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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.

The Tigers are not the best option by any stretch for any player looking for a ring next year. The Tigers might be competitive for a Central team, but players surely don't think of them in the same category as the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Blue Jays, or Phillies. No amount of additional money will convince a top free agent already assured of well into nine figures to commit the rest of his career to a franchise that could blow it up and start all over at a moment's notice, which the Tigers have a recent history of doing. One more dollar won't compensate for that, obviously, but one hundred million dollars wouldn't do it, either, if we're talking about the difference between 400 from the Dodgers or Blue Jays, and 500 from the Tigers. At that level, the money doesn't matter—it's all about the rings. You almost certainly will strongly disagree. You may even reaffirm that, as is always the case, no one here agrees on my assessment. That's fine. I already know what you think of me. I also know what I know, and I don't require you to know it, nor am I motivated to change your mind about it, or about anything else. I'm just here to give my opinion, like everyone else, and nothing more. There's plenty of room for more than one of those here.

Cue the black flag.

True as your first sentence may be, man, people and organization do not act in a series of discrete events that occur irrespective of each other. Behavior occurs in patterns, and this regime is exhibiting a pattern that is losing them to benefit of the doubt of people who put two and two together when they see it. As for your second paragraph, I would say, just wait. You'll get your dozens of videos before very long.

You can buy or not buy whatever you want, of course, but I think just seeing the behavior they have freely exhibited on innumerable videos so far makes it completely likely they are busting down doors without warrants. You say you can't believe they break laws so they must have done the warrant paperwork, but remember, these are the people who freely fling accusations at people and practically never provide evidence to back any of it up. If they are not doing the work on that, I totally believe they're not doing any paperwork on this.

Tillis wants to avoid Nuremberg.

It would also be a 180 degree shift for the top free agent on the market to choose a team like Detroit over the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, or Giants (or, these days, Blue Jays or Phillies).

Proof positive that they’re not pro-life—they’re anti-woman. Simple as it gets. They believe a woman’s primary function is to act as a brood mare for the state. They also don’t like the idea that woman might get to exercise a choice. Woman don’t get to choose for themselves. Men have the responsibility to choose for them. That’s what they totally believe. (h/t George Carlin 1996)

And “Fortunate Son”.

That’s actually a pretty good point. It is probably well known in those circles that their most ardent supporters index very high for interest in CSAM, so they may be driving the Grok news story about it to attract degenerate stragglers to X and energize them to their cause. Neo-nazism and CSAM consumption are among the most transgressive behaviors on the planet, so I would guess the Venn between them would be unusually high.

I had thought it was someone slyly putting across some dissent, but I suppose it could also be the power that be co-opting the aggressive nature of the song while neutering its intent.

I’m 100% in support of his position, but TBF, Hizzoner is being disingenuous here. It’s one thing to own the inflammatory nature of the comment he made, which I think he should and, again, I’m totally in support of it. It’s another to deny that what he said was even inflammatory in the first place. It clearly was, and he knows it was. It would be more honest for him to acknowledge its flammable nature while saying that even so, it doesn’t even nearly rise to the level of murdering his citizens, and that the truly heinous post-shooting act here is the equivocation of the two by the regime, or worse, the elevating of his f bomb as being worse than the murder, which is definitely happening. That would be honest, and fair.

Never seen any stories about a rash of windshield wiper theft. I would guess it’s a random prank. It happens. I went to the movies here in Big Shoulders maybe 20 or so years ago, came back out to my car, and someone had heaved a big ol’ rock through the passenger window. Nothing inside was stolen. Just random vandalism, I guess. Hasn’t happened since, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see something else equally random happen in the future.

With all the money the Cubs are throwing around, I’m wondering whether hampering themselves in RF defensively with a platoon guy to save $9MM is on their wish list? When I said earlier that I’m coming around to the idea they keep Shaw and trade Hoerner, I’m not saying that’s what they should do, I’m saying that’s what I was thinking they end up doing. Personally, I believe it would be asinine for them to pick up five wins in Bregman and then trade away five wins in Hoerner and replace him with whatever Shaw would give them out of position at second—maybe a win, maybe two? Maybe none? Or maybe he gives them five wins there just with his bat? Who knows. It would be a huge risk for them to go all in at third and pitching only to potentially kneecap themselves at second. They are arguably the favorites for their Central right now.

I’d rather focus on drafting hitting and go to the playoffs than focus on drafting pitching and lose 98 games a season. That said, you can’t draft 100% hitters in the high rounds in perpetuity. You have to draft pitchers up there at some point.

Just another in an unaccountable number of times proving Trump is simply ****ing with us. From a CNN alert I got: News Alert: Trump weighs potential military intervention in Iran President Donald Trump is weighing a series of potential military options in Iran following deadly protests in the country, two US officials told CNN, as he considers following through on his recent threats to strike the Iranian regime should it use lethal force against civilians. "Should [Iran] use lethal force against civilians." Mother****er.

Dweezil also fronts an awesome Frank tribute band whom I saw last year (or was it two years ago now? Everything rushing by so fast) that's focuses on the Roxy jazz-rock music from 1974.

I promise you that if X/Twitter were owned by a liberal and their version of Grok was doing this, they would be shut down, their top people would be arrested and put on show trial, and the rest of the liberal social media ecosystem (e.g., Bluesky) would all be sanctioned or worse right along with them.

Wait, what? Is he low-key threatening the rest of us with continued extrajudicial murder by ICE officers if we continue to question their extrajudicial murdering?

Is there even such a guy? Do a google search for "irgc colonel mahdi rahimi" and all that comes up are social media posts on X, Reddit, Facebook, and something called "Yeshiva World News", which was "established in 2003 by Judah Eckstein as a news aggregation blog." It is "[b]ased in Monsey, New York" and staffed with "freelance contributors". I'm putting my early money on "there's no such guy". There was a real guy named Mehdi Rahimi, a name that is suspiciously close enough to ting a bell for people who are not actually close to Iranian affairs.