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It’s AFL Grand Final weekend in Melbourne, Spoon has adopted Fremantle for the day, and before we get to baseball the boys talk Grand Final weekends, public holidays, expensive travel and why Australia does the big game a little differently.

Eventually we get to MLB, starting with the very strange Justin Turner-Masyn Winn beef before taking a proper look at the final weekend of the regular season. The AL Central and West are still up for grabs, Arizona is somehow still hanging around in the NL picture, and there are plenty of permutations left before the postseason bracket is finally locked in.

We also check in on the final stages of Destiny Draft, discuss Gabby Moreno’s batting title chase and, naturally, his decision to pose in nature (????) in full catcher’s gear.

Then Spoon gives us his best bets for the weekend, including a couple of strikeout plays and a Diamondbacks angle he likes against San Diego.

Enjoy the Grand Final, enjoy the final weekend of the regular season, and we’ll be back Monday to get stuck into the postseason.

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Rolsey and Eric take a proper deep dive into the WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup in Mexico, looking at all 12 teams before the tournament gets underway.

The boys break down both groups, the nations and players to watch, why pitching depth becomes so important in this format, and the different pathways countries use to build teams at this age level. We also spend plenty of time on Australia, their returning international experience, and what they’ll need to do in a seriously tough Group B.

There are traditional powers like Japan, the USA and Chinese Taipei, but plenty of intriguing challengers too, including Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.

And part of the fun of a U15 World Cup is having absolutely no idea which of these names we’ll be talking about again in five or ten years.

Eric will be on the ground in Cancún covering and calling the tournament, and we’ll have full tournament coverage throughout the World Cup on the Baseball Expats Instagram.

For schedules, results, rosters and tournament information, head to the official WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup event page.

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Follow along: Destiny Draft leaderboard | Spoon’s MLB Picks | Aussie Pro Tracker | Instagram

It all comes down to this. Destiny Draft Round 9, the finale.

Can anybody knock off Eric? The Canary returns after his brilliant showing back in Round 2 to have one last crack at winning it for the listener spot.

And in true Baseball Expats fashion, we’re ripping packs across the world. Eric joins from Guelph, Spoon is in Turkey.

One last rip. One last draft. Let’s see who takes it home.

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Spoon joins us from Bergamo, which naturally gets the boys talking about one of the great Baseball Expats questions: where in the world is actually the best place to follow Major League Baseball? We then compare the time zones that make being a baseball sicko either surprisingly easy or a genuine lifestyle choice.

We then check in on Destiny Draft as the standings tighten, take the temperature of Spoon’s futures, and look at a few of the young arms that have given us plenty to think about this season.

From there, Rolsey brings some baseball trivia to the table, including a very specific Triple Crown rabbit hole, before we get properly nerdy with perfect games, no-hitters and immaculate innings and discover just how rare some of baseball’s supposedly familiar feats actually are.

Then Spoon closes us out from Italy with his best bets for the midweek slate.

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Follow along: Destiny Draft leaderboard | Spoon’s MLB Picks | Aussie Pro Tracker | Instagram

It’s Weekend Pickoff time, and Spoon is getting ready for a very important European assignment: meeting Sophia’s family.

Naturally, that turns into a full strategy session from Rolsey and Eric about how to survive the meet-the-parents trip, why siblings might be the real key, and how a well-timed bit of obscure sports knowledge can carry you a surprisingly long way.

Eventually, we do talk baseball.

The boys run through the weekend stories that matter, including the Yankees, Padres, Diamondbacks, Astros, Braves, Phillies, Blue Jays, Cardinals, and the very weird Manager of the Year conversations starting to take shape in both leagues.

Then Spoon closes us out with his best bets for the weekend, including a strikeout angle he likes and a few plays to watch before the market catches up.

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Follow along: Destiny Draft leaderboard | Spoon’s MLB Picks | Aussie Pro Tracker | Instagram

September is here, which apparently means spring in Australia, panic in baseball, and fantasy football drafts determined by whatever nonsense we could build out of MLB results.

The boys start with a bit of September baseball chat, before diving into Destiny Draft-adjacent fantasy football, obscure broadcast stats, and a few listener questions that send us on a tangent or two.

Then we get into the Jazz Chisholm stolen base drama from Yankees–Red Sox, the broadcaster reaction, the unwritten rules conversation, and why maybe, just maybe, baseball is more fun when elite athletes are allowed to keep playing hard.

From there we look at the minor league playoff structure, why split seasons actually matter, and what a future MLB lockout could mean for call-ups, prospects, winter ball, and the wider player development machine.

