Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals And Pirates LAG, Reds COLLAPSE—Is It Now JUST the Cubs vs Brewers?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The best record in baseball and the team that just swept the Dodgers all reside in one division. It's the NL Central. Step up to the plate. It's the Locked-on MLB Squad show. From the Dodgers to the Astros, the Mets to the Rangers, and everyone else in the league, with the experts of the Locked-on Podcast Network bringing you the most comprehensive breakdown of all the action around the war. We're coming with spikes up. No hurt feeling allowed. So squad up.

Starting point is 00:00:30 Welcome into the NL Central Squad. My name is Jeff. I'm one half of locked on Reds. My other half, Steve Offenbakers, some say the lesser half is with me as well. And J.D. Hapton from Lockdown Cardinals. What? Chuck Freeman, locked on Brewers, Sam over one half of locked on Cubs. And we've got Gary Morgan locked on pirates. And gentlemen, the NL Central was a kerfuffle early on in the season. We didn't know who was the best, but we knew that we were all very good. the eyes of the NL race when it comes to the playoffs. Now it seems to be two teams. It's the Cubs and the Brewers, just like we all kind of figured would happen. Because it's always the Cubs and the Brewers, it seems, or at least here in the last couple of years it's been. The Cubs just won the trade deadline.

Starting point is 00:01:17 They just swept the Dodgers. They're living large, Sam. Yeah, it's been about as exciting of a week, I think, as we've had since hosting the show, it was really the antithesis of last year's deadline where we were a game back from the brewers and basically did nothing at the deadline except acquire Andrew Kittridge. And, you know, this year, I don't know if it was because of the lockout. I don't know if it's because the market fell the way they wanted it to fall.

Starting point is 00:01:46 But you add Gausman, you add Clay Holmes, you add Zephyr Jones, you add Tyrone Taylor. And all of a sudden, you know, a pitching staff that looked like it was going to limp to the finish line now looks like a strength. And the buzz at Wrigley this week against the Dodgers, I don't know how much you guys got a chance to catch of it. Probably not a lot because you have your teams playing at the same time. But it was electric. And the Cubs swept pretty handily.

Starting point is 00:02:14 Like even on Wednesday's game, it was close on the scoreboard, but the Cubs were up 7-1, most of it. And I'll say this. I think I've been accused of being very pro-brewer on my show. I'm very complimentary of the brewers. I always I always respect what they're doing. For the first time and a long time, I really think we got a shot.

Starting point is 00:02:36 I know five and a half games is a lot. And maybe it would come in a playoff series. Maybe they don't catch up with the regular season. But I really think the Cubs match up with them now and are playing some of the best baseball they've played in years. It's amazing to see that they beat up on the Dodgers, including Terrick Scouble, who we thought Chuck was going to be. pitching in Milwaukee? Yeah, but apparently the Brewers didn't want to give up

Starting point is 00:03:02 Logan Henderson in that deal. That's the kerfuffle. I didn't think we're going to be using kerfuffle and antithesis in the first two minutes of the show. We're going to work in Bruhaha later. I'm just a Wisconsin guy. We don't use words like that here. We're here for the big part. You know what? I am more, you know, the Brewers have a five and a half-game lead on the Cubs. And I just worry that, you know, people are looking ahead and say, oh, we got to stave off the Dodgers and get that number one seed. No, I think this division is far from over. That was impressive what the Cubs did this week. Now, I do think the Dodgers are going through one of their summer wounds. I did catch some of those games, Sam. I just feel like the

Starting point is 00:03:44 Dodgers do this every summer. At least they had less couple where they just, you know, they can't get out of their own way. And then you get the October, and then you can't do anything against them. But the Brewers right now, they got to keep winning. And they beat Pittsburgh. You know, they got a tough weekend series coming up with Minnesota. It's going to be really tough with the rivalry in that series. But this division, by no means, guys, is Milwaukee's again with that lead that they have. The interesting part about this deadline was, I mean, the Cubs did a lot, the Brewers did a little.

Starting point is 00:04:19 The Pirates also did a good amount as well. like, Gary, did the pirates like sneak into the conversation for best deadline in the division? I mean, they addressed the need. It was reliever and they went after it. Is that even legal? Not in Cincinnati. It's not. But no, it's not.

