Pointless Exercise - A Desipio Podcast

Why are some of the best young pitchers limited to short stints in the minors instead of contributing what they can to the big league team? David Brown and Andy discuss that hot topic, plus can you fix your bullpen in May, why is that Paul Skenes mustache a thing, when are they finally going to get around to updating the requirements to get a win, create the team error and figure out how to make a safety base that isn't too weird looking for a big league diamond? Andy demands the Cubs bring up Cade Horton. They also discuss catchers creeping too close to hitters, which of the automated strike zone ideas is most likely to work and when can they start using it. They also discuss Boog Sciambi's appearance on Pablo Torres' podcast and why the things he claims the Cubs value in a player do not mesh with the current roster. All that, and more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

The guys kick around all of the important issues this week like, how long has Dansby Swanson's offensive slump been going on (a long time), who should be the Cubs fourth outfielder when Seiya Suzuki returns and why should it be Ian Happ, and what to do with Petecrow when Seiya's return happens. They also ponder just how well Nick Madrigal would need to hit to actually be worth a big league roster spot and what current big leaguer can be used as the minimum threshold for that? They kick around ideas for Cubs' closer and make the case why Cade Horton's pitch and innings limit are fine but they should be occurring in Chicago, not Des Moines. They also make fun of how bad the Cardinals are, check out the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and talk about the time the Chicago Blitz traded themselves to Arizona. All that, and more, like the intro music to The Fall Guy, Gil Thorp comics and other stuff. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

The Athletic's Jon Greenberg comes on the pod to talk about the Bears ill-fated stadium press conference, his role in helping the Bears finally put their tortured quarterback history to the side, why Kevin Warren and George McCaskey would end up being the stars of Hard Knocks. They discuss how cool Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze are. Why it's savvy for Ryan Poles to become The Pat McAfee Show's favorite general manager. How the Flus' glow up actually makes you more confident in his ability to coach. What's going to dictate when Major League Baseball fixes the player name lettering on jerseys and much more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

Is the Twins new rally celebration an ecoLOGical diaster just waiting to happen? David Brown weighs on that meaty matter and other hot topics like Mike Trout's meniscus, revenge games, Jose Abreu's trip to Del Boca Vista, how are the Cubs surviving (mostly) their injuries and the Astros aren't, fun with batter's interference and why baseball's uniforms likely won't really be fixed anytime soon. And don't miss Andy's important news from his recent doctor's appointment! All that, and more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

Andy, Praz and Oleg discuss all the pertinent issues with the Cubs like the return of Matt Mervis, Nicky Two Strikes, Ian Happ's return to the lineup, Kyle Hendricks' phantom back injury and Boog's fascination with Mike Tauchman. But then they put their big throbbing brains together and come up with a series of initiatives that will toughen the Cubs up and forge them into a true championship contender. The ideas are brilliant and the Cubs can easily monetize them, which is all they care about. Then the podcast becomes probiotic talk as Andy discusses the very liquid reason why there was only one newsletter and no podcast last week, and if the good folks at Bucee's or Kefir are listening, there's a sponsorship opportunity in the offing, with the kind of appreciative testimonial that money just can't buy. Oh, and the name they couldn't remember at the end? Barkevious Mingo. Don't Google him. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

While the Cubs bullpen might be awful, Andy, Praz and Oleg decide to talk about what isn't...Seiya Suzuki. They do discuss the state of the Cubs bullpen, what's going on with the vaunted pitching infrastructure these days, how taking Christopher Morel out for defense all the time finally bit the Cubs in the ass, and they try to figure out what it is that Nick Madrigal is doing that supposedly helps a team. They bask in the afterglow of another fine Shōta Imanaga start and try to figure out what happened to that 8-0 lead on Monday night. Andy comes up with an inappropriate, but affectionate, nickname for Shōta. All that and more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

The gang moves into a fancy new studio and David Brown stops by to talk baseball. How are the Cubs ever going to know if Christopher Morel can get better at third if they keep yanking him out of games late, and when is it going to cost them to lose his bat in the process? What's life going to be like for the A's in Sacramento and what's the only way to make that move a positive? Joe Maddon talked about who else to blame in the Shohei mess, which got Andy talking about Shōgun and how everything he ever needed to know about translators he learned by watching that show. They also give some rash overreactions to the first week of the season and you'll get a truly terrible eclipse joke. But as a bonus, there's a great Bill Raftery story. All that, and more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

The whole Pointless Exercise team has assembled to do a mega preview of the upcoming baseball season. Join Andy, David Brown, both the Mike P's (Praz and Pusateri), Remember this Crap's Mike Donohue and the new guy, Oleg, as they make way too many predictions. They break down each division, use their big baseball brains to tell you who's going to the World Series and winning all the big awards. If you have a gambling problem like Shohei's former pal, Ippei, you're in luck, they also share their favorite prop bets. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