We also check in on the MVP races, possible triple-crown , Houston’s big names, and whether the Cubs’ August power surge has turned them into a real World Series threat or just the scariest boom-or-bust team in the sport.

Then we finish with the playoff picture, some very weird standings, and Spoon’s best bets for the midweek slate in Colorado and Anaheim.

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Follow along: Destiny Draft leaderboard | Spoon’s MLB Picks | Aussie Pro Tracker | Instagram

Destiny Draft Round 8 is here.

The boys recap Round 7, where everything is getting very tight, hear from a cheeky Tom after his listener-pick run, then get stuck into the next draft.

This week’s guest picker is Alex, and with the leaderboard closing up, every pick is starting to feel a little bit dangerous.

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Follow along: Destiny Draft leaderboard | Spoon’s MLB Picks | Aussie Pro Tracker | Instagram

The boys are all back, with Rolsey joining from Taiwan, where the Women’s Baseball World Cup group stage is still being haunted by rain.

Naturally, this leads to Eric confusing Waterworld and Free Willy, because of course it does.

Once the weather and movie knowledge are dealt with, the guys get into the National League Wild Card race, how hot the Phillies are right now, and what kind of win total might actually be needed to grab a spot. Who’s safe, who’s hanging around, and who needs a proper run?

We also check in on Destiny Draft, where Tom is putting together a very tidy effort in the listener spot, then bounce through a few other MLB news and notes.

Eric gives us a quick hit of international baseball news before Spoon closes us out with his best picks for early in the week.

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Rain is doing its best to take over in Tainan, but there’s still plenty to talk about before the next stage of the Women’s Baseball World Cup gets underway.

Rolsey is on the ground in Taiwan and is joined by Amy McCann, former Australian player and one of the sharpest voices in the international women’s game, to preview a stacked group featuring Japan, Venezuela, Chinese Taipei, Cuba, Great Britain, and the Philippines.

The top three teams move on, and with weather already threatening to force doubleheaders, tripleheaders, and some very awkward pitching decisions, every game suddenly feels massive.

Amy and Rolsey break down the big questions across the group: Japan’s new-look roster, Venezuela’s chance to announce itself as a genuine contender, Cuba’s youth movement, Chinese Taipei’s pressure on home soil, Great Britain’s first World Cup test, and the Philippines’ long-awaited return to this stage.

It’s a proper tournament preview, with a bit of rain chaos thrown in for good measure.

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Rolsey is away on his way to Taiwan for the Women’s Baseball World Cup group, so Eric and Spoon are holding down the Weekend Pickoff.

Eric is back from the bush with no phone service and absolutely no idea what happened in baseball, so Spoon catches him up the only way we know how: by turning the week’s dumbest headlines into a “did this actually happen?” guessing game.

We get into the Brewers putting up video-game numbers, Seattle’s rough week, the latest Ketel Marte drama in Arizona, PCA continuing to do PCA things, and a very messy Destiny Draft update featuring Scherzer getting whacked, Adley going off, and Sal Stewart making things interesting.

Then Spoon closes us out with his weekend card, including Chris Sale vs. Jacob Misiorowski, a Reds strikeout angle, and an Eduardo Rodriguez spot he likes for value.

Enjoy the weekend. Love you. Like and subscribe.

It’s just Spoon and Rolsey this week, with Eric unavailable because he’s somewhere in a bush and may or may not need the Nissan X-Trail to do some serious work getting him out.

The boys start there, obviously, before getting into the strange situation around Ketel Marte choosing not to play while still travelling with the Diamondbacks in Boston, and what it could mean for both Ketel and Arizona moving forward.

Then we talk PCA, who had a massive game, hit two home runs, launched his 30th of the season as a walk-off, and got Spoon’s bet home in the process. Naturally, that leads into his MVP chances now that the race is getting properly interesting.

After a quick Destiny Draft update, the boys turn their attention to the World Series with a simple challenge: if you had $10 to sprinkle across potential winners, how would you play it? Spoon and Rolsey come at it from very different angles.

Then Spoon closes us out with his best bets for the Tuesday slate in the U.S.

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Destiny Draft Round 7 is here.

Tom joins us as this round’s listener picker, the boys recap Round 6, and we hear from Sophia after her run before cracking into the next draft.

Follow along at baseballexpats.com by clicking Destiny Draft on the homepage.

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If you're here for tips, you're in the wrong place.

No Spoon this week, so it’s just Rolsey and Eric trying to land the plane with absolutely no confidence that either of them knows how.

