say, What the fuck? What are you talking about? Like, stop, leave it alone. There is no other sport that we watch in which a team waves the white flag and says, nah, we're done. I mean, nobody puts a defensive back in it, quarterback, for the the last 10 minutes of a game because we're done. But when you put a position player on the mound, and and I was gonna look this up and I haven't, and I I bet you the answer is no. Has any team ever put a position player in the pitch? In other words, saying, hey, we're we're giving up and actually come back to win. And I think the answer is no. Ever. And I'm not talking about you know bringing in a position player like the I'm trying to think of the right fielder that Milwaukee had used to be a cub uh who could hit. Um, anyways, uh again, I I go down these weird things. I don't have the answer for it. Somebody, somebody knows it, somebody will help me out. I'm sorry. This is uh early 1990s, 2000s, early 2000s. Anyway, every at every other level of baseball, we say, uh uh, you're gonna put a position player in if the rule is if you're down by 10 or Major League Baseball has a rule when a position player can go into pitch. I don't even know exactly what it is, but at that point, why not just say, hey, we're done, game's over. Um, what's the argument against it? Like, does the fan get cheated from watching a softball pitcher on the mound? No, the argument against it is a beer league game that breaks out, and by that time of the game, they're not selling beer. And it it all too often isn't tragic. Like that some, you know, guys overswing, guys can't hit 60 miles an hour, 30 miles an hour like they can 90. But last night was long. Like they were in the I think there were four hits, four runs, and four walks in that inning against Kennedy who Kennedy who came into pitch. I also wonder has an offense ever, has a manager ever told its offense to stand down and just got just to get home and get to bed. I'd I've not seen it. Thank you, Nick. Brooks Tesnik. Remember Brooks Tischnik? God, you're a stud, Nick. Um, I I think the argument against it is exactly what you brought up. It is, this is a game of stats. It's a it's a game that leans the fanship, everybody leans into it. So if you are ending games in the sixth, seventh, eighth inning. Yeah, I don't think you could end it before the eighth inning. You're still taking away. If I'm a hitter, you want to pad your stats in that scenario. You can't not want to pad your stats. I I I don't know how they feel, but I would imagine if I asked any one of them last night, they were like, especially a poor guy like Ortiz or Perkins, you want hits in that moment because all hits look the same at the end of the season. They do. Um, one other thing that can be added in there is um again, no team has ever put that position player in, I don't think, and come back to win the game. That'd be amazing if it happened, right? And we're only talking about the the eighth inning and beyond. Like you wouldn't, and like in college baseball, they play you you you would play seven inning doubleheaders, and at the end of five, if you had a 10-run lead or more, the game is over. Yeah, so you'd have five inning games. That that seems silly to me, but there were times I told the story before when I was a a junior and started to travel with UW Oshkosh, yeah, because I didn't travel uh as a freshman or sophomore, but when I was a junior, um, or maybe it was the sophomore year, I went to Platteville. Okay, and I'm thinking, okay, uh, I'm gonna dress first time on the road at Platville. We're gonna hammer Platville, and we did. We beat him, you know, again, seven inning doubleheader. Both games were five innings. We beat him probably 18 to 1 and and 20 to 2. Yeah. Okay. You you think that Russ Tiedeman, our coach, would say, Hey, Heller, go ahead, get up there. Let's see. No, he he did not. Tiedeman was and he was smart in this way. You you had a limited number of games, right? Because of weather and you traveled uh in March, that was it. Yeah. Um, every the starters got all the at-bats. There was no, hey, we're up 16 to 1 in the fifth inning, game's gonna end after this inning. Let's empty our bench and change. Not a chance, yeah. Yeah, so you earned it, you're a starter, yeah. And you wanted you to get all those at bats that you that you could get. Hey, I want to I want to give BA Brian Anderson a shout out. Yeah, I a French Open. I I mean, it's incredible. I don't think, and I know you have hold great, and you should great reverence for add to this Vinny for for these guys, but just another tip of the cap to the to the people, to the media folks that come out of the state of Wisconsin. Fuck, I mean, yeah, and I watch, I like tennis, we're not gonna just like we're not covering the Twitter France, we're not cut, we're not covering Roland Guerros, yeah. But