Outside The Confines: A Wild finish

We can all blame the Red Sox and Yankees for ruining all the fun we were planning to have today with Wild Card Chaos. The Mariners didn’t help out much either. Only the Blue Jays did their job, but it wasn’t enough without Boston or New York helping.

• I’m going to assume you all know which ten teams made the playoffs by now and who the four Wild Cards are. Will Leitch gives you a reason to cheer for each of the remaining teams, now that the Cubs aren’t continuing this season. This was published before yesterday, so he also gives reasons to cheer for the Blue Jays and Mariners.
• Leitch also ranks the top 50 players in the 2021 playoffs. No Blue Jays or Mariners in this one.
• And Anthony Castrovince ranks all ten pitching staffs of the postseason.
• The staff at ESPN.com list all the things they’re excited to see about the early rounds of the playoffs this year.
• Lindsey Adler looks at the Yankees rollercoaster 2021 season, (The Athletic sub. req.) culminating in Aaron Judge’s walk-off RBI single to put the team in the playoffs.
• Shortstop Gio Urshela made a terrific catch diving into the Rays dugout during Sunday’s Wild Card-clinching win.
• Zach Kram has 17 reasons why the Cardinals ripped off a 17-game winning streak and made the playoffs.
• Neil Paine has a “burning” question that each World Series contender must answer. There might be an ointment for that.
• Now for the teams that fell short. Ken Rosenthal, Dennis Lin and Eno Sarris have a pretty damning portrait of a dysfunctional Padres organization. (The Athletic sub. req.) While manager Jayce Tingler is expected to take the fall, this report puts the problem clearly on general manager A.J. Preller.
• Matt Snyder looks at the possibility that Bruce Bochy will come out of retirement to manage the Padres. He appears to be San Diego’s top choice, but there are conflicting reports as to whether or not he would be interested.
• Mike Axisa notes that with the Mariners having been eliminated from playoff contention on Sunday, the M’s playoff drought streak has now reached 20 years, the longest of any team in a major North American professional sports league.
• But Jerry Brewer notes that even though Seattle fell short, the 2021 Mariners brought joy back to baseball in the Emerald City.
• Believe it or not, the second-longest playoff drought in MLB belongs to the Phillies. R.J. Anderson lists ten things Philadelphia needs to do in the off-season to make the playoffs next season.
• The Dodgers did make the playoffs, but set a record for second-place teams with 106 wins. Jeff Eisenberg looks at the incredible pennant race in the NL West and how the Dodgers are still in high spirits after finishing second.
• The Dodgers suffered a bigger blow on Sunday when first baseman Max Muncy was injured. There’s no report on how serious it was, but manager Dave Roberts said Muncy was “unlikely” that Muncy will play in the Wild Card game or in the National League Division Series, should Los Angeles advance.
• And pitcher Clayton Kershaw suffered an elbow injury earlier last week and is probably lost for the playoffs. Andy McCullough notes that if this is the end of Kershaw’s career, either with the Dodgers or altogether, he managed to accomplish everything he needed to before his arm gave out. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• The Yankees also got a bad break as infielder DJ LeMahieu went on the injured list with hip discomfort. He’s out at least for the Wild Card game and any possible ALDS.
• Jay Jaffe looks at what the Brewers are losing now that reliever Devin Williams is out until at least the World Series after breaking his pitching hand punching a wall.
• The season is over and we still don’t know who is going to win the NL Most Valuable Player Award. Jay Jaffe looks at where the race stands as of last last week. I don’t think anyone did anything in the final weekend to emerge as a favorite.
• On the other hand, Angels two-way player Shohei Ohtani is the overwhelming favorite to win the AL MVP. On Sunday, Ohtani said he was “very open” to signing a long-term contract extension with the Angels.
• The Diamondbacks’ Josh VanMeter hit a walk-off home run on Sunday to beat the Rockies and Arizona avoids setting a franchise record for losses. Unfortunately for the D-Backs, that means that the Orioles will get the first pick in next year’s draft instead of Arizona.
• Who won all the major league statistical crowns in 2021?
• And finally, Dan Connelly has a profile of trailblazing Orioles broadcaster Melanie Newman (The Athletic sub. req.) and the obstacles she faced as she became one of the few women broadcasters in baseball.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. There’s no baseball today, for example.