Latest / Monday Morning Cubs Show / Cubs Sign Michael Conforto + Breaking Down 2026 Promotional Giveaways

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Cubs Sign Michael Conforto + Breaking Down 2026 Promotional Giveaways · Monday Morning Cubs Show

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: And we're clear.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: Good morning, good afternoon, and evening, Chicago Cubs fans.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to the Monday Morning Cubs Show.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: It is Carl.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: Today is Monday, February 23rd, and I am lucky enough to say I am joined by Mahoney.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: It's good to see you, my friend.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Carl Ditto, always a pleasure.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Happy Monday to you and the maniacs alike.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: This is, I would say, an easy show, but then when you think they're going to be easy shows, that's when they sneak up on you because we have like enough juicy little stuff from spring training.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: We're looking at the world baseball classic.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: Once that gets started, it's basically opening day.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: So this is like our last bullpen session.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: If we were baseball players, this would be like a light workout, light bullpen session.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Just trying to, you know, still get out some of the kinks.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: I got, you know, a little bit of a slight sore throat left over from, you know, that lingering sinus infection, Carl, but we're working through it.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: We're getting through it.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: And we're here to bring you guys a nice, nice, tight here Monday morning cub show.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: As a father of young children, and I'm interested in other young fathers, but you know, chime in on this one.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like what percentage of weekends do you find yourself under the weather?
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: In the winter time, it's um 65 to 70 percent during the winter months.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, that's a conservative number.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Might have been upwards towards 80 last season.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh that said, yeah, 65, 70% or so getting over something, fighting something, or it's just starting to maticulate.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like triculate.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: That would be like if you were a veteran starting pitcher and it's like mid to late August, you know, and you start to feel it in the shield, there's really nothing you can do about it.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: When the winner comes as a young day, you're just gonna get it.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like, just like you know, John Lieber in 2001, after he puts up together back to back to back 200 inning seasons.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like at some point you're gonna feel it.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's gonna show up on the elbow, or in the case of you know, some canker sores, if it's a hand, foot, or mouth situation.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's a tough disease.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, we're a month away from opening day-ish, right?
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like a month from now is when I believe the Cubs opening day, what is that, March 26th at home, March 27th?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's at home.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: So we're about a month away.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I would say generally speaking, it's the calm before the storm.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: I like spring training uh because I like seeing the guys down there.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: I don't really like talking about it that much, though.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, no, you're not gonna get anything but overreactions.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, you're watching, you're looking at different lineups that of course they're not gonna make any sense, or you're reading into actual scores.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: No one actually cares on the management level of the outcome of some of these games.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: They're just looking to get looks.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: But no, as we had alluded to last week, I like the stories that start coming out of camp.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna get a little bit more bang for your buck when in terms of quotes.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna see Jameson Taeon commenting on the Tony Clark resignation.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: So you're just gonna get a lot more sound bites from players on on things that aren't necessarily related to Cubs and you know, and the uh 10,000-foot view of Major League Baseball.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: But like, do I care Matt Shaw had a bad base running mistake the other day, turned into a triple play against the Giants?
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: People are like, Can you believe Matt Shaw?
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, do I care about that?
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: But when people say, hey, Matt Shaw, new leg kick, you know, maybe that's the type of stuff I'm starting, you know, like you kind of get me going a little bit.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I know you put together a good list.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: We'll get into some of that spring training stuff uh here in quick order of like, you know, what what kind of does cross the threshold to where it's like, all right, now I actually do care about that.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: I don't care about this.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: I do care about that, I don't care about this.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I think there's a fun little game we can play.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, big news with Michael Conforto getting signed.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: We'll get into some of the promotional giveaways.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: But before we do anything, we got to say thank you because there is no Monday morning cub show without Thirsty Vaquero, a Mexican-style soda with a signature spicy finish that's all bite, no rattle, and is re-upping to be the title sponsor for all of 2026 Cubs Baseball for the Monday Morning Cub Show, for lineup previews, and we're gonna introduce a Thursday interview recap show that I'm gonna do.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's just huge news to have Thursday with Carroll behind us, so it's an opportunity for me to re-emphasize to our audience if you haven't had a chance, it's available on Amazon.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: They'll ship it to your door.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: You haven't had anything like it before.
• 4:21
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• 4:35
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• 4:45
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• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: I couldn't be happier to have thirsty vacero on board.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, the maniacs, you shouldn't be happy happier either because here we go.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna be rolling the Thirsty Vaquero, baby.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: As soon as it touches the lips.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: You're a maniac, as soon as you have a thirsty vacero, you know what we're gonna be talking about.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: My favorite, you know, and I don't like to pick favorites.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but if I if I had gunned in my head, you know, AK 47 shoved down my throat, and I gotta say, I gotta muffle over the barrel, like where's my favorite saying watermelon?
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna take, I'm gonna take the watermelon jalapeno, but I like them all.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: The mango muerte.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: See, mango muertes, that's my favorite.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I like omangum muerte in the morning.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes, if like that's a first sip thing, you know, after after your orange juice or what have you, or to replace your orange juice.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: I love America Muerte right away in the morning.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: It kind of wakes me up almost more than coffee.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: Is that a fight we want to start right now?
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: Let's not.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: We just tell our audience, guys, your maniac, thank you very much for tuning in the show.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, if you want to throw a five-star review, we count them, we care very much about them, whether it's on Apple or Spotify, audio only shown show right now.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, maybe some video coming up this in season, but really none of it happens without Thirsty Vacero.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: I can't say that enough.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: Mexican-style soda with the signature spicy finish.
• 6:10
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• 6:11
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• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: Amazon will deliver it to your front door, and they will be partnering with me on all lineup reviews this season.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: Every time I sit down, we talk about the opposing starting pitching, uh, you know, and just daily check-ins on the Twitter videos.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: I will have a Thirsty Vaquero in my hand.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: Non-alcoholic, guys.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: All right, you're not gonna see me gearing up your vices.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, those days are past.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: That's up to you how you want to manage your vices.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just telling you right now, if you want a non-alcoholic, refreshing beverage, that is all bite, no rattle with a signature spicy finish.
