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Chapter 1: What are the expectations for the Cubs this season?
Everybody in this industry wants expectations. You work hard to get expectations, and that's what I'm referring to. You work really hard to build a roster that has expectations. You work really hard to get on a team that has expectations. So that's what we want. Sometimes I think there's a misnomer with that. Truly excited that we have expectations.
It's not easy to get them, and so you work hard to get them. This is Rahimi Harrison-Groney on 104.3 The Score. That was Craig Council. And we stick talking baseball and go to our hotline. And that is where we find Tom Verducci, the senior writer for Sports Illustrated. He has covered Major League Baseball since 1981. Analyst and reporter for Fox Sports and their Major League Baseball coverage.
And he is nice enough to join us on Zoom and on Twitch. Twitch.tv slash TheScoreChicago. Hi, Tom. Thanks for joining us. Hey, thanks for having me. Glad to be here. We just played a cut from Craig Council's soundbite where he was talking about the expectations for his Cubs team.
I think that's where I want to start with you, seeing what you've seen out of what the Dodgers have done, what the Brewers did, and some of the trades that they made in the offseason. Where do you put this Cubs squad as far as playoff hopes and divisional hopes as well? Well, I'm not putting anybody above the L.A. Dodgers.
I mean, they're as good as advertised, two-time defending champs and absolutely loaded with the additions they made with Diaz and Tucker. But, I mean, I don't think it's asking too much, even though it has been recently, to have the Cubs be better than the Milwaukee Brewers, right? I mean, they should be. They weren't last year.
All due respect to Milwaukee, the way they just don't miss a beat, even when they miss players. You know, 97 wins last year and then, you know, taking the Cubs out in the postseason. There's no reason for me to think that the Cubs should not be better, at least on paper, than the Milwaukee Brewers.
Now, I haven't been able to prove it on the field, but, you know, kind of the push-pull between the Brewers losing Peralta and the Cubs picking up Bregman. On paper, I'm going with the Cubs as the better team, but again, they've got to show that to me, not just the 162, but as we saw last year in the five-game series.
And Tom, it feels like we've seen this before, and people have been okey-doked because they believe, okay, now the Brewers' time is over, and it's almost like you have to double-check the math that you were doing because you end up being wrong at the end of the season.
Like you just mentioned, is there anything that makes you want to double-check your math, saying the same thing that you've probably said the last couple of years? Yeah, man. Well, first of all, I love watching the Brewers play baseball. And I think actually Craig Council's got his team playing with that similar DNA, you know, really good fundamentally.
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Chapter 2: How do the Cubs compare to the Brewers in playoff hopes?
We don't have those guys throwing 250 innings even. But for a young pitcher and your team like the Cubs, man, you've got to prepare yourself to pitch that seventh month. Packing on the innings and getting through the big season, that's the breakthrough. It's like running a marathon, right? You're not going to get there by running a bunch of 5Ks. You have to train to get there.
And this is a season where I think he should be able to break through that 160 mark, take that into September – into October – But until young pitchers do that, you know, it's hard to learn how to do that physically and mentally in the grind. I think he's fully equipped to do that. Don't get me wrong.
But this is where I like the Cubs depth in pitching because we tend to look at who's their top five. But, man, you better go into a season with six or seven or eight. And I think the Cubs do have those options. Tom Verducci joining us here on Rahimi Harrison-Grody on 104.3 The Score. Tom, the senior writer for Sports Illustrated who has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981.
He's also an analyst and reporter for Fox Sports Major League Baseball coverage. And Tom, I'm really curious on the whole, what has your attention the most here as we're about halfway through spring training?
Well, I think I look at a kid like Connor Griffin with the Pittsburgh Pirates, who Cubs fans will see a lot of, not just this year, but over the years, really intrigued whether he's going to make the opening day roster for the Pirates. He should be there really quickly. I'll watch this kid hit, and, you know, it's special. I mean, you see a kid like Jackson Churio in the division who –
you know, hit the ground running and sign that long-term extension. If I'm the Pirates, I'm trying to lock him up right now. I mean, to me, greatness as an everyday player, and I know I'm asking a lot for a kid, but to me, he's one of these special elite players. you really don't make a mistake on young players like that, whether it's Fernando Tetes Jr., Bryce Harper, you know, Mike Trout.
And again, I'm not saying this guy's Mike Trout. What I'm saying is as an everyday player, you can bank on those guys having repeat performances at a young age, I believe, when they really stand out like this. And I do think he's one of those players. So the division is going to be better, I think, because Pittsburgh really made some adjustments to their offense. I mean, they need it.
We all know that. We know how good their pitching is. I'm not sure they're a playoff team yet, guys, but I think that's another team you're going to have to contend with. We know the Reds with their pitching are going to be there and the Brewers, no matter who's on that roster, are going to be there.
So, you know, I look at the Central now as a much deeper division than it's been the last few years. I think that's fair, especially when you consider moves like Eugenio Suarez going back to the Reds after the excellent season he had. I know his time wasn't as good with Seattle, but those moves tend to add up.
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Chapter 3: What should fans expect from Cade Horton this season?