Rolsey is excited about his new shoes, Eric has sensory overload, and somehow it takes us about 10 minutes before baseball is even mentioned.

Eventually, the boys get into a recent conversation about contract-year collapses, before turning to the Baseball Expats community, who came through with some brilliant rule changes during the week. We read through a few of your suggestions and decide which ones might actually make baseball better, or at least more chaotic.

With no Spoon around for tips, Eric gives us a quick hit of international baseball news before we send you into the weekend.

We tried. Hopefully the plane lands safely.

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The boys jump straight into one of baseball’s strangest little corners: the fourth out rule, which popped up during the Blue Jays–Red Sox game without actually being enacted, but somehow taught all of us something new anyway.

That sends us down a rabbit hole of quirky baseball rules, weird technicalities, and the kind of wacky stuff that makes this sport both brilliant and deeply unserious. We even throw around a few rules we’d change if anyone was foolish enough to hand us power.

From there, it’s a Destiny Draft update, including the ongoing mystery of Spoon drafting players directly onto the IL. That’s now three straight rounds. At some point, it stops being bad luck and starts being a public health concern.

We also hear from Sophia, who has apparently been walking around the house with a bit of a head wobble after the first week of Round 6, and she phones in to let us know exactly how she’s feeling.

Then the boys get into an interesting conversation around the WBSC partnering with a data and betting company, what that means for an international baseball body, and the wider betting landscape across baseball and sport.

After that, Spoon and Rolsey introduce Eric to a couple of strange moments from their Sydney night out, including Claire’s top two Cardinals of all time. One you’ll know. One will absolutely surprise you.

Then Spoon closes us out with his best bets for the Tuesday slate in the U.S.

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Rolsey and Spoon are on deck for the Weekend Pickoff, with Spoon freshly landed in Sydney and a couple of beers waiting once the baseball is done.

The boys start with Ronald Acuña Jr.’s bizarre home run and just how much fun it was to watch, before checking in on Destiny Draft, where Spoon and Rolsey are somehow tied on zero points. Not for lack of trying, obviously.

From there, we take a look at Spoon’s futures, which you can now follow at baseballexpats.com along with his daily tips by clicking the MLB Picks link. That leads into a deep dive on PCA, why his second half has changed the MVP conversation, why Spoon thinks he can beat Shohei Ohtani, and why Babe Ruth might not exist.

Then Spoon closes us out with his best tips for the weekend, and you’ll want to follow along because he was red-hot last Saturday and Sunday.

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No Rolsey this week, so it’s Spoon and Eric steering the ship through the madness of the MLB trade deadline.

The boys start by plugging a few new features over at baseballexpats.com, then break down the deadline from the only places that really matter to them: Eric’s Blue Jays and Spoon’s Diamondbacks.

There were far too many trades to go through one by one, and frankly, you have Google for that, so instead the boys build a trade deadline theme team made entirely of players who moved at the deadline.

They also check in on a few things happening around the world game, including the start of the WPBL, the SoftBank Hawks dominating Japan, whether Kensuke Kondoh is the biggest star the American market will never really know, and Lachlan Wells in Korea, plus where you can watch Korean baseball for free.

Then Spoon closes us out with his best picks for the slate.

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Destiny Draft is back for Round 6, and this week Sofia jumps in as the listener pick.

First, the boys recap Round 5, including Rolsey’s performance for the ages, though Eric still can’t quite bring himself to give a dead man his flowers. From there, Sofia tells us who her favourite Italian baseball team is, which raises more questions than answers, before giving the entire pack pull a proper vibe check.

Spoiler alert: it is not a good pull.

There are prayers, superstition picks, questionable logic, and a whole lot of hoping the baseball gods are feeling generous. Eric also fails to bring the usual cheese and wine, instead showing up with some weird Mediterranean nuts in Sofia’s honour before pouring himself a glass anyway.

And with Sofia and Spoon in the same room, things get especially tense when Sofia may or may not choose a Dodger, potentially sending Spoon to a separate bedroom for the next two weeks.

Follow the live Destiny Draft dashboard throughout Round 6 at baseballexpats.com.au.

We’ve officially unveiled the all-new Spoon’s MLB Pick Tracker on BaseballExpats.com.

Naturally, we picked the perfect day to launch it: a slate full of absolute bad beats for poor Spoon, including one we were tracking live as we came on air.

Head to BaseballExpats.com, click Content, and you’ll find Spoon’s MLB Pick Tracker there. It’ll be updated daily, so keep checking in throughout the week.