• 6:42
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• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: So, with that in mind, Mahoney, I think the biggest news that we should get into before we play gimmicks of like, did I see this?
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: Did I see that?
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: The biggest news right now is that the Cubs did sign Michael Conforto.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: We were talking to the green screen.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: You had asked me one question, you were like, This is the guy, this this guy.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: He's the one with the hot mom, the MILF.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Incredible smoking, like absolutely smoking hot mom.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's the first thing I thought of when I saw Conforto's name.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: And not to be rude or disrespectful, we're pro MILF.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: Guys, I'm 38, going on 47.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, yeah, she's got big ones, and just an attractive lady, I think is the easier way to say it.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's just like a nice, attractive, older lady.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: I think they have West Coast roots, northwest.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you age better around that part of the country.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: So, Conforto, if you know Michael Conforto, if not like the the general uh public reaction of this guy is like, oh, that's the mom to with the bit with the big ones.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: I'm stumbling over it because she's just a real nice looking lady.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: He's he struggled as a ball player recently.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: You know, he had under 200 last year.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: He's a good looking guy, he's physical, big.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I was drafted, I want to say 10th overall in 2015 out of Oregon State, was teammates for a little bit with Matthew Boyd, had a cup of coffee there.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: They had a good team.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: I think Adley Rushman was a freshman, Drew Rasmussen was a freshman, Boyd would have been like a junior, and then Conforta would have been like a freshman or a sophomore.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: So he had like a really good nucleus at Oregon State.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: He came out, played really well with the Mets, and just since then, you know, when he was like a big free agent, hasn't really been hasn't really been that great, but he could be pressing.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: We have some different ideas about him.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: He didn't play all of 22 with an injury, um, but was like pretty solid up until then.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, he's got a full season in there where he's posted uh, you know, like 148, 122, 127 OPS plus.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: He's a very positive offensive player.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the issue with him is like stroke out strikeout walk stuff, like his strikeout rate is very high.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if that's playing time, if that's injury, if that's pressing.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it could be a whole combination of things that that lead to lack of performance.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: The most important thing is you're looking at a guy who's trying to resurge his career, and he obviously sees the Cubs as an opportunity to get consistent playing time in positive situations.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like he's signed with the Cubs because we're gonna put him against right-handed pitching.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna put him in a situation where if he does make it in the big league club and gets a bats, you know, we're not gonna be asking him to take 600 plate appearances a season.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna put him in a situation to thrive as a fourth outfielder.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that is if he makes the big league ball club.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's gonna be between, I would guess at this point, you know, and like this is what you got to take the podcast game with a grain of salt here, because like this is where Mooney would have a much better take on it.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: This is where you know, like somebody with the credential pass, maybe not a Bruce Levine, that's walking the halls and getting the quotes from people who work for the Cubs to kind of get an understanding.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like, like, is this Michael Conforto thing for real?
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm inclined to say it is, and if if that's the case, then it's between him and Chaz McCormick for the what would be the 26 outfield spot.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: Because the nice thing, too, again, we're going into spring training, we don't really have that many spots available, which means there isn't really that much place for discourse about like this guy's having a really good spring training.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe we should consider him, you know, starting the season with the Cubs.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's really just gonna be a matter of like, you know, McCormick hits righty, Conforto hits lefty.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: You'd probably want the left-handed bat if Conforto's good enough.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like it basically makes it much more difficult for Chaz McCormick, in my opinion.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, makes sense, and at the same time, creating some of that healthy competitive nature into your spring training environment, I think, is gonna be good for the organization as a whole.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, these players like they have a resurgence potential in Conforto.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: So looking forward to seeing what they do.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: The other issue, though, I'd say with Conforto is like he really has to hit to make an impression in spring training.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: There's just a small thing that's going on in my head is he's such a butcher defensively that if Matt Shaw is good enough defensively in right field from what they see is making enough strides, then I think it does open the door to take a chance with Conforto.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: He's got way higher upside than Chaz McCormick, where McCormick is a solid defensive player.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: You could plug him and he's gonna run through the brick wall type guy who has almost no pop offensively is not a threat.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: Now, even though Conforto was shit last year, struck out way too much, you know, weak contact.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: If he can find uh, you know, the the power stroke, or if he can get the rhythm, I should say, that allowed him to be consistently 25-30% better than an average outfielder, then it's worth the risk.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like then it's worth to have him on the roster.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: He's a butcher defensively.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: You put him in, I mean, he's he'll be our worst outfield.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: He's worse than say Suzuki, he's worse than Matt Shaw, even though Matt Shaw's never played right field.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: So there is in my mind, you know, is a little limiting if you're gonna make your fourth outfielder a guy who's gonna be bat first, where Chaz McCormick would be glove first.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: But the glove first out of Chaz McCormick isn't necessarily gonna be that important if we know that Matt Shaw can go out there and play an average right field.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: Does that make sense?
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: It does because I can't see like Chaz McCormick isn't gonna be coming in as a defensive replacement, like a specialist at the in the eighth or ninth inning where they're like they're looking just to fill a hole with their best guy.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: So that would that does make sense in that regard of why you know giving Matt Shaw on right field.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: This is one of the few things I do like about spring training, and not to rag on spring training, not to rag on maniacs that enjoy it.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, my perspective is like I know I'm gonna be in the 162 from the from the second that season starts, you know, until the world series goes.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: I will be doing the lineup previews, I will be doing postgames this year, I will be doing we'll have multiple shows and interviews, and I'm gonna get sucked into it, right?
