Outside The Confines: Bite the Big Apple

As Mick Jagger said, “Don’t mind the maggots.” Always good advice when you’re working for the Mets.

• According to multiple reports and to the surprise of no one, former Brewers general manager David Stearns has been hired to be the new president of baseball operations for the Mets. He got a five-year contract.
• Zach Crizer looks at Stearns’ time in Milwaukee and how his approach might work in Queens.
• Will Sammon and Tim Britton look at the biggest questions facing Stearns with the Amazin’s. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Evan Drellich looks at MLB’s newest efforts to get government money to fund their stadiums. (The Athletic sub. req.) As Drellich notes, just having the taxpayers fund a brand-new stadium isn’t enough for today’s billionaire. Now they want a government-funded “business village” to go with it.
• The Rangers were running away with the American League West until they weren’t. Bradford Doolittle examines what went wrong with Texas and how they can fix it.
• This won’t help. Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer left last night’s game with a right triceps spasm.
• David Schoenfield looks at all the playoff contenders and answers whether they have what it takes to win the World Series. (ESPN+ sub. req.) For non-subscribers, the Cubs have a “real” chance to win it all.
• Zach Crizer says “don’t sleep on the Phillies” chances to repeat as National League Champions.
• Gabe Lacques writes that the Dodgers are embracing their imperfections and are willing to do “whatever it takes” to win another World Series.
• R.J. Anderson re-ranks the five best and worst deals at the trade deadline,
• Yankees rookie outfielder Jasson Dominguez has a torn UCL and will miss most of next season after Tommy John surgery. Jay Jaffe examines Dominguez’s career so far and what the Yankees options are going forward.
• Chris Kirschner also looks at the Yankees outfield options for next season. (The Athletic sub. req.) Cody Bellinger is at the top of his list.
• Mike Trout is also on the list. R.J. Anderson ranks every team in baseball for how likely is Trout to play for them next season.
• Bob Nightengale notes that first baseman Christian Walker has emerged as the team leader in the now-relevant Diamondbacks and their quest for the playoffs. He also notes that if Oakland gets funding for a new ballpark, they would be first in line for an expansion team. Which. coming from Nightengale, makes me think that is what MLB wants you to think. Not that it’s wrong or right, but that MLB wants to make that information public.
• Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright finally got win number 199 last night.
• Braves first baseman Matt Olson tied the team record (held by Andruw Jones) for home runs in a season when he hit number 51 last night.
• The Padres are shutting down pitcher Yu Darvish for the season.
• Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz will not return this year from his early-season ankle injury.
• The teams that hit the most home runs in one season, all-time.
• David Wilder, a former White Sox executive who was fired and sentenced to two years in federal prison for skimming bonuses, talks to Brittany Ghiroli for the first time and boy, does he have a lot to say. (The Athletic sub. req.) Not much good about the White Sox, however.
• And finally. Ben Clemens writes that Blue Jays second baseman Davis Schneider is not the greatest hitter ever. But also, Schneider kinda is the greatest hitter of all-time.

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