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Trading Skubal without picking up some of his remaining salary might be difficult. Trading Valdez without picking up the majority of his remaining salary may well be impossible. And that’s even if anyone wants Valdez and his head in their clubhouse at all.

lol “ notoriously exacting.” Sounds like sour grapes from the guys who used to roll Al Avila in trades on the regular.

I think this particular team, as it came north, should have, and could have, won the Central this year, except for the unusual number of injuries which cost us dearly, not only in some expected number of wins, but also in the effect it had on the psyche of the remaining team. I do believe there might be a corollary to Newton’s law at work here: a team that’s winning stays in motion toward winning, and a team that’s losing stays in motion toward losing. I really do believe that kind of momentum is a real thing. After all, we are talking about human beings here. That said, I also believe that this particular team, as currently constructed, was never supposed to be the team Scott Harris had in his vision as the one he would win with long-term. That team is still at least a couple of years away. This team, or more exactly the fans’ reaction to it, is the result of the dramatic overachieving of the last two years. I know a lot of people would like to see Harris and Hinch fired (and perhaps even literally set on fire 😉), but that’s not going to happen, nor should it. A organization that would fire its management mainly because 40% of its 40 man roster went onto the injured list is an organization wallowing in chaos and confusion, and I don’t want to have to root for that team anymore.

I had uploaded the rule book and umpire's manual to one of my Claude projects, so i copied your exchange with "your" Claude and had the following exchange with "my" Claude: Me: Please review the attached exchange versus the uploaded rulebook and feed back on it? Claude: Good — I now have everything I need from the rulebook and umpire manual. Let me give you a full assessment of the prior exchange. Overall verdict: The exchange is mostly solid, but the first response overstates its certainty, and the second response — while appropriately humble — misses a critical piece of the 5.09(b)(1)/(2) comment that is directly on point. Here's the breakdown: First response — what it got right: Correctly identifies Rule 5.09(b)(1) as the applicable out rule. Correctly identifies Rule 5.08(a) as the run-scoring framework. Correctly notes the three exceptions under Rule 5.08(a) — force out, batter-runner not reaching first, preceding runner missing a base — and correctly observes that none of those apply here. The conclusion (run does not score) is likely correct as a practical matter. First response — where it overcooks it: The response states flatly that "the out is legally recorded the instant the runner steps outside the baseline" and that "the umpire's physical signal is a mechanic, not the legal moment the out is created." That's stated with more confidence than the rulebook actually supports. Rule 5.09(b)(1) says the runner is out when he runs more than three feet away — but that does not explicitly resolve when the ball becomes dead or when the umpire's call is constitutive vs. merely declaratory. The first response treats a debated interpretive question as settled law, which it isn't. Second response — what it got right: Entirely correct that Rule 5.09(b)(1) carries no automatic dead-ball provision, unlike, say, certain interference rules. The ball genuinely stays live when a runner goes out of the baseline. That's an important and accurate distinction. Second response — what it missed: The Rule 5.09(b)(1) and (2) Comment in the Official Rules actually addresses this scenario quite directly, and it was apparently overlooked. The comment reads: "Even though an out is called, the ball remains in play in regard to any other runner." That language — "even though an out is called" — is actually significant. The drafters are using the call as the reference point for when the out takes effect for purposes of other runners, not the moment of the physical infraction. That's a meaningful textual clue that the umpire's call does carry some operative weight, and it nudges (without definitively resolving) the question in the direction of: the out may not be fully "made" for Rule 5.08(a) purposes until it is called. That said, the comment's context is abandonment (Rule 5.09(b)(2)) — a runner drifting toward the dugout — rather than an out-of-baseline evasion under Rule 5.09(b)(1). Whether it carries over cleanly is debatable. But it's the closest textual hook in the rulebook to the timing question you raised, and the prior response missed it entirely. Bottom line assessment: The second response's core conclusion — that this is genuinely unsettled and that neither answer is clearly supported by the text — is correct. The first response's confident "no run, full stop" was overconfident. And the textual clue in the 5.09(b)(1)/(2) comment about "even though an out is called" is the piece most worth knowing here, even if it doesn't resolve the question definitively.

Same with All-Star ballots. Couldn’t fill out just one.

Another event that suggests national unity destroyed by the extreme partisanship of this regime. Pulling back and looking at the big overall picture: it appears that maybe 30% of the population are 100% all in on the Trump takeover of America, and the other 70% run the gamut from adamantly opposed to don’t give a s*** and just wanna live their lives without having to think about it. There’s only two things I can imagine happening: (1) the Trumpers allow a free and fair election to turn them out and everything goes back to normal, or (2) the Trumpers do everything they can to retain power in an extralegal manner and force the 70% to heel. Which is more likely?

