Would you buy a used car from this man?
Last night, Jon Heyman Tweeted that the Yankee 5th starter race is over. The Yankee blog community was abuzz with the news, thinking that Hughes had won the competition and Joba will be heading to the bullpen. Here’s his Tweet:
joba is out of #yanks rotation derby. RT @JackCurryYES: No Joba-Hughes showdown Mon. Hughes will face Phils. Joba will work intrasquad game
Just one problem. It’s not even remotely true. Here’s the Jack Curry Tweet that Heyman based his report on:
No Joba-Hughes showdown vs Phils on Mon. Hughes will face Phils. Joba will work intrasquad game
Do you see anything there about the race being over? Any declarations from Girardi or the participants? I don’t. For background, Heyman is a long-standing B-Jobber. He’s a regular on Francesa’s WFAN radio show and has always been firmly in the camp that Joba was “born” to be a closer. So what we have here is a case study in media bias. No, check that. Bias would be the best case scenario. It’s just as likely he’s being sensational during a slow news time and knows exactly what he doing. In either case, don’t pay any attention to him. That’s what he wants.
(h/t Riddering)
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17 Responses to Folks, please don't listen to Jon Heyman
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TIQ IQ
..and yes, I should take my own advice and not pay attention to him, either. I usually don’t, I don’t think all that highly of him as a reporter or his (intentionally vague) writing style. But there was so much chatter in the Yankee blog community last night that this had to be cleared up. Click your links, folks. Especially when it comes to Jon.
And never trust a guy who leaves the “H” out of his name. He’s just trying to be fancy.
I don’t think this post is hypocritical at all… We can ignore people like this but when one of them makes THIS poor of a showing, it should definitely be pointed out. Someone has to hold these people accountable. We can ignore Heyman’s every day inanities but when he says something like he said last night, I think you guys have every right to be all over it (and I think you do a service to your readership by doing so).
(On the other hand… Maybe his name is just, like, Jonathan?)
RIGHT ON STEVE. HEYMAN IS SO POSSESED WITH”BREAKING NEWS” THAT HE FLINGS STUFF AGAINST THE WALL TO SEE WHAT STICKS…..HE LOST ALL CASHE WITH ME THIS PAST OFF SEASON WHEN HE LOBBIED SO HARD FOR THE YANKS TO BRING BACK DAMON, THAT HE MIGHT AS WELL HAVE BEEN ON BORAS’S PAYROLL. HE KEPT JD’S NAME IN THE PAPER ALL WINTER, VERY SUSPICIOUS… IVE OFTEN THOUGHT THAT HE TRADES HEADLINES FOR SCOUPS WITH SCOTT…
I get that the blogging community is on board with the Joba is a starter, utilize the innings, etc… However, although Jon Heyman may not understand sabermetrics and may not be as intelligent as everyone. That said, Heyman has a hell of a lot more contacts and knows more about what may or may not be going on then anyone on a blog. I’m not in favor of Joba in the pen, but I think the bashing of Heyman/Sherman/whoever else is anti-Joba a starter, but we should take some of what they say as being possibly true. No one can disprove what Heyman said as not truthful, and therefore no one should say, “Don’t listen to Heyman.” For all we know, Cashman whispered to Heyman that Joba is probably heading to the pen and Heyman is choosing to piggyback off Curry.
That may well be possible but it’s not Heyman’s usual M.O. Considering that no one else has hinted or heard definitive word on the fifth starter and Heyman didn’t follow up on his one tweet, I don’t believe it was anything more than a silly assumption.
I think, no matter what word comes out later, it’s irresponsible of someone like Heyman to seemingly blur the lines between opinion and face on purpose in order to drum up attention and doubt because he has the sources we do not.
First, it’s nice to see you around, Jay. Hopefully you’ll be back to regular commenting once the season starts, I always found that you always added something to any debate.
That said, you’re off on two counts. First, I’m agnostic on Joba and always have been. I find myself getting into arguments with the extremes on both sides of this debate. As a young player, I don’t know where Joba’s future is, and this off season have posted scenarios with him starting and relieving. I’m old enough to remember Dave Righetti was a very good starter for the Yanks, but the need arose and he went to the bullpen (which he had reservations about) and stayed there the rest of his career.
Also, you assume Heyman knows something we don’t. That’s exactly what he wants you to think. If this was another reporter that this hasn’t happened with over and over again, I wouldn’t do a piece like this. But Heyman has been caught in so many obvious lies, is widely known among beat reporters as Scott Boras’ water boy, and he writes his articles in a way that makes it sounds like he knows more than he does. He’s a fraud. I keep score on these things, I’ve seen reporters like Buster Onley and Joel Sherman break stories that proved to be true over and over again. But Heyman is a rumor-monger who has 50 bad leads for every 1 story he breaks. It’s obvious to me his journalistic standards range from low to non-existent. There’s a way to write these stories without looking like you’re taking sides or carrying an agents water, but Jon doesn’t bother to do that.
When I’ve criticized Sherman, it’s generally for his schizophrenic analysis. Half brilliant, and half utterly lost. But in Heyman’s case, I think the guy is simply a hack.
The hack George King, another noted B-Jobber, goes one step even further. Check this out from today’s paper:
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/yankees/drive_for_Ndj1jys4oV3I98p5JSq5wO
“Hughes is considered the slight favorite, and is followed by Alfredo Aceves and Sergio Mitre.”
Um, does anybody notice a name missing there?
How do they have jobs?
ANOTHER HACK NAME DROPPER,KLAPISH. BEEN READNG HIM SINCE THE BONILLA BRUHAHA IN THE EARLY 90′S. AGAIN, SUSPICIOUSLY, HE FOREVER HAS BEEN QUOTING
“ACCORDING TO A HIGH RANKING EXECUTIVE”….BUT NEVER, EVER, NAMES HIM. LETS FACE IT, YOU OR I COULD PULL THAT ONE OFF…
This is a great post, pointing out the doubt that we fans and bloggers should have when it comes to “information” shared on Twitter. Heyman is a perfect example. Some people are going to take his word for it because of his status, even though it’s lazy reporting at best and unprofessional rumor mongering at worst.
Heh, I also appreciate the greater level of analysis you gave this compared to my comment. ;)
Thank you, sweetie. That means a lot coming from you.
Heyman’s always been a lightweight – so kudos for exposing him as such to others! Actually, SI should be embarrassed for associating with him.
Agreed.
Over and over again, I find myself saying ‘how on Earth does this guy work at a respected magazine like SI?’ I guess the idea is to appeal to all sorts of fans.
are you sure thats not pee wee hermans picture
[...] opinion or is based on actual reporting. We had one example last night from Jon Heyman, as Steve clarified this morning. Heyman was just stating an opinion about Joba Chamberlain, but a number of people ran [...]
Well…looks like he was completely right on this one….
That’s beyond the point of this post.
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