If you’re a Pixel owner, you may want to update your settings for Phone by Google. 9to5Google reports that a handful of users have experienced a bug with the Take a Message feature that records and sends audio to callers as they are leaving a voicemail.
Take a Message is a recently introduced feature for the Phone app that activates when the recipient is not available to answer (or declines the incoming call). The caller hears the following: “The person you have called is not available. Please leave a message after the tone.” If you, as the recipient, tap the Take a message notification on your device, you can see a transcript of the audio in real time and hit Answer if you want to pick up. (Take a Message will also detect spam calls and mark them with a warning.)
A few users have reported that Take a Message has activated and allowed the caller to hear the recipient’s background audio as they are leaving a message. It’s important to note that this is not a widespread issue, and most of the reports come from people with older Pixel devices that no longer get OS updates. According to 9to5Google, Google is investigating the reports.
Again, while this doesn’t seem to be a bug affecting most Pixel users, you can disable Take a Message if you are concerned about privacy, especially with unknown callers.
How to disable Take a Message on your Pixel
Open the Phone app on your device and tap the icon in the top-left corner to open Settings. Tap Take a Message under the Call Assist section and toggle the feature off.
We’re now less than three weeks from pitchers and catchers reporting to Salt River Fields, and it feels like the D-backs’ off-season remains a work in progress. With all respect to Taylor Clarke, the bullpen has barely been touched. We don’t know who will be replacing Lourdes Gurriel in left field on Opening Day. Arizona is still waiting to find out what will happen with regard to the bonus draft pick connected to Zac Gallen [despite a report in December the Cubs were “close to finalizing an agreement” with him]. But perhaps no topic, outside of the Ketel Marte trade rumors, has been more discussed than a potential reunion with Paul Goldschmidt.
Goldy remains the best position player in franchise history, putting up an average of almost five bWAR across his eight seasons with the team. That included six All-Star appearances, and a trio of top three finishes in MVP voting, as well as likely the best value extension in franchise history. But, with one season left to go on that contract, Mike Hazen dealt Goldschmidt to the St. Louis Cardinals, for Carson Kelly, Luke Weaver, Andrew Young and a competitive balance pick, which became Dominic Fletcher. Even though none of those panned out long-term, given it was in exchange for just one year of Goldy, you’d be hard pushed to call it a bad trade.
It is fair, however, to ask why the team did not work out a contract extension with Goldschmidt. The Cardinals certainly did, agreeing a five-year, $130 million deal before the following Opening Day. After a shaky first season in St. Louis, the deal turned out a good price for St. Louis. Goldschmidt posted 20.9 bWAR over the 2020-2024 period included in the extension. It included Goldschmidt finally snaring the NL MVP honor in 2022, which had eluded him with the D-backs. However, the Cardinals failed to get past the wild-card round in three successive years, Goldscbmidt hitting just .174 (4-for-23) in the postseason over that contract.
When it expired, he went to the Bronx, signing a one-year deal worth $12.5 million with the New York Yankees. Aged 38 by the time the Yankees exited in the AL Division Series against the Blue Jays, it seems that Father Time might finally be catching up to him. Paul struggled significantly against right-hand pitching in 2024 and 2025. Across a total of 853 plate-appearances there, he hit only .237/.284/.367 for a .651 OPS. Goldschmidt was still solid against left-handed pitchers, albeit in a smaller sample (335 PA). He hit .315/.389/.522 for a .911 OPS there over the last two seasons. Goldschmidt hit the open market again this winter.
The case for Goldschmidt
Right now, the plan for the D-backs would involve a platoon of left-hander Pavin Smith and right-hander Tyler Locklear. However, Locklear ended up missing the end of the season with injury, after a collision at first with Boston’s Connor Wong, when trying to field and an errant throw from Jordan Lawlar. Whether due to that, or a pre-existing condition, subsequent evaluation determined Lockler needed surgery both on his ulnar collateral ligament (elbow) and labrum (shoulder). While there’s been no news since, Paul Gambadoro said at the time that Locklear could return late in spring, but would potentially miss the first month of the season before being 100%.
There’s also the question of how good he will be. Locklear came over from the Mariners in the Suarez trade, but did not impress before the injury. Across 31 games as a Diamondback, he hit just .175, with a .529 OPS and 43 strikeouts over 116 PA. It is true that Tyler only turned 25 in November, and has less than fifty games of experience at the major-league level. Which is fine, if the team is punting on 2026, and thinking about Locklear as a long-term solution. Let him take his licks this year, and hopefully, he’ll become capable of taking over full-time down the road.
