Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley break down the Nolan Arenado trade from the Rockies’ and Cardinals’ perspectives, reflect on the Rockies’ rudderless state, touch on a few more minor transactions (Alex Cobb to the Angels, Didi Gregorius to the Phillies, and Eddie Rosario to Cleveland), remember the career of the now-retired Dustin Pedroia, and touch on the latest exchanges between MLB and the MLBPA about when to start the season (with a postscript about late-breaking news).

Audio intro: Keith Richards, "Something for Nothing"
Audio outro: Pllush, "Stuck to You"

Link to Ben Clemens on the Arenado deal
Link to discussion about blockbusters
Link to story about the Rockies’ front office
Link to Bridich’s comments about beat writers
Link to story about Monfort
Link to Jake Mailhot on the Rosario signing
Link to report about MLB-MLBPA negotiations
Link to Twitter thread about MLB-MLBPA negotiations
Link to report about Callaway

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the quirks and cancellation of a long-lost (and recently rediscovered) baseball successor to arcade hit NBA Jam called Power-Up Baseball, then discuss the Cubs signing Joc Pederson and the Cardinals bringing back Adam Wainwright and (probably) Yadier Molina, share a Stat Blast about where Wainwright and Molina rank among the most prolific pitcher-catcher combos of all time in terms of total starts, break down Nick Madrigal’s chances of achieving the “very reachable” (according to Madrigal) milestone of 3,000 hits, and celebrate Ken Griffey Jr.’s hiring as a senior advisor to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, then answer listener emails about whether contract incentives could encourage players to adopt data-driven approaches, how Mike Trout could tank his career WAR while continuing to play, and how to make baseball as bad as possible while preserving the core structure of the sport.

Audio intro: Echo & the Bunnymen, "Lost and Found"
Audio outro: Lindisfarne, "Together Forever"

Link to article about Power-Up Baseball
Link to video of Power-Up Baseball
Link to Google Doodle baseball game
Link to Dan Szymborski on the Wainwright signing
Link to Stat Blast data about batteries
Link to player turnover study
Link to Madrigal’s comments
Link to age-based baselines for 3000-hit club
Link to MLB.com story about Griffey
Link to list of Trout hypotheticals
Link to Meg on Trout hypotheticals
Link to Francoeur with big glove
Link to Francoeur with big glove again
Link to Craig Edwards’ farewell post
Link to FanGraphs job posting

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Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs author Ben Clemens break down the Marcus Semien, Andrelton Simmons, and Tommy La Stella signings, the Steven Matz trade, and Masahiro Tanaka’s decision to return to NPB’s Rakuten Eagles (with digressions about Japan’s tradition of awarding the uniform number 18 to aces and the greatness of Hiroki Kuroda) before explaining what the internet-driven inflation of GameStop stock has to do with the Mets, why Billy Beane isn’t leaving the A’s after all, and why teams are so intent on treating the competitive balance tax threshold as a salary cap. Then (57:32) they’re joined by Dr. Barton Smith, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Utah State University, to discuss how the Hawk-Eye component of MLB’s Statcast system is enabling new breakthroughs in pitch design, the concepts of seam-shifted wake and spin mirroring, which pitchers and teams are on the cutting edge, why some earlier analysts were wrong about pitching, whether hitters can counter the latest advances, what we still don’t understand about pitching, the increasing complexity of player evaluation, and how this all relates to foreign substances and the baseball’s surface.

Audio intro: The Shazam, "Squeeze the Day"
Audio interstitial: Buzzcocks, "Wake Up Call"
Audio outro: Heatmiser, "Wake"

Link to Ben Clemens on the Semien signing
Link to Dan Szymborski on the Simmons signing
Link to Tony Wolfe on the La Stella signing
Link to Tony on the Matz trade
Link to Brendan Gawlowski on the Tanaka signing
Link to Jim Allen on the Tanaka signing
Link to Rob Arthur on MLB FA going to Japan
Link to Slate’s GameStop stock explainer
Link to report about Steve Cohen’s losses
Link to report about Beane’s bid
Link to report about Oakland’s offer to Semien
Link to Andy McCullough on the CBT
Link to Marc Normandin on the CBT
Link to Hawk-Eye introduction
Link to Ben’s primer on the seam-shifted revolution
Link to Alan Nathan on late break
Link to Nathan on active spin
Link to Barton’s seam-shifted wake explainer
Link to Barton’s video about seam-shifted wake
Link to BP article on seam-shifted wake
Link to Driveline study on seam-shifted wake
Link to Tom Tango on seam-shifted wake
Link to Eno Sarris on seam-shifted wake
Link to Eno on spin mirroring
Link to Michael Augustine on spin mirroring
Link to Mike Petriello on spin direction
Link to Tango on spin direction
Link to Tango on gyro spin
Link to report about defamation lawsuit

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Willians Astudillo’s award-winning heroics in the Venezuelan Winter League, then discuss the Phillies re-signing J.T. Realmuto, the Blue Jays signing Marcus Semien, the Nationals signing Brad Hand, the Padres signing Jurickson Profar, the Yankees trading for Jameson Taillon and assembling a skilled but injury-prone rotation, the Red Sox acquiring Adam Ottavino, Enrique Hernández, and Garrett Richards, the promising pennant races in the NL West and AL East, the latest labor battle and threat of a postponed start to the season (and a season without an NL DH), the news that no players were elected to the Hall of Fame, and the future of Hall of Fame voting and discourse. Lastly (1:03:53), they talk to Bradford William Davis of the New York Daily News about how Hank Aaron was eulogized, why Aaron’s historical significance went well beyond his stats, and how he should be remembered.

