Will Pete Crow-Armstrong Take a SUPERSTAR Leap in 2026? | CHGO Cubs Podcast

Hey Chicago, what do you say? It's the Seat Show Cubs podcast on a Monday. We hope you have a great week.

So you might as well just get it started with us. What's up, everybody? Jump in the chat like the video.

Subscribe to our channel, the Seat Show Cubs channel. I'm Joey Christopoulos, Justin Roman,

Luke Suck Meyer and Sarah on the ones and twos. Give it to me. Cubs.

Yes, we had spring training games, Luke, real box scores, real stuff, real results.

We haven't won yet, but damn it, it feels good, Luke. Good to see you.

Yeah, we are winless and the socks are undefeated. I've seen socks fans gloting about it. Of course,

you use the word real, Joey, real nice, real sunny, real warm, real baseball.

We'll debate that on the show a little bit, right? Well, we'll debate that a little bit. Here's the

real, real story, 11 days away, 11 days away from sunshine. That's the CHGO spring training trip

that you can still sign up for and spots are going fast. March 5th to March 8th, presented by Shady

Reyes. It's an ALECART service, okay? Get out there and you can go to the Cubs game with it.

We got a couple Cubs games we're going to go to at Sloan Park. If you're a socks fan,

you can even go to a socks game if you want to. There's also a, the bulls happen to be playing

the suns when we're out there, so a bunch of us are going to go to that. That's on the ALECART

option and there's a golf tournament. I believe that's Friday the 6th and that's for all, all

city network teams. So we'll be out there just with a bunch of baseball fans and hopefully the CHGO

team, us, you know, the diehards, the sickos from Chicago. We will represent and we will dominate

the other cities like we do in podcasting, correct? That's the way we're going to do it. And by the

way, if you haven't signed up to be a diehard, this is a good week to do it because if you don't

have those tickets yet, diehard perks, one of them is discount deals. So you're going to get that.

And right now, because of the NFL combine going on, we've got a very short time. This is going

for 36 bucks for that first year, $36 for the whole year. What is that? Three bucks a month?

There's something like that. Like, it is, yeah. You can't, I can't get a Coke for that anymore,

right? So that's a pretty good deal. And it comes with the perks. It comes with the free t-shirt,

and it comes with the diehard card, which I like to remind people is simply instant credibility.

There aren't too many things you can throw out there where you can just say, look at me,

I'm a baller, shot collar, 20 inch blades on the Impoller. That was for Justin. And that diehard

card doesn't matter if you use it in Arizona or in Chicago or, well, maybe not Port of Iarta

right now, but some places, if you put that thing down, instant credibility. By the way, glad I'm

not in Port of Iarta. Real quick, Justin, did you see when Luke was doing that read? And he was

saying 11 days before spring training, he closed his eyes like that. John Hamm tick tock that's

gone. He's at the club. Yeah, we get compared all the time, John Hamm. Yes. I mean, we can taste it.

Six shows to go. Come hang out with us. Well, nothing's going to feel better. Don't be full. The

sun is out here in Chicago. It is ice cold outside. I mean, it is, you know, the whole like

cliche looks can be deceiving today is that day looks can be deceiving. The sun is out. It looks

like a beautiful day out. It is not. It is freezing outside. I did a little story for my social media

on the walk over here. I was freezing, by the way, you know, my hands almost getting frostbite

and doing the video, but like I was sticking to myself like not this weekend. But next weekend,

we're going to have sunshine and warm weather like that's a that's what I want. That's what I want

in my life. That's what I want around me. And then just watching the clubs, obviously, I hope

we don't watch them get their first win, but I hope it's a, you know, a very successful weekend

and nothing better than Arizona. My boys and yeah, looking forward to meeting each and every one of

you guys that are coming out there. I don't go with the tank top very often, but if you go outside

in a tank top today, you would know it's not warm. Oh, it's cool. It's not quite Arizona right now.

Uh-huh. It's brutal. All right. So we're going to talk about that. We're going to do the center

field or thing. We'll get a little goofy with it eventually. But let's get to the news of the

day, which is Michael Conforto has signed with the Cubs. My first reaction was I would have

loved this signing four years ago. Okay. We'll be 33 on March 1st, but it is a just minor league

deal. So nothing's guaranteed. Uh-uh. I saw the athletic is now put out that the base salary

would be $2 million for Conforto if he makes the team. This is a guy that was a one-time all-star,

17, 18, 19. He was like a three and a half F war to to four something F war player. Listen,

he's, is he cooked? I don't know. He looked cooked with the Dodgers last year. He was a negative war

player. Um, but he's depth. And they will have some spots to play some games. And I sort of feel

it's, it's not the same as Dylan Carlson. Other than it is depth for the outfield. Somebody's

going to make the team. And I think feel like they're just taking flyers and especially in case

one of those guys gets hurt, right? Like, say it has a history of getting hurt and spring training

for whatever reason, knock on wood in app hamstring stuff like it happens. Um, even PCA, you got

to have depth. So I don't, I don't know that the Cubs are going into the season thinking that

Michael Conforto is their future by any stretch of the imagination, but he isn't insurance policy.

Absolutely. And I think it's a really good deal. I mean, honestly, it's not going to be a deal

breaker. It's one of those things that I think championship teams need to do. They've created a very

good competition, healthy competition for that fourth outfield spot. And Michael Conforto being

signed today does not mean he's making the team. It doesn't mean we're going to be talking about

him during the season, but you know what? If he shows out in the spring and shows that he's not

cooked, then you have a guy who was a former Al Sauer and he found some kind of magic in the off

season and trained and and and brought and got himself back to like being somewhat how he used to

be. Then it's a really good under the radar signing, but again, it costs us nothing if he shows up

stinks. You cut him. It's over. You know, so there's a comment from the Godfather. I know that

the Godfather is kind of legendary here at CSCO, but he says, Rick, it's getting back to his

cheap ways. Conforto is your left handed back. Come on, man. I know you're being sarcastic. You

have to be being sarcastic with that comment because this is not a cheap thing he's doing. This is

an insurance policy. And again, he may not even make the team, but if he rediscoveres the magic,

good for the Cubs, good for Jed. One more thing I'll say is that Saya and PC are both leaving for

the WBC very soon. I think in a couple days. So there is going to be outfield spots to have

some playing time for guys like Conforto and Carl Sain and K.A. All those things. Okay. So we

are going to have a lot of playing time to give thanks to our two stars being gone. So why not?

See what he's got. And again, if he if he stinks, it costs us nothing. Yeah. And breaking news

in the chat Gary Ross has already cut Kevin O'Connor from the Major League team. So okay.

