Effectively Wild Episode 2411: The Ozone Player

Hosts: Ben Lindbergh (The Ringer), Meg Rowley (FanGraphs)
Date: December 9, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode finds Ben and Meg discussing the notably slow start to the MLB Winter Meetings, the minor but amusing drama surrounding visit stats on FanGraphs player pages, the latest and weirdest health trend from Bryce Harper (“ozone therapy”), and a smattering of notable offseason news including trades and Jeff Kent’s induction to the Hall of Fame. The episode is filled with the hosts’ humor, skepticism, and characteristically thoughtful baseball analysis.

Main Themes & Discussion Points

1. Winter Meetings Vibes: Slow News Days and Industry Grumbling

• Setting: Meg is recording live from the Signia by Hilton in Orlando, not the usual Winter Meetings venue, which prompts minor protest from Marriott loyalists among baseball personnel.
• Weather Report & Disney Ambiance: Heavy Orlando rain and the Tower of Terror outside Meg’s window.
• No Major Moves… Yet: Other than the Jeff Kent Hall of Fame news, it’s a quiet event—prompting the hosts into joking about smaller transactions (e.g., Mike Soroka).

Tone: Playful, lightly snarky about the need for action.
Notable Quote:

• “You're not a drop ride guy?” – Meg to Ben on theme park rides. (04:11)

2. Scorekeeper Snafus: The Great Pitcher Draft Correction

• Background: Ben shares a correction from last episode regarding a 2015 “under-25 pitcher draft”—turns out, due to spreadsheet error, he actually beat Sam Miller, not the other way around.
• Chris Hannell, the Scorekeeper: The error stemmed from a warp (Wins Above Replacement Player) data misallocation, with Kendall Graveman’s stats being incorrectly credited to Carlos Martinez.
• Fan Involvement: Eagle-eyed listeners/patrons spotted the mix-up and got it fixed.

Notable Quotes:

• “It was a real rollercoaster to be reminded that this draft had taken place at all because I had not thought about it for many a year and to be informed that I had lost and then to subsequently be informed that in fact I had won.” – Ben (07:41)
• “How refined of you, really. As opposed to the last time when you behaved in a way that made me question whether you had been raised right.” – Meg teasing Ben about previously gloating (08:02)

3. FanGraphs Wrapped and the Brebia Dilemma

• FanGraphs Year in Review: Ben reviews his end-of-year stats as a FanGraphs user—his most-visited player pages being normcore choices (Judge, Ohtani) but also John Brebia, whom he visited 21 times, making him only the second-most prolific Brebia browser in 2025.
• Data Privacy Jokes: Meg quips they can't check whether it was Brebia or his agent for privacy reasons.
• Community Feature: Brief plug of FanGraphs' "Walk Off" feature and the Effectively Wild Secret Santa.

Notable Quotes:

• “If there is a bigger Brebia visitor out there, out yourself, tell me, show me the screenshots. I want to see the evidence of you as the number one Brebia man.” – Ben (11:14)
• “Isn't it fun, though, to think the likely answer... is either Brebia himself or, based on the vibe of the man... more likely his agent, because Brebia didn’t strike me as the kind of guy to dwell on his own player page, you know?” – Meg (11:43)

4. Low-Stakes Drama: Sonny Gray vs. Brian Cashman

• Background: Sonny Gray, recently traded to the Red Sox, publicly trashed his experience as a Yankee, saying he never wanted to be there and is now happy to “hate the Yankees.”
• Cashman’s Rebuttal: Yankees GM Brian Cashman aggressively refutes Gray’s account, claiming Gray once clamored to join the Yankees, later saying he lied about it per his agent’s advice.
• Agent Involvement: Gray’s agent Bo McInnes issues statements denying Cashman’s account in detail, highlighting the general “silliness” of this back-and-forth.
• Meta Analysis: Meg and Ben poke fun at the intensely parochial aspects of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, loving that narratives like this persist no matter how low the actual stakes.

Notable Quotes:

• “This is my favorite low stakes off season drama so far because this is all so silly and mostly meaningless. But it seems to be pretty important to the people involved.” – Ben (24:49)
• “[Sonny Gray]’s going to hear about this every time he pitches in the Bronx. Right. Like, every time. And if he has a bad start, it’s going to be loud and brutal and they will be very rude about it. And so I just think that it denotes a real confidence and is hilarious.” – Meg (31:02)

Timestamps:

• (17:01–33:46) Full segment on Gray v. Cashman, media training, and baseball rivalries

5. The Ozone Player: Bryce Harper’s “Wellness” Adventures

• Topic Title: Ozone Therapy—Snake Oil or Secret Weapon?
• Bryce’s Instagram Post: Harper shares a photo of himself having a third of his blood removed, “ozonated,” and replaced—a debunked “ozone therapy” procedure, administered by a chiropractor/naturopath.
• Host Reactions:
  • Deep skepticism and concern about athletes falling into wellness pseudoscience, with both empathy for the underlying pressures on aging athletes and alarm for the risks/or platform effects.
  • Discussion of broader issues: the tendency for alternative medicine to catch on even among the wealthy and resourced; the dangers when high-profile figures promote these practices.
• Light-hearted Moments: Meg compares the prevalence of Arizona med spas to their representation on John Oliver exposés; ribbing about the word “chiropractor.”
• Deeper Points:
  • Concerns about the Philly’s organization and other athletes being influenced, the challenges of aging in elite sports, and the risks of alternative medicine “communities.”

