Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Jarred Kelenic’s beef with the Mariners about alleged service-time manipulation, then preview the 2021 Nationals (25:37) with Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post and the 2021 Cubs (59:43) with Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic. 2021 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG Audio intro: Ty Segall, "Manipulator" Audio interstitial 1: Gary Louris, "D.C. Blues" Audio interstitial 2: Jason Isbell, "Chicago Promenade" Audio outro: Van Morrison, "March Winds in February" Link to USA Today article about Kelenic Link to Mather video transcript Link to Craig Goldstein on holding down prospects Link to Jayson Stark on fixing service-time manipulation Link to R.J. Anderson on the Bryant grievance Link to Sahadev on the Darvish trade Link to Sahadev’s interview with Breslow Link to Sahadev on Kimbrel Link to Sahadev on Arrieta Link to Sahadev on the Cubs’ defense Link to Alex Chamberlain on Hendricks Link to Joe Sheehan on hitters in walk years Link to Jesse on Schwarber getting squatty Link to Jesse on Kieboom Link to Jesse on Strasburg Link to Jesse on Hand Link to Buzz Saw  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley preview the 2021 Athletics with Alex Coffey of The Athletic and the 2021 Phillies (30:13) with Matt Gelb of The Athletic. 2021 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG Audio intro: The Divine Comedy, "Come Home Billy Bird" Audio interstitial: George Harrison, "Stuck Inside a Cloud" Audio outro: The Apples in Stereo, "Play Tough" Link to Alex on Beane Link to Alex on players’ reactions to Semien leaving Link to Ken Rosenthal on Semien’s exit Link to Alex on Oakland’s offseason and finances Link to Alex on the 1955 Mays/Aaron exhibition team Link to Sam on the Phillies’ rebuild Link to Matt on the Phillies’ revamped player dev Link to Matt on the Phillies’ rebuilt bullpen Link to Matt on Kingery Link to Matt on Fuld’s promotion Link to Matt on Dombrowski’s front office Link to Matt on Harper and the Phillies’ offseason Link to R.J. Anderson on Mathis Link to Matt on the Phillies’ outfield failures Link to Matt on the Phillies’ new roster  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Fernando Tatis Jr. coining a term for his contract, a Bill James tweet about analytics, and Shin-Soo Choo leaving MLB to make his belated KBO debut, share Stat Blasts about all-over-30 lineups and players who’ve dominated one position in their franchise’s history, and then (32:39) bring on FanGraphs author RJ McDaniel to talk about the recently unearthed comments by Mariners president and CEO Kevin Mather that led to Mather’s resignation, how Mather’s comments may reflect more pervasive problems with attitudes toward players, how the Mariners and their fans will try to move on, how minor league contraction has affected baseball in Vancouver (and beyond), the Blue Jays’ active offseason, why Blue Jays broadcasts aren’t easily accessible, and more. Audio intro: Semi Precious Weapons, "Statues of Ourselves" Audio interstitial: Cotton Mather, "The End of the Line" Audio outro: Gord Downie, "Vancouver Divorce" Link to story about Choo signing with the Wyverns Link to story about Choo playing in front of his family Link to EW episode about sabermetrics breaking baseball Link to Stat Blast data about over-30 lineups Link to Stat Blast data about positional team titans Link to Mather video Link to Mather transcript Link to Mariners statement about Mather’s resignation Link to MLBPA statement about Mather Link to report about past complaints about Mather Link to report about Mariners wrongful termination suit Link to RJ on Mather Link to study on accents and employability Link to Patrick Dubuque on Mather Link to story about Mariners culture post-Mather Link to RJ on the Northwest League Link to Torao Ooka B-Ref page  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about discordant college baseball uniform fonts, a piece by Blake Snell in The Players’ Tribune, and whether there’s a competitive advantage in making the bullpen less visible to the pitcher on the mound, then preview the 2021 Cardinals (15:13) with Will Leitch of MLB.com (and elsewhere) and the 2021 Cleveland baseball team (58:59) with Zack Meisel of The Athletic, plus a postscript about the underrated (and re-signed) Brett Gardner. 