Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a low-suspense awards week, the vastly varying paths to being a major league manager, the latest sign of the Angels player-development apocalypse, Brian Cashman on Giancarlo Stanton, the death of Padres owner Peter Seidler, Michael Jordan’s baseball career on For All Mankind, how much holding runners matters, and how to judge how many championships a franchise “should” have won, then Stat Blast (1:08:56) about postseason baserunning, scoring first in October, winning rings without playing a lot, and players who lost a lot of WAR, plus a PSA (1:31:02) about EW Secret Santa.

Audio intro: Daniel Leckie, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Nate Emerson, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Posnanski on unanimous awards
Link to Meg’s preseason predictions
Link to “Imperial phase” wiki
Link to Sheehan on managers
Link to story on college-coach managers
Link to Blum on Percival
Link to Cashman’s comments
Link to Stanton’s agent’s response
Link to NYT Seidler obit
Link to FAM Jordan image
Link to Petriello on running prevention
Link to the EW wiki on Lester
Link to running prevention leaderboards
Link to BP piece on championships
Link to Topps Now
Link to Rob Mains on October baserunning
Link to Rob on comebacks
Link to “scoring first” sheet
Link to Ryan Nelson’s Twitter
Link to low-playing-time-rings sheet
Link to Bellinger on EW
Link to Gore on EW
Link to “lost WAR” sheet
Link to FG on Doumit’s framing
Link to Secret Santa sign-up sheet

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about norovirus derailing the GM meetings, leftover Boras quotes, and the baseball players deemed sexiest by People magazine, Stat Blast (18:47) about a possible bunting comeback and whether age is correlated with pitch-clock violations, and then (43:39) talk to FanGraphs writer Ben Clemens about the free-agent market and his ranking of the top 50 free agents.

Audio intro: Josh Busman, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Liz Panella, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Apstein report
Link to Passan typo
Link to Park video
Link to Boras on Cohen
Link to Yogi Aflac ad
Link to Boras on Boston
Link to Baumann’s predictions
Link to People on Dempsey
Link to People on athletes
Link to People on reader poll
Link to Ohtani’s gloves post
Link to Hal on Boone’s bunts
Link to Thames quote
Link to Dipoto’s comments
Link to Petriello tweet
Link to Orr tweet
Link to playoff bunt hits
Link to playoff sacrifices
Link to regular-season bunts
Link to bunting wRC+
Link to non-pitcher bunting wRC+
Link to pre-extras, non-pitcher wRC+
Link to Rob Mains on bunting
Link to Tango thread about bunting
Link to sac/non-sac data
Link to Lucas Apostoleris on Twitter
Link to Episode 2051 wiki
Link to Epstein quote
Link to Topps Now
Link to Players Choice awards
Link to violations question
Link to violations leaderboard
Link to Episode 1991 wiki
Link to team violation correlations
Link to player violation correlations
Link to Rob on age and pace
Link to Moneyball clip
Link to handwashing PSA
Link to top 50 FA ranking
Link to top 50 FA chat
Link to Sam on Ohtani and Ruth
Link to article about Benetti
Link to article on Harper and 1B

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s experience covering the GM meetings and broadcasting an AFL game, with an emphasis on Brian Cashman’s testy exchanges with reporters, Meg’s interaction with Jerry Dipoto, and Scott Boras’s wordplay, plus listener emails (1:01:04) about “electing” free agency, whether the pitch clock has lowered the average age of baseball spectators, when fans started wearing sports jerseys, and possible successors to Baseball Twitter.

Audio intro: Benny and a Million Shetland Ponies, “Effectively Wild Theme (Pedantic Version)”
Audio outro: Justin Peters, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Cashman quotes
Link to Drellich on Cashman
Link to article on Yankees analytics
Link to Cashman analytics answer
Link to Judge quote
Link to tweet about Getz
Link to Getz quotes
Link to EW Boras episode
Link to Boras backdrop photo
Link to other Boras backdrop photo
Link to Boras FAA quote
Link to thread of Boras quotes
Link to Boras Trump quote
Link to Boras Alonso quote
Link to Boras Bellinger video
Link to story about average age
Link to story about jerseys
Link to Baseball Twitter draft
Link to EW emails database

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether whether they’d watch the winning team celebrate if they lost the World Series, then (17:09) discuss a trio of managerial moves (the Cubs poaching Craig Counsell from the Brewers, the Guardians hiring Stephen Vogt, and the Mets hiring Carlos Mendoza), the Marlins hiring the Rays’ GM, and what the Padres declining Michael Wacha’s option says about a Juan Soto trade, plus (1:04:30) some consideration of whether an-season tournament like the NBA’s makes sense for MLB and (1:23:27) a few follow-ups.