Let's look. Look. All right. Here's the deal. Right. Two years ago, this was a guy who a lot of people

were trying to sign to one year deals for $17 million, $18 million. Yeah. He's now signing for two,

Luke. If you pull up his baseball team, if he makes the team, right? If he makes the team,

this doesn't look. He's a guy and Justin, you're bringing up a good point where this just follows

the track record of how Jed Hoyer has approached this offseason where he's throwing a surplus

at different areas. And he's trying to create competition and made the best man win. When it comes

to Michael Conforto last year, bat speed in the 77th percentile. Okay. But exit velocity 48th barrel

percentage 50 hard hit rate 50 chase rate 82%. You know, so okay. He's got some bat speed, but he

doesn't hit the ball hard very more anymore. And I just got it. I'm sorry. Like there's some,

there's some accounts on Twitter that I follow a lot that I like. Luke, but we're going to enjoy

this game really quickly. Okay. Everyone's just like, if he can return to the form of two, three,

four years ago, right. I got a great list for you of if these guys had a flux capacitor. If these

Cubs players had a time machine, we'd be all set. And I think Michael Conforto's in this list.

Remember 2006 Phil Nevin only two years removed from 100 RBI's five years removed from 41

home runs. Luke Cliff Floyd 2007 love Cliff Floyd two years removed from 34 home runs. Even Jason

Kendall is on that team. Aaron Miles 2009. Yeah. Went from a 2.2 war player to a minus 1.7 with the

Cubs in just a year, Xavier Nady in 2010 only two years removed from 25 home runs 97 RBI's

flamed out with the Cubs. Jonathan Lucroy, not my favorite Twitter follower in the world,

but three, three years removed from an all-star game 292 24 home runs 81 RBI's flamed out in the Cubs

2019 cargo Carlos Gonzalez 2020 Jason Kipness 2022. Framil Ravens Reyes two years removed from

30 home runs. Look like that's who Michael Conforto is. If he had a flux capacitor and a time

machine, we would be very confident about this signing. But until then prepare or produce Luke

and I think this dude simply needs to produce the heck out of his spring training to make the team.

Well, it's as you just pointed out, it's very rare that a guy seems to fall off the cliff.

And then all of the sudden at age 33, he bounces back. That said, now you can go to game day

men's health and it can change the way you out. You look at things, it can turn your life around

or you could start chugging that fuel and the fuel might be what turns your and you could show up

to the ballpark at 33. You might be in the best shape of your life. You know what I'm saying?

So you just never know. Here's one thing that I thought was interesting. You know, I'm not a

numbers guy. So I did a little digging. I'm not even sure I dug in the right spots, but here we go.

As I mentioned, last year, right? 486 played appearances. Buck 99 batting average 12 home runs.

But you know what? Zips is projecting that instead of the 12 home runs, he hit last year.

And I don't know if this is since he signed with the Cubs or what, but Zips was projecting 17 home

runs as you five more than last year. WRC plus was only 83 last year. 104. So

maybe the Z old zippy computer sees the same thing that Jed Hoyer sees and it says, he might as well

take a gamble, throw him in the mix. We're not going to tell Kevin Elk Contra. He's guaranteed one

of these four five outfielder spots. He's got to go earn it if he wants to be that guy because we

could send him back to Iowa. And then it becomes all right. So who is he really competing with?

Who is he taking bats away from either during the season or in the cactus league? I'm not

too worried about the cactus league because what Justin just said, we have multiple guys going to

the world baseball classic. So there's a bats to be had. Even if those bats are just in split squad

games or even on backfields, right? Like he's going to get enough swings that you can look at him

and say he's cooked or not cooked. And if he's not cooked, which again, what do you want?

What do you guys want to put on that 15% 10%? So on the other side, on the other side, I found

three Cubs since the year 2000 that I thought when they were brought over to the Cubs, people thought

they were cooked. And then they turned it around. Those players, Fred McGriff, who went on

30 plus bombs at 38 years old. All a favor. Jim Edmonds, right? Everyone thought Jim Edmonds was

cooked. And then the other one, Cody Ballinger. Yeah. That's it. Yeah. What if what if you could get

just a portion of a decent Cody Ballinger season for two million bucks? Well, and also to like

no one's expecting him to start, right? So I think that ultimately if he does, if he's not cooked

and he makes this team, you know, uh, uh, uh, much improved my hook and Ford old taking a eighth

inning pinch hit, he's a veteran. You know, he's been there before even that can be razzle. I think

that if he shows that he's not cooked, we could have worse options as our fourth outfielder pinch,

uh, pinch hit option down late in the game. So, um, again, there's just nothing. This is a lot.

Don't take it that has this enough. You have no, nothing to lose in this situation. And honestly,

everything, everything in the game because I think we all can agree our expectations aren't very

high. So you have nothing, nothing to lose. Everything in the game, I think it's the kind of

signing that a championship team does. And see how it pans out. If it doesn't pan out, it,

you just, it costs you nothing and have a great rest of your life. And real quick, speaking of

championship, Michael Conforto 2015 hit two bombs in a world series game. There you go. Yeah.

And if this is a different sign, if this signing were two years ago, we'd be laughing at it and

mocking it and saying, this is pathetic. It's, it's a different team. It's about, it's about adding

names and numbers and depth, just in case something happens. Look, let's say it's half PCA and say

it and everybody's healthy when the season starts. Okay. And we assume that now Matt Shaw is

technically your fourth outfielder because we think he's going to play there a lot. You're only

really talking about one spot at the major league level for Dylan Carlson, Michael Conforto,

Kevin Elkhantra, who else is on the list? Chasm, McCormick.

Chasm, McCormick. So you got like, you got like four guys competing for one spot, right?

That's healthy. That's good. That is healthy. And you know what? Maybe you can stash some of them

in Iowa. Right. Well, it seems like he's going to think that happens. It seems like Alcatara has

an option left, which was new great news to my ears. Chasm, also, is that somebody that we

have sent to the metal leagues? Yes, Dylan Carlson does not have an option. So if Dylan

Carlson, Dylan Carlson doesn't make the team, they are opting out of his contract to allow him

to find a job somewhere else where McCormick could go to the minor. And the Cubs signed Conforto

to a minor league deal, correct? Yes. So it doesn't that mean he can go in AAA as well.

So ultimately, I believe you're willing to you're creating, right, right, but you're creating

competition for that final spot, if you will. And then you are adding to depth in AAA just in case

one of our starters gets hurt. I mean, again, I think it's a it's a it's a win-win for all of us

because we'll be pleasantly surprised if Conforto found the fountain of youth. And I think none of us

will be heartbroken. If it doesn't work out, we have to say goodbye to him or stash him in AAA.

