Kap & J. Hood

8/16 7 AM: Bears vs Bengals Preseason Preview

Hour 1: It's a Bears Friday! Preseason game #3 for the Bears as they welcome the Cincinnati Bengals to Solder Field on Saturday. Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus spoke to the media and the starters will play. The Cubs GM Jed Hoyer says the team to be over the Luxury Tax this year, MLB Insider for ESPN Jesse Rogers joined Kap & Abdalla with updates on the Cubs and the latest MLB storylines. Adam Abdalla was in for J. Hood.

Duration:: 43m
Broadcast on:: 16 Aug 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

(crunching) - Chicago. This is your morning routine. - Listen to respect my name. - Cap and G hood. - That's right, that's right, we're bad, huh? - Watch the show on Twitch. Follow ESPN 1000 Chicago. - Stream the show on the ESPN Chicago app. - And on in there. - 100.3 HD2, and on ESPN 1000 Chicago. Now, no, no, no. David Kaplan and Jonathan Hood. - Good morning, everyone. ♪ Bring 'em out, bring 'em out ♪ ♪ Woo ♪ ♪ Bring 'em out, bring 'em out ♪ ♪ Bring 'em out, bring 'em out ♪ ♪ Bring 'em out, bring 'em out ♪ ♪ Bring 'em out, bring 'em out ♪ ♪ Woo ♪ ♪ Woo ♪ ♪ Woo ♪ ♪ Woo ♪ - Good morning, welcome in to the Cap and G hood show. Hoodie is a little under the weather today. Have a good weekend, my guy. Feel better at 'em, A of Dala. That's where you find 'em on Twitter is in for Hoodie. Shay is in his rightful spot in the executive producer chair and J-Mores at the controls. I'm David Kaplan, 3-1-2-3-2-3-2-3-7-7-6. We will have a jam-packed show. Tom Thayer is gonna spend the eight o'clock hour with us. Can't wait, love that dude. Jesse's gonna give us a baseball update because the cops are in the luxury tax and they stink and Courtney Cronin will be with us with her weekly hit. She's with us Mondays and Fridays and then the Friday folder. Abdullah, how are ya? What's up? I'm excited that coach, Eber Flus, went to the podium yesterday. I was listening to Waddle and Sylvie as I do every day and the next thing I hear is, and Sylvie was nervous that he was gonna go, "Yeah, the bangles aren't playing there, guys. "We're not either." And I was right there with him. And then Eber Flus came to the podium and here's what he said after the joint practice. Really good day and I wanna just compliment, first of all, our guys and also Cincinnati for being professionals. You know, you always worry about, you know, guys going off and fighting, all those things and they did, they were great. They stayed on their feet, stayed away from the quarterback on both sides and did a really good job of just being professional. And they were physical and we got some really good work done. So, a lot of good situations in that practice. Like I said, it's the first time I've done that. One day, joint practice. And again, I thought it was really good. A lot of good work in the kicking game. As you guys saw, certainly with that long period, we have a kickoff kickoff return. That was very beneficial for us to be able to go back and look at that punt and punt return. That was really good too. But again, we finished off with the two minute at the end. I thought that was good with the ones and twos. A lot of good work overall. In terms of the starters this week, I'm just gonna say this, we feel really good about our plan and the process that we've been through so far in training camp. And you will see the starters in that game. So again, I talked about competitive reps the other day. And I feel like we've gotten a lot of good competitive reps. One's on ones, a lot of good situations. This day was another chance for us to get competitive reps against another opponent, another skill set, which was outstanding. And then this week coming up on Saturday, we'll get another chance to get some reps there too. So we feel really good about that. - So when he said that, when he said, feel really good about our plan, I fully expected Adam that he's gonna go. And we got good work in here today with the Bengals and the starters are gonna sit. And when he said, and the starters, you're gonna see the starters like, yes! Because Caleb needs work. He does. A lot of people were thrilled how he looked yesterday. I'll give you the numbers in a little bit. But he needs, the first time he runs out of the tunnel, it sold your field, can't be against the Titans. - No, and I wasn't worried that Ira Fus is gonna say anything because they learned from last year. And he said it before these games started. At the beginning of training camp, when he met the media with Ryan Polls. When, you know, when training camp started, he and Ryan Polls met the media. And one of the first questions was, are you going to play starters in the preseason? You didn't play them last year. Are you gonna change it up? Because you guys started so flat against the Packers, against the Chiefs, against, you know, the whole half of the season, basically. - The Bucks? - Yeah, and he said, yes, we're going to, you know, we're going to, we looked at what CJ Stroud did. We looked at what Jordan Love did. And we saw between 45 and 50 snaps for each guy. And so that's what we're going to, we're probably going to lean towards that plan. So I was never worried that he wasn't going to start because also last year they did two joint practices. As opposed to just the one, I thought that they were going to practice indoors yesterday. And I think the belief going in was that they were going to practice indoors yesterday. I think they practice outdoors because the rain was light at the time. And then it kind of picked up. But they got, I don't know if they were going full go. I know two guys got injured, had