The slow off-season continues for the Cubs.  On this episode, we start things off by sharing some more thoughts on the Addison Russell situation and explain where we are as fans and podcasters of a team that continues to employ Addison Russell.  

We also go through a few recent Cubs acquisitions and talk about a division that seems to be improving around the Cubs. 

Thanks for downloading this episode of The Ivy Envy Podcast.  We have a number of Cubs topics to discuss on this episode.

• In tragic news, former Cub Luis Valbuena was killed in Venezuela. 
• There is a new offensive metric, DRC+.  We talk about the stat, and what it tells us about the 2018 Cubs.  
• This week, we learned that Yu Darvish should be good to go for Spring Training.
• Unfortunately, it looks like Brandon Morrow will likely not be ready for Spring Training. 
• Fangraphs released a list of Cubs top prospects, and we look at the overall list and who could impact the Cubs in the near future.
• The Cubs coaching staff is in place.
• Other teams are getting better, and we're a little confused about the tight purse-strings. 

If you'd like to read more about DRC+, check out these two articles:

Why DRC+?

What is DRC+?

On this episode of the podcast, we talk about the moves the Cubs have made in the last few weeks, including tendering Addison Russell a contract.  

While the Chicago Cubs haven't made any huge off-season moves, there has been plenty to talk about.  On this episode, we get caught up with the minor moves and major rumors.  

This episode is a sample of our side podcast, Cultivating Catuli.  Listen as we talk about the failed experiment the Cubs tried in the 1960's, the College of Coaches. 

On this episode, we look at the players from the 2018 Cubs who are not under team control in 2019.  We look at the free agents and players who have club options for 2019 and share our thoughts on whether or not the Cubs should bring them back.  

We also check in on the Arizona Fall League to see how Cubs prospects are doing.  

This is our 587th episode and the first real episode of the off-season.  On this episode, you will hear us discuss Chili Davis' dismissal and the hiring of Anthony Iopoce.  We also discuss Shiraz Rehman's departure from the Cubs organization and share some rumors involving Jason McLeod and Brandon Hyde. This leads to a discussion on one area we feel the Cubs front office has underperformed. 

The Chicago Cubs' season ended on Tuesday night with a 13-inning loss to the Colorado Rockies in the National League Wild Card Game.  On this episode, we talk about the abrupt ending to the season, and we share some thoughts, a handful of days removed.  

The Cubs will square off against the Colorado Rockies in the 2018 NL Wild Card game.  On this episode, we preview this game.  

The Milwaukee Brewers claimed ownership of the NL Central title this afternoon with a 3-1 win over your Chicago Cubs.  This episode was recorded seconds after that game ended.