Outside the Confines: Believe the hype. Or don’t.

Good morning. It’s always a good morning after a big Cubs win the night before. Hey, it qualifies as big this year.

• We will start in Oakland. Or Las Vegas. Or Carson City. Wherever. Dan Szymborski looks at the Athletics’ chances of surpassing the 1962 Mets for the most futile team of the modern era.
• The A’s say they have reached a “tentative” agreement for the construction of a new stadium in Las Vegas. The state of Nevada will chip in only $180 million and bonds and tax deals in Clark County will get the total government outlay up to $325 million, much less than the $500 million that the team had been asking for. However, none of these deals have been approved by the appropriate government bodies as of yet.
• NBC Sports California fired longtime A’s broadcaster Glen Kuiper after he used a racist slur on the air. The team said that it wasn’t just about the on-air flub, which appears to have been accidental, but a variety of factors “uncovered in the internal review.”
• Kuiper said he took responsibility for the flub, but he feels he was owed more consideration and that he shouldn’t have lost his job.
• Sad news as longtime Cardinals writer Rick Hummel died at age 77. Hummel, nicknamed “The Commish,” wrote for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from 1971 to 2022. He was a Spink Award winner at the Hall of Fame in 2006, which they don’t call the Spink Award anymore but I’m calling it that so you know what the award is. Our condolences go out to his family, friends and the Cardinals community.
• Hummel’s longtime colleague Bernie Miklasz shares his memories of Hummel.
• Diamond Sports is likely to walk away from their broadcasting deal with the Padres, meaning the broadcast rights would revert to the team on May 31.
• The Dodgers have reversed themselves and have re-invited and apologized to a controversial group they had previously uninvited to Pride Night.
• Zach Buchanan has the behind-the-scenes story of the troubled relationship between left-hander Madison Bumgarner and the Diamondbacks that led to his release earlier this year. (The Athletic sub. req.) Basically, Bumgarner was stubborn, set in his ways and wouldn’t listen to advice or coaching. Which should have come as no surprise to anyone who has followed Bumgarner’s career.
• R.J. Anderson has three reasons why the Diamondbacks are contenders this year. For one, Madison Bumgarner isn’t taking the hill every fifth game anymore.
• Tom Verducci has a piece on the slow demise of starting pitching throughout baseball.
• I forgot to include this link last time, but it’s still valid today. Noah Woodward has the best explanation that I’ve seen for catcher Willson Contreras’ receiving problems that led the team to temporarily take him off of catching duties. The title of the article is “Targets Matter.” I always assumed Willson was more of a Wal-Mart guy.
• The Yankees designated outfielder Aaron Hicks for assignment with more than two years still left on his seven-year, $70 million deal. Jay Jaffe looks at Hicks career, the decision to DFA him and what’s next for the Yankees.
• Alex Eisert writes that even with the return of Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, the Mets have a starting pitching depth problem.
• David Schoenfield re-evaluates the Mets/Guardians deal that sent Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco to Queens. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• Andy Martino reports that many Mets players want rookie catcher Francisco Álvarez to stay in the majors and not be sent back down to Triple-A.
• Matt Snyder explains why six struggling pre-season favorites still have the ability to turn their season around. Yes, the Mets are one of those teams.
• Phillies shortstop Trea Turner explained his season so far thusly: “I’ve sucked.”
• Esteban Rivera writes that Twins shortstop Carlos Correa should turn around his slow start to the season any time now.
• On the occasion of his return to San Francisco — after he was a Giant for 72 hours — Correa says he’s “turned the page” on that and doesn’t think about it.
• Jay Jaffe writes that injuries have destroyed the Dodgers starting rotation.
• Zach Crizer says that while their pitching is improved, an explosive lineup is the biggest reason the Rangers are in first place.
• David Schoenfield checks in on “post-hype” prospects. (ESPN+ sub. req.) This is the article to read if you want to feel worse about your decision to release Jarred Kelenic from your fantasy team.
• Henry Palattella has the most improved hitters of 2023. There’s a Cub on the list and it’s not who I would have predicted.
• The Brewers have signed veteran right-hander Julio Teheran to a major-league deal.
• Get ready for more of these stories as the draft approaches. Brody Miller has a report on LSU outfielder Dylan Crews, (The Athletic sub. req.) who is expected to be the first pick of the draft by the Pirates. I’ve seen Crews called the best draft prospect since Bryce Harper.
• Justice delos Santos looks at the trio of Pirates players who are proud to represent their Asian-American heritage.
• Eri Yoshida, known as the “Knuckleball Princess” in her native Japan, is returning to play independent ball in New York this summer. She had previously played in indy ball in the US in 2010.
• Joon Lee has a big story on Olivia Pichardo, who became the first woman to play in a Division I NCAA baseball game when she pinch-hit for Brown University in March.
• Gilbert Ngabo reports on a family of season ticket holders since 1977 in Toronto who have just seen the cost of their tickets increase by almost tenfold for next season. They understandably say that they can’t afford that.
• The Orioles have announced their City Connect uniforms.
• Dan Connelly examines the Orioles CC unis and finds them “underwhelming.” (The Athletic sub. req.) Although he makes it clear he doesn’t hate them.
• Mark Brown, on the other hand, definitely hates these Orioles uniforms. I have seen some people say they like them, but the nays seem to be in the majority.
• Shohei Ohtani eats Funyuns.
• And finally, what is it with birds and baseballs this season? Less than a week after Arizona pitcher Zac Gallen killed a bird in pregame warmups, the Guardians Will Brennen killed a bird with a hard-hit grounder in a game against the White Sox.

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