The boys talk through the new tracker, check in on Destiny Draft, and tease a few exciting things coming to the website before Spoon gives his best bets for the weekend.

You can also follow Destiny Draft at BaseballExpats.com.

Thanks for listening. Have a great weekend. Love you.

It’s our Trade Deadline Special, but first we start with the world game.

The boys recap the first qualifier of the Women’s Baseball World Cup, including Australia’s valiant effort to finish second, then look ahead to the second qualifier coming later in April.

Speaking of Australians, Curtis Mead was traded from Washington to Boston over the weekend, which is massive news. We break down the move, what it could mean for Mead, and breathe a small sigh of relief after his hand injury in his first game with the Red Sox appears to be less scary than it first looked.

Then we get into the deadline properly, bouncing around the league with different scenarios, names, fits, buyers, sellers, and whatever else the trade rumour machine decides to throw at us.

We also check in on Destiny Draft, which might be tracking toward the highest-scoring round of the season, before Spoon closes us out with his best bets for the Tuesday slate in the U.S.

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Rolsey and Spoon are holding down the Weekend Pickoff with no Eric, and Rolsey is not in a great place.

The Cardinals have been awful, the Wests Tigers are in the news for all the wrong reasons, and that sends the boys into a chat about players who have walked out on teams or flat out refused to play.

From there, we check in on Destiny Draft, tease a bit of trade deadline chatter, and hopefully set up a proper trade deadline special on Tuesday if Eric is back with us.

We also update the Women’s Baseball World Cup standings and look ahead to the weekend schedule before Spoon closes us out with his best bets, plus a few other MLB plays he’s eyeing across the weekend.

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Eric starts the episode by unpacking the financial trauma of getting his Nissan X-Trail serviced, which may or may not actually be finished, while Spoon brings an alarming number of puns to the table.

From there, we talk about the unfortunate injury to Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, which sends us down a rabbit hole of strange baseball injuries from years gone by, and may or may not become a future theme team.

We also recap Destiny Draft, including the pitching stocks of Chase Burns and Jacob Misiorowski, who haven’t quite fired the way we expected, even if there are reasons behind it.

Then the boys preview the upcoming group stage of the Women’s Baseball World Cup before Spoon closes us out with his best tips for the week.

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Destiny Draft Round 5 is here, and for the first time, we’ve gone multi-continental.

JT joins us from the United States as this round’s listener picker, and the pack gods might have delivered our best player pool yet.

The boys meet JT, rip the cards, and build out another round of Destiny Draft chaos.

Follow along at baseballexpats.com by clicking the Destiny Draft leaderboard on the homepage.

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The boys are all back for the Weekend Pickoff as we take the temperature on Spoon’s preseason bets heading into the second half of the MLB season.

We also dive into the Netflix dilemma around the Home Run Derby after Eric actually watched it, then give a nod to the upcoming Women’s Baseball World Cup in Rockford, Illinois.

After that, Spoon closes us out with his best bets for the weekend.

We’ll be back Monday for Destiny Draft Round 5, then back to business as usual on Tuesday.

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Rolsey and Spoon are back to review the Home Run Derby, and shockingly, they actually nailed most of their predictions.

Eric joins the show as we recap Destiny Draft, hear from Ibbo, then turn our attention to the All-Star Game and what we’re looking forward to watching tomorrow.

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Rolsey and Spoon are here with a quick preview of the Home Run Derby, breaking down the field, the matchups, and where the chaos might come from.

We’ll be back tomorrow with Eric joining the show to recap Destiny Draft and preview the All-Star Game.

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Eric is on a schedule. What else is new?

The boys try to beat their National League All-Star theme team by building an American League version using the same rules, then check in on Destiny Draft heading into the final weekend before the All-Star break.

We also run through the release plan for next week. We’ll be back Monday previewing the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game, then after the break we’ll start diving into the trade deadline before returning to normal programming.

So don’t worry, things will keep moving pretty normally through All-Star week.

Then Spoon closes us out with his best tips for the weekend.

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Rolsey and Spoon are holding the fort this week, starting with a quick discussion about Eric’s absence and whether we should be concerned, impressed, or used to it.

From there, the boys get into the whole “first half / second half” thing in MLB. It’s not actually a true half of the season, but every year everyone gets swept up in the idea anyway, so we talk about what matters, what doesn’t, and which splits are actually worth caring about.

Then it’s a quick Destiny Draft check-in, with a massive couple of days coming up. Head to baseballexpats.com and click Destiny Draft on the homepage to follow the live scoreboard.

