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This is Breaking Bad Fly episode writ sci-fi. I found it interesting that both Carol and Manuoso gave in to the force (or whatever it’s called) at the end, the former through crushing ennui and the latter through mortal desperation. Is this a precursor to their warming up to the idea of subsuming themselves to it? I could possibly see this for Carol who lost a loved one to it. Not so much for Manuoso, who thought the mother lost to it was “a bitch”. Of course, if Carol gIves in, that would seem to shorten the series a bit, wouldn’t it? Although maybe the focus shifts completely to Manuoso at that point. It would be a neat bait and switch that I don’t believe could happen until after a season finale cliffhanger. If the force (or whatever it’s called) is an analogy for modern-day fascism, as some have speculated, then I would guess at some point it’s going to have to stop granting wishes, like some interstellar genie, to Carol et al and start demanding some things in return for letting them live their lives to the degree the force will allow and the people will accept.

If you have the money, our healthcare system is the best in the world. If you have the money.

They’re working McGonigle at shortstop right now. We still have Baez, too. It’s true they aren’t long-term solutions, guys we can plug in there for the next eight years, but then, Walmart isn’t exactly overflowing with long-term solutions at shortstop. I’d be surprised—shocked, actually—to see Bichette come here.

I agree with trying to sign a starting pitcher long term, and I think we have a puncher's chance of doing that this winter if we find the right candidate. Is King the guy? I don’t know, his card showed a lot of blue this year. Ranger Suarez might be a better bet, although prying him away from the Phillies or some Big Six team might be a challenge. Everyone else, including Framber, looks a bit soft and/or old. The pickings for long-term guys are a bit slim. I wouldn’t want us to throw a bunch of cash and years at a guy just to scratch an itch. As for position players, we have a lot of guys in the system who might be able to step in and produce starting this year. I think I’d be surprised to see us go 5+ years on anyone (and equally surprised to see a position guy go 5+ years on us). Ha-Seong Kim has been mentioned here, and I like him for three years tops, preferably two plus a team option. He’s got a good eye, good contact skills, a good glove, and enough pop to play in this park. In this market I don’t know whether that will get it done, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s as far as we’ll go on any position guy.

Leave it to me to accidentally resurrect Al Avila’s reputation and elevate him to an esteemed pedestal! 😂 OK, Avila fans, have it your way. You think your thing, I’ll think mine. Maybe you’ll get your wish, Scott Harris will crash the organization back into the rocks and get fired just like another guy did, and then Daddy will come back from his trip to Philadelphia for a pack of cigarettes and fix everything back the way you like it. 😉

I don't know if these breathless details are all accurate, but the basic story appears to be true. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/12/09/federal-agents-arrest-citizen-observer-watching-ice-north-minneapolis

I'll jump on the Fire Scott Harris bandwagon when we start losing because of his dicking around and ****ing up the prospect pool. Until that happens, I'm in wait and see mode.

Randy Smith hired Al Avila. He provided Avila to the Tigers, who in turn provided the manager, players, and pitching coach to Scott Harris. So, by the transitive property, Randy Smith deserves credit for the 2024-25 Tigers. Amirite? 😁 I find it ironic that Scott Harris is being penalized here because he managed to salvage something of the rot that Avila left him so quickly. Maybe if the Tigers hadn't gone to the playoffs under him starting with Year Two of his tenure, people would be giving him more credit for the work he's doing, instead of giving credit for Harris's winning to the guy who was dismissed for persistent incompetence and so is no longer here (or, not for nothing, anywhere else) anymore. I also find it strange that you make it sound as though player development is intangible, like prayer. I would have laughed out loud if anyone had told me you'd ever believe that. I guess it's not so funny after all. And my argument is not "all based" on that, in any event. Look, give Al Avila as much credit for today's team you see fit. That's strictly up to you and anyone else here. I can reply only that's simply ridiculous, because he had this team for seven years, and the best he could do was guide the team to a 101-loss pace across his last six, including 96 in the final season he was here. The team didn't win until Scott Harris came here, tore the insides out, threw them away, replaced them with the state of the art, and gave the people he saw fit to keep the tools to finally do the job in a way that the former guy was capable only of giving lip service to. This is Scott Harris's team, and he gets the lion's share of the credit for our winning. Full stop.

I don't exactly remember what that was you're referring to, sorry.

I want to be clear here: I don't really believe Randy Smith deserves credit for 2006 Tigers the way it's been laid out above. That was Dave Dombrowski's team, an entirely different philosophy had been implemented, and the Tigers turned from being a loser to being a winner as a result—just like this is Scott Harris's team with an entirely different philosophy implemented, and the Tigers turning from being a loser to being a winner as a result. Just as Dombrowski surveyed the landscape when he came in and kept the personnel Randy Smith acquired who he believed could still contribute to a winning Tigers team, Harris did the exact same thing, keeping the personnel he believes can contribute to a winning Tigers team during this particular window of time (although I'm pretty sure a few of those guys are going to be booted within a couple years as better options come online). That's why I say that to the degree Al Avila gets credit for the winning Tigers of 2024-25, Randy Smith gets credit for the winning Tigers of 2006 which, in my view, is nearly none. Continuing to insist that Al Avila deserves the lion's share of credit for the current team, apparently because I've been insisting he doesn't, is simply contrarian nonsense.