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna be there every pitch.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: So the spring training aspect, it's hard for me to get like really ramped up for it because I just know like once the season, it's just they're just so diametrically opposite.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I don't want to make maniacs feel like shift, you love spring training, you should love it.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: I love going down there when you do get a chance to watch it a game in the middle of the day, and it's so utterly meaningless, it can be fun to check in on your ball players.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not trying to just completely shit on spring training to shit on it.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm saying this because one of my like favorite or last remaining or the things I really like about spring training are the stories of a guy like Conforto, who was once promised, once very good, former all-star, a guy the Mets were trying to build, or a guy who signed a big contract, a guy, you know, like somebody who was a guy at one point.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: Like now he's trying to reclaim himself.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like, that's pretty cool, and it'll be fun to follow, see how he turns out with the Cubs.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: That is pretty cool.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: It'll it will be fun to follow.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: And like that's something I read this morning, and I'm like, oh, that's a name I know.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: Look at the numbers, doesn't look like he's been doing so well, but it's great to hear your perspective there, and you know, to see him, you know, do something and and actually make an impact and have that story come out of this camp.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: That would be wonderful.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, you're we're kind of you're you're reaching for things in spring training sometimes to make those storylines even happen, right?
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, hashtag this.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's the club's thing.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's the we it's very strange to me.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's a little it's just hashtag the word this, T H I S this.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: I don't get it.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: I mean either.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: I think they're trying to get too cute or too artsy, too avant-garde with a hashtag this.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: And we've had some good hashtags before.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: We have last year's I loved, I can't recall it off the top of my head, but I used it you just have to.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: Be there for it.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: We're here for it.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then the nice thing is you when you make the hashtag online, then they have the cub C after it.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: You get the cub.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: How I how are they gonna get uh this?
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: Are they gonna be able to get a C attached to the hashtag this?
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: Well, what's gonna happen is we're gonna have like nice there'll be a nice play.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: Matt Shaw make a nice play in right field or third base, or Nico Horner's gonna be going up the middle, and they're just gonna clip the video in the hashtag it the caption is just gonna be the hashtag this.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's what we're walking our.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: There you go.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: There, that's uh that's a nicer play than I thought in my head.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: This it's kind of cocky in that regard.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: Say Susumi is a sackfly in the sixth then need to tie a Thursday day game against the Cincinnati Reds in mid-April, and people are like this.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: This.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't like it, you know.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: Ah, it opens the door too for like hashtag this is bullshit.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: It opens the door to just be like, why do we need a hashtag?
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: Do the white socks have a hashtag?
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: I couldn't tell ya.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: What was the Bears hashtag this year?
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think they have one.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: Did the Chicago Sky hashtag?
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not familiar with the sky's social hashtag.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not that I'm not too interested in the hashtags.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: I am interested in promotional giveaways.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: We had the list of promotional giveaways.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have a second?
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: Can we talk about this?
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'd I'd love to, but yeah, you talk about people overreacting on spring training, and then here I am, I'm overreacting about a hashtag that actually means absolutely nothing in the grand screen of things.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's what matters too, and there's people there may there are maniacs that give a shit about the hashtags.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: I saw this going around on social media.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: We'll we'll sidetable the baseball for a second.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: What do we have for promotional giveaways?
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: So looking at the schedule for 2026, the Cubs, I believe, were released last week the giveaways throughout the course of the year.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the first 10,000 fans need to show up at the ballpark.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: If it's sponsored by Budweiser, you gotta be over 21.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: There's very kid specific days as well.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: But I think this absolute marquee giveaway in the beginning of the year, lack of a better word, no pun intended.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: And Carl the Magnet.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's a classic.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: March 26 versus the Nationals.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: Classic, your opening week item, it's old school, it's useful, it signals the return of the game.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: And think about printed media.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: Magnets is one that's never going away.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: When are we not gonna have a metal frigerator?
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: Where you can slap a schedule on.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: Do you use your fridge?
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: Magnet do you have magnets on the fridge?
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: I have a lot, I do.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: I have a lot quite a few.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: I get a magnet almost at every airport I go to.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Whether they last or not, time will tell.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I'm a magnet guy.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: We keep our calendar on the fridge, and I use several magnets to you know, I use the calendar, I write in stuff on it.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we got the concert coming up, Pat Tomasulo Live, you know, stand up.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: You we use that to fill in events and check it regularly.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I secure it with a number of magnets.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: The nice thing about this magnet, it's got the full cub schedule on it, and I do like the color-coded day and away games.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's just nice to get a visual of like the home stands when you're opening up the fridge, going in there for a glass of milk.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: The other thing though, we open up at home March 26th versus the Nationals.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: Then we're off that Friday.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: We play again Saturday, the 28th, and I think this is premium.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: You want to talk about a premium giveaway, pal?
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: The puffer vest?
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's a puffer vest, Carl.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: And on March 28th, talk about a premium apparel item, especially speaking with the weather and how it could be at that time of the year.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: March 28th, it's hit or miss, might be might be nice, might be cold.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: The puffer vest is probably gonna work regardless.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, everyone's gonna be nice and cozy and wriggly in that sold-out game on Saturday if everyone's got their puffers on.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: Well, just clap, I mean, and to get the puffer out early so that people can go back to it throughout the early spring and have it for the fall.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: I think having a puffer in June, you know, that'd just be a terrible idea.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: There, that's probably I'm expecting to see some Hawaiian shirt theme.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: To have it ready to go out of the gate.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: The only debate I'd have is are is opening day more deserving of the puffer, or opening day you go magnet, game two, you go puffer.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: Would you want to see that flip-flop for any reason at all?
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: No, I I like it as is to be straightforward.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: I want the magnet on the first game and give me the puffer on the weekend when the ballpark is going to be maybe a little bit more family-oriented.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: Then going into April, okay, so we've got a smorgasbord of stuff coming out in April.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: We got a double bottle head.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: We have the DePaul and the Loyola hat, back-to-back days, which I think is a little unfair to our two local Catholic colleges between, you know, DePaul and Loyola, like somebody should get it early, someone should get it later.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_01: I think there's a little bit too much crossover there.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: But here's an interesting one Cubs Survivor 50 cap for the 50th season of Survivor.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: I promised Mrs.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_01: Carl last night, I've never watched a full season of Survivor.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: I th I said, why don't we get into it this year?
