Outside the Confines: Losing his halo

Your thrice-weekly collection of MLB news links, delivered fresh and at no extra charge.

• So Joe Maddon was fired as manager of the Angels after a 12-game losing streak (that’s now 13 games). We’ve already covered that story here.
• Sam Blum sums up everything we know about the decision to fire Maddon. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Dylan Hernández reports that this decision to fire Maddon was general manager Perry Minasian and that he better have made the right call.
• Ken Rosenthal got an interview with the now ex-Angels, Cubs and Rays manager. (The Athletic sub. req.) Maddon says he still wants to manage.
• Several writers for The Athletic offer their takes on Maddon’s firing and the dysfunction in Anaheim. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Nick Selbe writes that Maddon’s firing is just another sign of the deep instability in the Angels organization under owner Arte Moreno.
• Zach Crizer looks at how a hot start for the Angels turned into a disastrous (now) 13-game losing streak.
• Buster Olney writes that things behind the scenes between the Angels and Joe Maddon have not been good for a while. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• If you want some good news for the Angels, at least they look terrific in their new City Connect uniforms.
• The Angels are the second team to fire their manager in less than a week after the Phillies let Joe Girardi go. They’ve been playing well and winning since interim manager Rob Thompson took over. Hannah Keyser wonders if the Phillies are winning because things are more fun now that Girardi is gone.
• The Phillies won last night because they came back in the ninth inning when they hit two home runs off of Brewers closer Josh Hader. It was the first runs that Hader had allowed in 40-straight appearances and his first blown save in 32 attempts. Those 40-straight appearances tied a record.
• One of the reason the Phillies have struggled in recent years is that their farm system has been terrible. But John Fisher writes that there is finally good news for Philadelphia coming out of the minors.
• Brittany Ghiroli has a list of candidates for the Phillies manager position. (The Athletic sub. req.) Joe Maddon is on the list.
• The Astros have signed outfielder Yordan Álvarez to a six-year, $115 million extension.
• Astros pitcher Héctor Neris was suspended for four games and manager Dusty Baker for one game after Neris hit one Mariners batter and then started a bench-clearing brawl. Neris is appealing his suspension.
• As long as we’re on the Astros:

• Dan Szymborski writes that the next two weeks are crucial for the Blue Jays.
• Aaron Gleeman writes that the Twins are better off, both on- and off-the-field, now that Josh Donaldson is no longer on the team. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• A trade candidate for each team. Hey, the Cubs have a candidate that’s not Willson Contreras.
• Justin Choi notes that MLB hitters aren’t struggling against high fastballs like they used to.
• Did MLB do something to the baseball in May? Probably. A thread.
• Jesse Rogers speaks to players about defensive shifts and their feelings about rules changes that would ban them.
• The Diamondbacks have signed former Cy Young Award-winner Dallas Keuchel to a minor-league deal.
• Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru explains how Yankee infielder Gleyber Torres is having a comeback season.
• Edwin Encarnacion became the 11th Met in history to hit for the cycle and the first one ever to do so at Petco Park in San Diego.
• And finally, Division II University of Tampa kept their season alive when they pulled off the “KK” (named for Kevin Kiermaier) trick play. Adam Berry explains it all.

And let tomorrow be a better day than today, Buster.