Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about recent headline-generating comments by Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon , a Padres position change, and the possibility of another Ronald Acuña Jr. extension. Then (34:11) they bring on Patreon supporter Sean Saxe and answer listener emails (40:13) about the best substitute for Babe Ruth in a remake of The Sandlot , the expression “right down the dick,” elevated decibel levels at games, F1-style advance free-agent commitments for MLB players, and a leaguewi...
Feb 21, 2024•1 hr 49 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Rob Manfred’s announcement that he’ll step down as commissioner after his current term. Then they preview the 2024 St. Louis Cardinals (26:01) with The Athletic ’s Katie Woo and the 2024 Cleveland Guardians (1:09:24) with MLB.com’s Mandy Bell , plus a postscript (1:44:43). 2024 EW Season Preview Series AL BAL CHW ATH BOS CLE HOU NYY DET LAA TBR KCR SEA TOR MIN TEX NL ATL CHC ARI MIA CIN COL NYM MIL LAD PHI PIT SDP WSN STL SFG Audio intro : Alex Ferrin, “...
Feb 17, 2024•1 hr 51 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about injuries at spring training (specifically the Orioles’) and Jorge Soler and the Giants’ offseason, Stat Blast (21:04) about Kenley Jansen and the age of active career leaders in pitching appearances and recording five or six hits in a game against five or six different pitchers, and then talk to FanGraphs lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen about his ranking of the top 100 (or 101) prospects in baseball. Audio intro : Xavier LeBlanc, “ Effectively Wil...
Feb 16, 2024•1 hr 39 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a difference between baseball and football (as illustrated by the Super Bowl), the lowering of the limit on players per organization, and umpire Jen Pawol’s ascent toward the majors (and history). Then they preview the 2024 Texas Rangers (22:28) with MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry and the 2024 Chicago Cubs (56:31) with The Athletic ’s Sahadev Sharma . 2024 EW Season Preview Series AL BAL CHW ATH BOS CLE HOU NYY DET LAA TBR KCR SEA TOR MIN TEX NL ATL CHC ARI MI...
Feb 13, 2024•1 hr 41 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about former Mets GM Billy Eppler’s suspension for fabricating injuries, then Stat Blast (15:25) about players who amassed the most WAR for their secondary, tertiary, quaternary (etc.) teams, Hall of Famers who played with their hometown teams, and uniform numbers assigned to different players with the same surname on the same team. Then they preview the 2024 Boston Red Sox (33:13) with The Boston Globe ’s Alex Speier and the 2024 San Diego Padres (1:16:44) wi...
Feb 10, 2024•1 hr 53 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about surprising playoff odds, the Astros extending Jose Altuve (26:40), the Brewers signing Gary Sánchez (34:57), the forthcoming Netflix docuseries about the 2024 Red Sox (38:49), a baseball equivalent of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift (45:17), and how trailblazing former first-round draftee Carter Stewart has fared in Japan (55:29). Then (1:03:25) they talk to Paul Freedman , co-founder and CEO of Pioneer League expansion teams the Oakland Ballers and the Yo...
Feb 09, 2024•1 hr 36 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley introduce the 12th annual Effectively Wild season preview series, then banter about the Royals extending Bobby Witt Jr. , the Dodgers reuniting with Clayton Kershaw (and Ryan Brasier ), the Red Sox (sort of) reuniting with Theo Epstein, and the latest hitter who’s converting to pitching. Then they preview the 2024 Miami Marlins (33:33) with Fish on First’s Kevin Barral and the 2024 New York Mets (1:09:12) with The Athletic ’s Tim Britton . 2024 EW Season Preview Seri...
Feb 07, 2024•1 hr 43 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley break down the Corbin Burnes trade between the Orioles and Brewers, then (23:19) talk to 81-year-old Don Kessinger , former six-time All-Star shortstop for the Cubs, about being an amateur multi-sport star, learning to switch-hit after making the majors, playing in Sandy Koufax’ s perfect game, hitting in the low-offense 1960s, facing Nolan Ryan and Bob Gibson , doing Derek Jeter ’s jump throw before Jeter did, being the American League’s last player-manager, the 196...
Feb 03, 2024•1 hr 19 min
Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and Baseball Prospectus editor-in-chief Craig Goldstein and managing editor Patrick Dubuque banter about editing, discuss the Orioles’ impending change in ownership (10:25), examine the newly released Baseball Prospectus 2024 (22:01), and then play a guessing/Remembering Some Guys game in which they each read aloud book comments about six unidentified players apiece, pulled from the full 29-year run of BP Annuals (39:20). Audio intro : Benny and a Million Shetland Poni...
Feb 02, 2024•1 hr 54 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about what would happen if top prospects could promote themselves, the Mariners-Twins trade involving Jorge Polanco , Photoshop mockups of players in their new teams’ uniforms, Byron Buxton returning to center field, the Blue Jays signing Justin Turner , Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as an MLB The Show cover model, the surprising aspects of the Hector Neris and Adam Ottavino signings, the Tigers’ Colt Keith extension, follow-ups on the death ball and a Dick Monfort bo...
