Latest / Monday Morning Cubs Show / Opening Day Review + Nico Hoerner And PCA Extensions

Transcript

Opening Day Review + Nico Hoerner And PCA Extensions · Monday Morning Cubs Show

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning, good afternoon, and evening, Chicago Cubs fans, and welcome back to the Monday Morning Cub Show.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Today's actually Friday, March 27th.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's your host, Carl.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: This is our second episode of the week.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: This is something that I've talked about in the offseason that we're gonna do this season is two episodes a week.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Even if it's just me on a Friday morning, even if it's just me catching up an opening day game, talking about some of the contract extensions that we've seen, reactions to the batting lineup.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe we'll take some questions here.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Even if it's just a simple, easy lift, even if it hits a significantly smaller portion of the audience, it's a good exercise to do.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's a good exercise to have the conversation flowing throughout the season so that every Monday when we sit down with Mahoney, it's not like this over, we gotta get to everything that's happened in the last six, seven days.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and a lot of times in season it can feel like that.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: There could be a great game on a Wednesday that gets fucking buried, you know, and I'm sorry for the F-words, but the the function of this episode as we grow the Monday morning cub show.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: This is our third season together, is you know, we gotta have more conversations.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: And this is by far the smartest and most logical next step for more conversations.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Now it won't always be me.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: As I've said before, I want to do interviews.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: I want to do more interviews.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, nice talking to Big Cat.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, great having Alex Cohen on the show, but I want more.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: I want I want more people, I want more interviews, more insight, more perspective, more outsiders.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: I want to have some maniacs on the show.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I want to have local Cubs influencers.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: I just I want to have more conversations with more people on the Monday Morning Cub show.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: And it's logical for that to also take place on these days, on Fridays, on Thursday nights or Fridays.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: We'll get the release schedule figured out.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, fluid situation.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: So I appreciate you guys working with me.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I appreciate Vaquero, a Mexican-style soda with a signature spicy finish that is all bite, no rattle.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I got plenty of pictures yesterday on opening day of maniacs enjoying Thirsty Vaqueros.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: All got retweets.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: Cannot thank you guys enough.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Love you.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Mango Muerte.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Fucking love you, spicy watermelon.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Limon Lidron.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: If you haven't tried Thirsty Vaquero, you can go to Amazon.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: They've got three different flavors.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: They'll send it to your front door.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's um it's an unbelievable product.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I just turned 39.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: I've talked about this before.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Scaling down.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Don't really go out nearly as much or as hard as I used to.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Still like a beverage, still like it.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'll have a cold one, don't get me wrong.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: But it's like, you know, you want a little flavor.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: You want to feel good.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: You want to pour something in the glass, sit on the couch at the end of the night.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: I've been there.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm telling you, Thirsty Vicarol has the range to be something you can pour into your glass at the end of the night and just have it nice, nice little nightcap at Thirsty Vicaro.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: But I love it with food.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: This is the Monday morning cub show.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: This is a Friday special edition, March 27th.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: You can get Thirsty with Carol on Amazon.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Highly encourage you guys to check that out.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I won't bust your balls if you don't.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if you're gonna be one of those guys who's like, I like the Cubs, but not enough to support the podcast I listen to, like, I get it.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm over here shoving merch down your fucking throat.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm telling you to bet on parlays and asking you to drink booze and you know, sign up with a new mortgage lender.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: And when all these vices kick in, then I'm gonna offer you some mental health therapy online.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Those are the sponsors I'm gonna do.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's how we're gonna roll this fucking show out, baby.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Just cram vices down your throat and then be there with a suite of products that can pick you up later.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, okay, we have a list of stuff to talk about.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: Seriously, though.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Check out Thirst of Carol.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't, you're dead to me.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: So there's just a couple things we need to talk about, but they're huge.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: They're huge.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: The PCA contract extension dropping before opening day, the Nico Horner contract extension dropping at some point during opening day.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, we have opening day and saw the lineup for the first time, so we should react to that.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then we should just tee up with like where we're at with this series going in the next two days and just kind of grab uh some realistic expectations to hang on to.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, and that's a good starting point.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: So the Cubs got smoked opening day 10-4, and people are mad, and that's fine, whatever, especially if you went to the game, sat through rain, you know, and you've been so excited to watch them play, and they just come out and look like shit.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, you don't want to lose 10-4 to the Nationals.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: The Nationals are a bottom five team in Major League Baseball.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like they suck.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: And we should be a top five team, top 10 team, clearly, in Major League Baseball.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: So just right off the bat, you're like, well, we lost 10-4 against this team.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's not that that seems like, you know, however you want to overreact, go right ahead.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: The easiest way for me to explain this, though, is that you're gonna lose 10-4 teams.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna lose 10-2, 10-0.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna get spent, it's gonna happen.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: And it really wasn't that over the top of a beatdown.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, in fact, the Cubs, you know, have a lead going into the top of the fourth.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's just Matt Boyd giving up six runs, which blows because he looked great through the first three innings.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: And we talked about this on the prediction show.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: Is he better?
