Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Have the Cubs gotten any closer to reaching the NLCS?

Episode Date: January 28, 2026

Marshall Harris and Mark Grote discussed whether the Cubs have gotten any closer to reaching the National League Championship Series with their moves this offseason.

Rahimi Harrison Grotie, midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 670 the score. 100%. And for me, one of the things that you need first and foremost is the people. And from the Cubs front office to the coaching staff to the guys in that clubhouse, they're winners. And I'm looking forward to taking the field with them. The Cubs got Alex Bregman. Why do you say that was such disbelief and shock? Because sometimes stuff just re-hits you. It didn't feel like that was going to happen.

It didn't feel like the Cubs were going to spend the money to do that. And they already struck out the first time they tried to get Bregman. So it's really nice to, again, bring that to the center stage here on Rahimi Harris and Grody on the score. That Alex Bregman is here, and we all know what an upgrade that is just for the team in January. general, you bring in a promising young pitcher in Edward Cabrera. The Cubs are better. The Cubs roster right now is better than the team that won a playoff series last year. And what a nice ride it was. Now, as you look back on it, the Cubs won a playoff series. Didn't work out against the Milwaukee Brewers, but they won a playoff series. So now, in theory, you set the

bar higher. I know the Cubs are better right now. What I don't know, and I am a little bit concerned about, are the Cubs good enough to go beyond winning one playoff series, to get to the National League Championship series, to win multiple series in the playoffs? Are they good enough to do that? And the reason I'm hesitating and maybe even saying no right now is because of the scary upgrades that have occurred throughout the National League. We know the Dodgers. That's the usual suspect right there, getting Kyle Tucker just adding on to a team that already won the World Series against the Blue Jays. The Phillies, a 96-win team last year, they re-up with Schwabber and Real Muto.

And the Mets, everybody's like, what about the Mets? Yeah, the Mets. A team that was 83 and 79 last year, Bobichet is there. Freddie Peralta is there. Your guy, Luis Robert, is now there. Is he my guy? He is your guy. You are the White Sox guy here.

So that is therefore henceforth, the way it works here at the score. He is your guy. But we got rid of him. But he's still your guy. Okay. Play the game with me. I'll play the game. He's your guy.

I'll play the freaking game. All right. So do you see what I'm cooking up here? Yes. I'm a little bit concerned about the upgrades and teams sprouting further like the Mets in terms of getting in the way of the Cubs advancing on to the NLCS is where I'm setting the bar right now. And be real nice to see them in the World Series. too.

I mean, let's just go straight to the team that took one of the best players off of the Cubs and added to their roster, along with a closer, by the way, the Los Angeles Dodgers. If you show me where the Dodgers are in the playoff bracket, I'll show you how far the Cubs can go. Because the Cubs can beat all the other teams. Absolutely. Listen, they can beat all the other teams, but the Dodgers feel like. And I could be wrong because injuries happen and things happen and you can make acquisitions.

there's guys out there right now. Frambler Valdez, Zach Gallin. There's guys you can get right now if you wanted to make a stronger push. I think they need that still. Like as good as it's been, hey, Jed Hoyer, it's been a really good offseason.

But I think if you want to do better than you did last year, even having a better roster right now, there needs to be more done. Now, the safe haven, and I'll put that in air quotes, is the division in which you play. in the National League Central right now.

The Cardinals are letting everybody go. Everybody must go. There goes Nolan Aronado. Oh, we don't need Sonny Gray anymore. Wilson Contreras no longer with the Cardinals. So you see what they are doing under new management right there. And I hesitate here. You can just speak on Milwaukee if you want because the Peralta is not there.

But it ain't going to be you. He's like, someone can naysay them, but it won't be Mark Grody for a third straight year. Mark Grody keeps doing that. And he wants to do it. your lesson is the third time the charm? He wants to do it really badly right now. What do you want to say right now? I want to say, you're damn right, Milwaukee can't beat the Cubs next year. What happened the last time you saw the Milwaukee Brewers and the Cubs? Well, right. Someone was flying the L. They were. They got the best of the Cubs. They won.

