With the season over for all intents and purposes, Joe Maddon isn’t about to roll his A-squad out there. It doesn’t help that the regulars have dropped eight straight while trying to win, but now is the time to take the foot off the accelerator. The backups figure to see lots of time during the season-ending series in St. Louis, which isn’t going to sit well with the Brewers or their fans.

“Of course they’re going to bitch, and I get it,” Maddon told the media Thursday. “But quite frankly, there are certain things I really don’t give a shit about, and that would be one of them.”

Nailed it. With no reason to sugar-coat his answers, not to mention his frustration at potentially ending his Cubs tenure with a stretch that resembles a flaming pile of what he doesn’t give, Maddon can be as honest as he wants. Which means no need to contain his enmity for that perpetually red-assed bunch to the north.

As critical as I’ve been of Maddon for his lineups and obtuse soundbites in the past, count me all in for this decision and the explanation of it. There’s no reason to play the key starters and even less reason to care what anyone outside the organization thinks about it.