CHICAGO — One of the biggest changes in my four decades of covering Major League Baseball has been the way the trade deadline is reported.
What once was a few weeks of rumors from beat writers about what might happen, producing a couple of lines in a notebook and an occasional headline if something was close, has morphed into a full-blown, 24/7 job. Some outlets, notably The Athletic and the aggregating site MLBTradeRumors.com, provide nonstop shopping for rumor seekers.
The gambling aspect obviously has increased interest, along with social media and the addition of a third wild-card team in each league, which means more mediocre teams are still in contention at the deadline. As of Saturday, only a half-dozen teams were more than 4 1/2 games from a wild-card spot.
Executives go under the cone of silence weeks before the deadline, leaving managers and players to answer speculative questions.
Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell was in no mood to play along Saturday before the Cubs beat the New York Yankees 5-2 at Wrigley Field.
#Cubs
What once was a few weeks of rumors from beat writers about what might happen, producing a couple of lines in a notebook and an occasional headline if something was close, has morphed into a full-blown, 24/7 job. Some outlets, notably The Athletic and the aggregating site MLBTradeRumors.com, provide nonstop shopping for rumor seekers.
The gambling aspect obviously has increased interest, along with social media and the addition of a third wild-card team in each league, which means more mediocre teams are still in contention at the deadline. As of Saturday, only a half-dozen teams were more than 4 1/2 games from a wild-card spot.
Executives go under the cone of silence weeks before the deadline, leaving managers and players to answer speculative questions.
Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell was in no mood to play along Saturday before the Cubs beat the New York Yankees 5-2 at Wrigley Field.
#Cubs
17 hours ago