Starting point is 00:04:39 I don't know. Some people are trying to pretend they got the, the best reliever on the market available. I mean, that depends on what you classify as available. Was Mason Miller ever really available? then if not, okay, Weaver probably classifies as up there. But I like what they did.

Starting point is 00:04:58 A lot of it is thinking ahead a little bit. I know many fans, at least in Pittsburgh, are pessimistic. There's going to be baseball next year. But a lot of what Ben Charrington did will last into next year. Most of this team will come back. And if they can't make the playoffs this year with that team, that brings a whole other question to Pittsburgh. What are you going to change?

Starting point is 00:05:19 because everything's coming back. You're expecting growth from everyone. I don't know where you can add around the edges. So that's kind of where we're at right now. I feel like they did what they need to do to address the obvious issue with the team. Might be too little too late. And they can't put all three phases together

Starting point is 00:05:40 at the same time to save their lives. Meanwhile, the Cardinals actually sold unlike the Cincinnati Reds. And even in division, J.D., like, are you worried about trading with the brewers? Not rentals. I was whoever wanted them and was going to give up the best offer, I didn't care where they went. But you better get something in return.

Starting point is 00:06:01 And I was pleasantly surprised with what the brewers were willing to give up for two rentals with Joe Joe Romero and Dustin May. And again, these are prospects so they could fall flat and never make the big leagues. That could happen too. But on paper and just from the numbers you've seen from them. One of them's 18. One of them is 22. They seem like exciting talents. The one guy, Ragsdale, had a home run in his first at bad with the Cardinals organization. So all of a sudden, he's the new opera pool holes to a lot of fans.

Starting point is 00:06:31 Like, they're so excited. Oh, my gosh. This is the greatest thing since sliced bread. But it was something that they needed to do. And people were getting pretty impatient, wondering why it was taking so long to move these guys. And I try to be honest with them. I'm like, dude, there's a, there's a tear to this thing. And you got to remember how good is Dustin Jane Jojo Romero in the eyes of the rest of the league.

Starting point is 00:06:55 And it was going to take a while before everything got down to where those guys were going to be somebody people wanted. And Milwaukee ended up giving up the best offer. So I was happy to do business with Milwaukee. I was happy to do business with the Reds to help us get through the rest of the season by letting us have Caleb Ferguson for a couple months. That was nice of you because we didn't have any other lefties because we just traded Romero. and Justin Brule's not good. So I appreciate all of you guys for, you know, being there when we needed you. The red side of that business, I'm picturing Creed Bratton, spelling that on a sheet of paper,

Starting point is 00:07:31 B, I, Z, N, U, S, S, D.D, because that's really what the trade deadline was for the Reds. Then they make their first trade until 5.58 p.m. Eastern time. And all three of the trades that they made were ridiculously horrible. It's no question the Reds had the worst deadline of the budge. they had maybe the worst deadline in all of baseball. Look, somebody happened to accidentally wake Nick Crawl up around 5 p.m. He's like,

Starting point is 00:07:58 oh, maybe I should make a deal while I'm awake. So what did he do? You know, he sent Caleb Ferguson to the freaking St. Louis Cardinals. Now look, we got $250,000 in international bonus pool money. So we are going to have a international guy

Starting point is 00:08:14 that is going to curb stomp you all in 2031, right? Right. That's what's going to happen because, you know, they're going to use that money on some 16 year old that won't be around until like most of us are retired. I don't know. It was terrible, Jeff. They had a real opportunity to do things. And it was a lot of fun watching, you know, all of you guys have so much fun during the deadline. Jeff and I did not have that same experience. In fact, we were, we were rage recording after the deadline passed for the Cincinnati Reds. but we still are it probably we still are it it wasn't pretty um this division down to the wire here is going to be fun to watch you know i agree with chuck i think the cubs could come and get them uh i don't know that that's a foregone conclusion and to see pittsburgh maybe get into a wild card situation that'd be kind of fun you know um i know this baseball and cincinnati's over

Starting point is 00:09:10 at the end of september so it'll be fun to watch you guys slug it out uh there's there's some people that are trying to say that Reds are going to sneak back into this, four and a half games out of the wild card right now. Our September schedule is going to be a bludgeoning of what is left of baseball in Cincinnati. So you guys go get them. It's going to be fun to watch. There are two weeks in the month of September, two straight weeks where the Reds play the Dodgers, the Brewers, the Dodgers, and then the Brewers.