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: Is he worse?
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm sitting here going, told you guys so, told you guys so, told you guys so.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: But when you, you know, you give up, you give up, that's a crooked number, folks.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Six.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's as crooked as crooked gets.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's like a circle with a teal day on top.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's a crooked number.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so when you give up a crooked number to that extent, um, you know, obviously you just have to be realistic about that.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, lead-off double, single to center, single to right, walk.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: You're just putting guys on base after guy on base.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, you're gonna lose that fucking game.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I do want to make the distinction to say Matt Boyd is their opening day starter.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: Matt Boyd is not a one.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Those are two completely different things.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: You know, often they cross over where your number one is your opening day starter.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: The Cubs number one is Cade Horton.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: There's no doubt about that.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: The best stuff, the best polish, the best chance to shut a team down is Cade Horton.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: But the opening day starter is a big fucking deal in the clubhouse.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's a big deal to these guys, it's a big deal in free agency.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: When you're talking about I've started opening day for a team, is basically your way of saying I am the ace.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: Now, how would you present yourself?
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: If you were negotiating with the team, you say I'm the ace, I'm the ace of this staff.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: What would be some evidence you would point to?
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: Would you point to your numbers?
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Would you say, look at my ERA?
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Well, what if your ERA isn't the best?
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: You you can point to the fact you start opening day.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: I can tell you that right now.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: And this is my this is just my long-winded way of saying Matt Boyd gets the opening day start, lays an egg in the top of the fourth, Cubs get smashed, that game was just basically over from right there.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't expect that to be the case with this Cubs team very much this year.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: I certainly don't.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, it happens, you fucking take it on the chin, it's okay, it's opening day, but this does create an immediate challenge for the Cubs in 2025 or 2026 that I love.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: And that's they do need to win the series.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: This is the long win at starting point.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: We need to win the series.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: I say need to.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like, we need to come out, we need to beat the Nationals on Saturday, and we need to beat them on Sunday.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because you can't start the season losing a series to the Washington Nationals.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Now, obviously, you can.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we live in a world where that's very much a possibility after getting crushed in game one.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: But we're just saying expectations as we watch his team.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you can get mad if they play like shit on Saturday.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: You can get mad back to back.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: You can get mad if they play like shit for three games in a row.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: The point I'm trying to make is just let opening day be open.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: It happened.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: We got spanked.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: Matt Boyd looked like shit when it mattered, when we took a lead.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: First lead of the season, Matt Boyd gives up six runs.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, that's disappointing, but the nice thing, and this is hopefully what I can flex on these Friday shows, is just more of an education about how you can follow this team throughout the season.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: And so, yeah, I'm a little, yeah, that's that sucks.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: They got spanked.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, we got a game, we got game Saturday.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: We got big game Saturday.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: Would like to win that game Saturday, would like to take the series from the Nationals.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: Now we lose a series from the Nationals.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'll be salty.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be salty.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: We gotta let these games play out.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: So that's just the overall the ad this the attitude you should have about a bad opening day loss into an off day into Saturday, Sunday against some, you know, this is that's a cup take fucking team.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's what the nationals are.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, but at the same time, right?
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: They are big leaguers, they are big league baseball players, they're very good, they will hammer mistakes.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: The worst guy on that team is the best fucking player you've ever seen in your life.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, let there be no doubt about that.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: So we're just refreshing, we're reframing, we're reframing.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's Friday morning, March 27th.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: Weather's okay.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: There's two huge extensions that come into the Chicago Cubs.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: With what, a 24-hour window?
