The days and hours leading up to the MLB trade deadline are a chance for insiders to shine, but Pittsburgh Pirates play-by-play voice Greg Brown won’t be turning to Jon Heyman for information.
During Sunday afternoon’s Pirates matchup with the Philadelphia Phillies, Brown blasted Heyman for a report that the MLB insider Tweeted regarding Pittsburgh’s outfielder Bryan Reynolds.
“Some writers write ridiculous things, like Jon Heyman, silly,” Brown bluntly stated during the AT&T Sportsnet broadcast. “Tweeted out something today. Talk about grain of salt, take everything that guy says with a grain of salt.”
Someone isn't very fond of Jon Heyman pic.twitter.com/dN1ZY8j3ew
— Brandon Contes (@BrandonContes) August 1, 2022
“What did he say?” game analyst Bob Walk asked. “I’ll bite.”
Brown proceeded to read Heyman’s tweet from earlier in the day, which stated “Rival execs who have inquired about Pirates star CF Bryan Reynolds have the same impression. And that is that he isn’t going anywhere.”
“Duh,” Brown added.
After agreeing to bite at the Heyman rant, Walk didn’t appear to share Brown’s outrage, only adding “hm” before the broadcast moved on.
What’s weird about Brown’s gripe is that he wasn’t disputing the validity of Heyman’s report, he just didn’t seem to think it was worth a Tweet. Brown agrees with Heyman that Reynolds won’t be dealt at the trade deadline, but the Pirates play-by-play voice considered it stating the obvious rather than a report.
Heyman’s Tweet wasn’t totally out of left field. While it always seemed unlikely that Pittsburgh would deal Reynolds considering he’s under team control through the 2025 season, there were multiple reports about the former All-Star drawing trade interest around the league.
A simple Tweet confirming Pittsburgh isn’t motivated to deal Reynolds didn’t appear egregious. But it struck a nerve with Brown, who must have been previously irked by some of Heyman’s reporting, he just didn’t delve into what those past issues were.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com