Effectively Wild Episode 2020: Boo This Manfred

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley review the most disappointing teams of 2023, ultimately anointing one team as the most disappointing and trying to identify which of the contenders for the “most disappointing” title is most likely to turn things around by the end of the season. Then (32:21) they discuss A’s fans’ reverse boycott, the seemingly sealed deal for the A’s to move to Las Vegas, the viability of Vegas as an MLB market, commissioner Rob Manfred’s maddening comments about all of the above, the 20th anniversary of Moneyball coinciding with the A’s ugly exit from Oakland, the legacy of the book, and more, plus a Past Blast (1:17:56) from 2020. Audio intro : Ted O., “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Audio outro : Beatwriter, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Link to preseason playoff odds Link to preseason playoff odds changes Link to Sheehan’s run differential tweet Link to Sheehan on the Jays Link to Petriello on Kiermaier Link to A’s winning streak story Link to MLBTR on Nevada votes Link to FG on the reverse boycott Link to The Athletic on the reverse boycott Link to BP on the reverse boycott Link to Manfred’s comments Link to Oakland mayor’s response Link to Tim Kawakami on Manfred Link to Defector on Las Vegas Link to Sheehan on Las Vegas Link to Ken/Evan on front-office spending Link to Sam Schultz thread Link to Sam Schultz EW episode Link to R.J. on front office unionization Link to Ben/Rob’s 2016 study Link to 2020 follow-up study Link to Moneyball Act info Link to info on Kotick cameo Link to Michael Lewis on SABRcast Link to 2020 Past Blast source Link to David Lewis’s Twitter Link to David Lewis’s Substack Link to MLBTR on the governor signing Link to Manfred’s Pride Night comments Link to SABRcast book episode Link to Ringer-Verse gaming episode Sponsor Us on Patreon Facebook Group Twitter Account EW Subreddit Effectively Wild Wiki iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!) Get Our Merch! Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source