But if the team is committed to competing in 2026 – and, at least publicly, that seems to be the approach Hazen is advocating – Locklear might not be good enough, even after he has fully recovered from those surgical processes. Signing Goldschmidt as a one-year platoon partner, to face left-handed pitching, while Smith gets the bulk of the at-bats against righties (where he has a career .772 OPS), might not be the worst thing in the world. There’s also a lot of residual love in the fanbase for Goldschmidt, understandably so. Bringing him back and allowing him to finish his career where it started could perhaps end up in Goldy entering Cooperstown as a Diamondback.
The case against Goldschmidt
The biggest obstacle to Paul returning to the desert, might well be Paul himself. On the latest edition of Snakes Territory, Jack Sommers reports [around ninety seconds in] that Goldschmidt still thinks he’s worth an everyday spot in the line-up, rather than having a roster spot and getting fewer starts on the weak side of a platoon. The D-backs are not willing to pay the obviously increased salary due to an everyday player – Jack reckoned they are more or less capped at around a $5 million salary for the spot. He also mentioned the Padres as a possible alternative landing spot, who could be willing to give Goldschmidt that everyday job and the matching price.
There hasn’t been much chatter otherwise regarding where Goldschmidt might go. The fact, again, we are less than one month away from spring training, and Paul is still unemployed, suggests there may be a gap between what he wants, and what teams are looking for – both in role and cost. There’s also the question of how much Goldschmidt wants to return – to the same team and GM which wouldn’t extend him, and traded him instead. According to Nick Piecoro, writing at the time of the trade to St. Louis, “Sources indicated that preliminary conversations with Goldschmidt’s camp left the Diamondbacks less than confident they would be able to reach an agreement.”
Does he hold a grudge? It doesn’t seem that the laid-back Paul we knew would be the kind to do so, instead accepting that it was (to misquote The Godfather) “not personal, Goldy – it’s strictly business.” But it doesn’t appear he is (yet) willing to bend on his demands for the season, and give a home-town discount in financial or other areas. As the trade of Goldschmidt shows, Mike Hazen makes decisions with his head, not his heart, even when these are unpopular with the fans. I don’t expect this to change: if Goldschmidt is going to be a D-back in 2026, I think it’ll be on the team’s terms. Otherwise, expect an alternative – perhaps someone like Ty France.
What do you reckon? Should the team sign Goldschmidt or not? That’s what the comments are for…
Just after I wrote that a MacKenzie Gore trade seemed unlikely, Paul Toboni pulled the trigger. He sent Gore to the Texas Rangers for a five prospect haul. While the Nats did not get Sebastian Walcott, they got five quality pieces from Texas. The return consists of SS/3B Gavin Fien, RHP Alejandro Rosario, 2B Devin Fitz-Gerald, 1B Abimelec Ortiz and OF Yeremy Cabrera.
Full trade, per ESPN sources:
Rangers get: LHP MacKenzie Gore
Nationals get: 3B Gavin Fien, SS Devin Fitz-Gerald, RHP Alejandro Rosario, 1B Abimelec Ortiz and and OF Yeremy Cabrera
A big return for the Nationals. Fien was the 12th pick last year. Evaluators love Fitz-Gerald.
The headliner of the return is Fien, who was selected 12th overall by the Rangers last year. He was a shortstop in high school, but is likely to move to third base. Fien was one of the most impressive hitters in last year’s class with a really nice blend of hitting ability and power.
Analytically inclined scouts loved Fien’s bat speed and plate discipline. While his swing is not the most traditional, he made plenty of contact on the showcase circuit. He may not be a top 100 prospect yet, but with a strong year, he can surge on to the list.
What you need to know about new Nats prospect Gavin Fien -12th overall pick in 2025 MLB Draft -Demolished top prep arms in summer before senior year, posting a 1.262 OPS -Analytics people love him for his strong plate discipline and bat speedpic.twitter.com/SOKv6ECNmV
Admittedly, this is a bit of an underwhelming headliner for Gore. However, that is the reason the Nats were able to get five interesting pieces in this deal. Toboni had a choice, he could swing big for one top 50 type prospect or get a grab bag of solid pieces. He chose the latter option, and only time will tell if he is right.
Most of my trade suggestions had the Nats going after a big name headliner, but only getting one or two other pieces. Toboni decided to do something different, which is a bit of a gamble. However, it is one that could pay off in a big way.
There is a world where Fien and Fitz-Gerald are top 100 prospects. As Jeff Passan noted, evaluators loved Fitz-Gerald. He is a switch hitter with a really nice blend of contact and power. Fitz-Gerald is not much of a defender, but scouts think he could be serviceable at second base.
