Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Transition: Is it time to make changes to MLB All-Star voting?
26 Jun 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What changes are being considered for MLB All-Star voting?
Cheers to the freaking weekend.
Cheers to the weekend, indeed. And before we get into the weekend, we want to thank our guests that were part of this Friday show. Mike Florio, Vinny Rotino, Ryan Spielberg, and Texas head basketball coach, Sean Miller. Thanks to Ray Diaz. Thanks to Tyler Buterbaugh, grant leader, helping us out today as well. Cody Westerlund. Connor O'Donnell, Jacob Stutz, Max Curtis, all helping us.
And our transition is brought to you by Tor Coatings, high-performance coatings for your home or business. TorCoatings.com. And we head over to Kenosha, and that is where we connect at the Brat Stop with Spiegel and Holmes. Hi, guys.
Hey, what's happening? Layla, Marshall, Marshmello, all of you that are there.
Yeah, thanks to everybody who voted on our poll, too. Lawrence, you are a connoisseur of a sweet treat. What say you, s'mores or Rice Krispie treats?
Man, really good. You made mention of our friend Maggie Hendricks earlier today, and she once pulled off some Rice Krispie Treats that had like a dash of cinnamon to them. I feel like s'mores, there's too much that can go wrong.
So I'm going to go Rice Krispie Treats. Lawrence, Maggie Hendricks Rice Krispie Treats, they also feature brown butter, which I mentioned in my description.
That's what I... That's what I was, yes, the brown butter and the cinnamon, and yeah. So I'm going to go specifically Maggie Hendricks, and this is really just a call for us to ask Maggie to come bring cookies to the station.
I think, Marshall, when you mentioned the possibility of brown butter and some salt in the Rice Krispie Treats, I had to pull over during my.
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Chapter 2: How do voter trends affect All-Star selections?
Layla, you shrieking out portion control also made me... Also made me have to pull over. I was one of the four people that you said would get the reference. Oh, portion control. Yes. Oh, my goodness.
Is that possible to be a Tributosaurus song any time soon? We've done it.
We've done it.
No.
On Prince Night, we've done it. And the drummer, Dan Leali, leans into the falsetto on that. We set up a microphone just for that so he can be the dude who shrieks that. Did you interview the doctor? Yes, yes, you're right. The doctor from the revolution because he went to high school with Mark Trestman. He was in a band with Mark Trestman, the doctor from the revolution.
I haven't heard any of that. That's crazy. So, yeah, Trestman's band, we desperately tried. He couldn't find the demos from the Mark Trestman band.
I haven't heard any of that. I didn't hear all of it. I heard a lot about most of it, but what I did hear, I did not hear any of that.
That's not AI, people. That is not AI. That is a football coach of the Bears.
Layla, you'll get a kick out of this. Like, while we're here at Broad Stop, There clearly is some sort of baseball tournament that is happening.
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Chapter 3: What impact does digital voting have on fairness?
And it's funny because when they rolled up in here like a gang, the team that was from Indiana left. They were called the Playmakers, I believe. Were they from Indiana? Right in front of us. I thought there was a Schaumburg Flyers 15 and under team. There was, but the crew that was right in front of us were the Playmakers from Indiana. They left.
And I thought that you had a really good idea on this.
Thank you very much, Lawrence. My idea is that those two baseball teams, one from Indiana, one from Illinois ā They play a game out back, and the winner gets the Bears. Yes. Game or a series. Yes. I think just one game this afternoon. Winner plays all.
That way you can pitch your best pitcher. You can do whatever you need to do.
Right, whatever you need to do. And it's like game seven. Johnny Allstaff will be available out there.
I'm a big fan of Johnny Allstaff.
I know you are. You love that guy. And so, yeah, winner gets the Bears and a stadium and the next 30 years of glorious.
So thanks to the Canes for coming out.
Yeah, you guys better win. Appreciate you guys. You better win, Canes.
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Chapter 4: How do players' performances influence voting outcomes?
Okay, I got you. Yeah, I think this is the way it's a lot more productive than whatever the hell else is going on about this right now. So I feel like we figured it out.
Absolutely. Also, the one thing about s'mores is it's an experience like you're building it together. The excitement level, like keeping the kid from eating the chocolate or the graham cracker as he waits for the marshmallow, like learning the technique of the marshmallow. That experience is a rite of passage and is filled with like emotional resonance.
What about keeping the kid from eating the Rice Krispie Treat before it's actually settled in the pan? The kid is Marshall. It is definitely me. I've eaten a half a pan of Rice Krispie Treats as I was making it.
I don't let the kid near the stove, but the kid around the campfire, you go crazy, kid. Throw whatever you want in there.
You're not allowed around the stove yet?
