Episode 1138: No Loopholes Here

## Summary

*Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Gabe Kapler’s prospects as Phillies manager, Aaron Judge’s hard hitting, various end-of-season awards results, MLB’s baseball-studying committee, and Shohei Ohtani’s value to AL and NL teams and the difficulty of gaming the CBA to sign him, then answer listener emails about an Ohtani sign-and-trade, homegrown value vs. free-agent value, intentional walks in the automatic-IBB era, the best games to time travel to, and an odd three-way trade.*

## Topics

* Signing and trading Shohei Ohtani
* Changing player peaks and value of homegrown or free-agent players
* Changes in intentional walk frequency
* Time traveling to a specific baseball game
* Reviewing a three-way and three-player trade

## Banter

* Jeff will be leaving soon for vacation (in Arizona) so he and Ben are pre-recording the episode.
* Predicting how Gabe Kapler will manage the Phillies and discussing his past managerial experiences
* Reviewing Aaron Judge's season and high average exit velocity
* End of season award voting
* MLB creation of a committee to study potential changes to the ball
* Would Shohei Ohtani be more valuable in the AL or NL?
* CBA considerations and potential loopholes for signing Ohtani

## Email Questions

* Jordan: "Are there any league rules that prevent a team from signing Ohtani only to then trade him for a huge prospect haul?"
* Dalston: "According to FanGraphs, only three of the top twenty position players by WAR in 2017 play for a team different than the one drafted by them. Is this unusual or typical?"
* Laine: "Intentional walks were up by 4% this year compared to 2016. Intentionally walking the #8 hitter increased by 19%, reaching the highest total since 2010. This was related to big spikes in second and fourth inning intentional walks when the number 8 hitter is likely to come up. Why?"
* (No name given): "Which game would you most like to go back in time to attend? Would it change greatly if you could record it and collect full Statcast data?"
* William: "I have recently found myself fascinated by the March 17th, 2000 three way trade between the Expos, Blue Jays, and Rangers featuring only first basemen? How many other times has a three way trade featured just three players at the same position?"

## Notes

* The only ways that teams could pay Shohei Ohtani are via a signing bonus (amount limited) and minor league contract, so every MLB team has the financial means to sign him. Anything else "of value" issued to Ohtani or related parties can be in violation of the CBA.
* Jeff thinks that having players reach their peak earlier is the reason for the top position players mostly being with the teams that drafted them.
* Laine's question is a follow up from something they asked in Episode 1041.
* Jeff says that he would want to go back in time to watch Randy Johnson hit a bird, or go back as long as possible to watch a baseball game.
* Ben would like to travel back in time to the Merkle's Boner game. "If I could go back and record it somehow and settle this question...Did Merkle actually make a boner? What was his boner? What did the boner look like?"

## Links

* Effectively Wild Episode 1138: No Loopholes Here
* Gabe Kapler's only season as a manager gave hints for how he will lead Phillies by Matt Gelb
* Let's Make One Thing Absolutely Clear About Aaron Judge by Jeff Sullivan