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How presidential of him. 😑

Oh Christ Almighty, this guy … https://www.threads.com/@karaswisher/post/DTfb0gvgJp-?xmt=AQF0EmE1ZsY1hAdaGLX493AwB9jenW_WlDabYEXSFTqm0d8xRR23Az1TiapaGHi2Tljs2DaJ&slof=1

This right here is exactly why Trump is so desperate to distract us from the Files. It was bound to come out as being more than the CSA itself.

Now even Bowden the ex-GM is piling on. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6961973/2026/01/13/mlb-news-tigers-skubal-bellinger-yankees-labor-talks/ The narrative is really getting away from the team.

How does that compare to coming from behind to make the playoffs after having a 1% chance with only six weeks left?

When the Tigers start failing on the field as a result of Harris cheaping out on the roster, that’s when I’ll start calling for his head.

"What about Biden?"

Assuming this actually happened and wasn’t staged for social media, they totally deserved it.

How is Boras going to convince Harris and Hinch that Skubal is not allowed to pitch more than five innings? If Skubal never pitches more than five innings, who’s going to pay him what he wants? What team would give $50 million a year to a guy who willing to go into Operation Shutdown at the behest of his agent?

Fair point!

This gives us some insight into the psyche of individual countries.

Ha ha, this is hilarious!

Now this I find fascinating.

Ever wonder why the Netherlands (or Holland, if your prefer) is associated with water dikes? This might help.

Not sure exactly how accurate this is, but it's probably directionally so.

Yeah? Is it working? 😉 😁 I know I'm not changing anyone's mind. We're all too old to change our minds, probably about anything, but certainly about any of this. I'm probably an Asperger's guy, though. I get going on a point, and I will spool it out as much and with as much precision as I think I need to to get across the point, the whole point, and nothing but the point. And when I'm motivated to do so, I will get it done. And this topic motivates me. So, lucky you!

Pudge signed with the Tigers because he made a public demand of 4/40, and the Tigers were the only team that met his offer, so he had to take it. Magglio was considered somewhat damaged goods at the time because of his knee issue that he got some controversial treatment in Europe for. Three different teams had backed out of talks with him earlier that week and he did not want to comply with the Mets' demand to have their doctors examine him before making an offer. We traded for Miggy and then signed him to an extension right away which at that point was the fourth-highest in history, even before he played a minute for the team, but which Miggy said he agreed to because "I like it here. I've got a lot of friends here." There were already four other Venezuelans on the team, including Maggs and Carlos Guillen. I would say that's a clear extenuating circumstance that led to him agreeing to the extension, versus the lure of the Tigers team itself or the city of Detroit. I'll grant that's a debatable point, since we had also just recently been to a World Series, which counts for a lot. Victor signed in 2011, the Venezuelan nature of the team long having been well-established, and which includied the greatest Venezuelan player in history, which made that a very attractive situation for him. With Miggy, Victor, Verlander, and young talent like Alex Avila, Austin Jackson, Jhonny Peralta and Brennan Boesch (no, seriously!) leading them to a runaway division title in 2011, that made the franchise a lot a lot more attractive to free agents like Torii Hunter, Anibal Sanchez, Joe Nathan, and, of course, Prince Fielder over the next three years. Because who wouldn't want to come to a franchise loaded with stars, winning divisions, going to World Series, and throwing money around like drunken sailors? That was a unique moment in Tigers history that we hadn't had before, or since (unless we regard Al Avila signing Javy and Eduardo as a high point in Tigers' free agency history). Now compare all that to what we have now: a team that's considered to be on the way up—probably—but not only is it not loaded with highly-paid stars, it is, in fact, considered by many around the game to be on the verge of trading away the one established star they do have, and basically starting over. Not only that, but the team is also widely regarded as in the middle of picking a fight with that very same player on his last trip through arb. Whether that characterization is really even true—and it very well might not be like that—that is certainly how that episode is playing out there. Regardless of how badly Scott Harris might want to sign a top free agent, who's going to sign up for and commit the rest of their career to that situation? Believe me when I tell you, I don't like it any more than you do.

Now consider how the Tigers of 2011-14 were regarded versus the Tigers of today.

He has been trying! Hasn’t worked yet.

Depends—if your city hosts a team fronted by a GM who is spending oodles and oodles of cash on players and which will be in the running for a title for the foreseeable future, that is heaven on earth to players. That puts that team in the running for literally everybody. We were there, once, for a short while, maybe twelve or fifteen or so years ago. We may get there again, someday, but that ain't happening this winter, for certain, because no top free agent is going to commit to a team that is strongly rumored to be on the brink of trading their two-time Cy Young-award-winning pitcher and going into what they would fairly consider yet another rebuild. Besides, don't sleep on Philly—they are an east coast city, 90 minutes from the center of the first world universe, with a team in that center's team's division, and as such is continually on the baseball media's radar. That makes for a pretty attractive locale for the best players in the game.