Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about the diminishing roles (and salaries) of MLB managers, then answer listener emails about whether it’s better for teams to be balanced than unbalanced and how to decide whether to upgrade on offense or defense, how consistently good a player has to be to make the Hall of Fame without ever leading the league, and what they love most about baseball, plus a Stat Blast about steroids and the league-wide distribution of dingers in the 2000s and today.

Audio intro: Bright Eyes, "From a Balance Beam"
Audio outro: Dr. Dog, "Mystery to Me"

Link to Rosenthal article about managers
Link to FiveThirtyEight on balanced rosters
Link to Ben on runs scored vs. runs saved
Link to BP on runs scored vs. runs saved
Link to Ben on Baines
Link to Rob Arthur on steroids and the home run surge
Link to Ben on the steroid era
Link to Craig Edwards on the lack of 60-homer hitters
Link to Rich Hill highlights
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Cody Bellinger‘s and Keston Hiura’s home runs, the Cardinals’ climactic four-game sweep of the Cubs, the Brewers’ surge sans Christian Yelich, the rapid reversal in the NL Central playoff picture, Craig Kimbrel, Dallas Keuchel, and the narrative about players signed at midseason, what went wrong for Chicago and how we should perceive the Cubs’ Theo Epstein era, how this year’s playoff teams got good, what we’ve learned about the efficacy of tanking, the AL wild card race, and the Padres firing Andy Green.

Audio intro: Phish, "Swept Away"
Audio outro: The Avett Brothers, "Swept Away (Sentimental Version)"

Link to article about the Triple-A home run rate
Link to NL Central playoff odds graph
Link to video of Ozuna homer
Link to article about forthcoming Cubs changes
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller talk to two Atlantic League players with the Somerset Patriots, pitcher Rick Teasley and catcher Yovan Gonzalez, about the experimental rules being tested in the league this season as part of a partnership with MLB. They discuss how Rick and Yovan first heard about the new rules, how players have perceived the changes and the effect of the rules on team morale, the elimination of mound visits, the problems with robot umps, the end of catcher framing, the absurdity of “stealing first base,” the second-half pickoff-move change and subsequent explosion in stolen bases, how future changes should be implemented, which new rules could be worth keeping, what the impact of moving the mound back might be, Teasley’s quasi-perfect game, and more.

Audio intro: Mates of State, "An Experiment"
Audio outro: Silver Jews, "Random Rules"

Link to list of Atlantic League changes
Link to Rob Arthur on Atlantic League stolen bases
Link to video of Atlantic Leaguer refusing to run to first
Link to Ben on moving the mound back
Link to article about Teasley’s quasi-perfect game
Link to video of last out of Teasley’s perfect outing
Link to story about 2018 Tampa Tarpons game
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the return of Luis Severino and the Yankees’ prospective playoff roster, how teams will use their pitchers in the playoffs, a Sonny Gray fun fact that sort of checks out, Yu Darvish’s strikeout spree, and an extremely long September game, discuss the arrest of Felipe Vázquez, and answer listener emails about Mookie Betts and Mike Trout, when today’s baseball will start to seem dated, how long it takes bad teams to restore their reputations, and the audacity of promising to hit home runs.

Audio intro: Gregory Alan Isakov, "San Luis"
Audio outro: Sturgill Simpson, "The Promise"

Link to Jay Jaffe on Severino’s return
Link to Aaron Boone on the Yankees’ playoff pitching plans
Link to Sonny Gray story
Link to Darvish story
Link to Ben on the playoffs as a vision of the future
Link to Yaz home runs GIF
Link to Ben on MLB’s quality of play
Link to Seinfeld clip
Link to post on promised home runs
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about the Twins’ missed opportunity for a mid-plate-appearance pitching change, more mind-boggling home run facts about the year of the dinger, fun facts about the Diamondbacks and Jarrod Dyson, Guy Fieri endorsing Spencer Torkelson and which celebrity character references might make them draft a player higher, and how to answer the Phillies’ interview question for a quantitative analyst position, then discuss Mike Trout’s season-ending injury and what his accumulating missed time might mean for his career.