They beat the Cubs in the playoffs. They did. They were better than the Cubs. Cubs. Cubs ran out of arms. I don't think this Cubs team. Hold on. I mean, it's what Pamelaun counts, right? What are you doing? Knocking on the way. Oh, knocking on wood. I don't think the Cubs will be as ravaged armwise as they were this past postseason. But I got to tell you, the Brewers look like the only true threat. Now, the Reds could come up with something because they've got Tito managing them.

They've got some young players. They've got heart. They made the playoffs last year. After I told one Ryan Porth, big Cincinnati Reds guy, that they would make it. He didn't believe me. But they made it. and I just think the division is there for the Cubs, and if not the division, certainly a wild card spot,

but if you want to talk about do they have a good chance to play in the NLCS as opposed to the NLDS and not going beyond that level, show me where the Dodgers are, and I'll tell you what your chances are. Chances of beating the Dodgers, not high at all. Chances of beating everyone else, I like their odds. So just at all costs, stay as far away from the Los Angeles Dodgers as you can. Get away. drive, run, must go faster.

They've got better players. They've got more better players. They've got future Hall of Famers and MVP's. They've got the biggest payroll. They've got Edwin Diaz now as their closer. Like, when you really look at it, you need the Dodgers to have a very bad year for the Dodgers not to at least get to the World Series. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's, I didn't even know what word to use to describe. the Dodgers. I mean, it's not fair. Inevitable. It's crazy. Inevitable. It is exciting, though, to think about, to your point about the Cubs starting pitching,

it does look promising, man. One thing I'll say about Craig Counsel. Yeah. When he has had healthy arms available to them, he has utilized them very well, with the exception of Imanaga, end of season and playoffs, which I'm well documented as to my stance on all of that. We can go back to it, but you understand. Other than that, though, they've made the most out of not much.

Now they've got more. Now it feels like they have more than the bare minimum. When we're talking about Justin Steele coming back whenever he does early in the season or even mid-season, they can slow roll it with a six-man rotation if they want to. The Cubs have options as far as pitching. Offense is where I'm more concerned. Can PCA give us something closer to the first half of the season

versus the last half of last half? season. Can say a Suzuki not go away for long spells at a time? Can Breggman simply just be Breggman and be the guy that you're paying him to be? Can Ian Hap have a bounce back and be more consistent? There are questions there. Can Michael Bush, going up against lefties regularly now, produce and hit 35 to 40 home runs? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and it is fair. Like somebody said on the text line asked us about Ian Hap, why is he, why we went out circling him? He's got to be circled. Yeah, in terms of you want more consistency for me and have. Has to be circled, but at the same time, understand that man has a no trade clause.

That's true, too. That's part of the equation here when you think about it. Yeah, no doubt. And yeah, let's see if the PCA can get it back on like he was in the beginning of the season and Seya, for that matter, and Bush. Like, there is. There's tons of promise throughout all of this. But, yeah, at this moment, I just don't know. And I don't know. I'm not sure what the bar is for Cubs fans, like how hungry I know how hungry Cubs fans are.

But did they need it to go to the next level for it to be a successful season? Absolutely. I think they will be very upset if the Cubs don't get past the DS and they need to be in a position where they're playing for World Series. I'd say the same

expectations of Cubs fans as maybe Bears fans. Bears fans expect to be in the NFC championship game next year. Like that's That's the place they expect to be. They wanted to go further than it did a year ago. Point blank, period. Do you have lower expectations for either of those two teams?

No, I don't. I don't. Man, now you're getting me thinking about the Bears thing. Am I thinking too much like Ben Johnson when it comes to that with the idea of you're not bringing back the same? It's never going to be the same again. No. It's never like this is, we've got to start from scratch.

We've got to do this whole thing over. Well, I think that's true because I think there are going to be some major roster changes for the Bears, but I think several things will be consistent. Luther Bird and the 3rd, Colston Loveland, Caleb Williams, four-fifths of your offensive line. That by itself should say

we should still be a top five, let's say top eight offense at minimum. And really, you should be a top five offense, if not a top three offense in the NFL given where Caleb has gone from game one to game whatever. With this Cubs team, similarly, the PCA of it all is

PCA, go back to what you were doing a facsimile of the first half of the season, and you'll feel much better about where this Cubs team is headed because he was a problem. C.A of it all. That is, I like the way you put that. I think also, because I understand the in-half concern. He was not as good as he has been in years past. And the inconsistency really sticks out when Craig Counsel refuses to adjust his lineup accordingly for long stretches of a time when you feel like why is he and Hap still hitting here? You could just shuffle him around.

