Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Rays signing 20-year-old Wander Franco to a long-term extension, rapid movement in the starting-pitcher market (capped off by the Cardinals signing Steven Matz and Mets owner Steve Cohen tweeting out his reaction), and the White Sox inking Kendall Graveman. Then (36:41) they continue their series of discussions of Korean baseball drama Stove League by breaking down Episodes 5–8. (Note: No spoilers beyond Episode 8.)

Audio intro: Willie Nelson, "I Let My Mind Wander"
Audio outro: Lana Del Ray, "Not All Who Wander Are Lost"

Link to Dan Syzmborski on the Franco extension
Link to Ginny Searle on the Franco extension
Link to Devan Fink on the Giants’ deals
Link to story about Cohen and Matz
Link to Luke Hooper on the Graveman signing
Link to Korean report on corporal punishment
Link to “Fighting!” expression
Link to “You’ve worked hard!” expression
Link to first EW Stove League discussion
Link to Stove League teaser video
Link to Stove League review
Link to stream Stove League via Kocowa
Link to stream Stove League via Viki

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Ben Lindbergh talks to baseball writer and romance novelist KD Casey about Unwritten Rules, her new romance novel about catchers and catcher framing, focusing on her history as a fan and writer, the intersection of sports and romance fiction, fictionalizing MLB teams, delivering details about baseball without alienating readers who aren’t fans, the ethics of dating a teammate, why MLB still hasn’t had a publicly out active player, the legacy of Glenn Burke, whether it’s harder to write baseball scenes or sex scenes, picking the cover model for a baseball romance novel, calibrating readers’ romance expectations, and more. Then (1:08:22) Ben brings on Baseball Prospectus author Gerald Schifman to discuss his latest research into whether shadows creeping across the field actually affect offensive performance.

Audio intro: Julian Lennon, “Kiss Beyond the Catcher”
Audio interstitial: Dion, “In and Out of the Shadows”
Audio outro: Great Lake Swimmers, “Catcher Song“

Link to Unwritten Rules publisher page
Link to Unwritten Rules Goodreads page
Link to KD’s website
Link to all of KD’s books
Link to KD’s social media landing page
Link to KD on Jewish families
Link to vote in Reads Rainbow Awards
Link to Ben’s 2013 framing piece
Link to most-read Goodreads baseball books
Link to Goodreads baseball romance books
Link to Emma Span on baseball slash fiction
Link to Billy Beane/Theo Epstein story
Link to podcast about Pitch
Link to retrospective Pitch piece
Link to EW episode with Billy Bean
Link to story about Burke
Link to Burke bio Singled Out
Link to excerpt from Burke bio
Link to Andrew Maraniss on Burke
Link to True Blue LA interview about Burke
Link to The Athletic interview about Burke
Link to Moneyball “romantic” scene
Link to Gerald’s first shadows study
Link to Gerald’s second shadows study
Link to Stove League teaser video
Link to Stove League review
Link to stream Stove League via Kocowa
Link to stream Stove League via Viki

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley follow up on an earlier conversation about ERA vs. FIP and banter about Seiya Suzuki being posted, Noah Syndergaard’s explanation of why he left the Mets, the rumored Sandy Alcantara extension and the future of the Marlins, how Canada’s new policy about unvaccinated athletes could affect the Blue Jays, and a dirty punch thrown by Willians Astudillo. Then (26:49) they discuss whether and how Ben, who’s eligible to vote for the Hall of Fame for the first time, should cast his ballot in a year with an unusually divisive slate of candidates.

