Up And In: The Baseball Prospectus Podcast

After breaking down the trade on a baseball level, we go to the source as we are joined by Jim Breen of Bernie's Crew, who broke the story of the Greike trade, about his wild weekend. Later, we are joined by all-around Dominican media guy Rafael Bello, who helps us respond to a listener email about traveling to the Dominican to watch baseball, and of course, we also talk about the mambo. From there, more goofy stuff with concept albums about yetis, holiday plans and a special announcement at the end.

Back from Orlando, it's time to wrap up the winter meetings as after going through some widely varying email, Jason and I spend more than half an hour dissecting the utter insanity that was a Monday night that ended with Cliff Lee's shocking signing with the Phillies. From flight trackers to mystery teams to where the Yankees and Rangers go from here, we cover every angle. After a quick diversion into prospects, and a debate on if a tiny second baseman can get to the big leagues, Amanda Rykoff of espnW joins us to talk about her first winter meetings experience, as well as her involvement with the lastest venture from those folks in Bristol. Then it's the usual wackiness, same tales from our trip and the best closing song in the history of the podcast, as The Bismark delivers their tribute to the words of Curt Flood.

Kevin and Jason bring a mini-podcast with a post-midnight recap of their first day of the winter meetings from Orlando, Florida. Details include all the news from over the weekend (not much happened today), all the chatter in the lobby, tales from Jason's hotel and some, but not all of the usual goofiness.

It's a very special episode (but aren't they all?) as we preview the upcoming winter meetings. After making our own predictions for some of the most interesting free agency cases, Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated and MLB Network joins us to discuss all the latest rumors, as well as how Twitter has affected his job as well as the life of a rumor guy. From there, we talk to Robert Ford, host of the pre- and post-games shows on the Royals flagship about the winter meetings where he got his entry into broadcasting. From there, things get goofy as we discuss the documentary Cropsey, as well as our own urban legends.

It's a special Thanksgiving episode as Jason and I take plenty of listener email and then talk about award voting and the intrigue of the Derek Jeter negotiations with the Yankees. Then we get prospect heavy with a discussion of the recently released Royals and Nationals Top 11s and a side argument on Strasburg vs. Harper. Then we stay Royals-heavy with special guest Rany Jazayerli on the future of the team and the rumors surrounding a potential Zack Greinke deal. Then, what's a holiday without family, so my mother makes a special return to discuss Thanksgiving while doling out advice on how to cook turkey to go with an extended discussion on Jason's social calendar. Then it's the usual with what we are drinking, more cooking, and Jason's mental state. Happy holidays everyone.

Why just rage about the Rookie of the Year vote when you can go to the source? In this episode, Dejan Kovacevic, who submitted a National League ballot sans Jason Heyward, joins us to discuss his ballot, his way of seeing things, and accusations of homer-ism. Then, we continue our tour of the off-season leagues with Marcos Grunfeld in Caracas, who talks about the league there and how major league baseball is followed in Venezuela. When just myself and a very ill Jason are talking, we ready plenty of your email, talk about some recent trades, trade rumors and trade reactions, and finish up with an in-depth discussion of Sumo, my new second favorite sport.

Not much going on in the baseball world, but that doesn't mean we can't talk for two hours anyway. In this episode, we delve deeper into our mailbag for talking points before discussing the American League Gold Glove awards (and the reaction) and the recently posted Top 11 Prospects lists for the Pirates and Mariners. Then minor league veteran Scot Drucker becomes the first professional baseball player to guest on the podcast, joining us from Santo Domingo to discuss playing winter ball and being a minor league free agent. Yet another new Not Manager makes his debut with Not Clint Hurdle, we make a couple of book recommendations, and then we say goodbye for the week.

The World Series ends, yet the podcast just keeps on chugging along. In this episode, Jason and I discuss the World Series, and more importantly, talk about the potential futures of the two participants, with a special eye on what the next few years might hold for Josh Hamilton. Then we talk about baseball that's still being played, with an eye towards the Arizona Fall League and in-depth discussions of six of our favorite (for one reason or another) players there. After a two week hiatus, our Not manager returns as Not Ron Washington talks about the World Series and then in the first time in podcast history, our musical guest actually joins the podcast with a special appearance by Rob Warmowski of The Defoliants, who amongst things, now blogs about baseball over at Can't Stop The Bleeding. Then it's the usual end-game stuff with what we're drinking and an update on our mental states. As always, we hope you enjoy.

