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A 'win' with Toronto fans, IMHO, is to sign Vlad Jr to an extension. Bregman will get paid by someone, not sure he is on board with going there and already the 'census' is NO Bichette extension (just because of one off year - yet he is still young) and no extension (as of yet) with Vlad Jr. who is only going to get more expensive. I do not think at this point in his career Bregman is a guy to 'build' around. I do think Bregman wants to win while getting paid. Toronto, even with those two were not in a strong/favored position to do so moving forward- in that division. For the Tigers to be the destiny of a rare young star (say 26-28 yr old) FA may not be realistic. That and those types of salaries also may be unrealistic either. Detroit may have only made the playoffs 1 time in the last ten years as you mentioned - but it is the most important year of the last 10 because it was the most recent - hence the indication of where at. That and a 'known' developing farm system is a good thing. IMHO, the Tigers will have to roll the dice now and then on 30+ year old FAs at various times. The question is whom of these type of players are worth taking a chance on for a longer commitment? Bregman may not be worth 6 years. Few FAs are. Yet, he does check many needed boxes: RH bat, middle of lineup if need be for awhile, 3B/decent glove, many intangibles ex played for Hinch, winning history, clubhouse presence, potential organization guy, etc. No question the team is/has weighed all of this. IMHO, they may have an offer out there. Someone like Toronto 'could' offer 200+. The two big questions are: 1) Where does Bregman want to play (Houston appears out and he would not have left that if he did not feel 'another' team he may be comfortable with has interest)? 2) How much does Detroit value him? Another note, sooo much of sports success is health and luck. Yes, you can help put yourself into a more favorable position with both (ex depth and preparation) - but those two things will always have a strong say regarding the end results. Now off to the day and festivities 😊 Best to all and Go Tigs!

Both on December 25 this year. wishing all of you a beautiful and peaceful day today… and for the year. Safe travels…. Whether on the road, or just traveling from your bedroom into the living room. Watch your step. 🤪

Why not 40 though? I understand those that don't want the death penalty, but if you truly don't believe in the death penalty and choose to commute those sentences, what makes you go...'oh, except for these three'. Do you believe in the Death Penalty or not? I don't get it.

Very well done

Unpopular opinion: the death penalty sucks and doesn't accomplish anything. Very few, if any, of the people he commuted to life sentences would have even faced it had he not did what he did today, but I'm glad he did it (although I tend to think that holding back on the hate crimes cases looks unprincipled) It's my most unpopular opinion... It doesn't save government money, it doesn't deter crime, I'm not even sure its about the victims in some cases... its all about something deeper for the American psyche. It's not rational, it's all about emotion... I'm sure some folks will call me woke and stupid for feeling this way, or that I cannot possibly relate... but given all of the above and the fact that we have undoubtedly executed innocents given that our justice system is composed of human beings, the costs outweigh any benefits IMO

Yes, for exmple I still put up the family Christmas creche every year even though neither I nor my remaining family members are religious. It has been displayed in my family home every year of my life and the feeling of continuity is comforting.

Rituals are good for people even if they are not religious.

According to this article, the Tigers already tried to extend him. And it speculated that there's no way Boras would allow him to sign an extension. He may be looking at a $400 million contract. https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2024/12/25/tarik-skubal-contract-detroit-tigers-400-million-scott-boras/77061451007/

That shouldn’t really be a surprise. The winter solstice celebration is far older and has deeper roots than Christianity. People always felt the need to throw a party and have a celebration when days finally stopped getting shorter. The church just co-opted the existing cultural practice because that’s how cultures work. Any excuse to be nice to people, give gifts to your children an eat well is OK by me. 😊

I'm 60. How the hell did that happen?

I'll take that too! I think the Tigers are ready to win now in a winnable division and I don't think they need to wait two years for the next wave of prospects to be ready (which is no guarantee).

At least he kept you readng to the 11th paragraph. That's pretty impressive.😃

I’m more interested in seeing him package some prospects for a proven player who is a fit (and not a rental).

I am ready to see Harris take a chance on a top free agent. I suspect he is risk averse, but he is smart and I trust him to sign the right guy if he does take the plunge. I don't think he would have signed Baez, for example.