I've been told that key players on the 2024-25 Tigers were acquired by Al Avila and that's the reason we won, not anythign that Scott Harris did. But several key players on the 2006 Tigers were acquired by Randy Smith: Chris Shelton, Brandon Inge, Craig Monroe, Omar Infante, Jeremy Bonderman, Fernando Rodney, Jamie Walker, Mike Maroth, among others. If Avila gets credit for the 2024-25 Tigers being the difference between being in the playoffs versus out because the players were originally acquired by him, why shouldn't Randy Smith get similar credit for players he staffed the 2006 Tigers with? I've also been told that because Al Avila hired Ryan Garko as VP of Player Development, he should get the credit for the way Garko has developed the players under Harris. The director of scouting under Dave Dombrowski was Greg Smith, who oversaw drafting or signing Curits Granderson, Justin Verlander, Joel Zumaya, and Wil Ledezma. Greg Smith was hired for the role by Randy Smith in 1997. If Avila gets the credit for the way the players developed under Ryan Garko because Avila hired him, why shouldn't Randy Smith get the credit for the draft picks Greg Smith picked because Randy hired him? If Al Avila gets credit for the players and their development under Harris, then Randy Smith gets credit for the players and their acquisition under Dombrowski. Right? See how the logic goes?

It might play differently to red hats than to everyone else. Maybe they think it's charming since they probably don't like women who seem too confident.

We have Kevin McGonigle, Max Anderson, Bryce Rainer, Trei Cruz, and Hao-Yu Lee in the system, all of whom can play on the dirt, with three and perhaps four of them banging on the door right now. They are definitely going to get their chance in camp to stand on the line in San Diego on March 26. Or did you mean we need an above-average major-league-veteran shortstop and third baseman today?

Do you know this? Or are you just saying?

Voyager I launched on September 5, 1977 at 7:56 AM CDT. The story says it has traveled 15,800,000,000 miles since then. So, I wanted to calculate how many miles per hours Voyager has averaged since then. Here's how Google Gemini breaks it down after a search: ****** Me: how many hours has it been since September 5, 1977 at 7:56 AM CDT Gemini: As of December 12, 2025, at 7:56 AM CDT, it has been approximately 418,013 hours since September 5, 1977, at 7:56 AM CDT, which is exactly 48 years, 3 months, and 7 days (or about 17,417 days) of continuous time. Here's the breakdown: Years: 2025 - 1977 = 48 years. Days in 48 Years (including leap years): 48 years * 365 days/year + 12 leap days (1980, '84, '88, '92, '96, 2000, '04, '08, '12, '16, '20, '24) = 17520 + 12 = 17,532 days. Days from Sept 5 to Dec 12: September (25 days left) + October (31) + November (30) + December (12) = 98 days. Total Days: 17,532 + 98 = 17,630 days. Total Hours: 17,630 days * 24 hours/day = 423,120 hours. Note: This calculation accounts for all full years and days, and since the start and end times are the same (7:56 AM), the calculation is straightforward. Using a precise date calculator confirms this duration ***** So, it's been approximately 418,013 hours, which is exactly 17,417 days, or, in other words, precisely 423,120 hours, which calculates out to 17,630 days. Something like that. So the average speed since then is 37,342 miles per hour. Or 37,798 miles per hour. Something like that. Although, according to Gemini: ***** Me: how many miles is one light day, use commas and not exponents Gemini: One light-day is approximately 16,094,455,343 miles. This is often rounded to about 16.1 billion miles. ***** Approximately. Or 15,800,000,000 miles. Something like that.

Freaks and Geeks did that.

If this is true, then it is also true that if it weren't for Randy Smith, the Tigers would not have won the 2006 American League pennant.

As long as his thumbprint is on the organization, yeah.

Solid joke!

You’re serious about Skubal, but I don’t know whether that would do it. They’d be trading one six-win player for another, and then that another would be gone in a year. I guess it’s possible they make a deal like that, but it would be fairly directionless. Anyone trading for Skubal would do so to put them over the top in November, and the Mets don’t seem to be there.

All due respect, why are you even trying? Save your serious discussion for people on the other side of the aisle who don't troll you.

You seem surprised?

Look, rebuilding for a couple years is one thing, but I could not possibly disagree more with the idea that tanking a team and losing 100-ish games each season for years on end in order to get a shot at a fifth overall pick is the way to become a winner eventually. There are numerous franchises that are winning right now that have never had to do that, and in fact, that is not how we ourselves have gone to the playoffs in the past couple of years. We'll have to just leave it there and just disagree on it.

Eastern team, superstar hitters in the clubhouse, recent ring.