Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Nico Hoerner, Cubs agree on a 6-year contract extension (Hour 1)
27 Mar 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This hour is sponsored by Riverfront, Chrysler Jeep, Dodge Ram. The views and opinions of Layla 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, Harris, and Grody may change at any time. It's just sports.
Okay, thanks, bye! Rahimi Harrison-Grody, 10-2 on 104.3 The Score. Chicago Cubs baseball is on the air from Wrigley Field in Chicago. It's opening day as the Cubs take on the Washington Nationals. And now the 1-2 to House. Swing and a miss. One, two, three for Matthew Boyd. Nationals don't score after a half. To your point, and Jed's point, they wondered about him at third last year.
That one lifted in the air left field, and Weimer will touch a ball. The high fly ball to left, and Weimer has given the Nationals a 1-0 lead. There comes the 0-2. Fly ball left center field should be deep enough. Coming in and that's a base hit. Falling in front of a diving wood. Scoring on the play is Dansby Swanson. Ball game tied. It's a base hit for Bush.
He'd agreed to that long-term, very lucrative contract extension earlier this week. He hits a ground ball into right field, a base hit. Rounding third and heading home is Michael Bush. He will score the throw to third, and out there is going to be Alex Bregman. Fly ball, right field, going back at Fordow near the wall, and it's gone.
And House will go back to touch first base, but he'll touch them all now. It's a two-run homer, and here in the ninth, the Nats extend their lead 10-4. It's a swing and a miss, strike three, and this ballgame is over. A very disappointing opening day for the Chicago Cubs as the Washington Nationals win by a score of 10-4. I'm okay. No, I'm not. I'm so sorry to do this to you. I'm so sorry.
But if you're the person who says, hey, it's only April. It's only one game. You guys go crazy after a game. Yeah, we see them all the same and they all add up the same. And then the next thing you know, that one game in April that we were so casual about that you didn't want us to necessarily address for your own personal reasons.
becomes a real big issue when you're trying to figure out seating and whether or not you get a home wildcard series, for example, or a divisional. So they all count to me the same, even though they're 162, and I'm okay and I'm not okay at the same time. This is Rahimi Harrison-Grody on 104.3 The Score. There was good yesterday in the Pekra Armstrong announcement being official.
Pekra Armstrong will join our show. You don't want to miss it at 145 today. We'll carry his press conference at 1. And then additionally, we get the news about Nico. But it was all after watching the Cubs lose a game that I don't think either one of us, Marshall, thought they would lose to the Washington Nationals for opening day.
The Nationals are not good.
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Chapter 2: What are the details of Nico Hoerner's contract extension with the Cubs?
And then you and I asked earlier this week, who's next? Who's next? Because you don't stop now, boys, when it comes to deciding the future of your team. And as we always say here on this show, say it with me now, yesterday's price is not today's price. We know that is an economic truth, whether it's baseball. Yesterday's price! It's not today's price. Or anything else.
So if that's the case, and you're really sincere about this, and you want to respect the spine of your defense, wouldn't Nico Horner be the next guy after a career season, after you saw his offense be one of the best in the National League, hitting that .297 average, after his defense was considered the best among second basemen? We got our wish, Marshall.
And maybe more so than I even thought. Because I was expecting, you know, somewhere between three to five year extension. Probably four years sounded right to me.
Breezy. A breezy extension.
A breezy extension. But when you hear six years, this is the team saying, not only do we want to keep you around, we believe you should be a Cub for the entirety of your career.
For life. Cub for life is how I look at it. Pete Crow Armstrong is still going to be young. That would take him into his 31 age season for his extension. But that is not the case with Nico Horner, who already was homegrown and already was playing on a veteran deal. So that was significant. And let's tip our hat to the guy who broke it first, Michael Cerami of Bleacher Nation.
Michael does great work. He does break that news. And it was a real shot in the arm yesterday reading that after watching what was The win was definitely a factor in yesterday's game and understanding the elements that went into that, but also understanding that Matt Boyd running out of gas might be an issue that carried over from the end of 2025 into 2026.
But for the Cubs to give out two major extensions in a single week's time, it's that up-the-middle defense. You've got your infield short and second lockdown and then Alex Bregman on another vet deal. I like where this is headed. I like that it's something that...
we don't have to think about, and that a team that we wanted to act bigger market is doing just that and signing some of these players.