Sounds good. Hey, we got to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to start looking at

some more fun stuff. We will talk about what happened over the weekend. We'll talk about

ranking those center fielders. And we'll get a little delusional. Most likely, it's the CHGO Cubs

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Welcome back to the CHGO Cubs podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in. Like and subscribe to

the CHGO Cubs channel. Hope you're having a great day. And I hope you're going to have

yourself a great week. Joey Cristopoulos, Justin Roman, Sarah on the ones and twos, and Luke

Stuckmeyer. Luke, man, let's dive into some spring training action. We were joking half

heartedly before the show about possibly a new segment that should probably be sponsored by

either Portillo's or our wonderful wonderful partner already with Omaha steaks. We got our winners,

our winners and our winers of the weekend. What is your big takeaway from spring training? Let's

dive into it. The big takeaway presented by Xfinity. Imagine that. My big takeaway is it's three

games. It doesn't mean a ton, but my big takeaway is watching some of those bullpen guys, right?

Like we'll get to the offensive players, but I was interested to see because it's a totally

rebuilt bullpen. And we still have some of those young arms that were sitting there going,

all right, how are they going to do so far? I don't care if the Cubs honestly win a single

game in the cactus league, although it would be nice if they won when we were there just so we

get to sing the song. But my big takeaway is Jack Neely, one inning, three strikeouts on Saturday.

Okay, Cubs could use some strikeouts. Luke little scoreless inning on Saturday as well. And Gavin

Hollowell won any three strikeouts Friday against the socks. I don't want to get out the

reality spray and tell you that it means anything at all. But that was a nice first appearance for

each of those guys, right? Like I don't know that any of them are in the bullpen when the season

starts. I don't know if little Neely or Hollowell, I don't know if they're part of the bullpen,

but that was a nice start to their spring. They could put that feather in their cap and move forward

and maybe they can build off it. If one of them has a hot spring, I think it's a pretty good

chance. One of them ends up in the bullpen, maybe two of them. Or I'll go a step farther. Like

for me right now, when you talk about like the Gavin Hollowell's and the Luke littles, right? Like

even if I'm not saying they have a spot on the Major League roster, what have we been talking about?

All our season is just building more depth. You want to raise the floor of production,

not us on your Major League team, but also in your minor league system. Because as we know,

the season is long, injuries happen. So when you tap someone on the shoulder at the AAA level,

they can come up and not miss a beat at the Major League level and help you keep winning games.

So it's great to see Luke little throw strikes. It's good to see Jack Neely strike some guys out.

But I'm not, you know, I'm not going to get all worked up about how are these guys going to fit

into the Major League roster at this particular time. The one guy that I did like to see too

was Jefferson Rohos. I thought Jefferson Rohos had himself a nice weekend. Again, I'm not going

to start the discourse of, well, we can't sign Nico Horner doing extension because we got

Jefferson Rohos sitting. That's not what this is about. What it's about is a 20 year old hitter

who the Cubs have challenged at the minor league system the last two years at levels that only,

I believe he was at single high A at 19 and there was only three other players that were at that age

at that level. They're challenging him with pitching that is above his pay grade. He's like

taking AP biology, right? And so no, no, no. And to this point as a 20 year old, he looks all right.

Like he takes some pitches, Brendan Miller, the pitch doctor, also the hit enthusiast over the

weekend, loved what he saw from Jefferson, Rohos, even in a bat where he grounded out, where he

had a 106 mile an hour grounder to shortstop, but he took some pitches. He worked account

and each and he checked a little bit of that box. I'm not saying he's going to be a part of this

team. I'm also not saying he might be a part of our future because Luke, here's the other part.

We need some of these guys in this system to perform well and start juicing up their value.

Because if the cubs are really serious about going deep into October, I need Jefferson,

Rohos hit in 300 because if he is the final piece in a trade, right? Like to get the huge big name

player school, oh, wow, gosh, he's still he's afflicted right now. He's got over that.

You should get antibiotics for that. He's really good. But you know what I'm saying,

like that's what we're also, it's a two-pronged system. There's a micro and a macro to all this.

Not it doesn't always have to come down to you as Jefferson, Rohos, going to make the opening day

roster. Just as many assets. There's financial, there's prospect, capital, there's all those

other things. My big takeaway was more like who's going to get the weener award for the weekend.

That triple play turned against us was embarrassing. I know it's spring training. I know it doesn't

matter in the scheme of things, but I coach my son's 12U travel baseball team. I would be pissed

if they did that. It was so bad. No pizza after the game. I would be yelling. I'd come to our show

the next day with no voice. I'd be yelling. It was just such little league. I can't believe it

happened. For those who didn't see it, say I bloops a single into right field, kind of in between

like the second baseman and the right fielder. Matt shot third baseman. He's got a great read on

it. So he doesn't try to score. But Braggman got a good read on it. So he's going to third.

Say I try to stretch it into a double gets thrown out a second. They throw to third.

Tag Braggman. He's the one that's out. It should have been a double play. Matt shot. I don't know

what happened at that point. He gets off the base and he maybe he thought he was out. He walks towards

a dugout. They tag him out triple play. It doesn't matter. We're not we're not going to worry

about this in April or May or June. But like it was just it was pathetic to watch. It was embarrassing

to watch. Again, I'd be mad at my 12 U players if they did that. But again, you know, we can laugh

about it hopefully and then make some jokes here. But it was it was pretty pathetic to watch.

I wonder if council then the next day is starts camp by saying, all right, let's go back and look

at something from yesterday. And every day just makes a running joke out of this was so embarrassing.

These these are guys that should know better. Three guys that should know better, right?

And to Justin's point, he may have just said no orange slices tomorrow, guys. No orange

slices after the game for you. Speaking of it, Justin's got Astro dad throwing us a super chat

in here. If you could pull that up Sarah, thank you. 499 super chat from Astro underscore dad 86.

Love the show. We love you for saying that Astro dad. Did anyone catch the giants and

announcers comments on shy yesterday? One called him a bonehead and the other in idiot. It was

bad, but still. I mean, it's spring training. I'm not like, you know, we see people, Luke, we're

seeing people in the comments. Craig Brindle and Gary Ross, both of our our diehard commenters,

you know, Porter Hodges, no longer in the triangle of trust Gary Ross. There's no, there's no

where the plate is anymore. Are you with fatalist about the four walks from Porter Hodges? Are

commenters? Well, as I just pointed out for the other guys, while that's a nice stepping stone,

that's certainly that's more of a step in the mud. That's a doozy for Porter Hodges, maybe not

the way he won, not the way he wanted to start it. But again, I, especially the first week, I'm

not going to make a whole lot out of it. If they're still doing that stuff right before the season,

maybe you're getting a little more concern. I am curious out of that group that we were talking

about. And when we might as well put Porter Hodges in there, Porter Hodges, Luke Little,

Hollowell, Neely, could one of those guys take the step like Palencia took last year? Could one of

them be like a Keller or could one of them be just take that next surprising big step where all

the sudden they become a weapon for the Cubs by the NFC. That's what you're hoping for out of that

group, right? I know, I know some of them are just depth, but I would love to see the Cubs find

a way to get one of those guys to finally come through. We've been talking about Luke Little forever.

