Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Eric Longenhagen, FanGraphs lead prospect analyst, discusses players from Asian leagues enlivening the MLB free-agent market. He evaluates international players, talks about stylistic differences among leagues, and discusses Asian players who are still years away from MLB. They also discuss the challenges of evaluating players moving from one league to another and the impact of deferrals in baseball contracts.

Banter about implications of Shohei Ohtani's contract, MLB imbalance driven by cable bundle, Dodgers' future, media hang-wringing over false reports, and Tyler O'Neill trade

Shohei Ohtani, a professional baseball player, recently signed a $700 million deal with the Dodgers. The podcast covers every aspect of the news, including the unexpected size of the contract, comparing it to Messi's contract, the financial strategies of the Dodgers, concerns about medical examinations, the speculation surrounding Ohtani's destination, and the potential implications of his contract for the postseason. They also discuss the rumors and reports surrounding the signing, with a humorous touch.

Discussion about the challenges faced by a writer during the Scott Boris scrum, speculation on Scott Boris and his client Juan Soto, analyzing baseball agent mannerisms, discussing the potential acquisition of Soto by the Yankees, examining the Padres' offseason acquisitions and roster needs, importance of acquiring innings in baseball, uncertainty and strategy in baseball team's decisions, and speculation on the baseball market and Shohei Otani's free agency secrecy.

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss the secrecy surrounding Shohei Ohtani's free agency. They also talk about the speculation surrounding players joining teams, maximizing value in contract negotiations, transparency of team executives, Mariners' trade challenges, trading pitchers between Yankees and Red Sox, Mookie Betts as a second baseman, effects of getting under the luxury tax threshold, and correcting the historical record.

The hosts discuss the divergent Twitter reactions to a cat video and a tweet about Henry Kissinger. They explore the engagement of the tweets, the challenges of staying connected to baseball from afar, and the impact of weak divisions on playoff teams. They also delve into the way bodies are described in the baseball industry and investigate conflicting reports about historical baseball games.

Ben and Meg discuss their podcast's popularity, recent trade talks for Juan Soto, Reds and Mets moves. They also talk about MLB awards, changing Hall of Fame selection process, and analyze players' HOF chances. BBWA membership and voting process is discussed too.

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Eugenio Suárez trade and the Mariners’ payroll, the Cardinals signing Sonny Gray, the Tigers signing Kenta Maeda, the Dodgers re-signing Jason Heyward, and whether an outfielder can be said to “pick it.” Then (50:07) they follow up on listener responses to their latest email episode, focusing on suggestions for introducing turnovers to baseball. Audio intro: Liz Panella, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Alex Ferrin, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to article on Havens hiring Link to Suárez FG post Link to Mariners ticket prices Link to Diamondbacks ticket prices Link to Gray FG post Link to Hence nickname info Link to Maeda FG post Link to Maeda’s Dodgers deal Link to FG SP projections Link to Twins payroll article Link to Heyward FG post Link to EW Episode 2089 Link to Ben on HR robberies Link to Stanky maneuver info Link to fourth out wiki Link to Sam on fourth outs Link to baseball exceptionalism wiki Link to Secret Santa sign-up sheet  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  EW Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh talks to Portia, a superfan of Shohei Ohtani who runs a popular fan account. They discuss Ohtani's popularity, following him from 15 time zones away, the mysteries surrounding him, his non-baseball friendships, love for biking and the beach, and the active show hay community. The hosts also explore their passion for uncovering the lives, burial sites, and hidden stories of deceased baseball players.

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the proper pluralization of “POBO,” then (7:12) answer listener emails about baseball with a five-second pitch clock, how long fans will continue to boo pickoff attempts, what it would take for a team to pay a particular fan to attend (or not attend) its games, Freddie Freeman’s base stealing, bringing turnovers to baseball, clubs that could achieve “perfectly average success” in the 30-team era, the limits of fan tolerance for playoff expansion, a proposal for the postseason to be like college bowl season, boosting starting pitchers with a “bullpen bank,” whether Harold Baines would’ve been better off declining Cooperstown induction, Adam Wainwright and the Hall of Fame, and fan voting on Hall of Famers, plus a Stat Blast (1:30:13) about whether awards voting has gotten more homogen(e)ous and more closely correlated with WAR. Audio intro: Harold Walker, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Tom Rhoads, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to POBO pluralization exchange Link to info on forming plurals Link to pitch tempo leaderboard Link to speed chess wiki Link to Episode 1453 Link to Tango on pickoff attempts Link to Bruce Chen’s pickoff attempts Link to Gonny Jomes wiki Link to MLB Ballpark Pass-Port Link to MLB Ballpark app Link to Stathead on 1B SB Link to FG post on Freeman’s steals Link to L.A. Times on Freeman’s 20–20 Link to graphic on Freeman’s 20–20–200 Link to Sam on Freeman’s improvements Link to NYT on O’Neill’s 20–20 Link to Stathead on oldest 20–20 guys Link to Pujols steal streak video Link to H-E-B wiki Link to baseball exceptionalism wiki Link to EW on batters catching pitches Link to The Athletic fan survey results Link to NHL playoff format wiki Link to playoff randomness by sport Link to “paper champions” study Link to Ben on the SP protagonist Link to Ben on pitcher limits Link to @dril “turning a big dial” tweet Link to latest Hall of Fame ballot Link to HoF tiers EW discussion Link to article on Baines induction Link to Ben on Baines Link to Jay Jaffe on Wainwright’s 200th Link to Jay on HoF SP standards Link to EW episode 114 Link to HoF by election method Link to Ben on Mauer’s candidacy Link to EW emails database Link to homogenous vs. homogeneous Link to Kenny Jackelen on Twitter Link to Ryan Nelson on Twitter Link to B-Ref awards voting results Link to awards data, all years, with WAR Link to awards data with calculations Link to Ryan’s Stat Blast graphs Link to concentration ratio explainer Link to HHI explainer Link to SABR study on WAR and awards Link to win probability of scoring team Link to Secret Santa sign-up sheet  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  EW Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source