More than 2,000 episodes retrospectively filed, and at each new one we still collectively smile,

that's effectively wild.

That's effectively wild.

Hello and welcome to episode 2253 of Effectively Wild, a baseball podcast from Fancrafts presented by our Patreon supporters.

I am Ben Lindberg of the Ringer, joined by Meg Rally of Fancrafts.

Hello, Meg.

Hello.

So we started our last episode by talking about the fact that spending seemed to be up, that the market was robust, that people were paying a pretty penny for pitchers.

I hope my pop filter was working on that sentence.

But we should have waited an episode because now we have the best evidence yet, conveniently for us, a signing announced just before we started recording for once.

The A's, the Sacramento A's, who wished not to be known that way, have signed Luis Severino to a three-year, $67 million deal.

Ten of those millions are in the form of a signing bonus.

He got a qualifying offer, so he'll cost the A's a draft pick.

There is an opt-out after the second year of the contract.

I guess just in case Severino really wants to play in Sacramento but doesn't

under any circumstances want to play in Las Vegas if the A's actually end up there.

I was going to say, that's so optimistic of you that they'll have a working open ballpark in

Las Vegas by then.

$67 million. Now, this is a blow to my free agent contracts over underdraft fortunes.

Because I took the under on MLB trade rumors prediction of, I think, 51 million for Severino.

So now I'm almost as deep in the hole as you are from the Blake Snell under that you took.

So basically, we should have just taken more overs, seemingly, based on the early returns

...