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: How exciting.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: How exciting.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: PCA and Nico Horner.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: PCA and Nico Horner like basically are gonna be Cubs for their entire is Nico Horner be a be a cub for his entire career?
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: That was a question too, because his contract is coming up at the end of this season.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: Now Nico Horner hit fifth yesterday in the Cubs lineup.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'll talk a little bit about the lineup and some of the observations I have on it.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: But first, just staying with the Nico Horner extension, and the most important thing is just the commitment and the stability, the fact that we have our middle infield for the next four years.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: Danz B.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Swanson, Nico Horner, up the middle too, with Pete Carl Armstrong, that's remarkable.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: And to have such elite defense locked in is such a sigh of relief.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's one of the hardest things to solve if you don't have you don't have good defense up the middle.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: How the fuck you go get it?
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know?
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: Where does that exist?
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: There aren't just great defenders in Major League Baseball.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: You have to hit, you have to be good offensively, you have to create value at the plate.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: All right now, because of that, there is not a surplus of people who are just fantastic with the glove.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: There were in the 90s, there were pre-major steroid era.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Modern baseball very much has such uh a high value on the offensive output that you don't see defensive specialists.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: You just don't.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: What you see is a bunch of average defenders, is what it is, in modern major league baseball.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: And the point I'm trying to make about Nico Horner, elite, elite glove that locked that up for five years to the prime of where he will be his at his best.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, maybe it's crazy to start defensively, but that's where he jumps out the most.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's just the presence on that field.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: Offensively, you know, we've talked, I don't want to, I don't want to predict regression, but you're sitting here expecting Nico Horner at some point.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: He can't have he can't continue to be a 5'6 win above replacement player, right?
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: If he only hits 11 home runs or 12, whatever it is.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: He's gonna have a bottom 10% slugging percentage in Major League Baseball.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: He will finish in the top 10 overall players in wins above replacement.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's what he did last year.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: That's crazy anomaly.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Crazy enough where you could say I would expect that to regress.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: I would expect that to go down at some point.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: Now, does that happen over the next six years?
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know, maybe, probably.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: I would guess at some point there's going to be this stretch.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: But the reason you extend Eagle Horner for six years is this the complete player, how good he is defensively, doesn't strike out, he runs the bases um extremely well.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't just mean stealing bases.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: I mean he first to third, scoring from second always, scoring from first on doubles.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: He's such a good base runner.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: And then fundamentally doesn't want to take a day off.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know, when he signed Alex Bregman, a common question to Nico Horner was does this give you an opportunity for more rest in the season now that Alex is on the club because Matt Shaw can play third base, Matt Shaw can play second base.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think they'll create a super utility role?
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: And he more or less laughed about the question because he doesn't want to come out.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, I don't want rest.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to take a day off.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: Baseball's a game where you get worse if you don't play.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I have to be on the field playing every single day.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's what's going to help me get better.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: That's why I get better over the course of the season is as I have my entire career as a cup, which is interesting to look at.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now that type of attitude, fundamentally, you know, six-year extension.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely, buddy.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: Would love to have you around.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Would love to have you set the tone in spring training about your workouts, your offseason prep, all that stuff.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's fucking leadership in modern game.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, leadership isn't yelling at someone, getting on someone's ass or whatever.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: Leadership is setting a fucking tone so that you walk in the room, you're like, oh, this is how they do business.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: And so the fact you got a guy like Nico Horn, I mean, you want to talk about setting a tone with workouts and preparation, career development.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: And the other thing, too, we draft this guy out of Stanford at the back end of the first round.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and he's like, that's a pretty hard core to crack into, or a daunting, etc.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: There's so many draft picks from that era that just like are completely forgettable.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: So you got to give credit where it's due.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: He's a homegrown kid, you know, and probably play his entire career as a Chicago Cub now that he signed this extension.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's badass.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: That also takes the chip off the shoulder, or I should say it it seriously influences behavior over the course of the season.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: Nico Horner's not on a contract here.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: He actually just signed his extension, and that's great.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because then that reduces the opportunities, press, feel pressure, nervous.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you have a bad month.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: Is it, you know, are you in your head more because you're about to hit the market?
