Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Should the Bears pursue veteran pass rusher Bradley Chubb? (Hour 1)

Episode Date: February 16, 2026

Marshall Harris and Russ Dorsey opened their show by discussing if the Bears should pursue veteran edge rusher Bradley Chubb after the Dolphins chose to release him to open up salary cap space. Chubb had 8.5 sacks in 2025 after missing the 2024 season with an ACL injury. After that, Dorsey shared his top storylines to watch for the Cubs and White Sox in the 2026 season.

The score. This hour is brought to you by Vasectomy Clinics of Chicago. The views and opinions of Laila 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 it anytime. It's just sports.

Gay thanks. Bye. Bye. Rahimi Harrison Grody. 10 to 2 on 104 3. The score. The bills have hired John Fox as a senior assistant coach. Wait, what?

Say what? Say what now? How do you feel about that Marshall Harris? Carlos Santos. What? That's all a problem. The who hired John Fox? Your team, the Buffalo Bills.

Have you heard of the bills? This is real news now. You got me going on Twitter. The real Adam Schefter, yeah. Who is it, Michael? No, no, no, no. No. Oh, yeah.

Senior assistant coach. That's a title title. Like, that pays you some money in the league, doesn't it? Yeah. Didn't John Fox prove that he was passed Like, it's over for him? I thought he proved he didn't even care anymore. Like, that's what I'm saying.

Like, you don't care anymore. Isn't it over for you? No, no, you guys know how this goes? When you don't care, that's what everybody wants to pay you. It's just like office space. What would you say you do here? Well, look, I already told you. I have people skills.

I am good at dealing with people. Can you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you, people? Did they force that on Germany? Like, did they tell me had to get a guy like that? Like, we need you to get someone to help us out. Does Bill Belichick not available? Did they Bill Polly in this?

We're like Bill Pollyans telling people you got to get somebody with experience in here. I don't like this, guys. Nope. I don't like that. No, don't like that. I'm dying, laughing at all these texts on the text line. Maybe John Fox can hire Matt Abrasusus as the junior assistant head coach. That's good.

The 2010's called they want their coach back. This is the equivalent of the White Sox bringing Antonio Larusa. It's okay to look in the rearview mirror, but, not very long because you better stay staring out the windshield. And that's me right now. I'm looking forward. Marshall Harris. Mark Grody.

Midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 104.3, the score. Ah, yes. It's a good morning because, well, we're here. And you probably have the day off because it's President's Day. Happy President's Day to all who celebrated is Rahimi Harris and Grotty alongside Russell Dorsey. National Insider in Major League Baseball for Yahoo Sports.

I am Marshall Harris, and we're here to get you through the holiday, four hours of good times, lots of baseball talk. But we're going to start in the NFL because Bradley Chubb is now an option for all the teams out there who might need a little help with their pass rush, with affecting the opposing team's quarterback.

And I think the Bears fall under that purview. Would you not agree, Russell Dorsey? That's a real dude. everybody out there on your day off. I hope you enjoy it. It's supposed to be really nice. So get outside and get some air. Or you can listen on the Odyssey app too to me and Marshall Harris.

But no, that's a real dude, Bradley Chubb. That is now going to be a free agent. And you start to think about the Chicago Bears. We're getting to that time of year. You get to March right before the draft and free agency opens up. And we're talking about the Bears who probably have more holes on the defense than the offense right now. after what we saw in 2025 from them. And I think we can clearly say

the pass rush is an area where they have to improve in 2026. I think it's their second biggest area to address right behind left tackle because you need a quality starting left tackle, which if you've watched the last two Super Bowls, you've learned that lesson the hard way. Shout out to the Philadelphia Eagles defense in 2024. And of course, the Seattle Seahawks defense in 2025. Here's the deal.

