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• Outside The Confines: Cold Stove

Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images The offseason is off to a slow start. A look at the market for Juan Soto, Garrett Crochet and others. A deal has been reached to stream games in market. And other news from around baseball. Good morning. You’ve already been informed of the Rays stadium plans for next season. Here are the first and second All-MLB team, if you care about that sort of thing....2024
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• Outside The Confines: Juan Soto tops the free agent market

Photo by J. Conrad Williams Jr./Newsday RM via Getty Images But what will it take to sign him? There are plenty of big names out there who have now hit the free agent market, but likely none is bigger than Yankees’ slugger Juan Soto. Soto, agented by Scott Boras, is sure to fetch a tidy sum, and plenty of teams are already making overtures to try and get him on their roster. Al will have m...2024
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• Effectively Wild Episode 2241: The Most Fascinating Free Agents and Offseason Storylines

Ben Lindbergh and FanGraphs writer Ben Clemens banter about the latest batch of Scott Boras puns, position changes for Willson Contreras and Mookie Betts, surgery for Shohei Ohtani, Skip Schumaker’s move to Texas, and Buster Posey’s front-office philosophy, then (47:21) discuss Other Ben’s top 50 free agents list—focusing on Juan Soto, Blake Snell, Corbin Burnes, […]...2024
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• Outside The Confines: Never mind

Photo by J. Conrad Williams Jr./Newsday RM via Getty Images Gerrit Cole opts out and then he doesn’t. Qualifying offers were issued. Free agents are ranked. And other news from around MLB. Good morning. You officially have my permission to call them the Sacramento A’s if you want. Or the West Sacramento A’s if you’d rather. After opting out of his contract with the Yankees, which still ha...2024
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• The Royals should seriously pursue Jurickson Profar this offseason

Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images Profar’s 2024 season was not a fluke, and the Royals need someone like him in the outfield. I wanted to look at the best fit for the Royals in free agency, but this article is running on a few assumptions. The first assumption is that the Royals will not be playing in the deepest end of the free agency pool. I would love to see Juan Soto,...2024
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• Royals Rumblings - News for November 5, 20242

Get out and vote! Anne Rogers covers the press conference announcing the Michael Wacha deal. “Not only does it bring our starting rotation back that we’re really proud of – really, our success began with starting pitching – but it brings us clarity,” Picollo said. “There’s not a whole lot for us to worry about from a pitching perspective right now. We can move onto other things that we feel like ...2024
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• Outside The Confines: Juan Soto tops the free agent market
2024

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• Effectively Wild Episode 2241: The Most Fascinating Free Agents and Offseason Storylines
2024

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• Outside The Confines: Never mind
2024

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• Royals Rumblings - News for November 5, 20242
2024

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• Outside The Confines: LA Story

Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images The Dodgers break out to a 2-0 lead in the World Series thanks to Freddie Freeman’s dramatic home run. The Yankees and Aaron Judge search for answers. And other news from the World Series and baseball. Good morning. Has anything in baseball happened since Friday? I’m going to assume you know how Game 1 ended and who won Game 2 and that Los Angeles has a two...2024
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• Braves News: Chris Sale rakes in awards, Dodgers take control, with a cost, more

Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images Atlanta Braves news and notes from Saturday The Braves’ likely Cy Young winner continues to rake in awards for one of his best seasons, as he hugely bolstered his Hall of Fame case. If you go by JAWS, Sale is within the realm of Hall of Famers, but he probably needs a couple more quality seasons to solidify himself in the hall. He is solidly below av...2024
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• Outside The Confines: Goodbye to a legend

Photo by Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela passes away. A World Series preview and other MLB news. We were all set to celebrate the World Series and the first Yankees/Dodgers Fall Classic since 1981. But first, we have to say goodbye to one of the heroes of that World Series of 43 years ago. The Los Angeles Dodgers mourn the passing of legendary pitcher Fern...2024
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• Outside The Confines: Bad blood