to be carted off and put an air cast on from the Bengals. So yeah, they were going full go and everything like that. But I kind of figured that this would be their plan with Caleb, like he's a rookie, he's never played. They got what, 20 snaps, 18 to 20 snaps against the Bills last week, 18 snaps, okay. So 18 snaps, you figure another maybe 25 snaps this time. That puts you right in the 40s right there. - And then you don't play against the Chiefs. - I disagree. I think that they should play a series because if, now I know we're already, this is this week. - We're already moving on to next week. - I'm just saying that's what I think Iberfusil do. - I think he might, I would be fine with him playing a series and I would play them a series against the Chiefs because Caleb's never experienced a short week like this before. And I know it's not Sunday to Thursday, it's Saturday to Thursday technically. But just plan that as if it's a normal week. Like, hey Caleb, this is what it's going to look like when we play on Thanksgiving. Like they have a stretch right now. It's three games in like 11 days or something like that. If you go towards the end of the season at Thanksgiving, they play three games in like 10 days. They have a Monday night game, a Sunday night game, or a Sunday game and then they play a Thursday game. - Remember, Negi had to do that and they won all three. - Exactly, so I would get him ready. Like he doesn't have to play a full quarter, a full half in the final game against the Chiefs. Just say, hey, this is what we do on short weeks. On Monday we do this, on Tuesday we do this, on Wednesday we do this. You're going to suit up, you're going to play one series, that's it, just to get into the rhythm of what it's like to play in a short week. And then we're going to get you out of there because they have like 17 days in between that game against the Chiefs and the Titans. - Totally cool with that, I don't think Ebert Flusil do it. If things go well tomorrow, if they don't go well, that's a different story. - I think it'll go, I mean, what's he going to throw a bunch of picks? I think it'll be pretty vanilla. - What terrain are we supposed to get tomorrow? - I don't think it. That's a good question. - I thought I saw this one. - I thought I saw this one. - We had Tracy yesterday, she said there's going to be some storms in the area. - Yeah. - I will check out the ABC weather because Tracy is off today, I believe. She's not coming in with us. - Showers early, then scattered thunderstorms developing later in the day, chance of rain 60%. Let's look at that hourly forecast here. As you join us weather on the eight here on ESPN 1,000. - Exactly. - Traffic on the 12s. (upbeat music) So tomorrow around noon, you're looking at a 39% chance to rain some lightning in the area. So if you're heading towards the game, be prepared for a potential lightning delay. In the one and two o'clock hour, rain picks up around 50% chance. Highs in the mid 70s, wind south east, 12 miles, or sorry, out of the west, heading southeast, about 12 miles per hour to 11 miles per hour. So probably not going to affect the kicking game, but some lightning and scattered thunderstorms in the area. If you're heading to the game, grab a friend and a poncho. Put that on your reel. - That's what I'm here for. - How about that? - We'll be back with weather at 718 here as you're joining us. - On the eight. - We now have the traffic. (laughing) With Shane Orling. Shane. (laughing) - Delays on the Kennedy, I'm sure. - Inbound, Eden. - Says we get to one of those. - They get screwed. - With merge. - It's screwed everywhere. - Bad. Next. - God, I was downtown for, I went and worked out and I had a lunch yesterday. And oh my God. Three o'clock in the afternoon is like, oh yeah, ridiculous. - It's horrible. I'm normally out of here. I go work out and then I'm gone. - It's horrible. We've now come to a point in the city where traffic is just bad everywhere. Chris and I were at Metallica last Friday and we walked back to the station from Soldier Field and I was driving him home and we got on the highway and it was bumper to bumper traffic at 11.45 at night. - It's insane. - We're just one of those cities now where it's bumper to bumper all the time. Unless you're getting up at like five in the morning, like I flew here this morning. But other than that. - You live up by Riggly? - Yeah. - So I just tucked Lakeshore in and like that's fine. But anytime you're on any highway, it's crap here now. - Yeah, for me coming in in the mornings, so I get up the four, actually four 24s when I'm, gotta be out of bed. That's my last alarm. - Yeah, whether on the eight's wake ups on the fours. - Yeah, four 24, I grew up in a family of four, I have four boys, and Mark McGuire was my favorite player. - Do you have a four tattoo? - I don't, I should get a four tattoo. - Get a 24 right across your whole back. - Get a four, four, four tattoo. - Yeah, I actually just was planning with my buddy Matt. We're gonna go get new ink together. And that might be a good one to get a four. That's my number. I like that. - There you go. - But anyway, coming in, it's usually pretty good. Going out, it's not good. So tomorrow, Caleb Williams will duck under center, go through the whole thing, it's sold your field. Super cool to be able to watch him again, I'm so excited. I don't get excited about preseason football, but when he's out there, I do. The numbers yesterday, do you follow Ben Devine on Twitter? He's a really good follow, covers the NFL. - Yesterday's rainy joint practice, Joe Burrell, 15 for 32 with three interceptions. Caleb Williams, 17 for 26, one