Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and ESPN’s Sam Miller banter about offseason content-creation strategies, recurring columns, and an alternate history in which Orlando Cepeda could have prevented writers from citing stats in stories, then (21:45) talk to longtime Baseball Prospectus writer (and author of The Shift ) Russell Carleton about his departure from BP to take a job with the New York Mets, his most inf...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about players playing for their lives, Bryce Harper rumors, Harper’s fame vs. Mike Trout ’s, feeling less intense anticipation than they used to, the Red Sox signing the previously permabanned Jenrry Mejia , and uncertainty surrounding the latest labor strife. Then (30:06) Ben talks to Chris Enns , author of The Death Row All Stars , about basebal...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about good and bad news for much-traveled pitcher Oliver Drake , the Dodgers’ signing of A.J. Pollock and the team’s perplexing offseason plan and lack of NL West competition, the Cubs’ signing of Brad Brach , and a report about the 10-day DL and the rules about optioning players to the minors, then (21:35) talk to Field of Schemes author Ne...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan discuss the Hall of Fame results, including why (and whether) the Hall matters, Mariano Rivera ’s unanimous election, the greatness of Mike Mussina , the stagnation of Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds , the perplexing case of Omar Vizquel , and other topics, then banter about the spread of multi-position players, the Braves bringing back Nick Markakis , the Marin...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Willians Astudillo and the Sonny Gray trade, then (19:11) bring on Padres podcaster David Marver to talk about the Padres supposedly opening their books, what information the team actually revealed, the ways in which that information may be incomplete or misleading, why Padres ownership hasn’t spent more, San Diego as an underrated downtrodden spo...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Willians Astudillo ’s final winter league stats, the retirement of Ricky Romero , the upside of a slow market, and the anticlimax of a big free-agent signing, then (11:25) bring on Baseball Prospectus director of editorial content Patrick Dubuque to talk about why we know how much players make, how knowing players’ financial information but...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the Yankees signing Adam Ottavino and the Angels signing Cody Allen , super-pens vs. improvised pens, and Manny Machado , Eric Hosmer , and Mike Trout , then (15:19) bring on Baseball Prospectus writer Sung Min Kim to talk about how the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) has increased its popularity among young people and women, why its in-game experienc...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Ben and Travis Sawchik finishing their new book, The MVP Machine , Willians Astudillo ‘s MVP voting results, the Kyler Murray baseball/football decision and why it’s unusual for players in his situation to have leverage, Manny Machado rumors, and Yasmani Grandal ‘s comments about the contract he didn’t sign, then answer listener...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Willians Astudillo being plunked in reprisal for his home-run pimp, the surprisingly small contract of Yasmani Grandal and the state of the Brewers and the NL Central, Jed Lowrie and the Mets’ positional logjam, DJ LeMahieu joining the Yankees and the ramifications for Manny Machado , the latest in teams trying to lure Machado by recruiting Machad...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Willians Astudillo going viral yet again, his iconic winter-league home-run pose and the state of celebration in baseball, the improbable personality of an improbable player, Astudillo’s future in Minnesota, and the Mariners bringing back Dustin Ackley . Then (23:59) they talk to NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Systems Engineer (and baseball nerd)...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Oliver Drake ‘s new (and also old) team, the Mets, Brodie Van Wagenen, and Keon Broxton , the Yankees signing Zach Britton , how data and technology have helped some free agents and hurt others, the state of free-agent spending and baseball’s economic past, present, and future, Scott Boras’s latest linguistic crime, the White Sox acqui...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about New York Met Rymer Liriano and the minor league free agent draft, David Robertson signing with the Phillies, Robertson’s underrated record, and a Sabermetrics Mount Rushmore, then (14:43) talk to Retrosheet founder and president Dave Smith about how he started Retrosheet, the organization’s mission to collect a record of every major-league g...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the Yankees signing Troy Tulowitzki , Whit Merrifield ’s vaguely worded optimism about the Royals, and the necessity of unrealistic expectations, then answer listener emails about holiday sports conversations (featuring Ben’s mom’s hot take about Mariano Rivera and the truth about Rivera versus Edgar Martinez ), players who are literal...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the Mariners signing Yusei Kikuchi, Willians Astudillo’ s last 10 days, and Oliver Drake’ s latest designation for assignment, and then grade the Hall of Fame’s many choices of in-game artifacts from the 2018 season. After that (44:41), they bring on Kyodo News writer Jim Allen to talk about Kikuchi’s origin story, recent perform...

