Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Are The Cardinals That Far Behind The Brewers?

Episode Date: November 20, 2024

Crossover with Chuck Freimund from Locked on Brewers discussing the Cardinals and Brewers plans this offseason, how far apart are they and how the rest of the NL Central shapes up Follow & Subscribe o...n all Podcast platforms… 🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOSTLCardinals?sid=YouTube Locked On MLB League-Wide: Every Team, Prospects & More 🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnMLB Follow on Twitter/X: @JDSPORTSRADIO Follow the show on Twitter/X: @LO_Cardinals Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuel You can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - if you win your first FIVE DOLLAR BET ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) #ForTheLou #stlcards #mlb #lockedoncardinals Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The St. Louis Cardinals finished 10 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central. But are these teams really that far apart going into 2025? This is a special crossover episode of Lockdown Cardinals and Locked on Brewers. You are Locked on Cardinals. Your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. I'm still discussed that Murphy did not sweep the manager of the year. unanimously last night, but we'll talk to J.D. about that coming up here in a little bit. The Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals, well, the Brewers think the Cardinals are rivals. The
Starting point is 00:00:42 rivals think the Cubs are their rivals. In any case, they're all trying to chase the Milwaukee Brewers down. But as we know, even though the Brewers have won the division, you know, things can change in our hurry. Good to have you along. My name is Chuck Freeman. Lockdown Brewers, part of Lockdown Podcast Network. We are your team every day. This episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the GameTime app. create an account. Use the promo code locked on MLB for 20 bucks off your purchase. That is game time. J.D. Haferrin joining us right now. J.D. Locked on Cardinals. Good to have you along, my friend. How are you, Chuck? Good to see you again. Happy offseason to you.
Starting point is 00:01:21 And congratulations to your manager. Well dessert. Yeah. 27 votes there. A couple of people did not vote for him. I see a couple of people voted for, well, one guy voted for Marmel for third place. We'll get to that coming up later on. I don't see what you think of that. It wasn't me. It wasn't me. It wasn't me. You don't have a vote. I'm not a baseball writer.
Starting point is 00:01:43 So, Jady, how off-season has been quiet for both teams so far. Yeah, we've got, we're in a bit of a different area than we're used to as Cardinal fans because this is a year where we're not actively out shopping for, any big name free agents or actually trying to add really anybody of, you know, any veterans or anything like that to the roster. As of right now, obviously things can change.
Starting point is 00:02:12 We're actually in a reset is what we're calling it, where they want to rely more on some of the youth in the organization, as opposed to the veterans, which they've turned to over many, many years where like each year it was kind of like, oh, we're going to add this veteran, you know, And I kind of, the way I've described it is, you know, you see the old cartoons where there's a hole like in a dam or something or in a boat and they put a finger in and plug the hole and another one pops out. And that's kind of what the cardals have been doing is they've been trying to plug holes for the last couple of years and it hasn't gotten them anywhere.
Starting point is 00:02:48 So they're deciding like, look, we're just going to let's just start this thing fresh. We'll try to decrease payroll a little bit. They're not, you know, tearing everything down, but they are actively shopping guys who are making a lot of money, and they're going to try to give some of the young guys and the organization more chances to get starts and get at bats, and they're going to roll with that
Starting point is 00:03:12 and see where that takes them in the future. Obviously, we look at the whole division, the pirates they never pay much attention to. You know, they have a couple of moments during the season. The Cubs, man, the Cubs are the Cubs. Cincinnati, I thought, was going to have. be better than they were, but the team that we always look at always. I mean, we look at the Cubs, but the Cardals. It's the Cardinals that always strike fear in our hearts because it's like,
Starting point is 00:03:36 what are they doing over there? What are you guys going to be doing on the all season to get better? Because as I said, it's the top, Jady, you know this division, the Brewers may have walked away with this division this year, but that doesn't mean you can rest on your laurels at all. Yeah, it's a very competitive division. Everybody kind of pooh-poo's on the NLC, Central every time we start the year. And then they look up and they're like, wow, there's a couple of guys right there. There's two, maybe even three teams who can make the playoffs.
