Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Willians Astudillo ’s award-winning heroics in the Venezuelan Winter League, then discuss the Phillies re-signing J.T. Realmuto , the Blue Jays signing Marcus Semien , the Nationals signing Brad Hand , the Padres signing Jurickson Profar , the Yankees trading for Jameson Taillon and assembling a skilled but injury-prone rotation, the Red Sox acquiring Adam Ottavino , Enrique Hernández , and Garrett Richards , the promising pennant races in the NL West an...
Jan 27, 2021•1 hr 42 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley reflect on the on-field feats, statistical records, and larger legacy of baseball icon Henry Louis “Hank” Aaron, who died on Friday at age 86. Then (25:47) they talk to Joe Lowry of Prospects Live about the ongoing boom in baseball cards, touching on why 2020 fueled a surge in sports-card collecting, how baseball cards have changed since the ’80s and ’90s, the finer points of breaking, box wars, and prospect cards, the demographics of current card collectors, digital...
Jan 23, 2021
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Alex Rodriguez ’s ubiquity on non-baseball broadcasts and then discuss George Springer signing a franchise-record contract with the Blue Jays, Michael Brantley re-signing with the Astros, and José Quintana signing with the Angels, touching on how the Jays compare to their AL East rivals and what the team may do next, Springer’s track record and how he’ll age, Toronto’s run at Brantley, why Springer has escaped some of his former team’s sign-stealing stig...
Jan 21, 2021•1 hr 23 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss ESPN’s report about Mets GM Jared Porter’s harassment of a female reporter when Porter worked for the Cubs in 2016, Porter’s subsequent firing by the Mets, Mets president Sandy Alderson’s comments about Porter’s hiring, the limitations of assessing character, the obstacles media members who aren’t cis men encounter in male-dominated environments like baseball, how MLB can help prevent continued incidents such as this one, and more. Then (52:45) they banter ab...
Jan 20, 2021•1 hr 37 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Blue Jays missing out on DJ LeMahieu and which remaining free agents might be bound for Toronto, follow up on their previous discussion about bagged milk and tax implications for free agency, marvel at LeMahieu’s unique invulnerability to the shift and his unlikely career trajectory, and examine his fit and future with the Yankees. Then they break down MLB’s hiring of Theo Epstein as a consultant regarding on-field matters (touching on Epstein’s pote...
Jan 16, 2021•1 hr 11 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Blue Jays missing out on several free-agent or trade targets, then answer listener emails about whether fans feel pride in their division/league, the history (and future) of fundamental changes to baseball technique, how many championships one would win if transported back to 2000 and appointed as GM of the Mariners, and how well pitchers would hit with metal bats, plus a Stat Blast about the public’s “pent-up demand” for post-pandemic baseball. Audi...
Jan 14, 2021
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about why the free-agent market has been both slow-moving and fairly lucrative for the players who’ve signed, the White Sox inking closer Liam Hendriks , whether the White Sox are the American League’s front runners, the latest report that the season will start on time, napping, MLB’s plans for fans in the stands, why MLB owners aren’t pursuing expansion, the league’s next broadcast contract with ESPN, a rumored extension for Fernando Tatis Jr. , the legacy of...
Jan 13, 2021•1 hr 18 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley break down the six-player blockbuster trade headlined by Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco , touching on Cleveland’s decision to cut costs by dealing two fan favorites and the face of the franchise, how much better Lindor makes the Mets, and more, then banter about NPB ace Tomoyuki Sugano re-signing with the Yomiuri Giants and the latest revelations about the use of foreign substances by MLB pitchers, before bringing on philosophy professors (and Effectively Wild ...
Jan 09, 2021•1 hr 41 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the re-naming of Miller Park and the good and bad of ballpark naming rights, the improbable beginning of Phil Niekro ’s career and what it says about the downsizing of the minor leagues, an intriguing projection of the outcome of the Padres-Dodgers NL West race, Boog Sciambi calling Cubs games and the difference in affection for local and national broadcasters, whether the absence of in-game video in 2020 really hurt hitters, the extent to which the rule...
Jan 06, 2021•1 hr 22 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the official retirement of Phil Hughes , the joy of anticipating top prospects and watching them debut, the sobering reality of players their age starting to retire, a report that the 2021 season is likely to start on time, and a control group for their minor league free agent draft, then (31:40) talk to former Dodgers general manager Dan Evans about how he hired new Marlins GM Kim Ng when he worked for the White Sox and Dodgers, how she distinguished he...