This was not an unexexamination. expected move per se because they had restructured his contract last year, Bradley Chubb, the two-time pro-bowler and pass rusher. That resulted in a $31.2 million cap hit for 2026. NFL Network insider Tom Pelliserro reporting this today. So that's a big name that's leaving Miami. Chubb leading the team in sacks during each of his last two healthy seasons. He had 11 sacks in 2020 to go along with a league leading six force fumbles. And then he had his torn ACL, which cost him the entirety of 2024. And last season, he had eight and a half sacks to pace the Miami Dolphins. And they always say that first year back from the ACL isn't them back at their

peak. It's usually the second year coming off an injury such as that when you see the best of the player. Now, he's young. He's only 29. He's heading into his age 30 season. He's been a a Bronco, he's been a dolphin, he's got 48 career sacks. This seems like a guy, if you are in the market for a pass wretcher, which a lot of people believe the bears are, he seems like a guy that might jump ahead into your top three, top two, maybe even your number one target now to the likes of Trey Hendrickson. Of course, we know about Max Crosby, who would cost you some some other stuff. Miles Garrett would cost you more than your arm and your leg, it costs you all four of your body limbs at this point because he's the best defensive player in all of football.

Right. So if you're the Bears, how much are you leaning into this? And obviously you've got to kick the tires and see if this fits for you, have a conversation with Dennis Allen. What do you think you can do this? If this is a priority over other guys. But are you interested? And if so, what is your interest level, Russ? Yeah, definitely interested.

Like, this is a guy who is still in the primest career, 29, going to this age 30 season. Also, Montes Wet, 29, going to his. age 30 season. So you'd have two bookends to your defensive line that are the same age, still young, can still get after the quarterback. I think when you think about what Montes sweat has been and was supposed to be for the Chicago Bears, now he had the best year of his career as a bear, 10 sacks, three force fumbles. But I do think there were moments where he's just like, man, like this part of the game where you need your big time pass rush to come through, he wasn't always able to show up.

I think part of that sometimes is there is nobody else really getting after the quarterback. And the one guy that has that ability, if you're getting double-teamed or you're getting chipped, that you're not going to have that guy there. I think adding a guy like a Bradley Chubb, a Trey Hendrickson, a Max Crosby, Miles Garrett, of course, would help tremendously to Montes-swet as a pass rusher himself. But yeah, I would say if from scale 1 to 10, my interest in, Bradley Chubb, it's probably an eight. Because I think when you just talk about it's the the fact that you don't have to give up draft compensation, as much as I love Max Crosby,

as much as I love Miles Garrett, you're going to have to have serious conversations. You're still a team that has holes, right? You can't necessarily afford to lose some of that draft capital that you have in 2026. Doesn't say I wouldn't do it, but like you have to have more serious conversations about it. is the voice of Russell Dorsey. He is the Yahoo! National Insider for Yahoo! And from Major League Baseball, I got to say, Russ, when you look at this team and understand where all the money is on the defensive side of the ball and how much has already been invested, you talked about Montez Sweat. We kind of leave out Dio O'Dingbo because he was out for the

season and we don't know if he'll be ready for the start of next season, but there's a lot of money there as well. Yeah. And you start looking around Grady Jarrett at guys that they have already gone and paid in the free agent market. I wonder if they have the ability to go and get a Chubb when, again, it's not like the bears are operating in a vacuum here. Lots of teams need an established young, not quite over the hill pass rusher.

And Chubb certainly fits the bill. And they have some salary cab gymnastics that they're going to have to do. And you can do that in the NFL where you can call. create, you know, cap space, et cetera, giving guys bonuses, things like that,

restructurings. But yeah, you're going to have some things that you're going to have to do. You're going to have some cap casualties, guys that you're going to have to cut to make sure you have enough space to improve your roster.

That's going to have to happen. I know a guy like Tramaine Edmonds is a guy that people talk about potentially being that guy. You have guys that are free agents that you're going to want to bring back, right? Kevin Byart at an all-pro season this past year is one of the leaders of your defense. That's going to be a priority

for them. What do you do at running back? Do you bring back DeAndre Swift after the best season of his career? So you have other things that you have to figure out this offseason going into free agency, going into the draft prior to you saying, okay, let's go after pass rusher X, Y, or Z. So it'll be interesting to see what they ultimately decide on. But I agree with you fully that a elite pass rusher is much needed. Call us, text us, 312, 64-6-4-67. Let us know what you think about this Bradley Chubb news that he is going to be available

