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Bears Stun Packers, Cubs Land Alex Bregman · Monday Morning Cubs Show

0:05
SPEAKER_01: And we're clear.
0:07
SPEAKER_01: Good morning, good afternoon, and evening Chicago Cubs fans.
0:11
SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to the Monday morning Cubs Show.
0:14
SPEAKER_01: Today is Monday, January 12th.
0:17
SPEAKER_01: It is Carl.
0:18
SPEAKER_01: I am joined by Mahoney and how about those Chicago Bears, my friend?
0:24
SPEAKER_00: Bear stop, bear stop, bear stuff, bear stuff, bears.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: Just an unbelievable weekend all together.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: Bears beat the Packers.
0:31
SPEAKER_00: Soldier Field.
0:33
SPEAKER_00: Epic, epic comeback.
0:35
SPEAKER_00: I'm still relatively in shock, but damn, dude, is it just feeling good to be a Chicago sports fan on this Monday morning?
0:43
SPEAKER_01: Something I want to ask you about is that the best Bears game of our conscious lives?
0:50
SPEAKER_01: You know, obviously I wasn't around for the 85 Super Bowl.
0:55
SPEAKER_01: You were.
0:56
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if that's the best Bears game of my life.
0:59
SPEAKER_01: I know that that's the best two-hour window of a Bears game of my life with the Alex Bregman news, which we're going to break down in full detail.
1:07
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, guys, thanks for tuning into the Monday Morning Cub show here.
1:11
SPEAKER_01: Lot to get to, but it we'd be just morons not to start with.
1:16
SPEAKER_01: I definitely am willing to say that's the best Bears game of my life.
1:20
SPEAKER_00: I really do have to say, hands down, it is based on the excruciating pain that was felt throughout early on, losing hope, regaining hope.
1:29
SPEAKER_00: I've always been one of those dudes that does the math, like, hey, can we score, score touchdown, onside kick, score touchdown, onside kick?
1:36
SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, a Madden style of coaching mentality.
1:39
SPEAKER_00: And it's almost like what happened.
1:41
SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, it was just an unbelievable experience to watch.
1:45
SPEAKER_00: Beating the Packers in the playoffs is a major, major event in Chicago sports history, and probably the best Bears game I've seen in a long, long time.
1:57
SPEAKER_01: Ever, I think.
1:58
SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's a couple regular season games from the 2001 era where we got like the Hail Mary onside kick, another Hail Mary.
2:06
SPEAKER_01: There's some like really crazy games I can remember from a regular season standpoint, but I don't remember like a comebacks.
2:12
SPEAKER_01: When the Bears are good, we usually steamroll teams.
2:15
SPEAKER_01: When the Bears are good, it's usually like you don't belong on the field with the Chicago Bears because the defense is just so dominant.
2:21
SPEAKER_01: But this cardiac stuff, this comes from behind this 25 points in the fourth quarter.
2:25
SPEAKER_01: This is dark black magic.
2:27
SPEAKER_01: This is this is this is the type of stuff that makes you think like this could be a Super Bowl run.
2:32
SPEAKER_00: It could be a Super Bowl run.
2:34
SPEAKER_00: The team has something special, and you can't deny that at this point.
2:39
SPEAKER_00: Seven come back from behind wins, you know, in the fourth quarter or overtime.
2:44
SPEAKER_00: That's the most that's ever been done in NFL history.
2:47
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it's a special team, it can be done.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: Only other memory I have that could maybe push this one to number two would be the NFC championship game against the Saints when we were going to the Super Bowl.
2:58
SPEAKER_00: It started snowing.
3:00
SPEAKER_00: That was a magical atmosphere.
3:01
SPEAKER_00: Now, beating the Packers in the playoffs might taste even sweeter.
3:06
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
3:07
SPEAKER_00: So I think that's just one of those things.
3:08
SPEAKER_00: Hey, I'm that's a fine argument that I can debate myself, you know, internally for the rest of my life.
3:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we'll revisit this later.
3:16
SPEAKER_01: For now, you know, pinch myself.
3:19
SPEAKER_01: Now, what did lessen the fact that it's 21-3.
3:22
SPEAKER_01: I mean, bears are getting smoked.
3:23
SPEAKER_01: And it's just very frustrating how this happens over and again.
3:27
SPEAKER_01: And this is a Cub show, and this is where it comes in.
3:30
SPEAKER_01: I thought people were trolling me at first.
3:32
SPEAKER_01: Thank God Passan was on it right away.
3:35
SPEAKER_01: Because I couldn't have dealt with speculation that the Cubs were signing Bregman.
3:38
SPEAKER_01: It was official in the second half.
3:41
SPEAKER_01: I believe halftime going into second half made official Cubs signed Alex Bregman.
3:45
SPEAKER_01: That's why I'm willing to say, with the combination of the Bregman news into the Bears comeback, notwithstanding winning a championship for any sport, I'm trying to think if there's a better two-hour window.
3:56
SPEAKER_01: Maybe when Jordan said he was coming back.
3:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the I'm back.
4:01
SPEAKER_00: That was just you know, on your doorstep in the newspaper.
4:05
SPEAKER_00: That's how people found out back in the day, really, unless they were watching live news when it broke.
4:10
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, dude, it's just something else.
4:13
SPEAKER_00: But I mean, think about it though.
4:15
SPEAKER_00: It's like here's a good set.
4:16
SPEAKER_00: The perfect segue is during the Bears game, the Cubs signed one of their biggest free agent signings in their history.
4:22
unknown: Yeah.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: What was happening?
4:23
SPEAKER_00: I was in such shock after the Bears game.
4:25
SPEAKER_00: I thought the Bregman thing was a dream the next day.
4:28
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, I was all over the map there.
4:30
SPEAKER_00: Not really.
4:31
SPEAKER_00: My dad had texted me the stuff, but yeah, but I think it's fair.
4:33
SPEAKER_01: I don't think the Bregman stuff has really resonated with me yet.
4:37
SPEAKER_01: I don't not at all.
4:38
SPEAKER_01: Again, let's take a step back for a second.
4:40
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, say thank you to our good friends at Thirsty Vicero, the official sponsor of all Monday morning cub shows.
4:45
SPEAKER_01: And I've gotten some great feedback from our uh from our maniacs.
4:49
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, we don't celebrate addiction too much, but if you are gonna have a taste or a certain, you know, gravitate towards a certain beverage, why not a non-alcoholic Mexican style soda with the signature spicy finish that's all bite, no rattle with three bold flavors, Mahoney?
5:05
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, man, it's one of the premier drinks in my household at any party I go to.
5:10
SPEAKER_00: The bite, it hits your tongue.
5:12
SPEAKER_00: You can feel it in your nostrils and your sinuses.
5:15
SPEAKER_00: It tastes amazing, and it's just a pleasurable beverage experience through and through.
5:22
SPEAKER_01: Two different cuisines.
5:23
SPEAKER_01: I had a Thirsty Vicario at the Buffalo chicken sandwich on Friday night, hit tremendously well.
5:29
SPEAKER_01: The balance, the spices, the profile, the kick.
5:32
SPEAKER_01: But then last night had some Asian food and went with a chili lime.
5:37
SPEAKER_01: And I really, as I as I'm talking about different types of foods, it matches well with so many different things because the profile, the flavor profile, etc.
5:46
SPEAKER_01: Non-alcoholic.
5:47
SPEAKER_01: Now you can mix it.
5:48
SPEAKER_01: You want to mix it, mix it, go right ahead.
5:50
SPEAKER_01: I know a lot of people were drinking Thirsty Vaquero during the Bears game Saturday night.
5:54
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna have Thirsty Vaqueros rolling this Sunday for the Bears game.
5:57
SPEAKER_01: It is a good vibe beverage.
5:59
SPEAKER_01: If you do order right now, Monday, you will have your Thirsty Vaquero for next Sunday.
6:04
SPEAKER_01: You can get it on Amazon, support the Chicago Bears, support the Monday morning cub show.
6:09
SPEAKER_01: You know, since we partnered with Thirsty Vacero, we got Alex Bregman, we're in the playoffs, we're beating the Packers, we're rolling, we're winning the division, things are up and up.
