Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about beard grooming, the indy-league exploits of Rafael Palmeiro, Patrick Palmeiro, and the Chinese national team, the Padres-Indians trade involving Brad Hand, Adam Cimber, and Francisco Mejía, the Orioles’ commitment to rebuilding, post-publication regrets about articles, the worst example of umpiring they’ve ever seen, and the state of the standings as the second half starts, then answer listener emails about what (if anything) is wrong with Gary Sánchez, Nick Markakis‘s timing (and fashion choices), calling fractional balls and strikes, round-number bias and the 100-pitch limit, paying Mike Trout for promotion, a .500 team without injuries or fatigue, and why certain teams try to tread water rather than rebuild, plus a Stat Blast about the durability of relievers and a reminder about listener Michael Mountain’s 35-day, 30-ballpark road trip.

Audio intro: David Bowie, "Never Get Old"
Audio outro: Smash Mouth, "Road Man"

Link to article about the Texas AirHogs
Link to Dan Duquette quotes
Link to video of awful umpire call
Link to Ben’s article about the playoff field
Link to Markakis’s outfit
Link to original interview about ballpark road trip

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan break down the five-for-one deal that sent Manny Machado to Los Angeles, discussing the players changing teams, the short- and long-term implications for the Dodgers and Orioles, and the ripple effects for the rest of the trade market. Then they reflect on the latest national discourse about marketing Mike Trout, review the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game, wrestle with how to handle the revelation of Josh Hader’s reprehensible tweets, and analyze the historic excellence of José Ramírez and Francisco Lindor.

Audio intro: Bob Dylan, "When the Deal Goes Down"
Audio outro: Razorlight, "Los Angeles Waltz"

Link to Jeff’s Machado post
Link to the Angels’ Trout tweet
Link to thread about Trout’s red-carpet outfit
Link to podcast conversation about marketing Trout
Link to Sheryl’s Harper post
Link to Ben’s article about Ramirez and Lindor

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Mike Trout and marketing, the surprising Rays and the unsung Jake Bauers, the AL wild card race, Willians Astudillo’s pitching appearance, the results of a 21-question player survey, the Royals’ recent performance, and a tariff on baseball gloves, then (24:24) bring on man-of-many-bylines Will Leitch to discuss the long-awaited end of the Mike Matheny era in St. Louis, how Cardinals fans feel to be free of him, what Matheny taught us about managers, the lowlights of his tenure, what did him in, and what’s next for the Cardinals.

Audio intro: Ray Davies, "Things Are Gonna Change"
Audio interstitial: Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim, "Change Partners"
Audio outro: Matt Costa, "Strings of Change"

Link to player survey
Link to Will’s Matheny article
Link to Ben’s Matheny bullpen management article

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Daniel Descalso, Alex Blandino, and the ongoing onslaught of position-player pitchers, Jacob deGrom‘s updated WAR vs. wins status, Kyle Schwarber‘s two-strike bunting, the death-ray potential of the Rays’ proposed stadium, Jordan Hicks and Bud Norris, and two baseball blobs, then (31:17) talk to Seattle Mariners senior marketing director Gregg Greene and marketing director Mandy Lincoln about the in-stadium decibel meter, the King’s Court, player walk-up songs, promotions gone wrong, Turn Ahead the Clock Night, stats on the scoreboard, Jerry Dipoto‘s marketing potential, and more. Lastly, Ben provides updates on scoreboard fun facts, the Rays’ stadium, Hicks and Norris, Mike Trout’s non-baseball hobbies, Willians Astudillo, James Paxton, Garrett Richards, etc.

Audio intro: Beulah, "Burned By the Sun"
Audio interstitial 1: Joel Plaskett Emergency, "Make a Little Noise"
Audio interstitial 2: Phish, "Crowd Control"
Audio outro: Sloan, "Burn for It"

Link to Jeff’s Kyle Schwarber post
Link to Blandino knuckler
Link to Mark Saxon article about Hicks and Norris
Link to Derrick Goold article about Hicks and Norris
Link to first baseball blob sighting
Link to second baseball blog sighting
Link to 2013 Trout hunting article

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Manny Machado trade precedents, the Astros’ weird walk-off, the A’s as wild-card contenders, Trevor Bauer and an Indians bullpen miscommunication, the Rays’ proposed stadium design, a Mike Trout shirt, and more, then answer listener emails about players and self-preservation, midseason free agents, Mike Trout hobbies besides weather, constructing a star on the scouting scale, the likeliest best active players, baseball with multiple mound distances, tennis players as pitchers, and committing to the Waxahachie Swap, plus a Stat Blast about the shortest All-Star careers.

Audio intro: Alex Turner, "Glass in the Park"
Audio outro: Liam Gallagher, "Wall of Glass"

Link to Jeff’s post on Machado precedents
Link to Astros walk-off
Link to Mike Trout shirt
Link to Rays ballpark design
Link to 2009 Trout article

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about an old “Umpire Day,” the Mariners’ run-differential defiance, and the Royals’ extreme struggles and possibly unprecedented amateur signing, then discuss how to define an All-Star, the All-Star Game’s fading significance, the All-Star selection process, and the perennial conversation surrounding “snubs,” as well as the trade deadline in the era of multiple wild cards and stratified teams, what this deadline might look like, the Orioles and the Manny Machado sweepstakes, the role of money in trades, the significance of sports awards, bouldering blisters, and more.

