Outside The Confines: When football matters most…

Because it means baseball is next.

Happy Wednesday party people, the Super Bowl is fast approaching, and we all know that that means baseball. is. next. So if you’re in it for the football (meh), the commercials (sometimes great), or the halftime show (generally a good time), it’s a perfect way to say goodbye to football season and welcome in baseball season.

We’re going to dive straight into links.

• Let’s kick things off with some Bananas.

• The Athletic staff figure out what the best under-the-radar pick for each team was. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Ben Clemens would like to remind us that you can’t fake exit velocity.
• Matt Monagan shares the story of the oldest active pitcher in professional baseball.
• Bradford Doolittle tries to figure out how the starting rotations of every team will rank in the new season.
• Tom Verducci shares what he’s been hearing ahead of spring training.
• Anthony Castrovince creates an all-underrated player team.
• Jim Bowden suggests that if MLB expands they should also create new divisions, and makes his best effort to come up with the perfect order. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Baseball players also love to play golf, it seems.

• Thomas Harrigan looks at the x-factors that might have caused close-call teams to miss the postseason last year.
• Sonja Chen looks at the girls who are the future of women’s baseball.
• Alex Eisert breaks down the mechanics of analyzing side-arm pitching.
• Amanda Kamekona is about to become the first female on-field coach for the Cleveland Guardians. (AP)
• Anthony Castrovince helps explain all the new rules we’ll be witnessing in the upcoming season.
• Who will be the next milestone hero?

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