Effectively Wild: A Fangraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben and Sam banter about the latest in Andrelton Simmons defense, then discuss why hitters don’t often go the other way against the defensive shift.

Ben and Sam answer listener emails about bat speed, umpire bias, and error bars and then Play Index about Javier Baez and Bo Jackson.

Ben and Sam banter about balls and strikes and then discuss 2014’s top transactions relative to the amount of attention they received at the time.

Ben and Sam take the Ice Bucket Challenge and then discuss the signing of new Red Sox center fielder Rusney Castillo.

Ben and Sam discuss the Angels’ loss of Garrett Richards and the other costliest injuries of 2014.

Ben and Sam talk to Robert Arthur about the analytical significance of the crack of the bat and his other original sabermetric research.

Ben and Sam answer listener emails about outfielders, strikeouts, command vs. control, and more.

Ben and Sam discuss Alex Gordon, Mike Trout, and the relationship between defensive stats and the MVP award.

Ben and Sam talk about Ben’s weekend at Saber Seminar.

Ben and Sam talk to Yahoo! Sports columnist Jeff Passan about Commissioner-elect Rob Manfred.

Ben and Sam answer listener emails about Justin Verlander’s woes, switch-pitchers, empty averages, and more.

Ben and Sam discuss what baseball lost because of the 1994 strike.

Sam and Craig Goldstein bring on Wendy Thurm to talk about a big ruling out of New York that could affect MLB’s television territories and blackouts.

Ben and Sam discuss the factors that have led to the Texas Rangers’ disastrous season.

Ben, Russell Carleton, and Michael Baumann discuss whether winning in the playoffs is any different from winning in August, then talk about ways to shorten games.

Ben and Sam discuss San Diego’s hiring of A.J. Preller and what they would look for in a general manager.

Ben and Sam answer listener emails about timing trades, breaking news, outlawing headhunting, prospect debuts, and more.

Ben and Sam talk to ESPN Chicago contributor Sahadev Sharma about the arrival of Javier Baez and the future of the Cubs.

Ben and Sam discuss why so few teams traded prospects at the deadline.

Ben and Sam discuss the major moves made (and not made) before Thurday’s trade deadline.