Outside The Confines: The end of 2024

Join us for some end of year baseball news.

Happy Monday, everyone! It’s the last Outside The Confines of 2024, and there’s been some quiet movement around baseball over the holiday week. Shohei Ohtani made a major announcement; Corbin Burnes is getting nicely paid by Arizona; MLB dot com picks some realistic free agents for every team, and much more.

So, let’s just jump into today’s links!

• David Adler has the best Statcast plays of 2024.
• Gleyber Torres had a classy thank you to Yankees fans as he heads to Detroit. Story by Tim Capurso.
• One realistic free agent pick for every team. (MLB)
• Shohei Ohtani enlisted the help of his pup Decoy to announce his wife’s pregnancy. Story by Eva Geithelm.

• Ben Clemens looks at Arizona’s signing of Corbin Burnes.
• Tim Capurso explains why Corbin Burnes signed with the Diamondbacks over the Jays or Giants.
• Eno Sarris explains why the Burnes signing is a coup for the DBacks. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Glynn A. Hill shares the story of player from Cameroon looking to break into MLB as a rare player from Africa.
• Paul Casella shares the souvenir Mike Trout took home from an Eagles game.
• A’s president Dave Kaval has left the team after eight years to pursue other opportunities. Story by Tom Dierberger.
• Do the Dodgers need to learn to rest on their laurels? Story by Mike Lupica.
• Tom Dierberger looks at Teoscar Hernandez breaking his own free agency news.
• Davy Andrews assesses the return (re-return?) of Carlos Santana to the Guardians.
• Fifty minutes of good dogs!

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