Starting point is 00:09:37 It's like the most ridiculous two weeks I've ever seen. Oh, my gosh. The month of September is just going to be a, it's horrible where the Reds are headed right now. But the good news is Bob Castellini, he interrupted a post-game presser the other night to say that this team is full of leaders and winners as they sit in the last place here in the NL Central on August 5th. Look, I know this. Bob thought he was at Walmart, by the way. He had no idea. I don't know how he found that press conference.

Starting point is 00:10:07 Yeah. Anyway, more on that over on lockdown Reds. When it comes to this division, the race for the top is interesting. there's also a race for an award that we'll get to coming up next. But first, we want to thank our friends over at Amazon for this limited break, because this back to school season, you need to spend less on your kids with Amazon. We all know how crazy the back to school shopping experience can be. It starts with a few items on the list.

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Starting point is 00:11:28 Shop back to school at Amazon and spend less on your kids. Thanks for making this NL Central Squad Show part of your day. We got you covered all throughout the National League Central, whether your favorite team is the Reds, the Cardinals, the Brewers, the Cubs or the Pirates, every single day. You can find content on your team. And guys, I think we were kind of beating around the bush a little bit. Let's call it Cubs or Brewers. Jady, we'll start with you.

Starting point is 00:12:05 I love being on the spot there. Man, dude, it's tough because I like what Milwaukee, they just figure out ways to win. But man, the excitement and, you know, Sam was talking about this. I watched that Dodgers Cubs series because I just wanted to see what it would be like at Wrigley with all of that on the line and coming off the win at the deadline. And that that was a lot of fun to watch. And don't tell my Cardinals fans that, you know, I said good things about the Cubs. They'll hate me for it.

Starting point is 00:12:34 But, man, it just feels like they got a lot of momentum right now. But again, we've still got two months to go in the season. So a lot of things can still happen. And, you know, the brewers are on top and they've been on top of this division for a couple of years now. So I'll go with Chuck and I'll go with the Brewers just because they're the ones who have consistently won each year. So give me the Brewers, but man, it's going to be tight. And it wouldn't shock me if the Cubs caught him. But I'll go with Milwaukee.

Starting point is 00:13:04 Chuck's where you got me? If Sam and I don't go with our teams, our fan base is going to kill us. But I do like Milwaukee anyway. I do, Milwaukee. I do think that the Cubs have got a lot of talent. But Milwaukee, they got a great manager, terrific pitches. as long as everybody can stay healthy. And, you know, they need to get some,

Starting point is 00:13:24 there's some guys in this lineup who've got to get going a little bit. But, you know, the Brewers just never sustain any long skits. A bad series for them or a bad road trip for them is three and three. Most of the time this year, they'll go four and two, five and one on a road trip. And right now they've been kind of playing five-footer ball in the last couple of weeks, you know, 26, 27 games over the 500 mark. But still, it's been enough to hold off the Cubs right now. we'll see us once we get through the dog days of August and into the September.

Starting point is 00:13:55 I think, oh, sorry, sorry, go ahead, Jeff. I was going to say you talk about your fans having backlash on you. That includes your manager, like, because he even has to be on the podcast recently. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, at the press conference the other night, he asked me if I was, well, he asked me if I was one of these guys that hates the brewers or likes the brewers. So I have, now we know. Now we know you made you neck. And then he asked, he goes, how come I'm the, you never asked me to be on the podcast?

Starting point is 00:14:25 And I said, well, I got to ask these media relations guys over. This is after the press conference. And he goes, he goes, no, just let me know what you want me on. I'll come on your show, you know. And of course, I'm sure the media relations guys weren't happy about that. Get him on. I want to watch that. Oh, yeah.

Starting point is 00:14:41 He told me he's going to give me some insight information. I said, man, did you give me some insight information, Dick? That's a lot. I have them on my show. Yeah. Well, you think you're fun. Hey, listen, you can only have one brewer's manager at a time. Well, yeah, but he's ever come on my show, the other one.