as the Dolphins are preparing to cut him. One comment on the text line, 773. Dolphins didn't trade Chub, and now they're cutting him to get stuck with dead cap. So strange. Another comment, 708, Bears should target Hendrickson so they can save their draft picks, Dodger boy. Now, that's the thing. Trey Hendrickson, a little bit older,

but also he's had better seasons than Chubb. I would think that if you're ranking who you'd rather have on the Bears, Hendrickson still above Chubb. I just think Chubb is probably above Crosby and the aforementioned Miles Garrett because he doesn't cost you anything. And the bears are in a position right now where they need to get better through the draft. They did that last year to a degree. Shamar Turner, not available at the end of the season, but you're hoping he's a Frazier. Some of these other guys can contribute on the defensive side of the ball. Because let's be honest, they didn't get anything on defense through the draft. I hear what you're saying.

But I'm going to say if you have a legitimate shot to acquire Max Crosby or Miles Garrett, you have to do that. Because it's one thing to get a quality pass rusher via trade where you give up draft capital. It's another thing when you're getting one of the two best pass rushers in the NFL. Two Hall of Fame caliber pass rushers. Do you have a path to Miles Garrett? Like what does that package look like?

I think even giving up something for Max Crosby is going to bankrupt your next two first round picks at the minimum. So for Garrett, it's got to be two first rounders and then what? Because here's my thing. If it's two first rounders, you have to ask yourself the question of

is it worth it to give up a guy who would potentially be a starter and likely a defensive player that you draft in the first round, or the best pass rusher in the NFL. It's always better to get the best pass rusher in the NFL. I'm not arguing that point as we discuss. Like one of the guys we just talked about just broke the sack record. Yes, Miles Garrett.

He did that. He also tackled Caleb Williams behind the line of scrimmage for a sack on the way to do it. That's a guaranteed. Let's call it on the low end. On the low end. 15 sacks a season. 15 sacks a season. Why would Cleveland give him up then? I don't know.

See, that it takes two to the time. I don't think they do it all the time. The Cleveland Browns, you talk about roster holes, they have a lot more than the Chicago Bears, and they could use the draft capital. You have a new head coach. I will say as good as the Bears were on offense through the draft from their crop of rookies,

that's how good that Cleveland was on their side, on the defensive side of the ball. When you look at Swiginger and some of the other moves that they were able to make in the draft and get their defense a little bit stronger, That is true. I just don't think there's a path to Miles Garrett based on what it would cost to get him. I'm freestyling here if Max Crosby cost you a first and a third.

Well, yeah, but they're going to need more than a first and a third for Max Crosby. Another team is willing to give up more than a first and a third for Max Crosby. Again, I think a lot of times, I think you're doing it right now. Bears fans look at the NFL in this way that it's a vacuum. Like it's fantasy football. and if I could just make this one offer against these other 10 teams that might want this hot player. There's 32 teams in the NFL.

Oh, no, I'm not doing that because, you know, I don't care one or another from like a bias aspect. I just know sometimes what it ends up costing to acquire said player isn't as much as you. You think it is? Yes. Okay, okay. Because it's like if I have to pay the cap hit that it's going to take to bring player X in, I'm not going to have to just pay that and then also give you every first round pick I have for the next three years.

6-30 is with you, Russ. I'm with Russ. No more half measures. Go get a dude. Yes, a real dude. The die-o-a-dang-bow, let's get a guy with traits. But you already paid Di-O-Dang-Bow. And he's only in the second year of his deal.

And he's coming off an injury. Sunk-cost. Because you're talking about coming off an injury. You're not even going to see what you think is the real Di-O-Dang-Bo until. the following season. You're probably right about that. You know what I mean? You're probably right about that.

We're talking about Bradley Chub becoming available as the dolphins are going to cut him and his team leading eight and a half sacks from a year ago before he tore his ACL and missed all of 2024. He had an 11.5 sacks and six-force fumbles. So he's certainly doing big things and now he's going to get big money as a free agent. The dolphins let him go. The bears could scoop him up. But Russ is out here saying, if it ain't Max Crosby, if it's a lot of him. ain't Miles Garrett, that's my starting point.