6:17
SPEAKER_01: So get on board, get yourself some Thirsty Vacero.
6:21
SPEAKER_00: Get on board or get out.
6:23
SPEAKER_00: No, don't get out, but you get for Thirsty Vacero.
6:26
SPEAKER_00: I promise you're gonna love it.
6:27
SPEAKER_00: All that said, Carl, I mean, ball or strike, dude.
6:31
SPEAKER_00: You goaded, you goaded G O D G O A D Tom Ricketts into spending some money this offseason.
6:39
SPEAKER_01: Maybe we're a little early ahead of schedule, you know.
6:43
SPEAKER_01: Let's take a step back.
6:44
SPEAKER_01: I do, I don't know if I need, I should probably apologize to maniacs.
6:48
SPEAKER_01: If I owe anybody an apology, it's to myself, to you, to maniacs, because I had pushed us into a corner to say don't expect anything.
6:54
SPEAKER_01: But at the same time, it is like Christmas as a kid where your dad's like, nothing's coming, and then all of a sudden you wake up and it's like bicycle and 64, it hits, right?
7:02
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, I don't want to be too sorry because it is a great surprise.
7:05
SPEAKER_01: But at the same event, I was wrong about where we're at in the timeline of COVID cash recovery.
7:11
SPEAKER_01: And I had said, I hope, I mean, I hope it would be in 2027.
7:16
SPEAKER_01: I said last episode after Edward Cabrera, clearly we were probably at least two years away, one to two years away from getting back to where we could spend in the tier that's underneath the Yankees, the Dodgers, and the Mets, because those are the three teams that comfortably blow past luxury tax thresholds and just don't give a fuck about payroll.
7:37
SPEAKER_01: And then there's another category.
7:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there's a category under that Braves, Blue Jays, Padres, Phillies, that the Cubs have kind of fallen out over the last couple years.
7:46
SPEAKER_01: And so I thought sincerely that we were one to two years away from being able to get back into that based on cash and in the Ricketts family.
7:54
SPEAKER_01: I was wrong, Mahoney.
7:55
SPEAKER_01: We're there right now.
7:56
SPEAKER_01: We're at$243 million for the luxury tax, which is$244, which means a guarantee of one of two things.
8:04
SPEAKER_01: We're either going to trade somebody to get under that or we're gonna go over it because we still need to add guys going into spring training and obviously going into the trade deadline midseason.
8:13
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, hand up, I got it wrong, Mahoney.
8:17
SPEAKER_00: Hey man, I was rolling with that narrative because it made a ton of sense if you you know listen to a lot of you know your breakdowns and such, but that's something that I'm happy to be wrong about.
8:28
SPEAKER_00: And Tom River Briggs had opened up the pocketbook, and it's something that uh you're not used to.
8:35
SPEAKER_00: It's the biggest contract since Dansby, you know, before that Jason Hayward, and it's just uh it's nice to see that he's looking to compete.
8:45
SPEAKER_01: It's the third biggest contract in Chicago Cubs history behind Hayward, Swanson, and then Bregman.
8:51
SPEAKER_01: Hayward got 184, Swanson 177.
8:54
SPEAKER_01: Now Bregman's 175, but it is the biggest contract in terms of average salary per year.
9:01
SPEAKER_01: There's some deferrals, but generally speaking, it's$35 million a year.
9:05
SPEAKER_01: It's probably closer to$28 million a year in cash.
9:09
SPEAKER_01: And then I think the net present value for purposes of AAV for determining payroll, it's around$30,$31 million, which any event is more money than they've committed to any specific player ever in the in the team history.
9:23
SPEAKER_01: Now, there's a good reason for that.
9:24
SPEAKER_01: I I want to get into him as a player a little bit, you know, obviously, and then the ramifications for what the lineup looks like and Matt Shaw, but you know, words out of my mouth here.
9:34
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
9:35
SPEAKER_01: I it's good to do this with you because I do feel bad.
9:38
SPEAKER_01: I mean, for like I've been on it this offseason.
9:41
SPEAKER_01: Like, this offseason sucks.
9:42
SPEAKER_01: Like, I'll see you guys in spring training.
9:44
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna be in the bullpen, we're gonna be run prevention, we're gonna be, you know, we're gonna see what biasteros is.
9:49
SPEAKER_01: We might make a move at the trade deadline.
9:51
SPEAKER_01: I was so wrong about where we're at as an organization ready to compete.
9:57
SPEAKER_01: And I'm trying to look back and see what could I have interpreted differently, and maybe the nationals not being able to get our VP pitching guy, they were trying to get him to make their pitching coach, and we double down and made him an executive and spent a ton of money.
10:10
SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to look for tea leaves along the way where it's like the organization knew it was ready to compete right now to go spend 35 million for Alex Bregman's a lot of fucking money, Mahoney.
10:21
SPEAKER_00: It is a lot, Carl.
10:22
SPEAKER_00: And maybe you weren't wrong throughout.
10:24
SPEAKER_00: Maybe something happened that we are unaware of behind the scenes.
10:28
SPEAKER_00: Right?
10:29
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it could be that changed Ricketts' philosophy on spending with a pending lockout or potential strike, what have you.
10:37
SPEAKER_00: And it's I I said earlier in the episode, it's just a breath of fresh air, knowing that, because when talking to other hardcore Cubs, baseball fans, the break and files, people were telling me, and I had a hard time arguing that we were a third-class organization when it comes to how they operate, you know, with going after big names, etc.
11:00
SPEAKER_00: And now here we are.
11:01
SPEAKER_00: So whatever.
11:02
SPEAKER_00: I'll e crow on this all day, and I have no problem with it.
11:05
SPEAKER_00: You know, we lose Tucker.
11:07
SPEAKER_00: I want to talk about too, like how I know he's a different ball player.
11:10
SPEAKER_00: I want I know you're gonna get into it, but yeah, I'm gonna I'd love to hear how Bragman fits in with a Kyle Tucker obviously departing and being a completely different scenario where it's a longer-term deal, no opt-outs, no trade clauses.
11:27
SPEAKER_00: It's it provides us for a more a bigger vision of the future.
11:31
SPEAKER_00: So I'm just super excited about it, dude.
11:34
SPEAKER_00: Like, and I I can't wait to hear what you have to say.
11:37
SPEAKER_00: I know I have a few different thoughts on who we should trade, who we shouldn't trade, and it's just uh it's a good time to be a Chicago Cubs fan.
11:45
SPEAKER_00: It's a good time to be a Monday morning maniac.
11:47
SPEAKER_01: I have a list of a couple things that I really like about him, how he's gonna fit, but then I've got a primer, kind of a general thing, him and him versus Kyle Tucker, kind of what that difference is.
11:58
SPEAKER_01: You know, I should start all of this by saying if you know me well as a baseball guy or followed me for since I've started doing this, Alex Bregman has been consistently one of my favorite players in baseball.
12:08
SPEAKER_01: And I've talked so positively about him going back to his time when he's a freshman at LSU.
12:12
SPEAKER_01: And as far as we talk about having the it gene, Dansby Swanson has it.
12:16
SPEAKER_01: You're looking from that for ball players.
12:18
SPEAKER_01: So say there's a tier one category of baseball player where they just have it, the intangibles.
12:24
SPEAKER_01: They are just such a very just such a professional.
12:29
SPEAKER_01: It's like Aaron Judge, it's Danzby Swanson, it's Alex Bregman.
12:33
SPEAKER_01: You know, there's other guys, obviously, but Bregman is as much of a gamer as anybody.
12:39
SPEAKER_01: He's been like that since he's been on the scene in baseball.
12:43
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and I cannot say enough from my heart, like, I love him for all the reasons I love Danzby Swanson, and then on top of that, he's a better hitter.
12:53
SPEAKER_01: So, like, he could he could be my favorite, he could be my favorite.
12:57
SPEAKER_01: He has the makings to be my favorite cub of all time.
13:00
SPEAKER_00: I mean, like, dude, I love you just like Alex Bregman could potentially be my favorite cub ever because you've loved him, you have loved him for a long, long time.
