Effectively Wild Episode 2436: Season Preview Series: Astros and Diamondbacks

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about MLB player chatbots, an Addison Barger giveaway, Tarik Skubal’s big arbitration win, the Tigers signing Framber Valdez, and a rough week for sports media, then (36:29) begin the 14th annual EW season preview series by discussing the 2026 Houston Astros with The Athletic’s Chandler Rome, and the 2026 Arizona Diamondbacks (1:25:35) with The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro, followed (1:54:53) by a postscript. 2026 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG .intro-team, .intro-team td { font-family: lato, Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 20px; } .intro-team .intro-header { /*display: none;*/ text-align: center; } .team-lg { text-align: center; width: 100%; } /* [class^="team-box-"] > div { display: inline-block; width: 48%; } [class^="team-box-"] > div table { width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; } [class^="team-box-"] > div td { background-color: #efefef; border: 1px solid #ccc; line-height: 2; text-align: center; cursor: default; } [class^="team-box-"] > div a { color: #000; text-decoration: none; display: block; width: 100% } [class^="team-box-"] > div a:hover { color: #50ae26; } [class^="team-box-"] > div a.link-inactive { color: #aaa; } */ Audio intro: Alex Ferrin, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio interstitial 1: Austin Klewan, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio interstitial 2: Sean .P, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Tom Rhoads, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to chatbots story Link to Barger story Link to season preview series wiki Link to Passan on Skubal Link to Baumann on Skubal Link to Dan S. on Framber Link to Rosenthal on the Pirates Link to Rosenthal on the Tigers Link to Chandler on the cross-up Link to team SP projections Link to NPR on WaPo Link to NYT on WaPo sports Link to The Ringer on WaPo sports Link to The New Yorker on WaPo Link to The Atlantic on WaPo Link to Silver on WaPo Link to MLB.com layoffs Link to Grant post Link to team payrolls Link to Astros offseason tracker Link to Astros depth chart Link to BP IL Ledger Link to Dan S. on team injuries Link to Chandler on Correa Link to Chandler on Imai Link to Chandler on the infield Link to Chandler on Espada/Brown Link to Trueblood on Peña Link to Chandler’s author archive Link to Crush City Territory Link to Diamondbacks offseason tracker Link to Diamondbacks depth chart Link to team RP WAR Link to team RP WPA Link to ballpark funding deal info Link to more funding deal info Link to funding deal opinion piece Link to renovations preview Link to Nick on the Alexander trade Link to FG post on Santana Link to Nick’s author archive Link to Boehly/Epstein article Link to ESPN’s Clase report Link to Ben on Clase Link to EW episode on Clase Link to SABR awards voting Link to Wood/Lolich IP leaderboard Link to Lolich obit  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Give a Gift Subscription  Email Us: [email protected]  Effectively Wild Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  Apple Podcasts Feed   Spotify Feed  YouTube Playlist  Facebook Group  Bluesky Account  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch! var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source