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: Why don't we do the best that we can for season 50?
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: So it's nice to see that promotional giveaway.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and they have the rag, you know, thing that you could put on your head to keep it cool or to give you shade.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's a it's a really nice Survivor giveaway.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: It goes with the show's, you know, thematic element of trying to stay cool, trying to stay warm, whatever you have to be, depending on you know their atmosphere.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I I can get sentimental about this.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: I won't.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: April 18th is the Ronsano bobblehead, uh, you know, the greatest Cub player of all time, with a without even like, I mean, I'll have the argument if people want to have it with me.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: I'll absolutely bury you in the process, but just nice to see Ronsano get some more.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: He should get way more love consistently, so that younger Cubs fans can be educated just about how much of a dominant force he was at third base while managing a debilitating disease that he kept hidden from his bosses and most of his teammates.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: And seeing the preview of that Bobble had Ron Santo clicking the heels, it brings a smile to your face like his voice did regularly on the air beyond his playing days, you know, calling the games.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and really the lastly about Ron Santo is what I do feel like he should be just as much up there, if not more so, of a character that lives on in Cubs lore just as as Harry Carey.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: So Harry Carey, everyone loves to celebrate that, the big, fun, shticky guy.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: Ron Santo is just as much of a cartoon character and uh an unbelievable person.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: So that's that's why I do feel like what you had said that he needs to kind of be present in that for future Cubs fans.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: To know who Ron Santo was and who he is to us.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I put that on the organization, but I'll carry the mantle just as much as I have to.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'll ram that down people's throats.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: I got a couple tricks planned up my sleeves for as far as celebrating Ronsanto as a cub and a career.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: Nice to see him get it early.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: I like to see him to be the first throwback bobblehead.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: You know, why is Ben Zobris the bobblehead on April 11th?
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that'll be that's interesting.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know how much it's presented by Julasco, how much you know about that.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's because it's the first kind of lead into the big celebratory year of the 10-year anniversary of the World Series.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I think they're just planting the seed.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's Ben Zobris on second with his hands in the air, and that's kind of gonna just tell the tale of more promotional giveaways to come throughout the season.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: Now, we don't have to go through one by one, but we've covered March, we've covered April.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: I gotta say this if you're not familiar with what's coming out in May, the it really opens up once you get to May.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: And the promotional schedule, whether it's the Cubs Grogu, Bobblehead, May 4th against the Reds, Cade Horton has a graphic T that's May 3rd.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: May 3rd's a huge day.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: We've got Celiac awareness, we've got the youth baseball and softball sunglasses coming out.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, obviously, May 5th is teacher appreciation days we've talked about, May 2nd with the Carrie Wood, but May 3 just like a runaway train starting May 2nd, going all the way into May 8th, because we have that homestand.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: So there's the Cubs literary education event on the 7th against the Reds.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: We've got the Jewish American community celebration on May 6th versus the Reds that comes along with the healthcare appreciation quilted fleece.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and again, we're getting really into the weeds here about the promotional schedule, but I'm just trying, I'm shooting you guys straight.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like we have a lot of good stuff coming.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember reviewing the promotional schedule when I was at Barstool and I did this long blog where I was power ranking the days.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm telling you right now, halfway through May, there's enough here where I can I can just automatically tell you we're making great strides on the promotional schedule.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of that probably has to do with the White Sox because they've always done a good job.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it's like, I don't know if we hired away someone from the White Sox to do our promos or if we took it competitive, but you can clearly tell the Cubs are move making moves on the promo front.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, and yeah, taking a look too, while we are in the month of May, that May 19th mental health awareness cap, it just stressed straight up, it gets in your face, it says, take care of your mental health.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a color, they're not trying to get anything past anyone.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: They want everyone to know, take care of your mental health.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: And it says so right on the baseball cap.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be trying to be there that day, Carl, to get my hands on one.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: I just they're comboing, they're using mental health awareness day, is the same day as Northwestern Day.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't know how that works.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know who was in the box with that, but um, some other good ones, Mexican Heritage Jersey on May 20th, the Sandberg bottle bobblehead on May 24th.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you get into June, the 1910s replica jersey is that is sharp.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's some really sharp stuff here, and let's just skip all the way ahead to June 17th, the Japanese Heritage jersey.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: Beautiful.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: That thing, oh my god, how did I miss this last night when I was scrolling through?
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of big tense stuff to close out June.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh July Greek heritage really pops for me.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the World Series pin anniversary, you get a surprise pin that's July 22nd against the Tigers.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they do something nicer.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: So with the World Series surprise pin, and this is what they're gonna be, you know, creating a market in and of itself with resellers.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: You get one pin, it could be one of four different pins per giveaway.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: So just imagine the worth and the value that they're gonna be creating on eBay for who doesn't get Clark the Cub.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you got a Clark the Cub.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's it's it's funny, but I I I love that idea too, because it does make it a little bit, you know, cooler for the collectors.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: So I would encourage maniacs if you do care about any of this stuff, check it out.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: They've got great coverage.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: All you have to do is obviously Google Cubs promotional schedule, and I'm ripe to complain whenever that opportunity is going to present itself.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: This is not it at all.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: This is one of those things where the Cubs do a really good job.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: The only, I guess, area for improvement from my experience, they do uh it's there's something funky about special ticket offers.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: And we had some engagement last year with some fans who were trying to get tickets to, I don't know if it was anime day or Pokemon Day or something.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: And they have issues where you can get tickets to the game, but you have to buy a certain type of ticket in order to get a certain type of promotional project.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: So I want to apologize up front if I've confused anybody or led anybody down a path of thinking that they can get something that actually isn't available to them.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: For instance, this season there is a Hello Kitty day.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: You have to buy a special ticket to the game to get that special Hello Kitty baseball jersey or whatever may be.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions, shoot me a message and I'm happy to walk you through the process.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: What else you got for me today, my homie?