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: And this is a guy who wants to stay in Chicago.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: This is a guy who wants to be here.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying because he loves Italian beef, and Chicago's the best city of all time.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's because he likes playing at Wrigley Field, he likes his teammates, and he doesn't want to uproot himself after having spent the last almost 10 years, you know, on this journey to be a Chicago Cub.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: So everyone should be really happy about this Nico Horner extension.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're happy about the Nico Horner extension, you should be doing backflips that they got Pete Carl Armstrong for$115 million.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: They offered him$100, what was that,$100 million last year?
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: He said no,$115 million this year.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: That was yes.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna tell you what I like about it.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you what scares me, but I'll tell you first what I like about it.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's fucking cheap.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: If Peter Armstrong was a free agent tomorrow, he would get a lot more money than what he signed for with the Cubs.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: Now there could be the second half slump might be a bigger story than I realize.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that might have a greater impact on his general marketability with other front offices than I understand.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: I know this.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: They said we're gonna extend Peter Armstrong, you're waiting for the details.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: There's no way I saw that as anything less than$170 million.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: $115?
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: 115.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so I'm sorry to react so strongly here.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: 115.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's low.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's low for PC.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's low for the best center fielder in baseball.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's low for a lefty with big power who can steal bases.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's just low to me.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's low, it's low, it's low.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, with the lockout coming, um, that's obviously huge.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: Here's another thing.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: I hate that PC was on the league minimum and sitting courtside with Caleb Williams.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: I hated that PC was on the league minimum and the most popular guy in the team.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: I hated that he was on the league minimum and quite literally everybody wanted to suck this guy's dick.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: Because in his head, he's like, fuck, I'm on the league minimum.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm better than this.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, move this ball forward.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: But the way baseball is structured is you can't hit free agency until on average your first six years in the league.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Your first three years are league minimum.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: Years four through six, you negotiate a one-year salary with the club through arbitration.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: And then after you go through all that bullshit, you can be a free agent.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: PCA was gonna be on league minimum for like two more years.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: No, PCA was in hitting free agency for PCA would PCA and nothing against like he was living within his means.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know, what's league minimum?
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: 800 grand.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's a lot of money, that's a lot of change.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, you're also not sitting courtside with Caleb Williams.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you're also not taking private jets from Los Angeles to Chicago to go to Bears games.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: You're also just not a Hollywood, you know, spend the money type guy.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: So like there is something with the Pete Carr Armstrong extension where like I do think we appealed to the fact that like, hey, you turned down a hundred million before 25.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: But now that you're a superstar in Chicago, like you probably want to have some more pot more money in your pocket, don't you?
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: You probably want to get paid a little bit more.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: You want him, you basically want to get that guarantee that you're gonna be a hundred million plus player.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of where I see it with PCA.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: It was like it's not just leverage or whatever because you had a bad second half.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: I think the front office or Jet, etc., was able just to leverage his status in a saying, like, it's sensible for you should sign this extension, we'll pay you fair market value, you'll get your 15, you'll get your 20 million a year, you know, under the exact specifics of the contract, you'll get paid a lot of money under this contract.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and I think for Pete, it's like he's just in his head competing against the timeline to get paid.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: We'll just accelerate the timeline.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: Now, because of that, you're incentivized to want to sign that deal.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: You're in cent, even though if they're like, hey, you're gonna leave money on the table seven years from now, you know, whatever.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: Pete's probably like, I don't give a, I'll make that money back.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he wants the money now, he wants to get paid now.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: So he did it.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: I can't, I'm I'm literally, I cannot even begin to tell you how surprised I am by this move, how much I think it favors the Cubs, and how much credit Jed Hoyer deserves for getting this extension done with Pete Carl Armstrong.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: Because as I said in a tweet last night, I mean, you guys just really think about how lucky we are.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: Pete and center, Dans be it short, whether you like him or not, he plays the game the right way.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Nico Horner at second base, Alex Bregman at third, Moises Ballesteros DH, Cade Horton at the top of your staff.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, this is this is next five years of this.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: You know, where does Michael Bush shake out?