I was going to say, isn't it of all the ones that you could pick? Wouldn't you pick Luke Little,

the guy who's a big tall arm who's a left. Yeah. Don't have a ton of that right now.

I mean, it's a power arm too, like I mean, he's a big tall lefty who can throw gas and kind of

an intimidating factor, a guy out there at the mound, because not only is he tall, but then I'm

on the mound, he's doing taller, right? So yeah, I would love for him to be the guy. He's shown

flashes before. He did kind of fall off the radar for a while, but like, you know, if you could have

a monster spring, maybe he forces himself into that conversation. And I think there's always a spot

for a hard throwing lefty reliever and, you know, for sure, we're on the team, but he

force you around. And if you don't just be ready. Right. Be ready. Yeah. Because when we call

your name and you get on the bus and you come up to Wrigley Field, we need you to produce, man.

You know, that was what happened to Gavin Hollow L and his little cup of coffee last year.

Can he take maybe a small step forward where you built not the circle of trust, but the trust

that we call you up, you get the job done and you could be a part of this team and it's success.

Hey, guys, one more thing too. A comment here. Bob Loh Blah, 93, 62,

Bob Loh Blah. There it is. He says playing through an alarm, telling people to evacuate,

it was weird as hell too, bizarre ending. And yeah, I forgot to mention that. That was crazy.

Like they literally wanted everyone to evacuate the stadium, but they had the players still play

the game. So it was, it was definitely something was in the in the stars or something because it was

a weird, a very weird thing. Again, there was, there was no emergency. We found out after the

fact, but like during that time, there was an alarm that played the entire inning. I want to say

and they wanted people to evacuate the stadium. So it was a very, very weird game. And that triple

play was also very, very weird. All right. Hey, it's on three. It's just three cactus league games.

It's not a big deal. That was the big takeaway presented by Xfinity. Imagine that.

Hey, when we go to break, I want to, I want to throw out before we get to that center

field or thing because we're still talking outfielders earlier in the show. The question for the

chat is out of those guys we talked about, Dylan Carlson, Conforto, whoever you want to put on the

Alcantra, which one of those guys would you make the favorite to be the fifth outfielder? And

then who would be the least likely to make it? It's the CHGO Cubs podcast. We're golden, baby.

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any of the 11 Chicago Land Hooters locations. My favorite is Shombra. I'm very parcel to Shombra,

though. I do love them all. Check them all out at original Hooters.com. And again, the weekday

lunch specials happen Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. We're both good. Do you got it?

You got it. I was taking the last breath. Hey guys, can I take it for a second?

Yeah, I just wanted to say, wow, that was, uh, first one is what I'm, uh, I'm part of the,

I'm part of the ad reason now. So thank you very much. But I want to, I want to double down on

Hooters for a second. So Luke earlier in the show, you said that that CHCO club card is like,

is like gold, right? You have that card card. Yes, yes. Here's a humble brag back in the day,

when I was at my B 96, hey, day and everything. I was giving, I was gifted a Hooters VIP card.

And it got me 50% off my entire bill wherever I went at any location, right? And I'll tell you

right now, Chicago is where we go. I go to Shomergal time, put it down half off the bill, right?

We went to Kentucky one time, the Kentucky Hooters because the great American ballpark is across

the river. So you go to the, watch the cops reds, but you go to the Kentucky Hooters, right?

And I put this card down because it said anywhere in the country and they didn't really,

they never seen it before. And then manager come out and they must have thought I was a

corporate Hooters because they literally rolled the red carpet out as if like I was like Mr.

Hooter and Hooters. Yeah. So I was treated like a king at the Kentucky Hooters,

thanks to this VIP card, but I was given in Chicago, like, I don't know, back in 2010.

And now the obvious question is, do you still have it? No, I mean, they would renew it every year

because we'd have the Hooters calendar girls on the air. It was a tough job. We'd have the

calendar girls on the air and we'd interview them and then we give them a new card every year.

And then when I stopped, we're going to be 96 the card went away as well.

Well, now that they're a partner of ours, I'm just thinking, you know, maybe that tripped Arizona,

I was just say, Justin's totally buying with that half off card. You know,

Fred Pickles, man, let's do it. I love him out there. That was a terrific performance.

The first CHGO ad read by Justin Roman, I want to give a shout out. The only thing I've seen

better in the last five days, did you see this guy in Chicago, Leo or Leo Cundiff?

The wind was outrageous the other day and somebody was on the lakefront with their baby and a

stroller and the wind caught the stroller and blew the baby into Lake Michigan. This dude

heard the mom scream, jumped into the water and rescued the baby.

Imagine how cold the water is. He didn't know how to swim. Yeah. What?

You want to talk about a hero? This guy didn't know how to swim. He jumped in and he said he was

rubbing the baby's head because he wasn't sure they were going to make it. Oh my gosh.

And he's and people then gathered around and they got him both out of the water. But this dude

that didn't know how to swim jumped in, gut reaction saves the baby. Your ad read was great, Justin,

but it wasn't that great. I'll take second place in that story all day. I didn't hear about that.

