I respect all these "Baseball Insiders", but I gotta tell ya, it's a racket. You can be given the title of "Baseball Insider", but what does it really mean if you tweet out info after the fact, or, you put out info just to get it wrong later?
Hell, think about this for a second; When the information on Giancarlo Stanton broke last week, no "Baseball Insider" had any of the contract information. You know who did? Some dude named Christopher Meola. He tweeted this before anyone:
@Deadspin @TMZ_Sports Giancarlo Stanton deal official 13 years 325 million full no trade clause can opt out when he's 30.
— Christopher meola (@DfineNrmLC) November 14, 2014 The funny thing is, now he's somebody. You know the other funny thing? Jon Heyman and Jim Bowden are suddenly following him. Damn... you can't make that up.
Now comes word that Russell Martin is a Toronto Blue Jay. It broke today. But do you realize that, for about 48 hours, the Chicago Cubs were gonna get him?
That's not BS, it was reported that way by many "Baseball Insiders". In fact, this was Ken Rosenthal's report yesterday:
Executives involved in bidding for Russell Martin believe #Cubs are clear front-runner. Deal expected to be in four-year, $64M range.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 17, 2014 Today Russell Martin's with the Blue Jays, with more money and 1 more year. Did I mention before that you can't make this stuff up? That's because you can't. What's this post all about? It's about the grind. No longer is it about getting it right. It's clearly about getting it first, and God forbid a guy named Christopher Meola beats you... well, then you either follow him so you can at least be ahead of your peers, or maybe you can at least guess, with the hopes of getting it "close to correct."
Look, the idea of Martin to the Cubs was pretty solid for a while there... until it wasn't today. Now, trust me, no one will remember Rosenthal's tweet, and that's fine, but the fact of the matter is, there aren't truly "Baseball Insiders" then, are they? In other words, the term is dumb.
Now, that's not a slight, it's the reality. There are guys like Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record that get plenty of items correct on the daily. But he does his job, he doesn't need the world to know. He doesn't need to be first... he needs to be right. Hey... maybe that's why I respect him so. Maybe that's why I respect guys like Ken Davidoff and Pete Abraham, Jason Keidel, Wally Matthews and Andrew Marchand... they make sure they're right. Hey, maybe that's why I've been smart not to give away too much in my own BYB endeavors. Let's not forget, Bleeding Yankee Blue was the only one that said Ichiro Suzuki was coming to the Yankees, read HERE.
I was also the only one who has an exclusive message from Joba Chamberlain to the Yankee fans thanking them for being so supportive when he went to the Tigers, HERE. Jon Heyman would never follow me... it would destroy his rep.
Now...Do I brag? No. Am I sure I got it checked out before I spill the beans? You're damn sure I do.
And that's why I'm extra careful with my Troy Tulowitzki "Source." I'm giving you just enough, but not too much to screw it up. I'm handling it with care, because... let's be honest, I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I want to stay with your guys throughout the journey. I want to see it through.
In the end, it's just baseball. It's not brain surgery. From my experience, as long as you're honest. As long as you put up good work... the readers will follow. We here at BYB... we're rarely ever first. We do however make sure we laid out the full story for you, whatever it is.
This "Martin to the Cubs" story should be a lesson to us all. Patience is key. Fact checking... key. Good Journalism... check. Getting the story right? Priceless.
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