Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley speak to FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel about their new book, Future Value: The Battle for Baseball’s Soul and How Teams Will Find the Next Superstar, touching on topics including the best kinds of scouting stories, how technology and data have confirmed or overturned traditional scouting beliefs, how smart teams are spending, how to make a miserly owner invest in scouting and development, whether scouts should have access to data, whether scouts can accurately assess makeup, introverted vs. extroverted scouts, whether it’s good or bad for teams to have a “type,” how teams will train prospects if there isn’t a minor league season, whether it’s possible to predict injuries, Eric and Kiley’s scouting strengths and weaknesses, and much more.

Audio intro: The Weakerthans, "Relative Surplus Value"
Audio outro: Erick Dayz, "Scouting Report"

Link to order Future Value
Link to Future Value excerpt
Link to Eric and Kiley’s scouting primer
Link to Ben on Scout School
Link to Kiley on the Yankees signing minor league free agents
Link to Russell Carleton on adolescent cognitive development
Link to Brandon Martin story
Link to Toe Nash story
Link to Ebert’s John Prine review
Link to article about serial athlete impersonator
Link to article about Joba impersonator
Link to article about Pasqua impersonator
Link to article about Mets/Marlins con man
Link to Stark on Molina’s home run
Link to order The Only Rule Is It Has to Work
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about the strange story of a man named Bill Henry who impersonated former major league reliever Bill Henry for decades, then answer listener emails about seasons with an ERA+ or OPS+ of 420, teams from the past that they would most want to cover as time-traveling beat writers, and the difference between being fans of teams and being fans of particular players, plus two Stat Blasts about all-time head-to-head franchise records and how good a starting rotation would have to be to make up for a replacement-level rest of the roster.

Audio intro: First Aid Kit, "Master Pretender"
Audio outro: Roy Orbison, "The Great Pretender"

Link to AP story about the Bill Henrys
Link to impostor’s obituary
Link to local story about the Bill Henrys
Link to story about exposing the fake Bill
Link to SI story about the Bill Henrys
Link to Bill Henry’s SABR bio
Link to de Kooning theft story
Link to false memory story
Link to Stat Blast song covers thread
Link to Tess Taruskin’s cover video
Link to order The Only Rule Is It Has to Work
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about how runs, hits, and errors became baseball’s standard scoreboard stats and the piecemeal way in which baseball evolves, then reminisce about and reevaluate the 2015 experiment that led to their 2016 book about running the independent league Sonoma Stompers, The Only Rule Is It Has to Work: Our Wild Experiment Building a New Kind of Baseball Team.

Audio intro: Wishbone Ash, "Errors of My Way"
Audio outro: Splinter, "After Five Years"

Link to Sam on Runs/Hits/Errors
Link to article about modern box scores
Link to first 2016 book companion podcast
Link to second 2016 book companion podcast
Link to third 2016 book companion podcast
Link to The Only Rule website
Link to order The Only Rule Is It Has to Work
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about new options for supporting FanGraphs and a potential plan to play the 2020 season with a radically realigned league structure, then talk to FanGraphs writer and ZiPS projection system proprietor Dan Szymborski about how a shortened or canceled season would affect projections for 2021, whether players would exceed or fall short of their projections after a long layoff, how a canceled season could impair player development, how returns from injuries, strength of schedule, and fewer games could help or hurt certain teams in 2020, tactics and roster strategies that could be beneficial in a shortened season, whether Statcast has improved projections, doing away with divisions, the appeal of streaming/esports in the absence of traditional sports, the MLB The Show players tournament, and how projecting baseball is different from projecting pandemics.

Audio intro: The Mountain Goats, "This Year"
Audio outro: The Strokes, "Ode to the Mets"

Link to FanGraphs financial update
Link to FanGraphs membership page
Link to FanGraphs gift membership page
Link to FanGraphs donation page
Link to realignment report
Link to Rob Arthur on uncertainty
Like to Matt Trueblood on shortened-season tactics
Link to Dan on playoff odds changes
Link to Dan on healing teams
Link to Dan on embracing weirdness
Link to Ben on esports
Link to Hannah on simulated seasons
Link to MLB The Show league
Link to Mets broadcasters calling MLB The Show
Link to FiveThirtyEight on modeling COVID-19
Link to Dan’s COVID-19 Twitter thread
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about a possible banter shortage, a mysterious sack of flour from 1971, the kinds of baseball stories being published in the absence of baseball, the greatness (and eye-popping pitcher usage) of the 2001 World Series, the October travails of Charlie Leibrandt, and how MLB should approach planning for the start of the season, then answer listener emails about how to reward true talent in a shortened season, whether the Mendoza Line needs a new name, whether the White Sox are the most cursed team, and whether rules changes should be agreed to far in advance, plus a Stat Blast about the most lopsided WAR league leaders, a team of unlikely MVP vote-getters, and the odd diet of Ski Melillo.