Audio intro: Crowded House, "Fame Is"
Audio outro: Ry Cooder, "One Cat, One Vote, One Beer"

Link to Syndergaard comments
Link to story about Canada’s policy change
Link to Reddit thread about Astudillo’s punch
Link to blog post about Astudillo’s punch
Link to earlier Astudillo brawl
Link to 2022 BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot
Link to Jay Jaffe on the 2022 ballot
Link to Jay on the Era Committee ballots
Link to 2022 ballots at B-Ref
Link to Jay on his 2021 ballot
Link to EW interview with philosophers
Link to Jared Diamond on the character clause
Link to Jeff Passan on Bonds and Clemens
Link to Passan on not voting
Link to Andy McCullough on not voting
Link to The Athletic’s HoF survey
Link to Beyond the Scrum pod on not voting
Link to starting pitcher JAWS leaders
Link to Ken Rosenthal’s 2021 ballot
cw // Link to comments by Bonds’s ex-wife
cw // Link to comments by Bonds’s ex-girlfriend
Link to FanGraphs post about playerElo
Link to paper about playerElo
Link to 2019 playerElo ratings
Link to FiveThirtyEight Elo ratings
Link to Stove League teaser video
Link to Stove League review
Link to stream Stove League via Kocowa
Link to stream Stove League via Viki

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley recap the results of awards week, focusing on the controversy over Corbin Burnes’s victory over Zack Wheeler in NL Cy Young voting, the inconsistency between the AL and NL Cy Young results, how voting patterns are evolving, whether anyone actually discounts the value of innings, FIP vs. ERA and a misconception about the suitability of FIP for retrospective evaluation, and the MVP victories of Shohei Ohtani and Bryce Harper. Then (43:24) they start their series of discussions of Korean baseball drama Stove League by breaking down the first four episodes of the show. (Note: No spoilers beyond Episode 4.)

Audio intro: The High Water Marks, "Award Show"
Audio outro: The Lemonheads, "Stove"

Link to NL Cy Young voting results
Link to AL Cy Young voting results
Link to AL MVP voting results
Link to Ben on Ohtani’s stats
Link to NL MVP voting results
Link to Alex Speier on Cy Young voting
Link to Jayson Stark on awards stats
Link to Jeff Passan’s tweet about innings
Link to Tom Tango on deGrom vs. Urías
Link to Tango on predicting Cy Young results
Link to Dan Szymborski on his NL RotY ballot
Link to Ben Clemens on Burnes
Link to Neil Paine on MVPs and team performance
Link to history of BBWAA Cy Young voting
Link to history of BBWAA MVP voting
Link to Russell Carleton on reliever workloads
Link to Incheon SSG Landers Field
Link to Moneyball bat scene
Link to Twitter thread on Jung Hwa Kim
Link to explainer about Korean beef
Link to Stove League teaser video
Link to Stove League review
Link to stream Stove League via Kocowa
Link to stream Stove League via Viki

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Astros re-signing Justin Verlander and MLB’s plan to house minor leaguers, then (19:53) bring on listener and top-tier Patreon supporter John Choe to discuss the single game he played in indy ball, the Moonlight Graham Society he co-founded to recognize minor league cups of coffee, how his love of baseball stats helped guide him to his current career, how he and his kids have spread the gospel of sabermetrics, his daughter’s on-field experience with Baseball For All, and more. After that (42:29), Ben, Meg, and John answer listener emails about why popular pitcher stats don’t mirror popular hitting stats, how different baseball would be if players were removed from games after making outs and if players and teams could copyright tactics, whether umps should intervene in an unforced walk-off, and whether players could opt not to wear caps. Lastly (1:24:17), Ben talks to another listener/Patreon supporter, Michael Mountain, about the most efficient itinerary for a trip to every affiliated ballpark in 2022.

Audio intro: Kelley Stoltz, "You’re Out of This World"
Audio outro: Smash Mouth, "Shoes ‘N’ Hats"

Link to Brendan Gawlowski on Verlander
Link to Baseball America on MiLB housing
Link to MiLB.com on MiLB housing
Link to the Moonlight Graham Society website
Link to John’s page at the MGS site
Link to John’s article about the MGS
Link to NPR story on Evan Katz
Link to Sam Miller on playing in a pro game
Link to list of minor league one-game players
Link to lists of major league one-game players
Link to Baseball For All website
Link to paper on protecting sports secrets
Link to Ben on keeping secrets in MLB
Link to Bryan Grosnick on openers
Link to Sam on the history of bullpenning
Link to story on copyrighting game mechanics
Link to Michael’s previous pod appearance
Link to Reddit thread on 2022 road trip
Link to Michael’s ballpark grand tour
Link to traveling salesperson problem
Link to NoContextEWPod account
Link to Acuña’s quote
Link to Stove League teaser video
Link to stream Stove League via Kocowa
Link to stream Stove League via Viki