interception, three touchdowns. - Yeah. - And I thought Keenan Allen, he looks bigger. They said he's put some weight on the ass a little bit away. - And they said he's unlitrally unguardable. - Unless you're Jay on Johnson, as we saw in Hard Knocks. - That's correct. And I'm glad he's our guy. - Yeah, and that's good, right? - And I think Pick of the Ryan Pace regime, right? - Jalen Johnson? - Yeah. - I mean, it's Caleb Williams. - Ryan Pace. - Oh, Ryan Pace, sorry. I got my pace in polls because it's early, man. Yeah, yeah, Jalen Johnson, yeah. Unless you want to say that it's Justin Fields, which led them to be bad enough, which led them to decide to move on from Justin Fields, because he picked the wrong quarterback essentially, which led them to, it's a butterfly effect. We don't have to get it. - It is. - He's got Kevin still there. - Yeah, probably if you want to go all the way back, you'd have to probably say his best pick was Mitchell Trubisky, because that failed, which led them to pick Justin Fields. - That's a good point. - We can go. - Yeah, we can go through the whole thing. - It all worked around. - Yeah, thanks for Trubisky Fields, Ryan Pace. No, I think that he, it's good. And I think that you're going to get the same guys that were out there last Saturday. It's going to be everyone that's, quote, available. Like, if Montes Sweat doesn't play, I don't care. Like, he's got one job, get to the quarterback. - And Eric Washington said the other, Sweat will be ready to go and we play Tennessee. - Not worried about Sweat. - I'm not worried about anyone on the defense. Not worried about a single guy on the defense. - I am, because they need brisker there. - He'll be fine, but I'm not worried about them being ready for the season and like ready to go and like needing preseason reps. - Correct. - You know, you're going to, and you know, we'll talk to Tom Thayer in the eight o'clock hour, you need these offensive linemen to play alongside each other, because it seems like Ryan Bates now is week to week. - So you're going to have Matt Pryor out there at guard. You're going to have Coleman Shelton out there at center. And I would just like them to name him the center. They say Coleman Shelton is going to be our center all year. That's fine. And those guys need to need chemistry. They need to learn how to play alongside each other. And if Bates is going to be banged up, and if Nate Davis is going to be banged up, fine. Matt Pryor it is, but you need reps. Like all these guys need to play on Saturday. - Here's Matt Iberfluis on Ryan Bates. - Yeah, he's week to week right now. So I don't really know. I hope, I'm hopeful that it's soon. You know, so I hope, you know, we'll see. - There you go, week to week. - Not great. - Also, here is Nate Davis. Listen to this, Nate Davis was asked about Iberfluis sending a message through the media that it's a competition. - Coach Flus really speaks in terms of injuries about what that could or could not mean for a starting position or player time. He is speaking to that method alluding to you. Did you hear that? Did you find it anytime of motivation or urgency to get back? - I didn't hear that. That's why I pay attention to social media. - Yay! - Okay, it is not social media, Nate. It is the coach saying something at the podium. It just gets sent out immediately on social, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, whoever the reporter is posting. But then it gets into the newspaper and it gets into the websites. - Yeah. - And it gets through the teeth. Here, Coach said, "Wow, better get yourself out there, Nate." - I think he knows his place on the team. I think he knows that he's one of the necessary offensive linemen. I wouldn't say he's one of the best offensive linemen, but he's also making between 10 and 12 million this year and he's not going to get cut because of that. So he knows, as soon as he's healthy, he's going to be inserted back into the offensive line. - And when he's healthy, I went back and I played golf with Olin Crews and Big Cat Williams last week. And Olin put the tape on. When he's not available, he's a good football player. - Yeah, the problem is he's not available all the time because of-- - The greatest quality is availability. - Absolutely. And people that say, "Oh, just kick him off the team." He's bad. There's not a single player that has said he's a bad locker room guy. There's not a single player that doesn't like him. This isn't Chase Claypool, where they told him to stay away from the team. Like this is a different situation. Everyone seems to like Nate Davis on the team, right? So I think that when he comes back, he's going to get his starting job. Like you saw it. Ryan Bates is not hurt. He's better than Matt Pryor. And he's better at playing guard than Matt Pryor. - And Matt Pryor played well last week. - Sure, I'm sure he did. Nate Davis is still better. - He's a better player. - So you're going to put him in there. He's, you need your healthy offensive lineman. Even if he does, even if Bates comes back and Bates ends up starting, whatever. You need healthy offensive lineman. So Nate Davis getting healthy and getting back on the field is a good thing for as long as he can stay on the field. - All right, three, one, two, three, two, three, seven, seven, six. Don't forget eight o'clock hour. He's going to play shot or no shot with us. He's going to go around the NFL with us. And he'll take calls. You can ask Tom Thayer, anything you want about the Chicago Bears. Listen to me. He watches, even if he's not there, they send him every play from every practice. He watches every snap at practice. He's got unbelievable insight and he's the best dude in the world. Love that guy. So we'll get your calls with him in the eight o'clock hour, but we'd like to hear your thoughts on, you glad they're playing Caleb? It could be a little rainy out there. Would you bubble wrap him? Some people, some friends are like, just bubble wrap him and see him in September. No, he needs to play. And you'll hear from Joe Burrow. That's next. - Kevin, Jay Hood are back. - And you know this, man. - Chicago's home for sports. - ESPN Chicago. (upbeat music) - So Bears and Bengals tomorrow, Bengals are enjoying the city. Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase and six of their teammates were at Chicago Cut for dinner on Wednesday night. - That's nice. - And yesterday they practice, albeit through the rain. And here's Joe Burrow talking about Caleb Williams getting snaps as a rookie starter. And I did not know, they've been friends for five years because Joe Burrow tried to help recruit him to LSU. - I think those reps are so valuable. I think you have to start them right away 'cause you learn so much in that first year when you're getting those reps. And when you come in and you're named the starter immediately, I'll never quite understand when you draft a guy that you know is gonna be your starter, but then you don't name it your starter immediately. And so then he misses out on all those reps with the ones that you would've had had you just come in as the starter. And that's what, it's great about my situations. Zach told me I was the starter as soon as I got drafted. And I got all those reps with the ones in training camp. We didn't have OTAs that year, but those reps are so valuable in every rep. - You grow and you learn so much from, so I think that's always a challenge if that doesn't happen. - So there's Joe Burrow and they've worked out together in LA, they've been friends for five years. Burrow and Caleb Williams, they have a lot of similarities. Top pick name starter right from the get go and huge expectations and Burrow has not won a Super Bowl. He has played in a Super Bowl and he's played in the AFC title game. I was at that game in Kansas City. They could have absolutely won that football game. - Yeah, they probably could have. And I think they'll get back. He's just got to stay healthy. 'Cause I think he's the second best quarterback in the NFL when he's healthy. Like he's, that's not disrespectful to Josh Allen or anybody else. He's just the second best quarterback in the NFL when he's healthy. - He's amazing. He looks the part. - Yeah, absolutely. - Yeah, I think he's just, and I know he struggled yesterday, but I think that that has a lot to do with Jomar Chase holding in and not to do with, you know, because, you know, when you're, when you're practicing, you're trying to work through stuff and everything like that. And when your best wide receiver is in there and that best wide receiver happens to be a top three receiver in the NFL, it's going to hurt you, especially against a defense and a secondary as good as the Bears. - Here's Jeremy Rauch from Fox 19. His, he covers the Bengals. He was at Hallis, watched the entire practice and then filed this report as takeaways from the practice. Really good stuff here. - Hey everyone. Thought today's practice needed some context. I know there's a lot of concern from some fans back in Cincinnati kind of seeing the tweets and everything that played out today and practice for the Bengals. My one big takeaway from practice today is probably an obvious one, but I felt like some context was needed. So I'll just throw this out there. Today was the first day that it really looked like my goodness, Joe Baro needs Jomar Chase. Today in the rain, when he wasn't throwing the T Higgins, ball was tipped, it was overthrown, it was behind a receiver, he had three interceptions. It just looked like Joe Baro wasn't comfortable. This offense does not go without Jomar Chase on the field, especially against the Chicago defense, so I thought it was pretty darn impressive. So that's a big takeaway for today's practice. As for the defense, and I'm guessing there's no Bears fans on here, I could not have been more impressed with how Caleb Williams looks. And you look at his receding corner, reminded of who they could be this year with Roma Dunes, the rookie, Keenan Allen, DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, and DJ Moore gave the Bengals DB's trouble all day long. It just to me looked like the Bears offense was better than the Bengals defense. And a lot of ways, now the Bengals defense wasn't able to slow them down with what they wanted to do. So two big takeaways, felt like the Bears won the day. - How about that? Felt like the Bears won the day and the team on the other side, legitimate, legitimate, thinks they can get to the Super Bowl and win it. - Yeah, and it's practice. They don't have their best wide receiver, who's probably one of the best in the league. And I think I'm not saying that this means like the Bears defense is gonna be great, or they're gonna be top five or anything, but I always thought this defense, like this doesn't change my opinion of the defense. - But it's nice to hear it against a team that-- - Yeah. - Because I was talking-- - They played really well against, but we've been hearing this, that they've been playing really well in practice, and half their guys have been missing. - Correct, sweat just got back, no brisker. - No Kyler Gordon. - Gordon's been banged up. - So they've been beating the Bears up until, they've been beating their own team, and we heard it was rocky for the offense, and we heard it with all of it was sloppy, and