Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

James Fegan, Sox Machine writer who covers the White Sox and prospects. Grant McAuley, Braves reporter and podcaster covering Atlanta. They dig into Atlanta’s injury log, rotation depth, and Spencer Strider’s recovery. They discuss Chicago’s offseason moves, Munetaka Murakami signing, bullpen upgrades, and infield depth and timelines.

Matt Gelb, Philly insider known for roster and dev coverage, and Sam Blum, former Angels beat reporter with deep club knowledge, join to preview the 2026 Phillies and Angels. They discuss Bryce Harper’s treatments and roster moves, rotation depth and bullpen roles in Philadelphia. They examine Angels’ organizational turmoil, Zach Neto’s emergence, Trout’s health, prospect usage, and managerial questions in Los Angeles.

Tim Britton, The Athletic Mets reporter, breaks down New York’s roster shakeups and pitching plans. Spencer Nussbaum, The Athletic’s Nationals beat writer, walks through Washington’s rebuild, prospects, and timeline. They discuss lineup shifts, rotation depth, bullpen additions, player development, and the organizational strategies shaping each club’s 2026 outlook.

Christina De Nicola, MLB.com reporter with Marlins roster and prospect insight. Ryan Divish, Seattle Times beat reporter with deep Mariners coverage. They preview Seattle’s 2026 outlook, rotation health, bullpen construction, platoon plans and extension talk. Then Miami’s offseason posture, trades, catching and pitch-calling strategy, rotation depth, bullpen roles and what success looks like for 2026.

Gary Phillips, Yankees beat reporter for the New York Daily News, and Derrick Goold, lead Cardinals writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, preview their teams. They discuss Yankees roster moves, rotation health, bullpen rebuild and lineup fit. They cover Cardinals’ roster exits, development plan, pitching strategy and key prospects. Short, lively takes on each club’s outlook and the challenges ahead.

Michael Clair, MLB.com writer who covered the WBC in Japan and wrote We Sacrifice Everything to Baseball about the Czech team. He describes sold-out WBC atmospheres, highlights under-the-radar Japanese and smaller-nation players, and debates WBC cadence, Team USA’s pitching depth, and how the tournament grows global interest.

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Mets pitching prospect Ryan Lambert’s consumption of copious quantities of raw eggs, then preview the 2026 Chicago Cubs (27:15) with The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma, and the 2026 Cleveland Guardians (1:17:46) with The Athletic’s Zack Meisel, plus a postscript. 2026 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG Audio intro: Grant Brisbee, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio interstitial 1: Guy Russo, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio interstitial 2: Philip Bergman, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Daniel Leckie, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to Lambert article Link to Cool Hand Luke scene Link to Beauty and the Beast scene Link to Syndergaard “therapies” Link to Syndergaard velo story 1 Link to Syndergaard velo story 2 Link to pasteurized eggs wiki Link to eggs and cholesterol link Link to Ben’s scrambled eggs pic Link to Ron Swanson clip Link to team payrolls page Link to Cubs offseason tracker Link to Cubs depth chart Link to Sahadev on Bregman Link to PCA profile Link to Sahadev on PCA Link to Sahadev’s spring questions Link to Shaw absence article Link to Sahadev’s author archive Link to Sahadev’s podcast Link to Guardians offseason tracker Link to Guardians depth chart Link to team wRC+ Link to team RP WAR Link to team SP projections Link to framing leaders Link to Bregman/Aiken article Link to Zack on Kwan in CF Link to Vogt MotY article Link to Zack’s author archive Link to Zack’s podcast Link to Skenes article 1 Link to Skenes article 2 Link to Ohtani/Judge article  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Give a Gift Subscription  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com  Effectively Wild Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  Apple Podcasts Feed   Spotify Feed  YouTube Playlist  Facebook Group  Bluesky Account  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch! Source

Alex Speier, Boston Globe reporter covering the Red Sox, previews Boston’s roster, prospects, and strategic offseason moves. C. Trent Rosecrans, The Athletic’s Reds beat writer, breaks down Cincinnati’s rotation, lineup changes, and organizational depth. They discuss roster construction, positional logjams, pitching development, and realistic goals for 2026 in short, lively conversations.