After that, we get into Eury Pérez being pulled after seven perfect innings, only for the Marlins bullpen to promptly implode, because baseball enjoys making everyone miserable. Rolsey adds some historical context around near-perfect games and what makes these situations so weird.

That leads us into the Marlins’ season more broadly, plus a look at some of the league’s bigger overperformers and underperformers so far.

Then Spoon closes us out with his best picks for the slate.

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Quick Weekend Pickoff this week.

Eric joins from a hockey rink in Hobart, Rolsey is racing the clock to get to the butcher before his wife’s 4th of July birthday barbecue becomes accidentally meatless, and Spoon is absolutely on fire.

We start with a quick Destiny Draft update. Head to BaseballExpats.com and click Destiny Draft to follow the live scoreboard. Ibbo also waxes poetically about leading the comp heading into the weekend, and his stream-of-consciousness text thread with Eric finally gets exposed.

Then Spoon closes us out with his best bets for the weekend.

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We start this one by asking a very simple question: what on earth is going on with Josh Naylor?

After a few of his recent antics, the boys try to work out whether he’s just playing with edge, fully leaning into the bit, or becoming one of baseball’s great chaos agents.

From there, we get into the All-Star voting, which has officially become less “who deserves to start?” and more “which fanbase can click the hardest?” We talk through why the system feels broken, a few ways MLB could potentially fix it, and whether the whole thing needs a proper rethink.

Then, because we’re helpful, we pick our own National League All-Star team to see if we can almost blindly put together a better starting group than the fan vote.

Spoiler alert: we absolutely can.

After the break, Spoon closes us out with his best tips for the week.

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Destiny Draft is back for Round 4, and this week Ibbo jumps in as the listener pick.

We start with a quick look back at Round 3, which has officially wrapped and moved the season table along nicely. There were a few wins, a few regrets, and probably a few picks everyone would like to quietly pretend never happened.

Then we get straight into the Round 4 draft. Ibbo joins the chaos, the boys work through another board of MLB hitters and pitchers, and everyone tries to talk themselves into believing they’ve found the perfect two week combination.

Round 4 runs from June 29 through July 12, with the live Destiny Draft dashboard tracking every score across the round. You can follow the full scoreboard throughout the fortnight at baseballexpats.com.au.

Eric is allegedly stuck on a train, bus, or some other very convenient form of transport, so it’s just Spoon and Rolsey for this Weekend Pickoff.

The boys give their immediate thoughts after Australia’s nil-all draw with Paraguay sends them into the Round of 32 at the World Cup, then check in on Destiny Draft before turning to two Aussies making serious noise in MLB: Travis Bazzana and Curtis Mead. Both are putting together seasons that deserve a proper place in the conversation around the best Australian professional baseball campaigns we’ve ever seen.

Then Spoon closes us out with his best tips for the weekend.

Enjoy the baseball, enjoy the sport, and love you.

The boys are all back together and, good news, Eric’s microphone is working again. His camera isn’t, but honestly, that feels like the better outcome.

We start with a Destiny Draft update after Spoon’s massive weekend, hear from the Commish as the listener spot keeps putting up a proper fight, and check in on Eric and Rolsey, who are both doing a little bit of drowning and need big weeks. Head to baseballexpats.com to follow along with the Destiny Draft leaderboard.

From there, we stay in the World Cup mood after Mbappé, Messi and Erling Haaland all scored doubles on the same day for the second straight week. Rolsey brings a few more baseball comparisons to the table and asks the boys what the MLB version of that kind of superstar day would actually be.

Then we get into a bit of CBA chat, because it’s hard to ignore the collective bargaining noise right now. This time it’s the proposed MLB Draft rule changes that the Players Association unsurprisingly hated, even if the idea itself gave us plenty to talk about.

Spoon has also been diving into other teams’ Reddit threads again, because apparently that’s who he is now, before he gives us his best bets for the Wednesday slate in Australia.

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Quick disclaimer off the top: Eric’s mic decided to have an absolute shocker for this one, but we forged on because the baseball waits for no one.

The boys are back together for the Weekend Pickoff, and before we get anywhere near the actual baseball, Eric decides to audition a brand new theme song inspired by this week’s World Cup Destiny Theme Team. It is exactly as polished as you would expect.

From there, we check in on Destiny Draft, recap where things stand, and remind everyone to follow along at baseballexpats.com by clicking the Destiny Draft leaderboard on the homepage.

Then we touch on a little bit of early trade deadline news as the season starts to take shape, before Spoon gives us his best tips for the weekend slate.

