Effectively Wild Episode 1624: How to Build a Baseball Dynasty
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about what went down at MLB’s non-tender deadline, touching on whether the news for arbitration-eligible players was as dire as forecasted, the more notable non-tenders, and the short- and long-term futures of free agency, then (29:36) talk to Jason Coskrey of The Japan Times about how the NPB’s Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks have built a dynasty that has won four consecutive Japan Series titles (and seven since 2011), how the Hawks have influenced the rest of the league, the MLB futures of Oscar Luis Colas (the “Cuban Ohtani”) and ace Tomoyuki Sugano, the strength of women’s baseball in Japan, how the NPB dealt with the pandemic, and whether more foreign players may want to play in Japan.
Audio intro: The Mountain Goats, “High Hawk Season“
Audio interstitial: Superchunk, “Hello Hawk“
Audio outro: Shovels & Rope, “The Last Hawk“
Link to list of non-tendered players
Link to list of signed players who avoided arbitration
Link to Craig Edwards on non-tender takeaways
Link to FanGraphs Audio non-tender reactions
Link to FanGraphs international prospect rankings
Link to Jason on the Hawks’ recent dominance
Link to Jason on the Hawks’ latest Japan Series win
Link to Jason on the Pacific League/Central League imbalance
Link to Jason on the NPB’s COVID restrictions
Link to MLB.com story on Colas
Link to MLB Network segment on Colas
Link to Colas video
Link to Jason on Sugano
Link to Sugano video
Link to Jason on women’s baseball in Japan
Link to Jessica Luther on women’s baseball in Japan
Link to story about Ayami Sato
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