That's incredible. That's insane. The fact that he didn't know how to swim just gives you a little

hope about what we all internally when the chips are down and when this stuff happens, like what

we're all capable of as you. I already know if there's a fire somewhere, I'm going to be like

George Costanza in that sign fell. I'll be shoving people out of the way, women, children,

strollers, grandparents. You could pick up a car. You know, I'm saying like a guy could pick

up a car if he had you with the adrenaline situation. Oh my God. You don't remember the time

the rally kick got trapped into the car and looked just like literally one handed it saved

that rally. And I had I had frosting all over my fingertips, which is what made it even more

impressive. So hey, we went to break and I asked that question about Conforto and Dylan Carlson

and Al Contra. Who would you put as the favorite? If the other four guys are locks, if Shaw's a

lock and the three starters are lock, who's who's the favorite out of that group for you? I would

want it to be I want it to be Al Contra. Right. That's the question of what the young player I want

the promising prospect. I want it to be Al Contra, but I kind of doubt that he's the favorite because

of the option. So here's that that's the part that I was pausing on was that I think when we say

the favorite that can be interpreted in a couple of different ways, the first one is I think that the

Cubs would prefer the favorite to be K.A. Yeah. I would say and this is nothing to do with spring

training performance. I just keep coming back to the fact that they negotiated an option in

McCormick's contract. A guy that knows Breggman. If you're saying apples to apples, Carlson and

McCormick, I just feel like the fact that he has that option, that optionality. I think that

gives him a little bit of a leg up where he might be the favorite. Now having said that,

I think Conforto just shot to the top of the charts because he's left handed. He's got a little

pop. He's got some incentive to keep his career going clearly as a better resume of past success

in the Major League level than Dylan Carlson and Chasm McCormick. So maybe walking in the door,

maybe maybe he's the favorite now, Justin, where do you land? Yeah, you know, I really truly feel like

there is no favorite. I really think that it's going to be a situation where if one guy just

ran with it, that's your guy. I think if Alcantara just goes off this spring, I think that you

can't deny him his opportunity. I think if Conforto comes and shows that he's crushed, he's

sitting bombs in the spring and he's looking good. I think he makes a team. I guess you can,

contracts with Alcantara and Chasm having options. I guess you could say like you can stash them

and not lose them. That would put Carlson in Conforto as the favorites. But I really do think that

Jed just created a great competition for that last spot. And if you want it bad enough,

you got to perform. And then if you perform, you'll be rewarded with that spot. I don't think

it's going to be a KB thing where like he crushed it in the spring, but they're sending him down

anyways. I think you truly perform in the spring. You'll have that last spot. So I'm anxious.

I'm anxious to see who it is because I really feel like there's no favorite.

I am too. And really quick look like when we did the game producer prepare last week,

when we talk about produce with Conforto, I don't want to get ahead of myself. But if he's a guy

that comes out and just like drops a one for 16, I could kind of just see them moving on in spring

training. Yeah. Right. I mean, it either works or it doesn't. And I think we'll have that answer.

I think sooner than people think. Yeah, I saw Bruce Levine basically when the signing happens,

say he's insurance for happen left. And he's insurance if Mo baller isn't up to the task at

DH. And I thought, I think in Fortos, probably the favorite zips is saying 17 home runs.

Would you take 17 home runs for your 50? Yeah. Of course you would. Right. Like yes,

you would. That said, if he was forced to be the DH, because by a sterile,

this wasn't ready to be that DH. Yeah. I would take 17. Okay. I think I think it's Conforto.

I think it's Conforto. Then I think it's Carlson. And then I think it's who the Cubs would really

hope it would be, which would be Kevin O'Connor. I don't know that, you know, I don't know how it's

going to work out. But if I had to put my money on it, I guess I bet on a guy who had a negative

effort last year. I don't really. It's not, uh, it's not easy to say. I guess he's the favorite.

I guess he's the favorite. I don't want to sidetrack here for a second, but I did. I find a

very seeing what counsel said about Mo baller that he will be getting a lot of time behind the

plate and over at first base this spring. Yeah. That was a eye opener for me because it's like,

okay, good. Hopefully they haven't given up on him as catcher because we've talked about if he

could just maybe catch, you know, once or twice a month that adds flexibility. But first base

was the first time I really heard that. And so I was, I was very interested to hear councils take

on Mo baller and the defense opportunities that he might have. Yeah, they jammed him there, right?

Like the last weekend against St. Louis, right? They let him play in inning at first base is like

total break glass in a situation while they're trying to figure out the playoff rosters. But

yeah, this is what spring training is all about, Luke. And, um, and these guys are just going to have

to they're going to sort themselves out. This is Darwinism of the bench bats, you know what I mean

literally. So yeah, and even with the Mo baller catcher stuff that's interesting. By the way,

Miguel Amaya couple of hits. Love it. Get out the get out the reality spray. Here we go.

Big season. Not yet. Not yet. Can't get me through the screen. That's one of the beauties of

Mondays. Uh, did that. All right. Let's we've been we've been ranking the Cubs in the division

at each position. And early on, we had the brewers pretty high up. This is another one that's

pretty interesting. I think you can make arguments for some different guys at center field, right?

So where does Pete Crow, Armstrong rank among the outfielders in the division? And we will start

with fifth place. And we hope it stays that way. Uh, it's the irrelevant franchise that I don't know if

they even have uniforms anymore or not, or if they're just going to do the t-shirt they got printed

names on it, uh, like the one world baseball classic team. I don't know how they're going to do it.

But it's St. Louis. It doesn't matter. Lars Newt Bar, whatever.

Who cares? You're irrelevant. You're relevant. Yeah. Your team's not trying. So who cares? Who's in

center field? How about number four? What do you guys think? Who should be number four on that list?

So for me, I mean, this is a talented group in the National League Central.

Minus the Cardinals. I might as the Cardinals. We can confirm. I think they still have

uniforms and everything. But I had a number four. I had a guy who's incredibly talented. But

frankly, he's been disappointing. I have O'Neill Cruz, former shortstop, now converted center

fielder. When we talk about these top four guys, moving forward with O'Neill Cruz, there are

certain benchmarks and there's certain stats that, frankly, does I like? I mean, you you pulled up

some WRC plus Luke for some of these guys. I kind of basically went off of production, war,

versus lefties, versus righties, um, some baseball savants stuff and some runners and scoring

position. This is how wild O'Neill Cruz is, exit velocity on baseball savant, 100th percentile,

barrel rate, 97th percentile, hard hit percentage, 98th percentile, back speed, 100th

percentile. It's good. Walk rate 86th percent. And then the pendulum she swings, chase rate,

48th percentile, swing and miss, third percentile, one of the worst cases of swing and miss,

K rate, second range and center field, 48th, arm strength, 100 speed on the base paths, 93.

This is a guy who hit 200 last year. He hit 102 versus lefties. I know we're going to talk

about compete. So you hit lefties. Can Michael Bush hit lefties? O'Neill Cruz can't hit lefties.

He is all the talent in the world. When he hits a bomb, Justin, it goes four days. But this

is a guy who's as feast or famine as it gets. And he's number four on our list. And I also don't

love his attitude. I remember seeing a center field highlight when he went to kind of,

Loft, yeah, Loft, a ground ball to center field. I got past them. And he's kind of turned around

and watched it. Like there was just no hustle involved in it. I don't know if he was mad that,

you know, he got moved out from shortstop. I just didn't like, I don't like that. I want

guys that want to run through a brick wall for my team, you know, and I felt like O'Neill Cruz

isn't that guy. Now listen, everybody has a bad, a little, you know, spano. Maybe it was a bad day.

