Report: The Cubs wanted Donald Trump to say "You're fired" to Miguel Montero
Wednesday was not a very good day for former Cubs backup catcher Miguel Montero, whose shots at starter Jake Arrieta over a stolen base debacle against the Nationals in Washington, D.C. the night prior earned him a stern rebuke from his teammates and got him booted off the team. "This was an example of someone being a bad teammate publicly, and that we’d be better off moving on and not standing for it, because we do hold our players to a higher standard than that," said team president Theo Epstein.
The same day Montero got his walking papers, some members of the Cubs were hobnobbing with President Donald Trump at the White House as part of an unofficial visit tied to their 2016 World Series championship. And while the trip was relatively uneventful—save for Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert randomly being there and reserve outfielder Albert Almora appearing to flip Trump off (something he denied)—venerable baseball scribe Peter Gammons says that some players and front office staff who were there apparently wanted to get silly, specifically by having Trump be the one to tell Montero, "You're fired," ala The Apprentice.
There's something mildly brain-melting about being reminded that the leader of the free world used to be a reality TV show host whose entire bit was dramatically firing people doing fake jobs. Regardless, the Cubs didn't go through with their proposed prank, thus sparing Montero the indignity of the literal President of the United States telling him he was no longer employed.
Let's also please note the irony of having Donald Trump fire someone for running his mouth and saying something he shouldn't have.
