Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs’ Ben Clemens continue a cherished podcast tradition by conducting the 11th annual Effectively Wild Minor League Free Agent Draft, in which they select 10 minor league free agents each and compete to see whose roster will accumulate the most combined MLB playing time in 2024. Audio intro : Alex Ferrin, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Audio&...

Ben Lindbergh and Baseball Prospectus editor-in-chief Craig Goldstein discuss all the fallout from the Dodgers’ record-breaking signing of Yoshinobu Yamamoto , including how it affects fan perceptions of the Dodgers, whether it’s good for MLB to have a heel, whether there’s a more virtuous way to win, the terms of the contract and their expectations for Yamamoto, whether the Dodg...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether MLB should implement an NHL-esque holiday transaction freeze, then (5:53) answer listener emails about Bryce Harper , Shohei Ohtani , Tyler Glasnow , and tampering, abandoning the Angels, what to do after visiting every MLB and MiLB ballpark, when the last-place finishers of 2023 will be 90-win true-talent teams, “prep” prospects, valui...

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, FanGraphs’ Michael Baumann and Ben Clemens , and Chris Hanel play a quick round of “College Baseball Player or U.S. Space Shuttle Astronaut,” banter about the Braves’ series of recent, red-paper-clip-style trades (5:21) and the Diamondbacks re-signing Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (14:13), and then revisit, dissect, and score their bold preseason prediction...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Shohei Ohtani’ s introductory press conference and getting closure on contract/canine questions, the audience verdict on how to handle Ohtani in the free-agent-contract over/under draft (20:22), the Dodgers-Rays Tyler Glasnow trade (32:09), the latest Royals signings ( Michael Wacha , Hunter Renfroe ), the Tigers adding Jack Flaherty , and the AL Cen...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley call for a listener referendum on how to treat Shohei Ohtani ’s unprecedented contract in the EW free-agent-contract over/under draft, then (20:43) banter about the Royals’ recent pitching additions and a wizardly Will Smith . After that (33:32), they talk to FanGraphs lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen about the players from Asian leagues who have enli...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the implications of Shohei Ohtani ’s unprecedentedly deferred contract structure, whether the Ohtani signing and Juan Soto trade portend MLB imbalance driven by the bursting cable bundle (21:42), whether the Dodgers will ever be bad again (28:06), media hang-wringing over Friday’s false reports (35:58), and the Tyler O’Neill trade (42:57)...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley react to Shohei Ohtani signing a titanic 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers, covering every aspect of the news. Then (57:07) they recount the even-funnier-in-retrospect rumor-related frothing on Friday, when it briefly looked like Ohtani was en route to Toronto to become a Blue Jay. Audio intro : Nate Emerson, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Audio&...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a lackluster punning performance by Scott Boras at the Winter Meetings, then (12:03) dissect the momentous trade of a big Boras client, Juan Soto , from both the Yankees’ and Padres’ perspectives. After that (1:04:00), they discuss Eduardo Rodríguez bolstering the Diamondbacks’ rotation, Jeimer Candelario joining the Reds’ overcrowd...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley (at the Winter Meetings in Nashville) banter about how the secrecy surrounding Shohei Ohtani’ s free agency is breaking baseball media members’ brains, what makes free agency fun for fans, the advisability of a winter transaction deadline and whether it’s OK for baseball to just be boring sometimes, and the latest ridiculous dot-connecting about Ohtan...

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and top-tier Patreon supporter Kevin Peskuric banter about and quantify the difference between the receptions to an @MLB tweet about a Shohei Ohtani cat encounter and an @Yankees tweet about Henry Kissinger. Then (18:48) they talk about Kevin’s background as a baseball fan and EW listener, answer listener emails (32:13) about whether facing only bad hitters could g...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about listeners’ end-of-year podcast stats, the reported “progress” in Padres-Yankees trade talks concerning Juan Soto , some recent Reds and Mets moves, a possible extension for Brewers prospect Jackson Chourio and the track record of extensions signed before a player’s MLB debut, and several end-of-season MLB awards (past and present) t...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Eugenio Suárez trade and the Mariners’ payroll, the Cardinals signing Sonny Gray , the Tigers signing Kenta Maeda , the Dodgers re-signing Jason Heyward , and whether an outfielder can be said to “pick it.” Then (50:07) they follow up on listener responses to their latest email episode, focusing on suggestions for introducing turnover...

