Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley react to news about Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara being charged with bank fraud, discuss the revelations in the government’s stunning, detailed complaint, and assess the implications for Ohtani and MLB. Then (1:06:58) they banter about Jordan Montgomery changing agencies after his offseason Boras debacle, a Juan Soto fan-pandering update, Jackson Holliday’s Orioles debut, Tyler Glasnow and the allure of a 21-strikeout game, a Driveline quote about training for velocity, and an A’s giveaway (and dubious pledge to spend more on players), plus (1:35:15) a few follow-ups.

Audio intro: Daniel Leckie, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Xavier LeBlanc, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Greene pants seam tear
Link to U.S. Attorney’s Office press release
Link to criminal complaint
Link to NYT report
Link to MLB statement
Link to @Yankees betting tweet
Link to Ippei surrendering tweet
Link to Baumann on gambling scandals
Link to MLBTR on Montgomery
Link to Soto spikes
Link to Glasnow game
Link to Sam on a 21-strikeout game
Link to MLBTR on Holliday
Link to Dan S. on the Tides
Link to Olney tweet story
Link to video of young Holliday
Link to Twins kiss
Link to 2023 Albies/Arcia kiss
Link to 2024 Albies/Arcia kiss
Link to Adler pitcher injuries article
Link to A’s giveaway tweet
Link to Rosenthal on A’s spending
Link to ESPN on the A’s move
Link to Belt on chicken tenders
Link to hitting at Rogers Centre
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about White Sox manager Pedro Grifol’s anti-eclipse eyewash, the shrinking moon, an eyebrow-raising quote by Blake Snell, the latest signature Elly De La Cruz game, the hot starts of Mike Trout, Anthony Volpe, and Tyler O’Neill, how this season’s converted relievers (including Garrett Crochet and Jordan Hicks) are faring, and more, then (38:57) discuss and debate the latest rash of pitcher injuries, the pitch clock as a culprit or a scapegoat, and possible solutions to the injury problem, plus (1:27:32) an 1892 complaint about position-player pitchers and a few follow-ups.

Audio intro: Alex Ferrin, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: The Shirey Brothers, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Grifol quote
Link to Sox Machine on Grifol
Link to Ben on the 2017 eclipse
Link to tweet about eclipse coincidence
Link to story on shrinking moon
Link to story on end of eclipses
Link to more on moon shrinking
Link to Nick Gordon comment
Link to Adler on eyewash
Link to Snell quote
Link to zone rate stats
Link to Elly homers
Link to Elly fun fact 1
Link to Elly fun fact 2
Link to article on Volpe swing
Link to Sox pitch usage story
Link to Sox Run Prevention Unit
Link to FG post on Sox pitching
Link to FG post on Rafaela
Link to FG post on Hicks
Link to Ben on pitcher injuries
Link to MLBTR top stories screenshot
Link to MLBPA statement
Link to MLB statement
Link to Cole comments
Link to Verlander comments
Link to Taillon/Wood comments
Link to Scherzer comments
Link to Passan on pitcher injuries
Link to Sawchik tweet
Link to Dan S. on the clock
Link to BP on the clock
Link to story on Bieber’s offseason
Link to cricket bowling rules
Link to cricket and TJS
Link to EW on speed limits
Link to mound height study
Link to Ben on pitcher roster limits
Link to Rich Hill surgeries
Link to 1892 article
Link to Bookforum Oyler review
Link to Imanaga presser
Link to The Athletic on Imanaga
Link to Imanaga song
Link to Kelenic comment
Link to Ontario cursive story
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the earthquake in the Northeast, Juan Soto’s choice of walk-up song, J.J. Hardy building a ballpark in his Arizona backyard, the pluses and minuses of living in or near a ballpark, and how Shohei Ohtani relates to the Tower of Babel, then (1:04:21) answer listener emails about the Moneyball A’s vs. the 116-win Mariners, Joey Votto and players’ skill with cursive script, how long a ceremonial first pitch thrower could potentially delay a game, the value of consistently throwing from multiple arm slots, and how much better a team would be if its opponents knew nothing about it in advance.

