Episode Details

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 enlivened the MLB free-agent market (including reports on new Giants addition Jung Hoo Lee 이정후, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shota Imanaga, Yuki Matsui, and Yariel Rodríguez), Eric’s process for evaluating international players, how perceptions of Asian leagues’ strengths and top talents have evolved, Erick Fedde and other players who’ve improved after going overseas, the best Asian players who are still years away from MLB, stylistic differences among leagues, and more.

Audio intro: The Gagnés, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Daniel Leckie, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to vote on the Ohtani contract
Link to latest over/under draft
Link to over/under draft wiki
Link to EW drafts/competitions sheet
Link to AP on Ohtani’s deal
Link to L.A. Times on Ohtani’s deal