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a flurry of signings and other transactions, including the Tigers signing Eduardo Rodriguez, the Angels signing Noah Syndergaard, the Blue Jays extending José Berríos, and the Mets (finally) hiring a GM, Billy Eppler, plus musings on the Tigers and Mariners “turning the corner,” followups on player rankings, unorthodox trades, and the worst way to end a series, and a real-time reaction to some Shohei Ohtani sponsorship news. Then (43:47) they talk to Zack Frongillo, Director of Entertainment for the Savannah Bananas, about the team’s history, his history, the development of “Banana Ball” and its experimental rules, foul balls being in play, how a typical gameday goes, the team’s online and offline appeal, the tryout/audition process, what baseball could borrow from Banana Ball, the Bananas’ plans for the future, and much more.

Audio intro: Radiohead, “Banana Co.”
Audio interstitial: Arkells, “Savannah”
Audio outro: Matt Costa, “Savannah“

Link to Ben Clemens on the Rodriguez signing
Link to ICC cricket rankings
Link to ICC cricket rankings wiki
Link to story on the Guardians’ name
Link to Phanatic lawsuit story
Link to Harwell trade story
Link to story about Youppi! trade
Link to video of 2014 Japan Series ending
Link to story on 2014 Japan Series ending
Link to Twenty20 cricket wiki
Link to the Bananas’ “About” page
Link to Banana Ball explainer
Link to Banana Ball video
Link to Baseball America on the Bananas
Link to the Boston Globe on the Bananas
Link to the WSJ on the Bananas
Link to Max Patkin SABR bio
Link to Eddie Feigner obit
Link to the Bananas on TikTok
Link to Zack’s post in the EW Facebook group
Link to EW episode about Blaseball
Link to info on the Bananas’ 2022 tour
Link to Stove League teaser video
Link to stream Stove League via Kocowa
Link to stream Stove League via Viki

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the latest batch of silly Scott Boras quotes, featuring Meg’s real-time reactions to hearing them for the first time, a “fake quote or real quote?” quiz, and a discussion of the motivations behind the superagent’s annual stand-up routine, then discuss Boras’s comments about competitive integrity and try to identify the 13 (or more) teams that Boras says aren’t trying to win. Then (41:15) they examine the idea of an official MLB player ranking system, answer emails about Clayton Kershaw’s usage, the best type of routine out with which to end a postseason series, and the least valuable entity that teams would trade, and close (1:16:12) with Stat Blasts on the Braves as a Ship of Theseus and Pedro Feliciano vs. Chase Utley and the most prolific pitcher-batter matchups.

Audio intro: The Hives, "No Pun Intended"
Audio outro: Lilys, "Scott Free"

Link to “best” Boras quotes
Link to WaPo on Boras and competition
Link to CBS Sports on Boras and tanking
Link to video of Boras on Bryant
Link to video of Boras on Conforto
Link to video of Alderson on Boras
Link to Rob Mains on competitive inequality
Link to Bill James Handbook 2022
Link to Ben on peak Kershaw
Link to Ben on Kershaw’s adjustments
Link to final out of the 2016 World Series
Link to FanGraphs post on trading data
Link to Stat Blast data on postseason rosters
Link to Stat Blast data on common matchups
Link to Stat Blast data on Johnson vs. Cobb
Link to Stat Blast data on matchups over time
Link to study on batters learning over time
Link to Feliciano obit
Link to Feliciano vs. Utley matchup summary
Link to Feliciano vs. Utley matchup details
Link to The Athletic’s FanGaphs WAR report
Link to EW interview with Jonathan Judge
Link to Stove League teaser video
Link to stream Stove League via Kocowa
Link to stream Stove League via Viki

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley announce new perks available to their Patreon supporters, then (12:03) bring on Ben Clemens, the lead author of FanGraphs’ top 50 free agents ranking, to discuss qualifying offers, early transactions, and Wade Miley and size up this offseason’s free agent class, focusing on the strong selection of shortstops and starters, the players Ben is higher or lower on than the consensus, the most obvious fits for players and teams, the potential of Seiya Suzuki, how the CBA negotiations could affect the market, and more. Finally (51:10), Ben, Meg, and other Ben conduct the seventh annual EW free-agent-contract over/under draft.

