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Jeff Zrebeic & Dan Connolly join, "The Athletic"

Flacco Machado

By Flacco Machado
in Orioles Talk

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Frobby Hangout Grand Counsel

Frobby

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So, The Athletic has been up for what, about two years now?    Question for subscribers — is it worth it?    I kind of have the impression that Dan Connolly is getting a lot more scoops these days then he did when he was with the Sun or BaltimoreBaseball.

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TonySoprano Hangout Grand Counsel

TonySoprano

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12 minutes ago, Frobby said:

So, The Athletic has been up for what, about two years now?    Question for subscribers — is it worth it?    I kind of have the impression that Dan Connolly is getting a lot more scoops these days then he did when he was with the Sun or BaltimoreBaseball.

Normally, I wouldn't pay because things like ESPN Insider are a total waste.  The Athletic brought in talent like Jayson Stark.  I enjoy Dan Connolly's articles, and Matt Kremnitzer writes well.  Wait for specials, probably around the holidays.  i got in at 50% off, so it runs me about $4/month.  My wife spends more on a single visit to Starbucks.

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Frobby Hangout Grand Counsel

Frobby

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1 minute ago, TonySoprano said:

Normally, I wouldn't pay because things like ESPN Insider are a total waste.  The Athletic brought in talent like Jayson Stark.  I enjoy Dan Connolly's articles, and Matt Kremnitzer writes well.  Wait for specials, probably around the holidays.  i got in at 50% off, so it runs me about $4/month.  My wife spends more on a single visit to Starbucks.

Last year I subscribed to BP and didn’t think it was worth it.   I’ve thought about subscribing to BA, but I’m not enough of a draft follower to want to spend there.   

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Orioles West Major Leaguer

Orioles West

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10 minutes ago, Frobby said:

So, The Athletic has been up for what, about two years now?    Question for subscribers — is it worth it?    I kind of have the impression that Dan Connolly is getting a lot more scoops these days then he did when he was with the Sun or BaltimoreBaseball.

While I still get to visit family near Baltimore every year, I've been out of Maryland a while now. I only throw that in to illuminate my perspective. I have a more desperate need of O's information than fans who can tune in to local stations anytime. In that sense, I find The Athletic a decent additional source. Beyond our Birds, the site has a lot of solid baseball writers covering the league overall as well. 

The approach of The Athletic is more about depth and analysis than scoops, although it does have the digital format and they can be pretty quick when needed. It reminds me of a daily Sports Illustrated, back in the day when SI was stacked with good journalists.

All of that said, I'm not real big on paying for content. I'm hoping for a bit more O's and Maryland sports coverage, but it has been worth it so far.

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Br10n Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

Br10n

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The site is not a good place to go for “scoops”.  I purchased the subscription thinking it was about that but it is not. It is more about the articles.  You’re paying for the insight competent writers.  Dan just put up an article looking at Rasjich’s drafts. It is a good read but not a scoop.  

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Tony-OH Hangout Grand Counsel

Tony-OH

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Just now, TonySoprano said:

Haven't seen any politics, which makes them the anti-ESPN.

That's a very good thing. I no longer watch or look at any ESPN content unless it's a game that I want to watch because they started to mix politics with their sports. I don't watch or read about sports for politics.

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lovetoaster Veteran All-Star

lovetoaster

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9 hours ago, Frobby said:

So, The Athletic has been up for what, about two years now?    Question for subscribers — is it worth it?    I kind of have the impression that Dan Connolly is getting a lot more scoops these days then he did when he was with the Sun or BaltimoreBaseball.

I subscribed a few months ago, and I love it. It’s the first time in a long time that I have paid for a site like that, and I think it’s great. The quality of the content is so good, and there isn’t any of the clickbait garbage that makes up about about 75 percent of most sports sites these days. It’s just quality, straightforward sportswriting. 

And as Br10n mentions, they don’t have a ton of scoops, per se. But I really have enjoyed the level of insight and analysis so far for the teams I follow. 

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24fps Hangout Grand Counsel

24fps

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1 hour ago, lovetoaster said:

I subscribed a few months ago, and I love it. It’s the first time in a long time that I have paid for a site like that, and I think it’s great. The quality of the content is so good, and there isn’t any of the clickbait garbage that makes up about about 75 percent of most sports sites these days. It’s just quality, straightforward sportswriting. 

And as Br10n mentions, they don’t have a ton of scoops, per se. But I really have enjoyed the level of insight and analysis so far for the teams I follow. 

Editorially responsible content is the new market inefficiency.  

Or so it seems....

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