Outside The Confines: Mets woes continue

Happy Friday you beautiful OTC readers! I hope you had a tremendous week, that you have a lovely long weekend planned (even if that just means sitting on the couch and relaxing, whatever works for you!)

You know who it hasn’t been a good week for? The New York Mets. Between the silly thumbs-down scandal that broke over the weekend, to Javier Baez’s missing earring, there’s a whole new story that has broken about acting Mets GM Zack Scott, who was busted for a DUI this week.

So obviously stories about the Mets have been a big focus for the week, so we’ll look at those first.

• Emma Baccellieri says the Mets woes are worse than the common jokes would have you believe.
• Ken Rosenthal suggests it’s time for sweeping changes for the Mets. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• ESPN brings us a just-the-facts overview of the story.
• But Buster Olney has a similar stance to Rosenthal, that it’s time for drastic measures.

Now on to the rest of Friday’s links!

• Could we be seeing some changes to service time agreements? Anthony Franco looks at MLB’s proposal to the MLBPA.
• Where does the duo of Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina rank in terms of best pitcher-catcher combos. Zachary Silver looks at the Cards' dream team.
• Jay Jaffe assesses 10 position players who helped bolster their cases for Cooperstown this year.
• Don’t worry, he also did one for pitchers.
• The Undefeated bring us a historical look at the 1971 Pirates, the first all-Black and Latino team in MLB history.
• Rob Mains talks about John Smotlz and the advantage of contact hitters. (Baseball Prospectus Premium required.)
• Peter Gammons suggests that it’s relievers who are bearing the worst brunt of pandemic issues. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Guess someone isn’t a fan of those “deep drive” jokes.

• Hope Sloop has the story of the Akron Rubberducks who are hosting a theme night after a man named Tim broke up with his girlfriend on the scoreboard.
• Derek Jeter might not be totally ready for his Hall of Fame induction, but he’s waited long enough. Story by Mark Feinsand.
• Speaking of Jeter, Bradford Doolittle reports that his speech for the HoF isn’t ready yet.
• Is Julio Rodriguez baseball’s next superstar? Jesse Sanchez looks at the young phenom.
• Patrick Dubuque reflects on the 2021 season for the KBO and how they can bounce back next season. (Baseball Prospectus Premium required.)
• As the season enters its twilight month, Zach Kram gives us some insights into the likely award winners for the year.
• Matt Kelly previews the toughest stretches for teams in the last month of play.
• Madeline Coleman reports on the flooding of Yankees Double-A affiliate park, which you can also see below.
• Yikes.

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