Starting point is 00:14:58 I don't think he knows I exist. I was just going to say, so the Cubs at the end of the month with the Brewers, they play basically seven times in 10 days. And I think if the Cubs could get that five and a half down to like three going into that, that would be huge. And I really think the big series is going to be like Chuck, talking about earlier. The Dodgers always go through that summer swoon.

Starting point is 00:15:22 And last year they went through it versus the Brewers. The Brewers won all six games, right? Chuck versus the Dodgers last year. And this year, the Cubs got a sweep. And now next week, the Brewers go to L.A. for four, I believe. And the Dodgers can't lose that many more games. So if the Dodgers could get hot, help out the Cubs a little bit. The Cubs could get this thing down to like three, those seven games in 10 days,

Starting point is 00:15:46 you know, one at each park, one series of, Park will be will be electric i look forward to watching that math change every single day for the next week it's gonna be fun and the brewer's got to go to sandy brus got to go to san diego right before that dodger um road trip there so that's not going to be easy oh right i think yeah i think right before right after yeah they go to three in san diego and then four in l a so right right i'll take the brewers i think the brewers will have a hard time falling that far back The Fandual still is the Brewers pretty heavily favored. But I think the Cubs have a roster that's built to go deeper in the playoffs.

Starting point is 00:16:30 I know that seems probably wrong to think, but I just think that the Cubs have more of a playoff makeup to their roster. Well, the proof has been there the last few years because the Brewers have not done well in the postseason. I was going to say that's a trigger word. or like, yeah, George just don't do well the whole season. Sam made an interesting case as to how it would be possible to overcome, you know,

Starting point is 00:16:54 the six game, seven game deficit that they've got going right now. But I have learned over the last couple of seasons that you just don't pick against the brewers until they give you a reason to not pick them. And every year they've just gone out there and continue to give us reasons to believe in them winning the division. And I think that's probably what's going to happen here. I think the Cubs,

Starting point is 00:17:17 will make it interesting. I think they'll get that shave down to a two or three game different by the time we get to the end of the season. But what's going to happen, I think, is the Brewers win the division. The Cubs are the number one wild card. And what's going to be much more interesting is to see if the pirates can leap prog their way into having two wild card teams out of the National Central. That's going to be, I think, a much more fun race to watch than what's going to happen between Milwaukee and Chicago. They're both going to get in. I just don't think at the end of it,

Starting point is 00:17:49 the Cubs are going to have quite enough juice to overtake the division league. The Pirates got a winning record against the Brewers this year. I was pleased to see Philadelphia decide to play every single player out of position after the trade deadline. That would help the Pirates. Defense doesn't matter. We're learning that in Cincinnati every day. Yeah, that's the interesting thing here, right?

Starting point is 00:18:11 is like the division winner will get the final wild card spot, which right now that's the diamond backs. Between the diamond backs and the Padres is one game. The Marlins just sold a couple of guys, but they're good enough that they're probably going to hang around there. Then you got the Pirates and Cardinals four games back of that final wildcard spot. Like what that could end up being might even be a better matchup than if you win the division and you face that wildcard.

Starting point is 00:18:40 because you'd be facing the Phillies. So what the Phillies look like at that point, because I don't think they're going to fall off that they lose that number two wild card spot. The one and two wild card spot is probably just going to flip-lop a little bit every so often. But, yeah, I think for me, it's probably going to be the Brewers,

Starting point is 00:18:56 just because it feels like there's just better position to do this. And they'll agree. Yeah, and I agree with, I agree with Gary, that that's probably looking like a spot that, you know, Cubs got a really good shot there to go far into the play. based on their first round matchup and then what they could be in the second round as well. The thing, the thing, too, is, like last year, if the Brewers finished with the best record in baseball and the Cubs get the first wild card spot, then they, and the Cubs take care of business in a three-game set, we'd have a rematch of the DS of last year, which is what I, what I, ultimately, at the end of the day, I'd love to win the division, but just get me there.