Starting point is 00:04:05 In this past year, it was the Brewers who dominated the division. They were clearly the best team for a lot of different reasons. They just, they just were better. You know, you had a nice mix of veterans and youth on that squad, despite, you know, Corbyn Burrins going elsewhere, despite having Woodruff not available this year. Um, it was, um, it was impressive. Like as an outsider, I thoroughly enjoyed when the Cardinals would play the Brewers, the brand of baseball and how the game was played, uh, by by the Milwaukee Brewers this year. It was something that I wanted my Cardinals to strive for. Like I was like, I was like, I wouldn't, why can't you take it bats like these guys do? Uh, it was stuff like that. And, um, but yeah, when you, when it comes to the division and like who you're paying the most attention to, like you said, uh, you go with somebody who's got a track record. So like as a, as the Cardinals side, and, um, but, of things. Yeah, we keep an eye on the Cubs and the Reds, but it's the brewers who have had the most success. And it's usually the team that they're competing for most more times than not
Starting point is 00:05:05 for the NL Central Crown. I feel like our organizations have traded spots in that what you kind of alluded to right there. It's the brewers are, you know, taking that extra base, playing some smart baseball and doing all the things necessary and not making a lot of errors. You guys kind of are going the opposite. It's weird because we're playing. Cardo baseball kind of. Yeah, you guys are just, you're playing a cleaner brand of baseball. It's, you guys do the little things correctly. You play solid defense and you get the clutch hitting.
Starting point is 00:05:37 And of course, the pitching has been strong in Milwaukee for many, many years now. And it continues to be a key point for you guys and the success that the Brewers have had this year, where, you know, people in the Cardinals organization that they've expected to step up and take on a role, something like, you know, a Jackson, and Shorio did for you guys this year where, you know, he got his chance and he came through and he was a huge piece of the puzzle for the brewers this year. And the youth for the Cardinals who they thought they were going to be able to rely on, they're not coming through. And that kind of makes this front office take a step back. They're like, hold on, something's up.
Starting point is 00:06:17 So we're not doing this right because these are the guys you're supposed to take over. And because they're not, we're shipping them off. These guys are having more success with other teams later on for whatever reason it is. And we're overpaying for veteran guys who aren't living up to expectations. So this model is not working for us. So we need to be more like Milwaukee where you're not overly paying guys like you're not going to sign Willie Adomas this year. You're not going to go out and fork over that kind of money. You're going to find somebody that you have homegrown and you're going to plug that person in probably.
Starting point is 00:06:50 And that that's the way you're going to roll. and that's how you're going to find success without having to have a $300 million payroll. So the Cardinals took a look at that. They're like, I like not having to pay these crazy, crazy contracts and still getting the production that we need. So it's very much going to be an overhaul of how they develop players in St. Louis. And they're hoping to have success the way the Brewers have with guys that they've drafted and developed. J.D, never in my life did I ever think that I hear. our Cardinal fans say we got to be more like the Milwaukee Brewers. Never, never, never.
Starting point is 00:07:26 When you're winning, dude, that's how it works, right? It's kind of like the NFL. If, you know, they see something works, it's the Copycat League, right? And the Cardinals aren't going to compete with teams like, you know, the payrolls of the Dodgers and the Mets and the Phillies and all these others. They're just like, dude, we're not going to, we're not going to be able to. We're going to have to overpay too much for guys who probably aren't going to pan out the way that we want them to and we can't afford or don't want i shouldn't say can't because the cardinals have money it's not that they don't have the money it's that they don't want to do business this way they don't think it's the smart way to do it and uh they they're changing things and if they can do it more like
Starting point is 00:08:07 milwaukee and be as successful as milwaukee has done with it more power to them that's what that's what they're hoping for well jaddy i mentioned this on the show and i've done this i want the brewers to be like the Cardinals in the sense that I want, I want the Brewers to start spending, because your payroll, like 160 or so was like last year, 160 million. You know, the brewers are paying around 115 million. So it's like, my contention was how come the brewers cannot spend what the Cardinals are doing in the offseason, spend it wisely, but spend some money? That's the, that's the million dollar question, right?
Starting point is 00:08:41 It's like, okay, the guys that you're spending it on, they got to work out, right? and looking at some of the contracts that the Cardinals have spent their money on. You know, people are like looking at what happened with Paul Goldschmidt this past year. And they're like, oh, my gosh, we just wasted money. And I'm like, not really. I was like, that's what's supposed to happen. You come to the end of the deal and that's when they tail off. And then you open the door and say goodbye and say, thank you for your time.
