In the first installment of the seventh annual Effectively Wild season preview series, Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Bryce Harper, Scott Boras, team meetings with free agents, the season preview series, the Super Bowl, and mortality, then preview the 2019 Reds (12:11) with The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans, and the 2019 Athletics (47:46) with the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser.

Audio intro: The Sadies, "The Very Beginning"
Audio interstitial 1: Nick Drake, "One of These Things First"
Audio interstitial 2: The Coral, "Don’t Think You’re the First"
Audio outro: Beck, "Seventh Heaven"

Link to evaluation of last year’s preview guest predictions
Link to preorder Susan’s A’s book
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about rumors and the offseason, then answer listener emails about forming a team from remaining free agents, the definition of “Baseball IQ,” small-market teams banding together, the best thing for a team to be bad at, incentivizing teams to win, and whether front offices are planning for a work stoppage, plus Stat Blasts about the worst drafts ever, Johnnie LeMaster, and Ketel Marte and closing banter about a dream and the upcoming season preview series. Then (53:49), Ben talks to listener Anne Marie Chua Lee about anime as a rich, overlooked source of baseball entertainment, touching on series including Gurazeni: Money Pitch, Major 2nd, Ace of the Diamond, and Princess Nine.

Audio intro: Foo Fighters, "February Stars"
Audio interstitial: Tom Waits, "Big in Japan"
Audio outro: The Move, "Vote for Me"

Link to free-agent depth chart
Link to team draft data
Link to Anne Marie’s store
Link to Gurazeni
Link to Major 2nd
Link to Ace of the Diamond
Link to Princess Nine
Link to SABR Award voting
Link to Jeff’s nominated piece
Link to Ben’s nominated piece
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and ESPN’s Sam Miller banter about offseason content-creation strategies, recurring columns, and an alternate history in which Orlando Cepeda could have prevented writers from citing stats in stories, then (21:45) talk to longtime Baseball Prospectus writer (and author of The Shift) Russell Carleton about his departure from BP to take a job with the New York Mets, his most influential articles, what he learned from his previous MLB consulting gig, the evolution of sabermetric analysis, critical thinking vs. technical skills, and more.

Audio intro: Margo Price, "Don’t Say It"
Audio interstitial: The Posies, "Farewell Typewriter"
Audio outro: Van Morrison, "Starting a New Life"

Link to Hirsch’s Mays bio
Link to Russell and Kate’s front-office series
Link to Russell on the 30-run manager
Link to Russell on Inge
Link to Russell on the grind
Link to Russell on statistical stability
Link to Russell on player development
Link to Russell on feeding minor leaguers
Link to Russell on intentional walks
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about players playing for their lives, Bryce Harper rumors, Harper’s fame vs. Mike Trout’s, feeling less intense anticipation than they used to, the Red Sox signing the previously permabanned Jenrry Mejia, and uncertainty surrounding the latest labor strife. Then (30:06) Ben talks to Chris Enns, author of The Death Row All Stars, about baseball in the Old West and the strange saga of the 1911 Wyoming State Penitentiary team, an all-convict squad that played to stave off execution and caused a statewide scandal. Lastly (1:00:21), Jeff rejoins for a conversation with Wes Abarca (co-founder, commissioner, and Crestline Highlanders captain) and Joe Billheimer (Highlanders “behind”) of the Southern California Vintage Base Ball League to discuss the popularity of vintage baseball, the strategic intricacies of playing under 1886 rules, the challenge of playing with period equipment, the importance of staying in character, whether they prefer old or new baseball, and more.

Audio intro: Spoon, "Something to Look Forward To"
Audio interstitial 1: Skip James, "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues"
Audio interstitial 2: Paul McCartney, "Vintage Clothes"
Audio outro: Dr. Dog, "Survive"

Link to Rosenthal article
Link to Ben’s old article about the MLB revenue split
Link to Chris Enss site
Link to Conan’s vintage baseball video
Link to Vintage Base Ball Association site
Link to SoCal Vintage Base Ball League site
Link to Crestline Highlanders site
Link to SoCal league video
Link to Highlanders game photo album
Link to SCVBB Rules
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about good and bad news for much-traveled pitcher Oliver Drake, the Dodgers’ signing of A.J. Pollock and the team’s perplexing offseason plan and lack of NL West competition, the Cubs’ signing of Brad Brach, and a report about the 10-day DL and the rules about optioning players to the minors, then (21:35) talk to Field of Schemes author Neil deMause about the financial calculus behind why teams aren’t spending more on player payroll, how the game got here and what the union can do, the rationale for rooting for a team despite subpar ownership, whether any progress has been made in educating the public about funding stadiums for sports teams, and more.

