The full crew is back together. Eric gives us a quick rundown of what it was like having his dad in town for a couple of weeks, then we get straight into it.

First, we address the elephant in the room: Rolsey and Spoon have been carrying some serious bad juju lately. It feels like everyone we’ve talked up has immediately met their demise. Eric tries to weaponise the curse because he’d love nothing more than to see the Rays fall apart as a Blue Jays fan, but Rolsey and Spoon aren’t convinced it’ll work this time. We also talk early AL East vibes, including being very happy to take the field against the Yankees in the race… even if it’s still early.

Then we deep dive the Cardinals’ start to the season and the bigger question: if they’re winning in the middle of a “rebuild,” are they actually buyers at the deadline? Especially with Chaim Bloom saying they’ll stay the course no matter what.

After that, it’s time for Part 2 of our three-part Alphabet Theme Team series. We’re trying to build a roster from Q through Z (and yes, Ryan Zeferjahn and Ángel Zerpa might make an appearance) and see if we can beat the 97-win monster we built with A through I. It’s a fun one. Stay locked in.

It’s a longer episode, but we think it’s worth it. And Spoon finishes with tips, he went 2-for-2 on Friday’s Weekend Pickoff, so you may want to keep listening.

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