Starting point is 00:09:05 But, you know, like the money that they've spent on to Miles Michaelis and a Stephen Matt's, you know, guys that just haven't had the production that you want. And that's the risk you take. when you give these guys a lot of money and you pay out these long-term contracts. And instead, I am like what I'm more of a fan of what Milwaukee did with like the Jackson Sharia, like give them the, do it now, 10 years. Like this is something we've talked about on Lockedown Cardinals is like maybe think about doing that with Mason Wynn, who's our shortstop, who very much deserved to be right up there in the chatter for an Rookie of the year.
Starting point is 00:09:41 If they had four finalists, I believe he would have been the first. fourth finalist, but they only have three, three guys who got it, absolutely deserving, not taking anything away from them. But that's how good Mason win was. And we're talking about a guy who's in his early 20s and why not lock them up? You know, that makes a lot of sense, especially at a position like shortstop. Well, that's the key is if you think you really have something there, now they signed Jackson Churio without even him playing a major league inning. Yeah. If that would have failed, they're looking at eight million or eight years of having to pay that guy for nothing because they've had high prospects fail before. And that's more
Starting point is 00:10:16 problem. You better hope that pans out if you do something like that. That's the thing. You got to have faith in what you do in your own organization. You have to have faith in how you develop people. And the Cardinals at this point do not have faith in that because we have seen different prospects over the years just not pan out or not get enough playing time at the major league level to see if they'll pan out. And then they end up having fantastic years for other people. We're talking about Rania Rosarena, Adoles Garcia. Did they know how good Sandy Alcantra and Zach Gallin were going to be when they shipped
Starting point is 00:10:53 them for Ozuna and the deal with the Marlins? And that's what they don't want to do anymore. They're like they don't feel like they're giving these guys enough opportunities at the major league level to really see if they're good enough. And those are the guys they want to extend. Instead of going out and paying four or five. years and $100 million for a veteran who's likely going to tail off and is likely not going to be worth the money that you're actually having to pay for him as a free agent. They want to start
Starting point is 00:11:21 relying on their own people again. And that's what used to make the Cardinals a really good organization is they would constantly have prospects coming up. And those were the guys that they would rely on. It wasn't having to go out and buy your team and then supplement that team with your prospects. It's supposed to be the other way around where you go out and pick a free agent up to supplement all the good people that you've already developed. And it got backwards with the Cardinals. And that's why they're changing things. Why we got this reset going on?
Starting point is 00:11:51 And I'm on board with it because the model that they had going wasn't working. They haven't won anything in quite some time. So why keep doing it, right? How big is the gap between the Brewers and Cardinals? We'll get to that coming up next. J.D., hang on one second. Lockdown Brewers part of Lockdown Podcast Network. We're joined by J.D. Haffron.
Starting point is 00:12:13 from Locked on Cardinals today. And this show is brought to you in part by Fanduil. Fan Duel is America's number one sports book for a reason. Got to love their live betting on Fanduel. You get a hunch in the middle of the game. You could check out the latest stats, few the live play-by-play. So much more on the same page where you place your bets.
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Starting point is 00:13:44 I don't know of hate, but is there really that big of a gap, Jady, between us and you guys? You know, my heart wants to say no, the Cardinals underperform this year and they should have been better. I look at the Milwaukee Brewer's roster,
Starting point is 00:14:04 and obviously you've got good players here and there, but it's not like, you know, it's not like the Dodgers, you know, MVP's hanging out, you know, multiple side young type of guy. You know, it's not that extreme. I just think you got more out of guys than, then I think, then the Cardinals got out of their guys is really what it is. I mean, when you have, you know, people are going to say it's an excuse, but I look at what the Cardinals had this last year. And when you have career worse seasons
Starting point is 00:14:36 for your two best hitters, Nolan are and Idaho and Paul Goldsmith, and you only get half a season from Wilson Contreras. So essentially, your three, four, five guys were MIA last year. You're going to struggle to score runs when that happens. And that was really the problem for the Cardals this past year. It wasn't really the pitching. The bullpen was really good. It was they could not score enough. They were not coming through with runners in scoring position, one of the worst teams in the league in that category. And I point the fingers right at those three. Like, those are the, you know, that's, those are the highest paid guys. Those are your veterans.
Starting point is 00:15:16 Those are your key dudes. They're supposed to come through. And when they don't, they deserve to be called out. And the one thing about those guys is they all knew it. It's not like any of them were like, well, we're all right. No, they all admitted like, do we suck? We've had a, a terrible year. And it's rough watching guys that, you know, personally you care about and you see
Starting point is 00:15:38 them struggling and they just cannot figure it out. And then to not have any of the young guys like a Nolan Gorman or a Jordan Walker to fall back on, it really, really made this offense challenged. And, you know, I think if you had a normal year from those guys that the Cardinals could have competed right with the Milwaukee Brewers. I think they, I think talent wise on paper, I don't see a huge difference. But when you watch those games, it was clear who the better team was every single time we went out on that field. Well, that's what I'm afraid of. Kind of what you alluded to early on.