But you would take Bradley Chubb. Yes, but I'm saying my priority, if I had to rank them, Garrett Crosby, Hendrickson, Chubb. So Hendrickson's still above Chubb. I agree with you there. But Chub, having been not an option,

now being an option, certainly looks good for a Bears team that is probably still looking to see what they can do up front. If I had to rank them by what's realistic, I would also say, let's do that. I would also say I would take Garrett off the board because he's probably the hardest to acquire of those four. And then I would still go Crosby, Hendrickson, Chub. Okay.

See, now we're getting somewhere. We're getting somewhere. And that's a great place to leave that because we do have to talk some baseball. It's Rahimi Harris and Grotie. Happy President's Day to all of you who are off. And for all of you are working, we feel you. We know the struggle.

It's Russ Dorsey Inn alongside myself, Marshall Harris. reminder you can call in Texas 312-644-6-7-67 and then we are broadcasting live from the Hyundai Studios brought to you by your local Hyundai Dills behind the glass. Tyler Bueberball, you heard the open. That man does serious surgery

when it comes to taking what we did in our last show or what's coming up and adding a little wrinkle to it, a little humor if you will. Ray Diaz, our executive producer. Also, if you're watching on Twitch, I'd like to thank our guys. Connor O'Donnell, Jacob Stutz,

Max Curtis for getting us up and visual for you on this present state. When we come back, two hot segments with Russell Dorsey talking baseball. Top three storylines for the Cubs, that's up next. And then following that, we'll do the top three storylines for the White Sox. That's all here on Rahimi Harrison Grotty on 104-3, the score. Can you imagine Lovey Smith doing the whole good, better, best thing? And saying bleep the Packers. Guys, good, better, best.

Never let rest. I'll see you on Tuesday. Midday's 10 to 2 on 104-3, the score. The 2-2. Check swing, strike three call. What a job by Horton striking out the numbers three and four hitters, Reynolds and Cruz. You know the voice.

Get familiar if you forgot. That's Pat Hughes, right here on 104-3, The Score. and this is Rahimi Harris and Grotie. Russell Dorsey and alongside Marshall Harris here on this President's Day getting you through the next four hours. And Kate Horton's strikeouts, I remember that from the regular season, postseason. Not so much. And Russell Dorsey has been so kind to lend us his baseball expertise.

He, the Yahoo National Insider, talking all things MLB. And Russ came to me and said, hey, I got something I want to talk about. and he didn't bring his chef's hat with him because if he had it, I'd say, put the chef's hat on. It's time for him to cook. I am simply the sous chef. Russ is going to run the joint for the next two segments because he has the storylines that are cooking for the Cubs

and the White Sox. This segment, we will talk Cubs. Russ, you think there's three big things that we should all be paying attention to down in Mesa? Yeah. So we get in this time of year, and we talk about this a little bit in transition. You get past Valentine's Day, oh man,

it's about that time. warming up here in the city and you're just getting that itch for some for some baseball that's where that's where i'm at and so when i'm thinking about the cubs and the white socks and right now we're going to start with the cubs number one storyline going into 2026 for me which version of pete crow armstrong will we see we saw the all-star MVP caliber first half from peter armstrong first half had an 847 OPS, 25 homers. You saw a guy, Marshall Harris, that was taking baseball by storm. He was cool, started the season with the blue hair, making plays all around the yard at Wrigley Field.

Top two defensive centerfielder in the game of baseball. Him and Sadan, Raphaela, in Boston, are both amazing. Won a gold glove last year, deservedly so. And you saw a guy where you're like, man, this. is the type of dude you build around. And then the second half got there. And you did not see the same Pete Crow Armstrong. OPS 634 with six homers.

And a very young player still. Overall, a very solid season. Over 90 runs scored. Over 90 RBIs. Had over 30 home runs. The amazing defense in center field. That's a very, very high quality season from Pete Carr Armstrong, even though where the Cubs were, the second half wasn't great. That carried over into the postseason for Pete as well.