Enjoy the weekend, enjoy the baseball, and enjoy a massive few days of sport.

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The boys are all back together, and this week we get into the World Cup spirit.

First up, the Scottish fans basically take over Fenway Park on Sunday Night Baseball, which sends us into a chat about football crowds, baseball crowds, and what MLB can learn from a proper tournament atmosphere.

From there, we talk about the madness of four World Cup draws in a single day, how rare that is, and whether there’s a baseball version of a similar ilk.

Then we stay on theme and build a World Cup-inspired MLB theme team, because apparently this is what happens when baseball guys watch too much football.

Spoon closes us out with his best tips for the slate.

Head to baseballexpats.com to follow along with Destiny Draft, and we’ll be back Friday for the Weekend Pickoff.

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Round 3 of Destiny Draft is here.

The boys recap Round 2, hear from The Canary after his run as listener picker, then meet our new guest picker for Round 3 before cracking into another card-fuelled snake draft.

As always, the pack decides the player pool, the boys make the picks, and the next two weeks decide who cooked and who’s cooked.

Follow along at baseballexpats.com by clicking the Destiny Draft leaderboard on the homepage.

Rolsey’s away so it’s just Eric and Spoon holding the fort.

We start with a Destiny Draft check-in and the brutal injury curse that’s hit the player pool again (Judge, Buxton, Varsho… it’s grim). We also shout out the new tools on baseballexpats.com — the live scoreboard and Rolsey’s searchable Destiny Draft points database.

From there Eric catches Spoon up after a week away, including the live chaos of Brewers vs A’s in Vegas turning into a full-blown run festival (14–14 in extras while we’re recording), plus early thoughts on how that park might play for totals.

Then we hit the big league headline conversation: Tarik Skubal rehab appearances and the early trade smoke around a back-to-back Cy Young guy, followed by a proper flowers moment for how hot the Phillies have been.

We wrap with Spoon’s midweek plays.

We’ll be back Friday with another Weekend Pickoff. Love you. Like and subscribe.

Round 2 is here for Destiny Draft. Follow along at baseballexpats.com on the Destiny Draft live scoreboardd.

Before we’re joined by our guest picker, The Canary, Rolsey climbs onto the soapbox to complain (lovingly) about not being able to watch enough Cardinals–Cubs after a ripping weekend of baseball. From there we touch on the injury toll piling up across MLB, but also the flip side: a few key names returning and instantly making the league more fun.

Then we meet The Canary, crack into the Round 2 draft, and build teams from the card-determined pool in classic snake draft chaos. It’s a fun one for a lot of reasons.

After the draft, Spoon finishes with a couple of picks for the Monday slate in the US.

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Note: Elly De La Cruz went onto the IL a few hours after recording, so Canary has swapped him for James Wood.

Rolsey, Eric and Spoon are back together to tee up the weekend, starting with the early rumblings of collective bargaining talks between MLB, the owners, and the MLBPA. From there we revisit a stat Eric brought up last year around how meaningful May 31 can be when it comes to who actually makes the playoffs, which teams tend to fade out and which ones push their way in.

Then Spoon closes the episode with his best picks for the weekend slate.

And a reminder: Destiny Draft Round 2 is coming up on Monday. Love you. Like and subscribe, and hit baseballexpats.com.

The boys are back and we start by recapping Destiny Draft. Congrats to Spoon, and we also talk about where the whole concept goes from here. If you want to follow along, head to BaseballExpats.com.au and click into Destiny Draft to find the live scoreboard and the new tools.

Then we get into the story of the day: the Astros throwing a combined no-hitter, featuring an outstanding debut from Alimber Santa, the 23-year-old out of the Dominican Republic who gave Houston two scoreless innings out of the pen as part of the no-no. That name alone sent us down a rabbit hole, which turns into no-hitter trivia, excellent baseball names, and yes… there may or may not be a pretzels reference in there. Shout out Icebox.

From there we talk about how good Cristopher Sánchez has been, check in on a few current streaks around the league, and then take a look at what the Cy Young markets are doing right now. We also hit the AL Rookie of the Year market because the the boys don’t totally agree on what the market should look like at the moment, which makes for a fun little argument.

We take a quick break, then Spoon closes us out with his best tip.

Love you. Like and subscribe, and visit BaseballExpats.com.au.

The boys are back, it's frteezing in Adelaide, and Spoon might genuinely be the only person on earth who owns an Arizona Diamondbacks sweatshirt. The good news is it’s working: Spoon’s D-backs are absolutely flying in Destiny Draft.