Audio intro: Beatwriter, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Jonathan Crymes, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to FB thread
Link to Patek photo
Link to Sam on Kershaw
Link to Sad Keanu meme
Link to MLBTR on Counsell
Link to story about Cubs tampering
Link to story on Selig Rule
Link to ESPN on Vogt
Link to Aaron on journeymanagers
Link to ESPN on Mendoza
Link to Passan tweet about salaries
Link to MLBTR on Wacha’s option
Link to Becker’s tweet about Wacha
Link to MLBTR on Bendix
Link to Bendix at SB Nation
Link to in-season tournament wiki
Link to in-season tournament explainer
Link to story on load management
Link to Attanasio comment
Link to Vogt’s wiki
Link to EW on Vogt’s wiki
Link to Correa on Maldonado
Link to Ben on player-value estimates
Link to qualifying offers
Link to qualifying-offer history

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the difficulty of watching Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the Japan Series, the last time an MLB pitcher threw as many as 138 pitches in a game, their hopes for Joey Votto’s next act, and the Brewers trading Mark Canha to the Tigers, then (32:13) answer listener emails about Silver Slugging Gold Glovers, pitching a perfect game in a time loop, whether the Rockies will win a championship before one of the next expansion teams does, a playoff lottery system, and how players could convince owners to let them hold trophies first, plus Stat Blasts (1:22:25) about Jose Altuve and the best pound-for-pound (and inch-for-inch) players and Frank Howard-esque all-offense players.

Audio intro: Andy Ellison, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Jimmy Kramer, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Yamamoto game story
Link to Yamamoto K montage
Link to info on Japan Series streaming
Link to info on the Curse of the Colonel
Link to EW on the Curse of the Colonel
Link to Jack Moore’s tweet
Link to 138-pitch regular-season starts
Link to 138-pitch postseason starts
Link to MLBTR on Votto
Link to 2016 Votto quote
Link to 2023 Votto profile
Link to MLBTR on Canha
Link to MLBTR on Rodriguez
Link to Silver Slugger/Gold Glove list
Link to Silver Slugger/Gold Glove sheet
Link to Chris Gilligan’s FG post
Link to Sam on expansion teams
Link to Manfred on expansion
Link to story on owners and trophies
Link to Commissioner’s Trophy wiki
Link to Topps Now
Link to Altuve/Bregman photo
Link to heights/weights sheet
Link to Frank Howard obit
Link to Howard +200/-200 club
Link to listener emails database

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about which MLB franchise will win its first championship next, the postseason “second-chance issue,” Clayton Kershaw’s shoulder surgery and other Dodgers decisions, a change in Astros primary catchers, the Braves re-signing Joe Jiménez, and Nelson Cruz’s career and retirement, then (1:05:20) discuss the stories they’re most interested in following this winter.

Audio intro: Alex Glossman and Ali Breneman, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Ian Phillips, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Chris Gilligan’s FG post
Link to preseason prediction scores
Link to Sheehan on second chances
Link to MLBTR on Kershaw
Link to MLBTR on Jiménez
Link to Jiménez press release
Link to MLBTR on Lynn
Link to MLBTR on Muncy
Link to Jay Jaffe on Muncy
Link to MLBTR on Diaz
Link to MLBTR on Cruz
Link to 2020 EW episode on Cruz
Link to Cruz retirement tour tweet
Link to WAR from age 28 on
Link to HoF WAR from age 28 on
Link to offseason schedule FG post
Link to MLBTR on Counsell
Link to Law’s top 50 FA list
Link to Sam on pitch-clock exceptions
Link to pitch-clock-exceptions rule
Link to postseason time of game
Link to article on streaming NPB
Link to article on Yamamoto
Link to info on the Curse of the Colonel
Link to EW on the Curse of the Colonel

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s experience covering the World Series in Arizona, then discuss the most interesting aspects of the series, what (if anything) teams could learn from the Rangers’ success, the futures of the Rangers and Diamondbacks, the entertainment value of the 2023 playoffs, and much more.

