Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
We react to Alex Bregman's introductory press conference (Hour 2)
15 Jan 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What were the highlights of Alex Bregman's introductory press conference?
That was the Alex Bregman introductory press conference. You could hear it right here on 670 The Score. And that is courtesy of the Marquee Sports Network bringing us the audio brought to you by your local Hyundai dealers. So he spoke for about... 33 or 34 minutes, I would say. Got introduced, put on his jersey. And I didn't get to see the back of the jersey.
So do we know what number he's going to wear yet?
It's number three.
It is.
Three because he wants a third World Series championship.
Yeah, I heard that. But because of our vantage point, Matt Spiegel did ask that question. And Nico Horner did come up. I hear he's on the afternoon show sometimes.
Yeah. And I wish Jed, and I understand why he didn't, but I wish Jed would have had a more pronounced answer to the question about Nico's future. And obviously at this time, those two are slated to play together, be in the same lineup, be in the same infield on a daily basis. But even the Matt Shaw portion of the conversation, because he,
he talked about specifically Jed Hoyer the way that he sees them having a lot of different people a lot of different position people are going to need a day off which of course Alex Bregman quick to not refute it but to state his intention of playing every single day you don't pay somebody five years and 175 million dollars for them to be a part-time player not even on the Dodgers
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Chapter 2: What is Alex Bregman's jersey number and its significance?
No, no. $35 million a year should get you a little bit more. I was intrigued about the conversation because I remember being at spring training a couple of years ago and asking specifically about, why don't you guys do deferments?
It's a way of the world, and I guarantee you more teams are going to start doing it because if you want to fight against a team like the Dodgers, who clearly have no problem with doing it, that's how you keep up. So I was interested to hear that they had started that even back during the summer of kind of greasing the wheels for this type of contract.
Well, players want it, too. You know, players want the deferments because of how money depreciates over time. So that's something that players want to be able to have, too, because they feel like they're making more money because of the value of the contract over time. So that's definitely a reason why a guy like Alex Bregman or Shohei Otani famously would want that. That's the biggest example.
And you heard... Jed Hoyer referred to it when he said that that was a conversation he had to have with Tom Ricketts. Because it is the way of the world now, which means if the best in the game are going to do it, Toronto's going to do it, if the Dodgers are going to do it, even if the Giants and other teams who are trying to get big free agents do, that means you have to.
Otherwise, you're going to be left out of these deals. And he mentioned the history of doing that with guys like Jon Lester, Jason Hayward. So to see that, according to Jed Hoyer, Tom Ricketts is amenable to that, and they actually showed you that they were able to do that, even if it's just for certain players right now, that is a good sign of things to come.
It's all about the size of the contract. And once the contract gets to a certain level and you see how it's going to push you towards that luxury tax, that's when you have to.
And he said this deal could have been done before kickoff if the deferments weren't involved because you got to take out the spreadsheets and understand what a dollar today is going to mean a dollar down the road and figuring out the math portion of that. You don't want to get stuck in a Bobby Bonilla situation if you feel me.
I would love to get stuck in a Bobby Bonilla situation.
An organization doesn't want to get stuck in a Bobby Bonilla situation. A player, of course, he's like, well, let's make sure you're making up on the back end with this deferment how much money I could have made if I had just taken this money out because of the way inflation works in the dollar and everything else.
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Chapter 3: How does Alex Bregman plan to contribute to the Cubs' lineup?
So we got that question answered in the press conference, which I did not expect. So props to whoever asked that question or at least how it got brought up because that was fun to hear.
Was that Brian Baker? I know Brian Baker broached the topic of the Bears.
Ryan Baker?
Yeah, Ryan Baker. And so you wonder how many of these Cubs will be there. I think everybody that's going to Cubs conventions is going to find their way into that stadium. Unless they just don't want to be cold like me.
All right, the tickets are not exactly cheap.
They'll be fine. They're professional athletes. They'll either have a hookup or they'll be fine otherwise.
Oh, I thought you meant the fans going to Cup Convention.
No, I'm talking about the players who will be in town for Cup Convention.
Yeah, that makes a little more sense. The better question is, yeah, are they going to be outside or are they going to be in a suite? They'll probably be in a suite.
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Chapter 4: What are the current health concerns for the Bears' defense?
Understand how a depth chart works.
Yeah, if only. I mean, that's part of this. They knew what they were doing when they did it because the inverse was also true. When they didn't get Alex Bregman, we all understood that Matt Shaw was plan B. And I think more so, Kyle Tucker's bat had to be replaced.
It's been replaced effectively now.
I wish it... I don't think so. I think that Kyle Tucker's bat... Bregman's good, but he's... I don't know that that replaces a healthy Kyle Tucker's bat.
Not a healthy Kyle Tucker, but what Kyle Tucker did last year.
I mean, 847 has the right question here on our text line. 312-644-6767. Does Shaw DH... Maybe that was the direct question that had to be asked. The good news is we've got two days of Cubs convention to ask that question. And that may have to be the one that gets asked next. This is Rahimi Harrison-Grody on 670 The Score. We broadcast live through The Score's Hyundai studios.
And coming up next, let's get back into Bears talk. That was the Alex Bregman press conference that just wrapped up here. We've got to figure out. how healthy this Bears defense is, like really healthy.
Because a team that will show you how healthy they are is coming in on Sunday.
This is Raheem Harrison Brody on 670 The Score. We just heard from Alex Bregman and reacted to his press conference. We'll have a little more Alex Bregman discussion coming up in five on it. And in the meantime, we got to get back to this Bears game. Had some fun with the Sean McVay.
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Chapter 5: How has TJ Edwards' injury impacted the Bears' linebacking crew?
