Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Seems like MLB owners are willing to sacrifice 2027 season to get a salary cap (Hour 1)

Episode Date: February 13, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Marshall Harris opened their show by discussing the looming MLB lockout after the 2026 season. It seems like MLB owners are willing to sacrifice the 2027 season to get a salary cap implemented. Later, Rahimi and Harris discussed the NBA issuing fines to the Jazz and Pacers for their recent roster management that led to losses.

This hour is brought to you by Menards. Save big money at Menards. The views and opinions of Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, and Mark Grody should not be taken too seriously. Especially when they give advice. Do not take Marshall's analogies, literally. Especially when it comes to Russell Dorsey. The sports thoughts of Rahimi Harrison Grody may change at any time. It's just sports.

Okay, thanks. Bye. Rahimi Harrison Grody, 10 to 2 on 104 3, The Score. Christian McCaffrey, an exciting... What? Was on the Bustin with the boys podcast. When these injuries happened, how frustrating isn't for you? Because when they were kind of piling up and popping up last year,

it's almost like universally like, okay, he's getting a little bit older, white running back. That's what that's the age. You know what it has to do with. Come on. Like, you're not supposed to be here, man. Endangered species never know they're endangered. Like the snow leopard. What were you asking?

What were you asking? knows I always feel less than my other whiteness is catching up to the he just said running back when you put white running back in it that sort of a little uh a little stank on it be again Ike and put some stank on it I will never not think of Chris Christian McCaffrey as the snow leopard that's like great that is great they threw snow leopard out there with that on the fly snow leopards are one of the world's most endangered species never know they're a danger same name CMA or run CMC they live in the world's highest ranges

and are one of the least understood felines. I think that's what I'm going to be calling him from now on. That man is rare and fast. At least we're not saying he's a good route runner or he's sneaky fast. All the coded language there that one typically says. Gemrat.

Country Strong. That's a little too obvious. Oh, no. Country Strong can be applied to everybody. He's a grinder. He's a grinder. A grinder. That's one. Heady player. He's a very heady player.

Okay. Okay, okay. Yes, thank you. The name is White. Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 104.3, the score. Well, actually, it's Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Brody, and Ryan Porth, narrowly escaping the clutches of the studio. Wave to the cameras, Ryan. You had to clean up that mess anyway. It's my fault. I made a mess. Marshall Harris brought in, I think about 98 ounces of sweet tea from Panera and picked his cup up by the lid. And that's when we decided to destroy the studio.

I didn't pick the cup up. I didn't pick the cup up. I just simply tipped it and it fell over. And I didn't know the lid could just pop off that quickly. That's what she said. It's a good thing that we have Starbucks coming later. I don't know if you saw your text. I did not see my text because we were busy trying to save.

the studio. Yes, and the liquid went everywhere. It somehow got on every single electrical piece of equipment on the desk in here. Do you see how everything's askew? If you go to twitch.tv slash the score Chicago, and unfortunately, I was trying to move Tim Anderson, and I removed one of his hands. Can you please pass me the bobblehead so I can show the people, or you can display it for yourself? I'm really sorry.

I tried to save Tim Anderson, and this is what happens. when you try to save people and you're not qualified. You're not a paramedic. You're not a first responder. I accidentally ripped off TA's hand. Down goes Anderson. Down goes Anderson. He didn't deserve this.

He did not deserve to have his hand ripped off because I was trying to save him and failed. The second worst thing to happen to him, man. Jose Ramirez was the first. Are you sure that was it? Not that podcast with Ryan Clark or something. Oh, yeah. That was a choice.

So was the fight with Jose Ramirez, though, let's be honest. Although Jose kind of ended that himself. He didn't deserve this. I'm sorry, T.A. Jose Ramirez didn't cost him a hand. Where is the hand? Just threw his hands. I just threw it.

I don't know where the hand is. Please tell me we didn't accidentally throw away T.A.'s hand in the cleanup. I can't confirm nor deny that. It's okay, though. It's okay. It's okay. He didn't know how to throw hands anyway. Yeah.

Wasn't he supposed to be holding a bat here? He didn't know how to throw hands. Anyway, that's too much. Hey, you leave him out of this. He didn't deserve this. Ray Diaz with the one-liner of the day, and it's already, we're just a few minutes into Rahimia Harris and Grotie. And you know what?

The good news is we might not need Tim Anderson next season, right? We might not need him. Where's TA right now? He was with the Angels last year. And then he got cut, right? Released. From the Angels. He is a free agent.

