Cubs BCB After Dark: Which Cub gets the axe?

Mar 17, 2026; Mesa, Arizona, USA; Chicago Cubs outfielder Dylan Carlson against the Los Angeles Angels during a spring training game at Sloan Park. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

It’s Wednesday night here at BCB After Dark: the coolest spot for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Thank you for stopping in tonight. We’ve been waiting for you. There’s no cover charge. We still have a couple of good tables available. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

Last night I asked if you think, in response to the injuries in the Cubs starting rotation, that the Cubs should sign free agent Lucas Giolito. The question is complicated because we don’t know how much money that Giolito wants to sign, But with that in mind, 65 percent of you think it would be a good idea, considering the health issues of the team to start the season.

Here’s the part where we listen to music and talk movies. You’re free to skip ahead if you want.

Tonight we’re featuring Chicago and Rockford’s own Kurt Elling singing the Joe Jackson tune “Steppin’ Out” with the Bundesjazzorchester in 2o12.

I don’t have a movie essay for tonight, I thought I’d throw the floor open to you.

As a way of stimulating the conversation, tell us your favorite actor from the Golden Age of Hollywood. The American Film Institute put out their top 25 actors and actresses as part of an end-of-the-millenium TV special back in 1999. We’ll save the actresses for another day, so let’s concentrate on the actors tonight.

AFI’s cutoff point was that an actor had to have made their screen debut by 1950. That’s a good cutoff point for a “Golden Age” list, although it does exclude Jack Lemmon, who didn’t make his credited movie debut until 1954. (He had some uncredited roles before that.) Rock Hudson only had one bit part before 1950 and they didn’t spell his name right. I’m not sure whether they counted that.

You can see the complete top 25 at the link, but their top ten were:

1. Humphrey Bogart
2. Cary Grant
3. James Stewart
4. Marlon Brando
5. Fred Astaire
6. Henry Fonda
7. Clark Gable
8. James Cagney
9. Spencer Tracy
10. Charlie Chaplin

That’s a pretty good list to start. So tell us who is your favorite and which movies he did make you love him?

For me, the answer is easy. It’s Grant. There’s no one on this list whom I don’t think is terrific, but Cary Grant stands out to me. I’m not sure any actor of the era was as equally at home in drama and comedy, often in the same film. North by Northwest is a masterpiece. His comedies like The Awful Truth, Bringing Up Baby, The Philadelphia Story, His Girl Friday and Monkey Business are great. But he also made a lot of great dramatic pictures such as Gunga Din, Only Angels Have Wings and Notorious are excellent too. Charade is fantastic spy drama in the same vein as North by Northwest. Yes, Grant appeared in some turkeys, as did every actor in the studio system. But I don’t think he was ever in a bad movie that wasn’t made a little better because he was in it.

Welcome back to everyone who skipped ahead.

The Cubs have made it clear that they expect that Seiya Suzuki will be activated for Friday’s game against the Pirates. Suzuki has been playing in Knoxville all week and every indication is that he’s ready to return to the majors.

That means someone has to go, assuming no one gets hurt between now and Friday. (The Cubs don’t think that Ian Happ will need a trip to the injured list.) Since teams must have 13 position players these days, the Cubs will have to remove one to activate Suzuki.

There are basically three choices of players who can be removed. I think at the beginning of the season there was a possibility that Matt Shaw, who has options, could go down to Iowa to make room for Suzuki, but I think Shaw is proving himself too valuable so far to go down. If you disagree (or you have some other candidate), you can vote other.

The three players, in reverse order of how likely I think they are to get removed, are:

Michael Conforto: Manager Craig Counsell certainly seems to like Conforto and he’s certainly had the most opportunity to play of the three choices. Conforto has played in seven games (and is in the starting lineup tonight as I write this) and is hitting .250 with a .438 on-base percentage. Sure, he’s yet to have an extra base hit yet and he was pretty awful for the Dodgers last year, but he’s definitely had the best career of our three choices. He was a pretty good outfielder for the Mets from 2o15 to 2021. He wasn’t terrible for the Giants for two years after that. But maybe you think that he’s about to turn back into what he was with the Dodgers last year.

Scott Kingery: You’d be forgiven if you forgot that Kingery was even on the Cubs. So far, all he’s done is pinch-run twice. His only stat is one stolen base. I don’t know the particulars of the minor league deal that Kingery signed with the Cubs over the winter, but he still has minor league options according to Fangraphs. Assuming that’s correct, the Cubs could send him down to Iowa and still have him in reserve

The only issue is that removing Kingery leaves the Cubs with five outfielders plus Matt Shaw, who has been playing outfield most of the year, and five infielders, with Shaw as the only backup. I suppose that Ian Happ could fill in at second or first in an emergency, but that’s not something the Cubs want to rely on. Sending down Kingery leaves the Cubs thin in the infield. On the other hand, it’s not like he’s playing at all right now.

Dylan Carlson: Carlson has barely played more than Kingery, despite Suzuki (and now Happ) being injured. He’s gotten one start and that was in game two of the doubleheader in Cleveland. He went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts in that game. He pinch-ran in game one and scored a run, which was his Cubs debut. He pinch-hit for Conforto in Monday’s game versus the Rays and flew out.

So basically, Counsell has barely used Carlson despite having ample opportunity to do so. Perhaps he would accept an assignment to Iowa, which would make the decision to take him off the roster easy. But he’d probably prefer to go somewhere where he might actually get an opportunity, since it doesn’t look like Counsell wants to give him one on the North Side.

But tonight’s question isn’t who will be removed from the roster, but rather who you would remove if you were in charge. So who’s your choice?

Thanks for stopping by tonight. Thank you to everyone who who has voted and commented over the past week. Or even listened to the music. Please get home safely. Recycle any cans or bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And joiin us again next week for more BCB After Dark.