

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Cubs signing Craig Kimbrel, ruminating about how he’ll help Chicago, why other teams may have held off, and why it took so long for his prolonged free agency to come to a close. Then (18:06) they bring on FanGraphs prospect experts Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen to analyze the amateur draft and modern development, touching on player picks and team approaches they liked or disliked, how their mock drafts held up, pitchers vs. position players, trends in the types of players selected, whether there’s more consensus among clubs about amateur prospects than there used to be, how data is changing the draft and development, whether technology is inclusive or exclusive, college pitch counts, 2018 draftees who’ve improved the most, whether prospects will be promoted more quickly than before, changing the time and location of the draft, the outlook for the 2020 amateur draft, the ETA for (and problems with) an international draft, and more (plus a Dallas Keuchel addendum).

Audio intro: Jim James, "Better Late Than Never"

Audio interstitial: Sparks, "Reinforcements"

Audio outro: Super Furry Animals, "The Gift That Keeps Giving"

Link to Rosenthal on the Cubs signing Kimbrel

Link to Rosenthal on other teams not signing Kimbrel

Link to Craig Edwards on the Kimbrel signing

Link to Craig’s draft-pick valuations

Link to Kiley and Eric’s first-round review

Link to Kiley and Eric’s draft odds and ends

Link to part one of Rany’s research on high-school hitters

Link to part two of Rany’s research on high-school hitters

Link to Kiley on hitter development in college

Link to Ben on pitcher development in college

Link to Gerald on 2019 college pitcher usage

Link to Eno on draft trends

Link to Kiley and Eric’s podcast on the international draft

Link to Trout and Ohtani as the new Bash Brothers

Link to order The MVP Machine

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