Starting point is 00:16:14 You know, the Brewers won 93 games, but I feel like they squeeze the juice out of a lot of things this year. And a lot of things went right that you wonder if it's going to happen again the following season. I mean, they had the margin of error is very small with these guys. And some teams, you know, there's margin of error is not so small. You can make some mistakes. And I'm wondering if that's going to happen again this year with the Milwaukee Brewers. And where teams like maybe you guys,
Starting point is 00:16:41 like you said some guys underperformed. And what is going to happen with the first and third base spots now? What's going to happen there? Well, Paul Gros, obviously, is a free agent now. Obviously, there's been some rumors that the Brewers would be interested in talking to him and see if he would want to come over, which personally, if Goldie has just a little bit better of a year than what he had in St. Louis, I think you guys would be happy with that. Because he's still very good defensively.
Starting point is 00:17:10 You guys got, you know, a couple of gold glovers in there in the field already. So you would love to have him over at first base. Although we got Hoskins who picked up his $18 million option. So that I don't know if they're going to spend that much money for that's true. That's true. I forgot about Reese Hoskins. I thought that's something you guys would have to worry about. But I thought about maybe DHing, but I don't think.
Starting point is 00:17:30 But with Gellish having a D.H sometimes, that's not going to be a possibility. Yeah, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense then. So probably no goal is for your future. Who plays first? What's that? Who plays first base for you then? Wilson Contreras is going to move over to first base now. They talked with him.
Starting point is 00:17:47 He was a guy. So the high price veterans that the Cardinals with no trade clauses that they wanted to talk to was Wilson Contreras, Nolan Aronato, Sunny Gray, and Miles Michaelis apparently had a no trade clause that none of us knew about. But they have had conversations with them going, look, this is the direction we're going, as. as a franchise, we can pay you. It's not that we can't. But if you would prefer to go somewhere else and maybe a club that's closer to winning a championship, then we would be willing to explore the options of moving you. And the reports are that both Wilson and Traders and Sunny Graves said, we're not interested
Starting point is 00:18:29 in that. We want to be a cardinal. We want to win here. We came here for a reason. And this is where we want to be. We have not officially heard anywhere from Nolan R. not yet. But if you read the tea leaves and stuff out there that the Cardinals were trying to explore things about a certain person that's making a lot of money, Nolan's the guy that most
Starting point is 00:18:52 people think is what they've been talking about where, you know, he's at that point in his career where he wants to win a title. I don't know if he wants to sit through a reset, even if it's only a year or two. I think he, you know, he's got three years left on this deal. He makes a lot of money, and he wants to go win. So he's going to be dangled out there for the taking for one of those big market, high-priced payroll teams if they're interested. I'm sure the Cardinals will have to eat some money on that one. But he's somebody who's made available.
Starting point is 00:19:22 I'm sure Michaelis has been made available. I don't know who would want him. He's been one of the worst pitchers in baseball over the last couple years. So his $17 plus million tag is not going to help causes. So the Carls will have to eat some money on that as well. But Wilson Contreras said that I don't want to leave and was willing to move to first base to help out getting the other young catchers that the Cardinals have in their system, more bats with Wilson out last year, half the season. They got a nice look at Ivan Herrera and Pedro Pahez, two totally different types of catchers where Yvon's more of the offensive guy. Pedro's more of the defensive guy.
Starting point is 00:20:00 And they were like, look, the pitching staff likes them. Wilson, if you want to stay with us, we're going to need you to do something else for us because we want these kids to play. And he was like, well, I guess we'll move down to first base. So that's the plan right now is that Wilson and Chorres convert over to first base. And the big question is, can he handle it defensively? Offensibly, we're not worried about him whatsoever because he was having a heck of a year despite the injuries. But defensively, it's kind of like, we've had Goldie over there for a few years. And boy, that guy's really good.
Starting point is 00:20:34 Is he going to be able to help out this young infield? If Aronado has moved, is he going to be able to help them out over there as a defensive first basement? Or is he going to be a liability? That we don't know yet. Well, the Brewers have a glaring need for a third baseman. Aronado five years ago, I'd take him. I think anybody trades for him now. I'd just surprise his game has slipped as much as it has.
