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Welcome to the latest episode of Hot Takedown, FiveThirtyEight’s sports podcast. On this week’s show (April 19, 2016), we talk to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell about the Rams’ trade with the Titans and ask what the best strategy is in the NFL draft. We discuss Kobe Bryant’s final game and debate whether the rise of analytics means he is the last of a dying breed. Then Allison McCann comes into the studio to discuss FiveThirtyEight’s predictions for the NWSL season. Plus, a SigDig on Bryce Harper’s batting average and how he measures up to Mike Trout. Stream the episode by clicking the play button, or subscribe using one of the podcast clients we’ve linked to above. Links to what we discuss are here:
- Bill Barnwell tells us what the Titans-Rams trade means for the NFL draft.
- ESPN’s Stats & Info group breaks down why this is a bad trade for the Rams.
- Barnwell says, to draft well, a team needs a high volume of picks.
- Here’s the link to Barnwell’s new podcast, The Bill Barnwell Show, in the ESPN radio player. It will be up on iTunes soon.
- Neil Paine assures us no team can beat the draft.
- Kobe Bryant’s career was more about the drama than the numbers, says Seth Partnow in Vice.
- Slate’s Josh Levin thinks Kobe’s last game was the perfect representation of his career.
- But Neil Paine says Kobe haters are stuck in 2008.
- Here are FiveThirtyEight’s NWSL predictions for the 2016 season.
- And here’s ESPN’s Graham Hays on five things you should know about the NWSL.
- Significant Digit: .341. That’s Bryce Harper’s overall batting average this season, which is much higher than his batting average for balls in play.
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