Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Phillies re-signing Aaron Nola, the Braves signing Reynaldo López, trading for Aaron Bummer, and rearranging their roster, the Cardinals signing Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson, the Padres hiring Mike Shildt, Shohei Ohtani swearing teams to secrecy about his free-agent visits, and NHK’s Ohtani documentaries. Then (53:16) they talk to Vanessa Ivy Rose, host of six-part podcast Reclaimed: The Forgotten League and author of Hall of Fame DNA: The Legacy of Norman “Turkey” Stearnes, about the underappreciated greatness of her grandfather, Turkey Stearnes, telling the story of the Negro Leagues, and the past, present, and future of Black baseball.

Audio intro: Guy Russo, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: The Shirey Brothers, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to InstaGraphs post on Nola
Link to FG post on Nola
Link to FG post on López
Link to FG post on the Bummer trade
Link to FG post on the Wright trade
Link to team 40-man counts
Link to FG post on Lynn
Link to MLBTR on three Cards starters
Link to Mozeliak’s strikeouts quote
Link to defensive efficiency ranking
Link to MLBTR on Shildt’s firing
Link to MLBTR on Shildt’s hiring
Link to Passan’s Ohtani report
Link to Ohtani dog info
Link to dog breed details
Link to 2018 NHK doc
Link to 2021 NHK doc
Link to 2021 NHK doc (alt link)
Link to EW on youth baseball
Link to Teasley EW episode
Link to Nettie Stearnes clips
Link to The Forgotten League feed 1
Link to The Forgotten League feed 2
Link to Vanessa’s website
Link to Turkey history
Link to more Turkey history
Link to Vanessa on Turkey
Link to Turkey photo
Link to info on Turkey plaque
Link to FG Negro Leagues leaderboard
Link to Hall of Stats ranking
Link to B-Ref Negro Leagues stats
Link to Turkey at Seamheads
Link to Turkey at the NLBM
Link to HR/3B leaders
Link to The Athletic on stat integration
Link to MLB.com on stat integration
Link to MLB The Show mode
Link to Secret Santa sign-up sheet

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the possible significance of this year’s unanimous award votes, the public unveiling of Shohei Ohtani’s dog, what they learned (and didn’t learn) from the new ESPN documentary Shohei Ohtani: Beyond the Dream (21:42), and where they’d prefer for Ohtani to sign (1:01:16). Then (1:10:42) they conduct the ninth EW free-agent-contract over/under draft.

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

Link to AL MVP voting
Link to NL MVP voting
Link to Posnanski on unanimity
Link to Ohtani dog video
Link to refurbished Furby
Link to dog diving and fetching
Link to 2017 Ohtani finalists
Link to Ohtani destination ranking
Link to Beyond the Dream trailer
Link to Beyond the Dream info
Link to “and I took that personally”
Link to Sabathia doc
Link to story on Ohtani and M’s
Link to MLBTR top 50 list
Link to FG top 50 list
Link to drafts/competitions sheet
Link to over/under draft wiki
Link to Petriello on Bellinger
Link to Sheehan on Bellinger
Link to draft results
Link to Secret Santa sign-up sheet

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss MLB owners unanimously approving the Athletics’ move to Las Vegas, new time-saving measures slated for 2024, the respective salaries of David Stearns and Craig Counsell, and private flights as a potential perk to entice MLB free agents, then examine an upstart Dubai-based baseball league called Baseball United (55:07) and bring on Washington Post sportswriter Rick Maese (1:05:46) to explain how the league is the latest reflection of a massive Middle Eastern infusion of funds that’s reshaping global sports.

Audio intro: Dave Armstrong and Mike Murray, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Ted O., “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Drellich on the owners’ vote
Link to Keown on the owners’ vote
Link to Nightengale on the owners’ vote
Link to Nightengale again
Link to Sheehan on Fisher/Seidler
Link to ESPN on the clock
Link to % of pitches with runners on
Link to The Athletic on the clock
Link to Stearns salary story
Link to Epstein salary story
Link to Counsell salary story
Link to Pollis on executive pay
Link to Boras on Soto’s flight
Link to Lester-deal details
Link to story about Brown’s deal
Link to Plaschke on Brown
Link to Brown luxury tax info
Link to Ohtani jet info
Link to Tanaka jet info
Link to article on private-jet emissions
Link to Swift’s response
Link to info on sports and climate
Link to story on MLB emissions
Link to more on MLB emissions
Link to Baseball United site
Link to Baseball United info
Link to Baseball United draft
Link to Pujols interview
Link to Sandoval promo
Link to thread of WaPo stories
Link to WaPo story 1
Link to WaPo story 2
Link to WaPo story 3
Link to WaPo story 4
Link to MLB sportswashing post
Link to story on Trujillo’s team
Link to story on Mexican League
Link to story about fossil-fuel lobby
Link to Secret Santa sign-up sheet

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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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