Photo by Harry How/Getty Images Bad blood reigns in the Dodgers/Padres series. The Tigers shocked the Guardians. And other news from around the playoffs. Good morning. I suppose it’s a good morning if you’re a Mets or Padres fan. I assume you know the scores of those games yesterday, so I’m not linking to any game recaps. I will link to the brouhaha that took place at Dodger Stadium durin...2024
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• Outside The Confines: The regular season ends*

Photo by Kevin D. Liles/Atlanta Braves/Getty Images The regular season ends, except for two makeup games today. A look back and a look ahead to the playoffs. Plus other MLB news. So in case you don’t know already or don’t want to click on the links, the Braves and Mets play their two makeup games in Atlanta today. Each team just needs to win one game to make the playoffs. So whoever wins g...2024
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• Outside The Confines: A long-awaited debut for Kumar Rocker

Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images The player is poised to make history as he prepares to make his debut. Happy Friday, everyone! We’re halfway through September, which means we only have two full weeks of regular season baseball left. There are still some questions about who will slot in for the wild card spots, and some teams who are poised to win their divisions might want to worry a bi...2024
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• Outside The Confines: Being a kid again

Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images The Little League Classic was Sunday. It was also Players Weekend. Lots of injuries and other news from around MLB. Good morning. The Tigers won last night’s Little League Classic over the Yankees, 3-2 with their youthful energy. Buster Olney tells how major leaguers learn to love the Little League Classic after participating. Melanie M...2024
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• Outside The Confines: Shohei Ohtani’s surprise wedding

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports The superstar posted the news to social media. Surprise! Shohei Ohtani has tied the knot, and for someone worth nearly a billion dollars, and a superstar athlete in both his native Japan and his present home of the US, one might expect some high-profile nuptials, but instead Ohtani has kept his wedding relatively quiet. Ohtani has married a woman from Japan ...2024
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• Chin Music, Episode 26: That’s a Cat Going Crazy
I’m back from vacation and so is co-host Ben Clemens, so let’s podcast again, shall we? We begin by talking about the good and the bad from the Field Of Dreams game, some silly comments from Mets management about player injuries, and why MLB (and everyone else for that matter) should avoid partnering with Barstool […]...2021
• Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat – 8/9/21
Back from vacation, it's time for another chat. Want to banter about the Mets' meltdown or whatever else catches your eye? Let's talk about it!...2021

2024
"Ben Clemens is already wondering why this season’s bad teams are SO bad, and the season hasn’t even started yet."

2023
"FanGraphs has looked at this periodically and for the 2022 season, Ben Clemens used their methodology to estimate that teams were paying $8."

2022
"At least one analyst I trust believes in the breakout, Ben Clemens at FanGraphs looked at Swanson’s ZiPs projections and percentile outcomes going forward."

2021
"The most significant players to hit the open market this offseason, as compiled by Ben Clemens and the FanGraphs staff."

• Outside The Confines: Cold Stove
2024

Click for news about Juan Soto salary rumors
• Outside The Confines: Juan Soto tops the free agent market
2024

Read about Juan Soto
• Effectively Wild Episode 2241: The Most Fascinating Free Agents and Offseason Storylines
2024

Click for news about Ben Lindbergh
• Outside The Confines: Never mind
2024

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• The Royals should seriously pursue Jurickson Profar this offseason
2024

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• Royals Rumblings - News for November 5, 20242
2024

See more articles Anne Rogers
• BCB After Dark: How big is the Cubs’ budget?

Photo by Brandon Sloter/Image Of Sport/Getty Images The late-night/early-morning spot for Cubs fans asks if you think the Cubs will sign a free agent for more than $100 million in total value this winter. It’s another week here at BCB After Dark, the coolest club for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. So glad that you could join us. We’re officially in the offseaso...2024
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• Outside The Confines: Let the games begin!

Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images The 2024 World Series begins tonight, and it will be a clash of titans. The World Series is here! And depending on who you ask, it’s either the most boring (but TV-friendly) match-up possible, or a veritable clash of titans with some of baseball’s greatest sluggers duking it out. However you feel about it, most of us will be tuning in and enjoying ...2024
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• Outside The Confines: Goodbye to a legend
2024

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• Outside The Confines: Fall Classic

Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images A thrilling ALCS game keeps the Guardians hopes alive. The Dodgers take control of the NLCS. Last night’s American League Championship Series game was good, but I take issue with this: Saw Tom Hamilton leaving the radio booth tonight. ‘You will not ever see a better game than that,’ he said. He’s called a lot of baseball games. Tough to argue with that...2024
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• Outside The Confines: Juan Soto tops the free agent market
2024

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• The Royals should seriously pursue Jurickson Profar this offseason
2024

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• Outside The Confines: Stayin’ alive!

Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images The Yankees' slump was one for the ages, but they still have a chance. The World Series seems as if it only just started, and now it might just get interesting. Don’t call it a comeback! But do call it a comeback. Lots of experts had all but counted the Yankees out after a 3-0 Series start from the Dodgers. Despite a slumping performance ...2024
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• Outside The Confines: Bad blood
2024

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• Outside The Confines: The postseason has begun!

Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images The annual postseason tournament got under way, and other MLB news and notes. It’s October! And that means that postseason ball is here, and it’s already proving to be as interesting as one could hope, with the Tigers and Royals both winning the first game in their series, which means if things continue on this course, we might have an ALDS that is three-qu...2024
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• Effectively Wild Episode 2225: The White Sox Unfun-Fact-Off
In (dis)honor of the 2024 White Sox displacing the 1962 Mets atop the modern-era single-season losses leaderboard, Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, FanGraphs’ Ben Clemens, and Yahoo Sports’s Jordan Shusterman conduct a draft of facts and stats about this record-setting Sox season, scored by Sox Machine White Sox reporter James Fegan, who also describes covering the […]...2024
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• Outside The Confines: The regular season ends*
2024

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• Effectively Wild Episode 2221: 50-50 Shot
Ben Lindbergh and FanGraphs’ Ben Clemens dissect the glorious game in which Shohei Ohtani founded the 50-50 and 51-51 Clubs, Ohtani’s most awe-inspiring feats, and his future, followed (29:51) by banter about the state of defensive stats, the mystery of Salvador Perez’s swing decisions, questionable kudos for Bud Black, whether Victor Robles made the worst […]...2024
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• Outside The Confines: In a club of one

Photo by Harry How/Getty Images Shohei Ohtani is constantly making history. Happy Monday, friends (and happy birthday to me!). Hope your weekends were lovely and you’re ready to jump into some news updates. Over the weekend, Shohei Ohtani joined the unique tier of players as the only person to join the 46-46 club (and seems poised to potentially hit the 50-50 club). In other news, some big...2024
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• Royals Rumblings - News for August 7, 2024

Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images Bobby wants his Marriott points. Kiley McDaniel at ESPN Insider updates his farm system rankings, with the Royals still at #26 like they were before the year. (h/t Jacob Milham) Caglianone is the clear star of the draft class, but David Shields is a breakthrough candidate to track closely as he could take off if his stuff takes the jump many scouts e...2024
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• Outside The Confines: Cold Stove
2024

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• Outside The Confines: Never mind
2024

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• BCB After Dark: How big is the Cubs’ budget?
2024

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• Outside The Confines: LA Story
2024

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• Outside The Confines: Tropicana Field devastated by Hurricane Milton

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images The Tampa Bay Rays may need a new stadium sooner than expected. Hurricane Milton, the fifth hurricane this year to make landfall in the US, and following shortly on the heels of Hurricane Helene was always going to be a destructive force in the Tampa Bay area, but in the aftermath of the brutal winds, there was an unexpected victim to the devastation: the ...2024
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• Outside The Confines: Iconic October baseball is upon us

Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images This postseason is shaping up to be a fun one. Happy Monday everyone! We’ve already had plenty of excitement this postseason, with some unexpected winners in the Wild Card series, and some intense games to start off the Divison series. Today we’re going to look at an incredible home run robbery played off as a trick, a game-changing home run, and “pitc...2024
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• Outside The Confines: The postseason has begun!
2024

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• Outside The Confines: So long, Oakland.

