289 - The Battle of the Ratts: On Wander Franco, Shohei Ohtani, Avatar Ozzy, New Music and More

The fate of Wander Franco, once baseball's brightest young star, has been sealed by a damning legal verdict in the Dominican Republic, where he was found guilty of a felony involving underage girls—though spared prison due to being labeled both perpetrator and victim of blackmail. The hosts argue this is the end of his career: no visa means no return to MLB, and the Rays are poised to void his $182 million contract. The episode then pivots to Shohei Ohtani’s astonishing dominance on the mound, with a 0.73 ERA and a 50.8% ground ball rate that’s reshaping how hitters approach him. Meanwhile, the National League Central is defying baseball logic by having every team over .500—thanks to weak American League competition and a collapsing minor league pipeline. The podcast also condemns Sharon Osbourne’s plan to launch an AI-powered avatar of her late husband Ozzy, calling it a soulless cash grab that disrespects the artist’s legacy. In music, the hosts praise a new wave of young metal bands like Tail Gunner and Courtney Barnett’s sharp, timeless album Creature of Habit, while lamenting how modern music moves slower than in the 1970s, when bands released albums at breakneck speed.