Aren't we all? Here's the issue. Marshall is right. Maybe it's the baseball gods mad at us for bringing this up. We're yucking the yum on a Friday. But we might be yucking the yum. We might be playing into the hands of the ownership here in baseball. We might be, I don't want to be part of the machine.

But the bottom line is we have to tell you about what's going on with the machine. machine. And that's the fact that given the Kyle Tucker contract, which may have been the actual tipping point here, to not just divide players and owners in Major League Baseball, but owners and owners. And that may be the biggest problem of all we have to face in this.

The 2027 season is as in peril as our studio when Marshall has a 48 ounce cup of Panera Sweet Tate. It's 30 ounce. And it's unsubes Unsweet tea. It looks like 64 ounces to me. I think that's a whole gallon. It has on the bottom, 30. Interesting. Did you know that you look at the bottom of a cup, it'll tell you? It'll tell you. Yes, you know, but it seems like 100 ounces spilled over here. Okay, that's fair. It was, it was everywhere. I'm just being mean. I'm being an older sister

and giving you hell. It's what we do. Hey, if you want to be older than me, go right ahead. I am not, I'm not your older sister. I am being an older sister. But as I chide Marshall for his drink, have a spill-proof cup because I childproof myself for myself. I spill stuff too. It's just usually more chaotic behind the scenes. In the meantime, as we have survived the Panera spill of 2026, we look at the peril of the 27 season. And I don't know about you, Marshall, but the headline to this, just so you're aware, what

Kyle Tucker's Dodgers contract means for MLB labor piece. And this yet again goes back to the concept of the deferred money. the deferred money to the extreme whenever the Dodgers started the trend really getting going with Shodi Minaga's money. And then the Kyle Tucker deal, which I don't know about you, but I had to read it several times. Here's the paragraph that got me. Because of the tax levied on the teams that spent over the CBT,

payroll surcharges intended to dampen the desire for organizations to flex their financial muscles. The Dodgers must pay at 100. 10% penalty on every dollar over the top $304 million threshold, meaning that a salary adjusted to 57.1 million to reflect its net present value, Tucker this year will cost the Dodgers, $119.9 million. That is more than the current 2026 payrolls of 10 teams. Such a degree of imbalance is astonishing, even with the reality that nothing in the rules stops other owners from replicating the Dodgers' behavior, other they're in their own willingness to deficit

spend, fewer willing, which leaves them pushing for a cap, convincing themselves with Mandalorian obdicracy that this is the way. I love that this is the way reference. Never pass up on a Star Wars reference. Abduresi, sorry. So, yeah, there's a problem. And there was already a problem. but what the Dodgers said,

oh, y'all think there's a problem, watch this. And they just continue to flex and tell other teams, if you don't want to spend like us, if you don't want to defer like us, you're never going to catch us. Well, it's also what you get,

what you pay for. The Dodgers sale continues to be one of the biggest deals to discuss in sports period. You know, and the sticking point, as I recall, was not even the TV deal that they had gotten. That's really the issue here.

It's not an issue. It's what, helps them spend is that massive TV deal they had with Time Warner. Additionally, there were the parking lots. Do you remember that being such an issue? It was the real estate that backed in the transaction, that that real estate with the parking lots was as much of a sticking point as anything because it is worth so much money.

The parking lots at the stadium itself, especially in Los Angeles. So when you've got physical real estate assets and you've got the TV contract, and you have an ownership group who's willing to do whatever. You know, it's one thing when it was, and we've talked about this as well, it's one thing when it's owners versus players, you know, like when you consider NFL ownership versus the NFL players, the 18th game is something that the players union has pushed back on. But at the same time, NFL ownership has gotten all these other sweeteners

as to what they have wanted because of this one issue. They've gotten Thursday night football. We're hearing reports of a Wednesday night game. They're here to take Maction now. You know, they got to take over other days of a week like Christmas Day, which used to be an NBA exclusive holiday. You know, they've decided that teams need to play international games on a regular basis. The owners, because they're together and they're united in their front, they've been able to get all this other stuff that the players not necessarily wanted to do. Thursday night is the best example because of the recovery time it takes and how much of a sticking point it was.

and look what's happening. We have Thursday night games now. That's not an issue. And it's not even an afterthought. It's just that's just part of what it is. It's no longer, you can even say the quality. All because of the dangling carrot of the 18th game. Exactly.

And you could even make the argument that Thursday night football has become much more watchable compared to the inception of Thursday night football. Do you remember how bad it used to be? It was just, it was the bad teams and they were the ones because I think the better teams were protected from having, they wanted to recover. And now it's just, you're right, it's part and parcel. And now they're flexing Thursday night games. It's crazy.