they couldn't get a rhythm going. And that was against mostly backups. And then we saw, okay, well, the offense played against the Bills, and it looked pretty, it looked fine, it looked pretty good, and so we know how good the Bears defense is going to be. Like this doesn't change my opinion, it just kind of reaffirms that this is probably, if everybody says how they, of course, going to be a top 10 defense this year. - Yeah, and it looks like a really good football team. - Yeah, absolutely. - It's super cool, and again, this is not a shot at Justin Fields. This is a massive upgraded quarterback. - Yeah, but I think it's also, you're not doing him any disservices, like, you know, the BS, like Joe Burrow just talked about, of having him sit and not get reps, like, I don't know, and Shay can talk about it more than I can with the Patriots, like, just start Drake May. Like, what difference does it make? - 818. - Like you, no, you do not start Drake May, if he's not ready to play, you do not start it. - Can you imagine how-- - Did you watch last night? - Can you imagine how bad they would be? I did. I had the under, I got-- - Awesome. - Can you imagine how mad we would be if they brought in, if they drafted Roma Dunes A, if everything was the same, but he was getting reps against the twos because they brought in, like, Jacobi Bursett or someone like that, and you saw, like, Jacobi's playing, well, he's not playing poorly, but you've got this kid who you drafted in the first round, you added all these weapons around him, and you've revamped your offensive line, you've got a top 10 defense, what you think can be a top 10 defense, and you're not playing your quarterback. Like, we would be yelling and screaming every single morning. - Right, but Kate came in as a generational talent. Whether he is or isn't, that was the tag that he got, it's different. - I believe in playing your guys right away. - Daddy, your guy, save it. - Yeah. This kid, it's all about development. - Of course, but if I draft a quarterback in the first round, you're playing. You're absolutely playing. - Yeah, I disagree. It's a case-by-case basis. Jordan Love was a first round pick. He was nowhere close to being ready to play. Fortunately, they had Aaron Rodgers he could sit. Patrick Mahomes has said, "I couldn't even read a defense "because I didn't have to have college." - If you're a quarterback that's drafted in the first round of the NFL draft, you better be ready to play in the NFL. There's probably gonna be hiccups, there's probably gonna be some growing pains, but if that's not the case, then you were overdrafted. - Disagree. - Disagree. Jordan Love now is one of the best quarterbacks in the National Football League. - Okay, and he might've been just as good. It's just that we, he went to the Packers because they were doing a disservice to Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers might have won more in Green Bay if they drafted wide receivers. - Probably right. - If they drafted him help. - But Aaron's talked about how I was nowhere near ready to play. Sitting behind Brett was the best thing ever. Patrick Mahomes, best thing ever happened. - I sat for a year. - I think Mahomes were even just as good if he started right away. - I'm not sure about that. - I think it's depend, like if you're drafted-- - Case by case for me. - If you're drafted 15 to 32, I can see a case for sitting you. If you draft a quarterback in the top five, you probably should play him. There's probably not a lot of reason not to. Top five pick, you gotta hit the ground running. - You at least aren't sitting out an entire year. Like if you're in the first round, I understand what you're saying, Shane. - Well, I don't think they ever was. Like he would start by week seven anyway. He's making a case to start week one now, but like-- - Like JJ McCarthy's a situation where if he wasn't hurt, I would say-- - He was not gonna start. - I understand he wasn't gonna start, but I had planned going through the schedule that the Bears were gonna see JJ McCarthy twice. Because at that point, unless-- - Yeah, 'cause we don't play them until late. - Unless Sam Darnold has them as a leading the division by the time you get to that, you know, November, when they play the Vikings, then you stick with Sam Darnold because you're trying to win. But I don't think Sam Darnold is gonna be great for the Vikings this year. So if you, I can understand not starting them right away, but they better play in their first year, otherwise you're wasting a year. What's the point? So they can watch? What is JJ McCarthy learning from Sam Darnold? - What are we doing? - He's learning how to be a pro. - What is Drake made learning from Jacobi Bursett? Like they're fine, but this isn't, this isn't Aaron Rodgers sitting behind Brett Favre. This isn't even, like Alex Smith had them in the playoffs. Jacobi, the Patriots are gonna be one of the worst teams in the NFL. - But again, just because a guy is not a Hall of Fame level quarterback, that doesn't mean Jacobi Bursett doesn't have a lot of knowledge about how the thing works to help bring along the guy who he knows is going to be eventually his successor. - What was Trubisky ever gonna learn from Mike Lennon? Nothing! - Well, I think that's the point too, 'cause like think about if you're drafted 15 through 32 as a quarterback, you're probably sitting behind somebody serviceable. From a Holmes, it was Alex Smith, Chiefs were good with them. Lamar was behind Joe Flacco, Super Bowl winner who they believed in going into that season. Love was behind Rodgers. Rodgers was behind Favre, like those guys are typically behind. - But you