The Baseball Brainpower Bonanza (Eno Sarris, Jay Jaffe, and Rob Arthur)

This special edition of the SIS Baseball Podcast features a conversation with 3 of the smartest minds in baseball writing today. Eno Sarris (@enosarris) of The Athletic explained how current players are learning how defensive metrics work (0:56). Rob Arthur (@No_Little_Plans) shared the details of an article he wrote for Baseball Prospectus on how teams are valuing defense (5:18). Jay Jaffe (@jay_jaffe) of the Athletic and Eno then looked at which teams are valuing defense most and least (8:30). The panel weighed in on how defense is taken into consideration for Hall of Fame voting and discussed specific candidacies as relates to defense (Scott Rolen, Yadier Molina, Brian McCann, Chase Utley, even back to Bill Freehan) (16:09). The show ended with each member of the panel picking a player whose defensive skills they wish they had (25:09). Give the podcast a try – it’s a chance to hear some well-informed baseball talk coming from a different angle.