Starting point is 00:19:38 get me to the DS against the Brewers, because I do feel like last year, no Horton, no steel. Now, granted, no Horton, no steel this year, but they actually made moves. And that series still went five games and was a really fun one. So that's the goal. You know, I think a lot of teams,

Starting point is 00:19:55 like us, you know, we talk about the Dodgers and all that, but I'm telling you, you can't say, well, I want the Phillies to get it. I'd rather play the Phillies and the Dodgers. I'm telling you, Dodgers, Phillies, the Cubs, Atlanta. Man, all those to me, I think, are legit championship level teams. Yeah, unlike the American League.

Starting point is 00:20:14 Yeah. I think the World Series is coming out of the National League this year. I think that's what we're getting at. But I know this. The Rookie of the Year award is going to be one heck of a battle. We'll talk about that coming up next. Right after we give you those odds, you mentioned the really big favorites. Sam that the brewers are minus 450 to win the NL Central Cubs at plus 310.

Starting point is 00:20:45 And hey, Jady, Gary, Steve, myself, you know, our teams are 3001. So, you know, if you want to put something on the Cardinals, the Pirates, you're the Reds to surprise somebody, don't do that. Fandu is saying they're, they'll gladly take your money. But hey, 300 to 1 for the Cardinals pirates or Reds. Those, those are hilarious odds on the futures over at Fandul. of course you can boost your next bet with a correct pick on the daily dinger. You think you know who's going to go yard.

Starting point is 00:21:15 You make that pick. You get that win. You get a boost for your next bet. It's all over at fanduel.com. Go check them out right now. Fan duel is an official partner of Lockdown MLB. All right. So I got a bon to pick with the rookie of the year award right now because J.J.

Starting point is 00:21:35 Weatherholt is the favorite. And there is a certain player who leads all rookies. In every offensive stat category you can think of, except I think batting average. I think McDonnell has got him on this. But he is not the favorite to win the NO rookie of the year. I'm talking, of course, of Salbert Stewart here in Cincinnati. I don't understand why JJ Weatherhold is favored, J.D.

Starting point is 00:22:05 It's the war. It's the war. What's a good for? That's one thing they look at. So I'm one of the people that actually sides that with that I think South should probably want it just because the sexier stats like the offensive stats favor him in such a major way. For a while there, I thought it was very much neck and neck because JJ was was keeping up with him in most categories except for the RBIs. They do take an effect or in the thought about where you guys play all the time where Bush

Starting point is 00:22:36 stadiums like Death Valley now. Sam, back me up on this. Oh my gosh. series. The dumbest thing of the world. Like, I don't know why the ball doesn't fly there anymore. It was the weirdest series ever. The ball did not go anywhere. Yeah, it was crazy.

Starting point is 00:22:49 And for whatever reason, it's not happening. It's not Sal's fault that he doesn't play in a horrible hitter's ballpark. But at the same time, if you look at through some of the stats and if, you know, we can nitpick through this and go, hey, JJ, Jay, Jay should have 22 home runs, whatever. But he doesn't. The fact is he doesn't. He's obviously a superior defensive player, superior. superior base runner.

Starting point is 00:23:11 Well, should I say superior? Because I got the guy around the same stolen bases and stuff. I have a lot of respect for JJ. I love him. He's going to be one of the pillars for the Cardinals. But what Sal is doing in the middle of the order for the Reds has been incredibly impressive. So just as somebody who has a kind of a stake in both with the wife being a Reds fan and me being the Cardinals fan, we get in this argument all the time.

Starting point is 00:23:34 And I literally bring it up just to upset her because I know it bugs her so much. But I do think, like, if I had to place a vote today, I'd be voting for Sal Stewart. And I don't think Cardal's fans are going to give me too much hell about it. They do love their war. They do love it. And they think that that is the be all end all. But when you just go through everything and you go to the eyeball test, who's had a better season, it's hard to argue against South Stewart.

Starting point is 00:24:01 Is, is JD trying to lose his show? He is talking nice about the Cubs. He's voting for the red. I mean, are you trying to get a different gig? Look, all the things you just said about South Stewart. All of the things you just said about South Stewart is correct. You look at his numbers right now. You know, the stolen bases, I think, are even at 12, right around 12, 13 for both players.

