Thursday, December 02, 2004
Deep Breaths, Folks
So the D-Backs are "likely to deal" Randy Johnson, the Arizona Republic reports.
Except that there is absolutely no verification of any of that in the actual article. None. The only actual reporting is that Randy Johnson sat with Jeff Moorad at the Suns-Cavaliers game Wednesday night. (Now how about that for a blockbuster trade -- Randy to the Suns. Randy stays in town, the D-Backs get to rebuild, it's a win-win all the way 'round. Not sure how Randy fits in the Suns' new "small-ball" lineup, however.)
"A deal [for Johnson] reportedly could be made as early as next week." -- says who?
"It is expected Johnson would rather be traded now instead of waiting to see Arizona's complete, off-season re-tooling." -- says who?
"Meanwhile, Sexson informed the Diamondbacks through his agent, Casey Close, that he rejected the club's most recent contract proposals, a two-tiered package worth three years and another worth four or five years. Close indicated he has made another counterproposal, but Arizona is not expected to make another pitch to the free-agent slugger." -- This seems slightly more attributable (to Close), but still the phrasing is slightly odd.
"The Yankees figure to be his most likely destination, though numerous media outlets reported Wednesday that the Yankees have pulled out of talks for the time being, telling the Diamondbacks that their proposals were unreasonable." -- Except even Jayson Stark, who probably best summarized all the competing rumors, acknowledged that it could also be a negotiating ploy on the Yankees' part.
"A Boston deal reportedly could include sending right-hander Bronson Arroyo (10-9, 4.03 ERA), pitching prospect Jon Lester and another prospect to the Diamondbacks." -- Is anyone having nasty flashbacks to last winter's trade of a star pitcher to the Red Sox? This strikes me as little better, and at least last year we were explicitly making a salary dump, an argument which nobody has floated this year.
There might be some truth underneath all these echo-chamber rumors, but it's not worth more time to me than I've just invested pulling these quotes, especially when the deliberate misinformation out there is probably equal to the wishful thinking.
A couple other links of note, one baseball-related, one not. BP argued yesterday that David Dellucci should be interested in the Rockies' offer because he might hit 20 home runs at Coors Field, which would improve his shot at getting a multi-year contract the next year. Maybe it's just me, but isn't the fact Coors Field inflates offensive numbers known to everybody in baseball? Even the casual fan? I know fans love to slam general managers as being the 30 biggest idiots in baseball, but don't you think that maybe, just maybe, they discount Coors numbers a bit?
Finally, thanks to The Hot Button for directing me to Greg.org, whose New Yorker database includes links to every piece posted on the New Yorker's website. Sadly, there's still no link to the infamous Adam Gopnik "Metrozoid" article, but you can use it to find, say, Roger Angell's yearly summary of the season.
Except that there is absolutely no verification of any of that in the actual article. None. The only actual reporting is that Randy Johnson sat with Jeff Moorad at the Suns-Cavaliers game Wednesday night. (Now how about that for a blockbuster trade -- Randy to the Suns. Randy stays in town, the D-Backs get to rebuild, it's a win-win all the way 'round. Not sure how Randy fits in the Suns' new "small-ball" lineup, however.)
"A deal [for Johnson] reportedly could be made as early as next week." -- says who?
"It is expected Johnson would rather be traded now instead of waiting to see Arizona's complete, off-season re-tooling." -- says who?
"Meanwhile, Sexson informed the Diamondbacks through his agent, Casey Close, that he rejected the club's most recent contract proposals, a two-tiered package worth three years and another worth four or five years. Close indicated he has made another counterproposal, but Arizona is not expected to make another pitch to the free-agent slugger." -- This seems slightly more attributable (to Close), but still the phrasing is slightly odd.
"The Yankees figure to be his most likely destination, though numerous media outlets reported Wednesday that the Yankees have pulled out of talks for the time being, telling the Diamondbacks that their proposals were unreasonable." -- Except even Jayson Stark, who probably best summarized all the competing rumors, acknowledged that it could also be a negotiating ploy on the Yankees' part.
"A Boston deal reportedly could include sending right-hander Bronson Arroyo (10-9, 4.03 ERA), pitching prospect Jon Lester and another prospect to the Diamondbacks." -- Is anyone having nasty flashbacks to last winter's trade of a star pitcher to the Red Sox? This strikes me as little better, and at least last year we were explicitly making a salary dump, an argument which nobody has floated this year.
There might be some truth underneath all these echo-chamber rumors, but it's not worth more time to me than I've just invested pulling these quotes, especially when the deliberate misinformation out there is probably equal to the wishful thinking.
A couple other links of note, one baseball-related, one not. BP argued yesterday that David Dellucci should be interested in the Rockies' offer because he might hit 20 home runs at Coors Field, which would improve his shot at getting a multi-year contract the next year. Maybe it's just me, but isn't the fact Coors Field inflates offensive numbers known to everybody in baseball? Even the casual fan? I know fans love to slam general managers as being the 30 biggest idiots in baseball, but don't you think that maybe, just maybe, they discount Coors numbers a bit?
Finally, thanks to The Hot Button for directing me to Greg.org, whose New Yorker database includes links to every piece posted on the New Yorker's website. Sadly, there's still no link to the infamous Adam Gopnik "Metrozoid" article, but you can use it to find, say, Roger Angell's yearly summary of the season.
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