13:10
SPEAKER_01: He's so good.
13:11
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he's just so good, and he's such a gamer, and he's so prepared, and he knows so much, and his brain is so sharp.
13:19
SPEAKER_01: He's such a dialed-in competitor, wants to win, wants to be great, wants to play great with his teammates, wants to have a good clubhouse, wants to go out and just absolutely throttle the opposition in the same respect that Dansby does.
13:34
SPEAKER_01: Dansby might be a little bit softer, you know.
13:36
SPEAKER_01: Bregman chews the gun a little bit harder, but from the perspective of being prepared about the opposition, both of these guys, I mean, Bregman is as elite as anybody, is is such a leader of men and is such a profoundly good baseball player and represents all of the great things that you love about guys who have quote unquote it.
13:58
SPEAKER_01: He has fucking it.
14:00
SPEAKER_01: He is a championship caliber player.
14:03
SPEAKER_01: All right, so starting with that, I don't think we get this done without having Kyle Tucker for a season and seeing the impact that you have for a superstar.
14:13
SPEAKER_01: I'm there, there's just no way that Tom is willing to pay$35 million a year for a guy until you get the Kyle Tucker effect.
14:22
SPEAKER_01: And I bet Jed did a masterful job of selling internally how good we were when Kyle Tucker was healthy.
14:30
SPEAKER_01: And I actually think that this guy is gonna be better for us for reasons A, B, C, D.
14:34
SPEAKER_01: And I think Jed took the positives from the Kyle Tucker trade and got Tom to agree now is the time if we do if we have the money or we got to increase the budget.
14:44
SPEAKER_01: This is the one player we have to do it for, and we need them bad.
14:48
SPEAKER_01: That's how I see it going down internally.
14:50
SPEAKER_00: I I see it very similar as you know, we wanted Bregman last year.
14:55
SPEAKER_00: There was a scene during spring training, you know, Bouges talking to Jed about, and like you could tell it was about Bregman that they weren't gonna get him.
15:03
SPEAKER_00: You also know Bregman wants to be here, I believe, based off of him, you know, re-entering negotiations, not to say he wouldn't entertain others, but the fact that Boris got this done and essentially what we had offered Bregman last year, he's getting 7 million more a year.
15:19
SPEAKER_00: I by don't quote me on that, Carl.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: You know, don't quote me on numbers, but he's getting more money each year with a locked-in guarantee.
15:26
SPEAKER_00: So, whatever, however, that negotiation went down, it seemed to me like it's kind of a kismet uh thing.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: Like we want you, you want to be here, let's get it done.
15:39
SPEAKER_00: We know the value of a big market or a you know, big swing, not necessarily like I'll talk about it here, but you know what I mean.
15:45
SPEAKER_00: We know the type of player you are, and we want you here, and we need you here because we saw what happened last year when we had a superstar at bat.
15:54
SPEAKER_01: So let's get into a couple of things we like about him.
15:57
SPEAKER_01: You know, baller strike, I like it.
15:59
SPEAKER_01: Strike, you know, baller strike, I love it.
16:02
SPEAKER_01: Strike, baller strike, he has the potential to be my favorite cup of all time.
16:06
SPEAKER_01: Strike, baller strike, we're world series contenders with him, strike, baller strike, we should absolutely win the division with him, strike, you know, baller strike.
16:14
SPEAKER_01: I mean, just keep going down the list.
16:15
SPEAKER_01: Now, I have there's a couple negatives I'm gonna get to him, just so people that think I'm over here sucking his dick relentlessly.
16:22
SPEAKER_01: There's some things we'll say, like, all right, well, keep your eye peeled for this, but you know, let's start with the basic blocking and tackling, the nuts and the bolts, you know, what happened, what we like about it.
16:32
SPEAKER_01: And I should also say we did I there's a heavy show on Edward Cabrera, the impact to the pitching staff and run prevention that came out on Wednesday.
16:41
SPEAKER_01: We're just gonna stay heavy Bregman because it's a Bregman show.
16:44
SPEAKER_01: And so, first and foremost, the deal's five years, 175 that takes us into the next era after the collective bargaining agreement of the next offseason, which then means our core is gonna be Dansby Swanson.
16:58
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be on contract as free agents are Dansby Swanson and Alex Bregman and Phil Mayton, our veteran free agents after the collective bargaining agreement, after the lockout for next year.
17:10
SPEAKER_01: And then the guys underneath that that are on payroll are gonna be Pete Crow Armstrong and the Michael Bushes and the Matt Shoss.
17:18
SPEAKER_01: We just have this insane core to work with coming out of the collective bargaining agreement.
17:21
SPEAKER_01: And so just like a quick round of applause for Jed because like when you when we we're gonna have like 150 million to spend, we're gonna have guys coming up from the farm system, and the guys that are gonna be there is the old guard, it's gonna be Bregman and Swanson.
17:35
SPEAKER_01: That's just insane to me.
17:36
SPEAKER_01: That's gonna be it's just absolutely insane to me.
17:38
SPEAKER_01: These are two of the best leaders in baseball.
17:41
SPEAKER_00: So we had talked briefly about that earlier on.
17:44
SPEAKER_00: I know I don't want to lose your train of thought, but with Dansby, it was like we have Dansby Swanson, that's who we're going to build around.
17:51
SPEAKER_00: And it was like, well, all right, yeah, how can we build around Dansby over the course of that time?
17:55
SPEAKER_00: But now it's like you put him in Bregman, it's like, holy shit, now this is a nucleus.
18:00
SPEAKER_01: Thunder and lightning, baby.
18:01
SPEAKER_01: You know, thunder and lightning.
18:03
SPEAKER_01: Swanson's a smarter player, more prepared player, communicative, more positive.
18:07
SPEAKER_01: Swan, hey, Bregman is very positive.
18:10
SPEAKER_01: He's just a tight, tough son of a gun.
18:12
SPEAKER_01: I mean, like I said, he chews the gum real hard.
18:15
SPEAKER_01: Like Swanson a little bit more trying to bring people together.
18:19
SPEAKER_01: Bragman bringing people under the together under the premise of we're about to kill these guys and we're gonna kill these guys.
18:24
SPEAKER_01: And Bregman won't be a fuck.
18:26
SPEAKER_01: Bragman won't be out drinking, Bregman won't be out boozing.
18:28
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna get to the we're gonna get to the character in a second, but just the technicalities on the contract.
18:33
SPEAKER_01: 5175.
18:35
SPEAKER_01: So that is a lot of money.
18:37
SPEAKER_01: But what we like about it is that the Cubs were willing to spend it.
18:40
SPEAKER_01: So that's one.
18:40
SPEAKER_01: The Cubs are willing to spend that money in a window where we've got good young players, we've got great talented pitching, we've got an established bullpen, we've got elite defense, we've got guys in their prime, we've got guys going to be entering prime.
18:52
SPEAKER_01: We don't have a lot of old baggage, old contract, city shitty situation on the books.
18:58
SPEAKER_01: Like this is pretty lean.
18:59
SPEAKER_01: This is good stuff.
19:00
SPEAKER_01: So that's one.
19:01
SPEAKER_01: Cubs are willing to spend money, take advantage of the situation that we have.
19:04
SPEAKER_01: That's the first thing we like.
19:06
SPEAKER_01: Second thing we like is the second thing we love it.
19:09
SPEAKER_01: No trade.
19:10
SPEAKER_01: No trade.
19:11
SPEAKER_01: No trade, no opt-out.
19:13
SPEAKER_01: No trade, no opt-out.
19:16
SPEAKER_01: It's five years.
19:17
SPEAKER_01: So one of the issues you had with Bregman, and I called him a cunt in the offseason because it had been such an issue with negotiating with him was opt-outs after year one, opt-out after year two.
19:28
SPEAKER_01: Like the Red Sox got fucked on this.
19:30
SPEAKER_01: They signed him for three years,$115 million.
19:35
SPEAKER_01: He got$40 million.