Audio intro: Beatwriter, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: The Gagnés, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to NYT on the earthquake
Link to Gleyber’s BP
Link to Soto song tweet
Link to “Empire State of Mind”
Link to Correa Dior store quote
Link to Hardy yardwork report
Link to Olerud tree story
Link to Target Field view
Link to Minneapolis apartment building
Link to converted Indianapolis ballpark
Link to Indy stadium lofts
Link to converted Osaka Stadium
Link to The Athletic on the Dodgers ball
Link to Dodgers follow-up article
Link to Ohtani video clip
Link to Ireton profile
Link to Tower of Babel wiki
Link to Votto tweet
Link to NPR on cursive
Link to The Atlantic on cursive
Link to NYT on cursive
Link to Rangers first pitch
Link to Padres exhibition game
Link to Ben on rookie pitcher comments
Link to research on MLB debuts
Link to listener emails database
Link to Strider article
Link to Ben on pitcher injuries
Link to info on “misles”
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Athletics’ intermediate move to Sacramento, the Royals’ failed public funding referendum, a Davis Schneider self scouting report, a wild Diamondbacks-Yankees game that ended with a pitcher at the plate, whether a DH day is really like a partial day off, whether the Triple-A Norfolk Tides are better than the Colorado Rockies, Josh Jung and when to classify a player as “injury-prone,” Eury Pérez’s Tommy John surgery and MLB’s study on pitcher injuries, and an incandescent start by Mookie Betts, plus a few follow-ups.

Audio intro: Andy Ellison, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Ted O., “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to MLBTR on the A’s move
Link to Sutter Health Park
Link to Olney tweet
Link to Hildenberger tweet
Link to Baumann on the A’s
Link to Field of Schemes on the A’s
Link to Simpsons quote
Link to Cora quote
Link to MLBTR on KC referendum
Link to FoS on the Royals
Link to Schneider homer
Link to Schneider quote
Link to McGough game article
Link to McGough video
Link to Hannah on DHs
Link to Russell on DHs
Link to Russell on days off
Link to Tides game
Link to Rockies game
Link to Tides ZiPS
Link to Ben’s Tides sheet
Link to Clemens on Holliday
Link to MLBTR on Jung
Link to CBS on Jung
Link to MLBTR on Eury
Link to Ben on pitcher injuries
Link to Manfred quote
Link to The Athletic jerseys story
Link to Fegan tweet
Link to Weaver on wristbands
Link to Chaquetas story
Link to Salmon Run site
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a grab of topics, including a team meeting after two games, early bad blood and benches-clearing incidents, the continued terribleness of the new uniforms, a Bryce Harper blooper, a missing first-base coach, an A’s conspiracy, Juan Soto as instant True Yankee, new lights at Chase Field, the Dairy Daddies and marketing, a Nelson Cruz one-day-contract comp, Oswaldo Cabrera’s selective switch-hitting, and more, followed by a Stat Blast (1:14:22) about first-time Opening Day starters, Jesse Chavez and pitchers who were much better with one team than they were overall, games in which both teams scored more runs than they had hits, and the lowest-WAR three-team trades.

Audio intro: Austin Klewan, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Nate Emerson, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to team meeting story
Link to Hoskins slide
Link to Hoskins taunt
Link to throw behind Hoskins
Link to story on Royals unis
Link to sweaty Yankees jerseys
Link to Ben on pitcher injuries
Link to Harper play
Link to A’s conspiracy
Link to Jaffe on the Yankees
Link to MLB.com Soto story
Link to Soto throw
Link to Ben on the Shuffle
Link to Sterling call
Link to FiveThirtyEight on NYC
Link to New Yorker cover
Link to EW on Gallo
Link to White Sox delay
Link to EW episode 2069
Link to lights at Chase
Link to THT on day/night splits
Link to BA on minor league lights
Link to Meg’s salmon run tweet
Link to salmon run wiki
Link to Dairy Daddies
Link to Oatly Malmö team
Link to EW on team names
Link to EW on Colon’s retirement
Link to BP on Cabrera
Link to NY Post on Cabrera
Link to EW on Edman
Link to EW on Edman again
Link to Stat Blast song cover
Link to Ryan Nelson’s Twitter
Link to Opening Day starter data
Link to old SB on re-acquiring players
Link to MLBTR on Chavez
Link to Chavez comps data
Link to Tex Pasley’s Twitter
Link to Jay Cuda tweet
Link to games with R>H data
Link to 1953 game log
Link to 1953 game article
Link to Kenny Jackelen’s Twitter
Link to MLBTR on the Berti trade
Link to 3-team-trade data
Link to Seattle ballpark meetup
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Opening Day naps, a Bryce Harper pandering update, Nelson Cruz’s Mariners retirement and the one-day-contract tradition, and Yusei Kikuchi’s latest intriguing revelation, then (21:16) share some highlights and lowlights of Opening Day action, report the results of listener voting on the preseason predictions game, analyze Will Smith’s extension, marvel at this season’s compressed projections, and (1:05:27) conduct the fourth annual Team Fun Draft, in which they draft all 30 teams in order of how fun they are to follow in 2024.