Alejandro Rosario is an interesting case. He was a top 100 prospect in 2024, but went down with a torn UCL in 2025, missing the whole season. However, it has been reported that he did not get his Tommy John Surgery until a couple weeks ago and will miss all of 2026 as well. A weird situation, but if the 2024 version of Rosario returns, his upside is massive.
The squatty 5’10 230 pound Abimelec Ortiz is the fourth prospect in the deal. The 23 year old slugger hit 25 homers in the minors last year and has very good bat to ball data. He should have a chance to compete for reps at 1B or DH.
Abimelec Ortiz finished 2025 with 25 HR and a 124 wRC+ across AA and AAA. In 165 PA at AAA, he put up a .953 OPS w/ a 53.8% Hard-Hit%, .377 xwOBA, & an 88.6% Z-Contact%. He’s raked in his professional career & put up a 33 HR campaign back in 2023 in just 109 games. pic.twitter.com/MMPJ6zCv8X
The last piece is 20 year old outfielder Yeremy Cabrera. He is a speedster who also has some power upside. It is more of a throw in, but he is better than your average throw in.
Prospect rankings in Rangers’ top 30 per MLB Pipeline/Baseball America:
Overall, the package is solid, but unexpected. It is pretty similar to the Shane Baz deal that went down between the Rays and the Orioles. The Nats needed to add more depth to their farm system and they did that here. Only time will tell if this is the right move, but I am intrigued.
Forming a habit is a powerful tool. You work the new thing into your daily routine, and soon enough, it becomes automatic. That’s the dream, anyway—in reality, you have to work at it. But how long does it take to fully form a habit? Despite what you may have heard, it’s not necessarily just 21 days.
The number of days it takes to form a new habit depends on the habit, on you, and on what strategies you’re using to build and maintain that habit. Scientific estimates have ranged from as little as 21 days, to eight months or more. Let’s look at why that range is so big, and what you can do to build habits faster.
The myth of the 21 day habit
The idea that a habit takes 21 days to form came from a surgeon, Maxwell Maltz. He observed that it seemed to take about three weeks for a person to get used to their new body after an operation like amputation or plastic surgery, James Clear writes. (Having gone through a few minor surgeries, I recall that it takes between two and three weeks for pain and swelling to subside enough that you aren’t constantly thinking about the fact you just had surgery; I have to wonder if that’s related.)
The surgeon’s idea was that it takes 21 days for people to dissolve and re-form a “mental image” of themselves. This isn’t backed by research; it’s just one guy’s gut feeling. But I think it stuck because it fits a lot of our experiences.
Let’s say you want to get up early to exercise first thing in the morning. Well, of course you can do it once. But how do you make it a habit? When I was in that situation—becoming a morning exerciser despite not being a morning person—I made myself commit for a full week before I even allowed myself to complain about it or adjust my plan. I had to be up at 6 a.m. every day, five days in a row, non-negotiable. I enjoyed having a break on the weekend, and then the second week was much easier. By the end of the third, this really was my new normal. I kept it up for at least a year after that.
Even though the 21-day rule isn’t based on science, it’s a good timeframe for a “trial run” of a new habit. After all, one day can be a fluke. One or two weeks is a timeframe we’ve been through before, and we can ride out a disruption to our normal life that long (imagine a vacation, or a week’s crunch time before a work deadline). But by the time you get to three weeks, or better yet, a full month, you’ve learned some things about your new habit and how it fits into your life. Even the simplest habits are never actually simple; you need to learn and practice a bunch of mini-skills in the process of building almost any habit.
So, by that 21-day mark, you’ve done the thing a bunch of times. Importantly, you’ve likely weathered a few interruptions or obstacles (like the weekend) and gotten back on track. It’s probably a good rule of thumb for a timeframe that is long enough to feel like “real life.” But that doesn’t mean it’s enough.
Research shows it takes months to make a habit automatic
Scientific research has attempted to measure how long it takes for a habit to truly become automatic. For example, this study asked participants to choose a habit and to attach it to something they did once a day (for example, “eat a piece of fruit with lunch”). The study lasted 12 weeks. Some of the participants felt their new habit was automatic after just a few weeks; many others weren’t there yet at the end of the study. The researchers concluded that most people would form an automatic habit anywhere between two and eight months…according to a model that they calculated would only apply to 62 (about 75%) of the participants.
That’s a wide range, and we don’t know whether the rest of the people would have ever gotten to a point where the habit was automatic. The researchers also found that simpler habits (like drinking water) were quicker to become automatic than harder or more complex ones (like doing 50 sit-ups).