To add to the chaos. I say all of that to say, this is what the owners are getting because they're united and because there's a sticking point issue that they get to negotiate against. In this case, when it's ownership versus ownership and there is this disparity, and then there's the players union that is powerful in Major League Baseball, this is where, I can't believe it, Kyle Tucker of all people. Given what happened here, especially, that that's the flashpoint to this extent where we should be talking about enjoying a 2026 baseball season where the Cubs are legitimately trying to contend, where they did spend money, or like even observe the fact that the pirate signed a guide to a multi-year deal or that the Baltimore Orioles signed somebody like Pete Alonso. That instead, instead we're still talking about the Dodgers and the Mets and how this is affecting the rest of baseball.

But we have to. These are the numbers. This is the reality. And if you don't believe us, listen to what Matt Spiegel had to say through his sources in Lawrence Holmes and Matt Spiegel show yesterday. They talked to sources within multiple MLB franchises. Over the last five years, MLB has been withholding a small portion of each team's share of national television money, as well as a portion of each team's share of the licensing revenue. And these dollars have been consolidated, by MLB to what will be given to teams next year as a war chest, a $75 million per team war chest that should allow each franchise to withstand the potential loss of an entire baseball season. That's the new information that I was able to confirm and put out today.

So there's going to probably be some tightening of the belt around the league, not maybe in the way that you would see, but a way that we would see. Like there's going to be, I don't even want to call it hiring freezes, but I imagine that some of that is going to go on, Speegs. Every department of every team is well aware of the danger that looms beyond November, and there are preparations that are taking place within multiple departments about, you know, what they can do, what they cannot do, just every facet. of the baseball world is preparing for this like never before.

This is bad news. And it's bad news because what I've been preaching, I was like, hey, yeah, it's going to stink when we don't have a 2027 season. With Matt Spiegel's sourcing, that becomes not just a reality, but a likelihood, a strong likelihood, because of the different warring factions involved in creating a CBA that everybody can sign off on. And just the descriptions of these contracts. That's the part that's so hard to wrap your head around as well.

And it makes sense as to why other owners, like the Cubs, yes, they did the right thing. They followed suit. They decided to give Alex Bregman deferred money, which a lot of teams are doing because that's how you compete. And I don't mind it. But then there's the Shohei Otani contract, for example. And here's another excerpt from the Passan article. Los Angeles is paying him $2 million a year and delivering. laying for a decade payment on the remaining 680 million,

that its present value is more in the mid-400 millions. One year after Otani shattered the salary scale, Juan Soto upped him with a 15-year, 765 million deferral-free deal with the Mets. And that's what makes us so wild. But Tucker's is, you know, that's, he's not even the best player on the Dodgers, as we know. He's the what blank best player on the Dodgers? Let's just say hitters. He's what, the fourth best hitter on the Dodgers?

I think fourth is fair. You could argue third. Yeah, where are you putting him in the light of? And not after last two years. He's not the third best hitter on that team. Yeah, you could easily say, Shohei, Freddie Freeman, and of course, Moogie Betts, those guys, one, two, three,

and they've got the World Series titles to prove it. You know, they've got future entry into the Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, to prove it. nearly never in the 50 years of free agency before Tucker turned it down had a player turned down a $300 million plus offer that's a lot of money oh to have those problems but like that the fact that he could turn it down

that says where we are I think players are smarter too about what they accept and understanding hey I can jump on this train and continue to win World Series I but that and it's you know I think Albert Breer did a good example of talking talking about it when we had him on a while back. I want to say it was about a year ago where he said, when I was in charge of this type of stuff,

the cap was your budget. You know, that was it. And we've seen how in the NFL it's a little easier to see where the money goes. You know, you can see it kicked out. This is accounting that is tricky. It is slick. And when it divides ownership among itself, that's when I think,

especially when you have deferring factions of the big market teams who can't agree on how to do this. That, first of all, is pure competition. But secondly, none of this really is. You know, it's a league where you already have all these oversights into place. MLB isn't really the, it's not the avenue for the pure unfettered capitalism you think you're getting. And so that's why this is hard. You know, it's like you can't, you're choosing when you want to compete in that way and when you're. you don't. And it's cool as long as everybody agrees to them, but when you get some new ownership in town, then everybody's competing at a different level and they've changed the game on you.

