Outside The Confines: So what ELSE happened this week?

The biggest news of the week so far has been Cubs-related, so of course a lot of the discourse out there right now is about the decision of Theo Epstein to leave the Cubs a season earlier than expected. That story, naturally, has been covered in depth here already and this links post is about everything BUT the Cubs (okay, unless it’s about Fergie Jenkins), so we won’t be talking about the Theo Decision here today.

What’s left, of course, is more discussion about Kim Ng, the announcement of Mike Clevinger’s Tommy John surgery, and a lot of discussion about free agency.

• Olivia Witherite shares how meaningful it has been to see someone who looks like her take a GM role in Kim Ng. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Bradford Doolittle ranks the potential landing places for Francisco Lindor in a trade.
• J.T. Realmuto could very well be the best free agent available this offseason, and Tom Verducci has some ideas of where he might sign,
• Dayn Perry is likewise looking to potential likely suitors for the top 10 free agents this year.
• The staff of MLB.com have a roundtable discussion to chat about the most feasible options for D.J. LeMahieu.
• Rachael McDaniel looks at the incredible importance of the Kim Ng signing for both women and Asian-Americans in and around baseball.
• Matt Martell has five free agent bargains every team should be considering.
• I hear this Wander Franco guy might be pretty good.

• Nick Groke looks at the seven long years Daniel Bard was away from the majors. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• The 2021 Hall of Fame Ballot was released on Monday and David Schoenfield breaks down who is on it this year.
• The Padres both re-signed and then lost Mike Clevinger by offering him an extension even as he announced he was getting Tommy John surgery. R.J. Anderson digs into the steps the Padres need to take this offseason to counter the loss.
• MLB.com gets into the finer details of the top contenders of the 2021 Hall of Fame ballot.
• Craig Edwards looks at how the Padres lost and kept Mike Clevinger at the same time.
• The Cubs cancelled their winter Convention a while back and other 2021 baseball fan events are also being cancelled.

• The KBO finalists have been selected, here’s everything you need to know about how to watch the final games of the season.
• Sandy Alderson is back with the Mets in hopes of completing some unfinished business. Story by Marc Carig and Tim Britton. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Ken Griffey Jr. is now a part owner of the Seattle Sounders, because what former baseball hero doesn’t want to own a soccer team? Story by Michael Clair.
• Jayson Stark has five key things to watch with the new Hall of Fame ballot. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• JAWS creator Jay Jaffe is already getting into his thoughts on the Hall of Fame candidates in his first year of voting.
• Mookie Betts... the Harlem Globetrotter? Matt Monagan explains.
• Seeing Minor League clubs lose their affiliate status is a lot sadder than anticipated.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.