Yesterday RJ Anderson of DRays Bay reported that a source informed him of a trade that would send Boof Bonser to the Rays was close to being made.
I have from a reliable source that Boof Bonser has told people close to him that a deal with him heading to Tampa is imminent.
Later in the day, Marc Topkin dismissed the report as just another internet rumor.
One [trade possibility] that made its way into Internet rumors that [the Tampa Bay Rays] are not discussing involves Minnesota pitcher Boof Bonser, a Gibbs High product.
There is only one small problem…Anderson’s source? It was Boof Bonser.
Boof Bonser is in the area for a golf tournament and while speaking to a group of people, he mentioned that the Twins were close to completing a deal that would have him pitching for the Rays in 2008. Among the group of people that Bonser was speaking with, was JP Peterson of WFLA. Somebody from Peterson’s radio show contacted Anderson to relay the quotes from Bonser. The potential trade was then reported on DRays Bay and also apparently on the radio show Hot Lunch with JP Peterson (we heard about the latter from more than one of our own sources, but have yet to actually hear a tape of the show).
We assume that Topkin then contacted his sources within the Rays organization to verify or refute the trade talks. We are forced to assume this because Topkin does not tell us why he believes the trade rumor is not true. His source is most likely from within the organization and may in fact have been Andrew Friedman, as Topkin’s claim comes at the end of an article with several quotes from Friedman.
It is not surprising that a major league general manager would deny the veracity of a trade rumor. It is surprising that an experienced journalist, or anybody with a heartbeat, would assume that the general manager was telling him/her the truth. Marc Topkin took what the Rays said as being truthful and then smugly dismissed Anderson’s report as just another internet rumor, as if he just pulled it out of his own ass.
Trade rumors are a common topic among baseball blogs. Most often it is simply relaying something that was reported elsewhere and sometimes a blogger will speculate on trade matchups. Is it possible that RJ Anderson or his source made up the quotes attributed to Bonser? We have no reason to think he would make them up. No more reason than we ever think that Marc Topkin makes up his reports.
At least Anderson reported that he had a source. Topkin dismissed the rumor without even telling us if he had a source or if it was own speculation. And in doing so, came off as an elitist that thinks bloggers just sit around in their parents basements making shit up. We have read a lot of these so-called “internet rumors”. 90% are probably not true. 99.9% of those rumors were started by professional reporters like Marc Topkin.
Does anybody have the phone number for Marc Topkin’s parents basement? We have a rumor for him.
[Ed. note: Marc Lancaster of TBO is also reporting that it is his “understanding that there’s nothing to” the Bonser trade rumor. Like Topkin, Lancaster does not tell us if he checked with his sources or if he is just speculating. At least he did not dismiss it as just another rumor that is floating around the internet.]
Boof coming to Tampa? [Drays Bay]
Friedman: The time is now [tampabay.com]
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