Audio intro: Alex Ferrin, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Ian H., “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Eovaldi interview transcript
Link to Seinfeld car smell
Link to Ben on the Rangers
Link to Baumann on bullpen games
Link to preseason playoff odds
Link to Epstein quote
Link to postseason spreadsheet 1
Link to postseason spreadsheet 2

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about saying the wrong episode number in the intro to Episode 2077 and the definition of a title drought, then answer listener emails (18:45) about whether it would make sense to choose a bye in the playoffs if your opponent got to draft a player from the team it defeated, letting a non-playoff team into the playoffs via a lottery, a lineup set by the opposing team’s manager, a NOBLETIGER technicality, placing trampolines on the field, tagging a runner on an object you placed on them, a slugger setting a single-minded goal to break the single-season home run record, loving baseball but not MLB, international talent vs. minor league talent, and Clayton Kershaw playing a partial season à la Roger Clemens.

Audio intro: Xavier LeBlanc, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Harold Walker, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Temporal Loom explainer
Link to anniversary-gift explainer
Link to types of droughts
Link to lineup-optimization post
Link to more on lineup optimization
Link to EW wiki trampoline page
Link to NOBLETIGER thread
Link to Semien tag explainer
Link to Semien tag video
Link to EW episode on Rendon
Link to league-quality comparison
Link to 2007 article on Clemens
Link to Clemens announcing return
Link to MLBTR on Hill in 2024
Link to EW emails database
Link to Ben on Jagger
Link to Ben on Super Mario Bros. Wonder

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the end of the NLCS, discuss the discourse surrounding the improbability of and fallout from the Diamondbacks-Rangers World Series matchup, banter about the Brewers always losing in the playoffs to eventual pennant winners, preview the World Series, postulate a conspiracy surrounding this postseason’s lack of extra-inning games, and react to the Red Sox hiring ex-pitcher Craig Breslow as their new Chief Baseball Officer/POBO, then (54:14) Stat Blast about how the World Series and future postseasons might be swayed by a reliever familiarity effect that could counter the pitcher-usage changes caused by the times-through-the-order penalty and restore longer starts, including a chat (1:12:06) with reliever-familiarity-effect researcher Dr. David J. Gordon.

Audio intro: Tom Rhoads, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Guy Russo, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Baumann on NLCS G7
Link to Ben C.’s Series preview
Link to Ginny Searle’s Series preview
Link to Neil Paine’s Series preview
Link to MLB.com on Ginkel
Link to Jay Jaffe on Scherzer
Link to Leo Morgenstern on Semien
Link to tweet about Brewers losses
Link to MLBTR on Breslow
Link to 2017 Breslow article
Link to info on Eovaldi game
Link to Topps Now
Link to Cameron Grove EW episode
Link to Cameron Grove tweet
Link to Cameron Grove study
Link to David Gordon study
Link to Ben’s SP study
Link to Ben on reliever familiarity
Link to D-backs headlines wiki

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss assorted ALCS and NLCS action and playoff takeaways and trends, with an emphasis on Adolis García’s heroics, the Rangers vanquishing the Astros, MLB’s handling of Bryan Abreu’s suspension, and Craig Kimbrel’s career (plus reactions to the Giants hiring Bob Melvin as their manager).

Audio intro: The Shirey Brothers, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Gabriel-Ernest, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to García/Abreu video
Link to Garver/Abreu video
Link to Rosenthal on the suspension
Link to Sam on being plunked
Link to Gurriel suspension story
Link to Ben Clemens on Yordan
Link to Kelly exit video
Link to Dusty retirement article
Link to reliever JAWS leaders
Link to MLBTR on Melvin

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