2021 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG Audio intro: The Essex Green, "Uniform" Audio interstitial 1: William Prince, "Reliever" Audio interstitial 2: The Essex Green, "Cardinal Points" Audio outro: Devin Davis, "Giant Spiders" Link to Meg’s tweets about uniforms Link to Snell’s column Link to Will on the Arenado deal Link to NL Central roundtable with Will Link to preorder Will’s novel Link to Will’s newsletter Link to Zack on Francona Link to The Athletic bracket of new team names Link to Zack on Rosario Link to Zack on McKenzie Link to Zack on Cleveland’s new middle infield Link to Zack on Cleveland’s pitcher development Link to EW episode about Cleveland’s pitching powerhouse Link to The Selby is Godcast Link to Yankees position-player WAR leaderboard Link to Yankees WAR Runs DP+Baserunning leaderboard Link to 2010-20 MLB position-player WAR leaderboard  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Baltimore Orioles trending on Twitter because of their 0.0 percent FanGraphs playoff odds, what that figure really signifies, and how teams tend to respond to pessimistic projections, then break down why the record-breaking 14-year extension signed by superstar shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. is a windfall for him, great news for fans of the Padres, and a boon to baseball. After that (35:10), they celebrate Prospect Week at FanGraphs by bringing on lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen to discuss his brand-new ranking of the top prospects in baseball, which organizations’ prospect strengths stand out, the potential of Wander Franco, Jasson Dominguez, and other intriguing talents, which prospects were most affected by the pandemic, whether there were any developmental upsides to playing at alternate sites, the upcoming draft classes, why Tatis was originally underrated, the now-complete career of Tim Tebow, and more. Audio intro: Guns N’ Roses, "14 Years" Audio interstitial: Hinds, "San Diego" Audio outro: Matthew Sweet, "Coming Soon" Link to @MLB playoff odds tweet Link to Means on the Orioles’ playoff odds Link to Ben Clemens on the Tatis extension Link to Big League Advance EW interview episode Link to Sportico on Tatis and BLA Link to Ken Rosenthal on Tatis and BLA Link to Eric’s Top 100-ish prospects Link to Kevin on pandemic-hampered prospects Link to Eric and Kevin’s 2022 picks to click Link to Eric’s draft rankings Link to story about Daniel Lynch Link to NASA Perseverance press release Link to Pinstriped Prospects Dominguez tweet Link to Fernando Perez EW interview episode  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the beginning of the ninth annual Effectively Wild team-by-team season preview series, discuss a trio of players (Justin Turner, James Paxton, and Jake Arrieta) who re-signed with their most recent or former teams, and preview the 2021 Rays (16:01) with Adam Berry of MLB.com and the 2021 Brewers (57:25) with Will Sammon of The Athletic. 2021 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG Audio intro: Camera Obscura, "Do it Again" Audio interstitial 1: The Bats, "The Rays" Audio interstitial 2: Bombadil, "Wisconsin Wedding" Audio outro: The Rembrandts, "End of the Beginning" Link to recap of 2020 team predictions Link to Jared Diamond on the Rays’ executive tree Link to Eric Longenhagen’s Rays prospects list Link to Ben on the opener and Yarbrough Link to Ian Malinowski on Yarbrough’s arb case Link to Tony Wolfe on Yelich Link to Will on Burnes Link to Will on Williams Link to Marc Carig on Williams Link to Jake Mailhot on Williams Link to Will on Lindblom Link to Will on Wong and Hiura  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the de-naming and possible renaming of the minor leagues, the Andrew Benintendi trade and the state of the Royals, and what they would add to SABR’s list of the 50 most noteworthy moments in the evolution of baseball analytics over the past 50 years, then (30:00) bring back NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Systems Engineer (and baseball fan) Shannon Towey to discuss adopting the Dodgers, the Mets’ offseason, the physics of baseball, the upcoming landing of the Perseverance rover on Mars, the purpose of the Mars 2020 mission, her role in communicating with the rover, why Mars has had a busy month, the importance of planetary protection, future Mars missions, and much more. Audio intro: The Killers, "My List" Audio interstitial: Styx, "Mission to Mars" Audio outro: Rainbow Kitten Surprise, "Mission to Mars" Link to new minor league structure Link to Dan Szymborski on the Benintendi trade Link to SABR’s analytics list Link to story about Pitcher Abuse Points Link to Victor Wang’s research Link to Sam on Steve Boros Link to the history of “three true outcomes” Link to Ben on AVM Systems Link to Ben on the Yankees discovering framing Link to Shannon’s first EW