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images The A’s said goodbye to their Coliseum home. Thursday afternoon, the Oakland Athletics played their final game in Oakland, and it was the end of an era. The A’s have not always been an Oakland-based team (they started in Philadelphia before heading to Kansas City), but they’ve been in Oakland since 1968. Now, mismanagement and other frustrating motivations w...2024
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• Outside The Confines: A long-awaited debut for Kumar Rocker
2024

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• Outside The Confines: In a club of one
2024

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• Money talks: Craig Counsell will be the next manager of the Chicago Cubs

Craig Counsell and David Ross shake hands on Opening Day at Wrigley Field in 2022 | Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports There are some really interesting financial elements informing this decision In early December 2021 I was grumbling to myself about free agent signings and deals right before the lockout as I was walking to get coffee. It was right after now World Series champions Marcus Semien ...2023
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• The Dansby Swanson signing by the numbers
Dansby Swanson takes an at bat last June at Wrigley Field | Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images The Cubs landed the last of the big four shortstops. When I posted about the Dansby Swanson signing on social media I said the seven-year $177 million deal was very reasonable, dare I say, “intelligent spending,” given the shortstop market we’ve seen this year. One of my friends, Cubs fan James Lo...2022
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• Outside The Confines: Twist of fate! Carlos Correa to the Mets
Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports Carlos Correa spurns the Giants for the Mets. The second-tier free agents start to sign. And other news from around MLB. This shocking news that Carlos Correa has just signed with the Mets broke after midnight on the West Coast last night. I assume this is for real, although Heyman was the man who reported that Aaron Judge signed with the Giants. This does seem...2022
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• How to watch the Royals in 2023
A detailed view of a Bally Sports microphone laying on the field after being used for an interview prior to the Spring Training game between the Detroit Tigers and the Washington Nationals at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium on March 8, 2023 in Lakeland, Florida. The Tigers defeated the Nationals 2-1. | Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images Royals games on your screen!...2023
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• Outside The Confines: A good old-fashioned trade
Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images The Twins and Marlins make a deal based on needs and not contracts. An Oakland legend passes. A look back at free agency and more news from around MLB. I remember when a team trading a batting champion would have been a huge deal. The last player traded the offseason after winning a batting title was Rod Carew back in 1979. The Minnesota Twins traded s...2023
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• Outside The Confines: The Tigers claim the voice of the White Sox

Photo by Ron Vesely/MLB Photos via Getty Images This might be the best offseason move yet. Well, one of the biggest moves of the offseason has nothing to do with players, or even with the shuffle of managers. The Detroit Tigers announced today that after Bally Sports Detroit parted ways with Matt Shepard the new play-by-play announcer for the season will be none other than White Sox great ...2023
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• Outside The Confines: Behind the dish no more
Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images A former friend is going through some changes. Happy Monday everyone! The big stories over the weekend were the news that the floundering Cardinals are making a bit of a change about where former Cub Willson Contreras will be playing going forward; Royals pitcher Ryan Yarbrough experienced a scary moment on the mound; a former A’s MVP has passed away; ...2023
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• Outside The Confines: The A’s Opera House

Oakland Athletics The A’s unveil their plans for a Las Vegas stadium and it looks... similar to something else The A’s moving to Las Vegas has been a limbo-state story for months now. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of certainty about when or if the A’s are moving, because right now they’re still in Oakland and exploring ways to extend their stay, but they have also unveiled stadium renderi...2024
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3086. Ben Clemens

