According To Sources, ESPN Is Full Of Crap

Ooooo! A baseball post. I guess, I'll read on.

In the wake of baseball's free agency market, there have been a lot of rumors about which free agents are going to which team. If you just spend a few hours (or like six to ten which I seemingly do now that I have nothing to do) watching ESPN, you'll see that there are rumors everywhere about which teams are going after which player and which players accepted contracts from which franchise. But the thing that bothers me the most is that these journalist aren't naming their sources. These reports are always the same "[insert baseball team here] is going after [insert baseball player here] sources tell [insert inane, crappy ESPN baseball reporter here, or rather just insert ESPN baseball reporter here]." And it always seems like these reports are never right! Let's take Mark Teixeira for example. First he wasn't doing anything because he wanted to get signed by the Angels and he wanted to wait to see if Sabathia signed with the Angels. Then, Teixeira, was offered a HUGE contract by the Red Sox. Then Teixeira was looking at teams which included Boston, Washington, and Baltimore. Then he was only exclusively looking at Boston and Washington (seriously, Washington! I know they might offer you a lot of money, but the fucking Nationals! Really!?). Then he signed with the Yankees. What the fuck! Why do I care that Teixeira is kind of sort of looking at some teams. I don't need to hear about random bumble skunk teams and situations. Just tell me that Teixeira signed with the Yankees. That's all I want to hear about.

Secondly, and most importantly, who are these sources! Who is like telling Buster Olney that Teixeira is considering like two teams, then I hear an hour later he signed with a team that WASN'T one of the two teams Teixeira was considering. Can you imagine if the New York Times did this? "Sources say that George W. Bush is thinking about bombing Iran in the upcoming weeks. Now sources say that Bush is planning on just going to Iran within the next two weeks. Sources are now telling the Times that W is now going to call Iran. Wait, Bush, just had this one dream where he actually thought about Iraq and that was it." Seriously, the tabloids at least MENTION their sources (Granted they say "We heard from this bum on the street"… but still). Are they tabloids on a higher realm of journalistic integrity than sports writers? According to my brother (who is going to be a journalist and is majoring in journalism and thus has SOME knowledge on the topic of basic journalism), the reason journalist really don't name their sources is to protect the source. For example, if a source feels his life or job is in danger and/or has a VALID reason to not be named, then a journalist should protect their sources identity. If a Presidential aide is talking smack about the President, then of course that source should want to remain anonymous.

Side note: see how easy it was to name my source and present a foundation for his credibility? Why can't you do this ESPN?

But this is baseball. Offering a contract to a player or talking about what team a player wants to play with does not fall under this category of protecting anonymity. What is the valid reason for not mentioning these sources? You can't just say random things, especially if they turn out to be meaningless in the end. Now, if ESPN said, "according to Teixeira's agent, Teixeira has gotten offers from Boston, Baltimore, and Washington", then OK, that's acceptable even though they have no bearing on which team the 1B ultimately chooses. But ESPN baseball reporters need to mention their sources when talking about big issues like these in order for them to be credible. Even though this is ESPN, you need credibility as a news organization as a whole. ESPN is the major influential sports institution in America and in order to remain truly influential and important, you need credibility.

Right now, ESPN baseball reporters have the equivalent integrity of high school gossip. "Well I heard so and so had a nose job and liposuction this summer! OMG!" What's stopping us four blog posters (or three if you don't count Irwin who hasn't done anything yet) from starting our own blog or TV show and just saying the first things that come to our mind. "Today Alexei Rameriz, in an attempt to bulk up, is taking daily steroid injections in the ass from Ozzie Guillen and has joined the competitive eating circuit." Seriously, if I called Buster Olney about this information, changed Alexei to Derek Jeter, this story would first page news by morning. I understand journalists don't have to and should not have to name their sources according to the first amendment and judicial cases but this is getting ridiculous. Sources need to start getting named.