Well, it seems like what I believe to be two classes of owners has really separated in now three classes of owners. There's the millionaires, billionaires, thousandaires, and then there's the dollar millionaires like us. I'm not going to go that far. I will say this. I used to think it was just big market owners versus small market owners. But now I'm seeing it's big market owners versus big market owners. Oh yeah. And by the way, most of the owners are small market owners. You see what I'm saying?

Like the top, you know, five, six markets, whether you want to talk about San Francisco, the Chicago teams or team, depending on how you want to look at it, L.A., New York, Philadelphia, Boston, And then you look around and everybody else is not willing to get up to par, whether it's the brewers who have won despite not having exorbitant payrolls. And for them to figure that out is going to take longer than I thought. Well, to add to this is the problem of TV rights deals for other teams. We just saw several teams, including ones who compete with the Cubs and the White Sox, get taken over by Major League Baseball. So we'll get into that and then also another story from The Athletic that's worth your time by Evandrelic

and the discussion of a salary cap because those words are now coming into play here. That's all next here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie and Marshall's massive Panera Cup on the score and handless Tim Anderson bobblehead doll. We've got to find the hand. I'm sorry, T.A. Rahimi Harrison Grody, Midday's Tyndal 2

on Chicago Sports Radio 1043, the score. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie. on 104-3 The Score. And I hate to kill the vibe and I didn't really want to. And Matt Spiegel loves good vibes, babe. But even he is worried about the upcoming 2027 season. And I say, I'll have to say, let's enjoy 2026 while we can.

This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3 The Score. We broadcast live from the Scores Hyundai Studios brought to you by your local Hyundai dealers. Ray Diaz, our producer with the line of the day about Tim Anderson not knowing how to throw hands. We found Tim Anderson bobblehead doll's hand, by the way. So there has been some peace restored after the great spill of Lake Superior's worth of Panera sweet tea onto our death Unsweet tea.

That's that. I did you wrong. Unsweet tea. I don't want to get the diabetes. The beatis? Yes. That is a lot. That is a lot.

Yeah, if that were sweet tea, that have been sticky. Sometimes I get unsweet with a little bit of sweet tea on top just a good little... I will not. Yacuriya, I'm there. I do love good iced tea. It's kind of an iced tea day with the sunshine.

Tyler Bueterbra is our producer, as well. You heard his excellent open. Ryan Porth helped out with our mess. Brandon Friar helps us out as well. And I mentioned Twitch where I showed TA without the hand. Well, our Twitch team doing a tremendous job per usual, our video crew. It is Connor O'Donnell,

Jacob Stutz, and Max Curtis. And everybody's texting and calling already. 312644-67-67 is our number because this is something that is top of mind. 773 texted in and this is real. My wife is a bartender in the Stadium Club at Comiskey. We're already freaking out.

She doesn't make enough to save her a season missed. Lots of employees and people in that boat. And we talked about it earlier. Matt Spiegel said that a war chest has been created, and there are coffers that are being filled to try to save a rainy day fund, emergency funds for teams. And, you know, that's an emergency fund for everybody who works and supports these teams and makes a good living when things are good, you know, every day at a ballpark.

you don't have that luxury. Is this a warning salvo from owners in that they're showing you how Duggan they're going to be because they understand they're dealing with the most powerful union arguably in the world in that, yes, we know you guys will hold out because that's what you've done every time we've done this as far as coming to the table in negotiations, especially with something as serious as a salary cap. What this signals to me, understanding that teams are going to get $75 million a year per reports, is that they're willing to sacrifice the season to get the end result of salary cap. That is the thing.

Those who have resources are always willing to do what's best for those who have resources because they have the resources to withstand any sort of setback. How resourceful of them. But that's it. It's such a self-feeding beast. 847, Texas. How are the Dodgers going to pay all the deferred money when their next TV contract will be tiny compared to their current one?

I don't know, my friend, because the Dodgers contract, is 25 years in $8.35 billion. That thing runs out in 2038. So do you think anybody's thinking about that except for maybe Kyle Tucker and his deferred money, which runs through how long again? But also, if you read the story about how Shoay Otani has already brought them back all the money they spent on Shohei Otani,

it makes all the sense in the world. And that's it. The Dodgers say it's good business for them to do this. And I always say, like, when you can create a budget, when you've got the opportunity, I always like to say if billion dollar businesses can have budgets, and so can I. But they wouldn't do this unless it wasn't good money for them.

So keep that in mind. They're not a charity organization either. To add to that is the discussion from our friend Evendrelic, who has been on this for the athletic for a very long time. Came out with a story this week, what would MLB look like with a salary cap, explaining the wide-ranging game-changing effects? And he illustrates a lot of what this is.