My eye is on which version of Pete do you get in 26? Because if you can get, we'll call it 65%, even 70% of the first half Pete Carr Armstrong offensively with that same high quality defense that we saw. from him since he's gotten to the big leagues, to be honest. Then you still have a high quality player. So you want, let's say, a two-thirds version of the first half of PCA for the entirety of the season. I think that's fair. The consistency level. So if I'm doing the math correctly, at that rate, he would be a guy who hits, let's say 30 home runs.

And he would be a guy who steals, let's say 40 bags. and maybe the peripherals are higher, maybe an on-base percentage over 300? Because his on-base was below 300. Yes. And we talked about it a lot last year. And the slug was 481. So maybe this is what we're thinking.

A guy who hits 30 home runs, steals 40 bases, a batting average above 250, an on-base above 300, a slug of, I'm going to say 475 and an OPS above 800. Is that a formula that works for you? I think that's fair.

What I have written down is because I think swinging misses is going to be part of his game and I know that's an area that he's working hard to improve. What I have written down is 250 to 270 batting average, 315 to 330 on base That might be a little high But keep going

And I'm just saying that's your Target That's what you would hope for And then 425 to 475 Slug Because I think a lot of It's really hard to hit For big time power

As a left-handed hitter at Wrigley Field And The fact that he had 31 homers As a left-handed hitter That's big time That means that's in there and because of the division the Cubs plan, he's going to have opportunities to hit homers as a left-handed hitter.

I don't think you have to, for the Cubs to be the team they want to be, he doesn't have to hit 40 homers. Oh, no, no, that's not even in my... And I think I'm trying to be fair and be realistic with Pete and say, hey, if he hits 25 and still does all the other things, you still have a really good player. 40 doubles, that should be a benchmark for him. Because I think that's something that he can, with his sense,

speed and you got in some of those balls that don't leave the yard but hit off the wall they're going to turn in doubles some of those are going to turn into triples and those things are still very important and then stealing between 30 and 40 backs let me tell you something if pique armstrong hits 40 home runs and has an on-base percentage above 300 that that means that the cubs are having an exceptional season i don't even like saying 40 home runs because i i want people to know how hard it there's only been one player in the history of the chicago Cubs as a left-hand hitter to hit 40 homers, Billy Williams. It's really hard to do.

No, I think that's fair. Okay, so we're keeping our eye on Pete Armstrong. What is storyline number two? Storyline number two is what I believe is the strength of the Chicago Cubs, and I think that's their starting pitching, because I think what they've been able to do is build depth, and that was the thing that they didn't really have in 2025. And when I look at the Cubs and how they're going to have success. in their starting rotation.

I think they're going to borrow from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now, the Dodgers have a little bit more high caliber talent, but the process is the same. The Dodgers have all those guys, Shohay and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell, et cetera. And you look at their roster and it's like, man, they have like eight, nine starting pitches. Who are you going to give the ball to?

And there's this idea of like, everybody doesn't have to make 30 starts. So my mindset when I'm looking at the Cubs roster is like, okay, the guy, there's different tier. So the 20 to, let's call it 30 start tier, to me, James and Tyone, Matthew Boyd, Edward Cabrera, Cade Horton, Shoddy, Minaga, those are your guys that are going to have between 20 and 30 starts in 2026, right? So if, let's say, all five of those guys got 20, 25 starts, you say, okay, we're cooking here.

And that leaves you a little bit margin for error. If a guy goes on the IEL, we know it's a grind to get through 162. Then the next tier is that 10 to 15 start range, where you have a guy like Justin Steele coming back off of elbow surgery. You're not going to rush him back, but that gives him some time to really build things up going into second half, Colin Ray, you're a guy who's always known to make some spot starts here and there. Then Ben Brown, Javier Sot. Then the five to 10 start range, guy like a Jordan Wicks, maybe Jackson Wiggins comes up, gives you a couple starts, somebody goes down. And that's how you get yourself through 162.

