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Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Effectively Wild Episode 2425: The Manfred Mantra

Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley

Baseball, Sports

4.82.6K Ratings

🗓️ 10 January 2026

⏱️ 96 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

EWFI
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a breakup of baseball lookalikes, minor league free agent draft eligibility, and more players who unretired after becoming coaches, then break down the latest baseball broadcasting developments, Rob Manfred’s recent comments (about his priorities and future, an offseason signing deadline, and regular-season structure), Tarik Skubal’s historic arbitration case, and, inspired by sensational hockey streaming series Heated Rivalry (which they discuss without spoilers), when an active MLB player might publicly come out.

Audio intro: Benny and a Million Shetland Ponies, “Effectively Wild Theme (Horny)
Audio outro: Beatwriter, “Effectively Wild Theme

Link to MLBTR on Fitzgerald
Link to Sojo article
Link to Campbell hiring
Link to TV network news
Link to MLBTR on TV networks
Link to TV network news 2
Link to Entertainment Strategy Guy
Link to streaming revenue info
Link to more on streaming revenue
Link to Manfred on a signing deadline
Link to Rooker tweet
Link to Harper sales article 1
Link to Harper sales article 2
Link to Manfred’s tournament comments
Link to MLBTR on Skubal
Link to The Athletic on Skubal
Link to Passan on Skubal
Link to Ben on arbitration
Link to MLBTR on Kepler
Link to Heated Rivalry
Link to hockey culture article
Link to Outsports article
Link to Take Me Out wiki
Link to EW Episode 1776
Link to Unwritten Rules
Link to Manfred’s diversity comments
Link to Venezuela article

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Source

Transcript

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0:00.0

Well, it's moments like these that make you ask, how can you not be horny about baseball?

0:07.0

Every take hot and hotter, entwining and a budding, watch him climb a mountain, nothing's about nothing, every stitch wet,

0:16.0

with sweat, breaking balls back, dormy on effectively, but can you not be horny?

0:24.3

When it comes to podcasts, how can you not be horny?

0:29.9

Hello and welcome to episode 24-25 of Effectively Wild

0:36.1

Baseball podcast from FanGraphs presented by our Patreon supporters.

0:40.4

I'm Ben Lindberghubb the Ringer, joined by Meg Raleigh of Fangraphs. Hello, Meg.

0:44.0

Hello.

0:44.9

Bit of old business to follow up on here.

0:48.1

First, we have a move involving Ryan Fitzgerald, who, as we recently learned, is a doppelganger, a look-alike for James Outman.

0:57.3

And now they have been separated.

0:59.8

So we just, we learned about this on our stories we missed for the American League, one of our last episodes last year.

1:07.6

Actually, our very last episode last year.

1:10.0

And the story for the twins was that Ryan Fitzgerald

1:13.0

and James Outman looked a lot alike, at least facially. And now they have been separated.

1:20.5

They were buddies. They were confused by people. People mistook one for the other. Now the Dodgers

1:27.2

have claimed Ryan Fitzgerald.

1:30.0

And so I guess they have a type, James Outman, former Dodger.

1:34.3

Maybe they thought they were getting James Outman back.

1:36.7

But no, they have claimed Ryan Fitzgerald.

1:39.2

And they actually set this chain of events in motion,

1:42.2

this sort of Rube Goldberg sequence of transactions and

...

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