While we were arguing about America 250 …

Please, relax. None of this is serious. This is supposed to be fun.

It looks like you do care because of the way you brought it up, but that’s fine, we can drop it. I do think Larry Walker’s career is at least the equal of Tony Gwynn’s.

They are definitely working on behalf of forces located outside the United States, which they tell us every time they deliver that phony “America First” punchline.

Probably not, but why not? It couldn’t be a resources issue, could it? I would think as the federal government they have practically unlimited resources for that kind of thing, and that goes double for pursuing this particular president’s personal agenda.

Larry Walker has a higher WAR than Tony Gwynn. But why do think that makes WAR a flawed stat? Why do you think Tony Gwynn should be considered much better than Larry Walker? I’ve included some head to head stats to make it easy for you to make your case to us.

Anyone thinking that McGonigle might be regretting his decision? 😉

Here's an interesting table: each team's performances of their hitters and pitchers against ZIPs projections, available at FanGraphs, pro-rated to 36% of the season having been played so far.

Remember this? Here is an updated version. Team MLB Players MLB IL WAR Min Players Min IL WAR Total Players Total IL WAR Detroit Tigers 15 21.2 36 6.2 51 27.4 New York Mets 12 23.5 38 1.5 50 25.0 Boston Red Sox 10 19.1 26 1.9 36 20.9 Houston Astros 12 18.0 29 1.4 41 19.4 Toronto Blue Jays 15 19.0 43 -0.1 58 18.9 Baltimore Orioles 10 12.3 42 4.7 52 17.0 Chicago White Sox 13 13.5 33 2.8 46 16.3 Los Angeles Dodgers 15 14.5 44 -0.2 59 14.3 Atlanta Braves 9 12.5 13 1.6 22 14.2 Chicago Cubs 11 12.1 34 1.0 45 13.2 Seattle Mariners 6 12.2 15 0.9 21 13.1 Texas Rangers 8 14.5 28 -1.4 36 13.1 Athletics 7 8.9 13 3.8 20 12.7 Minnesota Twins 6 6.7 32 5.6 38 12.3 Arizona Diamondbacks 12 10.6 25 1.2 37 11.8 San Diego Padres 8 10.2 28 0.8 36 11.0 Kansas City Royals 9 10.4 23 0.3 32 10.7 Cincinnati Reds 8 9.8 29 0.7 37 10.5 Miami Marlins 6 7.0 38 2.9 44 9.9 San Francisco Giants 8 7.5 22 2.2 30 9.6 Milwaukee Brewers 7 8.8 24 0.8 31 9.6 New York Yankees 5 7.3 35 1.7 40 9.0 Colorado Rockies 13 8.2 29 0.5 42 8.7 Tampa Bay Rays 9 6.5 34 0.9 43 7.4 Los Angeles Angels 7 5.9 22 0.6 29 6.5 Washington Nationals 6 3.1 34 1.9 40 5.0 St. Louis Cardinals 5 4.3 22 -1.2 27 3.1 Philadelphia Phillies 1 0.2 35 1.6 36 1.8 Pittsburgh Pirates 2 1.5 27 0.3 29 1.8 Cleveland Guardians 2 1.8 28 -0.4 30 1.4

If anyone despises analytics and wants them out of the game, there are literally thousands of games on YouTube from the 1990s and before that they can go and enjoy.

Well, we have Framber and Keider now, Flaherty to eat innings, and Melton stepping into rotation. That’s four. Skubal is said to be back soon, and if you believe that, that’s five. If we get lucky and get Casey back within a month, that’ll be six. Then we can have Flaherty come to Jesus. I know everyone thinks it’s certain everyone gets traded at the deadline, but if not, that’s what we have.

Just be aware that they will use LRAD on you.

The Tigers cheated in 2024 and 2025? Why? Because Hinch is their manager?

While we are all be distracted by the Kennedy Center mishigoss, this.

I do think one of the things that amped up the excitement in 1976 was the Shell Bicentennial Minutes on CBS every single night for two years starting in 1974. Heck, we learned the word “bicentennial” because of it. By contrast, I’d bet fewer than five out of 100 people even know what centennial name this one is.

Fraudulent?

All I can say is Drew Anderson owes Zack Short a big-city steak dinner.

I blame the schools being instructed to stop teaching civics, among other things.