And of course, the obvious here is the players union has opposed that concept for decades. Because we see who, what do I say this week? Who pays, who loses, who benefits. The players do not benefit from having a salary cap. And that's the truth. On mass, that is the truth. And owners may try to sell you, well, if we have a cap, we'll also have a floor and, you know, the lesser paid guys will get paid more.

But, nah, that's not it. No, it just, it's an excuse for everybody to get paid less. and I think part of the reason we've discussed, the NFL is a good example of the contrast here is because the NFL players knowing their careers are usually short, you know, they've got to make a certain amount of money in a certain time. When you take away a lot of these resources,

time is money, they don't have the money to sit out a season like this. You know, and that's why this is a, it illustrates the position. There's a quote here too from Bruce Meyer, the deputy director of the union. Salary caps in other sports have not led to competitive balance. In fact, baseball, is one of the only, it's the only one of the four major sports, which does not have a salary cap,

actually has better competitive balance than the other sports. A salary cap punishes competition, punishes clubs who want to go out and acquire the best players, and put the most exciting product on the field for the fans. It gives owners who prefer not to compete, an all-purpose excuse not to do so. So that is the union's position. And it goes on to say, talks are not expected to move quickly and another December lockout is widely expected. The big question is whether it costs the sport regular season games in 2027. The NBA, NFL, and NHL all have caps, but none were agreed to eagerly by their players. Think about the NBA now and how it's not as exciting to watch the trade deadline. It's not as exciting to see which team has done the most because of the new CBA and the tax

and the ceiling it put on teams who want to compete and find creative ways and they do it differently. And there is not as much of a difference between the have and the have-nots as far as payroll, because every NBA team has a star of some kind. And we have seen that go away and the excitement not be as much to the public. The public is losing because the NBA had to do a more strict CBA that tamperes down on a lot of what he's illustrating here. So the CBA and the NBA specifically, you know, they got tired of the super teams and they just kept coming up with different ways to discourage teams from being able to,

to keep and add star players. Like you can keep your star player, but you can't add more star players or else you're just not going to have anybody else to fill out the roster because of the way the minimum salaries work in the NBA. And teams that can develop, I hate that I'm referring to this, but like the Oklahoma City Thunder with several good players. A very small market team, by the way, relatively speaking to the rest of the league. And you get a star in Shay Gilgis Alexander.

Now he's on your roof. You can pay him more. because of the way all NBA and some of these other wards MVP allow you to pay guys more in their max contracts, but you're also going to have to get rid of guys eventually because you can't pay them as much.

It's going to be harder to keep guys that you don't have, you don't use the bird rights sparingly, and then to understand what the rest of the league is doing to counter that now is really has been a thing that's been documented pretty well. That's why Janus is in trouble right now and can't find anybody to play with.

Well, and that's it. And 323 is texting us no matter who wins this fight, the fans lose. There would be no money to argue over without the fans. And we are not all united. The last time I checked, you can't unite at 350 million people. You know, it's a share of a pie when it comes to how people feel about this. It's kind of like us talking about the stadium the other day. You know, you can vote on it. And then your voice has been registered directly to the concern. But in this case, you can't do that. You can give up a steak dinner if you want. I don't know that's going to solve this issue. Poor Tony and Joliette wanted to give up a steak dinner for the Bears.

Unfortunately, it costs more for that stadium, and it's going to cost a heck of a lot more in this situation. No, no, but I am curious. 312-4-4-667-67. Call us, let us know. You're already texting us, but call us and let us know. We'll put you on to tell us what you think about this now looming lockout situation that really we've been staring in the face for, what, three years, four years maybe? and now it's going to become a reality next year.

It's four years because, well, five, really, because it's since the last CBA. Yeah, yeah. We had a delay then to the season, if you'll recall. Yeah. That was the COVID year, right? Well, right. And a lot of companies and a lot of businesses have used that to their advantage against workers. And Meyer continues here.