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that was it on the promotional side of things.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: I do like how they're giving away those replica jerseys, like you're getting the 1910s and 1930s and 1940s, 60s, and so on.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: So I I really feel uh strongly that the Cubs marketing team has stepped up huge in that department.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's really good giveaway stuff, and it's a really, really big year with the 150th anniversary celebration along with the 10th anniversary celebration of the World Series.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: So there's our big nights on July 18th and August 29th, respectfully, for the 16 World Series and the 150th anniversary.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: But it's really cool stuff.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: There's always going to be fun things going on at Wrigley Field, and it's a great place to take you, yours, and your your family and whatever, but you're gonna be spending that money too.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_01: So know that it's not cheap.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_01: Now would be a time if we had another ad read, we'd slide it in here.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: We don't, if you guys get a chance, check out Stirk Family Farms.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: Promo code MMCS will save you 20% off your order.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: We ship direct all your natural health care or skin health needs, whether it's Wagyu eye cream, face cream, hand cream, lip balm, baby bomb, paw bomb, you name it.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: We got it.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's all natural stuff.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: And it's been nice this season for stuff to grow organically.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: We did a big drive during December to get some new customers.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: So now you're starting to see more customer orders come in from the original tribes.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: And then uh a lot of middle-aged women enjoy it.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_01: So whether it's your mom or your old lady, or you know, maybe your girlfriend's mom or something, sturkfamilyfarms.com.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: Promo code MMCS for 20% off.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: Let's get back to the baseball side of things for a second.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: I do I obviously I love the promotional schedule.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's good to draw attention to that because again, like where we're at in spring training, just not a whole lot that's going on.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I want to make it very clear that is such a benefit as a Cubs fan because for so many years, going back to spring training of 21, has been the question of who can fill in for this role.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: Will this person be good?
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I hate the discourse around someone who's had a good spring training like Gage Workman last year, had a sensational spring training.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: So now he breaks camp.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: Now we expect him to get A B's where he's just not a big leaguer, he's just not a big leaguer at all.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: And we're lucky that this year, and not to just isolate Gage Workman because I think he sucks, but just the idea that we have our guys in camp.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_01: The Craig Council knows these are our guys, these are the guys we're gonna be breaking camp with.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna be building a lineup with, so that's just an unbelievably positive place to be in for spring training.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_01: That there isn't any of this.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: Well, he's actually playing better than this guy, so I actually think he should be on the team and he should be in triple A.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_01: So we're just very I think that's like probably the greatest advantage we have.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_01: Now that will run into a couple problems.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh World Baseball Classic starting up, so the team will get divided.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_01: Guys are gonna go their separate ways.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: And then the second thing that we talked about, the green screen, was just by Asteros and some visa issues, which yeah, I don't know caught your your attention.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: It caught my attention, and I think it does go back to the overreactions to news stories coming out of spring training.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: I was concerned that there were visa issues, and how is that going to affect Belasteros' development?
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_00: I want him to be with the team.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_00: I know he's he's a big league ready hitter, and then I do read the quotes, it's like, no, he's hitting out there, he's fine, he's getting work in, and now he's here.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_00: So he didn't really miss much.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: It was an overreaction to me.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: You don't want to see any guys have any issues when they're traveling from one country to another.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it probably causes some unnecessary stress on that person, and I hope that Moises didn't have to deal with any of that stress.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: But from the sounds of it, he's comfortable, he's here, and um he's looking to contribute this season.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: They got some doing him some work behind the plate and at first base, but it was also Craig mentioned, it's very much in a reserve situation.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: Reserve reserve, yeah.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_01: Reserve reserve, yeah.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_01: Where it's like you might as well just be getting reps here.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: We're not gonna give you, he can't get reps in the outfield.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_01: He obviously can't get reps in the other infield.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's like what you can't just have this guy stand around the whole time.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, yeah, you can go field ground balls with the first baseman, but then people are gonna light up and be like, hey, I saw Moises getting reps at first base.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: What's the plan there?
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's like the plan there is he needed an hour and a half to kill today, and he's gonna need an hour and a half to kill for the next two weeks.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, another overreaction with Moises by Asteros, you know, and you're allowed your own opinion.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody, everybody.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_01: That's the beauty of this game.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_01: If you follow the Cubs, then you are entitled to your own opinion on the Cubs.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_01: Does it matter how smart you are or whatever, whoever you are, you follow them, you get to have an opinion.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so when they make the news that Boy Astros has got some visa issues, you know, some of the opinions make me chuckle, and those opinions are generally to the effect of like, if there's one guy who can't miss a single pitch of spring training, it's the rookie who's not.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_01: If there's one guy who needs to have every rep, if there's one guy who can't miss a day, uh, you know, I strongly disagree with that, especially as it pertains to Moises Biasteros, because the overarching thing about this guy is like he rolls out of bed, he should be able to hit 300.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: Now, is that an ex you know, excuse 280?