Starting point is 00:20:58 Yeah. And it's not in the defensive game. actually rebounded last year where in 2023, he really went down a little bit. And then the first half last year, it was, it was tough to watch too. And then something clicked. And he was one of the best third baseman in baseball, the second half of the season and ended up being another finalist for the gold glove over at third base. So still could pick it with the best of them, still got a great arm. It's just offensively, it's just the power has just kind of vanished. And when we talk about teams that I think Nolan would be a good fit on, teams like where he doesn't have to be the main guy.
Starting point is 00:21:37 Like if he's like the fourth guy in the pecking order, I think would be a more advantageous spot for Nolan Arnato at this point in his career. So Phillies, Houston Astro, something like that. I keep talking about how he would be just would love the Crawford boxes in left field because he's a full hitter like where the power numbers would probably go up substantially if he was to move to a more hitter-friendly ballpark because Bush Stadium hasn't been all that kind to him. A lot of his balls that would be home runs to left field have been dying at the warning track. And, you know, pitchers aren't pitching him inside all that much anymore. And so he's had to take the singles to right field, which is obviously hurt production and his OPS and his slugging. And they've all taken a dip.
Starting point is 00:22:24 I don't think he's that bad of a hitter. I just think in time, as time goes on, it just kind of happens to the guys, you know, for the new PEDs. Like it's just father time is undefeated, right? Unlefeated. Except for guys like you and I. Yeah. For us guys who watch the team.
Starting point is 00:22:43 All right, we come back, JD. One more final segment. We'll talk about the NL Central and see what we will think about the NL Central. We come back here on Lockdown Brewers. Lockdown Brewers, part of Lockdown Podcast Network. We are your team. Everyday Find us in Google, Spotify, Apple, on all the major downloads
Starting point is 00:23:00 every download your podcast. And of course on YouTube our growing YouTube page search Lockdown Brewers, hit the subscribe button, hit the bell. And literally every time we drop an episode here on Lockdown Brewers. Jady, how do they see your smiling face every day? What was that? How do people see your smiling face every day? Oh, well,
Starting point is 00:23:18 honestly, you can find us on YouTube as well, the Lockdown Cardinals where we're very, very close to 11,000 subscribers now. So we want to keep that churning out. Obviously, you can find me on Twitter X as well at L.O. underscore Cardinals and at J.D. Sports Radio. So that is where I'm at. I'm not always smiling, though, Chuck, because it's been a tough year. It's been a tough year for the Cardinals. Things didn't go quite the way we were hoping they would go. You guys had to be very happy with how things played out. Obviously, playoffs, you
Starting point is 00:23:52 warned me, Chuck. And I gave you so much credit. I was like, Chuck warned all of us that the Brewers, seem to do well in the regular season, and then something happens with the playoffs, and it just doesn't work out. How do you plan on fixing that when you're going to lose a guy like Willie Adamas? What direction do you think the brewers are going to go into to kind of fill that hole?
Starting point is 00:24:12 Because that is a lot of production that is going to be missing from that order next year. So who's stepping up for you guys? It is. And that's why I'm thinking they need a third basement because I think Ortiz is going to move over to shortstop from third to short, played third base out of necessity. They shouldn't have a nice job over there. but he's going to move it short, even though there's rumors terrain is to play short.
Starting point is 00:24:31 He'll move to short, and they have to get themselves the third baseman. Right now, that's a big, glaring, gaping hole for the Milwaukee Brewers. And they've got to go out and get themselves a guy who can hit some home runs. Replacing 32 home runs is tough. Replacing his leadership is going to be difficult. This is the way it is with the Milwaukee Brewers. When they get a guy who's at the end of the six years, they're going to lose the free agency. They've taken chances on guys. They've signed Yelich and it backfired. So far,
Starting point is 00:25:04 I feel it's backfired. I feel the organization. If this was the NFL, I think Yelich would have been cut a couple of years ago. That's just the way I think that's, they would have cut more the contract. Braun, I don't think they really got another guy who they kept the round long-term contract, never really got their bang for their buck after 2011, I want to say. Yeah, he still was a productive player, but he wasn't a great player. He was early. So back to the third base spot is the big, big spot. This team won all year without a legitimate ace at the top of the rotation as well. They're going to get Brandon Woodruff, hopefully back.