He's 14. He's allowed around. OK, I was going to say like. So I got to tell you guys, you know how like I have dreamed for years of the boy actually liking baseball. Yes. Yes. And the other day we're sitting there and I'm watching the Cubs condensed game and he's watching and somehow Babe Ruth comes up and he's like, Daddy, Babe Ruth.
couldn't really hit now like against who's the guy in milwaukee mizorowski i said yes yes my son jacob mizorowski he couldn't really hit against him and i'm like well that's the thing you got to measure them against their peers you know you can't measure them against them now that's the whole thing of baseball conversation i'm explaining how like the home run record was what 13 and then babe ruth hit 24 one year and the
you know but he did it against plumbers to bounce sometimes and go over the wall and be counted as home run and so we're having like an unbelievable baseball conversation with my kid he looks at me he's like you're really happy right now aren't you you're really happy i said yes i am he said you've wanted this for 14 years i'm like yes i have yes i have so i don't know something is clicking in and the boys having actual baseball conversations it's pretty amazing
I love this for you. Well, he was also out there being an irritant during the Cubs Sox series, right?
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Chapter 5: What are the challenges with the current voting system?
I have not followed the story. Marshall, you said that Toronto is, like, digitally packing the ballot box?
Oh, my goodness. It's ridiculous.
Yeah, they've had...
Yeah, it's really bad when you look at what's going on with specifically Toronto. And look, I'm not saying Toronto doesn't deserve, you know, based on what they did in the get into the World Series, but the fact that they've got the number one at first base, which is fine. It's Vlad. So, yes, I get it. He's having a bad year, though. Okay, but popular is popular, right?
And I think the fact that it's, what, catcher, first base, second base, third base, shortstop, and DH. They've got one of the top two, so they all move on. And then they've got two of the six outfielders in Varshow and Sanchez. So they're going to be represented now. It's different in phase two because it's not Toronto against everybody else. It's like, oh, you're only two choices.
Or in the outfield, you're only three choices. So this is where it changes. But I really do believe we should go back to vote at the games, like paper ballots. Or it could be a digital station, whatever. Oh, really?
Is that how you feel? Paper ballots, no mail-ins? All right, Marshall, we see where you're headed.
What about the hanging chance? Or maybe a weighted ballot. However you want to do it. I don't think what we're doing right now is working. And to your point, Lawrence, PCA should absolutely be an all-star starter. But a lot of that also has to do with the fact that when the voting started on June 3rd, that dude wasn't doing what he's doing now.
You're saying the voting machines have some sort of conspiracy theory around them? Is that what you're saying?
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Chapter 6: How does fan engagement shape All-Star participation?
Right now he's a 5-1 war and he's not starting. Yeah, on B-War he's 5-1.
He almost made Keith Hernandez cry during the Mets broadcast.
That hit Keith in the feelings, didn't it?
Keith has been crying ever since. Well, the thing is, with those guys you have to remember what they have to do every day is watch the Mets.
They know what they signed up for.
Forget about crying. His eyeball should be bleeding after watching that defense for however many games it's been.
Nobody describes dysfunction better than the Mets broadcast, and they've been at that game for decades.
It's something glorious about seeing the Mets this bad. There's just something glory. And maybe it's just like throwing all the money because the Yankees are smart now throwing all the money. So to see the Mets throw all the money and just have it fail and blow up in their face. Step right up and beat the Mets.
Do you guys remember when Kevin Burkhart was the sideline reporter? Because it wasn't that long ago.
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Chapter 7: What are the arguments for and against paper ballots in voting?
So he and his wife are the ones who bought in. He's considered to be the richest person. In Illinois.
So they won't be trading for cash considerations going forward? Look at you.
Hey, hey, everybody traded for cash considerations, not just the Bulls. And if you considered it breaking news, breaking news on the score is sponsored by IDOT. If there's a card pulled to the side of the road, move over. Good advice on the weekend.
I thought Bryson Graham's explanation of that made a lot of sense. And now, like he said today, that the guard they got from Indiana and the Braden Smith trade for a second rounder, that kid might not even make the team. He only wants to invest in people that he actually gives a crap about as prospects. What a novel prospect.
That resonated with me. Yeah. Concept is amazing.
It's a really interesting concept. We'll see how it plays out for him. For sure. There's a lot to... There's some stuff. Like, while I was gone, I was like, ooh, I don't like that.
Oh, Lawrence, I wanted to ask you. Are you going back to Vegas?
Yeah, we're going back to Circa in August.
No, Summer League.
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Chapter 8: How can MLB improve the All-Star voting process?
Well, what, Caleb Theobald?
He'll be out there. He's going to be up the street. Hey, hey, hey, scoreless inning, two strikeouts last night.
As I said, he's going to be up the street in Milwaukee as this series gets itself underway. It's exciting. There's a bunch of Cubs fans that have rolled in here, and there is, I guess, a couple Brewers fans around here somewhere. John Bolton was here. I don't think that's John Bolton. He looks exactly the same.
No, but I don't think so.
I think you just got served a federal indictment today, actually.
Guys, we had Vinny Rotino on, and he told us that he gets a couple of tickets to every game, and they said, don't bother. There's no tickets available to you this weekend.
Yeah, I heard him call it the best rivalry in baseball or one of the best rivalries in sports. And it's an interesting thing to think about because the volatility is there. They hate Craig. The Brewers fans, my God, they hate Craig with a burning hot passion for
Like, I'll never forget that vibe after game five last year in Milwaukee when me and Christine went up there, and we never will do that again. But, like, oh, my God, just the hate and the vitriol that was being spewed. But remember, on the way out, saw, like, tailgates going on with these giant flags of Craig's face with a circle and a slash around it. Oh, my God.
Like it's all over the parking lot.
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