A 2012 review looked at several other estimates and concluded that it would make more sense to tell people to expect at least 10 weeks for their new habit to become automatic, but also that it helps a lot just to know that any habit keeps getting easier the longer you do it. Those authors point out that expecting a habit to form in 21 days can make people discouraged, and instead it’s better to focus on the payoff of “working effortfully on a new behavior for 2-3 months.”
How to form habits faster
Setting time-based commitments can be a helpful tool, like getting through the first week before changing the plan, or using your new moisturizer every day until the bottle is empty. But another school of thought holds that long-term behavior change is better described by “stages of change” than by calendar dates. There is a “contemplation” stage where you’re thinking about how you’ll do the new behavior, and a “preparation stage” where you’re gathering supplies and testing the waters—say, buying new running shoes, or taking one fitness class to see how you like it.
In some cases, a habit takes longer to form than you hope. But you may be able to get a habit to stick sooner than expected if you are intentional about the way you form the habit. Working consciously on your new habit can make it last longer, too, as we see in the maintenance stage.
What to do early on to make a new habit stick
Your initial habit-forming period—whether you want to think of it as 21 days, or 66 days, or, heck, eight months—is what behavior change psychologists call the action stage. You’ve begun the habit, but it’s not automatic yet and you might not be convinced that you’re really going to continue. In this stage, you can make your habit more likely to stick by doing the following:
Remind yourself of your motivation to do it. For example, stick your reminder card for your next dentist’s appointment on your bathroom mirror, so that you remember not just that you should floss your teeth, but also why you want to floss your teeth.
Restructure your environment to give you cues and support. For example, if you want to run every morning, set your shoes out the night before and have your spouse ask you how your run went when you return.
Build self-efficacy by celebrating your small wins. This could mean checking off the days you did the thing on a calendar, but it could also involve working toward milestones (like total number of miles run) or making benchmarks of your progress (maybe you used to do your daily pushups with your hands on a chair, but now you can do them on the floor).
Plan ahead for how you’ll maintain your habit even when you’re interrupted (more about that in a minute).
How to sustain a habit beyond the first 21 days
Once you’ve built some momentum, you’re in the maintenance stage. You’re doing the habit, and maybe it’s starting to feel automatic, or at least more of a part of your life than it used to be. In this stage, you may need to do some things like the following:
Reevaluate your plan. Is running every day still working for you? Maybe it makes more sense to make some of the runs longer and designate other days for rest, yoga, or strength training.
Think ahead to obstacles you might face. If you go on a vacation, will you continue the habit? If you end up falling off the wagon for whatever reason, how will you get back on?
Make sure your motivation is something that will continue to work for you. For example, if you found it really motivating to keep up a streak on the calendar, the real test will come when you inevitably break your streak. At that point, there needs to be something other than the streak that is keeping you at it. This is often something intrinsic: You like being the person who flosses every day. You’re excited to sign up for a race with your running partner. You’re happy that your cholesterol is down from the way you’ve been eating.
Building a habit is not a matter of white-knuckling it until you hit a magic number of days. It’s a process that takes effort the whole time, even when you’re five years in. Habits are work, but the ones that last are the ones where the work feels worthwhile.
The Texas Rangers landed the most coveted arm remaining on the trade market when they acquired MacKenzie Gore from the Washington Nationals in exchange for five prospects, the clubs announced Jan. 22.
Gore, 26, earned his first All-Star nod in 2025, and while he faded a bit in the second half, still possesses one of the most dominant left-handed arms in the game. He established career highs in strikeouts (185) and strikeouts per inning (10.4) last season for Washington.
Part of the return package includes shortstop Gavin Fien, as the No. 12 overall pick in the 2025 draft joins the No. 1 overall, Eli Willits, in Washington’s system.
The Rangers finished last season 81-81, their second consecutive non-winning season since taking the 2023 World Series. They traded second baseman Marcus Semien to the New York Mets, non-tendered slugger Adolis Garcia and have been relatively quiet this offseason otherwise.
Now, they can slot Gore between the right-handers Nathan Eovaldi and Jacob deGrom atop the rotation, giving them a potentially dominant starting pitching look.
That’s assuming Gore, whose fastball reaches 98 mph, cleans up some of his peripherals. He posted a 1.35 WHIP last season and walked 3.6 batters per nine innings. Yet after the trade of Freddy Peralta from Milwaukee to the New York Mets Jan. 21, Gore was the clear-cut best remaining arm on the trade market – and he comes with two years of club control before becoming eligible for free agency.
