Bat Flips And Nerds

Tom is joined by Darius and Ben to talk all about the Tatis extension, the Kevin Mather debacle, their MVP/Cy Young bets (Not who they think will win), Brett Gardner and the misery that is the Colorado Rockies. Stick with the pod to the end for a special (late) guest.

John leads Darius, Russell and Tom on a quick canter through the off-season. Covering all things surrounding the mess of the Mets, the Rockies and on a more positive note, the Padres, Dodgers and who might surprise us this season. Do we finally have a division to take the crown off the "AL Central is Sh*t"? Spoiler alert, we do.

John ends the podcast with a rather humiliating game for Tom and a worrying show of knowledge for Russell and Darius. Maybe Lockdown has hit them harder than we thought...

Jarrett Seidler and Jeffrey Paternostro of Baseball Prospectus are back to break down BP's Top 101 prospects. Topics include:
-How the list comes together
-Balancing stats and scouting
-Their biggest disagreements
-Mackenzie Gore, Spencer Torkelson, Alex Kirilloff, Jose Garcia, Noelvi Marte, Triston Casas and many, many, more!
Top 101 link: https://www.baseballprospectus.com/prospects/article/64061/2021-prospects-the-top-101/

The whole gang - except Tom - convene to pick out their favourite moments from 2020, before discussing what they're most looking forward to in 2021. It's not just about Outlander, honest.

Former Rangers, Cubs and Yakult Swallows pitcher Tony Barnette joins John for a wide ranging chat covering his career in pro baseball including the process to signing in Japan, transitioning to the bullpen, playing with Darvish, Hamels, Fielder and Beltre and his own special role in Rougie Odor and Jose Bautista's infamous face off.

Baseball Prospectus's prospect team Jeffrey Paternostro and Jarrett Seidler join John to discuss the most fundamental redrawing of the baseball map in a generation, including:

- the motivations behind Minor League contraction
- the fate of those clubs and cities left without an affiliated club
- whether MLB is squeezing out all other forms of organised baseball
- aligning Indy Ball to the MLB
- what may be yet to come

In the second part of our LIDOM odyssey, John and Rachel are joined by Dominican baseball journalist Arlenis Peña and former Royals pitcher turned Toros del Este social media guru Antonio Puesán. The pair talk our two through baseball culture in the DR, the struggles of young players to adapt to life in the States and give some tips on the players to watch in LIDOM - both rising stars and local legends.

One half of the awesome Cespedes Family BBQ, and host of The Ringer's Baseball BBQ, Jake Mintz joins John and Rachel to provide an intro into the Dominican Winter League, LIDOM.

Jake details his two month stay in the Dominican for their 2019/20 season, explains which team you should root for and drops the mic when it comes to his favourite LIDOM moment. Do not miss this one.

Jake and his partner in crime Jordan Schusterman have pulled together a LIDOM preview PDF to raise money for Dominican charities. Jake explains how to get it in the show, but you can also find details right here: https://twitter.com/CespedesBBQ/status/1327445604998537216

John and Rachel discuss the impact of Kim Ng's elevation to GM of the Miami Marlins with two of British baseball's own female trailblazers - Kelly Wright, the General Manager of the Sheffield Bruins and Doris Hocking, the brains behind the brand new GB Women's national team.

They talk about the importance of female role models in baseball, its openness to cross gender boundaries and name their own women's baseball heroes as well as discussing the sport's growing cadre of female players here in the UK.

If you want to know more about their work head to Women's Baseball UK: https://www.wbuk.co.uk/ and the Sheffield Bruins website: https://www.sheffieldbruinsbaseball.com/

It's a bumper offseason pod as John, Rachel, Rob, Russell and Darius recap the Dodgers' World Series victory and Justin Turner's COVID protocol violations, before turning to the latest managerial hires, Steve Cohen's rapid action at the Mets, and a look ahead to free agency.