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a player with legs like a centaur, a knuckleballer’s sore subject, Arte Moreno’s thoughts on whether winning matters to fans, a response from the barback who gave free drinks to a fellow listener, and a new perspective on Tony Clark’s reportedly inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law. Then (45:17) they talk to Maxfield Lane and Owen Riley of Oyster Analytics about the challenge system’s tactical considerations and when it does and doesn’t make sense to second-guess the ump (and also, some slightly scary mascots). Audio intro: Jonathan Crymes, “Effectively Wild Theme 2” Audio outro: Jimmy Kramer, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to story about Sloan Link to Sloan headshot Link to A-Rod centaur story Link to horse anatomy info Link to They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Link to Kapler/calves post 1 Link to Kapler/calves post 2 Link to tweets about Waldron Link to MLBTR on Waldron Link to info on bidets and hemorrhoids Link to Breaking Bad scene Link to Hill EW interview Link to Moreno comments Link to MLBPA response Link to team attendance data Link to “Macavity” Link to Reddit comment Link to Obi-Wan quote Link to Wells video Link to post on Wells 1 Link to post on Wells 2 Link to Down on the Farm Link to Oyster Analytics on Bluesky Link to Oyster rankings Link to Oyster challenge dashboard Link to Oyster challenge explainer Link to 2016 article on Yankees challenges Link to BP on replay reviews Link to Tango on challenges Link to Tango on challenges 2 Link to Tango on challenges 3 Link to Stark on challenges Link to Blum/Lin on challenges Link to Sale on challenging Link to Sale on calling pitches Link to Sale jersey story Link to Bull Durham quote Link to Baysox story 1 Link to Baysox story 2 Link to Archie info Link to Archie/Truckee photo Link to Mr. Baseball info  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Give a Gift Subscription  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com  Effectively Wild Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  Apple Podcasts Feed   Spotify Feed  YouTube Playlist  Facebook Group  Bluesky Account  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch! Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a video of Brandon Marsh’s hair-wetting, the Phillies’ latest therapy, the Red Sox “home whites” non-disparagement saga, a former team exec’s proposals to promote competitive balance, and the best candidates among MLB players to pit against each other in a “Who ya got?” debate, then preview the 2026 Toronto Blue Jays (55:43) with The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon, and the 2026 Tampa Bay Rays (1:42:53) with MLB.com’s Adam Berry. 2026 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG Audio intro: The Spaghettis, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio interstitial 1: Jonathan Crymes, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio interstitial 2: Ian H., “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Nate Emerson, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to Steele tweet Link to Marsh video Link to Jake on Marsh’s hair routine Link to Baumann on Crawford Link to hyperbaric oxygen therapy article 1 Link to hyperbaric oxygen therapy article 2 Link to Mayo Clinic on hyperbaric oxygen therapy Link to research on efficacy Link to Red Sox jersey change Link to story on changing statements Link to side-by-side statements Link to @RedSox reply Link to Ball on competitive balance Link to Moneyball scene Link to BP on competitive balance Link to Ben on Machado vs. Arenado Link to Ben on Correa vs. Seager Link to Baumann on Conforto vs. Judge Link to Machado vs. Arenado, rest of 2015 Link to Machado vs. Arenado, 2016 on Link to Correa vs. Seager, 2018 on Link to Conforto vs. Judge, start of 2017 Link to Conforto vs. Judge, rest of 2017 Link to Conforto vs. Judge, 2018 on Link to team payrolls page Link to Blue Jays offseason tracker Link to Blue Jays depth chart Link to 2025 team FRV Link to team SP projections Link to Rogers Centre renovations Link to “Toronto” pronunciation Link to Return of the Jedi scene Link to bagged milk Link to Happ on bagged milk Link to Sloan’s website Link to Mitch’s author archive Link to Mitch’s podcast Link to Rays offseason tracker Link to Rays depth chart Link to Dolinar data 1 Link to Dolinar data 2 Link to three-team-trades stat Link to Statcast park factors Link to team WAR projections Link to Shane scene Link to ballpark renderings Link to trial delay Link to Adam’s author archive Link to spring training Opening Day  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Give a Gift Subscription  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com  Effectively Wild Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  Apple Podcasts Feed   Spotify Feed  YouTube Playlist  Facebook Group  Bluesky Account  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch! Source