Gore joined Washington as one of the centerpieces of the blockbuster 2022 deal that sent Juan Soto to San Diego. While the trade worked out splendidly for the Nationals, with Gore, shortstop CJ Abrams and slugger James Wood emerging as foundational pieces, the Nationals lost 91, 91 and 96 games in the three full seasons since that deal.
In addition to Fien, a high school draftee from Temecula, Calif., the Nationals will receive right-hander Alejandro Rosario, a 24-year-old who sat out all of last season due to Tommy John surgery. Abimelec Ortiz (Class AAA outfielder, 23), Devin Fitz-Gerald (Class A infielder, 20) and Yeremy Cabrera (Class A outfielder, 20) are also headed to Washington.
MacKenzie Gore’s development was a win for the Nationals. But they didn’t have enough of those. (Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Washington Nationals are entering a new era. That means trading away some of their top players of the old era.
In their first big move under new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, the Nationals are trading All-Star starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore to the Texas Rangers, the teams announced Thursday. In return, the Nats are acquiring five prospects. That group includes third baseman Gavin Fien, the No. 12 overall pick in last year’s MLB Draft.
Here’s the Nationals’ complete haul:
We’ve acquired LHP MacKenzie Gore from the Washington Nationals in exchange for 5 minor leaguers. pic.twitter.com/1771538Isu
Gore brings a talented arm to the Rangers, with a five-pitch mix featuring a mid-90s fastball and a standout curveball. However, he has frequently struggled to keep the ball in the zone, with a walk rate that would have ranked sixth-worst among qualified MLB pitchers.
The deal is significant for the Nationals given their recent history. Alongside fellow All-Stars James Wood and C.J. Abrams, Gore was one of the central components of Washington’s return in the Juan Soto trade, which signaled the franchise’s previous window of contending was fully closed.
A down-to-the-studs rebuild ensued, with Gore intended to be one of the top starters on the Nationals’ next playoff team. Control issues have prevented him from becoming anything resembling an ace in his first four MLB seasons, but his stuff has been good enough to post at least 180 strikeouts in back-to-back seasons. He got his first career All-Star nod in 2025.
The Nationals have failed to progress into even a league-average team. Due to a completely broken player development pipeline, the franchise still has yet to win more than 71 games since its World Series title in 2019. That dysfunction saw general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez both fired during the 2025 season, with Toboni later taking over the front office and hiring 33-year-old Blake Butera as manager.
Trading away Gore essentially means the Nationals’ post-Soto rebuild has failed, if firing their GM weren’t evidence enough.
You don’t trade away a pitcher such as Gore if you think you’re anywhere close to the playoffs, which the Nationals clearly aren’t. Some of their young talent has turned into productive MLB players, particularly the Soto trade trio of Gore, Wood and Abrams, but many others, perhaps most notably 2023 No. 2 pick Dylan Crews, just aren’t there yet.
That reflects a structural issue that Washington is trying to fix under new management, but it will be a long-term process. The team dealt Gore for five players who will, hopefully, help the Nationals down the line under Toboni and Butera.
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Samsung announced the Galaxy Watch Ultra in the summer of 2024, and then refreshed it last August with double the storage and new color options. As we all know, older versions get big discounts, and if the extra storage and colors aren’t a big deal to you, you could be in a great position to get a flagship Samsung smartwatch at a big discount. The 2024 Bespoke Edition 47mm LTE Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is selling for $389.95, originally $649.99 at launch. This is the lowest price it has reached, according to price-checking tools. The Galaxy Watch Ultra emphasizes outdoor and exercise features, but it’s much cheaper than other premium fitness watches like the Apple Watch Ultra.
The Galaxy Watch Ultra excels over other watches in one key aspect: its outdoorsy features. If you’re an avid hiker or an athlete who spends long hours outdoors, it’s a great choice. Like any good rugged watch, this one is tough, made out of Grade 4 titanium, and has an IP68 water- and dust-resistant rating. You can also take it up high altitudes (up to 9,000 meters) and it can withstand up to 10ATM of pressure (about 330 feet underwater). You also get a built-in siren in case of emergencies. The screen is a 1.47-inch Super AMOLED display, brighter than previous Samsung AMOLED smartwatches. The only downside is that it comes in just one size—47mm.
The watch runs WearOS from Samsung and comes with 32GB of storage. The 590mAh battery is one of the best for its price point, making it perfect for prolonged outdoor use. If you don’t use any power-saving modes, it’ll last 60 hours, but it can go up to 100 hours if you’re conservative.
One of the new features this watch brings is AI-based health metrics and advanced sleep tracking, which you can read more about in PCMag’s “excellent” review. If you’re looking for a more budget-friendly and smaller option for more general use, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 at $217 (originally $379.99) is a great option.