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: I could I could go on this long-winded thing about I just don't know what we're doing with Michael with, I don't know.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if if I haven't even heard a sniff of an extension to Michael Bush, they may just be like, you can play here for as long as you're an elite first baseman.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: I think the second that Michael Bush starts to decline that they're gonna be looking for a replacement option.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: First base is a weird position, too, I should say.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's very competitive.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's why you see first baseman don't put up big wins above replacement because they're all kind of the same.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's very hard to differentiate yourself against other first basemen.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: You could be great with a glove.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like, sure, I you're sure that's important.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: Basically, you have to be able to hit in the middle of the order with a slugging percentage over 500 to be a first baseman in Major League Baseball worth of shit.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so I love Michael Bush.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm surprised I haven't heard any of the extension talk with him because I think he's been sensational to start his cub's career.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: But we're seeing the extensions, dude.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: We're seeing him at the start of the season.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's crazy.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: They had all offseason to figure this out.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: I would love to be a fly on the wall in Ched Hoyer's office.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because, in my opinion, it's they're building this slowly, um, coming out of COVID.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: They have no resources, they're selling guys off.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: Frank Schwindel's playing first base, no disrespect.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a good situation if you're a Cubs fan.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so what has quickly happened after we traded for Kyle Tucker and put a good field on it, good team on the field last year.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: That was a good team.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now it's like here's Alex Bregman's at there.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna extend Nico, we're gonna extend PCA.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Moises by Esteros is gonna be our starting DH on opening day.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: We're taking the risks and doing the shit that like I've been sitting around for years.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: We need to be more aggressive, we need to act more like you know, a team that commands 250 to 260 million dollars in payroll, a team that generates$600 million in operating revenue.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like we need to we need to be that.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: So with that in mind, we did see this team take the field for the first time.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: Some stuff on the lineup quickly and lineup construction.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the first takeaway is that Saya Suzuki's out.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: So, like, that is A-Line's our opening day lineup, but that's not the lineup.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like, that's not the obviously with Seya out.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: But it is a good look at my question is where would you hit Bregman?
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: Where would you hit Nico?
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I had that wrong.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: I thought I'd see Bregman hit fifth, they have him hit second.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: I thought Nico would hit second, they have him hit fifth.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: I do like Michael Bush leading off against a righty, because they think that's a nightmare for a right-handed pitcher.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: Because the first couple pitches of the game, you're really just trying to get strikes, get ahead.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: Feel yourself getting the it's just like it's like hitting a couple putts before you go out on the, you know, hitting a couple putts on the practice screen.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Or warm it up with a couple drives.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like your first hitter of the game.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Michael Bush is a thunderous left-handed hitter.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're a righty, it just kind of blows.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: You got to see him.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: Right into Bregman.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: Then they had Ian Hap hit third.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if Ian Happ hits third on this team.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if he hits sixth.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think he hits third.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: I think Seyo Suzuki's a better three-hitter, but I don't want to go righty righty if it's Bregman 2, say a three.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: Now I know Pete Crow Armstrong can't hit third.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: He can hit fourth.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: He can hit fifth.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: I don't like him hitting third because he strikes out too much.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: Now, why does that matter?
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: Because your three-hitter, as a as a function of strikeouts, is often hitting with a runner on first base, is often hitting with um I should say runners on base and less than two outs.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: Because your three-hitter uh is uh often relied upon to be the most complete.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: The most complete.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so Peter Armstrong is far behind that.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: He's just far behind that.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: So then the question is who can hit three?
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it should be Sea.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: I think it should be Seya, even if it means we gotta go back-to-back writings in Bragman.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: If it does go Bregman two, Seya three, Pete Carl Armstrong four, then you can hit Ian Hap five with Nico Horner six or flip-flop those two as you see fit.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I think as far as the first six are concerned, that's incredible.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: But the thing that blows is Saya's out of the lineup.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: The thing that blows is that when Say is out of the lineup, now we we truly don't have like a now we truly don't have a three-hitter.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I like Ian Hap.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: I don't shitting on him.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just saying you're not a big like you well, technically you are a big league three-hitter because you've hit third in the big leagues before.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: But for purposes of this conversation, you know, purposes of us being a great team that wins 95 plus games this year, that's that's not it.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that's not it.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: Say it is.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: So we need to get Saya back, and that that's the initial feedback I have from the opening day lineup is I'd really like to get Saya back.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: Is that just the most meatball thing of all time?
