Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley recap the Rockies’ press conference about the Nolan Arenado trade and GM Jeff Bridich claiming the belt as the game’s most-maligned GM, then discuss Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway’s suspension and Andrelton Simmons’ comments about his mental state in 2020, analyze the Twins re-signing Nelson Cruz and signing Alex Colomé, the Rays reuniting with Chris Archer, the Reds adding Sean Doolittle, and the Brewers landing Kolten Wong, touch on A.J. Preller’s promotion and extension and examine the potential conflict between Theo Epstein’s MLB consultancy and his new private-equity job, and conclude with a Stat Blast about the incredible consistency of Leroy Stanton. Audio intro: Earth Girls, "Only Human" Audio outro: Matthew Sweet, "Split Personality" Link to Emma Baccellieri on the Rockies Link to Marc Carig on the Rockies Link to Nick Groke on the Arenado trade Link to story about Monfort’s 94-win prediction Link to Ben Clemens on Arenado’s new deal Link to The Athletic report about Callaway Link to Ginny Searle on Callaway Link to Jeff Passan on Drew Robinson Link to Jeff Fletcher on Simmons Link to Kevin Goldstein on the Cruz signing Link to Clemens on Cruz last September Link to EW episode about Cruz Link to Tony Wolfe on the Archer signing Link to Ben on the Archer trade Link to story about Archer’s sinker usage Link to report about Epstein’s new gig Link to Dan Fox on platoon splits Link to Stanton’s career splits 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 break down the Nolan Arenado trade from the Rockies’ and Cardinals’ perspectives, reflect on the Rockies’ rudderless state, touch on a few more minor transactions (Alex Cobb to the Angels, Didi Gregorius to the Phillies, and Eddie Rosario to Cleveland), remember the career of the now-retired Dustin Pedroia, and touch on the latest exchanges between MLB and the MLBPA about when to start the season (with a postscript about late-breaking news). Audio intro: Keith Richards, "Something for Nothing" Audio outro: Pllush, "Stuck to You" Link to Ben Clemens on the Arenado deal Link to discussion about blockbusters Link to story about the Rockies’ front office Link to Bridich’s comments about beat writers Link to story about Monfort Link to Jake Mailhot on the Rosario signing Link to report about MLB-MLBPA negotiations Link to Twitter thread about MLB-MLBPA negotiations Link to report about Callaway  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 quirks and cancellation of a long-lost (and recently rediscovered) baseball successor to arcade hit NBA Jam called Power-Up Baseball, then discuss the Cubs signing Joc Pederson and the Cardinals bringing back Adam Wainwright and (probably) Yadier Molina, share a Stat Blast about where Wainwright and Molina rank among the most prolific pitcher-catcher combos of all time in terms of total starts, break down Nick Madrigal’s chances of achieving the “very reachable” (according to Madrigal) milestone of 3,000 hits, and celebrate Ken Griffey Jr.’s hiring as a senior advisor to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, then answer listener emails about whether contract incentives could encourage players to adopt data-driven approaches, how Mike Trout could tank his career WAR while continuing to play, and how to make baseball as bad as possible while preserving the core structure of the sport. Audio intro: Echo & the Bunnymen, "Lost and Found" Audio outro: Lindisfarne, "Together Forever" Link to article about Power-Up Baseball Link to video of Power-Up Baseball Link to Google Doodle baseball game Link to Dan Szymborski on the Wainwright signing Link to Stat Blast data about batteries Link to player turnover study Link to Madrigal’s comments Link to age-based baselines for 3000-hit club Link to MLB.com story about Griffey Link to list of Trout hypotheticals Link to Meg on Trout hypotheticals Link to Francoeur with big glove Link to Francoeur with big glove again Link to Craig Edwards’ farewell post Link to FanGraphs job posting  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, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs author Ben Clemens break down the Marcus Semien, Andrelton Simmons, and Tommy La Stella signings, the Steven Matz trade, and Masahiro Tanaka’s decision to return to NPB’s Rakuten Eagles (with digressions about Japan’s tradition of awarding the uniform number 18 to aces and the greatness of Hiroki Kuroda) before explaining what the internet-driven inflation of GameStop stock has to do with the Mets, why Billy Beane isn’t leaving the A’s after all, and why teams are so intent on treating the competitive balance tax threshold as a salary cap. Then (57:32) they’re joined by Dr. Barton Smith, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Utah State University, to discuss how the Hawk-Eye component of MLB’s Statcast system is enabling new breakthroughs in pitch design, the concepts of seam-shifted wake and spin mirroring, which pitchers and teams are on the cutting edge, why some earlier analysts were wrong about pitching, whether hitters can counter the latest advances, what we still don’t understand about pitching, the increasing complexity of player evaluation, and how this all relates to foreign substances and the baseball’s surface. Audio intro: The Shazam, "Squeeze the Day" Audio interstitial: Buzzcocks, "Wake