Jan 31, 2024•1 hr 36 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley unleash another rant about the Orioles’ inaction (prompted by Mike Elias quotes about their aggressiveness) and banter about the David Robertson and Joc Pederson signings and baseball in Masters of the Air , then (33:51) answer listener emails about whether the Diamondbacks still qualify as a young franchise, injury stoppage time in baseball, director’s cuts of baseball broadcasts, how baseball would be different if teams had to leave a player with the other team at ...
Jan 27, 2024•1 hr 25 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley follow up on the contract over/unders draft and the “death ball,” banter about the signings of Rhys Hoskins and Matt Moore , weigh their current confidence levels in the A’s actually moving to Las Vegas, and consider a suggestion for a “pulling the goalie”-style tweak to baseball. Then (35:44) they talk to leading Hall of Fame election forecaster Jason Sardell about how and why he developed his probabilistic Cooperstown projection model, how it works, this year’s res...
Jan 26, 2024•1 hr 27 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the “death ball,” a curveball variant that could be baseball’s next sweeper-esque pitch-design innovation, and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of separate classifications for “new” pitches that are subsets of other pitches, and the importance of continuing education among fans and media members. Then (39:23) they talk about the Aroldis Chapman , John Brebbia , James Paxton , and Joey Gallo signings (with another contract over/unders draft update and a...
Jan 24, 2024•1 hr 27 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the offseason doldrums and this winter’s free-agent activity compared to last year’s, the Josh Hader and Robert Stephenson signings (with a contract over/under draft update), a bleak week in sports (and non-sports) media, pitcher/catcher technique and the automated strike zone, and the invasion of players named Jackson, followed by Stat Blasts (1:14:48) about Hader’s strikeout splits by out count, “minimum journeymen,” the longest palindromic win-loss se...
Jan 21, 2024•1 hr 39 min
Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and Patreon supporter Nick Taber banter about Nick’s baseball background and MLB’s most hated teams, then (19:41) answer listener emails about baseball’s newsbreakers as secret news makers , a baseball mercenary who plays for multiple teams in the same city (or who has it out for one particular opponent), whether we would remember the year with the last perfect game, making early playoff rounds longer than late rounds, a player whose stats improve depending on how much...
Jan 20, 2024•1 hr 38 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about where Blake Snell and Cody Bellinger should/will sign, excoriate the Orioles for their offseason inaction, marvel at Alex Anthopoulos’s lengthy extension, discuss the Giants’ Jordan Hicks signing as part of a trend toward reliever-starter reverse conversions, consider the etymology of “innings eater” and how pitcher usage is like scripted TV, and reflect on the decline of foreign hitters in NPB, Naoyuki Uwasawa and the recruiting advantage of teams that ...
Jan 18, 2024•1 hr 25 min
Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and listener Michael Mountain banter about Michael’s proposal for Effectively Wild listener ballpark meetups during the 2024 MLB season, followed by (7:24) Michael’s guest Stat Blasts about the best non-award-winning players, his all-time player tiers, and Hall of Famers (and HoF candidates) who excelled or flopped at leading their leagues at their respective positions. Then (36:17) Ben and Meg talk to Brian Moritz about his prediction/warning that a major sports-betti...
Jan 12, 2024•1 hr 29 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s unlikely recovery in the contracts over/under draft, the Cubs signing Shota Imanaga , the trailblazing Rachel Balkovec moving from the dugout to the Marlins’ front office, and (18:37) whether the new horror film Night Swim is a baseball movie. Then (35:53) they talk to Oakland A’s All-Star Brent Rooker about breakfast foods, a potential new nickname, Night Swim , embracing advanced stats, player perceptions of luck, looking at his exit velo instead...
Jan 11, 2024•1 hr 35 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Teoscar Hernández signing with the Dodgers, how other teams can compete with L.A., and the Mets signing Sean Manaea . Then (33:07) they answer listener emails about whether the Royals or Tigers will win more games in 2024, the basis for believing the Cardinals will bounce back from their last-place finish, a Tom Brady baseball commercial, whether Shohei Ohtani could have resurrected the Expos, whether a free agent could sign with a different team every g...
Jan 09, 2024•1 hr 39 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about multiple Mariners trades and follow up on a previous conversation about teams with the most work to do before Opening Day, then (21:07) talk to Pebble Hunting author (and former host) Sam Miller about what (if anything!) will be best remembered about the 2023 baseball season. Audio intro : Daniel Leckie, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Audio outro : Liz Panella, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Link to first Mariners trade Link to second Mariners trade Link to WWJD...