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, whatever.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_01: He rolls out of bed, he's a god gifted, natural, most talented, naturally gifted uh hitter in the lineup, I think.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, and that's something I started to go down that path of like fuck, he needs to be oops.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: There it is.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: First F for.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: He needs to be, yeah, I think it really is.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: He needs to be there.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like Moises needs to be there.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_00: And then honestly, I read Craig's quote and it calmed me down.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: It calms me down even more so here and you.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: He can roll out of the bed and hit the ball.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_00: And that's all he really needs to be doing.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: If there is one guy on the roster I'd feel comfortable with, just show if I had to pick one guy, just show up to opening day.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going through them all right now.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: It ain't Bush, it's not Nico, it's not Dansby, it's certainly not Bregman.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's maybe it's Carson Kelly can just probably just show up.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_01: You know, he probably has to get to do some yoga work or whatever.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like he's just at that point in his career, he's just trying to drop the barrel on the ball, send it out to left field.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_01: It boy biosteros is not far from the very top of the list of guys where I'm like, if you wanted to just skip spring training completely, and people point all your fingers you want, but he's a young guy, he's inexperienced.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_01: I'm telling you, it'll be middle April.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_01: He'll have 15 games under his belt as a regular starter in Major League Baseball.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_01: You'll know what I'm talking about.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_01: It'll be May, and you'll be so excited for this guy to get in the box, and you'll see how casual he is, how nonchalant, how um belonging he is at the major league level as a designated hitter.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: He's breaking into the big leagues as a designated hitter.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_01: The average age of designated hitter is by far the oldest age of any position in Major League Baseball.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's north of 30 for a reason.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: And that's because you finally get into a spot where you can't really play every single day, but your bat and your skill and your knowledge of the strike zone, all that shit, is just so utterly elite that uh you obviously you're an everyday designated hitter in the big leagues.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, those guys typically come with at least 2,500 career plate appearances.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_01: The fact that Biasteros is getting this job first full rookie season in the big leagues, I'd have to go back and say of all rookie debuts, I would guess less than two and a half percent of them exist as designated hitters.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, in this day and age, it just there's no way that that happens regularly.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: Ever.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think it happened whenever they invented the DH.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_01: I just don't I'm sitting here really scratching my head and saying, what are young everyday MLB players they came up and they never had to play the field?
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: Never.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_01: The Royals didn't do it with Vinny Pasquantino.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_01: He played first base and they were like, you got to be a better first baseman, and he's as raw pure hitter as it gets.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm just like, and I would encourage Maniacs if you can point to somebody too.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not talking about DH by committee where it's a rookie who ended up DHing and playing a little bit of the field, and they had a platoon situation.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like he will be the DH.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_01: He will get 500 plus played appearances.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_01: They will expect him to be the DH almost every single day.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, yeah, that's great for him.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_00: He could just kick it, hit baseballs.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_01: There will be times when Saya Suzuki comes in and DHs and Matt Shaw plays right field, assuming Matt Shaw can play an average right field.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but for the most part, it's gonna be Biosteros as a DH.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_01: And then going back to adding Conforto, his splits versus righties and lefties are are substantial.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_01: He's much better against right-handed pitching, is what I'm trying to say.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_01: And so if they can platoon him effectively and he can play a decent right field, um, you know, which I think is like decent, if he could play a slightly average right field, you know, then that gives you another different wrinkle where you could have him in right field and you could have Biasteros.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_01: And if that's against meat right-handed pitching, because the idea is we want to give Saya a day off.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like we don't need Seiya to have 600 plate appearances this year.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_01: We could we would love to see Seya Suzuki at 500 plate appearances and healthy in October with the legs underneath his body.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and and given that flexibility that Ballisteros brings, I mean, that should give Saya enough time to not reaggravate that quad, pull that hamstring, mess with his oblique because he is fragile, like you've said many times.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of soft issue there.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_01: And now, as we have the roster discussion, I hate to point this out, but the one area which I'm actually starting to feel a little bit weak about is first base.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not because I love Michael Bush.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, but we have no depth there.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_01: So what if he tweaks something or needs a day off or bad back, not an injury where you have to go to the IL, but something's lingering, and then you face three out of four days in a row, you're gonna see left-handed pitching or something.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_01: Now he's maybe he's a little banged up and he's getting run out against lefties, where like, you know, last year he's healthy almost all season and only saw right-handed pitching.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_01: So if there's one thing looking at the roster, I would like to see, uh, we might be too far past it, but we literally have no alternative that has any proven experience at first base to Michael Bush.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_01: Now people come back and say, why would I be worried about a guy who had a 145 weighted run created plus last year who, you know, if he's not making like he's in weak arbitration or he's not making shit relative to his value, why would I be nervous about this guy?
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we're gonna ask him to probably pick up an extra 120 plate appearances this year against left-handed pitching that he didn't have last year, which can then get into your other plate appearances.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_01: He had plenty of rest day games, et cetera, at Wrigley Field last year.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_01: And we just don't even have somebody that can pick that up.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_01: So if it's Jonathan Long, you know, so be it.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_00: But about Tyler Austin, who they brought on.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_00: I know I don't know if he's gonna be contributing all that much, but I do believe he's one of the folks that they brought in to potentially shadow Michael Bush when need be at first.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's that is the guy.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_00: That is that's the only only one, right?
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, in like Tyler Austin at there's a couple different ways to look at it.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_01: The first is sure he's getting paid 1.25 million.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we gotta be pretty certain he's gonna be better than Justin Turner was last year, right?
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you'd hope so.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_01: He absolutely uh mashed in Korea.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_01: So that's positive.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_01: He is good against left-handed pitching.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um I should qualify everything I said with Michael Bush.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_01: The backup option to that is Tyler Austin.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_01: He will absolutely break the big league camp.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_01: He will be a right-handed option against left-handed pitching.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um that doesn't necessarily make me feel any better than I did at the start of me saying And listen, I'm not even saying this is a bad part about the Cubs.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_01: It just do I feel bad?
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: How do I feel about shortstop?
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_01: I couldn't feel better about third base.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_01: I I love Ian Hap as a left fielder for another full season with the Cubs.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_01: I know a lot of people don't like him, love him.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_01: I love what PCA brings to the table.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_01: I think we have an extremely interesting situation in right field with Saya Suzuki and Matt Shaw.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_01: I think Moises Bayestero is primed to take over the DH role.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I think his relationship with Saya DHing and how all that'll, I think it's just a perfect combination of stuff.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_01: I love our starting pitching depth.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_01: I love our bullpen mix, particularly from setup through the seventh guy in the bullpen.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_01: I think our two through seven in the bullpen is as good as anybody's in the National League.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what's the one the one thing I would just be a little bit nervous about is can Michael Bush handle left-handed pitching?