He's the deputy for the Players Union. Whatever the special introductory offer is, the history has shown that that doesn't last. Once they get you in that system, you never get out, and they drive that percentage down of the revenue share that the players would get by repeated lockouts. In fact, in the salary cap sport since 1994, they've had way more work stoppages, way more lockouts, way more missed games than an hour sport. But how that split is calculated, revenue definition isn't what the league makes per what the players earn, would also be contested. It is even today without a cap. talking about a share in the abstract really doesn't tell you anything. Many team owners have real estate developments and other ancillary businesses

that owners would fight to exclude and players would fight to include. This very much applies here in this city. The union thinks the current system accounts for some of that value. That's it. And Evangirlik's big line here that I think is important is, if MLB gets its way, contracts like the 15-year $765 million deal that wants, Soto signed with the New York Mets would never be given out again. And we focus on those rather than focusing on the players for teams who are just trying to make

it. Like I'm not trying to weaponize Mike Tockeman here. But Mike Tachman's a major league ball player. And he should have a job by now. And it's that kind of guy's success who is a part of the greater discussion here in the union and the owners and the discussion they're in. Yeah, you can remember what two off seasons ago when they really waited and waited and waited to sign players because there was a concerted effort, although not admitted between teams,

to keep down salaries. And it worked to a degree. That it did. And, you know, a lot of accusations about people here who are a part of that in this city and who owns in this city were a part of that as well. And I think this is a good point from 708. The owners can remain irrational, longer than the labor can remain solvent. Man, that's a bar right there. That is absolutely. Economics 101. And you could say irrational, but are they remaining irrational or are they just prepared to go to war? It feels like that's really what's happening here. Yeah.

I mean, it's the concept of blank you money. You know who has a lot more of blank you money than you and me? Owners. I'm always amazed when people side with the billionaires over the millionaires. Because we're taught to do so. It means you're falling in line. It means you're a good employee. People can become millionaires.

the astronomical odds of being in the billionaire class should tell you something. It's hard for people to get. And it doesn't mean people are dumb. It just means it's unless you understand what that is, unless you experience it for yourself, you don't understand the contrast of one and the other. Do you remember the rice experiment? It was not an experiment, just the rice display. Illustration.

Yes, illustration. And how they just showed you, okay, this is what $10,000 looks like, a grain of rice. And they say, this is a million dollars. in rice. So that's 100 grains. And then the billionaire it's like a freaking bucket. Yeah. And that's the part that I think it's hard for us. And they're

so visible, you know, they're the people you see. Like, I don't know about you guys, but in economics class for me in high school, every comparison was Bill Gates. It's like, well, does Bill Gates do this? Now it would obviously be Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk. You're like, well, what about these guys? Because you want

something to compare it to. Right. You want to understand a frame of reference. here. And you think that that's success. And that's the hardest part, is trying to figure out that the two are so remarkably different. And keep this in mind. This is something that Evan Rellick had in his story. Major League teams were worth $2.6 billion on average entering last season per Forbes. So even when you think your team ain't worth that much, this says otherwise. And don't forget, even people who thought the Bears weren't as much as what they may have perceived.

And then we find out because of the shares and that changing of hands, that the bears are valued at roughly a little under $9 billion. Is that a lot of money? And listen, they're not the best example as far as cash flow because they are asset rich, but they're still somehow rich. It's a different level of rich.

Between rich and wealthy. also this text from 312. Millionaires and billionaires negotiating. Who cares? Cancel a whole season. No skin off my nose. Maybe not yours, but other people... I mean, we just told you about somebody who works at Kamiski.

Do they not deserve to have their jobs? And the point is, there's a lot. The difference between a billionaire and a millionaire is a lot. You could be a billionaire, but you can't be a billion with a B. That's the difference. And if there is a billionaire listening to our show, I would like to know why. Your time is worth a lot of money. And why are you listening to us?

Can you get me another hand for Tim Anderson? 3-1-2 says, and this is a great illustration. Seconds. A thousand seconds equals 17 minutes. A million seconds equals 12 days. A billion seconds equals 32 years. And that's the difference. That's the difference in this.

like you you if you if you played it right and you're of a certain age say the top of our demographic for example or older you know and you bought your property and you live in a house and you you didn't have to deal with a lot of debt from the house or debt from student loans and you invested into a really good pension or some sort of 401k there's a very strong chance you're a millionaire and i'm not here to tell you how long that money lasts but that's the difference between you being a millionaire and the billionaires who never had to worry about such things. I love liars. 708. I will always side with ownership except over public funding stadium issues.