We kick off with a quick Destiny Draft update and a couple of new toys on baseballexpats.com:

• the live scoreboard: https://www.baseballexpats.com/blog/destiny-draft-2026-live-scoreboard
• the new Destiny Draft points database (search any player and see their points under our scoring system): https://www.baseballexpats.com/blog/destiny-draft-player-database

Also: there’s a new rip next Monday, so if you want to be the listener picker for next week (or any round this season), hit us up through baseballexpats.com.

Then we get into the curious case of Mike Trout, who is, without a shadow of a doubt, the best modern player to never win a playoff game. Rolsey dives into just how absurd the numbers are, and it’s somehow even worse than you remember.

After that it’s time for the third and final Alphabet Theme Team. This week is J through P, and we get agonisingly close to taking down our Q through Z monster. Do we do it? You’ll have to listen.

Eric leaves early as per usual, and Spoon finishes the episode with his best picks for the midweek MLB slate.

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We start with Cal Raleigh hitting the IL, which Spoon called, in the most baseball way possible: after showering with his full uniform on, getting a base hit, and then somehow still ending up shelved.

Then we hit the strangest storyline in the league: Shohei Ohtani has been wildly disappointing at the plate… yet he’s still sitting right near the top of MVP betting because he’s been able to “cover” a cold bat with Cy Young-level pitching. We talk how that’s even possible, and then zoom out into where the Cy Young market sits right now.

From there, Rolsey goes full quiz mode and tests the boys on a few different topics, including how each of our favourite teams would score under Destiny Draft rules, plus the current best and worst Destiny Draft scorers in baseball. We also hear from Grom for a quick check-in on how he’s feeling about his Destiny Draft team.

Reminder: you can follow the live Destiny Draft scoreboard at baseballexpats.com by clicking Destiny Draft on the homepage.

We wrap with Spoon’s picks for the weekend slate.

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We start with a quick Destiny Draft recap. It was a bit of a ho-hum start to the window, but the live scoreboard is up and running on baseballexpats.com — follow along here: https://www.baseballexpats.com/blog/destiny-draft-2026-live-scoreboard

Then the episode turns into an impromptu “theme team” that isn’t a theme team at all: an All-Disappointment Team. We run through the guys who’ve underwhelmed so far this season, try to build a lineup out of collective frustration, and eventually land on the team we think has been the most disappointing to this point.

Rolsey also briefly checks out to investigate whether Heamasi Makasini has re-signed with the West Tigers, which is a bizarre detour even by our standards.

We finish on a positive note with Spoon’s tips for the Wednesday slate in Australia — including the New York Mets getting one final chance before they’re officially dead to him.

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Destiny Draft is back for 2026. If you weren’t with us last year, Spoon recaps the rules up top: it’s a short-window fantasy draft where a pack of baseball cards determines the player pool, and then the boys run a snake draft to build their teams for the next two weeks.

The one big change this year: we’ve added a guest picker. For Round 1, Grom joins the table and jumps into the chaos for this two-week window.

Everything is explained in the episode, including how we score it and how the leaderboard works.

Live scoreboard: https://www.baseballexpats.com/blog/destiny-draft-2026-live-scoreboard

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It’s a special Weekend Pickoff because it’s Spoon’s 30th birthday, so the boys have a proper laugh before he heads into a big birthday bash. We swap a few of our most memorable birthdays (some good, some… regrettable), then check in on last week’s bad juju and whether it’s finally starting to turn.

From there we get into Chandler Simpson, one of the most unique talents in baseball right now, and what you even do with a player like that if he keeps performing, plus how his career could realistically unfold.

We tease some content coming next week, then Spoon drops his best two tips for birthday weekend.

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The full crew is back together. Eric gives us a quick rundown of what it was like having his dad in town for a couple of weeks, then we get straight into it.

First, we address the elephant in the room: Rolsey and Spoon have been carrying some serious bad juju lately. It feels like everyone we’ve talked up has immediately met their demise. Eric tries to weaponise the curse because he’d love nothing more than to see the Rays fall apart as a Blue Jays fan, but Rolsey and Spoon aren’t convinced it’ll work this time. We also talk early AL East vibes, including being very happy to take the field against the Yankees in the race… even if it’s still early.

Then we deep dive the Cardinals’ start to the season and the bigger question: if they’re winning in the middle of a “rebuild,” are they actually buyers at the deadline? Especially with Chaim Bloom saying they’ll stay the course no matter what.