Audio intro: Alex Glossman and Ali Breneman, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Liz Panella, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to FG staff predictions
Link to Ringer staff predictions
Link to Ramírez Opening Day quote
Link to Harper jacket
Link to Cruz Mariners tweet
Link to Levine on one-day contracts
Link to one-day-contracts thread
Link to Kikuchi on sleeping
Link to Kikuchi on reading
Link to Soto throw
Link to Ichiro throw
Link to Cespedes throw
Link to Mays catch
Link to Mariners salmon run
Link to salmon run video
Link to preseason predictions pod
Link to listener voting results
Link to MLBTR on Lewin Díaz
Link to MLBTR on Smith
Link to Jaffe on Smith
Link to FG playoff odds
Link to payroll disparities
Link to Paine on net WAR
Link to load management info
Link to Ben on Arraez
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley remind people to vote in their preseason predictions game, discuss the completion of the season preview series, and then (10:15) analyze Shohei Ohtani’s remarks from Monday and preview the rest of the 2024 Los Angeles Dodgers season with The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya, followed (1:15:31) by a 2024 Colorado Rockies preview with The Denver Gazette’s Luke Zahlmann, plus a postscript on the Diamondbacks signing Jordan Montgomery (1:55:50) and a recap of preview guests’ goals for each team this year (2:01:25).

Audio intro: El Warren, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio interstitial 1: Tom Rhoads, “What Did Shohei Ohtani Know?”
Audio interstitial 2: Justin Peters, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Daniel Leckie, “Effectively Wild Theme”

LINK TO VOTE ON PREDICTIONS
Link to Capistrano swallows story
Link to swallows story 2
Link to swallows story 3
Link to Ohtani video
Link to Ohtani transcript
Link to other Ohtani translation
Link to Kim tweet
Link to Kojima video
Link to Ben on Ohtani
Link to Blum on Ippei’s bio
Link to NBA betting scandal
Link to Haberstroh on Porter
Link to Dodgers offseason tracker
Link to Dodgers depth chart
Link to Fabian on the Seoul series
Link to more on Seoul
Link to ESPN Friedman report
Link to Ben on the Dodgers
Link to Friedman on failure
Link to Dodgers TV deal
Link to Ben on the Dodgers
Link to Fabian’s Athletic archive
Link to Rockies offseason tracker
Link to Rockies depth chart
Link to SP projections
Link to RP projections
Link to FG playoff odds
Link to FG on Tovar’s extension
Link to Baumann on Straw
Link to Blum on Bryant
Link to Statcast defense projections
Link to Rockies pitching lab
Link to Rockies player projections
Link to Coors hangover effect
Link to Rockies R&D story
Link to MLB attendance ranks
Link to P GB% leaderboard
Link to P K% leaderboard
Link to Andrew’s Gazette archive
Link to MLBTR on Montgomery
Link to MLBTR on the QO
Link to Operation Market Garden
Link to over/under draft results
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form
LINK TO VOTE ON PREDICTIONS

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Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs authors Michael Baumann and Ben Clemens play “Character Who Appears in Shōgun the Novel (but Not the TV Series) or International Amateur Baseball Player” (3:13), banter about an MLBPA power struggle (8:37) and the life of late Orioles owner Peter Angelos (16:51), and then explain the second annual preseason predictions game (22:38) and make 10 bold predictions apiece (29:00) about baseball in 2024, to be voted on by listeners.

