Outside the Confines: We have baseball!

I’ve been in a good mood since Opening Day started. It’s amazing that baseball is better than any antidepressant.

Also, I’m giving a big thumbs up to umpires announcing the replay decisions on the field. It’s amazing that it took MLB this long to do it.

• There was a bit of a kerfuffle yesterday as in an interview, Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. said that there was “nothing” that he’d miss about departed teammate Freddie Freeman and that he felt “picked on” by veterans like Freeman when he was a rookie back in 2018.
• Acuña downplayed the comments later and said the comments were “exaggerated” (even though they were on video). Freeman also downplayed any rift between the two and said he was just trying to uphold “organizational rules.”
• If you have ESPN+, you need to read this story from Jesse Rogers and Jeff Passan on the inside story of how the lockout ended. (ESPN+ sub. req.) If you thought you were the only one who thought we would miss at least a month of the season, this report says that most of the people doing the negotiating on both sides agreed with you.
• Everyone plays this game at the start of the season. Even we do it around here at BCB. But there are a whole collection of preseason predictions from all the staff of all the major outlets. Here are ESPN’s Preseason predictions.
• Here are Yahoo’s preseason predictions.
• Here are CBS Sports’ predictions.
• Here are Fangraphs’ predictions.
• Here are The Ringer’s predictions.
• Here are Baseball America’s predictions. (Not paywalled)
• Here are Baseball Prospectus’ predictions (Also not paywalled)
• Keith Law has his predictions for the 2022 season. (The Athletic sub. req.) Eighty-three wins for the Cubs!
• The Ringer staff also has their annual Top 25 players under 25 list.
• Mike Axisa has 22 BOLD predictions for 2022.
• Gabe Lacques has the six most “crucial” players for this season.
• Chris Cwik has 30 things to know about what happened in the offseason—and how they will affect this year.
• Commissioner Rob Manfred thinks a pitch clock is a “priority” for the 2023 season. One of the few times I agree with him.
• MLB approved the use of wearable pitch-calling devices, designed to speed up the game. Jay Jaffe explains what they are, what the players are saying about them and how they could change the game. The Cubs are not one of the 15 teams using the devices at the moment, but according to what they said during the Opening Day broadcast, they hope to use them once they get more comfortable with the system.
• One thing we did get out of the recent collective bargaining talks is incentives for teams to start top prospects in the majors to start the season. We’ll see how effective these incentives are in the future, but right now, five of the top 25 prospects were on Opening Day rosters. Jim Callis and Manny Randhawa give scouting reports on those five players.
• The Pirates have reported agreed to a record eight-year, $70 million extension with third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes. That’s the largest contract the Pirates have ever agreed to, breaking the six-year, $60 million deal that Jason Kendall signed sometime back in the 19th century. (OK, it was just the 20th Century.)
• However, the deal is contingent upon passing a physical and Hayes left the Opening Day game after landing on his wrist while diving for a ball at third. But there’s no way that injury could be serious enough to derail an eight-year deal, could it? Probably not, but these are the Pirates.
• The Red Sox and shortstop Xander Bogaerts were not able to reach a contract extension agreement before the start of the season. Bogaerts is eligible to be a free agent after this year.
• Phillies outfielder Mickey Moniak will start the season on the injured list after getting hit in the hand with a pitch. He’ll miss at least a month.
• White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada will miss at least three weeks with a strained oblique.
• There were some trades before the season started. The Twins sent lefty pitcher Taylor Rogers and outfielder Brent Rooker to the Padres for right-handed pitchers Chris Paddack and Emilio Pagan. Or the Twins could have traded for Taylor’s twin brother Tyler (who plays for the Giants) and had an actual pair of twins on the Twins, but they just aren’t that creative. Or that literal.
• The Guardians sent outfielder Bradley Zimmer to the Blue Jays for reliever Anthony Castro.
• The White Sox have signed free agent pitcher Johnny Cueto. Jay Jaffe outlines what the Pale Hose can expect out of Cueto.
• The Orioles are reportedly nearing an agreement with free agent pitcher Matt Harvey.
• The Jerusalem Post lists all the Jewish players on Opening Day rosters this year. And some that might get called up this year as well.
• Tom Verducci expects Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani to be even better this year than last. Wouldn’t that be something?
• The top 50 starting pitchers in the game. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• The mother of a boy hit with a thrown baseball in 2019 is suing the Angels.
• The Braves are “incredibly disappointed” that the State of Georgia did not legalize sports betting in the most recent legislative session. Now the kids of Georgia will be forced to bet their milk money with the shady kid at their day care center, instead of at Truist Park. Won’t someone think of the kids?
• Meanwhile, the Braves are selling a $151 hamburger at Truist Park that comes complete with a replica World Series ring. For $25,000, you can get one with the real thing.
• ESPN put a microphone on Joey Votto for Opening Night, and you just know that giving Joey Votto a microphone is going to lead to some fascinating stuff. That’s gold, Jerry! Gold!
• And finally, because MLB doesn’t do an annual tribute to those who have left us over the past year, the folks at Sully Baseball do it for them. Watch and pay tribute to the departed who helped make baseball the greatest game in the world.

And tomorrow is going to be a better day than today, Buster.