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_01: How much does that impact the lineup?
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_01: So then the counterpoint to that, Tyler Austin becomes significantly more important.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_01: And then the counterpoint to that is he's getting paid 1.25 million.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like it is it's half a percent of our payroll.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_01: Half a percent of our payroll is gonna be the guy that now he could be awesome, and then this goes back to like, is our scouting department as good as you know, as good as I think it is.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's awesome.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's a nice to back to what your point too about just how breaking camp, there's not a lot of like, what are we gonna do here?
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_00: And those, you know, and with third base last year, we had brought in Mac Shaw, he looked horrible.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_00: It was like, we don't have a person who can regularly feel the third base position.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now look at the spot we're in.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like it's in we're just in a much, much better from a digestible fan perspective, not to be losing it leading up to opening day.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I could point back at positions again and add to what you're saying and say, uh, last spring training questions are you know, is like Dan's B.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_01: Swanson gonna regress.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_01: Dan's B.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_01: Swanson was like probably below his standards last year, is probably below how good he can be, and he was still a four and a half win above replacement player.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_01: A question about Nico Horner going in the season was like, have we seen the best of Nico Horner?
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_01: You know, is the league gonna figure him out?
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_01: He hit less than 10 home runs last year and posted six wins above replacement on baseball reference.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_01: He's like the most valuable second baseman.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_01: We didn't hit double-digit home runs last year.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_01: So now the argument is like, can he actually get better?
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like we saw guys basically last year in spring training, like, okay, I'm nervous about there's no reason to be nervous about Nico Horner.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_01: You see Dansby Swanson play below his standard.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_01: I think he has a much he can have a much better season than what he did last year.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_01: Bragman's only gonna make these guys better.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I could go down the list and just say, like, I have so much confidence in this club.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we haven't been this comfortable in a long time.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_01: Another reason why it's like spring training, it's it's great to see him out playing.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like literally the number one consideration is no injuries.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_00: That almost goes without saying.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I know I was gonna say that exact same thing earlier.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_00: The only thing I care about in spring training that I would care about that would be enough of a reason to overreact would be an injury where we had to freak out one way or the other.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_01: And going into the pitching staff, it's just same shit.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_01: I don't care if these guys are getting rocked in early March.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I don't I don't really care.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_01: The thing I care more about is I wish Matt Boyd wasn't on the world baseball classic roster.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_01: But how are you gonna tell this guy don't go pitch for your country?
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_01: Especially after the hockey game.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_01: Are you fucking?
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_00: Unbelievable.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_00: Top to bottom, women's hockey game, men's hockey game.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's it did pump up a little bit more juice into the WBC for me.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_00: I know it's no Olympic level hockey game against Canada, but the world baseball classic, if that could ever come close to what that brought us yesterday, man, that would be something special.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_00: How about it?
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_00: I think they're gonna be playing playing baseball in LA in the Olympics down the line, but we'll have to see how that actually works.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_01: A little teaser there for you guys.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_01: A little teaser.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_01: World baseball classic is important um for obvious reasons.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the thing that it does kind of uh takes away from is we're heavy favorites.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like we're minus 130, minus 140.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_01: I think Japan, who's wanted a coup a bunch, is they're this they're second at like plus 300, plus 400.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the hockey goal that was crazy.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, what were we?
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_01: We were probably fifth, sixth.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_01: I I don't know.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_01: I gotta I don't want to like overspeak.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know shit about hockey.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_01: I just know like Finland's good, Sweden's awesome, Canada was way way better.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_01: They they not say way we beat them, but like they were awesome.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, like 30 shots on goal to our 10 in the last two periods of the game.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not a hockey guy, I'm not enough to talk about it, but it was an amazing sight to see, and yeah, they pulled it off.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_01: So we're not gonna we're not even gonna scratch, even if they win gold.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_01: There's nothing the American baseball team can do that's gonna make me feel a fraction of what I felt yesterday.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, agreed.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_01: Now that said, going back to Matt Boyd being on the roster, you know, I don't at that guy's age and with his history, I'd much rather have him on a program.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_01: I'd much rather have him on a storing program you know, at Sloan Park than being in the dugout with the World Baseball Classic.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_01: Because at this point, there's nothing that's gonna add to his.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's a great personal experience for him.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_01: And me being a selfish baseball fan, like your great personal experience in the game is that you're getting$13.5 million to play at Wrigley Field.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like, there you go, buddy.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_01: You're getting$14.5 million this year to be a starting pitcher at Wrigley Field.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_01: So, no, I'm not necessarily inclined.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_01: I know I sound like a huge hard o to be like, oh, well, good for Matt Boyd that he gets his experience to wear the stars and stripes.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like, buddy, you get it, you get a you get a way better experience.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, you to pitch at Wrigley for the Cubs.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and no, no one's gonna look back that I could see and have Matthew Boyd's do you remember his championship world baseball classic, and he grew like just grinded six innings against Japan?
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_00: No one's gonna remember that like they did a hockey game yesterday.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_01: But who would I be, or who would anybody the Cubs be to take that away?
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_01: He's earned the right to go wear the start percent.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_01: So this is a we're in a weird gray area where I'm sitting here as a diehard Cubs fan being like, yeah, don't care.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_01: And he how much work is he gonna get?
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I gotta look more at the pitching matchups in the roster.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_01: But where I get alternatively, I think PCA's in a different bucket if he's gonna be in the starting lineup or if he's gonna get a bunch of plate appearances and he's gonna get to be around Aaron Judge and Bob Witt and all these great players, then that definitely benefits PCA more than it benefits Matt Boyd.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I could see that too.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm open arguing.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_01: My tongue is all right.
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_00: You're what my tongue is like screwed up.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_00: You ever get that like dry side of the tongue?
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_00: I went to talk just now and I started flubbing.