Jan 04, 2021•1 hr 26 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the experience of podcasting about baseball in 2020, what purpose they think the Hall of Fame serves, and whether they would consider giving up their Hall of Fame ballots, then ring in the new year by extending an old tradition and conducting the eighth annual Effectively Wild Minor League Free Agent Draft, in which they select 10 minor league free agents each and compete to see whose roster will accumulate the most MLB playing time in 2021. Audio intro ...
Jan 01, 2021•1 hr 20 min
Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs Hall of Fame expert Jay Jaffe (the author of The Cooperstown Casebook ) discuss Jay’s experience as a first-time Hall of Fame voter, the case of Curt Schilling , weighing on-field contributions and off-field transgressions, the players on Jay’s ballot, the candidacies of Billy Wagner , Gary Sheffield , Omar Vizquel , and others, adjusting the baseline for Hall of Fame starting pitchers, Jay’s predictions for this year’s voting results, a preview of the up...
Dec 29, 2020•1 hr 14 min
Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen convene to discuss the latest epic Padres transaction spree (in which San Diego traded for Blake Snell and Yu Darvish and signed Ha-seong Kim 김하성 ), touching on A.J. Preller’s penchant for frenetic activity, the Padres’ rebuilt rotation and crowded infield, the prospect packages going to the Rays and the Cubs, the state of the stacked Rays and Padres farm systems, why the Rays traded Snell, what dealing Darvish signi...
Dec 29, 2020•1 hr 24 min
Ben Lindbergh talks to Jacky Bing-Sheng Lee , translator of the traditional Chinese edition of Ben’s book The MVP Machine , Hyunsung Kim, translator of the Korean edition of The MVP Machine , and Brendan O’Connor, assistant professor and linguistic anthropologist at the School of Transborder Studies at Arizona State University, about the challenges of translating a baseball book from English into other languages, how Jacky and Hyunsung got jobs in baseball and became translators, the ascendance ...
Dec 24, 2020•1 hr 12 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about why MLB reportedly isn’t interested in short-term expansion and an observation about Tyler Glasnow , Martin Shkreli, and Cillian Murphy, then review the accuracy of last year’s annual ESPN MLB insiders survey, predict and assess the responses to the just-released, latest edition of the survey, answer a listener email about the cutoff for “young” players, and share a Stat Blast about Byron Buxton and the lowest on-base percentages by league-average hitter...
Dec 24, 2020•1 hr 12 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about ballpark renaming, follow up on their discussion about managers getting fired for their actions in a single game, discuss how the history of baseball’s sabermetric movement predicts the trajectory and ramifications of analytics use in football and other sports, and reflect on the significance of the Phillies hiring Sam Fuld as their new general manager, what the return of ex-player high-ranking execs may portend for front-office diversity, and Fuld’s len...
Dec 23, 2020•1 hr 35 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley follow up briefly on their recent Scott Boras banter, then answer listener emails about what a manager has to do to get fired because of a single game, possible scenarios in which Mookie Betts enters the Hall of Fame representing the Red Sox instead of the Dodgers, whether nature excursions could be beneficial to teams, what baseball would be like with weight classes for players, which party or parties to root for in conflicts between MLB and the minor leagues, how m...
Dec 19, 2020•1 hr 17 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss the news that MLB is belatedly designating the 1920-1948 Negro Leagues as major leagues (with a word from 1948 Negro Leaguer Ron Teasley), touching on the various reactions to MLB’s announcement, the positives and negatives of MLB’s approach to this process, the upcoming, complex integration of Negro Leagues stats with other major league stats, how the new classification could affect perceptions of the Negro Leagues and Negro Leaguers, and more. Then they ban...
Dec 17, 2020•1 hr 15 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about secret baseball-playing robots and non-secret baseball-rooting robots, how coverage of NFL scoring changes compares to coverage of MLB scoring changes, and Meg’s research about changes in access to minor league games, follow up on the Mets signing James McCann , the Phillies hiring Dave Dombrowski, and the significance of those moves for the Mets, the Phillies, and the free-agent market, and discuss the Cleveland baseball team’s intention to change its n...
Dec 15, 2020•1 hr 45 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about and the Phillies’ surprise hiring of Dave Dombrowski as their president of baseball operations, then (15:04) bring on Baseball America executive editor J.J. Cooper to talk about the ongoing overhaul of the minor leagues, the history of the relationship between the majors and minors, why MLB sought to consolidate its control over amateur ball and the minor leagues, the impact of the pandemic, the pending improvements in conditions for minor leaguers, the ...