Ready or not, baseball seasons starts in the wee hours of Wednesday morning so David Brown is here to talk about how Blake Snell signing with the Giants makes the wild card path tougher in the NL and what's up with Jordan Montgomery. They discuss the Dodgers just forgetting to find a shortstop and how Mookie Betts solves everything. How many other players would be willing to try switching positions on the fly. They talk about great moments in David Ross losing the DH, and the height of Joe Torre's pants. Were the Spring Breakout games anything but baseball's attempt to charge a full big league gate for a minor league spring game (which are usually free), and why was it impossible for the Cubs and White Sox to play it on a different day. They make fun of Jim Bowden's list of players due to break out, talk about old friend Yu Darvish who is making the opening day start for the Padres and much, much more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

Less than two weeks to opening day and it's time for Andy and Praz to do the hard work for Craiggy and Jed and make the Cubs final cuts for them. Who's got options, who would get through waivers and who might actually be useful to round out the bench and the bullpen. Oh, and then they take a look at how best to order the batters. Talk about being helpful. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

With one move the Cubs went from fourth best to best in the very flawed NL Central and David Brown is back to discuss it and to take a look at the contracts that Scott Boras got for Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman and what the market might look like next year. Andy calls Blake Snell "Ian" about a dozen times and they talk about what the prospects for Snell and Jordan Montgomery signing before the deadline are. Is JD Davis an actually valuable trade piece for the Giants and would the Cubs be interested? How would that impract Christopher Morel at third? They discuss the Royals bucking the bad uniform trend and Joe Maddon and Terry Francona discussing the greatest game ever played. All that, and more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

Looking for a non-meatball take on the Bears' QB situation we reach out to The Guardian's Senior Writer Andrew Lawrence and he delivers. Though he lives in Atlanta now, so he wouldn't mind seeing Justin Fields play there. We talk about Netflix's Drive to Survive, the many interesting things going on with the F1 season upon us, and Drew just wrote a piece about Fanatics and Nike screwing up baseball's uniforms. Plus, he talks about his time at Monday Morning Quarterback with the recently "retired" Peter King. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

It's the 300th Pointless Exercise podcast (and you said it wouldn't last) and Andy and Mike Praznowski are giddy about the Cubs re-signing Cody Bellinger, but fearful that a sponsorship deal gone awry might have him in traction on opening day. They also lament the loss of the great Bailey Horn, or somebody they aren't really sure, are excited that the manager seems to grasp the obvious and they make a compelling case for Matt Shaw to make the opening day roster (even though he won't.) Praz learns more about Bob Horner than he ever wanted to, they talk about what Cubs should be most excited that Cody's back, what Cubs should have pretended to be mad about it, and much, much, more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

The Cubs have been playing somebody in left field every game for more than 125 seasons and in a few of those games the left fielder was actually good. The guys take a look back at the good, the bad and the Zuleta of guys who have played left. You will learn how Wildfire Schulte got his nickname, who the second best left fielder in franchise history is, why Billy Williams is the coolest, why Dave Kingman isn't, and just how many guys have tried and failed to nail down the job over the last 50 years. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

National baseball writer David Brown joins the podcast to discuss all the hot topics like Nico Hoerner giving the longest "no" in recorded history, why baseball fans habitually side with teams over players and their agents, when will the 'Boras Four' sign, why the Cubs haven't improved their roster more, who would win the NL Central if rosters were frozen right now, did the Corbin Burnes trade signal the Orioles are going to spend, what would happen if the Reds ever spent, why Kap called Andy seconds after a Tweet, the reasons Rob Manfred is retiring with five years notice and what the hell is going on with the A's. All that, and more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

Tom Loxas joins the podcast to talk about what it would take for the Cubs to resign Cody Bellinger, what happens if they don't, and how Michael Busch and Petecrow Armstrong fit into all of this. They talk about the Cubs PECOTA projections and how close the Cubs are to actually building a good bullpen. Then, they talk about what the Bears are going to do with the number one overall pick, what Justin Fields' trade market looks like and much, much more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

It's a solo pod and all the hot topics are hit on, when do the Cubs get to hug Carter Hawkins and could the Cubs turn that into a fundraiser? Why haven't they signed Cody Bellinger yet? What do they do if they don't sign Cody? Do they know their current roster is bad? How could they make getting a big payroll a game for Todd? And then why can't Chicago media adequately cover the Bears? And why would anybody try to rank the top 20 Chicago media people? All that, and more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

The guys discuss the eerie quiet from Halas Hall as everyone awaits announcement on changes big or small or not at all. Andy goes on an unhinged rant about the future of the Bears' quarterback position and the Mikes take a more reasoned approach to what the smartest option would be. They discuss how even if Jim Harbaugh were the right move for the franchise just how much they don't want to have to put with that weirdo, and they discuss just how close the Bears really are after a season of improvement, considering the low bar they had to clear to be better than last year. All that and more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

All of your favorite Pointless Exercise podcasters have assembled to kiss off 2023 and look ahead to 2024. David Brown, Mike Donohue, Mike Pusateri and Mike Praznowski join Andy as they discuss what shocked them last year in all of Chicago sports and what crazy stuff lies ahead. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message

All of your favorite Pointless Exercise podcasters have assembled to kiss off 2023 and look ahead to 2024. David Brown, Mike Donohue, Mike Pusateri and Mike Praznowski join Andy as they discuss what shocked them last year in all of Chicago sports and what crazy stuff lies ahead. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/desipio/message