Episode Details

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen banter about how to abbreviate Twins executive Derek Falvey’s new dual role as president of both baseball and business operations, then (5:23) discuss Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki from a scouting perspective, touching on how good he could be, how a team could ease him into MLB, what tweaks he could make to his repertoire, the bonus pool system that could help determine where he signs, and more. After that (50:16), Ben and Meg talk to NPB journalist Jim Allen about Sasaki’s posting from a Japan-based perspective, exploring why Sasaki was posted now, how Japanese fans feel about his departure, and what the implications could be for NPB. Finally (1:21:01), Ben does a bonus Stat Blast about baseball overrepresentation in crossword puzzles.

Audio intro: Alex Glossman and Ali Breneman, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio interstitial: Liz Panella, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Kite Person, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Falvey news
Link to Trueblood’s Falvey tweet
Link to Eric’s Roki update
Link to Eric on Roki in August
Link to Ben’s Roki update
Link to Ben on Roki in 2022
Link to Kiley on Roki
Link to Passan on Roki
Link to Coskrey on Roki
Link to 2024 bonus pools

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