#same I had resigned myself that we were losing rusty AND kris

[rimouskis]

Genuinely in shock that somehow we kept Rusty Tanger and Geno. Like before the off-season I was already accepting the fact that we’d lose one of them (at least).

Also somehow Raks too????

I feel like if this experience taught me anything, it's that I don't trust the media worth a damn. I am so frustrated with how this went down from every single angle, and (not to sound like a right wing nut) the media made it ten thousand times worse.

I was genuinely and seriously in "of course geno will come back :)" land when left to my own devices. it was only when I started reading the Panic Pieces from our Dear Favorite Writers that I actually got nervous. then they started publishing, like, multiple articles within 48 hours of each other, escalating in severity and fear. it was ridiculous, and so much of it was.... bunk? absolutely bungled? ill-sourced?

to me it seemed evident that some writers had lost most, if not all, inside connections that they previously had, and that tanked their "inside knowledge" considerably. now: that's not the writers' fault, but that doesn't obligate them to publish rumors, spit on 'em to shine 'em up, and call 'em likely, you know?

like, no one fucking knew about the rusty deal. which: fine, GMRH is quiet, alright, but that it took EVERYONE by surprise isn't how we're used to things going around here, and it threw off basically every reporter's estimation of how this summer would go. and THEN the tanger deal, which was like... basically unbelievable if your impression was garnered from the media (who all agreed that the pens would lose tanger this summer barring a miracle and personality replacement for kris). I was shocked, and that's when I knew something was seriously up, because I had taken some reporters' opinions earnestly and they were being proven wrong on multiple points in VERY short order, and it made their articles look kinda goofy in hindsight.

that's not to say I'm unsympathetic; I know people who have worked in News for years, some who have recently lost their jobs and livelihoods and crafts-of-30-years because of the shuttering of newspapers and traditional reporting. I know that, unfortunately, news is a business and these people need clicks. I don't doubt for a SECOND that this entire ordeal was a fantastic opportunity for them financially. I think it sucks, but it's a reality of the job, and I'm willing to understand it.

however: the geno situation got so, so, so out of control.

good god some of those articles were becoming clickbaity as shit, lol. it got pretty ridiculous at the end, and even though we ALL were sitting here like "alright cool, so geno and the pens are playing hardball with each other and using their favorite weapons on each other: The Media", that doesn't mean that those very-much-intentionally-leaked things didn't cause a ton of stress, ahaha.

I was convinced—CONVINCED—that Geno's "I'm going to free agency, you bastards" move was him DEMANDING that hextall blink first, but that doesn't change the facts that: he said he was open to testing the market, he could have gotten a great offer, and he could have taken it. I don't think he threw that threat down lightly, but I really truly honestly (my friends will tell you) believed that that move was him using the last thing in his arsenal. I could be wrong! he really could have (and by a lot of current indications, did) mean that as an earnest "fuck you, I'll go", but my poor little optimist heart was clinging onto that idea, and I will fully accept and admit that geno was absolutely waging psychological war on the pens front office, very intentionally, in an attempt to

get what he wanted(/deserved) and

make them look bad.

anyways, back to my point: I was genuinely doing really well (yay, disassociation and blind necessary optimism) if I didn't read any media pieces on the situation, and because of my belief that those pieces were written with both a lack of real knowledge of the situation (NO ONE FUCKING KNEW GENO WAS GOING TO SIGN. NO ONE LEAKED IT. NO INSIDERS. THE PENS POSTED IT.) and the intent to drive traffic during an intense and, yes, dramatic moment...

well, we'll just say that in addition to side-eyeing the fuck out of the pens front office/org, I will also be gazing upon several beat reporters skeptically for a hot minute.