Jan 06, 2024•1 hr 28 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the cruelty of the gift Ben gave his Effectively Wild Secret Santa recipient, which MLB team has the most pressure on it to finish the offseason strong (15:23), Chris Sale ’s extension, and the Mets signing Harrison Bader . Then (36:36) they answer listener emails about which mascots would be the tastiest to eat, the NPB spectator experience, whether Shohei Ohtani could get hurt in a way that would prevent him from hitting but not from pitching, eliminat...
Jan 05, 2024•1 hr 26 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley recap news and transactions from over the holidays, including Yoshinobu Yamamoto’ s thoughts on San Francisco and Yu Darvish ’s thoughts on the Dodgers signing his WBC teammates, the Mariners signing Mitch Garver , the Reds signing Frankie Montas , a smattering of Blue Jays and White Sox signings, the Estevan Florial trade, and the retirement of Andrelton Simmons . Then (49:19) they discuss the Lucas Giolito signing and the Chris Sale trade before segueing into a Sta...
Jan 03, 2024•1 hr 43 min
Ben Lindbergh is joined by Hannah Keyser and Zach Crizer , formerly of Yahoo Sports and the Bandwagon podcast, to discuss at least one listener-nominated, previously overlooked topic from 2023 about each MLB team. Audio intro : Beatwriter, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Audio outro : Jonathan Crymes, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Link to The Bandwagon Link to Hannah’s Yahoo archive Link to Zach’s Yahoo archive Link to Zach’s website Link to Votto tweet Link to Yamamoto comment Link to links/notes sprea...
Dec 30, 2023•1 hr 56 min
With this year’s MLB free agent market enlivened by international players, Ben Lindbergh talks to three guests about three baseball-rich countries. First, Jeeho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency joins to discuss the response in South Korea to Jung Hoo Lee 이정후’ s signing, Shin-Soo Choo 추신수 ’s forthcoming retirement, the legendary career of Choi Dong-won , and the ongoing reckoning with bullying in the KBO and Korean culture at large. Then (44:21) Ben talks to NPB historian Rob Fitts about trailblazin...
Dec 27, 2023•1 hr 44 min
Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs’ Ben Clemens continue a cherished podcast tradition by conducting the 11th 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 combined MLB playing time in 2024. Audio intro : Alex Ferrin, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Audio outro : Harold Walker, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Link to list of minor league FA Link to Down on the Farm explainer Link t...
Dec 25, 2023•1 hr 25 min
Ben Lindbergh and Baseball Prospectus editor-in-chief Craig Goldstein discuss all the fallout from the Dodgers’ record-breaking signing of Yoshinobu Yamamoto , including how it affects fan perceptions of the Dodgers, whether it’s good for MLB to have a heel, whether there’s a more virtuous way to win, the terms of the contract and their expectations for Yamamoto, whether the Dodgers will make even more moves, the impact on the teams that missed out on Yamamoto, and much more. Audio intro : Alex ...
Dec 23, 2023•1 hr 34 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether MLB should implement an NHL-esque holiday transaction freeze, then (5:53) answer listener emails about Bryce Harper , Shohei Ohtani , Tyler Glasnow , and tampering, abandoning the Angels, what to do after visiting every MLB and MiLB ballpark, when the last-place finishers of 2023 will be 90-win true-talent teams, “prep” prospects, valuing a player with a knack for inspirational speeches, and applying a college-football-style playoff-selection pro...
Dec 21, 2023•1 hr 48 min
Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, FanGraphs’ Michael Baumann and Ben Clemens , and Chris Hanel play a quick round of “College Baseball Player or U.S. Space Shuttle Astronaut,” banter about the Braves’ series of recent, red-paper-clip-style trades (5:21) and the Diamondbacks re-signing Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (14:13), and then revisit, dissect, and score their bold preseason predictions from March (16:22). Audio intro : Tom Rhoads, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Audio outro : Gabriel-Ernest, “ Effectively Wild ...
Dec 19, 2023•1 hr 22 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Shohei Ohtani’ s introductory press conference and getting closure on contract/canine questions, the audience verdict on how to handle Ohtani in the free-agent-contract over/under draft (20:22), the Dodgers-Rays Tyler Glasnow trade (32:09), the latest Royals signings ( Michael Wacha , Hunter Renfroe ), the Tigers adding Jack Flaherty , and the AL Central, Max Scherzer , Tyler Mahle , and the Rangers rotation, and Buster Posey ’s comments about free agent...
Dec 16, 2023•1 hr 32 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley call for a listener referendum on how to treat Shohei Ohtani ’s unprecedented contract in the EW free-agent-contract over/under draft, then (20:43) banter about the Royals’ recent pitching additions and a wizardly Will Smith . After that (33:32), they talk to FanGraphs lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen about the players from Asian leagues who have enlivened the MLB free-agent market (including reports on new Giants addition Jung Hoo Lee 이정후 , Yoshinobu Yamamoto ...
Dec 14, 2023•1 hr 25 min
