Effectively Wild Episode 1307: The Baines of Our Existence

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about expected activity at the Winter Meetings, the pointlessness of the Winter Meetings, and the Hall of Fame elections of Lee Smith and Harold Baines (yes, that Harold Baines). Then (23:04) they talk to FanGraphs prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen about the baseball and multi-sport future of Heisman Trophy winner and A’s first-round draftee Kyler Murray. Lastly (38:38), they bring on baseball executive and former journalist Octavio Hernández to discuss the killings of Luis Valbuena and Jose Castillo, how Venezuelan Winter League teams arrange travel and security, how major leaguers deal with unrest at home, the state of baseball in Venezuela, the state of life in Venezuela, and why Octavio fled the country.

Audio intro: Yes, "Harold Land"
Audio interstitial 1: Dr. Dog, "Both Sides of the Line"
Audio interstitial 2: Parquet Courts, "Violence"
Audio outro: The Thrills, "Your Love is Like Las Vegas"

Link to right field JAWS leaders
Link to Jay’s pre-election post on Baines
Link to Jay’s post-election post on Baines
Link to Ben’s Hall of Baines
Link to Eric’s post on Murray
Link to Murray’s recreation of the Jackson photo
Link to Kiley’s Murray video
Link to story about Venezuelan MLB players who won’t go home
Link to story about Venezuelan players speaking out
Link to episode on Mexican League sabermetrics

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