Maybe it was a bad, but I just, I, to me, that kind of, I don't know, that really turned me off.

Kind of like how framber Valdez turned me off with his, you know, mistake, if you were, right?

There's, there's certain character flaws when you see stuff like that. And just a lack of hustle,

the lack of caring with that one particular play really turned me off on him as a ball player.

O'Neill Cruz, you mentioned the 200 batting average. He was a 1.6 F war player and hit 20 home runs.

94 hits. Tons, you know, as you mentioned, this is the type of season I would love to see

Conforto have as your fifth outfielder, right? If you just told me that. And what Joey, thank you

for putting out the stats, the positive and the negative because it should remind everybody what

the old man has been saying all along. You can make stats, say whatever the hell you want him to say.

If you want to make it look like this guy's the best, go ahead and say the 100% tile.

If you want to say he's one of the worst, say it's a 102 against lefties. Like that's the easy

comparison. I think of him. Do you remember the old Bugs Bunny cartoons and some kids that are

listening to this podcast will have no idea what I'm talking about. But Bugs Bunny at the bat

would get up to the plate and he would swing the bat so hard that he would corkscrew himself

into the ground when he missed. Okay. That's O'Neill Cruz. He goes for it. And I don't think he

deserves to be higher than that, even though some of those numbers that Joey told us

suggest that if he ever perfected a couple of smaller things, he could be one of the great players

in baseball. I don't think it's ever going to happen. But he's intriguing and it's a good team to

for him to be on because they've got room for waiting. He hit 200 with 94 hits and he led the

National League installment basis with 38. Yeah. You know what I mean? I'm the talent. Yeah.

It's I mean, you know, we and we have one on the south side. It's like a it's a Luis Robert

situation. If you can ever untapped these God-given abilities. All right. What's that?

R.I.P. Just from the socks. He said we had him on the south side.

Better place now. Let's move on to our number three. I have the Cincinnati Red Center

Fielder T.J. Friedle coming in there. Two years ago, 0.5 last year, 2.3 for a combined,

2.8. Look, I think this guy is just a solid baseball player. 22 doubles, 14 homeruns, 53 RBI's,

261 batting average, 364 on base, which frankly is going to lead the National League Center

Fielder's in that category. 250 now, runners in scoring position can steal 12 to 20 bags a year.

The part that sets him apart from, I think, the guys in the top two of this list,

when we go to that baseball savant, squared up rate 88th percentile, chase rate 98th percentile,

which means that he doesn't chase outside of the zone with rate 87% doesn't miss a lot.

Walk rate 86 range 72 arm strength 40. So he's definitely not the best center

fielder defensively. But Justin, he's a solid ball player, right? He works account. I think he's,

when we talk about him, I think he's the he's the, uh, Niko Horner light. He's a poor man's

Niko Horner out there in center fielder. It's not a bad player. I just don't think he's as good

as the top two guys in the center. I think looking at our list, O'Neil Cruz has way more talent

correct than TJ Frado, but, but who would you rather have from a safety standpoint? Like,

you know what you're going to get with TJ where O'Neil Cruz could be, I can see him being the worst

player in baseball next year, or maybe puts it together and becomes a superstar that they've

been hoping he has been forever. So like, you don't know what you're going to get. There's

definitely more talent with someone like Cruz, but I agree he's below TJ, because TJ, at least,

you kind of know what you're going to get. And what you're getting is pretty good. Yeah.

Uh, yeah, he has the most hits of any of the center fielders. We're talking about 151,

and he has the same WRC plus as Pete Kararm's strong. So that's the, he only leads one category

hits, but he's right there with PCA and weighted runs created plus. Think of those numbers, though,

the other stuff, the 261, 14 homers, 2.9 F4. Can we get real for a second? We're talking about

TJ Freel, and we're saying is an ice solid player, yada, yada, yada. If he were the left

fielder for the Chicago Cubs this season, some people would be thrilled. Some people would be

thinking, Oh, what an upgrade over in half, but look at half's numbers. And I just told you,

I know you can say the half, the numbers can say anything, half's numbers are way better than

TJ Freel. Yes. Right. Which would you not want? Like, let's, let's, let's not undervalue some of

the things we have. Sometimes we talk about other guys for other organizations. We're like, hey,

he's, he's a good player. Not that we do that with half, but it's like, if, if Freel,

we're actually the left fielder on the Cubs, we'd be miserable. We'd be miserable with those numbers.

Would we not? No, you're, you're, you're not wrong. That's why, that's why this exercise has been

fun. It's eye of the beholder stuff. Like we do, and Cubs fans should. They focus a lot on just

what happens in the ecosystem of the Cubs. But when you go outside and you look at some of these

other ball clubs and some of the players that they're banking on, we just did recently, who has the

best rotation. And the reds have an incredibly talented rotation. Right. But they're going to really

need that offense to step up. And they're banking on a guy like TJ Freedle. I don't think the Cubs

are banking on E and half the way that the reds are banking on TJ Freedle. I think the Cubs with

Ian happens, maybe the fourth or fifth guy that they need to go right. You know, and that's,

that's the difference. That's the separator. You know, he's slid down the priority list. Like,

we don't need Ian, have to be that guy anymore. Thankfully, because we sign out express. So,

I think Luke, you have a good point on the fact of like, Ian, for whatever reason in Chicago,

I think is very underappreciated. But that being said, you can do a lot worse than him and left field.

Yeah. And when you look at those numbers, again, from Freedle, who again, we think is a nice player,

261, 2.9 F4, 14 homeruns, 53 RBI. Can't you envision that that's what at the bare minimum that we

would get out of Matt Shaw? Potentially as a fourth outfielder, we sure hope. So, I know that

the postseason doesn't look like he'd give you that. But the larger sample size of the second

half would tell you, well, I think there's a chance that Matt Shaw is a better outfielder than

Freedle by halfway through the season. At least the Cubs are counting on it.

The second half, Matt Shaw is a beast. Yeah. I think that who, not who is he? Is he first half?

Is he second half? Is he somewhere in the middle? We're going to find out. This is the year we find out

for sure. But I agree with you. I think way more potential for someone like Matt Shaw to be leaves

in bounds better than TJ Freedle, but not go show us. Which brings us to the one, two punch.

Luke, here we go. We're going to do them at the same time. This is a C-HCubs podcast, but I do

deeply believe that at number two, it is Jackson Churrio in centerfield for the Milwaukee Brewers.

And at number one, our guy, everyone's favorite, PCA, Pete Crow Armstrong.