appearance Link to Shannon’s website Link to Mars 2020 mission website Link to Ben on planetary protection Link to Mars Helicopter page Link to R.J. Anderson on MLB brain drain  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about having baseball on the brain and the NL Central’s measly World Series odds, then answer listener emails about umpire underwear and repeated pants-splitting, an eccentric baseball billionaire who wants his son to break Cy Young’s career wins record, whether they would pitch a big-league game in exchange for Trevor Bauer’s single-start salary, Nelson Cruz and the Hall of Fame character clause, what percentage of teams have a Hall of Famer, what Pirates fans can look forward to, whether time off in 2020 may help pitchers in the long run, whether Red Sox fans should heckle Manny Machado, and whether and why we’re seeing a golden age of shortstops, plus a Stat Blast about the Angels’ rotation and the other least productive positions on teams over the past five seasons. Audio intro: Pulp, "Underwear" Audio outro: Elvis Presley, "Patch it Up" Link to Ben Clemens on the playoff odds Link to 1936 Retrosheet pants-splitting play log Link to 1939 pants-splitting story Link to 1964 pants-splitting photo Link to 1966 pants-splitting story Link to 1974 pants-splitting story Link to 1976 pants-splitting story Link to 1988 pants-splitting story Link to 1990 pants-splitting story Link to Sam on being embarrassed in a game Link to Allan Travers SABR bio Link to Pedroia-Machado play Link to Grant Brisbee on Pedroia and Machado Link to Pedroia on the Machado slide Link to Travis Sawchik on the golden age of shortstops Link to Travis on the new shortstop power profile Link to Ben on the Infante signing Link to Stat Blast least productive positions data Link to Lindsey Adler on MLB’s new policies  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the incredible longevity of Dodgers Spanish-language voice Jaime Jarrín (who’s outlasted his own son in the broadcast booth), break down the new, universal-DH-less health and safety protocols for the 2021 season and MLB’s adjustments to the baseball’s construction, the Elvis Andrus–Khris Davis trade and the unprecedented positional profile of Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna signing and the biggest surprises on the FanGraphs Playoff Odds page, then (57:34) talk to Andrea Williams about her new book Baseball’s Leading Lady: Effa Manley and the Rise and Fall of the Negro Leagues, covering the career of the only woman in the Hall of Fame, how Andrea’s background informed her approach to the book, integration’s effect on the Negro Leagues, the lasting legacies of segregation and Black Baseball, MLB recognizing the Negro Leagues as major leagues, and other underappreciated Black baseball titans. Audio intro: Cat Stevens, "Father and Son" Audio interstitial: The Tragically Hip, "Ahead By a Century" Audio outro: Kiwi Jr., "Undecided Voters" Link to story about Jarrín Link to video about Jarrín Link to press release about 2021 protocols Link to Ken Rosenthal on the 2021 protocols Link to The Athletic report on the baseball Link to AP report about the baseball Link to SI report about the baseball Link to Emma Baccellieri on baseball changes Link to Eric Longenhagen on the Andrus-Davis trade Link to Jake Mailhot on Kiner-Falefa Link to Andrew Simon on Kiner-Falefa Link to Jay Jaffe on the Ozuna signing Link to FanGraphs Playoff Odds page Link to Craig Goldstein on the Braves’ PECOTA projection Link to buy autographed copies of Baseball’s Leading Lady Link to publisher listing for Baseball’s Leading Lady Link to Manley’s Hall of Fame page Link to Clinton Yates on the Negro Leagues Link to Shakeia Taylor on Manley Link to SABR Analytics Awards voting  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the latest developments for their minor league free agent draft teams, then discuss the Dodgers signing reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer to an unexpected and unusually structured record contract, touching on the good and bad of Bauer, the incredible Dodgers-Padres arms race, and much more. Then (39:04) they draft their favorite responses to a recent viral tweet about the best, worst, and weirdest beliefs about baseball. Audio intro: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, "Trevor Forever" Audio outro: T. Rex, "Dandy in the Underworld" Link to Ben Clemens on the Bauer signing Link to Bauer’s announcement video Link to Bradford Doolittle on Bauer Link to Sarah Griffin’s tweet Link to article about Dandy  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source