You want a World Series preview? You got it. After going through our email and getting into a serious, heavy discussion on Josh Hamilton and how we choose our heroes, Jason and I break down the Rangers/Giants matchup by position while making our series picks and MVP predictions. Then Jon Morosi, national writer with Fox Sports joins us for his take while also making his own predictions and getting into a fascination talk about the future of the beat writer. Following that, it's the best eight minutes in the history of the podcast, as my mother joins us to make her picks and talk about cookies and tornadoes. Irony of all ironies? My mother is her basement as opposed to vice versa. Then it's the usual wackiness with Roy Blakely of kotowari.org joining us to talk Fallout: New Vegas, so cooking talk, and Jason's new cat.

Here's what happened. As we warned you, this episode would be a couple of days late, and with a big World Series Preview coming in just four days, we decided to go light, with a guest free episode that would just feature some playoff talk and a quick film discussion. Of course, it ended up being two hours anyway, as we get in-depth on the playoffs, share some tales from New York and get into an intense argument about Elvis Andrus' ability to become a media star. Lesson learned: With Jason and I, nothing is quick.

It's playoff time, so Jason and I discuss when going with your ace on three days rest is a good thing, Saturday night's pitching match-up, and a change in the way we watch baseball. Then special guest Rob Neyer of ESPN stops by to chime on the playoffs with some interesting tangents here and there on how teams have gotten smarter. For Pop Culture Moment, writer Joel Stein (Time Magazine) comes on to talk about the book he's working on and how part of the research involved getting a baseball lesson from former All-Star Shawn Green. Then it's the usual goofiness as Jason pilfers a beverage.

It's our special Post-Season Podcast. After last week's nearly three-hour rock opera, we got down to a more reasonable length despite a podcast record six guests. Following a brief dissertation on the would of baseball broadcasting, a slew of fine folks from the Baseball Prospectus family join us to preview each of the four first-round playoff series, and then Jason and I make our own picks for winner and players to watch out for. After well over an hour of hardcore baseball talks, the funny begins as actor/comedian/write Ike Barinholtz (you might know him best from Mad TV) joins us for Pop Culture Moment to talk about, well a lot of things, from growing up a Cubs fan to the new hipster trend of retro NBA jerseys. It's damn funny stuff. Then the usual goofiness continues with what are you drinking and an 'almost' story from Jason's wedding that can not be missed.

We just got away from ourselves and the next thing you know, it's almost three hours long. That said, it's a baseball-heavy episode as we talk about the race for the final playoff spots, pick our 2011 breakout prospects, and then argue with an emotional Jonah Keri (listen for him banging on his desk) about the future of baseball in Tampa and David Price's twitter habits. As if that's not enough, our special guest is Mark Newman, Senior VP of Baseball Operations for the New York Yankees. Mark goes into detail about several Yankee prospects, tells a joke about Boing! And even breaks out a few George Steinbrenner stories in what is a must-listen interview. From there, the wackiness finally begins as Jason and I have a long discussion about the art work of Henry Darger, cook several recipes sent in by listeners, and even find the time to debate Benny Agbayani's hat size.

C. Trent Rosencrans of CBS Sports joins us to discuss the 2010 Cincinnati Reds, Jay Jaffe joins us to talk about the 40th anniversary of Ball Four, and when we are guest-free, we talk about potential managerial changes, prospect disappointments, along with plenty of tangents revolving around El Topo, teenage Rangers shortstops, Conner Crumbliss and the sounds vehicles make .

In this weeks episode, Jason and I talk about why nobody should care about players buying Halo Reach at midnight, how the Mariners have hurt King Felix' Cy Young chances, while also starting our minor league wrap-up with our selection of this year's breakout prospects. Our special guest this week is Jorge Arangure of ESPN who joins us to talk about the book his writing about Latin American baseball as well as what is wrong (and what might not be so wrong) with the signing processes of various countries. It's a fascinating discussion that we're sure you'll enjoy. Of course at the end, all the usual wackiness you expect with Not Jim Tracy, What Are You Drinking and lots of food talk. As always, we hope you enjoy.