Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the overwhelming listener response to their previous conversation about cover models for baseball video games, and Ben issues some “Bo Nos” in support of his previous Royals reporting. Then (18:19) they talk about the Rays signing Ha-Seong Kim, Roki Sasaki “prospect” rankings, a recent leaguewide run on relievers, trade-based brother breakups, Hal Steinbrenner’s unconvincing attempt at anti-Dodgers-spending solidarity, and minor league name matches for major leaguers, plus (51:42) an in-depth discussion about the teams that have had the most demoralizing (and/or inactive) offseasons (so far).

Audio intro: Philip Tapley and Michael Stokes, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Benny and a Million Shetland Ponies, “Effectively Wild Theme (Horny)”

Link to Episode 2276
Link to Bo Game Boy game
Link to Bo NES game
Link to Bo handheld game
Link to Soto cover
Link to Prime Time Football
Link to FG on Kim
Link to over/under draft
Link to Rogers screenshot
Link to Rural Juror
Link to Pressly/Sewald post
Link to Kahnle/Stanek post
Link to Estévez post
Link to Steinbrenner comments
Link to other-Castillo signing
Link to other J-Rod
Link to Ben C. on the Pirates
Link to Paine on payroll/playoffs
Link to offseason spending list
Link to teams without ML signings
Link to MLBTR on Scherzer
Link to MLBTR on Polanco
Link to EW gift subscriptions

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about some good news and bad news about breakout picks, Junior Caminero’s unbeatable bat flip and home run trot in the LIDOM playoffs, the latest MLB The Show cover model(s) and the lone MLB franchise that hasn’t put a player on the cover of a video game, the Ryan Pressly trade and whether Houston has a plan, and the mysteries of T-Mobile Park’s scoring suppression, plus a Stat Blast (1:28:57) about the players who came closest to team monogamy without quite being faithful to one franchise.

Audio intro: Luke Lillard, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Austin Klewan, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to latest MLB article
Link to Caminero article
Link to Caminero video
Link to Caminero photo
Link to Caminero flip video
Link to Orosco flip article
Link to Prince flip article
Link to Sánchez trot
Link to Soto trot
Link to Soto trot game
Link to Naylor trot
Link to Cruz trot
Link to Santander trot
Link to Marte trot
Link to cover models article
Link to baseball video games list
Link to Ben on pitching prospects
Link to Paine on sports video games
Link to Indiana Jones pod
Link to MLBTR on Pressly
Link to MLBTR on Bregman
Link to MLBTR on Yordan
Link to FG on Pressly
Link to Littlefinger speech
Link to Churchill speech
Link to Petriello on T-Mobile
Link to Statcast park factors
Link to Arneson gravity post
Link to Earth’s gravity wiki
Link to MLBTR on Jones
Link to Stat Blast data
Link to EW gift subscriptions

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s memories of Ichiro and his sensational MLB debut, Ippei Mizuhara’s letter about his work with Shohei Ohtani, Roki Sasaki’s dog, the misleading name of “Sluggball,” Jurickson Profar and the prospect of a Braves rebound, which players will get “shorter” thanks to the challenge system, two new rules changes, how the Dodgers will make innings meet, how to make 3B coaches more aggressive, “Tragedeigh,” and more.

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

Link to Ichiro’s first MLB hit
Link to Ben on Ichiro’s homers
Link to Ippei’s letter
Link to Ippei recording
Link to Roki’s dog
Link to dog tweet
Link to Dekopin meeting
Link to Slugball website
Link to Slugball article 1
Link to Slugball article 2
Link to Slugball article 3
Link to Sluggball video
Link to Petriello on Profar
Link to team WAR projections
Link to Rosenthal on Boras/Braves
Link to ABS measuring info
Link to Eric on heights
Link to George’s Timberlands
Link to Drellich on rule changes
Link to MLBTR on rule changes
Link to EW Episode 1863
Link to article on baserunning play
Link to EW Episode 2169
Link to Dodgers depth chart
Link to Sheehan on the Dodgers
Link to listener emails database
Link to running strategy study
Link to Russell on 3B coaches
Link to Ben on goalie goals
Link to tragedeigh wiktionary
Link to tragedeigh subreddit
Link to EW gift subscriptions

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley bring on FanGraphs senior writer Jay Jaffe to break down the Hall of Fame voting results, from new honorees to one-and-done candidates to trends in support to forecasts for future ballots and much more.

