Effectively Wild Episode 1655: Seven Minutes in the Heavens

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February 13, 2021

EWFI
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the de-naming and possible renaming of the minor leagues, the Andrew Benintendi trade and the state of the Royals, and what they would add to SABR’s list of the 50 most noteworthy moments in the evolution of baseball analytics over the past 50 years, then (30:00) bring back NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Systems Engineer (and baseball fan) Shannon Towey to discuss adopting the Dodgers, the Mets’ offseason, the physics of baseball, the upcoming landing of the Perseverance rover on Mars, the purpose of the Mars 2020 mission, her role in communicating with the rover, why Mars has had a busy month, the importance of planetary protection, future Mars missions, and much more.

Audio intro: The Killers, "My List"
Audio interstitial: Styx, "Mission to Mars"
Audio outro: Rainbow Kitten Surprise, "Mission to Mars"

Link to new minor league structure
Link to Dan Szymborski on the Benintendi trade
Link to SABR’s analytics list
Link to story about Pitcher Abuse Points
Link to Victor Wang’s research
Link to Sam on Steve Boros
Link to the history of “three true outcomes”
Link to Ben on AVM Systems
Link to Ben on the Yankees discovering framing
Link to Shannon’s first EW appearance
Link to Shannon’s website
Link to Mars 2020 mission website
Link to Ben on planetary protection
Link to Mars Helicopter page
Link to R.J. Anderson on MLB brain drain

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Crazyhurdlers
3 years ago

Hey Fangraphs staff, not sure where to make these article suggestions otherwise, apologies if this appears spammy as I post on several article comment sections, but I viewed “contact us” and that seemed more tech-based; I have some ideas for articles and was hoping maybe they might be considered by your esteemed team! Also this opens them to feedback by my fellow commenters.

Pitchers with 1 Bad Day (Like Ottavino):
Saw recently on this site in an article Ottavinos ERA would be like 4 points lower without 1 of his outings. Anyone else like that? Could produce targets in roto at discounts. Article Title Suggestion my elementary school teachers might appreciate: Pitchers and their Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Days.

Minor League Leaders and Analysis: while we can look up and see the HR/SB/AVG leaders from the most recent pre-covid minors season its hard to contextualize those in the same way you can based on league attributes (like the PCL and its power trend for example). Who were recent minor league leaders and does their status translate to potential opportunity soon?

Minor League Players of the Year: Way back in 2011 I won my first roto championship in part because I read in one of your competitors Annual publications that Tyler Chatwood was the Angels Minor League Player of the Year; yet he wasnt really highly ranked overall. Surely enough he slipped far to me, came up that year, and contributed down the stretch. What is a good resource to find organizations Minor League Players of the Year/Pitchers of the Year? Aside from Google. Any chance you can review these winners from 2019 and see if there are any underrated/underranked guys that might break through after impressing their organizations?

Opportunities for promotions from Current rosters:
I actually suggested this about 4 years ago, and it was accepted! One of the authors wrote about it by Division, and I was so impressed by the acceptance of my suggestion and extent to which it was followed through. I had told about my selection of Alex Bregman, Tim Anderson, and Michael Fulmer in my rookie draft based on opportunities I perceived on the Major League Roster where there was an infield hole on HOU and CWS and multiple SP opportunities in DET. Who are the shakiest current major leaguers and who are their likely replacements? Especially of the non-WanderFranco/Torkelson/LuisPatino varieties, because those name brand guys are already taken.

I wish I had time to contribute these myself via Community articles but hopefully the ideas spark for others to bring them to life. Thank you for consideration!

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