damn, is he good? I mean, at everything he does, and to be able, to be able to go that deep and have the knowledge to sit in day in, day out, and call back, and not just know your team, know every team you're playing. And I know you guys do your prep and you do your homework, and you you know, it's not like it's just all top of and then to go and and call a Tiafo, you know, yeah, Ronaldi, whatever, you know, an unseated rando Italian guy that fucking wouldn't get tired enough. Yeah, it's just a he is BA's a stud. Yeah, he he is is so good. We we've we're blessed here with the talent that we have in the booth, uh, from Matt LePay to Brian Anderson, Twain Laravy, and Jeff Levering. That that four, whoo. And then I go uh uh then another layer deep. Brian Postick is fantastic in hockey. John Odis calls volleyball women's basketball. Uh and and I was there when he was doing the first volleyballs, and he didn't know uh, you know, when they said, Hey, you want to do volleyball? I don't know if he'd have known a volleyball from basketball specifically. Yeah, um, and then we get Dilly and and Vinny when they're filling in rock in there and rock. I mean, it this is why people often listen to games on radio instead of TV. But in unfortunate, yeah, fortunately, we're blessed on the TV side of things too. Yeah, we're we're very fortunate. I it's it is uh, and I've said this a lot of times, this is about uh a little bit um me driven, but I love being at the ballpark, you know. Uh Kariel say, What time's the game? It's well it's 6 40. So what time are you gonna be there by 6 or 5 30 or something? I said, Not a chance. You know, Murph talks at 3 30. I want to be in there. It's a very crowded office yesterday. Yeah, Timber Rattlers brought down their broadcasters and some of their guys because they don't play on Mondays. Uh, so the office was really crowded. Um, and I chose not to ask a question. The regular beat guys that are in there, uh, you often defer to them, at least I do. Most people do. Yeah. Um, but then going back out from there and visiting, like I said, like I did with Rock and Vinny and Steven Watson, who did uh the the pre and post last night. Um, and Watson's a big golf guy, didn't get a chance to talk to him about golf, but I will. Um just that those conversations while you're watching batting practice with the brewers, because the brewers take their BP before the gates open. Uh sometimes if you get in right when the gates open, you see the uh visiting team finish batting practice. Um but it's my fate, one of my favorite places like Nirvana. Yeah. For me, it's like being there uh is a dream. Like it's so cool. And then last night I sat in the first row of the press box uh right next to Kurt Hogue. Um McAlvey's just down the line. And yeah, it's awesome. It's pretty good. Pretty good stuff. Get a little pinch me moments, the stuff I get to do, yeah. Um, which is really damn cool. That's cool. And I'm I'm I'm thinking um uh of this as well as the brewers get ready with Kyle Harrison to go in game two of the set. Don't know who the brewers are gonna pitch on Wednesday night or Thursday afternoon. Vinny will be on with me Thursday. Um Todd Rosiak is on with me tomorrow. Nice. So there's a little brewer-centric uh Wednesday, Thursday this week with the guests, but they got a chance right now to just kind of separate themselves. When the season began, I did not think that this was the version of the Brewers team we would get. I I didn't think leaving spring training that they were as good as last year. And obviously, to this point, now, especially over the last 30 games, yeah, they have shown that they're better. Yeah, they're 22-8, and in that 30-game run, they face the Yankees, the Dodgers, the Padres, the Cubs, and the Cardinals twice. Yeah, all division leaders at one point or current. Hello. All division leaders, yeah. I mean, and and just the youth, the performance of the bullpen and the starting rotation combined with the youth, like that dynamic. Like it, it it feels like they can, and then you mentioned what the what what's coming up in terms of pipeline. It just feels pretty damn good right now. Yeah, it's really good. Uh, so many things are have fallen into place uh for this team, and for those, and I've repeated this many times, but for those who will judge only by what happens in October, I feel sad for you because this journey and the joy that this team is playing with and bringing to the fan base, it matters. You like the idea that it only matters in October is I I said this about badger basketball too. That concept, if it's yours, it's yours, but I think it's bullshit. Um, the the this isn't joyful. Shit. Doug Russell and I had this argument many times, and I 100% think he's wrong, but it's it's his world. I get it. He he doesn't think it's wrong. But he said he would go, he would trade