Audio intro: Philip Bergman, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Tom Rhoads, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Hill report
Link to MLBTR on Hill
Link to 2025 voting results
Link to 2024 voting results
Link to selections by year
Link to Jay’s results post
Link to Jay’s ballot
Link to all FG HoF coverage
Link to Wagner call video
Link to Sam ballot
Link to Tyrer article
Link to committees page
Link to pre-PITCHf/x framing
Link to Ben on Hall of Frame
Link to Jay on Hall of Frame
Link to The Cooperstown Casebook
Link to EW gift subscriptions

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley revisit and update their recent discussion on the Dodgers, competitive balance, and what’s good for the game in light of L.A.’s latest additions, then (1:06:18) discuss the Blue Jays’ signing of Anthony Santander and the outlook for Pete Alonso, followed by (1:20:02) a Stat Blast on Bob Uecker and the players with the highest percentage of homers hit against Hall of Famers.

Audio intro: Grant Brisbee, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Kite Person, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to EW Episode 2272
Link to Ben on the Dodgers
Link to Ben C. on L.A. relievers
Link to Sheehan parity post
Link to MLBTR on Scott
Link to MLBTR on Yates
Link to Dodgers deferrals article
Link to Ricketts quote
Link to Pirates fan fest story
Link to Cherington quote
Link to McCutchen misspelling
Link to Marlins spending article
Link to MLBTR on Santander
Link to Dan S. on Santander
Link to Santander Stathead
Link to Alonso update
Link to Alonso/Boras story
Link to Stat Blast question
Link to Uecker clip
Link to Stat Blast data
Link to EW gift subscriptions

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley react to the news that Roki Sasaki is signing with the Dodgers (shocker!), breaking down how the posting process played out, the Dodgers’ ridiculous rotation, whether L.A.’s talent-acquisition advantage is good or bad for baseball, the runners-up for Roki, and more. Then they explore how softball and baseball are joining the women’s sports boom via the expansion/launch of professional leagues this year and next by talking to Emma Baccellieri of Sports Illustrated about the Athletes Unlimited Softball League and AU’s innovative scoring model (49:15), and Kiri Oler of FanGraphs about the Women’s Professional Baseball League and her work as a data scientist on MLB: The Show (1:25:28).

Audio intro: Guy Russo, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio interstitial: Liz Panella, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Austin Klewan, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Sasaki’s announcement
Link to MLBTR on Sasaki
Link to previous Sasaki episode
Link to Ben on Sasaki
Link to Ben on the Dodgers in 2015
Link to Ben on the Dodgers’ advantage
Link to Rob Mains on the Dodger dynasty
Link to Dodgers depth chart
Link to team SP projections
Link to team WAR projections
Link to Emma’s book post
Link to Emma’s author archive
Link to Hannah/Lindsey episode
Link to Emma on AU in 2021
Link to Emma on Olympic softball
Link to AUSL wiki
Link to AU scoring system
Link to AUSL announcement
Link to Emma on baseball dying
Link to Emma on the Players’ League
Link to Emma on the WPBL
Link to AUSL announcement
Link to Justine Siegal EW episode
Link to WPBL wiki
Link to Kiri’s LinkedIn
Link to Ben on The Show
Link to EW gift subscriptions

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Deaths don’t actually come in threes—unfortunately, there are many more than that—but Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley begin by marking the passings of a trio of notable figures: David Lynch, Bob Uecker, and Tommy Brown. Then (35:27) they talk about the maybe-momentous signing of a Japanese player not named Roki Sasaki (Shotaro Morii), follow up on previous conversations about “breakout” creep, answer a couple of questions about breakouts, and then respond to listener emails on other topics, including nicknames for pitches, the evolving meaning of “moneyball,” phasing out Hall of Famers, and a modification to the infield fly rule.