19:36
SPEAKER_01: They ended up moving Rafi Devers off of third base, which was a big saga last year, which turned Rafi sour that they either trade him to the Giants, friend, they ended up getting 114 games to Alex Bregman.
19:50
SPEAKER_01: The Red Sox got really screwed on that.
19:51
SPEAKER_01: So for a period there, we were kind of like, oh, Alex Bregman's a huge cunt.
19:56
SPEAKER_01: Five years, no opt outs, five years, no trade clause.
20:00
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't like he said, here's the three teams you can trade me.
20:03
SPEAKER_01: He said, You can't trade me to anybody.
20:04
SPEAKER_01: So he would have to waive his no trade clause.
20:07
SPEAKER_01: Not gonna happen.
20:08
SPEAKER_01: And he would have to, you know, obviously he'd he didn't care about having opt-outs.
20:13
SPEAKER_01: He's got five, one seventy-five.
20:14
SPEAKER_01: So we like absolutely love that.
20:17
SPEAKER_01: Um I should hand up, you know, I made arguments, kind of cherry pick some arguments.
20:23
SPEAKER_01: Matt Shaw versus Alex Bregman.
20:25
SPEAKER_01: Last year, Matt Shaw, by baseball reference, was like marginally more valuable per plate appearance, but Bregman did hurt his quad pretty bad and was amazing before the quad injury and was like averaged to then like really below average September down the stretch getting hurt.
20:43
SPEAKER_01: So, like, you know, I've made points on this show before in social media that like, well, Matt Shaw at 750 grand is a you know is a bargain compared to two.
20:53
SPEAKER_01: Like we were gonna keep both of them.
20:54
SPEAKER_01: I love Bregman.
20:56
SPEAKER_00: And dude, think about this.
20:58
SPEAKER_00: We were speaking from the you know, Matt Shaw versus Bregman thing with how we 99% expected the Cubs to operate financially.
21:07
SPEAKER_00: So it was like, why bring on Bregman?
21:09
SPEAKER_00: You know then we're gonna have to, yeah.
21:10
SPEAKER_00: And it was like we have this dude on, you know, his rookie deal.
21:14
SPEAKER_00: So that's like really where that argument and points were being made.
21:17
SPEAKER_00: That's where that was coming from.
21:19
SPEAKER_00: You want Alex Bregman on the baseball team, right?
21:21
SPEAKER_00: But it was like, well, if they're not gonna spend it, this, that, and the other have to move, like, don't do it because you could pay this guy peanuts.
21:28
SPEAKER_00: So, but it that doesn't matter anymore because we know that they opened the checkbook.
21:33
SPEAKER_01: So no, I mean, yeah, if you're gonna put us in a corner, like I've talked before on shows, like we're gonna build rules and constraints in order for us to talk about this obvious season one other rules or constraints I've put in.
21:43
SPEAKER_01: It's like we're just not even gonna consider spending a ton of money or gumm anywhere near the luxury tax because we haven't, you know, we were at$206 million less.
21:54
SPEAKER_01: So we were way under the luxury tax last year.
21:57
SPEAKER_01: So there's just some things where you're like, maybe, you know, but hey, we were mad last year we didn't spend the Bellinger money that we saved.
22:05
SPEAKER_01: Maybe this is part of that.
22:07
SPEAKER_01: You know, I mean, there's part, there's in it's just a good exercise for me.
22:12
SPEAKER_01: It's been a good exercise for me, good reflection for me, good period for me to just think about like, all right, maybe it it maybe it's different than what I have been seeing.
22:19
SPEAKER_01: And I do trust Jed.
22:21
SPEAKER_01: I do like Jed, and maybe this is just another chapter on why we should like and trust him more.
22:27
SPEAKER_01: The move he made to get Kyle Tucker to then dangle the superstar argument in front of Ricketts' face to say, this is why we need to go spend this guy.
22:36
SPEAKER_01: I think that's real.
22:38
SPEAKER_01: The other thing that's real that you like for Ricketts, you like for Jed, the entire organization, this is the first time the Cubs have used deferrals in any free agent deal.
22:48
SPEAKER_00: I did not know that.
22:49
SPEAKER_01: That's the Dodgers.
22:50
SPEAKER_01: I did not know that you're paying Shohei Otani$70 million, but 68 of it doesn't come in for another 12 years or whatever.
22:59
SPEAKER_01: And it's just a good argument for the Cubs.
23:01
SPEAKER_01: Why wouldn't you commit to these deferrals?
23:03
SPEAKER_01: It's been an organizational thing, a policy thing.
23:06
SPEAKER_01: We don't do that, that's not part of it.
23:08
SPEAKER_01: So Jed's obviously been working on breaking that wall down with Tom and God bless them for doing it with Alex Bregman.
23:17
SPEAKER_00: We almost had t-shirts printed last year that just said defer in regards to signing Kyle Tucker.
23:24
SPEAKER_00: And it didn't happen for just you know, for whatever.
23:28
SPEAKER_00: Don't have the time to print tease, but yeah, that's freaking awesome, dude.
23:32
SPEAKER_00: I didn't I had no idea that that was structure and there was deferral money.
23:36
SPEAKER_00: That literally kind of sends chills about down my spine, just the fact that they they they made that move.
23:42
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, and like that's the thing we've been at a high level, or I guess collectively spread out looking ahead.
23:52
SPEAKER_01: If you had to pick one thing that kind of made you nervous, you'd say, man, like it's a kind of weird Tom.
23:57
SPEAKER_01: What when everyone else is like going down this deferral route that Tom is making an organizational policy that we don't defer money, like, come on, dude.
24:07
SPEAKER_01: Come on, like get with the times, and so we did, and that's a huge benefit.
24:13
SPEAKER_01: So when I look at this contract, hey, again, I like the deferrals, I like the fact that it shows me the Cubs are out of what I had categorized as some kind of cash crisis based from COVID.
24:25
SPEAKER_01: And obviously, I love the fact there's a no-trade clause, and I like that there's no opt-out.
24:29
SPEAKER_01: So there's four things just about the contract itself, not even talking about obviously the great ball player behind the contract, but there's some really big takeaways there that tell me that chapter, and this is something I had asked about in in the New Year's show as a resolution, is like I want 26 to be the final year in the chapter of post-COVID Cubs.
24:50
SPEAKER_01: And I was wrong because I I think the final season in that post-COVID chapter was 2025.
24:56
SPEAKER_01: I think that that was the last year where we were gonna say we're not you know gonna be this big spender, we're gonna be intelligent and spend intelligent.
25:05
SPEAKER_01: Not to say Bregman isn't intelligent, but$35 million for a third baseman.
25:08
SPEAKER_01: When Matt Chau finished third in gold glove, had a 522 slug in the second half, had 750 grand playing third base last year.
25:16
SPEAKER_01: When you're improving the team, I you know, it's like third base, it was like we're you know, there's a lot to be had to be there.
25:22
SPEAKER_01: So but Bregman is an upgrade.
25:26
SPEAKER_00: So he is an upgrade, man.
25:30
SPEAKER_00: The guy's a superstar.
25:31
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I could I've said that five times already on this episode.
25:35
SPEAKER_01: So just a couple things about him as a player specifically, and then we'll just talk a little bit of consequences to the Cubs lineup and organization, and then I will tease.
25:44
SPEAKER_01: Here's some issues, you know, if we want to be just so everyone knows that this Monday morning cub show isn't sitting here as an Alex Bregman's MVP award winner, and he comes without risk.
25:53
SPEAKER_01: There's some stuff there.
25:54
SPEAKER_01: There is some stuff there.
25:55
SPEAKER_01: But first and foremost, as the player, I think he's a tick below defensively of what Matt Shaw can do, but I think he's a more consistent, solid third baseman.
26:04
SPEAKER_01: I think he's more steady, I think his brain's in a better place.
26:08
SPEAKER_01: If I needed a guy to make a slow roll or barehanded, like knock your tits off play, it would be Matt Shaw.
26:13
SPEAKER_01: If I needed a guy to run into left center to make a catch over his shoulder, it would be Matt Shaw.