Starting point is 00:24:21 But you look at, you know, South Stewart has 109 hits, 24 home runs. And he leads the league in RBIs right now with 86. Like South Stewart is getting it done. You talk about, you know, him in the middle of the lineup, what they've done in Cincinnati, moving him up to batting second now behind Ellis. Ellie de la Cruz. It goes Ellie. It goes Sal.

Starting point is 00:24:42 And Sal has allowed Ellie De La Cruz to have a better season because the pitchers finally have to pitch to him. They can't pitch around him like they were last year. There's somebody that's dangerous coming up. So it's making Ellie perform better as well. I love the impacts that Sal has had. You look across the board at what he's done and what he has been for this lineup. He has to be the rookie here. The war is because of defensive metrics.

Starting point is 00:25:08 That's the difference here. now. And the Reds have moves. He's played some third base. He's played some first base. He's even had an appearance or two at second base. They're not really letting him just be good at anything. They're moving him around. I jokingly said just a little while ago, we don't care about defense in Cincinnati. Well, I wasn't joking. We don't care about defense in Cincinnati. Neither the Bengals. They, they, they, nope. Hey, we're working on that. That's a different show. We'll talk about that on another show. But Sal Stewart, I think at the end of the day, when we finally get to the actual voting for this. I think South Stewart's going to win this award hands down.

Starting point is 00:25:42 There is a very interesting case because baseball savant does this thing. Now they say if you play all of your games in one ballpark, this is how many home runs you would have. JJ Weatherhold has 16 of course. It says that if he were to play all of his games from great American ballpark, you'd have 17. The interesting part about this is if Sal Stewart played all of his ball games at Bush stadium 17. I don't know what number they're on. He would have 13 home runs. But that's, that's playing every single ball game there. That's not playing half your games there or whatever. And we're just making crap up, though, because that's not real life. You know, I mean, yeah, sure. It's true. Okay. But it also, it's not real. That's not what has happened. And, you know,

Starting point is 00:26:25 if, if JJ were to take advantage of the gaps at Bush Stadium, hit more doubles, then he would, I would think he would get more votes. And that would impress me more. I don't need him to hit 22, 23, 24 home runs, but I need him to be plugging those gaps and getting doubles and driving a little bit more in than he does. I know he's a lead off hitter and he's been there the whole season. So he's not getting the opportunities at the bottom of the order of the Cardinals is poo poo caca. They're terrible. But it's still, that's just the reality is that those are his stats. That's who he is. He's good at these things over Sal, but the overall offensive weapon that Sal Stewart has been, has just been better this year.

Starting point is 00:27:04 And you know, you can be mad at me if you want Cardinals fans, but this is just speaking the truth. Go look at the stats for yourself. It's real. Doesn't there have to be a place for the defense, though? I mean, for real, I'm only saying this. Listen, the reds have maybe mishandled Sal. Let them play somewhere, whatever.

Starting point is 00:27:23 But like, we're talking about rookie of the year. I want the most complete player. I think Weatherholds, plus he's a hometown kid here in Pittsburgh, guys. So J.D. may want to lose his show, but I don't. So I'm going to Weatherholt. I just check. JD's down to four subscribers all of a sudden. Amazing.

Starting point is 00:27:46 Hey, not to pivot here, fellas, but one thing we could all agree on is that, speaking of awards on Fandual right now, does anyone know what the MVP odds are? I know who it is. PCA and Shohei would be my guess. Even minus 110 each. Yeah. As of recording time.

Starting point is 00:28:08 Normally I'd say it wouldn't be, but the fact that Shohei has quit pitching right now with his knee and that it's just going to be purely about the hitting. That's why. PCA could sneak in there and get this thing. But again, defense is factoring in there as to why he's so much more impactful because he's a dead nails awesome center fielder. I mean, like, it matters.

Starting point is 00:28:32 That's why it should matter for rookie of the year, too, for real. I mean, just not the back year. He didn't win it last year, Jeff. I think this year he's got a good shot. And Sam, PCA, pretty good DH. We saw that on Wednesday. Yeah, I think I really, I typically, like, the last time the Cubs had the MVP was Bryant and 16.

Starting point is 00:28:52 Bias finished second to Yelich in at 18. But I really want this one. Like I want to be, I want, I want Pete to be the guy to dethrone Shohei. Like Stephen said, it's a little bit, you know, it's because he's not pitching. Like I think if Joey's pitching, it's almost impossible.

