Outside The Confines: Here comes the Judge

Let’s all be excellent to each other today.

• Unfortunately, the big news in baseball right now is still the dustup over the weekend between Tim Anderson and Josh Donaldson. Donaldson was suspended for one game and given an undisclosed fine for his comments. Donaldson is appealing and wouldn’t be eligible to serve his suspension right now anyway as he’s on the COVID-19 injury list.
• Zach Crizer writes that Anderson never asked for this kind of attention, but he always “steps up to the plate,” so to speak, in such situations anyway.
• Anderson said that he had told Donaldson not to speak to him again after a previous incident back in 2019. He has not heard from the Yankees or Donaldson since this current incident.
• However, Donaldson’s teammate Aaron Judge took Anderson’s side, saying “Joke or not, I don’t think it’s the right thing to do.”
• Let’s just stick with Aaron Judge for a while, who is having an amazing season. Judge turned down a big contract extension offer from the Yankees this past winter and many thought it was a very risky move. But now Judge is flat-out dominating the league in 2022 and Neil Paine explains just how good Judge has been.
• Mike Axisa has three reasons why Judge has been so good this season.
• ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that come this winter, the Yankees are likely going to have competition from the Mets and the Giants for Judge’s services in 2023.
• Also, there was this from Judge this week. He had some water.

• Ben Clemens notes that Judge’s teammate Giancarlo Stanton weakest spot is pitches on the outside third of the plate, yet pitchers keep trying to pitch him inside.
• Over in the National League, Manny Machado is having a great season for the Padres. Ken Rosenthal explains how Machado has changed the way people look at him with his play this season. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• David Schoenfield ranks all the major free agent deals from this past winter. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• R.J. Anderson hands out grades to every MLB team at the one-quarter mark.
• Will Leitch looks at eight teams whose current record in the standings may be deceiving.
• The MLB staff at ESPN tells us which teams and which players have been “must-watch” this season.
• The “Fan Cost Index” for 2022 has come out and Bill Shea writes that the Padres, Mets, Rays and Angels give fans the best combination of price and attractive baseball. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Stacey Lastoe ranks the MLB venues that are best for a summer road trip. Yes, Wrigley is on the list.
• Anaheim mayor Harry Sidhu has resigned over pay-to-play allegations concerning a deal for a new stadium for the Angels.
• This is something that I fear that MLB is going to have to deal with more and more in the future. Jesse Dougherty, Ben Strauss and Tory Newmyer notes that the Nationals signed a five-year, $38.15 million sponsorship deal with the cryptocurrency Terra. Among other things like naming rights and signage, the Nationals are supposed to promote Terra. They were supposed to accept Terra as payment at the ballpark starting in 2023. But what happens to the deal now that Terra is completely worthless? What responsibility do the Nationals have for telling their fans to invest in a risky venture that went belly-up? By the way, the Nationals got all $38.15 million in advance, so they’re sitting pretty even after all the Terra investors got wiped out.
• Korea’s KBO and MLB are in talks to hold KBO games in the US and MLB games in South Korea. Also for some all-star tournaments like MLB has held in Japan in previous years.
• Andrew Simon looks at which NL teams are getting the most production out of their DH. And which ones wish pitchers were still hitting?
• Dan Szymborski writes that the Marlins Pablo López is the best pitcher in baseball that you’re not paying enough attention to.
• The Phillies and pitcher Zach Eflin avoided arbitration with a one-year, $5.7 million deal with a mutual option. Of course, mutual options are never picked up.
• The butcher’s bill came due and Yankees reliever Chad Green will undergo Tommy John surgery.
• Some more on the late, great Roger Angell. Jay Jaffe explains that Angell was your favorite baseball writer’s favorite baseball writer.
• Commissioner Rob Manfred met with Tampa Tarpons manager Rachel Balkovec. They talked about her trailblazing role as a manager and about the rules changes being tried out in the Florida State League.
• Sad news as former Brooklyn Dodgers catcher and Mets coach Joe Pignatano has died at the age of 92. Our sympathies go out to his family and friends.
• Giants pitcher Logan Webb talks about the death of his beloved cousin from fentanyl and how Webb is dedicated to fighting the plague of that awful drug. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Anthony Oliveri reports on the “sensory nook” at Citi Field that the Mets have put in there for autistic or ADHD fans for whom the experience of a game can be sometimes overwhelming. Or for anyone who wants to use it, really. Also on some non-baseball teams that have similar accommodations.
• Jeff Passan looks at all the things that make Johnny Cueto is the most interesting man in baseball. Actually, that’s Joey Votto, but I’m willing to accept Cueto’s nomination for the second-most interesting man in baseball.
• And finally, since today is my birthday, here are the greatest players born on May 25. Go Miguel Tejada.

Let’s just try to make tomorrow better, OK?