Audio intro: The Decemberists, "January Hymn"
Audio interstitial: Supergrass, "In it for the Money"
Audio outro: Old Sea Brigade, "Western Eyes"

Link to Jeff’s Pollock post
Link to Ringer article about the Dodgers’ offseason
Link to AP article about DL and option time
Link to Neil’s article
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan discuss the Hall of Fame results, including why (and whether) the Hall matters, Mariano Rivera’s unanimous election, the greatness of Mike Mussina, the stagnation of Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds, the perplexing case of Omar Vizquel, and other topics, then banter about the spread of multi-position players, the Braves bringing back Nick Markakis, the Mariners signing Ichiro Suzuki (sort of), improvements in player development, the Reds’ path to contention in the NL Central, Scott Boras’s role in the slow offseason, the worst seasons by Hall of Famers, and more, plus a Stat Blast about Rivera’s greatness and a parting word from Ben’s mom.

Audio intro: The Apples in Stereo, "About Your Fame"
Audio outro: Phil Ochs, "Chords of Fame"

Link to Hall of Fame voting results
Link to the Hall of Baines
Link to Ben’s article about multi-position players
Link to Jeff’s post about the Reds
Link to worst seasons by Hall of Fame hitters
Link to worst seasons by Hall of Fame pitchers
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Willians Astudillo and the Sonny Gray trade, then (19:11) bring on Padres podcaster David Marver to talk about the Padres supposedly opening their books, what information the team actually revealed, the ways in which that information may be incomplete or misleading, why Padres ownership hasn’t spent more, San Diego as an underrated downtrodden sports town, the Padres’ top-ranked farm system and future, year one of the Eric Hosmer experience, and more.

Audio intro: The Rock*A*Teens, "Count in Odd Numbers"
Audio interstitial: Joel Plaskett, "Forever in Debt"
Audio outro: Juliana Hatfield, "Paid to Lie"

Link to article about Astudillo getting drafted
Link to Jeff’s post about Gray
Link to article about Padres’ finances
Link to article on 20th anniversary of “The Pitch”
Link to Gwyntelligence Podcast
Link to Great American Dream Podcast
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Willians Astudillo’s final winter league stats, the retirement of Ricky Romero, the upside of a slow market, and the anticlimax of a big free-agent signing, then (11:25) bring on Baseball Prospectus director of editorial content Patrick Dubuque to talk about why we know how much players make, how knowing players’ financial information but not owners’ affects the way we talk about baseball, whether opportunity cost still matters, whether casual fans will ever sympathize with players over owners, how to analyze transactions without fixating on salary, talking about money vs. talking about games, finishing Baseball Prospectus 2019, how the Annual has evolved over time, why we still want the paperbound Annual in the digital age, and more.

Audio intro: Prince, "Money Don’t Matter 2 Night"
Audio interstitial: Built to Spill, "Pat"
Audio outro: Sonic Youth, "That’s All I Know (Right Now)"

Link to Patrick’s article
Link to preorder Baseball Prospectus 2019
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the Yankees signing Adam Ottavino and the Angels signing Cody Allen, super-pens vs. improvised pens, and Manny Machado, Eric Hosmer, and Mike Trout, then (15:19) bring on Baseball Prospectus writer Sung Min Kim to talk about how the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) has increased its popularity among young people and women, why its in-game experience is so scintillating, how it differs in style and quality from MLB, following two brands of baseball in dramatically different time zones, Korean nicknames for MLB players, players who might make the leap from KBO to MLB, and more.

Audio intro: Dave Rawlings Machine, "Bells of Harlem"
Audio interstitial: Atlas Sound, "Mona Lisa"
Audio outro: The Inbreds, "Oliver"

Link to Sung Min’s KBO primer
Link to Sung Min’s article on KBO’s popularity
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Ben and Travis Sawchik finishing their new book, The MVP Machine, Willians Astudillo‘s MVP voting results, the Kyler Murray baseball/football decision and why it’s unusual for players in his situation to have leverage, Manny Machado rumors, and Yasmani Grandal‘s comments about the contract he didn’t sign, then answer listener emails about why baseball players don’t hold out and Rickey Henderson’s base-stealing today, plus Stat Blasts about the biggest gaps between best and second-best years and the giant New York Yankees.

Audio intro: The Decemberists, "Midlist Author"
Audio outro: Cake, "Open Book"

Link to preorder The MVP Machine
Link to Astudillo results
Link to Jeff’s Garcia post
Link to hitter height data
Link to Grant’s Little League WAR article
Link to article about baseball terms in Spanish

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