But that leaves you room for error. That leaves you room for if a guy goes down. You know, it's really hard to get through a year and a guy doesn't go down with injury. elbows, shoulders, etc. And so I think with what they've been able to do, they've put themselves in a really solid position to have some overlap. Marshall Harris and Russell Dorsey talking you through the three biggest storylines for the Cubs.

Number one, what version of PCA will we get in 2026? We'll be closer to the first half. We'll be closer to the second half. And number two, the starting rotation should be a strength of this team. If people can stay healthy, of course, if you had gotten Zach Gallen, it really, really, really would be a strength of this team, but Zach Gallen opting to stay with the Arizona Diamondback signing a one-year deal and the Cubs unable to get him in the fold.

Now, on to number three, and this one was intriguing to me. Yeah, I was just looking for like a different fun one, maybe someone people aren't necessarily thinking about going back to Sayas Suzuki full-time in right field. I'm very interested. Because last year, you could make the case the Cubs had the best defensive outfield in the big leagues. with Ian Hap, Pekar Armstrong, Kyle Tucker.

You remove Kyle Tucker from that equation, you re-insert Sayas Suzuki. They're still a very good outfield with PCA and Ian Hap. And their infield is going to be great defensively with Alex Bregman, Danzy Swanson, Nico Horner, and Michael Bush. But we've seen some things from Sayas Suzuki in the past in the outfield where you're like, man, this is probably a designated hitter. but you brought to my attention some of those numbers

and they are, there's a stark contrast. Do you want to give them to the people? There's a real reason why the idea of Sayas Suzuki playing right field versus just de-hing is beneficial to himself and by virtue of that, the Cubs. Here are the numbers when Sayas Suzuki d-hed in 102 games last year and had 444 plate appearances. He had a 232 back.

batting average, a 322 on base, and a 423 slug. Now, that batting average is a little low. He hit 16 home runs in those 444 at bats, and the OPS was 745, which isn't terrible, but it's certainly not what you were paying for when you signed Sayas Suzuki to his five-year contract. Now, as a right fielder in 32 games, you mentioned Kyle Tucker being out, so he was back out in right field, 13 home runs in 32 games, 34 runs driven in. in 32 games.

22 runs scored in 32 games. And the splits are crazy. A 304 batting average, a 360 on base, and a 664 slug. That's an OPS over 1,000. Say Suzuki, since he's gotten the Chicago Cubs, he

is that type of player where it's big time impact when he gets on a run. Like they've had stretches over the last couple of years where, and I know last year he had some struggles and to turn it on later in the season. After the hot first half, he has some times where he'll go for a three-week stretch

where it's like an 1,100 OPS and he'll carry the lineup. And so if Sayas Suzuki can have an 875 OPS season with Alex Breggman in that lineup, and like I know that's, I don't think that's a big ask when you look at what he's been able to do. That's a guy that should hit 20. That's one I'm confident to say that should be 25 and 30 homers. 875 OPS would be a career high. The highest he's ever done was two years ago in 2024 when he had 848 OPS, 842 the year

before that. So consistent before he fell off when he was deaching this past season. So maybe he comes up with something. Remember, he's entering his age 31 season last year of his deal. I'll be interested to see what he does in a contract year and whether he's trying to play more to go get big money here or maybe go back to Japan because that's something that guys do sometimes. So it's going to be interesting to follow all three of those storylines. Recapping with Russell Dorsey who has his chef's hat on. Number one, we're looking at PCA.

Number two, the starting depth of the Chicago Cubs. And number three, Sayez-Siz Suzuki back in right field. We're going to do the same thing, but with the team on the south side, top three storylines. For the White Sox with Russell Dorsey. I'm Marshall Harris. This is Rahimi Harris and Grody on 1043 The Score. Rahimi Harris and Grody. Midday's Tyndall 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 1043, the score.

How many home runs do you think he can hit in the major leagues? 55. 55. Serious? CHSN. Chuck Garfine asking Shingo Takatsu. Who's Chuck saying, you? He's like 55.

Seems like a lot. Fifty-five home runs for the newest White Sox from overseas. And Shingo Takatsu, not only a former White Sox reliever, but also the manager of the guy that's apparently going to hit 55 home runs is we welcome me back to Rahimi Harris and Grotie. It's Marshall Harris. It's Russell Dorsey. Hello. And we're talking about really the most popular play.

