Benjamin Kabak has an interesting post at RAB entitled “What it means to make a player available.” Essentially Kabak discusses the need for fans to read behind the rumor and analyze the situation. He specifically is talking about Bob Nightengale’s “tweet” regarding the Yankees shopping around Nick Swisher. This is a refreshing change from the hysteria that usually results from any information that is not popular. Remember the great Howard Cosell said “what is always right is not popular and what is popular is not always right.” There seems to be a great deal of confusion, anger, and bitterness towards the rumor mill this offseason. As new media explodes more people find information and are willing to share it. I believe this is good for debate and, to quote our current President, transparency about the game we all love. The reaction to mills from respected writers such as Jon Heyman, Bob Nightengale, and all the way down to NYBD seem to create a mixed reaction. It makes me wonder if the sharing of all this information is something the readers can actually handle. I believe a majority can, but right now there is a loud minority that is making it difficult.

I was having lunch with a business colleague the other day that shared a quote from someone we both knew and respected in the business community. “The world is full of C students” he told me and it got me to thinking how all of us have our strengths and weaknesses. Each of us is a “C student” in something in our lives and there is nothing wrong with that. Some people are going to be able to read and analyze facts and others aren’t.

The age of information has allowed anyone to be a reporter. Obviously some are better than others, but in the end it’s all about how you, the reader, takes the information and intellectualizes it. Some of my favorite writers are “non brand names” like Ted Berg, Howard Megdal, and Matt Cerrone. They are every bit the reporter as some of the big names because they provide me with information that is valuable.

I talk to people all the time about sports. Each has a different level of acumen and reacts to information differently. The point is you have one column, thousands of readers, thousands of interpretations. It’s impossible to write for every type of reader. Get my drift?

I saw someone “tweet” that an individual needs two to three validations of a rumor before publishing it. I almost fell off my chair laughing. That is the same type of mindset the mainstream media used to control information and keep you, the reader, in the dark. The harder you make something the easier for the big guys to control you. That doesn’t mean you don’t verify, but why should someone hold back information if they think they have a great source? Why should Bob Nightengale not report that “the Yankees are listening to offers for Nick Swisher?” Doesn’t that information spark discussion and help pass the time? This is why we love the sport so much. No matter how he words that a small group of readers will interpret that as Nick Swisher is going to be dealt. Is that Nightengale’s fault? On the flip side even if fifty people say a deal is going to be done it will not get done until the papers are signed. Anything can happen and no matter how rock solid your information is all rumors are pretty much equal until it becomes reality.

So my question to you, the reader, is this: Do you want to go back to the days where you opened up your morning paper and found out things after the fact? Do you want to just trust the powerful mainstream media that at one point befriended the players? The same media that didn’t want you to know that Mickey Mantle was human? Or do you want to live in a world of information where we are given the power to break it down and decide for ourselves? Everybody competing is good for the customers. It makes the mainstream and independent media work that much harder. I believe the concerns about credibility are overblown because, in the end, bad apples will be vetted by the public. I believe a vast majority are smart enough to know the difference. Bad information cannot withstand the test of time and you have to have faith in the system I also think the silent majority wants a volume of information and that is a good thing.

Keep giving me information. Heck, if the janitor whispers it I want to know. Some of the biggest scandals in this country were uncovered by the unlikeliest whistle blowers. In the end, the loud minority or “C students” are the ones that can’t handle the information. Don’t let them ruin our fun. At the end of the day it’s only baseball and no rumor will ever change reality. The big question is can you handle it? I know I can.

Tags: Bob Nightengale, Can the fans handle the rumor mill, Howard Megdal, Jon Heyman, Matt Cerrone, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Nick Swisher, River Avenue Blues, Rumor Mill, Ted Berg