Let's just start with this Luke. Like, are you in lockstep with that ranking at this time?

I am, I am a green with that ranking right now. Now, one thing I do want to point out

that'll make some Brewers fans happy even though they're going to hate us because they can't stand

Pete Crow Armstrong is that Jackson Churrio will be 22 in March at Pete Crow Armstrong will be 24

in March. There is a two year difference, but here's, here's the deal. Churrio has a higher

batting average, more hits and a higher WRC plus. Pete Crow Armstrong hit 10 more home runs

last year, had more RBI by far and an higher F4. So listen, I don't know. Like, it's close. I'm

not saying it isn't, especially because there's two years difference, but I think people in Milwaukee

believe that PCA is a joke. That's what I really, they forget that there were 30 home runs. They

forget that he's stealing over 30 bases. They forget that he was in an MVP conversation and they

look at Churrio and are like, oh, the sky is parted. And it's like, take a look at the numbers.

Our guy couldn't hit in a second half of the season and he still beat your guy in three of

those major categories. Right. They're closer to each other. They're all, they're not mirror

image players of each other. But statistically, like when you start to line it up, the same things

that those players, the same things that Pete Crow Armstrong needs to work on to get better.

Frankly, are the same things that Jackson Churrio needs to work on to get better on base percentage.

Churrio 307. Pete Crow Armstrong 287. Man, that 287 dude, that's bad man. You got to get that up,

but 307. Nothing to wag your finger at. Nothing to feel good about. Chase, uh, Churrio,

crushes left-handed pitching, 973 OPS struggles against right-handed pitching. League average hitter,

703. Pete Crow Armstrong last year hit 188 against lefties. Not good. 271 against righties.

Needs to get better at both sides of the plate. When you look at the slugging percentage, uh 78th

percentile for Pete Crow Armstrong, Bill rate 82 percent, bat speed 61, chase percentage,

second percentile. Chase rate for Churrio 8th percentile, bat speed 73. Like it's all the same.

Now the one part that's completely different is Jackson Churrio is a talented centerfielder.

I don't think he holds a candle to Pete Crow Armstrong. No, there's no conversation. Right,

so if you're telling me that offensively, the potential for start on is similar. They scratch

the surface. We've seen flashes. There's steps to go. Okay, that's fine. But Pete Crow Armstrong,

Justin versus Jackson, sure, defensively, is a wide gap. So that's why I have Pete Crow Armstrong

ahead of Jackson, sure. Yeah, defense matters. Pitching and defense wins championships. The fact that

you have a gold glove caliber centerfielder that can literally get anything. I mean, if it's up

there, he can get it, right? Having that in centerfield for years and years and years to come,

that definitely gives him the advantage. And I also want to say offensively, if we crunch these

numbers and you're saying, they're kind of similar in a lot of ways, right? I also think that

PCA had a pretty bad second half. And what happened in the second half of last year? We lost

cow Tucker and we lost that production out of that spot, right? And I think it's no coincidence that

SEA and PCA struggled as Tucker was hurt and out of whatever, whatever, whatever.

Having Alex Bregman be healthy and being consistent all year long, I think we'll do wonders for

this team. I think it's going to do wonders, even more so for Pete Crow Armstrong. So that

we're good night. Pete Crow Armstrong. I was in between saying PCA and like saying his full name,

you know, my point is I think that he will do wonders to have someone like Bregman in the line

up for PCA. You saw when you head cow Tucker, PCA looked like literally a 40 40 potential candidate,

right? Yeah. So while Jackson, Cheerio and PCA might be neck and neck offensively right now,

I think that this is the year that PCA separates himself from that guy. I think this is the year that

PCA is no longer a star, becomes a superstar. And the defense either stays the same or gets even

a little better. You're looking at a superstar on the making. I think this is the last time we're

going to argue between one and two in the central of PCA and Jackson, Cheerio because I think this

is the year that their separation finally happens. See, and I'm with you on that, but I also see a

scenario where they just become two of the three best outfielders in baseball, right? I could see

this being the marking matchup between these two teams for a decade, right? 22 and 24 when the

season starts this year, they could be the elite. I think you could easily say that Cheerio

and Pete Crowe Armstrong are two of the 10 best young position players in all of baseball.

Guys that are at least under 25, 25 and under or somewhere in that range under 26 for sure.

And I think you easily put these two guys in there. And I think they might be the future of the

division. But if I'm comparing the two right now and age doesn't matter because you don't get

credit for being younger. You know, you don't get extra credit because you're a junior instead of

a senior PCA hit 10 more home runs. He stole more bases, didn't he? Yes. What a Cheerio stealbait like

21. Yeah. And his defense is probably the best in all of baseball. So I know Brewer fans don't

like the throwing in the helmet. But I do love what we saw. Is it the Chicago magazine, the article?

I just cut glimpses of some of the quotes. Yeah. So that's that's the thing, Luke. And we might

go to a little bit of overtime because I definitely want to hit this. Like when you say the word extra

credit, take a ticket and a trip with me on to meatball island because I look, I'm not reading Jackson

Cheerio's quotes on the regular, right? But yeah, Sarah throw up this quote that PCA had here in

the Chicago magazine. Quote, I saw what bringing playoff baseball back to the city met. Peacock Armstrong

says, that's an easy and movable goal. The blank. Are you playing for if you're not trying to play

in the playoffs and win the world series? There's more to life than baseball. But maybe not for me

right now. This blank is my life. Love it. And honestly, the more you swear, the more you swear,

the more you mean it. I love that. Yeah, I love that. I look like Luke, that's, I mean, that's

that's an intangible. It's a it's a meatball thing to get excited about. But if you're a cups fan

and the player that we're asking ourselves, can you take the leap into superstardom is thinking

and talking like that, which is well documented. This is been PCA for a while. It means it means

something, at least to me, something to me. Agreed. I agree. We got to go over time today.

You know, and I don't like to do it, but a couple of extra minutes on PCA after that quote.

Time and a half. I love it. Yeah, we're in overtime. Like the thing, okay, again, I want to point

out. Brewer's fans hate PCA because everything is out there. He doesn't hide who he is. And we know

that some of it. And he knows some of it. If he could hold it back a little bit, it'll probably

make him a better ball player, not eliminate it. I don't want that. I don't want that at all. That's

Joe Madden telling, you know, saying to Harvey, be you, right? But like I want PCA to bring it back

just a little bit. And he started looking at some of those things. He also had a great quote talking

about that playoff baseball and what it meant. You know, like all of that stuff. And he's been working

on the little things, just trying to control who he is. By the way, did you see also mentioned in

the article about the contract? He's, he's not looking to break the bank. He's like, I, I,

I just don't want to ruin the salary structure for everybody. But I want to be a cub. Yeah,

I want to be a cub because league minimum is pretty good dough too. You know, like he's not saying

he's taken league minimum, but he's saying league minimum is pretty good dough too. And so he hopes

that they're having those conversations and he would like to be a cub for life. But that first

quote that you showed, Joey, that's what gets me extra excited about this guy. Yeah, the catches,

sometimes I think he's almost too much in the outfield because he's, he just wants to go everywhere,

right? He's the Tasmanian devil out there. But when I see how hard he works and I keep reading that

he's everything in reality. He is everything brewers fans think he will never be already.

