Wait how in the pluperfect hell am I *younger* than Jeff Passan

With his appearance in today's @ewpod.bsky.social episode (2417), @samblum3.bsky.social becomes the 64th member of the Effectively Wild Five Timers Club! Congrats!

Scores updated on ewstats.com! Meg: 139 Ben: 48

MEG FROM THE TOP ROPE Munetaka Murakami (Under $180m) signs for $34m with the White Sox Meg earns *156* points

Ben earns 15 points!

Tyler Rogers signs for $37m, Meg had the Over at 18. 29 points!

Pete Alonso signs with the Orioles for $155 mlilion. Meg loses 45 points.

Meg had the Over on Diaz at 82 million, and loses 13 points.

Meg had the Under on Schwarber at 135, and loses 15 points.

Well, Meg *does* have the under on this one...

Can't imagine how this ranking came together @fangraphs.com @ewpod.bsky.social

Last night we discovered a terrible error on my part which is horrifying, but I have to admit, very funny. Sam didn't win the U-25 Draft. Ben did. I will now explain what happened.

It's a Sam episode and I GOT TO BE THERE FOR IT. This is my chuffed face

Well *I* just got to do a pretty neat thing.

It looks like Devin Williams' agreement with the Mets is worth $51 million in guaranteed money, so Meg picks up 27 points.

Awaiting the actual amount, but looks like @megrowler.fangraphs.com just earned some points...

Ben had the under at 189, and will lose 21 points!

The timing of this post is amazing

ewstats.com has been updated the PPG results, and if you go to your personal ballot, you can now see directly how your predictions compared with the final averages!

At the risk of sending @benlindbergh.bsky.social into a fugue state, something I realized about the MLFAD: 1. Jeff's 2019 ballot finished with 44 more PA/TBF. 2. The 2019 MLFAD was the only edition with 11 rounds. 3. Jeff's 11th pick earned 69 points. Do with this info as you wish.

As promised during the results episode, here are the expected number of predictions to come true, based on if listener voting was accurate (along with the actual count): 2023: 15.19 (11) 2024: 15.1 (10) 2025: 13.63 (8)

It's been brought up a few times and it might have *some* effect, though last year Clemens called it a "skill issue" \s We might make a change, but as I mentioned on the show, the fact that we get a satisfying range of percentages in relation to each other is the more important part.

Reflecting on today's pod: I want to (again) thank @benlindbergh.bsky.social and @megrowler.fangraphs.com for letting me (and the EWStats team) play in their sandbox. I love this podcast and its community, and being trusted to steer the ship every so often is a privilege that will never get old.

listening to @chrishanel.com shout how the rockies are not the last "not normal" team when the angels exist already delivering returns

The new rule for next year: 1. Each player picks 1 prediction from each opponent (3 picks each, 12 total) to take the 'opposite' action, earning points if those predictions are false (and losing points if true) 2. Multiple players taking the same pick split the pot

The EWStats team puts a level of care and expertise into tracking our drafts and other absurdities that we candidly do not deserve. Our nerd shit is made better by their efforts!

THE RESULTS EPISODE IS OUT blogs.fangraphs.com/effectively-...

Remember at the start of the season when I had listeners submit their own BOLD predictions to be graded? Some of you ended up looking really smart! Let's give credit where credit is due...

PPG results show is in the can and I have very little voice left Coincidence? You decide

The Contract Over/Under Draft Tracker is now live on the website! ewstats.com/competitions...

With the news about Grisham and Torres both taking the QO, @benlindbergh.bsky.social collects one correct prediction and one push, getting on the board with 53.975 points.

I think we might have our first points in the Contract Over/Under Draft

Feeling personally attacked that this news only comes out *now*

Congratulations to Benjamin Hammler for winning the listener portion of the 2025 Preseason Predictions Game! Your final leaderboard:

With the conclusion of the MVP awards announcement, the 2025 Preseason Predictions Game is now CONCLUDED! All remaining outstanding predictions are hereby FALSE. Watch this space for the final listener scores, and tune in to the results episode next week!

Ben and Meg have made their picks in the Contract Over/Under Draft! Biggest burning question: Is Ben going to get burned by a Kyle Tucker mega-deferral contract? (And if not, would it really be a Contract Over/Under Draft?)

Your updated listener leaderboard with 3 predictions and ~7 hours remaining:

Will hopefully post one last listener leaderboard update later today before the big finish tonight with the announcement of the MVP awards. In the meantime, If you see something*, say something* (*sabrina carpenter rumors)

A delayed but important update: The <94% sac fly success rate prediction is confirmed FALSE. According to Baseball Savant: 97.5% According to data provided by @euqubud.baseballprospectus.com: 96.4% Why are they different? Tune into the results pod next week to find out!

For those keeping track, @baumann.bsky.social has about ~20 hours to steal a mascot's costume + motorized conveyance and use them in a violent ploy to convince a baseball player to immediately go on a date with Sabrina Carpenter or the 2nd collision won't be as friendly

With the Cy Young Award going to Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes, @baumann.bsky.social's prediction requiring a sub-5.0 fWAR winner is declared FALSE.

With the announcement of the AL Rookie of the Year, we can confirm only two Red Sox players earned votes, thus making @baumann.bsky.social's prediction FALSE. bbwaa.com/25-al-roy/

cc: @baumann.bsky.social sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-...

On the Rookie of the Year front, Roman Anthony has been named as a finalist, but we won't know if three Red Sox players earned votes until the award is announced later this month.

Due to his omission from the list of finalists, @megrowler.fangraphs.com's prediction that Ketel Marte will be the NL MVP is declared FALSE.

With the announcement that Hunter Brown is one of the finalists for the AL Cy Young Award, @baumann.bsky.social's prediction that a Cy Young Award winner will have less than 5.0 fWAR is STILL ALIVE.

Hockey season in full swing leads to me seeing a lot of mentions of "PPG" and for a split second thinking 'WOW, so much interest in the Preseason Predictions Game'

We have our deadline for the Preseason Predictions Game: The MVP Awards will be announced on November 13th. www.mlb.com/news/when-ar...

The EWStats team have had some time to kill during the postseason, so a few of us ended up creating this: The MLB All-'Star Wars Name' Team for 2025