Ben Lindbergh talks to Portia, proprietor of super-popular Shohei Ohtani fan account @shoheisaveus , about her Ohtani superfan origin story, life as a self-described “Shobae,” Ohtani’s popularity compared to other athletes and celebrities, following Ohtani from 15 time zones away, stanning a private person, the many mysteries of Ohtani, where the Shobaes would prefer for Ohtani t...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the proper pluralization of “POBO,” then (7:12) answer listener emails about baseball with a five-second pitch clock, how long fans will continue to boo pickoff attempts, what it would take for a team to pay a particular fan to attend (or not attend) its games, Freddie Freeman ’s base stealing, bringing turnovers to baseball, clubs that c...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Phillies re-signing Aaron Nola , the Braves signing Reynaldo López , trading for Aaron Bummer , and rearranging their roster, the Cardinals signing Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson , the Padres hiring Mike Shildt, Shohei Ohtani swearing teams to secrecy about his free-agent visits, and NHK’s Ohtani documentaries. Then (53:16) they talk to Vanessa Ivy R...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the possible significance of this year’s unanimous award votes, the public unveiling of Shohei Ohtani ’s dog, what they learned (and didn’t learn) from the new ESPN documentary Shohei Ohtani: Beyond the Dream (21:42), and where they’d prefer for Ohtani to sign (1:01:16). Then (1:10:42) they conduct the ninth EW free-agent-contract o...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss MLB owners unanimously approving the Athletics’ move to Las Vegas, new time-saving measures slated for 2024, the respective salaries of David Stearns and Craig Counsell, and private flights as a potential perk to entice MLB free agents, then examine an upstart Dubai-based baseball league called Baseball United (55:07) and bring on Washington Post sportswr...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a low-suspense awards week, the vastly varying paths to being a major league manager, the latest sign of the Angels player-development apocalypse, Brian Cashman on Giancarlo Stanton , the death of Padres owner Peter Seidler, Michael Jordan’s baseball career on For All Mankind , how much holding runners matters, and how to judge how many championships...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about norovirus derailing the GM meetings, leftover Boras quotes, and the baseball players deemed sexiest by People magazine, Stat Blast (18:47) about a possible bunting comeback and whether age is correlated with pitch-clock violations, and then (43:39) talk to FanGraphs writer Ben Clemens about the free-agent market and his ranking of the top 50 free agents. A...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s experience covering the GM meetings and broadcasting an AFL game, with an emphasis on Brian Cashman’s testy exchanges with reporters, Meg’s interaction with Jerry Dipoto, and Scott Boras’s wordplay, plus listener emails (1:01:04) about “electing” free agency, whether the pitch clock has lowered the average age of b...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether whether they’d watch the winning team celebrate if they lost the World Series, then (17:09) discuss a trio of managerial moves (the Cubs poaching Craig Counsell from the Brewers, the Guardians hiring Stephen Vogt, and the Mets hiring Carlos Mendoza), the Marlins hiring the Rays’ GM, and what the Padres declining Michael Wacha ’s o...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the difficulty of watching Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the Japan Series, the last time an MLB pitcher threw as many as 138 pitches in a game, their hopes for Joey Votto ’s next act, and the Brewers trading Mark Canha to the Tigers, then (32:13) answer listener emails about Silver Slugging Gold Glovers, pitching a perfect game in a time loop, whether the Ro...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about which MLB franchise will win its first championship next, the postseason “second-chance issue,” Clayton Kershaw’ s shoulder surgery and other Dodgers decisions, a change in Astros primary catchers, the Braves re-signing Joe Jiménez , and Nelson Cruz ’s career and retirement, then (1:05:20) discuss the stories they’re most inte...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s experience covering the World Series in Arizona, then discuss the most interesting aspects of the series, what (if anything) teams could learn from the Rangers’ success, the futures of the Rangers and Diamondbacks, the entertainment value of the 2023 playoffs, and much more. Audio intro : Alex Ferrin, “ Effectively Wild Theme &...