Effectively Wild Episode 2417: Just Passan Time
Effectively Wild Episode 2417: Just Passan Time  
Podcast: Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast
Published On: Mon Dec 22 2025
Description: Ben Lindbergh brings on ESPN senior MLB insider Jeff Passan to discuss the ins and outs of the newsbreaking business—how he reports and announces news, how newsbreaking in baseball differs from newsbreaking in other sports, conflicts of interest, the ills of social media, work-life balance, aging, his flirtation with switching to the basketball beat, and more—plus Jeff’s thoughts on ESPN’s relationship with MLB, the biggest surprises and questions of this hot stove season, and the outlook for a lockout. Then (1:06:55) Ben talks to The Athletic’s Sam Blum about what he learned from covering the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Tyler Skaggs against the Angels, which was settled just before the jury reached a verdict. Audio intro: Nate Emerson, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio interstitial: Grant Brisbee, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Kite Person, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to Jeff’s last EW appearance Link to Jeff’s newsbreaking origins Link to Jeff’s gravy tweet Link to aging research Link to article about aging Link to Woj comments Link to Schefter comments Link to Shams comments Link to Shams profile Link to Shams vs. Woj feature Link to Passan NBA report Link to exhibit 49 info Link to more exhibit 49 info Link to ESPN-MLB deal Link to ESPN-NFL deal Link to ESPN evolution Link to Jeff’s trade tweet Link to news about Jeff’s son Link to The LAT on the settlement Link to Sam on the settlement Link to Sam on Trout Link to MLB testing change  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Give a Gift Subscription  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com  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