Outside The Confines: Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

It seems like big changes are coming to baseball today.

• The Competition Committee is expected to vote today to adopt new rules regarding a pitch clock, limiting “disengagements” (stepping off the mound, throwing to a base), shifting infielders and larger bases. (The Athletic sub. req). Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal has all the details.
• Here’s a less-detailed but not paywalled article on the rules changes by Jesse Rogers. All these rules are expected to pass.
• Jeff Passan also outlines how the $50 million bonus pool for non-arbitration eligible players will be distributed. Again, Ken Rosenthal goes into a more detailed explanation of the bonus pool behind The Athletic’s paywall.
• The MLB Players Association has claimed that over 50 percent of minor leaguers have returned authorization cards for the formation of a union for minor leaguers. The MLBPA has asked MLB to voluntarily recognize the MLBPA as the official representative of minor leaguers. It’s expected that MLB will decline and force a union authorization vote. Michael Baumann looks at the pros and cons of MLB recognizing the union and argues that it may be to MLB’s benefit to just skip the bruising union vote. At least if they think there is a good chance they are going to lose, of course.
• Oh, and here’s a headache MLB doesn’t need. Two teenage ball players are suing the Angels in the Dominican Republic after they claim that the team backed out of seven-figure bonus deals that had been agreed to when they were 14 and 15 years old. This happens a lot, but it’s the first time a broken deal has ended up in court.
• Back to what’s actually happening on the field, Will Leitch ranks the six most compelling playoff races.
• David Schoenfield does the same thing in ranking the playoff races. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• Cardinals Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina tied the record for most career starts as battery mates at 324. In case you were wondering who the old record-holders were, it was the Tigers’ Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan.
• Hannah Keyser looks at Cardinal Albert Pujols’ chase to hit 700 home runs before he retires at the end of the year and remarks that the fact that Pujols doesn’t much care whether he reaches the milestone is what makes it exciting.
• Ben Clemens tries to estimate if and when Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge will hit home runs number 60, 61 and 62 this year. So if you are hoping to see Judge break Maris’ American League record in person, this is the article to read.
• David Von Drehle, a self-described Roger Maris fan, is thrilled and inspired by Judge’s pursuit of Maris’ mark.
• While Judge has continued to hit home runs, the rest of the Yankees haven’t done as well. Mike Axisa has four things that the Yanks need to do to snap out of their funk.
• Jay Jaffe looks at the historic season Angels two-way player Shohei Ohtani is having and where Ohtani stands in the AL MVP and Cy Young Award chases.
• David Adler looks at who are the favorites for the two Rookie of the Year awards.
• Jeff Passan and David Schoenfield debate on which players have graduated into stardom in 2022. (ESPN+ sub. req.) Meaning, which players are “stars” after their 2022 seasons who weren’t before?
• Douglas Clawson explains how the surging Braves have caught the Mets in the NL East race.
• Jay Jaffe writes don’t blame the Mets for blowing the lead as the Braves have just been playing out of their minds. But despite the Mets problems, the Mets shouldn’t be counted out as NL East favorites.
• Famous Mets fan Jerry Seinfeld weirdly blamed closer Edwin Díaz’s entrance song for the Mets recent troubles.
• Joon Lee explains how Díaz went from the Mets’ zero to the Mets hero.
• As Cubs fans, you are familiar with the ups and downs of Dodgers closer Craig Kimbrel. Recently, Kimbrel has been very “up” and in fact, he has not allowed a hit since he changed his entrance music to “Let it Go.”
• Zach Crizer explains how the Dodgers built a pitching staff strong enough to withstand several key injuries.
• R.J. Anderson has three reasons why the Guardians are in first place.
• Dayn Perry lists three reasons why the Padres are unlikely to collapse again this season.
• Ken Rosenthal looks at the renaissance of the Orioles, their 2019 draft and what they plan to do this winter. (The Athletic sub. req) Also other notes from around baseball.
• Gabe Lacques looks at how Blue Jays’ pitcher Alek Manoah has established himself as the ace of a team that is looking to do damage in the playoffs.
• Matt Gelb looks at how Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto is defying the ravages of time as he is not getting older, he’s getting better. (The Athletic sub. req)
• Here’s the hottest pitching prospect on every team.
• Talk show host Doug Gottlieb has officially retracted and apologized for a report that he made about Freddie Freeman’s former agent Casey Close.
• White Sox manager Tony La Russa, who has been on leave for unspecified medical reasons, may return to managing the team early next week.
• Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz was hospitalized for an injury to . . . well, just check it out yourself. Don’t worry. There are no pictures of the injury there.
• Hall-of-Famer Ty Cobb’s false teeth are up for auction.
• And finally, it’s the 150th anniversary of baseball in Japan. Brad Lefton explains the disputed history of the sport in Japan and the story of the Maine veteran Horace Wilson, who is recognized as having brought it across the Pacific. Wilson’s family had no idea about his role in Japan until 2000.

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