Audio intro: TUNS, "My Memories"
Audio interstitial: Sloan, "Suppose They Close the Door"
Audio outro: Waylon Jennings, "Are You Sure Hank Done it This Way"

Link to Young’s ABL pitching appearance
Link to Rob Arthur on less active free agency
Link to Dan Szymborski on the Realmuto signing
Link to Craig Edwards on Semien as a bargain
Link to Edwards on the Hand signing
Link to Ben Clemens on the Profar signing
Link to Dan on the Taillon trade
Link to Dan on the Ottavino trade
Link to Tony Wolfe on the Hernández signing
Link to Ken Rosenthal on league/union negotiations
Link to Alex Coffey on the Cactus League letter
Link to Jay Jaffe’s crowdsourced ballot
Link to Jay on the Hall of Fame voting results
Link to New York Times story on HoF voting
Link to Wall Street Journal story on HoF voting
Link to Andy McCullough’s HoF survey
Link to Marc Carig on HoF voting neuroscience
Link to Verducci voting video
Link to Bradford on Aaron
Link to Howard Bryant on Aaron
Link to Claire Smith on Aaron
Link to Lex Pryor on Aaron
Link to Stephanie Apstein on Aaron
Link to Demetrius Bell on Aaron
Link to 1994 interview with Aaron
Link to another 1994 interview with Aaron
Link to the AJC on Aaron’s activism
Link to Henry Grabar on Aaron’s secretary
Link to Aaron’s memoir

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley reflect on the on-field feats, statistical records, and larger legacy of baseball icon Henry Louis “Hank” Aaron, who died on Friday at age 86. Then (25:47) they talk to Joe Lowry of Prospects Live about the ongoing boom in baseball cards, touching on why 2020 fueled a surge in sports-card collecting, how baseball cards have changed since the ’80s and ’90s, the finer points of breaking, box wars, and prospect cards, the demographics of current card collectors, digital cards, how to get back into baseball cards after a hiatus from the hobby, and more.

Audio intro: The Baseball Project, "They Don’t Know Henry"
Audio interstitial: Chuck D, "It’s So Hard to See My Baseball Cards Move On"
Audio outro: Gene Clark, "Home Run King"

Link to New York Times Aaron obit
Link to Washington Post Aaron obit
Link to Howard Bryant’s Aaron obit
Link to Claire Smith on Aaron
Link to Joe Posnanski on Aaron
Link to Michael Baumann on Aaron
Link to Zach Kram on Aaron’s stats
Link to Neil Paine on Aaron’s stats
Link to Posnanski’s Baseball 100 entry on Aaron
Link to Dayn Perry on Aaron
Link to Matt Trueblood on Aaron’s mid-career shift
Link to Jay Jaffe on Aaron’s home-run rate
Link to Aaron’s neutralized stats
Link to story about Aaron’s philanthropy
Link to Craig Wright on Aaron as a second baseman
Link to Wright on the last Negro Leaguer to make MLB
Link to story on record Mantle card sale
Link to Emma Baccellieri on the baseball-card boom
Link to Andy McCullough on Phil Hughes
Link to Joe on card collecting in 2020
Link to Joe on prospect cards
Link to Joe on Jasson Dominguez
Link to Joe on card breaking
Link to Joe on box wars
Link to Slate on digital baseball cards

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Alex Rodriguez’s ubiquity on non-baseball broadcasts and then discuss George Springer signing a franchise-record contract with the Blue Jays, Michael Brantley re-signing with the Astros, and José Quintana signing with the Angels, touching on how the Jays compare to their AL East rivals and what the team may do next, Springer’s track record and how he’ll age, Toronto’s run at Brantley, why Springer has escaped some of his former team’s sign-stealing stigma, how the Astros stack up post-Springer, the Cubs’ soft-tossing, poorly projected rotation, the NL Central’s inactivity, and when it’s appropriate for fans to take breaks from or forsake their teams. Then they answer a listener email about working in baseball and reevaluating a dream job and conclude with a Stat Blast about the longest time elapsed between the same player’s World Series hits.