We've seen him to be. I think Kyler Gordon, if you had to judge health in the secondary, looks more healthy relative to what we know him as than Jalen does to himself. Two different injuries, two different ages, two different situations. The good news is we saw Jalen Johnson play better in that second half against Green Bay. We saw him run with some guys a little better.
They didn't get the same type of separation that we saw previously. Matt Bowen told you what the Packers were going to do. They were going to run across her every single possible time that they could. And even on a crosser, Jalen Johnson had a pass breakup in that fourth quarter that absolutely helped. I believe it was late third that led to that Bears touchdown drive in the fourth.
So there was some adjustment made during the game. But how much gas did he take out of his tank and to be able to do so?
I think it's interesting watching on a week-to-week basis because you feel like the rust has to be shook off for a lot of these guys. And you're just wondering how much rust can you shake off on a week-to-week basis. And for Kyler Gordon, remember, they started this game and I was like, where's Kyler Gordon?
He didn't play until the third drive.
It was crazy because I was like, is he a decoy? Is he not really playing? And then he starts to play and the defense gets better in the second half. And as you mentioned, Jalen Johnson looks better in the second half. And I think coming from yesterday's walkthrough, which is like the estimated practice, just to see... CeeDee Gardner-Johnson, who was out with a concussion, back to full practice.
Back in there. Understanding that means he's targeting Sunday as a game in which he'll be able to play. And so you may have the healthiest version of not just CeeDee Gardner-Johnson, but also Kyler Gordon. Add in Jalen Johnson taking maybe another step forward. And all of a sudden, maybe Dennis Allen has a little bit more he can do with that secondary. Yeah.
Well, and add in Eamon Obamiga, who is also back with a, you know, he had the concussion protocol. They're going to need him because of T.J. Edwards' injury. Joe Tryon-Shoyenko, who they traded for, went into the concussion protocol a couple weeks ago. He was a full practice. And if you're rotating in defensive linemen in and out of the game, that's going to be a help, too.
We try to figure out if they're going to be able to blitz or not, and there's nobody better against the blitz than Matt Stafford. That's what makes this so difficult, is trying to figure out how this gets put together in a way that makes it make sense. Getting back to Jalen Johnson.
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Chapter 6: What strategies are the Bears considering to face the Rams?
And people are like, oh, man, Jalen's not healthy. You damn right I'm not all that healthy. But I think really just for me, just continuing to just continue to attack the rehab. I just got off the massage table a few hours ago, so just trying to just continue to give myself the best chance to win, but I'm looking forward to a full offseason and get really healthy.
See, we had to hear that. We had to play that because I need people to understand when Jalen Johnson, when we say he's not fully healthy, it's not even that he's not fully healthy. This man's not really done with rehab yet.
He's still basically saying every Sunday I'm going to get out there every weekend when the Bears have a game and try to play football even though I'm still in the rehab process. That's insane
Why did I mentally picture the picture somebody took of Shannon Sharp where he's standing outside? Ray knows exactly what picture I'm talking about where he's got his hands on his hips like he's supporting his low back.
He's got the tight sweatsuit on. Yeah, I know what you're talking about. Yeah, like... Why was that the mental picture?
And that's why... I don't think that's Jalen, but... After hearing this, it just confirms like you're not getting that guy back. The one that you thought you lost. You're getting... a lesser version of him and it's just a matter of can you just do the best you can it's like you're good at that oh huh Yeah.
And then at the end of the answer, he was like, you're damn sure I'm not. Thank you. Thank you, Jalen, for saying what we all suspected. And frankly, unfortunately, what your opposing teams know. And thank God that that's the issue. And you just hadn't lost a step and you think you're healthy and it all just went to hell.
He said a year. A year to fully rehab from the surgery that he had just a couple of months ago.
You got one of your corners locked up for a year with this thing.
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Chapter 7: How do the injuries affect the Bears' game plan against high-powered offenses?
Well, clearly the rest portion of that is not happening for Jalen Johnson. He is rehabbing, yes, but when you're saying every weekend you're going to go again, I'm sorry, tell me about those, who are those receivers, the top two receivers again?
Puka Nakua and a guy you may have heard of named Devontae Adams.
I'm sure all our listeners have heard of both of those players.
Do you think anybody here has heard of Devontae Adams? Do you think anybody knows about what Devontae can do to the Bears? Yeah.
Exactly. Exactly.
It was the question and the answer. And thankfully, he was honest about it. Like, play the question and the answer again, Tyler.
You good now, though, huh?
Yeah. Sir, you are absolutely not. You're certainly not good.
As confident as I am about my New Year's resolution.
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Chapter 8: What are the implications of player health on the Bears' playoff chances?
Gardner-Johnson is where he was before the concussion, physically, he should be good. We know what his weaknesses are. We know what he cannot be asked to do.
Right, zone is not his strength, but man is.
And if Kyler Gordon takes another step forward in his snap count and maybe what he looks like on the practice field leading into Sunday, then you could be in a better situation than Dennis Allen's been in in quite some time because of what you have available to you. Now, Nick McCloud did not practice because of a groin injury. Groins are tricky, as we know, so he may not play, but...
Do you really want Nate McLeod to be out there? You want the other guys we just talked about to be out there.
You want to at least have the depth. Yeah. Especially if this is going to be a track meet for those guys. I like the logic from 630. Jalen Johnson can probably guard Devontae Adams if his hamstring issue is not healed. And that's true. Devontae has been, this has not been a healthy season for Devontae Adams.
Absolutely.
So you're hoping that older dude against older dude equals better coverage for all?
Yeah, but like you said, he's so technical in his route running and he can get you.
All Devontae needs is the first move off of the break that he makes to show whatever route it is.
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