26:18
SPEAKER_01: But if I needed a guy that I trusted every single day to pick the hard ball at third base to make the perfectly clean throw to second base and to just be more of a rock, it's Bregman.
26:29
SPEAKER_01: So Shaw will do a little bit more of the spectacular, but I think Bregman's a more solid and consistent third baseman, obviously more experienced.
26:36
SPEAKER_01: That's one.
26:37
SPEAKER_01: Two, uh, you know, he has a higher than average walk rate at about 11%, and he has a well below average strikeout rate.
26:45
SPEAKER_01: So when you mix him with Nico Horner and the rest of this club's lineup, you're getting a guy who walks at a higher rate and then also strikes out at a lower rate, which is huge because Kyle Tucker walked at a higher rate, but he also struck out around major league average.
26:58
SPEAKER_01: So you're getting like just better peripheral splits.
27:02
SPEAKER_01: Uh last year was his career best season and exit velocity at almost 91 miles an hour, and it was his best career year at hard hit rate at 44%.
27:10
SPEAKER_01: So like it's not that at 32 years old he's slowing down.
27:14
SPEAKER_01: If anything, what you saw from Bregman last year when he was healthy, absolute fucking steal.
27:18
SPEAKER_01: Baller strike Mahoney, you love that.
27:20
SPEAKER_00: It's a strike, and it speaks to why they were willing to give him a longer term deal.
27:25
SPEAKER_00: I could see, like, if you just showed me that number, I'd be like, give this guy five years.
27:29
SPEAKER_00: He's 32, he'll be fine.
27:30
SPEAKER_01: So he has pop and backspin drive, which is important in Wrigley field because you talk about the wind blowing in and just a general schizophrenic area where like sometimes wind's blowing across, wind blowing in, wind blowing out.
27:42
SPEAKER_01: Somedays it's hot, some days it's cold.
27:43
SPEAKER_01: So you don't have if anything, you have the most inconsistent ballpark in Major League Baseball.
27:49
SPEAKER_01: The great thing about Bregman's approach and the way he hits the ball, which is different for different major league players, is predominantly a back spin line drive approach where the ball carries as opposed to like a drop and drive where he's trying to hit fly balls.
28:08
SPEAKER_01: He's trying to hit line drive.
28:09
SPEAKER_01: So you may not get in his career, he's got one 40 plus home run season.
28:14
SPEAKER_01: He may only hit 22 homers next year, 23 homers.
28:18
SPEAKER_01: But what you're looking for from Bregman is the 30 to 35 doubles, the high walk rate, and the clutch hitting.
28:25
SPEAKER_01: So it's not gonna be like I wouldn't expect 35 plus homers, I wouldn't expect him to have a slugging percentage over 500.
28:32
SPEAKER_01: I would just expect the quality to be there like every single day.
28:36
SPEAKER_00: He's throwing his hands at the ball, he's not thinking launch angle at every at bat.
28:42
SPEAKER_01: No, he's that's how you get the backspit.
28:44
SPEAKER_01: He's the thing about hitting the ball hard, so which plays well those days when the wind is howling in, like his game isn't predicated on hitting the ball into the stands to begin with, so it's not necessarily as much of a detractor.
28:58
SPEAKER_00: And funny, Craig, well so Craig, haven't talked about Craig in a while.
29:02
SPEAKER_00: He did mention last season that they took a um a pretty you know uh open approach to adapting to the weather at Wrigley.
29:10
SPEAKER_00: Whether people have always done that or not, and we just haven't heard about it.
29:13
SPEAKER_00: Craig did say that the team's collective hitting was, you know, obviously game planned for the type of weather at Wrigley, whether they did that before or not, it sounded like it was somewhat fresh.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: So just one note.
29:26
SPEAKER_01: No, great call out, Mahoney, because that is the first year.
29:30
SPEAKER_01: That they did, yeah, and I think that's a Craig managed in 24, then going into 25 was much more aware or intentional towards game planning around the ballpark that was showing up in a given day.
29:46
SPEAKER_01: And I think you're gonna see more of that from the Cubs this year, and I would just have a closer eye on, and you as the weather guy with Wrigley, just keep a closer eye on impact between what that does with the lineup, and it may not be significant, but it may be enough where the cubs are making changes.
30:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and if I can't if I'm gonna spot those changes out, maniacs, you're gonna be the first to hear of them.
30:09
SPEAKER_01: So there's two fallouts from this or two big consequences or paths.
30:13
SPEAKER_01: And the first is Bregman will play third every day, Nexus Swanson every day.
30:18
SPEAKER_01: And so then the question is Matt Shaw, there's two paths.
30:21
SPEAKER_01: The first is we trade Nico Horner this offseason, which we've alluded to and talked about extensively in this show before, maybe because he regresses, maybe just because it's$15 million, maybe because you need to free up cash for Bregman, maybe because Matt Shaw is a better second baseman in the long run, et cetera.
30:38
SPEAKER_01: But this is Nico Horner's last year under contract with the Cubs, and I would not expect them to re-sign him as a free agent.
30:45
SPEAKER_01: So the question is, do you make Matt Shaw the second base this year, or do you take a full season with Nico Horner in this dynamic infield, which would be complete?
30:54
SPEAKER_01: And do you ask Matt Shaw to learn how to play right field this year, knowing with Ian Hap gone in the future, there's an opportunity for Shaw to be a super utility guy between left field, right field, second base, third base, et cetera.
31:08
SPEAKER_01: So I don't have a recommendation other than to say I have a preference to keep Nico Horner, you know, and maybe they go down this path with Mad Shaw to get reps in right field.
31:18
SPEAKER_01: I think they're gonna ask him to be a super utility guy as it stands.
31:21
SPEAKER_01: However, there is an opportunity where they trade Nico Horner and then plug Mad Shaw to second base, and I'm curious what you think about that.
31:29
SPEAKER_00: So I have some thoughts there, and really it's a couple questions might be loaded in, Carl, but we I'll save those for the end.
31:36
SPEAKER_00: One, we don't trade Nico, keep Mac Shaw super utility.
31:42
SPEAKER_00: I'd like that scenario to happen where we keep him and then potentially trade Nico in the middle of the season for a big arm for somebody who really needs that middle infield presence closer to playoff time and trade deadline.
31:55
SPEAKER_00: Now, I don't know.
31:56
SPEAKER_00: That's you're why is that a problem?
31:58
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
31:58
SPEAKER_01: I'm like literally split ball on because Horner's only got one season.
32:02
SPEAKER_01: It's this is his season.
32:03
SPEAKER_01: So if you're it'd be not gonna be okay, it would be hard to trade a midseason for major league level ready pitching because uh you'd be trading him to a playoff contender, you'd be getting prospects.
32:16
SPEAKER_00: They're right, yeah, that makes sense.
32:19
SPEAKER_00: Um, so in the in that situation, you would move Nico in the offseason if you're gonna move him at all.
32:24
SPEAKER_01: Because his value is absolutely at its highest right now.
32:28
SPEAKER_01: He has one year left.
32:29
SPEAKER_01: You know, is there a team out there that that looks and says, and keep in mind Nico's a competent shortstop.
32:36
SPEAKER_01: You know, so like it's not just he's a second baseman for the Cubs, that's because we have Dan'sby Swanson, but for Dan's Dan's swanson, Nico Horner can play shortstop.
32:45
SPEAKER_01: So if you're a team that you know is weak at short, and that's your biggest weakness, Nico Horner's attractive.
32:53
SPEAKER_01: Or if you're a team where you're like second base, man, like the difference between Nico and Arsene would really put us over the edge.
32:59
SPEAKER_01: But the dip, the only issue I have with that is there's a diamondbacks floated Catel Marte out there, who is the best second baseman baseball, and then took him off the market just because it wasn't that it wasn't that strong for him.
33:10
SPEAKER_01: So I don't anticipate, you know, the Dynamax wanted to move Marte, they couldn't.
33:15
SPEAKER_01: So the fact that Cubs are now shopping Nico, who's a tier below Marte.
33:20
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how much you'd get for him in the first place, but I do see regression coming with Nico.
33:25
SPEAKER_01: I hate to say that.
