Pointless Exercise - A Desipio Podcast

The movie deep dives are back and Mike Pusateri joins to the podcast as the guys break down Albert Brooks' 1991 classic "Defending Your Life." You'll hear stories about how Meryl Streep ended up in the movie, the Rip Torn renaissance, the incredible story about Albert's dad's death, growing up with Rob Reiner as his best friend and much more. You'll even hear Albert d...

The guys take a look at what the Cubs actually got at the trade deadline. They ponder whether Christopher Morel or Isaac Paredes will have the better career, ponder Nico Hoerner's future, compare Nate Pearson to Calvin Schiraldi, and laud Jed for his incredible ability to trade guys to teams where they homer in their debuts. They also look at the other trades around the league, make fun of the...

The trade deadline is looming and somebody's going to do something really stupid, so David Brown joined us to try to help make sense of it all. Why are teams so afraid of trading top prospects when the last time a number one overall was dealt it worked out great for the team who traded him? Why would the Tigers consider trading Tarik Skubal? Will the Cubs find a taker for Jameson Taillon and w...

The gang is all here to talk about Shōta enjoying the All-Star Game, Jed's first big trade of the season, great catchers on the waiver wire and strip clubs where Praz can the lead the guys to at the bachelor party he's attending. Like all of our podcasts it somehow derails from announcer rankings to terrible crimes committed by athletes back to Chip Caray and Jim Edmonds. The guys discuss...

The All-Star rosters are set and the game is next week, so David Brown joins Andy to discuss why discussions of snubs are pointless, changes to the Home Run Derby again, and a brilliant idea for a fan participation event for pitchers that could be held right before the Derby each year. They talk about the kinds of trades that should please buyers and sellers alike and which of the Cubs is most lik...

What are the Cubs more of, boring or bad? That's the big issue that Andy and Praz confront, while Oleg is out running around in his birthday suit. Should the Cubs buy, sell, neither or both? Who would want any of them? Would Jed even trade any of them if he could? Why are these all questions? Why not write some of the description in declarative sentences like, wow, the Cubs really suck. Anyway...

Andy has some things about the Cubs to get off his chest and so he sprints to the spacious Pointless Exercise podcast studio to discuss the possibility of the Cubs trading Seiya or Happ, why the trade deadline is still really important, why they should bring back an old friend to GM for the next month, and how David Ross is still screwing up a Cubs' season even without a job. He also drops a f...

On this edition of the baseball podcast David Brown is on hand to discuss a sticky situation with Edwin Diaz and his interesting offer (not taken up) as to what the umpires should smell. They also talk about the game at Rickwood Field, more interesting Willie Mays stats, fun stuff from the Ryne Sandberg statue unveiling, how the Cubs and Cardinals did with their long stretch of games against crap...

The Cubs are wallowing in last place, but thanks to the woeful National League they're not that far behind anybody (but the Dodgers and Phillies), so Oleg and Praz join the podcast to talk about what's wrong with the Cubs and what, if anything, can be done about it. They also discuss the death of one of baseball's all-time greats, and the death of Willie Mays. Andy tells the guys about...

The trade deadline is approaching but with everybody (not the White Sox) still in the race, how active will it be? How does the Phillies losing a catcher screw the Cubs? David Brown drops by to show off the Wifi in his car and discuss all of this, plus whether the Angels will finally trade Mike Trout, what's Luis Robert worth and does it even make sense for the Sox to trade him, will the Jays...

The gang is back together to discuss why the Cubs aren't more fun (though spotting the Sox five run leads turned out to be pretty amusing), the end of our long national nightmare and the return of all-time Cubs great David Bote. They discuss the weird name of Bote's kid and why it's named that. Andy gives you second hand kinesiology advice of how to run to first base. They discuss how...

The Cubs can't hit and the Bears are finally going to be on Hard Knocks, and Tom Loxas has left his own podcast to become a regular here at Pointless Exercise and so we talk all about it. Do the Cubs need a catcher? I guess if you don't want every pitch to just roll to the backstop they do. How do they work Petecrow into the lineup on a regular basis? Is Dansby Swanson ever going to hit ag...

Angel Hernandez has been put out to pasture, Ben Brown was yanked with a no-hitter going, and the Cubs hitters aren't really into the whole line-drive thing. David Brown joins Andy to discuss all of this, plus whether or not Andy cursed Ronald Acuna Jr to the injured list, whether they guys agree with Bob Costas and Chris Russo's thoughts on whether Shohei should just bag pitching altogeth...

Oleg and Andy call to the bullpen and Mike D. steps over Kyle Hendricks to fill in for the birthday boy, Praz. The guys discuss whether the Cubs have demoted Kyle to the bullpen or is being put out to pasture, and they (or at least Andy) thinks with a little "growth" it might just work. They also try to make sense of the Cubs sending down Petecrow and not Nick Madrigal and just how long...

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...

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...

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 S...

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 b...

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 champi...

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 suppose...

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 Ma...

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 bi...

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 posi...

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.

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 b...