Starting point is 00:25:38 He's coming back from surgery. I never count on the guy who was coming back from surgery. There's a crowded outfield. What are they going to do with David Williams? There's some big question marks. I love the direction they're going. I think there's a lot to be positive about. But it's not going to be easy repeating is the Vision champ.
Starting point is 00:25:56 can't just roll out a bag of balls out there and think, oh, the Brewers are going to win. I think they're going to be one of the favorites. But Pat Murphy even said yesterday when he won the manager of the year award, he said, well, we got still got some work to do. We got to figure out how a way we can fend off everybody and still win this division again. Yeah, and, you know, you got the Reds are going to be healthier next year. They got Tito Francona coming as their manager, which I think will be an upgrade over David Bell.
Starting point is 00:26:24 You know, the Cubs, you never just don't know what the Cubs are going to do. I don't know what they're going to do in free agency this year. It's kind of up in the air. Do they decide to go and pay a few guys to go along with having to pay Bellinger, who picked up his options. So, you know, you never can really rule them out until you figure out what the heck they're going to do. So I'm not sure yet.
Starting point is 00:26:42 I know that the Cardinals are, they're not prepared to win the division this year by any means. They plan to compete. And they're hoping that some of these young guys like Gorman and Walker and Mason win and, you know, that they all step up to that next level of production this next year. But if it doesn't happen, it's going to be a lot like it was this last year, which is going to be kind of musy around the 500 mark and, you know, hoping for good things to happen.
Starting point is 00:27:11 But I don't know. It's hard to look at what the brewers got and not pick them as the favorite in the NL Central. I'm sure they'll make some sort of smart decision. But considering the great defense that you guys have, which was always very impressive, this year. Contreras, obviously, a superstar in the making, if not already, depending on who you can talk to. So there's a lot of good things about the brewers right now. And yeah, Woodruff, you know, it's a big question mark because it's not like he's coming off something minor, you know, the surgeries that he's had to endure the last year. They're tough ones.
Starting point is 00:27:47 And not everybody bounces back from these things. I know we're used to this day and age where, you go into the knife and everything's fine and you're back. And it's not really the case all the time. You just don't hear about the ones that don't work out as much. The Cubs, I'm thankful, Jady, and I'm sure you are too. Both of us have a common denominator. We hate the Cubs. The Cubs denominator.
Starting point is 00:28:09 But, I mean, at least they're not spending like the Dodgers would do. I mean, can imagine if they were like the Dodgers of the Yankees and they just go out and start buying themselves pennants. I mean, thank God the Cubs don't operate that way. And they could. If they wanted to, it's not like they don't have the money. Same thing with the Cardinals. Like, and that's the what Bays are kind of upset about in St. Louis is that like your own ownership is you're a billionaire, bro.
Starting point is 00:28:31 Like go go do it. But at the same time, buying people hasn't worked out for the Cardinals in the past. Like it's making smart trades and then extending those guys, you know, guys like Matt Holiday and Jim Edmonds and, you know, trading for Scott Roll. And it wasn't going out and buying free agents is what brought the Cardinals all that success. It's not how it worked. And they're trying to get back to doing it the way that they were successful at in previous years. And I'm all for it. I'm all for it.
Starting point is 00:29:02 Jady, let's keep in touch here in the offseason. We have another common denominator, the Green Bay Packers. Absolutely, man. Amazing. Another wonderful down for Chicago people like to see that. Have you seen some of the videos of people losing their minds like Bears fans, like after the kick was blocked? Yeah, that's them.
Starting point is 00:29:23 It's so funny. Yeah, you knew that kick was going to be blocked because that's just the way it goes for Bears fans. Yeah, I was like, he's got to shank this. Something's going to happen. It's just the way it goes in this rivalry, which is not a rivalry at all. When you haven't won it when it's 11 and O over the last few times. So, yeah, if there's Milwaukee fans, I'm all on board with the Packers. You've seen the cheesehead and stuff before.
Starting point is 00:29:48 I've got it behind me always. and I'm go back oh baby i hope they can continue to have success and keep jordan love healthy that's a big deal and stop turning it over jordan got a long way to go in this season too jd thanks we'll keep a touch thank you yes jd heffron from locked on cardos great to have him on this show today my name is chuck freeman lockdown brewers part of locked on podcast network we are your team every day. Thanks for making us your first listen to every day. Your second listen, go to Lockdown MLB. Our guy Sully, it's got all the hot stove talk right there. Lockdown Brewers. We'll see tomorrow, everybody. Have yourself a great week.

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