These players get paid millions to play a game that I would play for free. They aren't making peanuts working in a sweatshop factory. They still got to feed themselves in their families, right? Also, do you know what they make in the minor leagues? Like, are you familiar with traditions like Pass the Hat? Or because they're making so little in the minor leagues that they can't feed their families? and the number of those players compared to the number of major league players

and just because you would do something for free doesn't mean you should either. Although if you want to come like cut my grass for free, feel free. Yeah, what else do you love that you want to do for free? Free. Go ahead. And that's the other thing. You shouldn't do it for free because you have worth. Maybe if more of you started understanding your own self-worth,

then you would understand others. Start with yourself. 3-1-2-644-67-66. is our number here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. And in the meantime, speaking of the NBA, there was a punishment levied by the league toward

a team that is a very cautionary tale for the Bulls. So let's examine that next. Rahimi Harris and Grody. Midday's 10 to 2 on 1043 the score. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043

the score. And we're getting a lot of a text in and I think just some responses. I understand people are working. They can't always call. And we're on Twitch as well. Twitch.tv.tv.com. The Twitch mob is up and chatting if you want to hang there. 630 says UPS driver here. contract negotiations between the workers and the company are always insane. We bust our ass every day and the company villainizes us. Making our job sound like they're easier than they actually are. Ownership needs to recognize that these players are special and have a very limited window to be successful. pay them what they are worth and owed.

And then another person says, the other problem is that the average person can't go and afford to go to these games anyway. I haven't been to a Bears game in 10 years. No socks games for 7 to 8 years. As long as people keep paying for tickets and $15 beers, the push to greater profits won't stop. I love the Bears and the White Sox, but it's more cultural than not.

So I think there's a varied slate of opinions across the board, and I get it. but at the same time, I just want to reiterate. You may want to do something for free, but you have value too. So start with your own and then you'll understand others. Leila Rahimi, self-help guru everyone, and I'm with you, by the way, completely. Like, the people who devalue themselves, yeah. And just because you do doesn't mean somebody else should.

Exactly. Exactly. And like I said, keep in mind how long it took some of you to retire and be resistant. of better timing than others to get to that million. And now think of what it's like to get to a billion. Congratulations to all the millionaires out there. Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Because that's the thing. There's room for everybody.

But does, you know, the contract of Kyle Tucker become the tipping point of this because owners now disagree with each other? That's really what this conversation becomes. In the meantime, we are going to cherish the season. Damn it. The show gets a lot more fun in progression of weight toward the weekend, just so you're aware. Our one o'clock hour is going to be very entertaining, I think. We have a lot of

fun sports questions leading up to the weekend. In the meantime, there's something that happened ahead of All-Star weekend that deserves our time in the NBA. And that was the follow-up that was hit with a hammer, a sledgehammer

to Marshall's, are you really taking if you're not doing this question? And the this in question was the Utah Jazz playing and then sitting their starters in the fourth quarter to try to make sure they lose basketball games. Apparently, that is not seen favorably among those in charge. And to be fair, I understand why for you, the measurements of a true tank is or a rebuild is either the process sixers, which the league had to stop in its fourth year of tanking

or the jazz sitting their starters in games. So the NBA comes out last night, finding the Utah Jazz $500,000 and the Indiana Pacers $100,000, the league saying both teams sat healthy players in recent games while noting that moves that compromise its integrity will not be tolerated. Quote, overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition, and we will respond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games. Additionally, we are working with our competition committee and board of governors to implement further measures to root out this type of conduct, end quote. That is the commissioner, Adam Silver, in a statement. Now, see, here's the thing, though, as much as we were just talking about Major League Baseball and fighting for the people like Mike Talkman, for example, to be paid his worth and to have a job.

Fair. There. One of my favorite things that I totally forgotten we did. In the meantime, you can't be, you can't like say if you're the NBA. You have a five foot eight guy running your point. This isn't a real game. Fine. Wait a minute.

Are you saying when you keep playing? You can't start insulting players and being like, hey, this is your group on the floor? You're tanking. Here's a $100,000 fine. Like, it's a slippery slope for them. Because then you end up insulting people who don't deserve to be insulted because they're just trying to make some money, too. Just a quick note, since you mentioned Yuki for all the Yuki fans out there and the Mac McLone fans, apparently yesterday during Windy City Bulls game, there was a lob thrown from Yuki to MacMaclung. You could find it on X.

It would. We need to play the audio for you at 1 o'clock. You got to sell a little harder. It was not just an oop. He threw an oop which Matt McClung caught with his back to the rim and then threw down reverse. It was impressive. It was. And you know what?

That's the point. NBA can't just be like, well, look who's on the court right now. You guys are tanking. But when you blatantly sit starters in a game in the fourth quarter and you're that over the line about it, I understand why they wanted to levy the penalty. The better question becomes, what does this look like for the league, knowing there are so many teams who are competing to try to get to the bottom. And that arguably may include the Bulls.