Notable Quotes:

• “I want all my blood inside.” – Meg (58:15)
• “This is dopey. I don’t think it’s doping. It’s not performance enhancing. You hope it’s not performance impairing.” – Ben on the procedure (47:22)
• “He is just. There are few people in the world more completely and profoundly backstopped by resource and expertise than this guy... and he is fallen prey to some real hooey.” – Meg (65:14)

Timestamps:

• (35:06–67:52) In-depth discussion of Bryce Harper’s “ozone therapy,” celebrity wellness culture, and baseball’s susceptibility to fads

6. Recent Trades and Prospect Blockage

• Overview:
  • Mariners/Nationals: Harry Ford (Mariners, blocked by Cal Raleigh at catcher) traded for Nationals reliever Jose Ferrer (under-the-radar but intriguing arm).
  • Pirates/Red Sox: Johan Oviedo (Pitcher, Pirates) goes to Boston for Jostenson “Password” Garcia, another prospect who’s blocked (this time in the OF).
• General Point: Both deals involve prospects “blocked” by established MLB talent, showing classic trade logic.
• Analysis:
  • Ford: Not the best prospect, but solid; Mariners needed a lefty bullpen arm.
  • Ferrer: Liked by both, potential for more via Mariners’ pitcher dev.
  • Password Garcia: High risk, high reward—Pirates taking the right kind of swings for their club.
  • Kiebert Ruiz’s stagnation as a Nats “solution” at catcher: disappointment.
• Steamer Projections: Red Sox now project as the #2 rotation in the AL by FanGraphs.

Notable Quotes:

• “I thought it made better sense for both sides than it initially seemed.” – Meg (73:01)

Timestamps:

• (67:52–78:43) Trades; blocked prospects; implications for teams

7. Jeff Kent, the Hall, and the Broken Process

• News: Jeff Kent elected to the Hall of Fame by the ERAs Committee (not BBWAA), the only inductee from his ballot.
• Host Perspectives:
  • Ben is indifferent, noting the overall lack of consistency in how the Hall and various committees (re-)evaluate candidacies; notes more deserving players (Bobby Grich, Lou Whitaker) not even up for consideration.
  • Meg: Finds Kent's election as a solo honoree “weird,” wonders about the overall purpose and fairness of the committee process, laments Fernando Valenzuela’s snub.
  • Larger issue: ever-shifting Hall rules, the purgatory of players with PED ties, and the oddity of a process that cycles candidates endlessly.
• Meta-Commentary: They muse about the impossibility of getting it “right” and wish it could be less drawn out, more decisive, and more transparent.

Notable Quotes:

• “I’ve just sort of soured on the whole process.” – Ben (92:21)
• “The Hall just seems so kind of brazen in the way that it is trying to tilt these committees away from someone like Bonds or Clemens ever really getting an honest and thorough... consideration.” – Meg (88:22)

Timestamps:

• (78:48–94:10) Hall of Fame musings and Jeff Kent's case

Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

• “If I were a player, I would be visiting my FanGraphs page pretty often.” – Ben (12:09)
• "Just a third of your blood." – The running joke about Harper’s ozone therapy (38:24)
• “There’s woo and then there’s woo. Some of the woo is you should be enthusiastic about Bryan Woo. You should not be enthusiastic about this woo.” – Meg (56:52)
• “This is my favorite low stakes offseason drama so far… all so silly and mostly meaningless, but it seems to be pretty important to the people involved.” – Ben on Gray vs. Cashman (24:49)

Important Timestamps

• 00:14–04:03: Winter meetings scene & vibes
• 04:13–08:25: Pitcher draft correction discussion
• 08:25–16:38: FanGraphs “wrapped,” Secret Santa plug, John Brebia anecdote
• 17:01–33:46: Sonny Gray vs. Cashman (Yankees-Red Sox rivalry)
• 35:06–67:52: Bryce Harper (ozone therapy), wellness culture, risk analysis
• 67:52–78:43: Trade round-up (Ford/Ferrer; Oviedo/Password Garcia)
• 78:48–94:10: Jeff Kent & Hall of Fame process musings

Takeaways for Listeners

• The Winter Meetings are off to a slow and soggy start, but the hosts keep things lively with analysis and banter.
• Behind every error in baseball stats analysis, there’s a devoted listener or wiki-keeper ready to set the record straight.
• Baseball fandom gets delightfully weird in the margins—like tracking who visits John Brebia’s page the most.
• Sonny Gray and Brian Cashman’s tiff exemplifies the enduring, sometimes hilarious, drama and petulance that keeps Yankees-Red Sox fresh.
• Bryce Harper is walking—or bleeding—down a concerning alternative medicine road, raising real questions about athlete wellness trends and influence.
• Trades often aren’t about who wins or loses instantly, but about organizations finding paths for blocked players, with matching needs.
• The Hall of Fame has never been more arbitrary or the subject of more resigned banter from even the most devoted baseball wonks.

Summary prepared for those seeking a rich, engaging overview with flavor, context, and key moments from Effectively Wild Episode 2411.