33:26
SPEAKER_01: I I talked about that, just Major League Baseball adjusting to his, you know, he doesn't strike out, right?
33:33
SPEAKER_01: So like he you you do have to pitch him differently, and I just didn't see that last year really at all.
33:40
SPEAKER_01: I just it just it felt like people were just still trying to think that like, oh, this guy's gonna swing and miss.
33:48
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
33:49
SPEAKER_01: He's just driving for dirt.
33:50
SPEAKER_01: It's like, no, he doesn't swing at that.
33:52
SPEAKER_01: What when will people learn he doesn't swing at that?
33:54
SPEAKER_01: But he will swing at the one off the plate and hit it in the right field.
33:57
SPEAKER_00: So I love Nico.
34:01
SPEAKER_00: I want him on the squad.
34:02
SPEAKER_00: I think that I mean, just that defensive presence up the middle, even if it is replaceable by Matt Shaw.
34:07
SPEAKER_00: Um and think about now an in-season trade.
34:10
SPEAKER_00: Well, my back to my thought.
34:11
SPEAKER_00: So, but uh Matt Shaw, the prospect, longer team control, he's easier to trade during the season than in the offseason.
34:19
SPEAKER_00: Or do I just get off the trading people during the season at this point?
34:23
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's it's tough to trade in it's if say Matt Shaw is having a great season or having a productive enough season where he's like a valuable trade piece.
34:32
SPEAKER_01: Like, why would you trade a guy who's just in his second year in the big leagues who's now proving to be a valuable utility player?
34:38
SPEAKER_01: If anything, you're moving.
34:39
SPEAKER_00: That's why I need you with the stuff.
34:40
SPEAKER_01: No, I'm fine, but just like that's why you're moving like a guy like Ethan Conrad, who got drafted in the first round last year out of Wake Forest, the outfielder, you're trying to, you're drafting the Owen Casey's of the world, the guys who really just haven't, you know, that you're not really like losing too much.
34:55
SPEAKER_01: Now, this is an interesting thing with Sean.
34:57
SPEAKER_01: I'd be remiss not to point it out that you know this is a shitty situation for him because he was great in the second half, and in most circumstances, putting together a second half like that, the team's really looking to build around you.
35:13
SPEAKER_01: Now, I don't know how much of this is to do with him pissing off a huge portion of the fan base and participating in the turning point USA thing.
35:21
SPEAKER_01: And we've talked a little bit about this with the Charlie Kirk stuff.
35:24
SPEAKER_01: And as much as I wish we could just talk about on-field stuff, it's like when you go on stage like that, now you make it something that like kind of becomes a talking point for the fan base because you're putting yourself out on a pedestal that doesn't really exist with other major league baseball players, like at all in the least.
35:41
SPEAKER_00: Right.
35:41
SPEAKER_00: Outside of the polarizing aspect of the topic, I do feel it's a selfish move when you know the amount of eyeballs and discord that you could so curve in your fan base.
35:52
SPEAKER_01: That's kind of the one thing that make that he weighs the this is gonna bring a six is a specific or a significant, I mean, amount of negativity towards me and the organization, and in weight of that, still gonna do it.
36:11
SPEAKER_01: His decision, and it's totally his decision, and we're well within his right, both as an American and a major league baseball player, and that's it.
36:21
SPEAKER_01: Got it.
36:22
SPEAKER_01: But you have to accept what you did.
36:24
SPEAKER_01: Do you weighed that against pissing a lot of people off?
36:26
SPEAKER_01: And it's impossible not for me to see a little bit of this as like yeah, they you the Cubs are probably like we're probably behind closed doors.
36:37
SPEAKER_01: They crane Kenny and Tom Rickinson Jed were probably like, ah, son of a bitch.
36:44
SPEAKER_01: Why'd he do that?
36:45
SPEAKER_01: Why is he doing that?
36:46
SPEAKER_01: Why did he have to do that?
36:48
SPEAKER_01: Again, his right as an American, his right as a major league baseball player, and as a Catholic, it's not that I'm like overly disagreeing with I don't have I'm fundamentally as an individual, it's like I am I live by the tenets of Catholicism.
37:02
SPEAKER_01: However, if we're talking about just baseball players, so bringing in Bregman now as a shot to Matt Child is just kind of like a kick to him a little bit.
37:12
SPEAKER_01: Now he's got to go play different positions, he has to continue to change and evolve his game.
37:18
SPEAKER_01: I'd be remiss not to question or be curious as to the connection between him missing time down the stretch to go to the funeral to him putting himself out there publicly in a political space, political space, actually, yes.
37:36
SPEAKER_01: So, like how much of that then influenced internally the Cubs saying, you know, this is gonna be a hard, this could get I don't know.
37:48
SPEAKER_01: Could it get worse?
37:49
SPEAKER_01: Could it get harder than it could get worse?
37:51
SPEAKER_01: Could it get could it become a bigger deal for them down the stretch?
37:54
SPEAKER_01: Could this become something that you know really polarizes fans?
37:58
SPEAKER_01: So it's like fuck it, here's Alex Bregman.
38:00
SPEAKER_01: Matt Shaw will, you know, he'll be where he fits it now.
38:03
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
38:03
SPEAKER_01: I but but but I don't know either the significance of our fan base and how big it is.
38:10
SPEAKER_01: You just have to wonder how much those two things are connected.
38:15
SPEAKER_01: I know for a fact they're not unconnected.
38:18
SPEAKER_01: I know for a fact they did not go on ignored and unconnected behind the scenes.
38:23
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, makes sense.
38:26
SPEAKER_00: Players make these decisions, and the front office sometimes can't say no, but they can do things you know in other ways.
38:33
SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
38:33
SPEAKER_00: They're like, yeah, sure.
38:34
SPEAKER_01: Okay, go on, say, hopefully you can play right field.
38:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and again, I agree with all the it's just you look at in a vacuum of what the Cubs are doing here at third base when you have a guy 522 slug percentage.
38:46
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna pull up Ted Williams' career slug percentage right now, and I'm curious if you think it's higher or lower than 522, his career slugging percentage.
38:57
SPEAKER_00: I believe it's way higher, way higher.
39:00
SPEAKER_01: It's 634.
39:01
SPEAKER_01: It's that was a bad one.
39:03
SPEAKER_01: That was a bad one.
39:04
SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's do Roberto Clementi baseball reference.
39:08
SPEAKER_01: Okay, Roberto Clementi.
39:09
SPEAKER_01: Do you think Roberto Clementi's slugging percentage was higher or lower in his career at 522?
39:15
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna guess lower now.
39:17
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was 475.
39:19
SPEAKER_01: It was 475.
39:21
SPEAKER_01: In fact, uh Roberto Clemeny in his MVP season slugged 536.
39:29
SPEAKER_01: Matt Shaw slugged 522 in the second half last year.
39:34
SPEAKER_01: We're not talking about Matt Shaw was like pretty good or hit a couple big home runs.
39:38
SPEAKER_01: He was really, really good.
39:40
SPEAKER_01: 522 in a second half after going down is substantial.
39:45
SPEAKER_01: So he's now either playing right field because say Suzuki can't be trusted to play right field.
39:52
SPEAKER_01: So here's the last bit we have are the consequences of this fallout for the lineup.
39:57
SPEAKER_01: And I do have a little down things we're gonna get over.
40:00
SPEAKER_01: With Bregman.
40:01
SPEAKER_01: But for the lineup, so if you Matt Shaw's a utility guy, assume we don't trade Nico Horner, say is the opening day right fielder, but Saya can't play 162 games in right field because he's old and he's banged up.
40:13
SPEAKER_01: And we also have Moises by Asteros is the DH, where Moises is like, you know, not I'm not saying he's ready out of the gate.
40:22
SPEAKER_01: So there's going to be situations against left-handed pitching where we're going to want a right-handed right fielder and say a Suzuki DHing.
40:30
SPEAKER_01: So that's an opportunity for Matt Shaw right now before we sign anybody else.
40:34
SPEAKER_01: Is he good enough of a baseball player to learn right field?