guys are good quarterbacks. - But you guys are automatically assuming that if a guy isn't a great player, he has no knowledge to impart. And that's just false. - No, he can't have knowledge and sit in the room and help him and it sit on the sidelines and help him during, you know, when the defense is on the field, you can help someone, but sitting there and watching Jacobi Bursette play football isn't doing anything for Drake May. - Especially 'cause he stinks. He played last night, he was horrible. - It doesn't matter if he stinks. He may have knowledge that he can impart until the kid's ready. - Yeah, do that in the room. - Justin Fields was not ready to play as a rookie. He was not. - That's my point is more if you're drafting a guy in the top five, top 10, probably should start him. Like we all agreed the Falcons taking Pennix at eight with zero intention to play him this year is stupid, right? - And what if we fast, I'm not saying it'll happen. What if five years from now Michael Pennix is a top five quarterback and says, boy, sitting, watching Kirk for a while, I got my feet wet, I got used to being a pro, not a college, but maybe that will all work out beautifully for them, Pennix will probably get to play because. - Well, Kirk might get hurt or not be ready to have a lot of need. - If it does work for them, bully for them. But if it doesn't, like they just had to give up a pick to acquire Matthew Judon, they could've used the eighth pick in the draft on Dallas Turner and they wouldn't have to do that. - All right, we're gonna take a quick time out. Jesse's gonna join us, get us an update on, Jed Hoyer said yesterday that they're raising a banner, right? - They're in the luxury tax. - They're raising a banner for the luxury tax. - Do we have a statue that's going out front that's like a tax form? Like is it 1099 going out front? Like an earnings statement or like what are we doing? - And how are you in the luxury tax? - How in the H are you in the luxury tax and be this bad? - They're the best at poor spending. Congratulations. - Crazy, 312-332-3776. Jesse is with a baseball update. Tom Thayer is with us eight to nine. That's coming up on ESPN. - Here's to Dave's headline. - headline. - With Captain J. Hood. - We have a football game this weekend. The Bears are gonna play their starters, Matt Eberflu said yesterday the starters will play against the Bengals. Good to hear Bears and Bengals. You'll get it right here. I'm out home with the Bears. ESPN 1000, by the way, our training camp coverage is brought to you by the Hard Rock Casino. Northern, Indiana. Baseball, both teams in action, Cubs at home. They get the Blue Jays for three. The White Sox, which you'll get right here on ESPN 1000. 6'30" pregame with Connor McKnight. First pitch with Lennon DJ just after seven. Socks in Houston to take on a very, very talented Astros team. And great news for our guy Ryan Sandberg. He announced yesterday he is cancer free. God bless. - James Lawson. - Welcome back to Captain J. Hood. You're officially like this. - ♪ I know it's a win sky ♪ - On Chicago's home for sports. ESPN, Chicago. (upbeat music) Rolling on on the cap J. Hood show on ESPN 1000. My guy, Hoodie, is off. He will be back, hopefully, on Monday. Adam Abdullah is in with Hoodie. And Jesse Rogers is on the Car X tire. And auto hotline. Jesse, good morning. Hey there, buddy. - Good, good morning, boys. How you doing, Adam? Good to talk to you. - You don't mean that. - I don't, but I thought, you know, for our listeners sake, I'd say it anyway. - Jesse, how in the H are they in the luxury tax the Chicago Cubs with that crap-ass roster? - Yeah, I mean, just adding it's own industry term. - That's an industry term. - Yeah, Judge shouldn't be proud of that fact, right? I mean, there's that side of them that wanna say, "Hey, we're trying to win, we're spending." But when you spend and end up in fourth or fifth place and pay a tax on top of it, that is adding insult to injury to your season. Now, it's not gonna cost time, Rick. It's all that much. It's gonna be a million or less in my estimation. They figure these things out after the season includes some player benefits. So it's a moving target until they actually calculate it. But if Judge said it, then I'm sure it's true. It won't cost too much. Now, if they go over it again next year, which hopefully they will by adding good players, it'll cost a little bit more. But unless they blow by the number, it's not a devastating situation for them. It just looks bad. It looks bad that you're one of the teams to go over the tax and you're probably gonna finish way, no, I don't know, well outside the playoff picture. I say, I stumbled there for a second because they do have 18 straight now against sub 500 teams. Now, it's a wing and a prayer, but if it's ever go time, this is it right now. - Yeah, but you're not getting any sympathy. I was there for Green Day and Smashing Pumpkins, a place which sold out. You're getting two sold out Pearl Jam shows at the end of the month. You've got Luke Bryan coming up in a week, like a million dollars, they'll make that in, they made that in concessions for Smashing Pumpkins in Green Day. - For sure. - So is this a- - No, it's a problem. It's a, no, my question is, is this a way to get out of spending next year? By saying, hey, we're already in the luxury tax and we're not winning. This is on Jed for not getting good enough players. We are already spending as much as we're going to. So by getting ahead of it next year or say, 'cause you just said, you know, this is gonna be, it's gonna be more costly next year if they continue to stay in the tax, is this a way