Signing news obviously is notable, which is a reason why insiders like Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport (NFL), Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania (NBA), Jeff Passan, Ken Rosenthal, and Jon Heyman (MLB) and many more in other sports are high-profile media figures. Transaction news certainly isn’t all those people do; they’re often involved in breaking and reporting bigger news stories as well. But it’s a big part of what they do, and that does make it funny when a player breaks his own news about where he’s going, as happened with Marcus Stroman signing with the Chicago Cubs.
Both Rosenthal and Heyman (and others, including Matt Spiegel of Chicago radio station 670 The Score, who was first by several hours) reported that Stroman was in talks with the team. But Stroman (seen above in May pitching for the Mets against the Rays) himself broke the news that the deal was done. Here’s some of how that played out chronologically:
Have heard now from 2 different sources that the Cubs and Marcus Stroman are hot and heavy in discussion right now. Would absolutely love that signing.
— M@ (@MattSpiegel670) December 1, 2021
Cubs are in serious talks with Marcus Stroman @mattspiegel670 1st
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 1, 2021
Cubs in talks with free-agent right-hander Marcus Stroman, source tells @TheAthletic. First to note interest: @MattSpiegel670.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 1, 2021
CHICAGO! @Cubs
— Marcus Stroman (@STR0) December 1, 2021
Rosenthal just retweeted that, as did Spiegel, but both Heyman and Passan had funny nods to Stroman breaking his own news:
Stroman is a Cub. 1st @STR0
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 1, 2021
That seems pretty official. https://t.co/5P387lNZ98
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 1, 2021
There have definitely been cases of athletes breaking their own moves before, including LeBron James three times (first with the much-discussed “The Decision” ESPN special, then with a first-person Sports Illustrated piece with Lee Jenkins (which Chris Broussard still felt the need to “confirm“), then with an announcement through his agency) and Kevin Durant once (in a Players’ Tribune piece still widely memed). And there’s absolutely some logic to that at times; that information has news value, and it’s sometimes worth it for players to try and get that value themselves. There’s also a case for moves being leaked to insiders, though; not every move needs to be a first-person piece. But it’s still interesting to see a player break their own free agency news on Twitter, and this is the best player acquisition credit in Chicago since the 2017 White Sox scoop from noted MLB insiders KatyPerrysBootyHole and WetButt23.
[Marcus Stroman on Twitter; photo from Nathan Ray Seebeck/USA Today Sports]