Ben Lindbergh, Jeff Sullivan, and ESPN’s Sam Miller review the top candidates for the most enduring baseball memory of 2018, then conduct the sixth annual Effectively Wild Minor League Free Agent Draft, selecting 11 minor league free agents each and competing to see whose roster will accumulate the most combined MLB playing time in 2019 (followed by a Nelson Cruz signing addendum). Audio&nbs...

In the second of two themed episodes, Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan review one aspect of each National League team’s year that they overlooked on earlier episodes, touching on stories involving the Baby Braves, Charlie Culberson , and Dansby Swanson , Brent Suter vs. Corey Kluber , Jack Flaherty vs. Walker Buehler , Willson Contreras ‘s wedding, Archie Bradley , Yasiel Puig , Dereck...

In the first of two themed episodes, Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan review one aspect of each American League team’s year that they overlooked on earlier episodes, touching on stories involving Mike Scioscia , Myles Straw , Stephen Piscotty , Rowdy Tellez , Jose Ramirez , Mike Marjama , Richard Bleier , Isiah Kiner-Falefa , a stathead in uniform, Tony Renda , Brad Keller , a fight between b...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the Daniel Murphy , Trevor Cahill , Anibal Sanchez , and Andrew Miller signings, react in real time to the three-team Jurickson Profar trade, and answer listener emails about signing Bryce Harper for one year, signing Harper as a catcher, choosing between watching games and having access to all other information, rebuilding by collecting exorbitant cont...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the Royals signing Terrance Gore and turning themselves into a bad-but-entertaining team of stolen-base threats, the Angels signing Matt Harvey and how they stack up, the renaming of Safeco Field, and the new posting system for Cuban players. Then (28:18) they talk to left-hander Rick Teasley about becoming the first pitcher ever to strike out Willians...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the Astros’ signing of Michael Brantley , the curious cases of blocked prospects Kyle Tucker and Alex Verdugo , the Mets’ signing of Wilson Ramos , and the unique career of globe-trotting Trey Hillman. Then (20:49) they talk to Charlie Olson , co-founder and CEO of Pando Pooling, about his company’s plan to provide a security net for p...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about why there have been so many Noah Syndergaard trade rumors, then answer listener emails about whether Giancarlo Stanton would be better if he raised his launch angle, how and when a manager who kept intentionally walking hitters would be stopped, how and whether to debate saber skeptics (about Harold Baines , or anything else), Bryce Harper pulling a LeB...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Jeff’s sartorial choice during his MLB Network appearance at the Winter Meetings, Willians Astudillo striking out twice against the same pitcher in a pro game for (possibly) the first time, Scott Boras and Brian Cashman metaphors, big-picture takeaways from the Winter Meetings, the Phillies signing Andrew McCutchen , the Blue Jays releasing Troy T...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about expected activity at the Winter Meetings, the pointlessness of the Winter Meetings, and the Hall of Fame elections of Lee Smith and Harold Baines (yes, that Harold Baines). Then (23:04) they talk to FanGraphs prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen about the baseball and multi-sport future of Heisman Trophy winner and A’s first-round draftee Kyler Murra...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Willians Astudillo and discuss Nathan Eovaldi re-signing with the Red Sox, the Cardinals-Diamondbacks trade involving Paul Goldschmidt , Luke Weaver , and Carson Kelly , and the significance of good teams trading away great players. Then (36:03) they bring on free-agent outfielder and probable fastest man in baseball Terrance Gore to talk about when he...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Willians Astudillo ’s Venezuelan Winter League MVP chances, the latest scuttlebutt about banning the shift (and why it reflects the right impulse but the wrong solution), and the Nationals’ Patrick Corbin signing, the suddenly scary NL East, and the offseason market so far. Then (25:44) they bring on just-retired, 13-year major-league pitche...