Its two holidays for sure. My Jewish boss celebrates it because she's into the secular/santa version. Why would she deny that to her kids. The comedian Alex Edelman's riff on this in his act is really good. Look that up on HBO/MAX if you have time.

Merry Christmas, everybody! This is a political forum, so, obviously, I have thoughts. 😁 Everyone once in a while we might hear about how someone who's Jewish says they do not celebrate Christmas, or how Jewish kids feel left out when the rest of their class have Christmas activities, things along those lines. We probably don't hear as much of that as we used to, but it still comes up occasionally. But I have been wondering for some time now—well, why can't they? Why can't Jewish people, Muslim people, people of other religions or no religion, celebrate Christmas? Because it doesn't take a long time examining it to conclude that Christmas is actually two separate holidays, not just one. Yes, of course there's the religious Christmas, the one with the Jesus and the creche and the religious songs and the church services and all that. That's important to a lot of people, maybe even the most important aspect of the holiday. (Or holy day, if they prefer.) But there is also the secular Christmas, the one with the Santa and the tree and the ornaments and the presents and the caroling and all that, none of which literally have anything to do with Jesus or Christianity or any of it. It's true that many people mix the religious and the secular elements to suit themselves—they sing religious and secular carols back to back, put a manger scene under the tree, sing "Deck the Halls" as the recessional song during midnight mass, etc.—and that is certainly their right to do so. That's what makes them feel good about Christmas, and what can be wrong about that? Nothing that I can see. But you certainly don't have to mix the two. They can be kept completely separate. After all, Christmas Day is a federal holiday. That's not because we're a Christian country—after all, Good Friday and Ash Wednesday and Epiphany and All Saints' Day aren't federal holidays. But Christmas is, because in 1870, business and labor were each clamoring for federal holidays to help stanch worker burnout, and also, the Grant administration sought to promote national unity in the days after the civil war. In fact, the bill creating the federal legal status of holiday did not specify "Christmas"—only the date December 25th. So if December 25th is a federal holiday, shouldn't all people, regardless of religion, feel free to celebrate at least the widely-beloved, culturally-resonant secular aspects of the holiday in whatever way they choose? Shouldn't Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, agnostics, atheists, whoever, feel free to celebrate Christmas however they wish, to express their feeling and conviction that they are part of the intrinsic fabric of this country, instead of being othered by people who identify themselves with the religion professed by the majority? Why can't they? Certain jackass types—usually the types who associate being Christian with cultural and political codes rather than moral or ethical values—sometimes demand that people must "put the 'Christ' back in Christmas'", meaning, if people don't elevate Christ to the center of it all, even when sitting on Santa's lap at what used to be the mall, then they're doing it all wrong, the implication being that people shouldn't be allowed to celebrate Christmas without the Christ, or at least they should be ashamed to do so, and maybe even be ostracized for it. I fear we might start seeing and hearing a lot a lot more of that kind of thing during the next few years. But in my view, that's the kind of thinking that seeks to keep us apart and at each other throats, to distract us with hatred of one another. They want us to fight over religion, among other things, while they and the rest of the upper 1% runs away with all the money. I'm pretty sure that is an explicitly expressed strategy. My hope is that one day all demands that everyone must christfy Christmas can be set aside, and that all people will be able to enjoy the awesome secular aspects of the holiday without guilt, shame, or otherwise pressure to conform with anyone else's standards. I think that's one small way we could find common ground and come together as an American people.

I’m with you on this. The Jays made at least semi-serious bids for Ohtani and Soto. I think they might be looking for a win for their fans.

Didn't the big four sign at the end of February and March last offseason? Plenty of time left. I would prefer they use that money to find and develop future star players instead of guys on the wrong side of 30. Harris has been creative so far, I look forward to what he can accomplish.

I am thinking Breman ends up in Toronto a franchise as desperate to sign somebody as Bregman is to get a big contract. I think that his only shot for 200,000,000+ is Toronto.

Pay $36/year for LastPass, or even less for NordPass. I think a lot of security suites like Norton offer password management as well as part of your package, as well. Whichever way you go on it, totally worth it. I have had LastPass for going on ten years now.