• 47:02
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for bearing with me, maniacs.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_00: If you guys can notice, no, I'm just saying this out loud.
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's like the side of my tongue.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm having a hard time talking.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_01: Bell's palsy?
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was that sore throat.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a continuation of that sore throat.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_01: We were pregaming one time at the baseball house in college, sitting around the Illinois baseball, sitting in the living room, you know, whatever.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_01: Group of guys.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_01: What were you doing?
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_01: A power hour or something was on TV.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_01: There's like eight guys sitting around.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_01: We look over, and a guy's telling a story, and you could see him get Bell's palsy in the middle of the story, and his face cleared.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_01: Oh no, he had to go to the emergency room.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_01: It was a it was a terrible situation.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_01: And he came and met us out later at the bars.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like, wasn't a stroke.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he was like, it's just fine, guys.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's just Bell's palsy.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_01: So we had we had a lot of fun with that over the next slightly, I don't know, two months he had it.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_01: Completely impacted his speech and his his entire existence.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_01: We didn't let it go.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's a group of guys.
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_01: We'll really let you know you got Bell's palsy.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, makes sense.
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_00: Guys in the baseball house.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, seeing that live though would be very freaky.
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_01: Live, getting ready to go to cams.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_01: Getting ready to go to cams.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_01: What's wrong with Ben?
• 48:08
  SPEAKER_01: The left's at Ben, go look in the bathroom.
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and then just the yelp from the bathroom.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_01: So uh this is the Monday morning cub show.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_01: We're we knew going into today's episode, not a lot outside of the Michael Conforto news.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_01: We have some promotional giveaways, and I hate to be salty about spring training, but what I can't not salty, but like I any enthusiasm towards did you see this against it?
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's all performative, and we can't do that here.
• 48:38
  SPEAKER_01: We cannot do that on a Monday morning cup show.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_00: No, and we have to pace ourselves for the 162.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's coming down the pipe.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_01: Especially if I'm gonna do this under the mindset that we should win 96 games, 97 games, 98 games.
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, it's it's a little bit easier when you're like, maybe maybe we win 85 and then you win 92.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's a little bit easier when you're coming off a bad season, like just give me average baseball, then it's good baseball.
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_01: But when you want good baseball and you get bad baseball, is when you want to jump off a building.
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's the thing, and that's why I could see my expectations are very high for this team, and I and they should be rightfully so.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if they aren't performing to the level that they could be, I'll tell you what, the Monday morning Cub show is gonna be pretty entertaining because we will be losing our goddamn minds.
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_01: We will.
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_01: I will.
• 49:32
  SPEAKER_01: The schedule's tough to start the year in April, but Wrigley's very cold.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be hard for these teams to play at Wrigley Field.
• 49:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's gonna be hard for the Cubs, it's gonna be harder for the people that don't ever play at Wrigley Field.
• 49:41
  SPEAKER_01: So schedule's not great to start.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_01: The other thing, though, I think there's more parody in baseball.
• 49:47
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I don't look at when I see us playing the Reds or the Pirates, I don't look at that and go, they suck.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_01: Those are easy games.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it could be schemes that day.
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_01: There's only a handful of clubs where you see, you go, okay, this should be easy.
• 49:58
  SPEAKER_01: The Rockies, right?
• 49:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we should absolutely steamroll the Rockies or you know, the White Sox.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's like we should beat the White Sox when they're on our schedule.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_01: We should absolutely beat them.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_01: But by and large, I think Major League Baseball is really in against all the I gotta watch the profanity.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_01: Against all the like love people show the Dodgers, you know, the Dodgers are so dominant.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, the Dodgers are very dominant, but I think the average in Major League Baseball is significantly improved.
• 50:31
  SPEAKER_01: I think the young baseball player is significantly improved and ready to compete at the big league level when they get in here.
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I it's all my long-winded way of saying I think the Cub schedule to start the season is a little bit harder, but I think everybody's schedules a little bit harder this year because I just think there's good, there's really good baseball players.
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, which is gonna make for an exciting viewing experience for us fans.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_01: So talked a little bit off the top, just gonna repeat this.
• 50:59
  SPEAKER_01: We will have we are Thirsty Vicaro is behind us for the entire 2026 season on the Monday Morning Cub show.
• 51:05
  SPEAKER_01: Would appreciate if you guys check them out.
• 51:07
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, would also appreciate if you haven't left a review on Apple or Spotify.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_01: Now's a great time going into regular season so we can get that we can get that little boost on those platforms when the reviews come in.
• 51:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then I am committing, I just don't know when I will release it, but I am committing to a second show um that's interview-based, and I am committing to post-game shows.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_01: I think the post-game shows will live somewhere else.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think we're gonna update post-game shows to the podcast feed every time.
• 51:35
  SPEAKER_01: Those might be live on YouTube, which is another thing I'm trying to figure out.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm I'm saying this because I want people to know there should be more announcements about programming, other than just we'll always have the Monday morning hub shows always gonna be rolling.
• 51:48
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna try and add some different stuff this year, some add some stuff to the portfolio.
• 51:53
  SPEAKER_00: And one programming note here, folks, I'm pretty sure Carl had been battling hiccups for about a 10-minute stretch there, and I never heard him falter once.
• 52:02
  SPEAKER_00: Talk about timing those things so that you never stop the sentence.
• 52:08
  SPEAKER_00: Beautifully done.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_01: Years of experience, Mahoney.
• 52:13
  SPEAKER_01: Years of experience.
• 52:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh let's keep it an under an hour.
• 52:16
  SPEAKER_01: I hope you have a I hope you have a good week.
• 52:18
  SPEAKER_01: I hope I hope all the maniacs have a good week out there.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, here's to you and yours, maniacs.
• 52:23
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go get it.
• 52:24
  SPEAKER_00: Have a great Monday, Carl.
• 52:25
  SPEAKER_00: Have a great Monday.
• 52:26
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see you guys soon.