Question: What is Going on in the Rumor Mill
Last week, Newsday reported the Mets had received medical information for Francisco Rodriguez, while citing Omar Minaya.
The same day, the player’s agent told the Daily News the same information.
However, this morning, five days later, the New York Post writes, “Contrary to a published report, the Mets didn’t receive the medical breakdown on Rodriguez until yesterday,” while also citing the player’s agent.
…wait, what…so, the agent is refuting himself, and the team’s GM…exactly how does that work…does he need a mirror for that trick…or, just a two-line phone…so bizarre…
Yesterday morning, WEEI Radio in Boston wrote the Red Sox offered a one-year contract to Jason Varitek, which Varitek’s agent denied later in the day, per the Boston Globe.
…are you sensing a trend…anyone, anyone…
Last week, Hal Steinbrenner told the Associated Press that the team’s six-year offer to CC Sabathia ‘is not going to be around forever,’ which resulted in a headline that read, ‘Sabathia Has Deadline to Accept Yankees Offer.’
However, yesterday, at SI.com, Jon Heyman wrote, “The Yankees have not yet set a deadline for Sabathia, and according to someone familiar with their thinking, they have no intention to pull the offer anytime soon.”
At the same time, ESPN reported yesterday that the Nationals were working on a multi-year deal for Odalis Perez, which the player’s agent later denied to MLB.com, saying, the team has simply expressed interest, ‘We talked and that’s where it is.’
Also, in the Star-Ledger, Dan Graziano recently wrote, “If the Blue Jays explore trading Roy Halladay (as some continue to insist they will), the Dodgers are believed to be his most likely destination.”
However, Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi later told Ken Davidoff in Newsday, “That hasn’t even crossed our mind.”
Similarly, “The Rockies have spoken to Will Ohman‘s agent,” wrote the Rocky Mountain News on Sunday.
However, Ohman’s agent told the Denver Post yesterday that the Rockies have never called him.
Lastly, over the weekend, Rafael Furcal told El Caribe that the A’s and Mets each offered him a contract.
However, later in the day, his agent told Yahoo! Sports the report was ‘bogus.’
…this last one is my favorite, since it’s the actual freaking player who started the story…not some anonymous source, but the actual player…yet, it’s false…unreal…
…my sense is people are rushing to get information up on their websites, and so they are being a bit sloppy, not very thurough and are unknowingly misinterpreting statements…
…because, they can’t all be correct…inherently, one of the two reports in each scenario has to be wrong, or at least not totally accurate…so, what is the average fan to think…
