Outside The Confines: Hey now, you’re an All-Star

I think I’ve used that headline before. I’m not the most original of thinkers.

• The rosters for the All-Star Game were announced. Both starters and reserves.
• The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani got picked twice, once as a designated hitter and once as a pitcher. Both Contreras brothers got selected as well.
• Jay Jaffe, however, writes that Ohtani’s pitching abilities have outshone his hitting this season.
• Sarah Langs has 15 nuggets of knowledge about the All-Star Game rosters. That sounds better than “stats and facts” like she wrote.
• Andy McCullough and Stephen J. Nesbitt have some tips on what to watch for at the All-Star Game. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• A round-table discussion on who should be the starting pitchers for each league.
• Fabian Ardaya makes the case that Clayton Kershaw should start for the National League. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• David Schoenfield looks at who is a surprising All-Star, who got snubbed and other thoughts on the roster. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• The wife of Giants pitcher Carlos Rodón is in disbelief that her husband didn’t make the squad. She’s got a point.
• Gabe Lacques has six All-Star “snubs” that could still end up playing in the game. And Rodón’s not on his list.
• The new collective bargaining agreement gives the commissioner the power to add one player on to each league’s roster in recognition of their “career” achievements. So Rob Manfred named the Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera and the Cardinals’ Albert Pujols to their respective league rosters. Can’t argue with that one.
• Jeffrey Paternostro and Jarrett Seidler tell you what you need to know about every minor league prospect in the Futures Game. Including the Cubs’ own Pete Crow-Armstrong.
• There was a trade that would have been huge had it happened five years ago. The Padres traded second baseman Robinson Canó to the Braves for cash considerations. Canó had been playing for the Padres Triple-A team in El Paso.
• More Padres news as Jurickson Profar was released from the hospital after suffering a concussion and a neck strain in a violent collision with teammate C.J. Abrams.
• Sad news. Ted Nichols-Payne, a longtime engineer for the Texas Rangers radio broadcasts, died after collapsing outside the stadium on Sunday. He was only 56. Our condolences go to the Nichols-Payne family, friends and the Rangers organization.
• Zachary Silver looks that the Orioles options with the number one pick in the draft.
• The Orioles also have an eight-game winning streak for the first time since 2005. Let’s see who Baltimore plays next. . . . Cripes.
• The Reds beat the Rays on Friday with a rare walk-off balk. When they were a Cubs farm team, the Eugene Emeralds won a Northwest League title on a walk-off balk.
• Jake Mailhot writes that Angels pitcher Patrick Sandoval has a problem with his fastball.
• Jayson Stark has his choices for the MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year of the first half, as well as the Least Valuable Player and the Cy Yuk Awards. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• R.J. Anderson has some trade rumors including the Yankees interest in trading for Royals outfielder Andrew Benintendi and trading away third baseman Joey Gallo.
• Ken Rosenthal has ten teams that might trade away a starting pitcher by the deadline. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Mike Axisa notes that the Braves’ Matt Olson is on-pace to be the first player since 1936 to hit 60 doubles in a season.
• Jorge Castillo explains the problems and issues that MLB and the MLB Players Association are having agreeing on an international draft. They’re supposed to agree to one by July 24, per the new CBA.
• Louis Keene examines Team Israel’s chances in the “Pool of Death” in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Israel is in a group with the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and one more qualifying team. Yeah, that’s an ugly group to be in.
• Matthew Roberson asks MLB players how much baseball do they watch when they’re not playing? The answer is usually “not much,” but only because they’re too busy to sit down and watch a game.
• Hayes Gardner writes about a researcher who discovered letters written by Archibald “Moonlight” Graham (of Field of Dreams fame) in the files of a Baltimore medical school.
• Growing up in Venezuela, Billy Russo dreamed of playing for the White Sox. He never got that dream, but he did grow up to be the translator for the White Sox. Russo talks with Mack Liederman about his life and what he does with the Pale Hose.
• And finally, staying with Venezuela, Rockies outfielder Yonathan Daza tells Danielle Allentuck how baseball saved his life, taking him from the slums of Maracy, Venezuela to the United States and the major leagues.

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