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Chapter 3: How did the Cubs perform in their Opening Day game against the Nationals?
to see if maybe it was more than, say, extending him in this manner. Because if they want to be shrewd about this, this was the right way to go about it and to understand his market value relative to the rest of the league. I just don't know what team wouldn't want a guy like that on their team. That's how I see it.
Yeah, I think it's a matter of how much are you willing to pay that guy.
And I think once the Cubs figured out by, I'm not going to say dangling him, but taking calls on him to other teams showing their interest in Nico Horner, who was going into the last year of his deal before the free agency, they probably used that as a gauge of sorts to figure out, okay, we know how good he's been on our team.
Let's find out what the rest of major league baseball thinks of Nico Horner. You get a sampling of that idea. You come back and like, well, let's not trade him. Let's go for it. But if we're going to go for it, let's just keep him because you see how many other teams want him on their team.
We've got to recognize this guy could be a big piece to our future and a contending for years to come, not just this year before the assumed work stoppage of 2027, but well beyond that. So I think this is a great move depending on the figures. I mean, I, I don't know what the numbers are going to be, but I'm very curious about that and see how it lines up.
The other thing I'll say, Layla, and we heard it from him before the season even started, and I think we're going to see, I don't want to call it a farewell tour, but I guess that's what it is. This is just as much about Ian Happ's contract coming off the books. and the reality that Ian Happ is playing his last season as a Chicago Cub, and that $20 million or so is now available for other use.
And part of that's going to the Pete Kerr Armstrong, part of it's going to the Nico Horner, and then whatever his replacement is deemed to be, if they go back to the playoffs, have more playoff revenue, and now Jed Hoyer gets that money to play with, now maybe you get an upgrade at that position or another position on the field.
Same could be said for, say, Suzuki, depending on what they want to do, whether keep him and give him a raise or not.
You're right about Seiya Suzuki. I think Ian Happ, they probably understood, and Ian has been a part of that too, right? Ian has talked openly in the media about how he understands his deal is going to go, and he's an adult, and I think he's embraced every part of accepting where he is in his career, how he knows his stats are going to shake out at an end of a season. He is that guy.
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Chapter 4: What were the key moments that led to the Cubs' disappointing loss?
And 670 can be heard well downstate where at least the Illini came through for us yesterday. So let's talk about that Cubs game coming up. We'll get to the Sox one as well because it is of importance. And like we mentioned, Pete Crow Armstrong will join us at 145 to talk about his new deal. So we'll do all of that. It's a good day here on Rahimi Harrison Grody. Amy Harrison Grody.
Could you imagine Lovie Smith doing the whole good, better, best thing and saying bleep the Packers? Come on, guys. Good, better, best.
Never let it rest. Never let it rest. I'll see you on Tuesday. Middays 10 to 2 on 104.3 The Score. It's a swing and a miss. Strike three and this ball game is over. A very disappointing opening day for the Chicago Cubs as the Washington Nationals win by a score of 10-4. That was the voice of Pat Hughes.
He and Ron Coomer were on the call after the Cubs and White Sox fall by a final of 10-4 for the Cubs and 14-2. In Milwaukee, this is Rahimi Harrison-Grody. I'm 104.3 The Score. And we knew that you're going to have to work out some things.
I think I thought it was going to be Matt Shaw and right field working out some things, and he actually made a pretty good catch to start that I was impressed with. I did not think that I would see Matthew Boyd just get teed up the way he did. Nationals with a six-run fourth inning. That's what ended up chasing him from the game. He was out after three and two-thirds, six hits.
All six runs earned, given up, one walk, seven strikeouts. And then it was Ben Brown who we saw. I think he's still working through stuff. And the Nationals are 1-0. Cubs undefeated season I don't think is going to happen this year.
Are you saying 162-0 is off the table for the Cubs but not the Nationals? I think that's what you just said.
I think so, yes.
No, it's cool, though, because, one, it is one game. And while I do have some concerns about, obviously, the way Matthew Boyd looked and that the Nationals, credit to them, they had a pretty good game plan. They were like, this guy's going to throw strikes. We are going to swing at everything. And they swung and missed it a lot. Like they were out here missing a lot early.
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