He's this thoughtful, mindful, hardworking, smart kid with tons of talent. And because he slams his

helmet down, they assume he's dumb and he's a meathead and he doesn't work hard and he's a

whiner. It's none of that. You know, I heard Mark Dorosa talk about him saying like I went to

camp and I was like, I'm not going to like this guy. And he left camp and was like, well, I got to

have that guy on team USA, you know, he's like, that got that's that's everything I want. It's like,

yeah, have a conversation. Listen to what he says. Read the quotes. See what his teammates say

about how hard he works. PCA is the best center fielder in the division. And if Jackson,

Churrio and the brewers don't want to believe it. Boohoo. It's the truth right now. I still like

Jackson, Churrio. He's one of the best young players in baseball. But I think PCA will prove

this year that he is better. And that he will continue to be better. And the two may grow together

as the two best center fielders in baseball. That's what I would love to see to be honest with you

because to be a great rivalry, moving forward. It would be and you know, we talked about

defense, talk about offense. The one thing we haven't talked about at least specifically is this

swag. And when it comes to swag, there's nobody swag here than Pete Crow Armstrong. This guy is

I love the throwing the helmet. I love when you when you hit a home run your screaming. I love when

you just one of my favorite gifts on Twitter is when he's slitting a third base against the white

socks and he got up and was beating his chest. One of my favorite gifts to use. I love the emotion,

the good and the bad. One of the knocks last year we had on Cal Tucker. I think we still have it on him

as Dodger is was boring. He's dug out. He's dug out. There was no emotion. I'd rather have a PCA

all day every day that show that's wearing his heart on a sleeve that is showing emotion. The good

and the bad. I want that versus the boring and it makes me think you don't care. Don't forget

last year, Cal Tucker struggled heavily. PCA also struggled heavily. Why did the cup fans not

turn on PCA the way we did on Cal Tucker? Because PCA we knew he cared. We knew that it bothered him.

We knew that it bothered him like it bothered us that he struck out. You open your arms to a guy

like that. He's one of yours, right? I think you know, he was talking about PCA and

and Turyo being top. I love the fact that in Chicago, we have PCA and Caleb Williams is like the

two young studs of Chicago. And I can see that for the next decade of being like these are our

guys leading the Bears, leading the Cubs. I think when it comes to swag, PCA is off the charts.

And I think that he's not a superstar yet, but you know what? You know who believes he's a superstar?

PCA thinks he's a superstar. And I love that because he's going to work his butt off to make sure

that the steps going in the next season prove the fact that he's a superstar because he already

believes it in himself. And I love that about him. And that's why again, I think by far and away,

he's number one. And we're never going to have this discussion again, hopefully moving forward.

Yeah, blah, blah, blah. It's in total agreement with you, Justin. I'd rather have players

though their helmets after a K then pose with an L flag like they won the world series. Yeah,

I mean, stats be damned, right? Like, and here's what I will say, especially heading into this

year. I think the excitement level is off the charts for PCR Armstrong. That does not mean he needs

to be a perfect player or what we would call a finished product because I got news for Cubs fans.

I don't think we're going to get that this year. But if he can take a couple of steps forward,

right? If he can add some words to his game like balance and consistency, the guy's track record.

You've or you've illustrated it perfectly. He's friends with our franchise quarterback in this town.

What he wrote in the players tribune last year. What I witnessed with my own eyes, how he interacts

with young Cubs fans at Cubs convention, the way he makes it funny and makes them feel so included

and awesome. He is a franchise player starter kit. And he just he frankly just whatever it is,

it just hasn't come to its true fruition. And the sky's the limit, Luke. And for me, I'm almost

trying to like tamp down the expectation right. I've said it multiple times over the off season.

If he doesn't hit 30 home runs this year, if he hits 20 to 22 bombs, but his offensive game

takes a step forward where you could just see the maturation at the plate. You could see him coming

up with big hits in a moment or God forbid even working a walk to start a rally and a ninth inning.

I still think he reaches that superstar status. And I don't think we do the baseball

savant and we do all the stats. I think his game can go beyond stats this season because I want

I want chaos, right? I want I want danger on the base paths. I want a guy who's flying around

like an F 15 in the outfield. And then oh yeah, he's juicing you up by either getting on base or

hitting a ball far and going along. And obviously representing the Cubs, you know, the way that he

does with flair, but also with respect. So it's all sitting out there for him, Luke. And I can't

wait to watch it. And obviously I think Cubs fans feel the same way. teaser for tomorrow

Tuesday podcast for those that stuck around for the end of the show in podcast form, all right?

Here it is. Better combo. Caleb. And PCA versus love. And Cheerio. And then on top of that.

And then on top of that, who are the players in baseball that you'd be willing to trade PCA for?

How many are there? And how many of them are not position players?

Does it get off of one hand? Does it get off two hands? I don't know. I haven't made the list yet,

but I think that could be a mini pod we could do even.

Nice teas. Nice teas, I look. By the way, real quick. Don't forget that trip. This is it.

Before we go, since we got it, or since we're over time anyway,

CHG road trips, spring training to Arizona. It's our big trip presented by Shady Rays.

The fifth through the eighth, you can still sign up. It's a la carte. You can do what you want. Go

to as many games as you want with us at Sloan Park. You can even go to a white socks game.

If you want, you go to the bulls sons game. If you want, you could go golfing with us and beat up

on all the all city teams from other cities as we go golfing in the desert. Or you could just come

to some meet and greets. Doesn't matter. Just come out and see us. We want to hang out. Talk to you.

Have some fun. Talk baseball and get a little sunshine. A little sunshine back in our lives.

And we hope you'll join us. Did I mention presented by Shady Rays?

That's it. Some say the future is bright.

That's right. Future is bright. All right, back tomorrow. Thanks to everybody in the live chat.

As always, thanks to all of our great sponsors. And thank you for listening and watching.

We'll see you tomorrow. That is Tuesday the 24th tomorrow.

Already. Wow. This is the CHGO Cubs podcast until tomorrow. Fly the W.

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