Exactly. And on this franchise tag day, although I know I don't think that's his fate. There was a report from two friends of the show that deserves some time as far as shedding some light on his status with the team. So we'll discuss it next. Rahimi Harrison-Grody. That sounds so crazy. 104.3 the score. Wow, I like that. Middays 10 to 2 on 104.3 the score. Doff to throw. Pressure up the middle.
Zips one deep into heavy traffic. Intercepted! Kevin Byard, the league leader, has another one. Looking for some blocks. Up across the 25. They do it better than anyone. The league leaders in takeaways, and Byard, the most interceptions in the league, is seventh. This is Rahimi Harrison-Grody on 104.3 The Score. That is courtesy of Fox.
And Kevin Byard did do it better than anybody in the regular season leading the league in interceptions. And he is one of four safeties on the Bears whose contract is up. He is a free agent. And as we try to figure out on this franchise tag deadline day what Kevin Byard's fate is, I don't think it's going to be that just because of
the safety salaries in the league and what the average would end up being. So that is not necessarily my concern, but it is trying to figure out if he comes back to this team because Ryan Poles mentioned him by name at the end of season press conference, which I think matters to not just him, but others. It's not even that he just mentioned him by name.
It's that he wasn't mentioning other people's names. He singled him out. And he's long held that not only is he important based on what he did specifically in the second year of his two-year deal with the Bears, but he is an established leader of this team.
And when you start to build a culture of winning, if you can retain the leaders that helped instill that, of course you want to keep them as long as it's at a reasonable cost because salary cap. Right. And like we said, the Bears are over the cap currently. Now, this is from our friends Dan Weterer and Kevin Fishbane. It was basically a here's what we heard at the Combine story.
And in it, the question was asked, will Kevin Byard be back? On the back end, safety Kevin Byard stood out as the player league source is expected to be the Bears' top priority to re-sign. So that is in line with what we were thinking. Team captain and first team all-pro, there wasn't much hesitation over where Byard stacks up with Jaquan Brisker, Nashawn Wright, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
Kevin's a special player, Poles said in January. I have no problem saying that's a player we would like to have back. But again, when you add the other safeties into the mix and all the other decisions we have across the roster with cap restraints and things like that, it will be a challenge.
Even coming off of a season in which he led the NFL with seven interceptions, Bayard's market may not be as robust as he'd hoped. So this is new. One league source believes the Bears could potentially bring him back on a deal similar to the two-year $15 million package he originally arrived with.
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Chapter 4: How has the World Baseball Classic impacted baseball's popularity?
But still. Coming up next here on Rahimi Harrison-Grote on 104.3 The Score. The White Sox wanted to celebrate Women's History Month. And... The flowers were given out. Some of them are a little unexpected. That's next. This is Women's History Month, not just on Rahimi Harrison-Grody on 104.3 The Score, but in the world. Yes.
And so because of that, the White Sox had on their Instagram a video where they had flowers and they asked their players who they would give the flowers to, what woman in their life, in honor of Women's History Month. So here's what they had to say. I got to say it. I got to say it on camera. I would give this power to the most beautiful woman in this world, my mom.
Also, I give it to my grandma, too. They're probably at home watching this video to say I love you. My wife, for sure. Couldn't do this without my wife holding it down at home, supporting me. Love you, baby. Definitely my wife. 100%. She brought an amazing daughter into this world for me, so I got nothing but respect and props to her. Mike Vassell, my mom. To my mother, I love her so much.
She's the most important woman in my life. Mama V, these are for you. Whether she would take him or not, probably would do a leap for me. I just, I gotta say it. I gotta say it on camera. Dua Lipa all day long. My wife. I have to say my wife. To my wife. My mom. My mom. To my wife, my daughter, my mom. I want to give flowers to my mom.
I love my mom, you know, she does so much for me and I'm so grateful for her. I'd like to give individual flowers. I'll do some to my mother and to my girlfriend, Jayden. They do everything for me, so I appreciate you guys. Oh, no. So the guy who shot a shot with Dua Lipa, just to wrap that up, was Chris Murphy of the White Sox. This is big time breaking news. And this is not good.
Adam Schefter is reporting that Drew Dahlman has informed the Bears that he is retiring at age 27. Dahlman left Stanford in 2021 and after four seasons in Atlanta and one in Chicago, he has made the sudden and surprising decision to retire. That is within the minute. I cannot believe this. And there must be some further explanation because, you know, I know about retiring early.
We've seen so many NFL players do this, but at the age of 27? Wow. This is a scenario that I don't think any of us planned for. Thinking about that, it would happen. Dahlman signed a free agent contract last year with the Bears, and his work was excellent. He ended up going to the Pro Bowl. Dahlman is...
Pivotal to this team, and now I find myself in a similar situation, except I think Frank Ragnow, that was more expected than this. Yes. This is shocking. Not even to the age of 30, he just finished his age 27 season, finishing the first year of a three-year $42 million contract. It's that part, too. We thought we were going to know Drew Dahlman's services for another two years after this. Wow.
Wow. Okay, not totally panicking here, but this is a huge concern for the Bears. And we just talked about how the priority was so clear that, oh yeah, you need to figure out left tackle, but maybe they'll do that in-house with the pieces gone. But look at the other four members of that offensive line. Well, I mean, left tackle's been very much a question mark.
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