And I know you think they just might not be as successful at that concept. Well, they might not be, but they might be. Here's the lesson the Bulls can take away from this fine that was issued to the Jazz specifically. Don't sit your players in the fourth quarter. Just don't play them at all. Let Josh Getty take all the time in the world coming back from that hamstring. Let his fellow big man, Jalen Smith, take all the time in the world coming back. If those guys miss another 10 to 15 games, guess what?

You're going to lose more games than you're going to win. But if Trey Jones, Josh Giddy, Jalen Smith, if those guys come back, along with Isaac Accor, who also sat the last game against Boston, if those four guys come back, you're going to win more games than you want to. If your stated desire is to, quote, unquote, get out of the middle. Can't rest your starters if you don't play them at all. Exactly.

Taps to the forehead. Think safe. Is it not a way to go about your business? It's very office space. Like, how are they going to stop you? NBA can't stop you if your players are too hurt to play. What would you say you do here? I think it's a good question also to revisit via the standings. How many teams are fighting for lottery position in this draft lottery?

Memphis is 20 and 33. Mavericks are 19 and 35, and they won the damn thing last year. Utah the lottery, not the title. Utah Jazz, 18 and 38. Pelicans, 15 and 41. The Sacramento Kings, 12 and 44. Wizards are 14 and 39. The Pacers are 15 and 40.

And I don't know about that fine for the Pacers either. You know, because, like, they can't help that Halle's hurt. Like the $100,000 fine is like, eh, you two Pacers, you're in this. It's kind of like when the Bulls got popped for tampering. You remember it was like, who was the other team that was more tampering than the Bulls? Was it the heat? I think you're right about that.

And then they're like, ah, you two Bulls. What the hell? Why are we in here? Well, just to kind of go over those teams that you were saying? The Nets are 15 and 38. The bucks are 23 and 30 and the Bulls are 24 and 31. So that's a lot of dudes trying to get to the bottom here. But here's the issue with the jazz specifically.

Like my social life. Their pick is top eight protected. So they need to finish in the bottom eight to make sure they get their pick. if they float to like nine, they don't own their pick anymore. So they're tanking for real, for real. If only they had traded to get the control of their pick back, points to forehead.

Meanwhile, you know who's not tanking and it's just bad at basketball with 15 wins on the season? The New Orleans Pelicans, they don't own their own pick. They're not tanking. There's nothing that comes their way for them losing more games. If only a team had done business with them, And trade it for their draft pick.

Don't do that. See. That they had offered to many other teams. I'm putting a moratorium on the... Are you kidding? I dream of a day where you and Joe Callie just get to riff on this. That will happen. It will happen.

And it will be in full force because the lack of ingenuity, the lack of creativity, the lack of getting what someone behind you got in line is ridiculous. 8-1-3 is right about this. Pacers just beat the Nets and the Knicks and got fined. Like, what the hell? You two, Pacers. Well, that was the thing. The game, the game where they sat their starters,

the one where after the game Will Hardy was asked, did you think about putting Lowry or Jaron Jackson Jr. in the game? He said, I did not. No, I was not going to put them back in the game. They won that game. They did win that game. Isaiah Collier was out here bawling, and they won the game. So the polls just...

What's the latest on Jared Jackson, Jr., by the way? Just to insure things. Well, see, okay. He's got an undergrowth surgery to remove a localized, pigmented, I don't even know what the word is, PNVNS growth in his left knee. Now, listen, growth are serious, and you should get them checked out. However, the timing. I don't know. Honestly, I don't know.

And that's why I'm sensitive to that specific issue because that could be a serious medical issue. They said they found it in a post-trade physical with an MRI. but the timing. I got you. First your coach sits you in the fourth quarter, then your coach shuts you down, or sorry, then the organization shuts you down for the rest of the season. Also, why do I feel like this is probably a more common thing than people realize? The post-trade physical finding things out about you?

No, that we learn from Kobe White, but the growth in your knee. Like that seems like something that is, like, I don't know. Like I had family members get what they called at the time, and this is an old and not technical term, like a watery cyst. You know, sometimes you've got to get that stuff checked out. Always get it checked out. Yeah, absolutely. That's another lecture for all of you and your self-worth.

Treat yourself. Coming up next year on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3, the score. We need to get into some baseball here. And real baseball, not what might happen next year. Jed Hoyer sat down with Tina Wynn of Fox 32, and she did a one-on interview with him and with Craig Counsel. And it brings up a discussion that we're going to have to track and figure out how this works all season long. Where is Matt Shaw going to go?

Is he going to get regular reps to get better offensively? How does his growth pattern look for this team? And also at the same time, who might not get as many at bats because of it? So we'll do that next.