Outside The Confines: Business is business

If you want to know why I love the World Baseball Classic, this piece by Michael Clair on the Czech Republic team is one of the reasons. The Czech team is absolutely the best story of the tournament so far. A team comprised completely of amateurs who play after work qualified for the tournament last fall. As they say, baseball is not a big sport in the Czech Republic. The ones who play really have to love it. Watch the nine-minute documentary embedded in the story and tell me you didn’t fall in love with these plucky Czechs.

Next up, they’re going to the Tokyo Dome to take on Shohei Ohtani, Yu Darvish, Seiya Suzuki and the rest of Samurai Japan. Also Korea, Australia and China. They will get some professional reinforcements for the main tournament in the form of . . .Eric Sogard. Also two Czech-Americans with college baseball experience. Good luck. They’ll need it. But they’ve already achieved more than they ever dreamed of.

• As long as we’re on the WBC, Mike Trout said that Ohtani told him that he wasn’t the best player on Team Japan. Shohei was probably engaging in hyperbole, but David Adler has the best five players from NPB that are playing for Japan in the WBC. I’m confident MLB teams are salivating over signing Roki Sasaki one day in the not-so-distant future.
• Jorge Castillo explains why Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes is playing for Team Mexico, much to the delight (and surprise) of his teammate Julio Urías.
• Nick Groke speaks with Robinson Canó about playing in the WBC and interviews Team Netherlands manager Hensley Meulens. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• The big story from the early days of Spring Training seems to be how teams are adjusting to the new rules. Here’s an interesting piece from Noah Woodward about the Mets “secret” fielding practice and how it is probably about ways to game the new rules limiting pickoffs.
• Matt Snyder looks at which pitchers are likely to be most affected by the pitch clock.
• Tom Verducci looks at what strategies teams may try to employ to circumvent the anti-shift rules. Also whether or not teams will think it’s worth trying.
• Jayson Stark reports that MLB is planning a new crackdown on pitchers using the “sticky stuff” this year. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Michael Baumann gets into the weeds about these long contracts and how they’re designed to circumvent the luxury tax rules. But also how they are unlikely to get out of hand like they did in the NHL.
• Neil Paine explains why the coming bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group could change the way baseball economics work forever.
• Alden Gonzalez reports on how the Dodgers hitters used weighted bats at the Driveline baseball facility this offseason to try to improve results against high-velocity pitching (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• The Dodgers made a small change in their uniforms for the first time over twenty years. You probably won’t like the likely reason why they did it.
• The Padres spending over the past few seasons has been one of the bigger stories in baseball. Dennis Lin looks at owner Peter Seidler and asks the question that many are asking: “Can the Padres continue to spend like this?” (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Jay Jaffe thinks that Padres third baseman Manny Machado may be making a mistake if he opts out of his contract at the end of 2023.
• Astros manager Dusty Baker said the team did not add a new pitcher this winter because they lacked a general manager.
• The Astros have a need for another pitcher because Lance McCullers Jr. will not be ready to play on Opening Day.
• Yankees pitcher Frankie Montas will miss the first half of the season after shoulder surgery.
• Rays pitcher Ryan Thompson lost his arbitration hearing. He says he’s not upset about that, but he feels that the entire arbitration process needs more transparency.
• Former Mets pitching coach Phil Regan is suing the team for age discrimination.
• Albert Pujols has started his personal services contract with the Angels. Sam Blum writes that although the whole thing is awkward because of the way Pujols’ career with the Angels ended, overall Pujols’ return is a good thing for Los Angeles. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Rhett Bollinger interviews Angels minor leaguer Ben Joyce in his first Spring Training. Joyce is getting attention because threw a pitch clocked at 105.5 mph for the Tennessee Volunteers.
• Hannah Keyser interviewed shortstop Carlos Correa about his return to Minnesota and all the chaos that surrounded him and his free agency this winter.
• Bob Nightengale reports on Giants identical twins Taylor and Tyler Rogers and their first Spring Training together. And yes, their teammates have trouble telling the two of them apart. The question is whether the two of them will pull a switcheroo on manager Gabe Kapler and send in Tyler when he called for Taylor.
• Right-hander Noah Song, whom the Phillies took in the Rule 5 draft this winter, is set to report to camp after the Navy changed his status from active to the reserves.
• Alex Eisert takes another stab at trying to figure out how the Rockies can overcome the issues surrounding Coors Field.
• Five hitters set to have a bounce back season in 2023.
• Will Leitch has one reasonable goal for each team this year.
• Chris Gilligan looks at the current state of parity in MLB.

• Former All-Star Johnny Damon got off to a weak start playing for the Savannah Bananas. But he had fun.
• And finally, Todd Zolecki reports on Phillies reliever Matt Strahm and his massive baseball card collection. In particular, Strahm tries to collect cards from every hitter who has homered off of him.

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