The winter meetings are coming and who better to talk to about them than somebody who will fly to San Diego to stand in a lobby, The Athletic’s Cubs writer Patrick Mooney. Patrick tells all about the Cubs vaunted pitch lab (or at least a sign that points to it), whether or not the Cubs really tried to sign Jose Abreu, which of the big shortstops the Cubs will sign and why Kodai Senga’s first name might or might not have a ‘u’ in it. The guys discuss where Nico will go if they get a new shortstop, why Ian Happ might not even want to sign a contract extension, what’s up with Kyle Hendricks, and would Willson Contreras really go to Houston to not catch? And, Andy suggests a new catchphrase for the Cubs to use every time they miss out on a free agent that they “totally” were close to signing. All that, plus what fun stuff is planned for the Cubs little winter wonderland thing, why the Cubs never became what the Dodgers did and much, much, more.


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What the hell, ready Andy’s old stuff on The Athletic while you’re at it. (I wrote every week for four years, so there’s a lot of it.) 

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Like for instance, this shirt, which has been updated with the proper tense now that he’s finally retired:

Yadi Sucked shirt