of getting ahead of spending next year? - I don't think so, because guys are gonna make more money, raises, you know, like they don't have expiring contracts necessarily, you know, Hector Nairis is something to watch actually. If he appears in 16 more games, he is a $9 million option that ticks in. So let's see if they play with that, 16 out of 40. That kind of makes sense for a late-ending reliever, though he's a closer, so it depends on where they are. But yeah, it's only gonna get more expensive. So I don't see how they can spend any less next year Adam. And, you know, to get better, you probably need to add. You probably need to add. So we'll see at the end of the year what the press conference looks like, the things that Jed has to say in Crane County as well. I think it's just a reality situation. Look, we tried to win here. We spent over the tax, it just didn't work, but that doesn't mean we're not gonna try next year, because I don't see how it can really go down all that much. - So as I look at their payroll, Jesse, and again, you're in the luxury tax and you're basically, you're not dead last, but you've been there a bunch this season and you're, what, what are they? Five out again in the wildcard? - Five and a half out. - Five and a half out. Okay, they're gonna get back. Kyle Hendricks, he's off the books at 16.5. Drew Smiley at 10.5 is 27 million. Narrus's nine is 36 million. David Bodie's last year of his deal. 5.5 is 41 and a half million. And I can keep going and I count it all the way up to almost 80, 75 million or so. They finally, finally get done with their payments to Jason Hayward. So when you get all that money off the books, I know Steel's gonna go up. Certain guys are gonna go up. Jesse, they've gotta be involved in a big name player. Maybe it's not Juan Soto, but Santander, somebody that is a thumper in the middle of that lineup. - How about the guy that's gonna be at Wrigley all weekend that's been on the trade rumor block at least. And that's Vlad Guerrero. Has one year left of team control, has not signed a long-term deal. Maybe he will with the Blue Jays, but the Blue Jays may very well blow this thing up. Is there in last and in one of the toughest divisions? How do you not line up for him? Now it'll cost you Michael Bush. Okay, that's fine. You trade first baseman for first baseman, who cares? It'll probably cost you two really good prospects though. Now you make that trade. - You have to sign him. - Ready? You gotta sign him. You gotta sign him and it's gonna cost you a couple hundred million. He has had a resurgent season, 950 OPS this year. Great numbers across the board on a crappy team. Remember that? Yeah, he's right-handed. You know how I feel about, you know, you need lefties, but you know, your beggars can't be choosers. You take a 950 OPS from the right side and you replace Michael Bush, and you have to give up probably two prospects on top of it. That's how you add salary in a big way, because you're probably not gonna get Soto, which is gonna be 400 million cent and they're fine, but I'd rather trade for Guerrero. You can't play all these prospects, right? - You're right. - I mentioned to you last Friday, like all their best prospects are AAA. I like depth, I like redundancy. I also like superstars. And that's what Vlad Guerrero is. Little dip the last couple of years, but only like from superstar status to star status. He's back to superstar with that 950 OPS. So yeah, cap, you're right. Whether it's a free agent, whether it's a trade, you need to go big and a guy like him would fit the bill. - But it doesn't just go to the reason why they brought in Craig Council to say, "Hey, we've gone to the luxury tax now. We're spending, do something with it. We've got all these prospects that we can bring up, do something with it. We're not gonna go out and spend because we brought in a guy who's known for doing a lot with not very much. And if we give him a little bit more, which he has now, he's still not doing very much with it. - Well, the answer is in the results this year, Adam. Honestly, maybe his second year, he will help more on the margins. As I've said to you guys, he's felt more like a passenger of the bus, more than a driver, you know, he's kind of been watching and stuff. But let's face it, horses, when you race is. - It's a bet. - And managers help on the margins a little bit, right? Cap, we know that. Horses, when you race, Vlad Guerrero, Bryce Harper, Bobby. That's what wins you divisions and championships. Adam, they're nine and a 10 and a half, whatever it is behind the Brewers. - Oh, yeah? - Craig Council's not making up 10 games. He's not making up 10 games. You need the horses. They have a decent team that's underachieving, even if it overachieved, it was 85 to 88. They're not in the 90 to 100 win range. Great players get you there. So yeah, they left some wins on the table last year. Okay, great. That gets you to the mid to late 80s. You wanna get to the mid to late 90s to be an elite team and you need great players to do that. - Jesse, before we let you go, they get the Blue Jays this weekend. Then they get the Tigers who are calling up, I think the prospect they just got from the Yankees in the Jack Flaherty deal. What's gonna happen to Javier Baez? Is he getting DFA? - Oh boy, that's three years of eating that money. I haven't looked into it too much. I'd be surprised if they ate that much. I don't know. The Cubs pick him up if they DFA'd him. - I highly doubt it. I highly doubt it. I mean, what are you gonna do with them? Yeah, I mean, you can't hit anymore. - He's own all the money. - He's own all the money. - Come on. - No, yeah, you