• Outside The Confines: No Rays of sunshine

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images Things are going wrong fast for the Rays. Also the Angels, who bet big on one last year with Shohei Ohtani. And other news from around MLB Just a few months ago, the Tampa Bay Rays were the biggest story in the game for the best start to a season since the 1984 Tigers. Now, they’re the biggest story in the game for not-as-pleasant reasons. The Tampa Bay Ray...2023
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• Outside The Confines: Correa returned to sender?
Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images The Carlos Correa sweepstakes seem poised to end where they began. Sometimes during the offseason (and I’ve done it here myself), we like to post tweet updates showing the wild and wacky path taken by minor league players bouncing from team to team via DNF and signing. Well, I don’t think anyone expected the wildest ride of free agency...2023
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• Outside The Confines: Cold Stove
2024

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• Outside The Confines: Juan Soto tops the free agent market
2024

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• Outside The Confines: Never mind
2024

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• Royals Rumblings - News for November 5, 20242
2024

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• BCB After Dark: How big is the Cubs’ budget?
2024

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• Outside The Confines: Stayin’ alive!
2024

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• Outside The Confines: LA Story
2024

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• Braves News: Chris Sale rakes in awards, Dodgers take control, with a cost, more
2024

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• Outside The Confines: Let the games begin!
2024

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• Outside The Confines: Goodbye to a legend
2024

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• Outside The Confines: Juan Soto tops the free agent market
2024

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• Outside The Confines: Bad blood
2024

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• Outside The Confines: A long-awaited debut for Kumar Rocker
2024

Visit the page Kumar Rocker scandal
• Outside The Confines: Welcome to August

Photo by Gene Wang/Getty Images The tail end of the season has begun. Welcome to August, friends, the tail end of the season is here, and we’re still reeling from the big (and small) moves of the trade deadline. Today’s links are heavy on trade deadline reviews, plus looking at the unfortunate end of Mike Trout’s 2024 season, an update on what’s happening with Freddie Freeman’s family, and...2024
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• Outside The Confines: It’s now or never

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images A look ahead at the trade deadline and the draft. And other news from around MLB. Good morning. As we get to the All-Star Break, some teams started great and then sank like a stone (the Cubs) and others started out poorly and then got hot with the weather. John Denton looks at how the Cardinals turned their season around. Dayn Perry has three reasons the...2024
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• Outside The Confines: One month down

Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images At the end of baseball’s first month, things are starting to take shape. It seems impossible that a full month of baseball has passed us by. It feels like only yesterday we were celebrating Opening Day, and now we’re getting to a point where it might be time to stop saying “small sample size” as an excuse. The Dodgers aren’t a shocker as the NL West le...2024
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• Outside The Confines: The Yankees bid farewell to John Sterling

Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images The iconic radio voice of the team announced his sudden departure this week. On Monday, with no preamble, the Yankees announced that their long-time radio play-by-play announcer John Sterling was calling it a career, and his last game in the booth was behind him. The 85-year-old called 5,420 regular season games over his long career. Sterling cited the s...2024
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• Outside The Confines: A new chapter in the Ippei Mizuhara betting scandal

Photo by Masterpress/Getty Images A freshly released criminal complaint offers shocking details in the betting scandal. Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for Shohei Ohtani has been charged with bank fraud after stealing $16 million from Ohtani. In a newly publicized criminal complaint, texts were released between Mizuhara and his bookie, as well as details regarding how much he won (a...2024
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• Outside The Confines: Rob Manfred has an expiration date

Photo by Mike Carlson/MLB Photos via Getty Images Rejoice, baseball fans, we now have an idea of when the Manfred era will end. If we’re being honest, the role of MLB Commissioner is not an enviable one. The job, by its very nature, is inclined to create ire among fans, as the person in charge is trying to appease fans, players, but mostly owners, and the goals of those three groups rarely...2024
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• BCB After Dark: How much for Bellinger?

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports The late-night/early-morning spot for Cubs fans asks how much money is Cody Bellinger going to get? We’re open again here at BCB After Dark: the hippest hangout for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in out of the chill air. Things are warm in here. Friends, new and old, are all welcome. There’s no cover charge. We still have a ...2024
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