Audio intro: The Apples in Stereo, "7 Stars"
Audio outro: David Duchovny, "Stars"

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the third-place Nationals and Wade LeBlanc’s extension, then answer listener emails about trading Bryce Harper, signing Bryce Harper, throwing super-slow pitches, a DH as the best player ever, hitting flares on purpose, losing games to set up a specific playoff matchup, John Olerud and the Hall of Fame, when to tell fans to “make some noise,” the players with the most RBI against one team, forcing opponents to play out of position, an MLB re-entry rule, drafting based on publicly available info, the worst playoff teams and best non-playoff teams, a mysterious masked player, and more, plus a real-time reaction to the Nats’ incredible comeback and Stat Blasts about the best hitters after 0-2, the Rockies being better on the road, and the low leaguewide home-field advantage.

Audio intro: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "Makin’ Some Noise"
Audio outro: Buzzcocks, "Noise Annoys"

Link to Travis’s post about the Nationals
Link to info on the batted-ball “donut hole”
Link playoff teams with worst winning percentages
Link to non-playoff teams with best winning percentages

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the Rays using backup catcher Jesus Sucre as a pitcher to protect a lead, the return of Shohei Ohtani, Javier Baez’s exciting and silly steal of home, and what life would be like with deferred payments. Then (29:58) they bring on Phillies international scouting director Sal Agostinelli to discuss his Willians Astudillo-esque career, discovering, signing, and developing Astudillo, the July 2 signing period, scouting teenaged players, amateur scouting vs. international scouting, the importance of makeup, how to judge international-scouting success, signing players despite being saddled with a small bonus pool, the difficulty of focusing on baseball in Venezuela, expanding into new international markets, and more.

Audio intro: Talib Kweli (Feat. Nigel Hall), "Mr. International"
Audio interstitial: Nat King Cole, "Calico Sal"
Audio outro: Stackridge, "The Road to Venezuela"

Link to Jeff’s post about position-player pitchers
Link to list of deferred payments
Link to Javier Baez’s steal of home
Link to Philadelphia Inquirer feature on Sal Agostinelli
Link to 2018 team WAR from international amateur signees
Link to feature on Phillies’ international scouting
Link to Sal’s baseball-training site

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the joyous big-league debut and amazing minor-league history of Effectively Wild favorite and new Twins utility man Willians Astudillo, an awful Royals month, Jacob deGrom, a bobbled Raimel Tapia catch and tag-up confusion, Jon Gray‘s perplexing demotion, Marlins who may be traded, a Vince Velasquez highlight, Michael Lorenzen‘s hitting and Matt Davidson’s pitching, a Ryne Stanek fun fact, and a historic, almost-unprecedented putout by the Pirates and Joe Musgrove. Then (50:54) they talk to mutual childhood favorite (and Hall of Famer) Randy Johnson about how he harnessed his stuff, making mechanical tweaks, the fellow legends he came up with in Seattle, his incredible Houston half-season, his surgical history, starter workloads, whether he could have continued pitching as a reliever, facing Albert Pujols, Barry Bonds, and Rickey Henderson, being snakebit in October, and more (plus a remembrance of Small World Sports).

Audio intro: The Beach Boys, "Here Today"
Audio interstitial: Big Thief, "Randy"
Audio outro: Dolly Parton, "Randy"

Link to Ben’s Astudillo article
Link to Tapia tag-up play
Link to Ben’s Jon Gray article
Link to Ben’s Smith and Lorenzen interviews
Link to Velasquez play
Link to Pirates putout
Link to Jeff’s post about the peaks of Pedro and Randy
Link to Small World Sports article

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Jose Alvarado, Shohei Ohtani‘s power and possible return as a hitter, Shane Bieber‘s velocity, the minor-league breakouts of Chris Paddack and Colin Poche, FanGraphs readers vs. average fans, Brandon Nimmo‘s latest HBP antics, the Mets’ recent struggles and Mets-fan fatalism, the recoveries of the Reds and Wilmer Font, what teams would trade to enter the awful AL Central, Edwin Jackson‘s journey, the decline of the 2018 free-agent class, and more, then answer listener emails about Jonathan Holder, the thresholds for “qualifying” performance, Peter Moylan‘s age and indecisive 2017, Randy Cesar’s record-setting hitting streak and the Astros’ player development, pitcher hitting vs. hitter pitching, a pitcher who can’t remember his previous pitch, Mike Trout with an early bedtime, listening to games without commentary, and “climbing” into the batter’s box, plus Stat Blasts about Waxahachie Swaps and the best single (and rookie) seasons by career sub-replacement players.

Audio intro: The Blank Tapes, "Feels Like Summer"
Audio outro: Florence + The Machine, "June"

Link to Jeff’s post about the Rays’ Waxahachie Swap
Link to story about Ohtani’s BP power
Link to Jeff’s post about Colin Poche
Link to Jeff’s post about predicting second-half records
Link to Ben’s post about the AL Central
Link to Jeff Passan’s 2015 article about the 2018 FA class
Link to 2015 episode about the 2018 FA class
Link to Ben’s article about the 2018 FA class

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