Audio intro: Gabriel-Ernest, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Ian Phillips, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Lynch NYT obit
Link to Uecker NYT obit
Link to Uecker acting roles
Link to Brown NYT obit
Link to Brown AP obit
Link to Brown SABR bio
Link to Brown text interview
Link to Brown audio interview
Link to MLBTR on Brown
Link to 1940s clippings on Brown
Link to Ben’s Brown Twitter thread
Link to The Athletic on Morii
Link to Silver on breakouts
Link to skeuomorph wiki
Link to Detroiters on Netflix
Link to Ben on Detroiters
Link to Baker on LinkedIn
Link to infield fly play
Link to Strike Four
Link to listener emails database
Link to grumkins wiki
Link to EW gift subscriptions

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a new escalation in “breakout” creep, the Blue Jays signing Jeff Hoffman, risk tolerance in transactions, alternate spellings of names, Roki Sasaki’s effect on the market for international amateur free agents, another example of a team offering a higher salary in arbitration than a player requested, Mets owner Steve Cohen’s financial returns, Nick Castellanos on MVP Jose Iglesias, and a 19th-century curved-bat idea (1:08:44), plus (1:22:40) a Stat Blast on the players who’ve appeared in the most distinct team matchups.

Audio intro: Justin Peters, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Harold Walker, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to breakouts post
Link to Jeff on HoF artifacts
Link to Clemens on Hoffman
Link to MLBTR on Hoffman
Link to Hoffman press release
Link to Madisynn clip
Link to MLBTR on Sasaki
Link to article on Sasaki effects
Link to Flanagan arb post
Link to WSJ on Cohen
Link to Castellanos clip
Link to banana bat article 1
Link to banana bat article 2
Link to banana bat article 3
Link to banana bat article 4
Link to banana bat article 5
Link to Alan Nathan physics site
Link to bat boning wiki
Link to Stat Blast sheet 1
Link to Stat Blast sheet 2
Link to Ben on Stairs
Link to Ryan Nelson’s Twitter
Link to MiLB draft data
Link to EW gift subscriptions

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about salary arbitration, Kyle Tucker, and the unique case of Mike Edwards, then (15:55) kick off a series of interviews about unsung baseball jobs by talking to Rockies bullpen catcher and major league operations assistant (and now, minor league hitting coach) Aaron Muñoz, followed (1:06:09) by former Marlins coordinator of baseball information services (and former FanGraphs writer) Bradley Woodrum, plus (1:59:04) a few follow-ups.

Audio intro: Benny and a Million Shetland Ponies, “Effectively Wild Theme (Horny)”
Audio interstitial: Jonathan Crymes, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: El Warren, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Speier post
Link to original Speier post
Link to Edwards article 1
Link to Edwards article 2
Link to Edwards article 3
Link to Edwards article 4
Link to Mike Edwards wiki
Link to Marshall Edwards wiki
Link to Dave Edwards wiki
Link to Tucker arb article
Link to Sheehan on Tucker
Link to fan ban article
Link to bullpen catchers article
Link to Aaron’s LinkedIn
Link to Denver Post article
Link to Emma on bullpen brawls
Link to brawl video
Link to brawl article
Link to Bradley’s LinkedIn
Link to Bradley’s FG archive
Link to Bradley’s YouTube video
Link to Lewie Pollis episode
Link to lotto ad
Link to Calbert Cheaney
Link to EW gift subscriptions

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Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and Ben Clemens banter about the Giants signing Justin Verlander, a plateau in leaguewide slider usage, and why spending on free agents has exceeded expectations so far. Then (20:55) they continue a cherished podcast tradition by conducting the 12th annual Effectively Wild Minor League Free Agent Draft, in which they select 10 minor league free agents each and compete to see whose roster will accumulate the most combined MLB playing time in 2025.

Audio intro: Austin Klewan, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Daniel Leckie, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Baumann on Verlander
Link to Dubuque on Verlander
Link to Verlander pitch values
Link to Verlander max speeds
Link to Verlander stuff ratings
Link to Ben L. on Kershaw
Link to Ben C. on sliders
Link to Ben C. on spending
Link to FG SP projections
Link to last year’s draft
Link to FA draft wiki
Link to competitions sheet
Link to historical picks sheet
Link to BA list
Link to Neosho alumni
Link to Neosho wiki
Link to EW gift subscriptions

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