Audio intro: I Was a King, "Bubble"
Audio outro: Pulp, "Help the Aged"

Link to Pedro’s sack of flour story
Link to Sam on the most meme-worthy moments
Link to Zach Kram on the Arizona plan
Link to Ben Clemens on the Arizona plan
Link to Stat Blast song covers thread
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller split up to talk to the authors of two new baseball books. First, Sam speaks to Sports Stories newsletter author Eric Nusbaum about Stealing Home: Los Angeles, the Dodgers, and the Lives Caught in Between. Then (33:18) Ben brings on Wall Street Journal national baseball writer Jared Diamond to discuss Swing Kings: The Inside Story of Baseball’s Home Run Revolution, plus a postscript covering the release of the expanded, paperback edition of The MVP Machine, a Stat Blast addendum about the longest Opening Day starting streaks, and the career of the late, great Hall of Famer and Tigers legend Al Kaline.

Audio intro: Bill Withers, "Lonely Town, Lonely Street"
Audio interstitial: Fountains of Wayne, "Laser Show"
Audio outro: John Prine, "Hello in There"

Link to Stealing Home
Link to Eric’s Sports Stories newsletter
Link to Swing Kings
Link to Jared on machine-made baseballs
Link to Ben Clemens on strikeouts and offense
Link to list of longest Opening Day starting streaks
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the response to FanGraphs’ request for financial support, discuss the latest news about minor league pay, Tommy John surgeries, college eligibility, the possibility of baseball coming back, Astros suspensions, and the suspiciously lively ball, and unveil a Stat Blast song cover and a Stat Blast about the longest team streaks of starting different players at a particular position on Opening Day. Then (45:34) they bring on Texas Rangers major league strength and conditioning coach Jose Vazquez to explain how teams are trying to keep players in shape from afar while the season is on hold, how technology is aiding that effort and changing training, how players are maintaining their strength, the risk of injury if/when the season starts, how to discourage players from hiding injuries, bearing responsibility for injuries, and working with independent facilities.

Audio intro: The Minders, "Give Me Strength"
Audio interstitial: Neil Young, "Give Me Strength"
Audio outro: The Go-Betweens, "All About Strength"

Link to article about Choo donation
Link to Emma on Tommy John surgery ethics
Link to report about Astros suspensions
Link to report about postseason baseballs
Link to Ben on the postseason baseball
Link to Stat Blast song cover
Link to Stat Blast song covers thread
Link to Opening Day start streak data
Link to Reds pitching WAR leaders
Link to article about 2014 Rangers injuries
Link to 2014 team injury data
Link to TeamBuildr
Link to Gallo video
Link to article about Yankees pitcher training
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller talk to Brad Balukjian, author of brand-new baseball book The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball’s Afterlife, about the long road (figuratively and literally) that led to the book, how he decided to try to track down the players from an old pack of baseball cards, his favorite encounter with one of the pack’s former major leaguers, and what he learned about life from his journey, then try to predict which active major leaguers are most likely to end up in various post-playing professions. Lastly (49:06), Ben talks to Rob Taylor, senior acquisitions editor at the University of Nebraska Press (which published The Wax Pack), about how UNP became a baseball publishing powerhouse, the economics of baseball books, and how to get a baseball book deal.

Audio intro: The Baseball Project, "The Baseball Card Song"
Audio interstitial: Ezra Furman, "Good Book"
Audio outro: Moe, "Nebraska"

Link to The Wax Pack website
Link to The Wax Pack book listing
Link to Pandemic Baseball Book Club
Link to Vogelbach article
Link to Suter video
Link to Suter post
Link to Brewers Dumb and Dumber parody
Link to UNP baseball book sale page
Link to UNP history page
Link to UNP proposal format
Link to NYT article about UNP
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh, Sam Miller, and Meg Rowley begin by discussing the financial impact that the pandemic and the postponement of the baseball season have had on FanGraphs and requesting reader/listener assistance. Then Ben and Sam review some of the worst mistakes managers made in World Series games of the 1980s and mull over why managerial mistakes are so frustrating, how teams’ tactical decisions have improved over time, and how much managers of earlier eras cost their teams.

Audio intro: Gillian Welch, "Hard Times"
Audio outro: The Tragically Hip, "Membership"

Link to FanGraphs announcement
Link to FanGraphs membership page
Link to Ringer article about FanGraphs
Link to post on socially distanced baseball
Link to Ben on bad dugout decisions
Link to Ben on second-guessing managers
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the benefits, uncertainties, and downsides of the deal between MLB and the MLBPA to sort out salary and service time in the event of a shortened or canceled season, whether and how a social distancing-approved version of baseball could be played while maintaining a six-foot minimum distance between players and other personnel, how a shortened season would affect the Dodgers’ return in the Mookie Betts trade, a commercial in which Johnny Bench holds seven hamburgers, and baseball jerseys being turned into gowns and masks, then (50:39) talk to FanGraphs lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen about the new labor agreement’s implications for domestic and international amateur players, minor leaguers, the draft, player development, and scouting, as well as his upcoming book (plus a postscript on the late Jim Wynn).

Audio intro: Sloan, "Essential Services"
Audio interstitial: Blur, "No Distance Left to Run"
Audio outro: Nada Surf, "Amateur"

Link to Rosenthal and Drellich on the MLB-MLBPA deal
Link to Jay Jaffe on the MLB-MLBPA deal
Link to Eric on the MLB-MLBPA deal
Link to Bench commercial
Link to other Bench commercials
Link to article about Fanatics masks and gowns
Link to Eric on data and player development
Link to B-Ref draft
Link to order Future Value
Link to order The MVP Machine

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