can sell some jerseys. I don't know if he's gonna get DFA'd. It's hard to DFA a guy with three years left. That's a tough conversation with ownership. But maybe he's marginalized. He's not a starter anymore. He's a DH only, whatever the case may be. So he has not returned to regularly. That's gonna happen next week. And Rizzo, if he's healthy enough, is going to return in September. Neither of those guys have returned directly since being traded in '21. So that'll be something to watch. But more important, 18 straight against sub 500 teams. Now, the Cubs are 25 and 25 against sub 500 teams. So, I mean, they have the exact same record as the Tigers. So where is it written in stone? They're gonna win the series against the Tigers. But if there was ever a chance to just climb above 500, this would be it. The Pirates are not the same team as they were months ago. They play six of the 18 against them. You know, I mean, anybody holding out on a hope, you know, for a hope here, this is the chance. - Jesse, now don't take this the wrong way because it's a very well written article. What I'm criticizing is the subject of the article. - Sure. - What is this crap? The six inning minimum? You wrote on ESPN.com that Major League Baseball is considering adding a six inning minimum for starting pitchers. - Yeah, well, they're kicking it around. - But you called it carve outs too, right? Pitch count, all that? - Right, exactly. If you get to 100 pitchers, you could be pulled before six. If you give up four or five runs or more, you can be pulled before six. So obviously injury, there's carve outs. But the idea is just to get a base foundation requirement. So no more openers. And what they hope is, for example, no more openers. The second thing would be analytically, that guy, the third time through the order is coming up. He's at 84 pitches. He's giving up three runs in the manager pulls up. That would be eliminated. So it's really just impactful on a few days, a week in a sense. You're going well that we want you to stay in the game. And then there's the trickle down effect to training and prep and hopefully they pull back on velocity in a little bit, less injury. So there's all these little things. It sounds radical. I don't think it's that radical. I also don't think it's going to happen, but it is something they are thinking about. And I've got to tell you, Adam, I mean, pulling back the curtain a little bit, that's one of the biggest stories I've written in years. I mean, they talked about it on the Mets game for like a whole inning yesterday. Like people are discussing it because if you read the article, you at least get the concept behind it trying the starting picture back as a thing and eliminating openers and analytics and max velocity and getting pulled so quickly because of injury and all these things. So I like the concept of it. I don't think it'll actually happen in practice. Jesse, have a great weekend, man. You two guys, I'll talk to you Monday, Adam. Good to be with you, buddy. Bye, buddy. See you. That's Jesse Rogers on the CarX Tire and Auto Hotline. Don't forget Tom Thayer from 7 to 8 today. Really fired up to talk football with our-- sorry, from 8 to 9, that's what you did. Thank you, Shane. 8 to 9. Thanks, Jaymore. We'll come right up. More back to football. 3, 1, 2, 3, 3, 2, 3, 7, 7, 6. Yeah, my mind's already Wisconsin. I'll be right back. Welcome back. Welcome. Welcome back to Captain Jaywood. I'm Chicago's home for sports, ESPN Chicago. With Adam Abdullah in for our guy, Hoodie. Feel better, Hoodie? Have a great weekend. I'm David Kaplan, 3, 1, 2, 3, 3, 2, 3, 7, 7, 6. So our planet, 8 o'clock, as on phone with Tom Thayer last night after I listened to he and Joniac do their fine bear show that we carry every week bears weekly. And then they do their camp report every day. And I said, hey, Tom, how about coming on from 7 to 8? He said, done, in. And so he's going to-- I keep saying 7 to 8, because I'm looking at the clock. You're in mountain time. What is going on? No, no, cast on mountain time. We're working with mountain time cap right now. That's it. 8 to 9, and he's going to play shot or no shot. He's like, I want to play shot or no shot. I love listening to it. I want to play it. You're in. Then we'll go around the NFL. He's part of that. And then from 8 30 to 9, 8 30 to 9, he will take your calls. Did you ask him to do deal breakers, and then he immediately hung up the phone? We should get him in for a segment of deal breakers. That'd be amazing. I don't know if he's ready for that nonsense. So one of our fine listeners, Tyler, Tyler, the hip king, he was in Rockford on business yesterday. He's like, I switched over to a station here just to hear Rockford radio and see what it was like. And they're doing a segment this morning called deal breakers. Oh. Shane Norling, get your lawyers on the phone. Who cares, imitations, this is serious form of flattery. Who cares about that? That's a Shane Norling creator. I've heard animal stories. That's called smoothie. Oh, no, you admitted it. [LAUGHTER] I mean, listen, I know. That's fine. Imitations the best form of flattery, right? That's it. Yeah, that's what I thought. Yep, coming up the fact. Yeah. Everything in this business is stolen from someone else. Our stone cold lead pipe locks are our blazing five. What do you want next? You and Chris have been doing Conan's show for like four years. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Who's Conan? What do you mean? I talked to the fatjack yesterday. Yeah. Excited. Yep, we're talking to him next week. All right, we will play shot or no shot with Tom Tayer as part of it.