Audio intro: Sonny & The Sunsets, "The Application"
Audio outro: The Only Ones, "Curtains for You"

Link to Ben on mid-PA pitching changes
Link to story on the one-baserunner Diamondbacks win
Link to video of Rich Aude’s bat flip
Link to 2018 Phillies interview question
Link to 2019 Phillies interview question
Link to Jay Jaffe on the end of Trout’s season
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Kyle Lewis’s debut, Rich Hill’s brief return, Daniel Palka’s second hit of the season, the Braves and Dallas Keuchel, and the Diamondbacks’ Brewers-style rebuild, then (18:13) talk to Will Leitch about what (if anything) Dave Dombrowski’s firing says about MLB teams’ competitive priorities, how the Cardinals (and Jack Flaherty) became the NL’s most successful second-half squad, and the NL Central and NL wild card races.

Audio intro: The Resonars, "Attention Here"
Audio interstitial: Supertramp, "The Meaning"
Audio outro: The Mountain Goats, "Bluejays and Cardinals"

Link to Tony Wolfe on Keuchel
Link to Ben Clemens on the Diamondbacks
Link to Will’s Dombrowski column
Link to Rob Arthur on Dombrowski
Link to Evan Drellich on Dombrowski
Link to Peter Gammons on Dombrowski
Link to Zach Kram on Flaherty
Link to Andrew Simon on Flaherty
Link to Craig on the Cardinals’ defense
Link to Will’s Cardinals podcast
Link to Will’s newsletter
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about the costs of Christian Yelich’s broken kneecap and other injuries disrupting pennant races and the Mets-centric personal-catcher controversy involving Noah Syndergaard, Wilson Ramos, and Tomás Nido. Then they answer listener emails about the mystery of Edwin Díaz (and the more minor mystery of Justin Verlander) and whether we’re heading for a post-pitch-type sport, plus a Stat Blast about batter results on 3-0 counts and further discussion about out-of-nowhere closers and viral fun facts about Bruce Bochy and the Mariners.

Audio intro: Green Day, "Christian’s Inferno"
Audio outro: The Pigeon Detectives, "Making Up Numbers"

Link to Ben on the Yelich injury
Link to first Syndergaard-Ramos report
Link to Syndergaard-Ramos follow-up
Link to Díaz story
Link to Craig on Verlander dingers
Link to story on Verlander’s strand rate
Link to Sam on surprise closers
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Michael Lorenzen, Shohei Ohtani, and two-way terminology, marvel at Eugenio Suárez and other surprises from the 2019 home run leaderboard, celebrate the AL wild card race, salute the improving A’s and Rays, and discuss teams that are reshaping their potential playoff rosters late in the regular season, respond at length to the breaking news that the Red Sox have fired president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski less than a year after winning the World Series, and then play a Cy Young award game and analyze the legacy of Justin Verlander.

Audio intro: Ben Folds, "Fired"
Audio outro: Midnight Oil, "Short Memory"

Link to story on Mitch Garver’s reinvention
Link to Ken Rosenthal’s speculation about Dombrowski
Link to Alex Speier’s book Homegrown
Link to Ben on Boston’s post-championship complacency
Link to Passan report on Dombrowski
Link to Baumann on Verlander
Link to FiveThirtyEight article on Verlander
Link to Craig Edwards on Verlander’s home run rate
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s time in the mountains and subsequent September disorientation, attempt to divine the family dynamics of a Colin Moran vs. Brian Moran matchup, talk about the Twins pulling away in the AL Central race and the implications for Cleveland, and discuss the downsides of the annual debate about the definition of “value” in the MVP award debate (plus more musings about Daniel Palka’s 1-for-53 start to his 2019 MLB season).

Audio intro: Mavis Staples, "Brothers and Sisters"
Audio outro: Joe Jackson, "Nineteen Forever"

Link to story on the Morans
Link to video of the Morans
Link to THT piece on MVP voting criteria
Link to Sam on Trout’s 2017 MVP award
Link to video of Palka’s lone MLB hit from 2019
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller debate whether a fact about Michael Lorenzen’s multi-way play is fun, banter about Nelson Cruz’s unflagging offense, technology and the future of the knuckleball, and an ignominious achievement by Billy Hamilton, then answer listener emails about the lack of four-homer games, what would happen if foul balls caught in the stands counted as outs, and whether (and how) MLB should ask its audience what it wants to see, plus a Stat Blast about the most-ever talent on one team and another fun-fact debate (about Cody Bellinger).

Audio intro: The Stooges, "No Fun"
Audio outro: The Scruffs, "You’re No Fun"

Link to Lorenzen story
Link to Ben on Cruz
Link to Ben on the knuckleball
Link to Travis on foul balls
Link to Sam on the most talented teams
Link to order The MVP Machine

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