Audio intro: The Stanley Brothers, "Rank Strangers"
Audio outro: Guided By Voices, "Free Agents"

Link to Effectively Wild’s Patreon page
Link to list of qualifying offer recipients
Link to FanGraphs’ top 50 free agents
Link to Ben’s top 50 free agents chat
Link to MLB Trade Rumors’ top 50 free agents
Link to Jake Mailhot on the Reds
Link to Krall’s comments about payroll
Link to MLBTR on the Athletics’ offseason
Link to Andrew Friedman’s Kershaw comments
Link to Suzuki’s B-Ref page
Link to EW competitions and drafts spreadsheet
Link to Stove League teaser video
Link to stream Stove League via Kocowa
Link to stream Stove League via Viki

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley talk to Evan Drellich, senior writer for The Athletic, about the state of labor negotiations between MLB and the MLBPA, the major issues separating the two sides, the odds of a work stoppage, how long a potential lockout could last, how the CBA talks may affect transaction activity, how previous rounds of bargaining led to this one, whether a salary cap and floor could work, transitioning from covering teams as a beat writer to covering the business of baseball, the future of minor league housing and local broadcast blackouts, breaking the Astros sign-stealing story, and collaborating on reporting with Ken Rosenthal.

Audio intro: Ian M Bailey, "Take it or Leave it"
Audio outro: Attic Lights, "Lock Me Out"

Link to Evan on how a lockout would work
Link to Evan on previous bargaining rounds
Link to Evan on latest MLBPA proposal
Link to Evan on Marvin Miller
Link to Ben on Lords of the Realm
Link to Morning Consult poll
Link to Greg Bouris EW interview
Link to Evan on blackouts and streaming
Link to report about future streaming service
Link to Evan on minor league housing
Link to The Athletic Baseball Show
Link to original sign-stealing report
Link to preorder Evan’s book
Link to Stove League teaser video
Link to stream Stove League via Kocowa
Link to stream Stove League via Viki

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s return from podcast paternity leave, the quality of the 2021 postseason, whether the Braves were underrated or simply overperformed, what teams might learn from and emulate about Atlanta’s success, postseason pitcher usage and game length, the career and retirement of Buster Posey, their upcoming discussion of TV drama Stove League, and more.

Audio intro: Pavement, "Father to a Sister of Thought"
Audio outro: Bill Withers, "Wintertime"

Link to NL East playoff odds graph
Link to FanGraphs postseason staff predictions
Link to Mark Armour on parity
Link to Paul Hembekides on game ending times
Link to Theo Epstein on emulating champions
Link to Zach Kram on Atlanta’s win
Link to Michael Baumann on the Astros’ future
Link to Ben on Atlanta’s rebuild
Link to Zach on Atlanta’s bullpen
Link to Eno Sarris on learning from Atlanta
Link to Emma Baccellieri on Atlanta’s shifting
Link to Jay on playoff pitcher usage
Link to Jay on unlikely playoff pitchers
Link to Ben on bullpenning
Link to Ben on October baseball
Link to Ben on predicting postseason sweeps
Link to Maury Brown on playoff start times
Link to John Ourand on start times and ratings
Link to Ben on re-signing World Series winners
Link to Rob Mains on pitcher usage and payroll
Link to Terrance Gore EW episode
Link to Jay Jaffe on Posey
Link to Grant Brisbee on Posey
Link to Nichols Law of Catcher Defense
Link to Stove League teaser video
Link to stream Stove League via Kocowa
Link to stream Stove League via Viki

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