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Zach Crizer

@zcrizer.bsky.social

Baseball writer helping fans fan smarter. Read and subscribe to The Bandwagon: Bandwagon.ghost.io More of my work: https://linktr.ee/zach.crizer

891 Posts2224 Follower539 Folgt
Bill Connelly@espnbillc.bsky.social · 6h ago

So you've fallen in love with soccer. Now what? For the burgeoning American soccer fan, here's a guide, full of obvious (Haaland plays for City, always watch Barca) and less obvious steps (you'll love Trabzonspor and Bodø/Glimt), for loving European club football, too. www.espn.com/soccer/story...

Loved the World Cup? Here's your guide to European soccer, 2026-27

So, you're keen to extend your soccer love after a wonderful summer? Well let Bill Connelly count 10 things you need to know before the new European seasons kick off in mid-August.

espn.com

Jesse Dougherty@jessedougherty.bsky.social · yesterday

This is a great read from @zcrizer.bsky.social that is at least loosely connected to some of the ideas in the column below: bandwagon.ghost.io/hope-arbitra...

Hope arbitrage

The Tarik Skubal trade and the baseball business

bandwagon.ghost.io

Jesse Dougherty@jessedougherty.bsky.social · yesterday

Paul Toboni and co. deserve the chance to build a foundation without the burden of what happened before they arrived. And yet fans can — should? — be tired of rooting for a team that trades some of its best players every summer. Wrote about the deadline: www.notus.org/sports/natio...

Collin Whitchurch@cowhitchurch.bsky.social · 3d ago

My hot Dodgers take is that they're good for MLB. I don't root for them, but sports leagues are more entertaining when there's a supervillain everyone is trying to take down. They're not guaranteed to win the World Series, and the playoffs are infinitely more interesting than if every team was 89-73

Zach Crizer@zcrizer.bsky.social · 3d ago

1. I think a lot of teams could have / should have beat the Dodgers' offer for Tarik Skubal 2. It is nonetheless a huge haul for a rental player in this era, maybe the biggest a decade. 3. The CBA isn't stopping your team's front office from beating that offer. Your team's front office is.

Hannah Keyser@hannahrkeyser.bsky.social · 5d ago

I want to hear about WHY fans hate this so much. I **especially** want to hear from you if YOU YOURSELF bet on sports but still don't like your team/league/favorite athlete partnering with prediction markets and/or sports books. Hannah.keyser[at]cnn.com to talk

Hannah Keyser@hannahrkeyser.bsky.social · 6d ago

I’m fascinated by how universally negative the responses to this are (even on Twitter!). Betting on sports is booming and yet fans seem to hate the increased integration of gambling/prediction markets with their teams/leagues and I would love to understand this dichotomy

Zach Crizer@zcrizer.bsky.social · 5d ago

I heartily agree with @baumann.bsky.social, especially about the Brewers. blogs.fangraphs.com/the-rays-or-...

The Rays or Brewers Must Trade for Tarik Skubal

Every so often, you’ve got to make a serious run at a championship. An occasional deep run keeps existing fans invested and draws new ones in.

blogs.fangraphs.com

Zach Crizer@zcrizer.bsky.social · 6d ago

Some MLB teams make huge changes as a matter of course. Others stick to their model, no matter what. Personality and reality collide at the trade deadline. This week, I charted propensity for action vs. what reality dictates. It's the Move Matrix. bandwagon.ghost.io/the-move-mat...

Zach Crizer@zcrizer.bsky.social · last wk.

Sepia-toned kumbaya is just ... not a solution, strategy or even halfway to an interesting thought about baseball's labor negotiations? There's a huge business that has to be run. If it bothers you to watch owners and players decide on how to run it ... that's fine, just don't watch that part.