Audio intro: Luke Lillard, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Benny and a Million Shetland Ponies, “Effectively Wild Theme (Horny)”

LINK TO VOTE ON PREDICTIONS
Link to Sasaki article
Link to Jarvis singing video
Link to Passan on the MLBPA
Link to Drellich on Flaherty
Link to latest on the MLBPA
Link to Drellich on McHugh
Link to Meyer letter
Link to MLBTR on Angelos
Link to Angelos wiki
Link to Rubenstein story
Link to last year’s predictions pod
Link to predictions recap pod
Link to last year’s results
Link to wiki on last year
Link to combined WAR leaderboard
Link to Ben on 2022 Pujols
Link to jacked players list
Link to slim Stanton video
Link to FG top 100
Link to 2024 oldest players
Link to 40+ PA by year
Link to batter age by year
Link to multi-year RoY vote-getters
Link to tiebreaker rules
Link to FG playoff odds
Link to Bananas cruise
Link to total SB by year
Link to Sam on SB
Link to Russell on pickoffs
Link to obstruction enforcement
Link to enforcement explainer
Link to obstruction call video
Link to Lindor play piece 1
Link to Lindor play piece 2
Link to MiLB FA draft projections
Link to Thames GIF
Link to Ben on Shohei
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form
LINK TO VOTE ON PREDICTIONS

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the J.D. Martinez and Michael Lorenzen signings, Eury Pérez‘s elbow, Jackson Holliday not making the O’s Opening Day roster, and MLB’s crowded, mediocre middle, then preview the 2024 New York Yankees (16:49) with The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner, and the 2024 Washington Nationals (1:14:13) with The Washington Post’s Andrew Golden.

Audio intro: Philip Bergman, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio interstitial 1: Philip Bergman, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio interstitial 2: Xavier LeBlanc, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Jimmy Kramer, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to FG post on JDM
Link to JDM deferral info
Link to FG post on Lorenzen
Link to MLBTR on Pérez
Link to MLBTR on O’s roster
Link to prospect promotion incentive
Link to FG playoff odds
Link to Yankees offseason tracker
Link to Yankees depth chart
Link to Chris on Volpe
Link to Chris on Verdugo
Link to Yankees wifi story
Link to Stro/Cash story
Link to SP projections
Link to RP projections
Link to Cashman on Stanton
Link to Leanhardt article
Link to 2019 Judge comment
Link to Judge toe story
Link to Cole option story
Link to Bellinger on Seinfeld
Link to Chris’s sitcoms tweet
Link to Chris’s Athletic archive
Link to Nationals offseason tracker
Link to Nationals depth chart
Link to Rizzo offseason quote
Link to Andrew’s viral photo
Link to Mintz on the photo
Link to FG post on the photo
Link to Stuff+ rankings
Link to scouting changes
Link to Orr on Abrams
Link to Andrew on Abrams
Link to SB leaders after 7/6
Link to Andrew on García Jr.
Link to Andrew on Robles
Link to Strasburg story
Link to Lerner sale story
Link to BP catcher defense
Link to Andrew’s WaPo archive
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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In an in-depth discussion that became a bonus episode, Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley explore the state of the sports-betting scandal surrounding Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, breaking down the stakes, the most pressing sources of uncertainty, and the many possible outcomes and consequences.

Audio intro: The Shirey Brothers, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Ian Phillips, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to MLB statement
Link to Wednesday ESPN report
Link to Thursday ESPN report
Link to Friday ESPN report
Link to T.J. Quinn report
Link to MLB Rule 21
Link to rules explainer
Link to other leagues’ rules
Link to NFL gambling policy
Link to Rosenthal/McCullough
Link to IRS report
Link to Fletcher tweet
Link to LeBron story
Link to Jaguars employee story
Link to Jaguars story 2
Link to Calcaterra newsletter
Link to Ben on Shohei
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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