Ron, Pete, and Elliott jump online for a mid-Break, midday show to discuss 2018 ZIPS projections for the Cardinals and Brewers, the stalled player market - particularly Yu Darvish and Manny Machado. They are joined in this episode for the live debut of Ron's oldest son, Braden. Braden weighs in on all of the above topics, as well as his prowess as a GM in MLB: The Show.
Merry Christmas everyone! This week's episode starts hot right out of the box, with Ron, Pete and Elliott discussing the "most overrated" players in baseball. One Cardinals third base target (Evan Longoria) is off the market, and it doesn't appear that the other (Josh Donaldson) is going anywhere. Yu Darvish signs with the Cubs! (#FakeNews). The guys discuss the Marlins disaster, the Le Batard intervew, and the Jeter town hall.
Ron, Elliott and Pete ask a lot of questions regarding the post-Winter Meetings news. Where will Yu be in the spring of 2018? Will the Cards land Longoria and Colome, or Manny Machado? Should the Cubs offer Addison Russell for Machado? How close were the Cubs to landing Ohtani? Do the Cardinals have enough pitching, or is Mozeliak's stance just a front? And what the hell are the Braves thinking?!
The dam has broken. Trades and Free Agent signings are happening all around MLB. Ron, Pete, and Elliott discuss all of the moves that the Cubs and Cards have made thus far. They then launch into the Evil Empire, the disaster that it is Derek Jeter as a MLB owner, and the Cards' trade for Marcell Ozuna. Plus, will the Cards pull the trigger on a Manny Machado trade?
Pete and Ron couldn't help themselves. They had to jump on the podcast to talk about the two 800 pound gorillas in the room and their new teams. Shohei Ohtani and Giancarlo Stanton. The newest Angels and Yankees players. Also, does this clear the runway for the Bryce Harper joining the Cubs in 2019 now that the Yankees may have taken themselves out? Pete thinks it is a possibility.
Ron and Pete celebrate their anniversary by discussing *Shohei Ohtani*, Giancarlo Stanton, Miles Mikolas, Tyler Chatwood, baseball as it used to be, and Rafael Palmeiro's Fantastic Comeback!
ありがとう、大谷さん
Ron and Pete were already planning to record this episode, but with the late-breaking developments in the Shohei Ohtanti sweepstakes, they had to get online to discuss it. The Cubs are in and the Cards are out. Plus, they speculate about what is going to happen now that Giancarlo "Mike" Stanton has narrowed the field down to the Giants and the Cards. They wrap things up with the Cards' contingency plans this offseason, as Ron isn't optimistic that they will land Stanton.
Ron, Elliott, and a little bit of Scott sit in on this episode to cover the latest happenings with free agents and trade talks. They address the two pending deals with Stanton and Ohtani and how these two guys are clogging up some of the other moves that are bound to happen soon.
Ron and Pete dive right into the week's big news: The absolute hammering of the Atlanta Braves by Major League Baseball. They get into a pretty hot disagreement about the comparative "wrist-slap" that the Cardinals received last Spring, before turning their attention to the twin elephants of Ohtani and Stanton.
Ron and Pete open with MVP announcements, which leads into a discussion of the GM meeting elephants, Giancarlo Stanton and Shohei Ohtani. After a brief rundown of the nine QO free agents, they seque into Scott Boras, Miami's selloff, The King Kong of Slug, and Jake Arrieta's nuts.
After sorting through a host of audio issues, Ron and Pete are joined by special guests Elliott and Scott to introduce a new segment: "Buy it or Bullshit?" over the free agent rumors for this off-season. They take a deep dive into the Giancarlo Stanton market, discuss the untimely passing of Roy "Doc" Halladay, and wrap things up with a quick discussion of the trade rumors currently swirling around both the Cubs and the Cardinals.
With Pete going off the grid for a few days, Elliott Duy returns to co-pilot Episode 51. They recap the World Series and how game 7 was … meh … compared to the previous 6 games between the Dodgers and Astros. They quickly move on to some offseason speculation around the Cardinals and Cubs and what their next moves might be, capping everything off with some STAR WARS talk.