After that, it’s time for Part 2 of our three-part Alphabet Theme Team series. We’re trying to build a roster from Q through Z (and yes, Ryan Zeferjahn and Ángel Zerpa might make an appearance) and see if we can beat the 97-win monster we built with A through I. It’s a fun one. Stay locked in.

It’s a longer episode, but we think it’s worth it. And Spoon finishes with tips, he went 2-for-2 on Friday’s Weekend Pickoff, so you may want to keep listening.

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Eric’s still out, so it’s full-time podcasters only this week: Rolsey and Spoon.

Rolsey takes Spoon through a stack of wild stats from the past week, record-breaking stuff, weird April heaters.

Then Spoon runs a quick temperature check on his futures plays: what’s been hot, what hasn’t, and a tease for a full monthly review landing soon on baseballexpats.com.

We finish with Spoon’s best tips for the weekend slate. There are a ton of great matchups on the board, but we lock in on Phillies vs Marlins and Brewers vs Nationals for the plays we like most.

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It’s a rare Wednesday episode because Eric couldn’t join us yesterday, and even rarer, we’re recording while games are live. And somehow it turns into a full rookie-themed special.

We start with the big-league debut of Travis Bazzana, how we remember watching him coming up, and why Cleveland feels like the “must-watch” team if you follow Australian baseball talent. Weirdly, the other one might be Washington (Curtis Mead), which is not a sentence I expected to say either.

We also get the season debut of Trey Yesavage, and the boys dig into what we wanted to see from his first start. Then we hit Munetaka Murakami and the early-season tear he’s been on with the White Sox, including some rookie records he’s already managed to snap.

Spoon then apologises for briefly letting the Mets off life support and is forced to plug the machine straight back in. We wrap with some winners and losers from the ABS system so far, put the Theme Team on ice until the next episode, and finish with Spoon’s picks for the Wednesday slate in the US (Thursday in Australia), two overs he really likes. If you like runs and you like a wager, stay until the end.

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It’s a two-man Weekend Pickoff this week with Eric lost in a bush somewhere, so it’s just Rolsey and Spoon holding the fort. Rolsey is running on fumes after a big night at Leichhardt Oval (the eighth wonder of the world), while Spoon is looking forward to a quiet weekend of baseball on the couch.

We dive into the weekend slate, headlined by Padres vs D-backs in Mexico City, where Spoon is expecting the scoreboard operator to do overtime. Then Spoon drops his best tips for the weekend, including a play in Mets vs Rockies and another in Pirates vs Brewers.

We also keep an eye on Cardinals vs Mariners and the red-hot Cubs heading west to take on the Dodgers.

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The boys are all back in town. Eric’s fresh off the Australian Women’s Championship, so we start with what he saw, what the vibe was like, and how the Aussie scene feels heading into the first season of the WPBL. We do our best not to overdo the three-guys-talking-women’s-baseball thing, realise we’re dangerously close to mansplaining, and pivot back to MLB.

From there we hit a wild travel story that saw the Blue Jays ride the bus from Phoenix to Anaheim after a flight malfunction, talk Mason Miller’s ridiculous start and whether a reliever can actually make a real Cy Young push if he keeps this up, plus Rolsey gives some love to a closer flying under the radar who’s putting up Mason Miller-level numbers.

Spoon has something on his mind and delivers a proper rant, then we debut our first Theme Team of 2026… which turns out is going to become a whole series. It’s a spectacular idea on paper, we fumble through the execution, and you’re probably going to love it anyway.

Eric has to dash to pick up his dad from the airport, so Spoon closes with two midweek plays before we get out.

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It’s just Rolsey and Spoon this week with Eric still away, and we’re recording a day early because Spoon’s heading to Cowell, South Australia tomorrow to visit his partner. He was so excited he joined the booth five minutes early, which genuinely never happens.

The Cowell trip sends Rolsey straight back to his months living in Cooktown, Far North Queensland, and the boys spiral into a love letter to Australian country towns.

We then briefly touch on Shohei Ohtani’s latest start and why Dave Roberts should obviously win multiple Manager of the Year awards for the impossible task of “replacing Shohei Ohtani” (heavy sarcasm, just to be clear).

The Mets are floundering… but we promise not to do the full Mets thing again.

Spoon then runs through a few teams he’s high on right now, including some surprises, before we look at the most interesting weekend series coming up.

Finally, Spoon drops two plays for the Friday slate in Australia (Thursday in North America) featuring Rangers vs A’s and Mariners vs Padres.

It’s a loose one, feel free to skip the first five minutes and the last five minutes. You’ll be entertained either way.

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