40:38
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
40:39
SPEAKER_01: That's a lot.
40:40
SPEAKER_01: Like left field, I can say yes to.
40:42
SPEAKER_01: Right field is super hard.
40:44
SPEAKER_01: It's just the way the ball moves off of right-handed bats in the right field, and you just have to have a premium arm to control the running game with runners on base if you're a right fielder.
40:56
SPEAKER_01: Does match all have that?
40:57
SPEAKER_01: I don't, I don't know.
40:58
SPEAKER_01: But the fallout of Simon Bregman.
41:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't know.
41:02
SPEAKER_01: I think that, but I think right now on paper, like Matt Shaw, okay, you're gonna play right, you're gonna be the utility outfielder and the utility infielder.
41:10
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's how the Cubs stay under the luxury tax going into spring training.
41:16
SPEAKER_00: That sounds sounds about right to me, man.
41:18
SPEAKER_00: I I can imagine that being the strategy, and I don't see why it wouldn't be unless something tells me differently between now and spring training.
41:26
SPEAKER_01: And I think all things considered, it's almost a perfect world to have your four infielders, your three outfielders, and then one super utility guy.
41:37
SPEAKER_01: Like that is an idea.
41:39
SPEAKER_01: It's for splitting up at bats and stuff.
41:42
SPEAKER_00: Right.
41:42
SPEAKER_00: And one thing on my wish list, I believe, and I don't know if I got to record that episode of true or not, but I had a wish list, and one of them was you know, a stronger bench presence specific to a utility player.
41:55
SPEAKER_00: And you know, who are we gonna find to go get that?
41:57
SPEAKER_00: And maybe because of this move, here it is.
42:00
SPEAKER_00: So I think that could be, you know, a very, very obvious thing.
42:08
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
42:08
SPEAKER_00: Lost the train of thought there, boys.
42:10
SPEAKER_01: No, your train of thought was going your train your train of your train of thought was going towards the fact that it's nice we're going into spring training.
42:16
SPEAKER_01: And and really the big question is what does the batting lineup look like?
42:19
SPEAKER_01: And not who's playing where.
42:21
SPEAKER_01: Like, or is this guy good enough to play?
42:23
SPEAKER_01: Like, we know we have the third baseman, the shortstop, the second baseman, the first baseman.
42:27
SPEAKER_01: We have a right fielder, we have a guy who might play right field, we have the left fielder, the center fielder.
42:32
SPEAKER_01: We have the DH.
42:33
SPEAKER_00: We have eight starting pitchers, nine if you include Jordan Wicks, you know, and we got a backup first baseman that might be able to hit lefties if Michael Bush can't.
42:43
SPEAKER_01: Five relievers, free agent relievers that are all pitching on like their fifth different team, you know, that all had above average seasons last year that are all funky and unique.
42:52
SPEAKER_01: Like I really like this team on paper.
42:54
SPEAKER_01: I think they're as good as anybody in the National League.
42:59
SPEAKER_01: I know the dot who the Dodgers are.
43:02
SPEAKER_01: I'm saying as good as anybody in the National League, I think the Cubs have every with Alex Spregman at their base every day, assuming he's healthy, the Cubs can win 98 plus games.
43:14
SPEAKER_01: It's an insane thing.
43:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, man.
43:15
SPEAKER_00: I saw.
43:16
SPEAKER_00: Did you want to give a couple highlights to what a lineup could look like?
43:19
SPEAKER_00: I saw some flashes, and it just does look stellar on paper.
43:24
SPEAKER_01: It's hard to say because I don't know what Bush is going to do against lefties.
43:27
SPEAKER_01: I can only do a lineup against righties, and I would say like fine, have Bush lead off.
43:32
SPEAKER_01: I think Bregman has to be your two-hitter every single day.
43:35
SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm confused about three.
43:38
SPEAKER_01: I don't know like what's going on with PCA.
43:41
SPEAKER_01: I, you know, Ian Hap should probably hit sixth in this lineup.
43:45
SPEAKER_01: Dansby Swanson should probably hit seventh.
43:48
SPEAKER_01: The catching should probably be, you know, eighth or ninth, or maybe Dansby hits ninth.
43:54
SPEAKER_01: The catching hits eighth.
43:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
43:57
SPEAKER_01: You know, boy by a stero six.
44:00
SPEAKER_01: I I don't I still as much as I love Bregman.
44:03
SPEAKER_01: Here's the one thing.
44:04
SPEAKER_01: I don't we we have so many good like two-hitters and five hitters, but we I don't know how much I love our three-four.
44:13
SPEAKER_00: And you don't see him fitting in well in like a clean up role.
44:16
SPEAKER_01: Maybe Bregman cleans up.
44:18
SPEAKER_01: You know, like do people like Nico Horner as a two-hitter?
44:21
SPEAKER_01: He has no slugging percentage.
44:25
SPEAKER_01: You know, and that's what he's doing.
44:26
SPEAKER_01: I'd like him as the two.
44:29
SPEAKER_00: I like the fact like the contact, Jack, you're not gonna get a lot of dull at bats from him.
44:34
SPEAKER_00: So that early on in a game, I think, always sits well, and that's why he is sitting pretty in the two spot.
44:41
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I don't know.
44:44
SPEAKER_01: It it is a philosophical discussion of where to put your weighted run, creative, where to put your better players, your OPS plus, your weighted run, created plus, your above average hitters.
44:54
SPEAKER_01: And there is a shift now to see him in the one-two spots and not necessarily the three or four spots.
44:59
SPEAKER_01: Like I think from five to nine, the Cubs are as good as are better or as good as anybody in baseball.
45:05
SPEAKER_01: The challenge is gonna get that mix one through four.
45:08
SPEAKER_01: Like, we're gonna need Bush to be, we're needing, we're needing Bush to be a top three hitter and not a guy who has to hit fifth.
45:15
SPEAKER_01: The problem is him against lefties.
45:17
SPEAKER_01: So going in, I like the nine guys we have.
45:20
SPEAKER_01: I'm just saying, for spring training, like the question is gonna be where do you organize these guys?
45:24
SPEAKER_01: Like, is Biasteros a guy who hits in the top five, or does he have to hit six?
45:27
SPEAKER_01: Is Danzby Swanson a guy who has to hit nine, or can we actually ask him to hit seven and will he slug 450 instead of 410?
45:35
SPEAKER_01: Like he slugged 450 as a brave, he slugs 4'10 as a cub.
45:38
SPEAKER_01: That's something he has to figure out.
45:40
SPEAKER_01: If PCA is PCA in the first half, he hits third.
45:43
SPEAKER_01: If PCA is PCA in the second half, so spring training.
45:49
SPEAKER_01: This will be a fun spring training.
45:50
SPEAKER_01: This will be my most fun spring training I can remember.
45:54
SPEAKER_00: Hey, you know what's great too, Carl?
45:56
SPEAKER_00: Like a lot of the times, not a ton to talk about in the offseason, you know.
46:00
SPEAKER_00: And the past two weeks, like there's been an A-minus trade grade from you, and then we get Bregman.
46:05
SPEAKER_00: So it's a good time to be a Monday morning maniac, it really is.
46:08
SPEAKER_00: And the fact that in the offseason, we're gonna have plenty now to shoot the shit back and forth on.
46:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, this is this is an overall a signing.
46:17
SPEAKER_01: I don't care about the money.
46:18
SPEAKER_01: We haven't spent that much money in in a long time, and it's not like this money is holding back some big move that we need.
46:24
SPEAKER_01: Like, we needed a big move, we got it.
46:26
SPEAKER_01: I did promise there's just one like we have to address obviously, hey, this could go south, just so I said, like, this is how it could go south.
46:33
SPEAKER_01: Bregman only played 114 games last year with a quad injury, and like I don't know how bad the quad injury was, but he was awesome before it.
46:41
SPEAKER_01: He had like a 156 OPS plus, he's 56 better than the average major league player.
46:47
SPEAKER_01: And then when he came back, he was like a shade above average.
46:51
SPEAKER_01: Down September, he was a 76 weighted run creative plus.
