About this episode
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Alex Rodriguez ’s ubiquity on non-baseball broadcasts and then discuss George Springer signing a franchise-record contract with the Blue Jays, Michael Brantley re-signing with the Astros, and José Quintana signing with the Angels, touching on how the Jays compare to their AL East rivals and what the team may do next, Springer’s track record and how he’ll age, Toronto’s run at Brantley, why Springer has escaped some of his former team’s sign-stealing stigma, how the Astros stack up post-Springer, the Cubs’ soft-tossing, poorly projected rotation, the NL Central’s inactivity, and when it’s appropriate for fans to take breaks from or forsake their teams. Then they answer a listener email about working in baseball and reevaluating a dream job and conclude with a Stat Blast about the longest time elapsed between the same player’s World Series hits. Audio intro : The Tragically Hip, " You’re Everywhere " Audio outro : Lou Reed, " My Friend George " Link to thread of A-Rod photos Link to Dan Szymborski on the Springer signing Link to Dan on playoff odds changes Link to Jeff on Springer’s contact in 2017 Link to Jeff on the 2017 Astros’ new-look lineup Link to sign-stealing data Link to Ben on sign-stealing effectiveness Link to Rob Arthur on sign-stealing effectiveness Link to second BP study on sign-stealing effectiveness Link to Bill Petti on sign-stealing effectiveness Link to Tony Wolfe on the Quintana signing Link to Russell Carleton on starting-pitcher handedness Link to R.J. Anderson on MLB brain drain Link to Ben on going from a front office to the media Link to Adam Ott’s website Link to Stat Blast spreadsheet Link to Russell on postseason experience iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!) Sponsor Us on Patreon Facebook Group Effectively Wild Wiki Twitter Account Get Our Merch! Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source