Up Call" Audio outro: Heatmiser, "Wake" Link to Ben Clemens on the Semien signing Link to Dan Szymborski on the Simmons signing Link to Tony Wolfe on the La Stella signing Link to Tony on the Matz trade Link to Brendan Gawlowski on the Tanaka signing Link to Jim Allen on the Tanaka signing Link to Rob Arthur on MLB FA going to Japan Link to Slate’s GameStop stock explainer Link to report about Steve Cohen’s losses Link to report about Beane’s bid Link to report about Oakland’s offer to Semien Link to Andy McCullough on the CBT Link to Marc Normandin on the CBT Link to Hawk-Eye introduction Link to Ben’s primer on the seam-shifted revolution Link to Alan Nathan on late break Link to Nathan on active spin Link to Barton’s seam-shifted wake explainer Link to Barton’s video about seam-shifted wake Link to BP article on seam-shifted wake Link to Driveline study on seam-shifted wake Link to Tom Tango on seam-shifted wake Link to Eno Sarris on seam-shifted wake Link to Eno on spin mirroring Link to Michael Augustine on spin mirroring Link to Mike Petriello on spin direction Link to Tango on spin direction Link to Tango on gyro spin Link to report about defamation lawsuit  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 Willians Astudillo’s award-winning heroics in the Venezuelan Winter League, then discuss the Phillies re-signing J.T. Realmuto, the Blue Jays signing Marcus Semien, the Nationals signing Brad Hand, the Padres signing Jurickson Profar, the Yankees trading for Jameson Taillon and assembling a skilled but injury-prone rotation, the Red Sox acquiring Adam Ottavino, Enrique Hernández, and Garrett Richards, the promising pennant races in the NL West and AL East, the latest labor battle and threat of a postponed start to the season (and a season without an NL DH), the news that no players were elected to the Hall of Fame, and the future of Hall of Fame voting and discourse. Lastly (1:03:53), they talk to Bradford William Davis of the New York Daily News about how Hank Aaron was eulogized, why Aaron’s historical significance went well beyond his stats, and how he should be remembered. Audio intro: TUNS, "My Memories" Audio interstitial: Sloan, "Suppose They Close the Door" Audio outro: Waylon Jennings, "Are You Sure Hank Done it This Way" Link to Young’s ABL pitching appearance Link to Rob Arthur on less active free agency Link to Dan Szymborski on the Realmuto signing Link to Craig Edwards on Semien as a bargain Link to Edwards on the Hand signing Link to Ben Clemens on the Profar signing Link to Dan on the Taillon trade Link to Dan on the Ottavino trade Link to Tony Wolfe on the Hernández signing Link to Ken Rosenthal on league/union negotiations Link to Alex Coffey on the Cactus League letter Link to Jay Jaffe’s crowdsourced ballot Link to Jay on the Hall of Fame voting results Link to New York Times story on HoF voting Link to Wall Street Journal story on HoF voting Link to Andy McCullough’s HoF survey Link to Marc Carig on HoF voting neuroscience Link to Verducci voting video Link to Bradford on Aaron Link to Howard Bryant on Aaron Link to Claire Smith on Aaron Link to Lex Pryor on Aaron Link to Stephanie Apstein on Aaron Link to Demetrius Bell on Aaron Link to 1994 interview with Aaron Link to another 1994 interview with Aaron Link to the AJC on Aaron’s activism Link to Henry Grabar on Aaron’s secretary Link to Aaron’s memoir  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 reflect on the on-field feats, statistical records, and larger legacy of baseball icon Henry Louis “Hank” Aaron, who died on Friday at age 86. Then (25:47) they talk to Joe Lowry of Prospects Live about the ongoing boom in baseball cards, touching on why 2020 fueled a surge in sports-card collecting, how baseball cards have changed since the ’80s and ’90s, the finer points of breaking, box wars, and prospect cards, the demographics of current card collectors, digital cards, how to get back into baseball cards after a hiatus from the hobby, and more. Audio intro: The Baseball Project, "They Don’t Know Henry" Audio interstitial: Chuck D, "It’s So Hard to See My Baseball Cards Move On" Audio outro: Gene Clark, "Home Run King" Link to New York Times Aaron obit Link to Washington Post Aaron obit Link to Howard Bryant’s Aaron obit Link to Claire Smith on Aaron Link to Joe Posnanski on Aaron Link to Michael Baumann on Aaron Link to Zach Kram on Aaron’s stats Link to Neil Paine on Aaron’s stats Link to Posnanski’s Baseball 100 entry on Aaron Link to Dayn Perry on Aaron Link to Matt Trueblood on Aaron’s mid-career shift Link to Jay Jaffe on Aaron’s home-run rate Link to Aaron’s neutralized stats Link to story about Aaron’s philanthropy Link to Craig Wright on Aaron as a second baseman Link to Wright on the last Negro Leaguer to make MLB Link to story on record Mantle card sale Link to Emma Baccellieri on the baseball-card boom Link to Andy McCullough on Phil Hughes Link to Joe on card collecting in 2020 Link to Joe on prospect cards Link to Joe on Jasson Dominguez Link to Joe on card breaking Link to Joe on box wars Link to Slate on digital baseball cards  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 Alex Rodriguez’s ubiquity on non-baseball broadcasts and then discuss George Springer signing a franchise-record contract with the Blue Jays, Michael Brantley re-signing with the Astros, and José Quintana signing with the Angels, touching