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: We're we're at almost 25 minutes into the Friday show, and this is kind of where I want to go when it's a solo thing, just so I can talk about and get it out there, get it, get comfortable with the takes that are out there.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: About the present news.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: You know, what's going on with the Chicago Cubs.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: And just as a function of um, you know, recapping, I just say, yeah, we got we got absolutely spanked by the Washington Nationals in opening day.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: Weather was shitty, kind just kind of a weird day.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: Would have liked to won that one.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: But the most important takeaway is that PCA and Nico Orner are on these just elite extensions.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'm still waiting for contract details on Nico.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: I would guess it's I would guess it's six years,$90 million.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: I would guess it's under$100 million.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's probably he's probably gonna make$17.5 million a year on average in this contract.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: How much does that come out to?
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: Ooh, that's way more than$100 million.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, is it$15 million?
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: He's currently making like$18 million.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you take a pay cut on that.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: Excited to see where the numbers come out on that.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: Again, just extremely pumped that Nico Horner gets to be a cub, probably for his career.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, PCA signing that extension immediately elevates him personally, just within his own brain, into the yeah, I am a big time athlete in Chicago.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know, make the league minimum.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: The league minimum, there are people listening to this show that make more than 800 grand.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like, and then once you kind of get into that category, like I'm sorry to say this, it's a lot of money, but if you're sitting courtside with Caleb Williams, it's not you're not, you're part of his entourage.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: I don't give a fuck how many home runs you hit.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: You're making the league minimum, you're in Caleb Williams entourage.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: No, you're a$115 million player?
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: All right, no, you guys are boys.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I say that loosely, but like I do strongly believe Pete Carr Armstrong, who grew up in an environment where$800,000 a year is not a lot of money.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: I I think a huge piece of the leverage the Cubs were able to build is like it's time for you to get paid.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like, we don't need it pussyfoot around.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: You can't be taking league minimum.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: We don't need to be doing arbitrations, we don't even he's such a fan favorite, he's such a club.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: People love him.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: Who doesn't love Pete Crow Armstrong?
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: So just get this done with.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: So every time you take the field, there isn't any of this performance incentive.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: You got to play well so you can get paid one day.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: We're just gonna pay him right now because you're gonna play well.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just the way this works here around the Chicago Cubs.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: And these two extensions, Nico and PCA, are unbelievable moves.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: And are these moves available if Tom Ricketts doesn't defer the money on the Alex Bregman deal?
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_00: If Tom Ricketts doesn't agree that we can defer 15 of the 35 million a year that Alex Bregman's receiving, do we have the cash on hand to execute one, if not both of these extensions?
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: And my I would surmise you would have missed out on one of these extensions.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: So if you want to draw it back to Bregman, go right ahead.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: Go right ahead.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, in either event, you guys should be very pumped.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: We should we should be this is so exciting from the standpoint of we know what we're getting.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: And for a long time, as Cubs fans, like it's been a crapshoot.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what our what's our planned.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: Damn.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: What's our plan?
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's been the question at the top of my head.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's great to see this unfold right at opening day.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: Nico and PCA.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'm calling Nico a cub for life.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm assuming PCA is gonna head down that path.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: More importantly, though, he gets to take a step forward as a guy who's not making the league minimum.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: So just so unbelievably jacked.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: Last thing, just setting expectations for the weekend.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: I do expect to come out, win decisively on Saturday against the Nationals and follow it up with a clean claim game on Sunday.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: Those are my expectations and predictions.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: So if we can get there, let's get there.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: Let's do it.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: This is the Monday morning club show.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: This is a Friday special edition solo show telling you about Thirsty Vacero.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: Go check them out.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna be back next Friday morning uh earlier with another show.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: Been working on a project for this other thing that I do and taking up some time.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody fucking cares about that.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: But we will be programmed on Friday mornings is the idea.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll probably have a guest next week.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: I just want to thank everybody for tuning into the Monday Morning Cub show for continuing to support us as we continue to grow this.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just for this season, next season.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: This is a long haul show, and I want to appreciate everybody who showed up and supported it.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then obviously, if you guys get a chance, Stirk Family Farms 20% off.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: All your orders, just promo code MMCS.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's my that's my family skincare company.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: All natural organic products.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: So maybe you got a little something on the hand.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: I got something for you.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: Beef Tatlo skincare.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: Just go to StirkFamilyFarms.com.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_00: Promo code MMCS 20% off.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: All orders, not your first order.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: All orders.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: This is the Money Market Cup Show.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: Go ahead and throw a subscription five star if you have it.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: If not, you know, I'm not a stickler for that stuff.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: Just make sure you have a great weekend.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: I love you guys.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you on Monday.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: Go Cubs.