Starting point is 00:29:11 But because he's not pitching, it's opened it up. And Pete's been, you know, bonds level here for two straight months with the defense, like Gary said. So it's pretty cool. And he's also something about PCA, too. is he's one of the most, like, I don't want to say hated,

Starting point is 00:29:25 but people don't like him in other ballparks. I know. He's my least favorite player in the division. That's what makes it fun. And then showy, everybody roots for showhead. Everybody's like, yay, show hey, go. Yeah, Pete's got one of the, I mean, yeah. He's got one of those personalities.

Starting point is 00:29:46 He does. Oh, the fans dropped the other day. It's not as bad as like Yadi Molina, but I mean, Yeah, he's not beloved. God, he's still in your brain, Steve. That's so sad. But the thing is, the guys that you root for, like, or the guys that, like, don't bother you that much are almost the worst.

Starting point is 00:30:03 Like, I remember, like, poohol's. I'd be like, well, he's such a good hitter. And then it's like, oh, my gosh, what am I doing? There's another one. Not to do it all days. Let's talk about the 2000 Cardinals. Here we go. Hey, I'll say something nice about the Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:30:20 Because J.D. did. if you look at his background, is that not like the best logo in sports? The Cardinals logo. I think it's my favorite. It's my favorite baseball logo. I think it's the best. I don't know. Thank you, Sam.

Starting point is 00:30:35 Yeah. Yeah. Kumbaya. I don't remember. We'll bring a dirty bird. The only thing they should get credit for is the fact that they finally were willing to put the loo across the front of their shirt because, you know, like you guys. guys don't like the cardinals logo i feel like it's so baseball well it's been around for 80 years yeah it's a great logo yeah i like i like the fact that some of these teams don't change it and i like

Starting point is 00:31:00 that comes logo it's fine you know it's good it's good you know but stands the test of time sure but the the cardinals logo is pretty iconic he's been a big favorite of a big fan of the mariner's logo myself but that's just me um i got a picture that oh yeah the s the m i like the old m well not not the old M. Trident-Dent-looking thing. I like the compass, the compass look to it. But the good news is the NL Central could sweep awards if PCA wins the MVP because Ms. is going to win the Cy Young and either weatherholder Stewart's going to win the rookie of the year.

Starting point is 00:31:40 And Murphy, Murphy may win manager the year again. Could win it. The guy down in Atlanta could have a say about that, but I mean, that would be unprecedented. A guy in his first three years of the manager winning manager the year. Why is Walt Weiss, the Braves manager? Why is he favored ahead of Murphy? Like, it's like, I know, the Brewers are having a better, is it just voter fatigue?

Starting point is 00:31:58 I just think that's part of the same of the Brewers. Yeah, the Brewers have a better team and they have less, like, less names. I mean, the Braves are loaded. They just had a weird year last year, but like they should be good, no. And they're spending $1.75 to field that team. Yeah, exactly. I would say, I, the, going back to the whole playoffs being a trigger word for Brewers fans like when I was up in Milwaukee for the Reds Brewer series that was everybody that I talked to

Starting point is 00:32:25 was like that I was just like man you're all and they're like yeah whatever playoffs or what we care about like this is yeah that's the Steelers of the 90s I mean like that's what it was like you're you have a great team every year you're in it every year raves too never win it so you suck just as bad as the browns you know what I mean like it's the same thing sorry or the Bengals now whichever you want to be more relevant. Well, definitely in the 90s, it was the Bengals for sure. Well, with the with the Brewers, why do you

Starting point is 00:32:56 guys always say hurtful things? What is going on? Steve, we know who we root for. We know it's not all Ohana over here. We're just one of these days it's going to happen. I don't know when and it's going to be a long time from now. And that is

Starting point is 00:33:12 where we'll end today's Central Central Squad show. Thanks so much for checking us out. We'll be back with you here as the season moves along. maybe even talking about the NL Central sweeping awards. Make sure you check out lockdown Cardinals, lockdown brewers, locked on cubs, lockdown pirates and locked on reds every single day because we got you covered as part of the locked on podcast.

Starting point is 00:33:33 Network, your team every day.

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