Outside The Confines: Put down the microphone

I’m not the first one to make this observation, but how awful to you have to be to get into an acrimonious lawsuit with MLB and make Rob Manfred into the good guy?

• A United States Bankruptcy judge ruled yesterday that Diamond Sports Group, the owner of the Bally Sports regional sports networks, must pay the MLB teams the full amount of money they agreed to pay in the contract for the rights to broadcast games. Diamond Sports, which had recently declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy, argued that they should be allowed to renegotiate a lower fee on the deal or be granted streaming rights. The judge said a deal is a deal.
• David Kaplan and Evan Drellich have more info on the judge’s ruling. (The Athletic sub. req.) The four teams currently affected by this ruling and the Twins, Rangers, Diamondbacks and Guardians. But other teams could be affected down the line.
• The Padres have already taken over the broadcasts of their own games from Diamond Sports. Alden Gonzalez has what you need to know if you want to watch Padres games. Assuming that you live in the San Diego market. For the rest of us, nothing has changed other than the graphics on Padres broadcasts.
• Drellich reports that MLB has guaranteed that the Padres will get at least 80 percent of the revenue that they got from Diamond Sports. (The Athletic sub. req.) The same guarantee will go to any other team that Bally’s stops paying the rights fees on.
• Ben Clemens tries to explain what all this confusion over the Padres broadcasts means and where things could be heading.
• This was written before the bankruptcy judge’s ruling today, but that means it’s just more relevant. Here are several ESPN writers explaining where these developments with Bally Sports could take the future of sports broadcasting. Jeff Passan, in his section, points out that the future of a national streaming service without blackouts relies on the Yankees and Red Sox (and presumably the Dodgers and Cubs and a couple other big-market teams) agreeing to give up their in-market streaming rights. And those big-market teams have shown no willingness to agree to such a deal.
• On to other money matters, Gabe Lacques explains why the stadium deal for the Athletics in Las Vegas would be a horrible deal for the citizens of Nevada. And why promises of huge crowds and tourism dollars coming from the Las Vegas A’s is just a bottle of snake oil.
• Michael Baumann looks at what it would take for MLB to force A’s owner John Fisher to sell the team. (Spoiler alert: It’s almost certainly not happening.)
• This is Cubs news, but whatever. Marcus Stroman announced his support for Pride Month, including charitable donations to LGBTQIA+ groups in Chicago, New York and Toronto.
• One last off-the-field story. Former MLB all-star Steve Garvey is reportedly exploring a run for the US Senate from California. Garvey was he was certainly among the most famous players in the game when I was growing up. But my dog would beat him in a US Senate race in California as long as he had a (D) next to his name. And I don’t even have a dog.
• OK, let’s talk about the games now. Anthony Castrovince is back with more “bold” predictions for the month of June.
• Sarah Langs writes about what it means to be in first place in a division on June 1.
• The Cardinals are recalling their top prospect, outfielder Jordan Walker, back to the majors. Walker made the Cards Opening Day roster, but he was sent back down to Triple-A Memphis on April 26.
• Jay Jaffe notes that home runs are up again this year.
• Tom Verducci notes that as a hitter, Shohei Ohtani has been slumping. But he’s also been showing that he’s one of the most durable player of all-time.
• Teddy Cahill has the teams and players to watch in the NCAA baseball tournament, which starts today. Remember that in college baseball, going to Omaha is better than going to Disney World.
• Kiley McDaniel has an early mock first round of the MLB Draft. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• Will the AL East be the best division ever? Sarah Langs investigates.
• Dodgers pitcher Noah Syndergaard called himself the “weakest link” on the Dodgers.
• Helene Elliott writes that it’s time for the Dodgers to wish Syndergaard “good bye.”
• Jeff Passan has a trade deadline preview. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• Ken Rosenthal writes that starting pitching is expected to be in high demand this trade season. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• R.J. Anderson has 20 trade candidates.
• Dan Szymborski looks at how injuries are causing major issues for the Tigers playoff hopes.
• Ken Rosenthal writes about how Reds closer Alexis Díaz has been supporting and encouraging his older brother, Mets closer Edwin Díaz, in his recovery from injury. (The Athletic sub. req.) The other news in this story is that Edwin is trying to make it back to the mound before the end of the season.
• Rockies outfielder Kris Bryant is back on the injured list with yet another left foot injury.
• Mets pitcher Max Scherzer is angry about the pitch clock and other timers.
• Hannah Keyser argues that managers should be challenging a lot more calls.
• Check out this fantastic catch from Blue Jays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier. That’s a catch worthy of Pete Crow-Armstrong.
• And finally, Zach Buchanan has the story of the week with a look back at the 50-year career of the Famous San Diego Chicken. (The Athletic sub. req.) Now in his seventies and recovering from hip replacement surgery, Ted Giannoulas looks back, contemplates retirement and wonders what comes next. Both for him and the Chicken.

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