It's not that big of a deal. But I think Craig Counsel wants his players to be as comfortable as possible. I wish she would take a page from Ben Johnson. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. And when you see some of the at-bats that all the players had when they were going through their hard times without Kyle Tucker

in the lineup that first time, that exposed to me that you've got to be a little quicker to make adjustments if you're a Craig Counsel. Yeah, and I'm not sure what the form of that is. Like if you're just sitting a guy for an extended period of time, you're putting them, because some of that worked. Like,

Danesby Swanson at the beginning of the year, remember they put him down in the lineup, then he caught fire for a while when they put him down in the lineup. And then kind of lost the... It was just so dramatic with those players last year, like, again, the PCAness of it all. With Sayas Suzuki, the way

we're like, is this guy in MVP? We probably ask, was this guy an MVP candidate. Same with PCA. Remember, he didn't make the All-Star game. We didn't make the All-Star game. We would do full hours on PCA and justifiably because he was doing some incredible things. But the rate at which those guys fell off the table is something that you're going to have to make sure is smooth. Like looking back on the season now, when that happened, I was like, oh, man, is this like, is this what it is?

Is he somewhere, like PCA, just using him as an example. Is this what he is? Is he somewhere in the middle between being? a star and not being a star? Was he overachieving? I look back on it now, and I do look at it from the optimistic point of view that he is still going to be a star and that he will, maybe he'll never be at that as the pace that he was at in the first half of the season again in his career because it was extraordinary, but I still tend to think that he is more of what he was in the first half of last season as opposed to the second half of the season. And that's because

just of the tools. We saw it. We watched the majority of the games at PCC. he's got it. He's got something. And I think that that will be smoothed out, but it has to be smoothed out. And a career? Yeah, career. For Alex Bregman specifically, he has to be the stabilizing force that the Cubs thought he was when they paid him all the money, right? When you go back to Alex Bregman's introductory press conference, and he talks about the interest in winning and wanting to win a third title, and that's why he chose the number three, and understanding how a clubhouse of a winner works because he's been in clubhouses of winners.

When you look at the Houston Astros, it's funny because he was in that same clubhouse with Kyle Tucker, right? But it's a completely different attitude he's bringing than the one we heard from Kyle Tucker. Oh, yeah, Kyle Tucker just had really nothing to say about anything ever. But I did enjoy the hell out of the first half of the season

and watching him play and do what he did, but I guess he's gone now. But, you know, think about that. How many of those types of guys are on this team? You've got Bregman, who it's all about winning. Hap is probably about there. I know he's going to make more money in his career still, but I do look at it that way.

You know, PCA, Horner, Suzuki, Bush, they probably got a little more hunger for other things, but just to have those guys, those made men on a team, like Bregman, as you brought up, is absolutely invaluable, unless not to forget about Carson Kelly. I would say this. It's more on Craig Counsel more than ever,

because now Craig Counsel has a chance to say, I have enough players on offense. I have to figure out how to get the most out of this lineup every day. And when to rest guys is part of that, whether it's Ian Hap or Alex Bregman even, who says he wants to play every day. And of course, Danes v. Swanson, we know his dance on playing every day. You got to figure it out.

That's Craig's job. He gets paid handsomely, to do it. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens. Swanson is another good example of a guy who at this point, I would assume the most important thing to him is winning. So good to have those guys around. Coming up next here on Rahimi Harris and Grotie, it is halftime. Marshall, you were put in charge of halftime today. Do you have something you would like to tease? I had different things that I went through, but I, it's been a long time since I had Taco Bell, but I've never gone to this links to get, you know,

inside a Taco Bell. Okay. That is coming up next on halftime, Rahimi Harrison Grotie on the score.