46:54
SPEAKER_01: So he's actually down the stretch, the injury got to him, he's just 24% worse than average.
47:00
SPEAKER_01: So, like, if we're gonna call out something that makes me nervous, it's a quad.
47:05
SPEAKER_01: I feel like quads are preventable.
47:08
SPEAKER_01: Like, I feel like a quad is something through mobility work, through stretching, like, you know, it really takes a unique set of circumstances for a guy to fuck his quad up.
47:17
SPEAKER_01: But like Boston cold weather, you know, I don't love that.
47:24
SPEAKER_01: I also don't love that almost 40% of his war comes from 25% of his career plate appearances because he had two monster seasons, 18-19 back-to-back.
47:35
SPEAKER_01: This is after the scandal of banging the garbage cans.
47:39
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how tied he is to that, but he has like two MVP calendar caliber seasons under his belt that account for like a major like a huge piece of his war.
47:49
SPEAKER_01: So just when you're like looking at this guy's career, it does look sick, it does look like a Hall of Fame career.
47:55
SPEAKER_01: But over his last couple years, his average value output is below Dansby Swanson's, which I try to tell people how valuable Dansby Swanson is defensively and all this stuff.
48:06
SPEAKER_01: But like ultimately, at the end of the day, like he is he's very good.
48:11
SPEAKER_01: I love him.
48:12
SPEAKER_01: He's gonna make everybody around him better.
48:14
SPEAKER_01: But like, as an I don't think he's an MVP caliber.
48:17
SPEAKER_01: I don't think he's like that guy existed when he was 25, 26.
48:21
SPEAKER_01: What you're getting now is a guy that elevates the clubhouse, veteran presence.
48:24
SPEAKER_01: It's just it's a completely different, better ball player.
48:27
SPEAKER_01: But like just be cognizant of the fact that like if you're expecting this guy to finish top five in the MVP, like it did happen six years ago when he played in a lineup with George Springer, Jose Altuve, and Carlos Correa and Michael Brantley, and they had signs being stolen.
48:42
SPEAKER_01: So like they're in your to nail for edges.
48:45
SPEAKER_01: There's a little, so there are some bad things.
48:48
SPEAKER_01: Here's finally I want to end on a sentimental thing.
48:50
SPEAKER_01: You're a family guy.
48:51
SPEAKER_01: I've been saving this in the chamber.
48:52
SPEAKER_01: This is one of my favorite things about Alex Bregman.
48:55
SPEAKER_01: One of the reasons he didn't want a trade opt-out, he wanted stability.
48:59
SPEAKER_01: He was pissed off.
49:00
SPEAKER_01: Apparently, he's new family, beautiful wife, two young boys.
49:05
SPEAKER_01: And in rumor story has it that the last year in Boston, tough with the opt-out situation, the contract situation.
49:12
SPEAKER_01: One of the things he was seeking in the offseason was more stability for the family, and just kind of like, I don't want trades, I don't want opt-outs, I just want one place, maximum amount of money.
49:22
SPEAKER_01: Now, the nice thing about when you're a cub, and this is what I really like about this guy, and this is a selling point we have for families.
49:29
SPEAKER_01: Okay, all the day games mean you get nights at home with your kids.
49:35
SPEAKER_01: Those day games mean you get to put your kids in bed, and that to these guys means so to a certain category of baseball player.
49:45
SPEAKER_01: Because baseball is a sport where you're on the road so much, and when you are at home, you're out of the house before the kids are home from school.
49:52
SPEAKER_01: So the best that you can do is wake the kids up and take them to school.
49:57
SPEAKER_01: And for a lot of guys, that's a hard that's a hard thing to do because you were at the baseball field till 11:30, you're not home 1 a.m., 2 a.m.
50:06
SPEAKER_01: So these guys that are starting their families really, and I should say family guys really like playing for the Cubs because the inherent structure of the 120, the fact we have limited travel time within the division, there's so much good stuff about this that I think bring it will bring the best out of Bregman from a stability standpoint, a family standpoint.
50:26
SPEAKER_01: You know he's gonna buy a mansion somewhere in Lakeview that's within walking distance.
50:30
SPEAKER_01: Like you know he's gonna make his life so easy, like Zobrist and Dempster and Leicester and the older guard that has signed with the Cubs.
50:37
SPEAKER_01: So just shout out to him because he's gonna fit.
50:40
SPEAKER_01: I shouldn't say shout out to him, but like for the Cubs, for this fit as a family guy, like this really is a perfect situation.
50:47
SPEAKER_01: And the Cubs are notoriously good to baseball players and their families, notoriously good to the family side of things.
50:53
SPEAKER_00: You really do see a lot of smiling faces at the ballpark.
50:57
SPEAKER_00: They do do a lot of you know family involvement, whether it's you know getting the wifes together.
51:03
SPEAKER_00: I know other programs do it, but I promise the smiles look a little brighter at Wrigley Field.
51:09
SPEAKER_01: That's a good show.
51:10
SPEAKER_01: This is a good Bregman show.
51:11
SPEAKER_01: This is a good Bears show.
51:12
SPEAKER_01: We got the Rams next week, supposed to be nine degrees.
51:14
SPEAKER_01: I hope they give us the night game at Soldier Field, so it's eight, it's supposed to be eight degrees and windy at night.
51:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I want negative eight wind chill at least, and I need Matthew Stafford as cold as possible along with that Rams defensive line.
51:29
SPEAKER_01: Or give me, yeah, what is it, 4 30?
51:31
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what time the kicks are.
51:32
SPEAKER_01: I hope the sun is like on its way down.
51:35
SPEAKER_01: I hope it's just just it's like out for warm-up, so these guys can be like, like, oh, it's not that bad out here.
51:40
SPEAKER_01: And it's like, no, it's absolutely awful.
51:44
SPEAKER_00: What a Saturday night, man.
51:47
SPEAKER_00: Cubs get Bregman, Bears beat the Packards in epic fashion.
51:51
SPEAKER_00: And just what a good start to our week.
51:54
SPEAKER_01: So let's wrap with two close uh calls to action.
51:56
SPEAKER_01: First, obviously, guys, review the show.
51:59
SPEAKER_00: Five stars, write a little review.
52:01
SPEAKER_00: Spotify, give us five.
52:04
SPEAKER_01: The reviews are going up every time.
52:06
SPEAKER_01: I'm telling you, it means a lot.
52:07
SPEAKER_01: When I say I count them, I pay it's probably the thing I pay attention to most relative to the show.
52:13
SPEAKER_01: So I I have the numbers, I know the reviews.
52:17
SPEAKER_01: There's a big gap we could, there's a huge gap we can close between listeners and reviews.
52:22
SPEAKER_01: Gigantic substantial.
52:23
SPEAKER_01: So I would just ask if you do that.
52:24
SPEAKER_01: That's a big help for us.
52:26
SPEAKER_01: And then, of course, if you listen to the show, we have a promo for SturtFamilyFarms.com.
52:30
SPEAKER_01: That's a skincare company that my wife has so graciously supported my content through.
52:36
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52:42
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52:45
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52:49
SPEAKER_01: You guys will love this shit.
52:50
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52:50
SPEAKER_01: Promo code is MMCS for 20% off your order on sturkfamilyfarm.com.
52:55
SPEAKER_01: And obviously, ThirstyBick Carol, thank you for being the title sponsor of Monday morning cup shows.
52:59
SPEAKER_01: Without you guys, we may not have Alex Bergman.
53:02
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I honestly I do think that there was some goading involved where we're just telling Tom over and over he listens that we it's not gonna spend.
53:10
SPEAKER_00: Tom doesn't spend money, they're not gonna spend it.
53:11
SPEAKER_00: Here's what we're gonna have to, and then bam.
53:13
SPEAKER_01: Boom, bang.
53:15
SPEAKER_00: Thanks, Carl.
53:16
SPEAKER_01: You got it.
53:17
SPEAKER_01: Shout out to the maniacs.
53:18
SPEAKER_01: Love you guys.
53:18
SPEAKER_01: We'll be back next Monday until then.
53:20
SPEAKER_01: Bear down goes.