With Jeff Sullivan on vacation, Ben Lindbergh brings on The Ringer’s Deputy Editor (and Binge Mode co-host) Mallory Rubin to talk about the Orioles’ bleak, in-between offseason and her wishes concerning Manny Machado. Then Ben talks to The Ringer’s Zach Kram and the Cincinnati Enquirer’s C. Trent Rosecrans about BBWAA Hall of Fame voting patterns, C. Trent’s latest ballot, and the future of Hall of Fame voting.

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the perplexing potential end to Manny Machado trade rumors, then bring on former major leaguer and current fun-fact star/national treasure Johnny O’Brien to discuss his life and career with the Pirates, Cardinals, and Braves in the 1950s, becoming a reluctant two-way player (and experiencing immediate, surprising success), his signing by Branch Rickey, being a “bonus baby” and skipping the minor leagues, playing in the Harvey Haddix game, forming half of the only double-play duo of twins in MLB history, playing without his twin for the first time, playing for both great and terrible teams and both with and against baseball legends, being buddies with Bing Crosby, and more.

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter (and bantler, again) about what they’ve learned about antlers and antler-rubbed bats, the Evan Longoria trade, Derek Jeter’s town-hall event with Marlins fans, and Jeff’s breakout-player pick for 2018 (and breakout player-picking philosophy). Then they debut a new Stat Blast theme song by Jessie Barbour, do a Stat Blast about Matt Adams, Adam Lind, and a player who shouldn’t have switch hit, and answer listener emails about paying minor-league players, Jason Heyward opting out, the Yankees’ prospects with Michael Schur in their rotation, what the Braves could do with their tiny international bonus pool, and a baseball Bachelor, then follow up on their discussions of a team with no coaches and Shohei Ohtani signing shenanigans.

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter (and bantler?) about more Marlins trade requests, the Yankees’ outlook for 2018, antler-rubbing bats vs. bone-rubbing bats, and a scout quote about Shohei Ohtani, then discuss the financial implications of the weekend’s big Braves-Dodgers trade, the effects of the luxury tax, and the latest Manny Machado trade rumors.

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the Zack Cozart and Carlos Santana signings and the Matt Moore trade, then answer listener emails about when it makes sense to rebuild and how the second wild card has affected that calculus, Shohei Ohtani’s intel on other teams, the competitive futures of the Cubs, Yankees, and Dodgers, how a team could benefit from controlling the schedule, Oscar Robles and hitters with weird lines on 0-2 and 3-0, what “quality control” coaches do, a team with no coaches (and too many coaches), Trout/Ohtani vs. Judge/Stanton, and more.

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Jeff’s Winter Meetings experience and then discuss everything that did and didn’t go down while the baseball world was in Orlando, including the Reds’ published pitch to Shohei Ohtani, Ohtani’s injury status, the Marcell Ozuna, Stephen Piscotty, and Ian Kinsler trades (and the leveled-up Angels), Manny Machado trade rumors, and more.

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan discuss the Giancarlo Stanton trade’s impact on the Yankees, whether and why the Marlins are an embarrassment (and where they’ll go from here), the Orioles’ attitude toward international players, and the Hall of Fame admitting Alan Trammell and Jack Morris. Then they bring on listener Lazaro Rodriguez, a certified Marlins fan, to talk about his reaction to the Stanton trade and ask him to explain why he’s still a Marlins loyalist.

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan discuss all the implications of the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani signing, including its impact on the franchise’s short- and long-term outlook, the Ohtani-Trout tag team, the Albert Pujols conundrum at DH, and where Ohtani’s trade value ranks. Then they assess the suffering of the finalists that lost out on Ohtani and banter about Giancarlo Stanton’s trade rejections, the Mariners’ trade for Dee Gordon, the Cubs’ signing of Tyler Chatwood, Brian Cashman’s extension, and more.

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about a baseball earthquake in Cleveland and the Miles Mikolas and Mike Minor signings, debunk myths about NPB pitchers and Pud Galvin, and answer listener emails about Shohei Ohtani and Chief Wahoo, Ohtani loopholes, Jerry Dipoto trading his way to Ohtani, the DH and Ohtani, free-agent players prioritizing factors other than money, how the Tigers could win the 2018 World Series, Jose Altuve’s high batting averages, “hit by pitches” vs. “hits by pitch,” paying up front for a 35-year-old Mike Trout, and Adam Jones’s comments about his slow pace between pitches, plus a “Stat Blast” about extreme NPB walk-drawer Kensuke Kondo and post-emails banter about Rafael Palmeiro’s amusingly far-fetched comeback attempt.

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the latest Giancarlo Stanton and Shohei Ohtani news, speculate about why some teams reportedly didn’t try to sign Ohtani, and discuss the Yankees’ surprising hiring of Aaron Boone. Then they bring on former (and future?) MLB pitcher and current Fukuoka Softbank Hawks closer Dennis Sarfate, the 36-year-old reigning MVP of Japan’s Pacific League, to talk about his transition from marginal major leaguer to record-setting NPB star, how he adapted to a relief role and learned to blow away batters, his heroics in the Japan Series, Japan’s participatory fan experience, having his request to be posted rejected by his team, pitching to Ohtani and Takuya Nakashima, and more (plus a closing fun fact from Ben).

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