you know, last place finishes for the next 10 years for one World Series win. Would you? Because you got to live through that 10 years. Are you done then? Are you no longer a fan? Are you avoiding? Are you not going to the ballpark? Are you not paying attention for the next decade of your team that's gonna average 100 losses for the next decade to trade it for one trip to baseball heaven and win the World Series? Because listen, I'm 62. I'm not making that trade. If you told me right now the Brewers win the World Series this year, but then for the next 10, they don't snip the playoffs. The season is over by July. They they won't touch it, they're gonna be a last place team for the next 10. You give me the trade, I say, nah, I'm good. Yeah, I love the journey. I love what the Brewers are doing right now. I the day to day. I hate it when teams like right now, if you're a Tigers fan, yeah, they have stolen your summer. Yeah. Yeah. Yours before you got to Memorial Day, your summer ballpark concept was gone. Yeah. We lived that. Yeah. You you I don't want to live that anymore. I'm not gonna say you're not a fan because I I do believe the world is great, it's not black and white. So if we so we're talking about a black and white scenario, you know, they have and have not. They have and have not. So I do think that those that have that orientation that are pissed off that Farb didn't get two Lombardi's and Rogers didn't get two Lombardi. It's like, I'm on board, I get that. And we wanted big splash moments with both those um, those runs. We kind of had them. We had Sea Wood and we had and we had Reggie White. But anyway, so I get it. I'm not gonna sit here and say I don't understand that fan's orientation or that fan's belief system value, what they want. But I will say this. They're not a true fucking fan because true fucking fans want to watch baseball every night. And they want, and they want to watch football every every single day. And if you get into this situation, look what's that look no further than the Milwaukee Bucks. Like I am a true fan. It is hard for me to hold on at the moment. I am getting bucked off the horse here. And you just live on that parade. Oh, that parade was so great. It was forever ago, six years ago, right? So I want pro I want sports teams in Wisconsin to be set up for in a sus in a sustainable winning manner. That's what I want. Yeah. Hey, it's good to have you back. Oh man, I missed it. Huh? You did, didn't you? I thought about trying to do that thing that you did. I just said you're on vacation. Go go go ride the bike up a mountain. I mean, I was drinking Spanish red wine and eating tapas. I couldn't, you know, like there was no there was no way I could get uh away for a minute. I couldn't be bothered. It's really good stuff. It's good to have you back. Uh let me set up what's going on uh the rest of the week. We've got uh Todd Rosiak in tomorrow. Vinny Rettino in on Thursday. I haven't set up Friday yet, but it'll happen. Uh might be a Nick Ossen Friday. Uh the recruiting concept with uh Wisconsin, the big official visit weekends uh rolled out starting last weekend, and that is significant. Uh again, I want to go through and thank our sponsors, our friends at One Community Bank. Go to onecommunity.bank for all the information for Feel Good Banking. Our friends at M3Insurance, M3INS.com. From your business's insurance and benefit package needs, m3ins.com is where you go. Also presented by the neuroscience group. If you are struggling with the effects of a concussion or spine injury, neuroscience group is your place to go. Go to neurosciencegroup.com and also by our friends at Pottawatomi Sportsbook and Casino. You saw the numbers we were sharing earlier today, and our friends at Habish, Habish and Rotier. Don't forget that tonight, after the Brewers game finishes, at some point within the hour or so, you'll get another brew daily with Heller that uh we've done the last two games, and that's going to be an everyday thing. I'm really looking forward to it. Uh uh, I love getting in the weeds on the brewers, and that gives the opportunity to do that. So we'll look forward to that later tonight. Kyle Harrison is on the mound for Milwaukee against the San Francisco Giants, the Brewers, five and a half clear in the division. Over the Cubs, Cardinals, and Pirates. The Reds are seven games back. So the among the larger leads in baseball belong to the Milwaukee Brewers. Thanks to Treadmill for jumping in here today. We'll do it again tomorrow on the I Love Monday. That would be the Wednesday edition. It comes up in less than 24 hours. We'll see you then. I love Mondays with Mike Heller. Broadcasting live from an undisclosed bunker in the Badgers State. This is I Love Mondays with Mike Heller. Powered by determination and a little bit of duct tape. Here's your host, Mike Heller.