Outside The Confines: Another surprising managerial move

After some big managerial firings last week, not to mention some big cuts to the Yankees coaching staff, a lot of people assumed it was only a matter of time before Aaron Boone became the next ex-manager of a major league team. But this week we learned that it was quite the opposite, as the Yankees signed Boone to a three-year contract extension, which seems to indicate quite a substantial amount of faith in the skipper and what he can do for the club going forward.

Here’s the Yankees statement on the extension, as well as some key stories.

• Gary Phillips assesses the extension over at Sports Illustrated.
• Bryan Hoch reviews the deal over at MLB dot com.
• And ESPN gives us a dive into the extension as well.

Now on to the non-Boone links for the day!

• Speaking of managers, Ben Clemens gives a rating to the managers of the NLDS.
• Kevin Goldstein looks at the storm of questions around the Cardinals following the departure of Mike Shildt.
• Shildt himself had some things to say about the exit, though not much insight into the real reason he left. Katie Woo shares some comments from Shildt’s recent presser. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• With the help of a former Cub, the Red Sox have a new postseason grand slam record, shares Michael Shapiro.
• A little more on that massive Kyle Schwarber grand slam, and other historical postseason grand slams, from David Schoenfield.
• Is Instagram responsible for helping the Red Sox snag an undervalued reliever from the Yankees? Story by Gary Phillips.
• Keith Law gives an overview of some exciting prospects, and some Arizona Fall League experiments gone wrong. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• This is a pretty cool way to spend 4 minutes of your day.

• Devan Fink looks at just how well the Dodgers know Freddie Freeman.
• Max Scherzer commented on his NLCS Game 2 exit, saying “My arm was dead.” Reporting by Andrew Gastelum.
• MLB free-agent qualifying offers have actually dropped about $500,000. Story from AP.
• Buster Posey won’t have to worry about that, though, because according to AP, the Giants want to exercise his $22M club option if he wants to play another year.
• Stephen J. Nesbitt looks at the wild ride that is the Kiké Hernández experience. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Alex Cora was not impressed with the mocking of Carlos Correa, shares Ben Pickman.
• Tom Verducci would like to know if there’s anything out there that can stop the Red Sox?
• Joc Pederson would have stayed with the Dodgers, but now he’s making them pay for letting him go. Story by Andy McCullough. McCullough also offered this solid overview of why the 2021 Giants were such a special team. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• A little more on the new MLB plan to pay for player housing, from Marc Normandin.

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