Dec 11, 2020•1 hr 23 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about “listening aggressively,” “progressing past just talking,” and other winter rumor terminology, contemplate what the “virtual Winter Meetings” look like, then break down several rumored or completed trades or signings, including Lance Lynn and Adam Eaton to the White Sox, Raisel Iglesias to the Angels, Carlos Santana and Mike Minor to the Royals, and James McCann to the Mets (touching on the competitive pictures for the Rangers, Royals, and Reds), plus a ...
Dec 10, 2020•1 hr 7 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about MLB’s long-shot attempt to recoup COVID-related losses from its insurance providers, Tomoyuki Sugano getting posted, and why the Phillies’ rebuild has stalled, then (36:45) talk to Sean Gibson , the great-grandson of Hall of Famer and Negro Leagues great Josh Gibson and the executive director of the Josh Gibson Foundation, about his campaign to get MLB’s MVP award renamed after Gibson, how he learned about his great-grandfather’s life, why he decided to ...
Dec 08, 2020•1 hr 20 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley offer an update about Sam Miller’s status on the podcast, banter about the Rangers hiring former pitcher Chris Young as their new GM and play-by-play man Len Kasper’s move from Cubs TV broadcasts to White Sox radio broadcasts, and answer listener emails about how tanking teams could be more entertaining, the plausibility and value of a hitting counterpart to the pitching machine, the viability of baseball as a 24-hour service, and how different baseball would be if t...
Dec 05, 2020•1 hr 11 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about what went down at MLB’s non-tender deadline, touching on whether the news for arbitration-eligible players was as dire as forecasted, the more notable non-tenders, and the short- and long-term futures of free agency, then (29:36) talk to Jason Coskrey of The Japan Times about how the NPB’s Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks have built a dynasty that has won four consecutive Japan Series titles (and seven since 2011), how the Hawks have influenced the rest of the lea...
Dec 04, 2020•1 hr 14 min
Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about how many negative WAR an average fan would be worth over a full MLB season, discuss an MLB fan survey, what they would want to ask fans, and how much MLB can actually improve baseball’s popularity, break down a baseball music video for “The Adults Are Talking” by The Strokes, and do a double Stat Blast about the longest spans covered by two overlapping MLB careers and whether batted balls that become doubles are different on the whole from batted balls t...
Dec 03, 2020•1 hr 11 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley talk to FanGraphs’ Craig Edwards and Eric Longenhagen about MLB’s approaching non-tender deadline, why a number of prominent players may not be offered contracts, the effect a non-tender deluge might have on the free agent market, how slowly this free agent market might move, whether owners’ claims of financial hardship should be believed, MLB’s offseason vs. the NBA and NFL offseasons, whether there’s a way to speed up MLB’s winter activity, whether the MLBPA should...
Nov 25, 2020•57 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the latest head-scratching Scott Boras quote, a disheartening Shohei Ohtani interview and Ohtani’s two-way future, Charlie Morton leaving the Rays to sign with the Braves, and the items from the 2020 season preserved by the Hall of Fame, then (28:06) talk to Ema Ryan Yamazaki , director of the documentary Koshien: Japan’s Field of Dreams , about the history and significance of Japan’s Koshien high school baseball tournament, the legends Koshien creates, ...
Nov 25, 2020•1 hr 15 min
Ben Lindbergh, Sam Miller, and Meg Rowley are joined by former co-host and current Tampa Bay Rays analyst Jeff Sullivan to discuss the experience of working for a team that almost won the World Series, touching on what exactly Jeff’s job is, what he learned in his second year with the Rays, what he did during MLB’s spring lockdown, whether watching the playoffs was fun, adapting to 2020’s new rules, dabbling in advance scouting, postseason superstitions, being second-guessed, learning new skills...
Nov 25, 2020•1 hr 8 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Effectively Wild community’s Secret Santa exchange beginning again, a new podcast featuring former EW guest (and oldest former living player) Eddie Robinson, and two more Scott Boras quotes, then reflect further on Kim Ng’s hiring and review listeners’ responses to a recent podcast discussion about picking a new rule to differentiate MLB’s leagues. Then (44:32) they talk to 15-year-old Canadian pitcher Raine Padgham about throwing 83 miles per hour, ...
Nov 21, 2020
Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Representative Cedric Richmond’s retirement from the Congressional Baseball Game after a Ruthian two-way career, discuss Theo Epstein stepping down from the Cubs (and at least temporarily leaving baseball) and Robinson Canó getting suspended for the entire 2021 season after testing positive for steroid use, and share a Stat Blast about the first ever-LOOGY. Audio intro : The Nerves, " Working Too Hard " Audio outro : Chance The Rapper, " Same Drugs " Lin...
Nov 20, 2020•51 min
