Back of the Bullpen Podcast

Barry Bonds’ grievance, how much extra defenders would change things, and memorable players of today.

Topics: Alex Rodriguez home run bonuses and the designated hitter. Also hella rambling.

In which Matt and Jason talk about the Royals Fight Wars and Josh Hamilton’s escape from the evil clutches of Arte Moreno.

I posted about this already, but now I actually have the mp3 and it’s a normal podcast, except for how I disappear for two minutes in the middle because of technical difficulties. Anyway, Matt and I talk about … uh. Well, I don’t remember. Baseball, probably.

Gambling Minor league unionization Oscar Taveras memorial patch

We talk about our ideal owners and the newest of the rash of devastating pitcher injuries.

We welcome our very first guest, Sam Miller, so that Sam and Jason can play the Baseball Prospectus Annual Drinking Game (albeit without drinking). Matt graciously plays host and arbiter. Who will win this epic showdown?

We talk Eric Hosmer’s new contract, the Royals, the AL Central, and Cole Hamels.

We preview the NL West and draft our favorite minor league free agents.

In which Matt and Jason talk about Kyle Lohse remaining unsigned, Robin Ventura’s decision to turn down an extension of his contract with the White Sox, why the Marlins haven’t yet traded Giancarlo Stanton, and whether the Yankees’ facial hair policy is silly, weird, bad, or what. We also answer about 20 Twitter questions of varying shapes and sizes but uniform levels of brilliance. There’s a weirdly large amount of labor law.

In which Matt and Jason mostly agree on Michael Bourn but have totally opposing views on the value of the World Baseball Classic and spring training. A cat goes missing.

In which Matt and Jason discuss Felix Hernandez’s massive contract extension, which teams are likely to be the worst in each league, and whether moving the Rays to New York would make any sense. Also discussed: how many Marlins relievers we’ve heard of before; R.J. Anderson’s shocking youth; how much Jesus Montero’s pitch-framing will cost Felix Hernandez; whether it’s even legal to trade a pitcher named “Bud” out of Houston. Not discussed: how mean it would be to take the Rays away from their fans. Advertisers involve a new Mazda and a cat book. What we did this week includes an aquarium and horse-racing. If you want to email the show you could send mail to Jason’s blog email address and he’ll forward it on for you. Leave comments, rate on iTunes, do all that fun stuff, if you’d like. Or just listen.

The subjects, they are in the header. We spend our second segment talking a lot about this article. Thanks for your tweets, all of which were answered and only one of which was mocked. Thanks to Matt’s wife for the intro. Good night and good luck.

In which Matt and Jason talk about Rafael Soriano’s new two-year (plus option) deal, the five-year extensions for Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter, and what the rule allowing managers to bring managers to the mound means for who/what else might be allowed to come to the mound in the future. Non-topics: cookies, waffles, racism, zombies, haircuts, hockey, human organs, ska, Joey Cat, and John Jaso’s beard.

In which Matt and Jason talk about the failed Justin Upton trade, Jonathan Singleton’s absurd 50-game suspension for marijuana, and, if the sabermetric community are like the Tea Party, who are the anarchists, fascists, and Whigs of baseball? Non-topics: Frederick Wiseman, The West Wing, washing dishes, DOING THIS, and the most unfortunately named Hall of Famer in history.