Outside The Confines: We’re still not 100 percent confident

We made it through the week and managed to be convinced a deal was near done and then unconvinced very shortly after. Is this what it feels like to be Rob Manfred? But without the power to make serious decisions over the game?

Now there’s a great debate between 60 and 70 games, and whether or not either side actually comes to an agreement some time before September.

Now onward to the news!

• Tim Brown points out that if Tony Clark and Rob Manfred can’t even agree on agreeing they might not be able to make a deal work.
• Want something actually positive? Japanese baseball is poised to start and C. Trent Rosencrans has the primer you need. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Matthew Trueblood has an incredible piece on the barriers that keep more Black players from the catcher position. (Baseball Prospectus subscription required.)
• “When and where” is the new rallying cry of baseball players, and Emma Baccellieri says it might be what the season needs.
• If a season does happen, Ben Clemens says an expanded postseaon might be inevitable.
• More self-promotion! I covered the best names out of the 2020 amateur draft over at Bless You Boys.
• Laura Armstrong shares a non-baseball story of her experience as a food bank volunteer at Rogers Centre.
• A unique Mickey Mantle note is for sale and featured at TMZ.
• Mark Saxon asks the question of what it might have looked like if the Browns and not the Cardinals had become St. Louis’s team. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• The DH may soon become the standard, according to Craig Calcaterra.
• Tony Wolfe has an ode to R.A. Dickey at FanGraphs.
• At SI.com Tom Verducci explains that the MLB and MLBPA must come to an agreement.
• What’s near-perfect Armando Galarraga up to?

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