I don't know if he's the most popular player. Certainly the biggest, the biggest splash that was made on the south side. You see his scrum? His first scrum with the assembled media. Muna Takamurakami. There's a lot of people out there. The Japanese media are out in force because it's spring training and they rotate. They'll go wherever there's a Japanese start talking.

Listen, so I hear when during his introductory press conference, I had some friends who are out in L.A., who are Japanese media who cover Shohe Yotani and Yoshinobu Yamode out there. They were in Chicago. And I'm like, hey, man, how are y'all going to split this up now? Like, you've got a lot of people that you got to cover. And he said, man, we're going to be spread out. So you have people here in Chicago, and then they're going to be flying in L.A. And you still have Kodi-Sengai in New York.

So, like, man, yeah, but that's great. Like, you have a lot of great players to cover around the baseball from Japan. So I want to know. Just give me a preview. Is Muna Kama, is he on your list of the three biggest storyline for the White Sox? He is. He is. Taka Murakami.

He is the number one storyline for me for the Chicago White Sox this season. They were fortunate, had the market come back to them and were able to land one of the bigger free agents on this year's free agent market and Munitaka Murakami. I'm very fascinated because I think he was maybe the most polarizing of free agents this offseason, this past winter, because of the big time power that he has that you saw. He had 56 home runs as a 23-year-old in Japan that also comes with a lot of swing and miss, right? The bat to ball isn't necessarily there where that was a part of his game in Japan. And it's not necessarily going to get easier once you get to the States when you're talking about the best starting pitching, the best relief pitching in the world, seeing triple digits coming out of the bullpen every night, breaking stuff that some of these dudes have, sweepers and sliders. and splinters, et cetera. So I'm very curious to see how

Munitaka Murakami adjusts to Major League starting pitching. I'm not going to put some big time number. I think 55 homers is pretty excessive. What about 40? I think 40 is a big ass. It's a big ass, but I think it's doable because... It would be the most homers,

a Japanese player has ever hit in their first season in the big league. What about 200 strikeouts? Is that a bit ass? Because I think if he plays 150 games, if he has 600 plate appearances, he's going to strike out. I think that's more realistic than the 40 homers, to be honest with you. Okay. I think he's going to run into a few.

So that's why I'm saying I don't think 30 is unrealistic. Kulsome Montgomery vibes. Remember that stretch? I don't think 30 is unrealistic from the standpoint of he's a player that is a slugger. In that ballpark that is built for sluggers, he's going to run into some. He's going to mishit some homers. Missed him. I love that. You know what I mean?

There's guys that can do that to the opposite field. And when it gets warm here, everybody listening knows ball flies at Reitfield in the summertime. So if he ends up between 25 and 30 homers, that wouldn't surprise me at all. He's going to have five multi-home run games. You can write that down. Five multi-home run games. Okay, so that's number one on Russ Dorsey's list of top three storylines for the White Sox. What's number two?

The slow build. The white. Sox, and I keep saying this, had to me the best offseason of any non-contender in major league baseball. They addressed needs. They brought in relief pitching. They brought in power. They brought in outfield help bringing Austin Hayes in.

I think that's an under-radar move for them. Bring in a professional outfielder, somebody who's been an all-star before, who's been on winning teams before, and that's going to help them greatly. You make a trade to bring in Luis Angel Acuna, who said to the. media out there in Arizona that, hey, I know been an infielder by trade, but like I'm most comfortable in center field.

I think that's, I think Chris Gets and company, we're very happy to hear that because you know what they're in need of over there? Well, Luis Robert left, so I think they need a center fielder. You do need a center fielder. So that's where Luis, on Hill, Oconeer could be playing the majority of his time. Could be. Could be.

