Hardball Times: Why do People Make Up Fake Trade Rumors?

[weams]

http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2016/01/25/why-do-people-make-up-fake-trade-rumors-anyway/

http://www.hardballtimes.com/faking-it/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

That person is Greg, and he was pretending to be Michael Baron, who has written about the Mets for SNY.tv and MLB.com. Greg was trying to convince people that - you know what, it's not important. Greg told me his last name, but I'm not going to include it. I have seen some real anger at people who do what he does, and I don't want to expose him to that.

I asked Greg if breaking fake trades is a long-time hobby. Nope, he said. He's never done it before. Why Baron? He's local, and big names like Rosenthal and Heyman were "already taken." Why did he decide to do it? Boredom. "Boring baseball offseason. Bad NFL season." (Yet another thing to blame on football!) By the way, despite his choice of people to impersonate, Greg is not a Mets fan; he's a Yankees fan. He's quick to add, "I'm not looking to mess with no one's career. Just trying to get a rise out of some of the public."

Greg didn't strike me as a particularly bad person, just a bored dude trying to amuse himself on the Internet. I was a little disappointed he didn't offer any deep thoughts into how faking breaking trades provides an ironic counterpoint to the hysteria and hype of the Hot Stove in the 21st century, but you take what you can get.

[TheBee]

"The most powerful force in the universe is gossip." Dave Barry

Now, what this guy does is identity theft and blatant lying which is strange and immoral. However, I have to admit that while I make a concerted effort to avoid gossiping in the other realms of my life, I certainly read all the speculation and rumors that writers post about baseball and then spread and discuss it. I avoid it at work, within friend groups, but when it comes to offseason baseball intrique, I am likea teenager in the cafeteria.

[weams]

"The most powerful force in the universe is gossip." Dave Barry

Now, what this guy does is identity theft and blatant lying which is strange and immoral. However, I have to admit that while I make a concerted effort to avoid gossiping in the other realms of my life, I certainly read all the speculation and rumors that writers post about baseball and then spread and discuss it. I avoid it at work, within friend groups, but when it comes to offseason baseball intrique, I am likea teenager in the cafeteria.

I like it too.