Audio intro: The Tragically Hip, "You’re Everywhere"
Audio outro: Lou Reed, "My Friend George"

Link to thread of A-Rod photos
Link to Dan Szymborski on the Springer signing
Link to Dan on playoff odds changes
Link to Jeff on Springer’s contact in 2017
Link to Jeff on the 2017 Astros’ new-look lineup
Link to sign-stealing data
Link to Ben on sign-stealing effectiveness
Link to Rob Arthur on sign-stealing effectiveness
Link to second BP study on sign-stealing effectiveness
Link to Bill Petti on sign-stealing effectiveness
Link to Tony Wolfe on the Quintana signing
Link to Russell Carleton on starting-pitcher handedness
Link to R.J. Anderson on MLB brain drain
Link to Ben on going from a front office to the media
Link to Adam Ott’s website
Link to Stat Blast spreadsheet
Link to Russell on postseason experience

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss ESPN’s report about Mets GM Jared Porter’s harassment of a female reporter when Porter worked for the Cubs in 2016, Porter’s subsequent firing by the Mets, Mets president Sandy Alderson’s comments about Porter’s hiring, the limitations of assessing character, the obstacles media members who aren’t cis men encounter in male-dominated environments like baseball, how MLB can help prevent continued incidents such as this one, and more. Then (52:45) they banter about the Blue Jays preceding their George Springer splash by signing Tyler Chatwood and Kirby Yates, the Padres trading for Joe Musgrove, the potential for widespread six-man rotations in 2021, and the Nationals signing ex-Cubs Jon Lester and Kyle Schwarber, plus a postscript about late-breaking news, including the death of Hall of Famer Don Sutton.

Audio intro: Golden Smog, "He’s a Dick"
Audio outro: Idles, "Never Fight a Man With a Perm"

Link to ESPN report about Porter
Link to Deesha Thosar on Porter
Link to Brittany Ghiroli on Porter
Link to Ken Rosenthal on Porter
Link to Ben Clemens on Musgrove
Link to Ben Clemens on six-man rotations
Link to Sportsnet on Chatwood
Link to Tony Wolfe on Chatwood
Link to Jake Mailhot on Yates
Link to Patrick Mooney on Lester
Link to largest career WAR differences
Link to 1975 article about baseball perms
Link to Jon Weisman on Sutton

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Blue Jays missing out on DJ LeMahieu and which remaining free agents might be bound for Toronto, follow up on their previous discussion about bagged milk and tax implications for free agency, marvel at LeMahieu’s unique invulnerability to the shift and his unlikely career trajectory, and examine his fit and future with the Yankees. Then they break down MLB’s hiring of Theo Epstein as a consultant regarding on-field matters (touching on Epstein’s potential as a savior of the sport, the obstacles he faces, what his future might hold, and more) and answer a listener email about attending games alone.

Audio intro: The Beatles, "Blue Jay Way"
Audio outro: Eliza, "Alone & Unafraid"

Link to Sportsnet on the Jays missing out again
Link to Happ on bagged milk
Link to bagged milk explainer
Link to Petriello on Lemahieu and shifts
Link to 2017 outfield shift against LeMahieu
Link to Jay Jaffe on LeMahieu re-signing
Link to Jay on LeMahieu and Yankee Stadium
Link to 2020 wOBA-xwOBA leaderboard
Link to Jeff on LeMahieu on 2018
Link to Jeff on LeMahieu and Jeter
Link to Theo Epstein press release
Link to Sahadev Sharma on Theo’s new job
Link to Joe Posnanski on Theo
Link to Theo on his hiring practices
Link to Tango on walks and the strike zone
Link to Craig Edwards on making baseball better

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Blue Jays missing out on several free-agent or trade targets, then answer listener emails about whether fans feel pride in their division/league, the history (and future) of fundamental changes to baseball technique, how many championships one would win if transported back to 2000 and appointed as GM of the Mariners, and how well pitchers would hit with metal bats, plus a Stat Blast about the public’s “pent-up demand” for post-pandemic baseball.

Audio intro: Roy Orbison, "Almost"
Audio outro: Gillian Welch, "Wayside/Back in Time"

Link to Blue Jays Nation on the Jays missing out
Link to Andrew Stoeten on the Jays missing out
Link to story about free agents and Toronto
Link to story about Toronto’s new turf
Link to Bobby Wallace SABR bio
Link to Jeff on the decline of the windup
Link to Jeff on good players who weren’t top prospects
Link to Jeff on stars who weren’t top prospects
Link to NPR on pent-up demand
Link to MLB attendance averages
Link to Hannah Keyser on lapsed fans
Link to longest pitcher home runs
Link to info on semantic satiation
Link to story on Miller Park Way
Link to story on milk bags

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about why the free-agent market has been both slow-moving and fairly lucrative for the players who’ve signed, the White Sox inking closer Liam Hendriks, whether the White Sox are the American League’s front runners, the latest report that the season will start on time, napping, MLB’s plans for fans in the stands, why MLB owners aren’t pursuing expansion, the league’s next broadcast contract with ESPN, a rumored extension for Fernando Tatis Jr., the legacy of the late Tommy Lasorda, and the recent direction of the podcast.

Audio intro: The Bangles, "Mixed Messages"
Audio outro: Dion, "(I Used to Be A) Brooklyn Dodger"

Link to Craig Edwards on the Hendriks signing
Link to report about the season starting
Link to report about health and safety standards
Link to expansion story
Link to Craig on MLB’s TV revenue
Link to Meg on Bradley
Link to Meg on Lind
Link to Outsports story on Lasorda
Link to Outsports on Lasorda and Minnie Miñoso
Link to New York Times story on Lasorda’s son
Link to Jay on Lasorda

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