Pete and Ron discuss the raft of coaching changes in baseball the last several days, including the almost complete overhaul of the Cubs' coaching staff and the Cardinals welcome back some very familiar faces. They review the NL Gold Glove finalists before a review of Chili Davis's career leads Ron down athletic memory lane.
Pete and Ron connect at the back half of game 5 of the NLCS. This was clearly the Dodgers year to advance and Pete has his thoughts as to why that happened. It was fun while it lasted but now Pete has to take a spot on the couch next to the rest of us. Somber yet insightful.
Pete and Ron get together to talk about the first two games of the NLCS between the Cubs and Dodgers. With the Cubs down 2-0, can they rebound back at home? The Dodgers have some painful memories housed at Wrigley. Pete gives us all his thoughts on Joe Maddon's managerial decisions over the first two games and on Joe's logic for not using Wade Davis in Game 2. You don't want to miss that.
The Cubs capture the Division Series and defeat their former manager, Dusty Baker. With Pete off the grid for a time, Elliott Duy sat in the co-pilot chair for the first hour-plus as they talked playoff baseball. Pete was able to join the latter part of the show, and they all witnessed the clincher. The episode ends abruptly, as Ron was at the controls. Still, it was nearly two hours of joy (except for Ron).
Together for the last night of Pete's trip to North Carolina, he and Ron break down the results of Game 3 of the NLDS between the Nationals and Cubs. There was a pleasant distraction midway with the release of the new Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer but you need not worry. Ron cut that part out. It was a special day for Pete. On his 44th birthday, his son's favorite player, Rizzo #44 knocked in the game winning run. Happy Birthday Pete, and Go Cubs!
Pete and Ron get adventurous on this episode by doing their first YouTube Live video podcast. They cover the results of Game 2 of the NLDS between the Cubs and the Nationals, hanging breaking balls, beards and the Yankees, Jason Giambi, and the ice cold blood that runs through Wade Davis's veins. Amazingly, Ron didn't screw up the whole thing as he stumbled around the controls and web sites he was unfamiliar with. Thanks, Google and Pete. Enjoy!
Together again, at last! Ron and Pete meet up in Charlotte, NC for a side-by-side edition of everybody's favorite Cards and Cubs fan podcast! Pete and Ron talk through some Cardinals issues prior to getting into the meat of what has happened in playoff baseball so far this year, highlighting the results of the Cubs and Nationals Game 1.
Video version, if you dare: https://youtu.be/73g8jampg6Y
The worst day of Ron's year takes place LIVE with Pete as the Cubs clinch the NL Central title in St. Louis! Holy Cow Sh##t!
Ron and Pete sit down for a bonus episode to discuss the Cubs' sweep of the Cardinals, which officially brings an end to St. Louis's season, in Ron's eyes.
Ron and Pete marvel at the Indians' 22-game winning streak, and the inability of ANY team to put away the NL Central. They discuss who's hot and who's not for the Cubs and Cards. Finally, they look ahead to the weekend's upcoming series at Wrigley Field and its importance to the division race. Plus, Ron announces another t-shirt giveaway!
Caught in a baseball Twilight Zone, Pete and Ron discuss the standings that don't seem to change, the Dodgers tripping up in recent play, the Cardinals curious acquisition of a relief pitcher, and why the Cubs refuse to pull away from this mess. The end of the podcast is a special bonus. Enjoy, Preciouses!
On this Force Friday — and in the face of overwhelming technical difficulties — Ron and Pete power through a discussion of the Mike Leake trade, a surprisingly busy waiver trade deadline, and the Cubs prospects in the postseason. Plus, Pete relays a no-big-deal story about his son meeting Kris Bryant.
The days are growing short, and the 2017 season is getting even shorter. Ron and Pete discuss Dusty Baker, the Cubs' recent "surge", and the Cardinals' collapse. Plus, one of the guys unleashes an epic rant about bad umpires and a stupid protest.