And, you know, you have year two of Colson Montgomery and Kyle Teal and Edgar Carrow and Chase my draft together as a core. That's what I'm excited about. Those young guys, Colson Montgomery, and the lot, and how well they play in year two. Because a lot of them, the league adjusted to them,

and then they bounced back and finished pretty well in their rookie season. So I love that. Okay, storyline number three with Russell Dorsey of Yahoo Sports right here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. Go. More youth. It's almost like a 2A. But you're going to be able to,

you're expecting this year, guy like Noel Schultz, former first round pick, guy like Hagen Smith, former first round pick. And even, depending on the season he has, could you possibly see Braden Montgomery in the big leagues at some point this season? Maybe that's your center fielder in September. Because I think for me, if you're the Chicago White Sox, your goal in 2026 is to be the 25, 2025 Miami Marlins. where the Marlins were they won 79 games. A lot of people don't realize that.

But they were playing competitive baseball in September. They were actually playing spoiler. They were the team that knocked the New York Mets out of postseason contention that last weekend of the season. You remember the photo after they eliminated them? I love that. See, that's what I'm here for.

Baseball needs more of that. Games that Matt, where they're like, oh, we can play spoiler and win the most games we want in a minute? Yeah, we're going to do that. And so I think, you know, year two with Will Vinnable, that should be the White Sox goal. Because you've already built the cultural foundation where there were a lot of positives that the White Sox could have taken from last year despite, yes, they lost 102 games. Nobody wants to do that. But coming off of losing the most games in Major League history, there's a big improvement what they did in 2025.

You're looking for another big improvement in 2026. And let's be honest. If you look on paper right now, the AL Central looks like the worst division in baseball. Is that a fair statement to make? Because that's the way I'm seeing it. The AL Central is the worst division in baseball. Yeah, like the Cleveland Guardians did not do much. You know, the-

They made sure they locked up their future Hall of Famer, Jose Ramirez. Who's been doing it for a long time? Who's going to do it regardless, right? But the Kansas City Royals didn't do a ton. Yeah, I was a little surprised that they weren't more active the year before. They didn't move the fences in at Kaufman Stadium. So they're trying to get some more power from Jack Caglione, their former first round pick and other guys.

Bobby Wood Jr., hell of a player, though. So he's always able to have one of those 40-40 type of seasons. He's a problem. Bobby Whit Jr. is a problem. Top five players. He's a problem. Their catcher is a problem. There's certain things that you depend on when you talk about that.

My thing with the Royals is like, how long can Sal Perez keep doing it? And then every year you see him come to this city and do what? Whatever he wants. Doing it. And then the Detroit Tigers are the leader of the pack. I was, you know, until they went out and got Framer Valdez, I'm like, man, what are the tigers doing? Like, you're possibly in the last year having Terrick Scoobo on your roster and you just

you got to go for it. And they made a legitimate move. So I see the Tigers as a team that says, all right, what we have, what we're able to do, you bring Kenley Jansen in your bullpen, you keep Glaber tour. is there to play second base. You got more out of Spencer Torkelson in 25 than you had any other year. And then you bring in Framber Valdez

to be the number two to Terrick Scoobo's number one. That's a solid one-two punch. And then you have that ace going forward after you lose Terrick Scoobo to free agency. But more importantly, if you're up against it and you look around the division and see no one's going to challenge you, just get to the dance and see what happens because anything can happen once you get to the postseason

in any sport, but especially Major League Baseball the way it's designed. If it goes differently for them, against the Seattle Mariners. Maybe they're the team that's facing the Toronto Blue Jays and the ALCS. Certainly. That's the way to look at it. So those are your three storylines where you did the Cubs.

We did the White Sox. We have addressed baseball. We will return to baseball at 1125. Megan Montemurro from the Chicago Tribune joins us with the latest on the Cubs from spring training. But we got to talk about the basketball. And I know last week, last weekend, the first weekend without NFL, post-Super Bowl is a window for the NBA to do something.

Do something, NBA. They did something, but they probably didn't do enough. But before you put all your hate that you've been lodging against the NBA and their All-Star weekend, let me tell you something. The problem isn't All-Star Weekend in the way you think it is.

The problem is us as the consumer. And the NBA is being asked to do something that I think in 2020, is impossible. We're explained with Russell Dorsey. I'm Marshall Harris. This is Rahimi Harrison-Grody on 104-3 The Score.