Outside The Confines: ‘Twas the day before baseball

‘Twas the day before baseball,
And all through the league
Not a pitcher was sleeping,
‘Til they found their long sleeves.

The helmets were hung,
In the dugout with care
Knowing the players
Soon would be there.

The fans were all checking
The mobile phone queues
In hopes of a deal
In section 22.

And Sara in her jersey,
Al and Duane in their caps
Ash, Tim, and Josh rising
From our long offseason naps...

Merry Opening Day Eve to all!

On to today’s links!

• Not a great sign when you run out of pitchers BEFORE the season starts.

• Ben Clemens sums up the Jays and White Sox swap of their backup catchers. He also looks at the Austin Meadows/Isaac Paredes trade between the Tigers and Rays.
• Adam Berry gives five compelling reasons why the Rays moved Meadows now.
• Before you assume the Rays are just dumping salary, though... they signed a $19 million extension with Manuel Margot. (AP)
• Though he says fertility treatments were to blame, Pedro Severino has still be suspended for 80 games for a positive PED test. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Anti-sign stealing technology will be allowed during the coming year, reports Zach Koons.
• Jay Jaffe looks at the Ohtani rule, and other changes we may see through the season.
• The SI staff do their best to predict the outcomes of the 2022 season.
• The Ringer has done a pre-season power ranking, assembled by Michael Baumann.
• And naturally, The Athletic writers have their picks for who will take home the big awards at the end of the year. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Feel like you missed some of what went down this offseason during the two different wild hot stove flurries? ESPN has you covered with their staff summary.
• Young phenom Bobby Witt Jr has made the Royals Opening Day roster, shares Nick Selbe.
• Who are the must-see players of 2022? MLB dot com has a list for you.
• Sarah Langs has also put together a list of upcoming potential milestones we may want to watch for.
• Theo Epstein shares his vision for the future of baseball with Jayson Stark. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• The MLBPA gave $50,000 to minor league players last November, according to their financial disclosure. (AP)
• The lockout may be over and games starting soon, but that doesn’t mean players aren’t still watching what owners do and what they say, writes Andy McCullough. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• For anyone who was no great fan of Joe Buck’s reign announcing World Series games, it has now come to an end. Zach Koons shares the report that Joe Davis will be taking over the hot seat from Buck this year.
• Dan Moore spotlights what happens to cities when they lose sports franchises, with an eye on Oakland and their stadium struggles.
• This was certainly one kind of solution...

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