on how the Jays compare to their AL East rivals and what the team may do next, Springer’s track record and how he’ll age, Toronto’s run at Brantley, why Springer has escaped some of his former team’s sign-stealing stigma, how the Astros stack up post-Springer, the Cubs’ soft-tossing, poorly projected rotation, the NL Central’s inactivity, and when it’s appropriate for fans to take breaks from or forsake their teams. Then they answer a listener email about working in baseball and reevaluating a dream job and conclude with a Stat Blast about the longest time elapsed between the same player’s World Series hits. Audio intro: The Tragically Hip, "You’re Everywhere" Audio outro: Lou Reed, "My Friend George" Link to thread of A-Rod photos Link to Dan Szymborski on the Springer signing Link to Dan on playoff odds changes Link to Jeff on Springer’s contact in 2017 Link to Jeff on the 2017 Astros’ new-look lineup Link to sign-stealing data Link to Ben on sign-stealing effectiveness Link to Rob Arthur on sign-stealing effectiveness Link to second BP study on sign-stealing effectiveness Link to Bill Petti on sign-stealing effectiveness Link to Tony Wolfe on the Quintana signing Link to Russell Carleton on starting-pitcher handedness Link to R.J. Anderson on MLB brain drain Link to Ben on going from a front office to the media Link to Adam Ott’s website Link to Stat Blast spreadsheet Link to Russell on postseason experience  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 discuss ESPN’s report about Mets GM Jared Porter’s harassment of a female reporter when Porter worked for the Cubs in 2016, Porter’s subsequent firing by the Mets, Mets president Sandy Alderson’s comments about Porter’s hiring, the limitations of assessing character, the obstacles media members who aren’t cis men encounter in male-dominated environments like baseball, how MLB can help prevent continued incidents such as this one, and more. Then (52:45) they banter about the Blue Jays preceding their George Springer splash by signing Tyler Chatwood and Kirby Yates, the Padres trading for Joe Musgrove, the potential for widespread six-man rotations in 2021, and the Nationals signing ex-Cubs Jon Lester and Kyle Schwarber, plus a postscript about late-breaking news, including the death of Hall of Famer Don Sutton. Audio intro: Golden Smog, "He’s a Dick" Audio outro: Idles, "Never Fight a Man With a Perm" Link to ESPN report about Porter Link to Deesha Thosar on Porter Link to Brittany Ghiroli on Porter Link to Ken Rosenthal on Porter Link to Ben Clemens on Musgrove Link to Ben Clemens on six-man rotations Link to Sportsnet on Chatwood Link to Tony Wolfe on Chatwood Link to Jake Mailhot on Yates Link to Patrick Mooney on Lester Link to largest career WAR differences Link to 1975 article about baseball perms Link to Jon Weisman on Sutton  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 Blue Jays missing out on DJ LeMahieu and which remaining free agents might be bound for Toronto, follow up on their previous discussion about bagged milk and tax implications for free agency, marvel at LeMahieu’s unique invulnerability to the shift and his unlikely career trajectory, and examine his fit and future with the Yankees. Then they break down MLB’s hiring of Theo Epstein as a consultant regarding on-field matters (touching on Epstein’s potential as a savior of the sport, the obstacles he faces, what his future might hold, and more) and answer a listener email about attending games alone. Audio intro: The Beatles, "Blue Jay Way" Audio outro: Eliza, "Alone & Unafraid" Link to Sportsnet on the Jays missing out again Link to Happ on bagged milk Link to bagged milk explainer Link to Petriello on Lemahieu and shifts Link to 2017 outfield shift against LeMahieu Link to Jay Jaffe on LeMahieu re-signing Link to Jay on LeMahieu and Yankee Stadium Link to 2020 wOBA-xwOBA leaderboard Link to Jeff on LeMahieu on 2018 Link to Jeff on LeMahieu and Jeter Link to Theo Epstein press release Link to Sahadev Sharma on Theo’s new job Link to Joe Posnanski on Theo Link to Theo on his hiring practices Link to Tango on walks and the strike zone Link to Craig Edwards on making baseball better  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 Blue Jays missing out on several free-agent or trade targets, then answer listener emails about whether fans feel pride in their division/league, the history (and future) of fundamental changes to baseball technique, how many championships one would win if transported back to 2000 and appointed as GM of the Mariners, and how well pitchers would hit with metal bats, plus a Stat Blast about the public’s “pent-up demand” for post-pandemic baseball. Audio intro: Roy Orbison, "Almost" Audio outro: Gillian Welch, "Wayside/Back in Time" Link to Blue Jays Nation on the Jays missing out Link to Andrew Stoeten on the Jays missing out Link to story about free agents and Toronto Link to story about Toronto’s new turf Link to Bobby Wallace SABR bio Link to Jeff on the decline of the windup Link to Jeff on good players who weren’t top prospects Link to Jeff on stars who weren’t top prospects Link to NPR on pent-up demand Link to MLB attendance averages Link to Hannah Keyser on lapsed fans Link to longest pitcher home runs Link to info on semantic satiation Link to story on Miller Park Way Link to story on milk bags  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