Your First We Tried Tracker Replace

A pair weeks in the past, I launched the We Tried Tracker, which we’re utilizing to doc every time a staff claims that it was additionally in on a free agent who signed elsewhere. I used to be really moved by your response. A lot of you despatched wonderful leads on social media. The tip line I arrange, WeTriedTracker@gmail.com, acquired 30 emails and solely 26 of them had been spam, which looks like a fairly good ratio to me. As issues have gotten cooking, we’ve added shade coding to the tracker, and (on the suggestion of Twitter person @YayaSucks) hyperlinks to the unique reporting for every We Tried. I’ll do my greatest to maintain tricking out the tracker till it’s so vivid and complicated that it hurts each your eyes and your mind. Thanks to everybody who reached out with a tip, and please sustain the great work! So many groups are on the market making an attempt proper now, and it’s each our duty and our nice privilege to award them partial credit score for these efforts.

In accordance with the Free Agent Matrices (which now include the We Tried Tracker), 13 free brokers have signed to this point. In concept, meaning there have been 377 alternatives for a We Tried, however which may not be essentially the most affordable approach to have a look at issues. We’ve to this point documented 5 We Trieds, and I’d say that going 5-for-13 strikes me as a stable batting common, particularly this early within the course of, when solely two names from the High 50 are off the board. With that, let’s dive into the week in We Tried.

The second official We Tried of the offseason got here in controversial style. On November 21, Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts and A’s supervisor Mark Kotsay spoke on the USC Sports activities Enterprise Summit in a section titled Contained in the Dugout: A Hearth Chat. Perhaps it’s as a result of I went to a tiny liberal arts faculty, however I’m actually blown away by the USC Sports activities Enterprise Affiliation’s Adobe Inventive Suite price range. Any individual’s not messing round with Canva.

Beneath is a nonetheless from the occasion that I grabbed from the SBA’s Instagram reel. This isn’t essentially the purpose, however I believe we should always all take a second to notice the conspicuous absence of a fireplace.

That’s not a hearth chat, my buddies. That’s only a chat.

Whereas chatting, Kotsay talked about that the A’s had talked to free agent Walker Buehler, however that Buehler had informed them he didn’t need to play in Sacramento. Proper out of the gate, Kotsay was testing the bounds of the We Tried. They normally come from reporters, and once they do come from a staff supply, that supply is sort of by no means the supervisor. Furthermore, Kotsay was talking to a gaggle of faculty college students. He most likely didn’t count on his phrases to get out to most of the people in any respect. It simply so occurred that a kind of faculty college students, Kasey Kazliner, can also be a sports activities reporter who wasn’t about to cross up the chance to interrupt a narrative. Kazliner posted the remark quarter-hour into the chat. Lower than 70 minutes after it ended, the hardworking R.J. Anderson had already revealed a full article about it for CBS Sports activities.

The second issue is that Buehler hasn’t signed anyplace but. Per week in the past, I might have informed you that by definition, We Trieds have to come back after the free agent has truly signed, however after conferring with Jon Becker, I see now that I used to be improper. A We Tried merely has to come back when the staff in query has determined that it’s out on a participant, and if there’s one factor the A’s love, it’s getting the hell out of dodge. It could have been unintentional, it could have are available a fraudulent fireplace chat, and it could find yourself coming months earlier than the participant in query truly indicators a contract, however the A’s have formally backed into the second We Tried of the season.

I’ve to be sincere with you, I completely love that actually someday after creating the tracker we had been already splitting hairs and getting pedantic about what counted and what didn’t depend. What higher option to spend the offseason than participating in some mild pedantry? And what’s the purpose of making a leaderboard if you happen to don’t get to argue concerning the rating? That’s what makes it sports activities.

Two days earlier than Thanksgiving, Christmas got here early. Scoopslinger Jon Heyman set a season excessive by breaking three We Trieds in two posts. At 11:15 p.m. Japanese, he posted, “Pink Sox had been in on each Snell and [Yusei] Kikuchi earlier than shedding out. They search rotation upgrades and have most well-liked a lefty.” It is a true traditional of the shape. There’s no quote, no attribution, and no supporting proof. The Pink Sox had been merely “in on” Snell and Kikuchi, which may imply completely something in any respect. Perhaps they supplied extra money than the groups that truly signed them. Perhaps they’d been that means to search for their ERAs on the again of a Topps card. Both one would make Heyman’s phrases technically true. It’s the doubling up that makes it artwork, although. The Pink Sox couldn’t have bothered to achieve out to 2 totally different reporters, only for the sake of not making it appear like they merely texted Heyman an image of their purchasing record? It’s important to ask your self what number of names may seem one announcement earlier than you’d begin to doubt its veracity. I believe the reply is three. Say Max Fried indicators someplace on Tuesday, and Heyman posts that the Blue Jays had been in on all of Fried, Snell, and Kikuchi. At that time, you’re in record mode. As soon as the reporter is utilizing a serial comma, we’ve formally entered the realm of farce.

Shortly after Heyman’s put up, Mark Feinsand cited a supply who additionally included the Orioles to the combo of the groups that had been in on Snell. However the night time belonged to Heyman. Lower than an hour later, he posted his third We Tried of the night: “Yankees had a zoom name with Blake Snell simply at this time. However their close to whole focus is on Juan Soto. Their plan Bs want to attend a bit.” That is actually mixing it up. We’ve obtained one juicy element to go on, and if there’s one factor I do know, it’s that whenever you actually imply enterprise, you hop on Zoom. Certain, the Yankees have a non-public jet, however nothing says “I actually, really need to provide you with a whole bunch of thousands and thousands of {dollars}” like a glitchy video name. There is no such thing as a higher option to entice a possible worker to affix your group than by forcing them to look at through webcam because the pallid November daylight performs off the blotchy pores and skin beneath your eyes and your reverb-drenched voice intones the magic phrases: “We expect you’d look nice in pinstripes.” Why didn’t the Yankees simply announce that they’d despatched Snell a service pigeon?

On Friday, Andy Kostka reported that the Orioles had been in on Kikuchi as nicely, bringing them right into a tie for first place with the Pink Sox. Extra importantly, it gave “We had been in on him” a commanding lead when it comes to the language used. Of the seven We Trieds, 4 took the type of a staff being “in on” the participant, whereas three different phrasings had been tied with only one occasion. With that, our replace is full, and I’ll go away you with our first leaderboards of the offseason. We are going to preserve monitoring because the offseason continues, and as at all times, please tell us if you happen to see a We Tried out within the wild.

BONUS CONTENT: Final week, Johnny Damon went on the “Shut Up Marc” podcast, hosted by Marc Lewis. He talked about signing with the Yankees following the 2005 season and described how the Pink Sox made him the topic of a very cynical We Tried:

I had 4 nice years there after which I accepted with the Yankees, the contract… A pair days later I get a package deal, a DHL package deal from the Pink Sox: four-year, $40 million contract. And it’s like, okay… In order that’s type of displaying religion that they supplied me a deal so that may inform to the media that, “We supplied them a contract, he simply didn’t take it.” So yeah, that’s how issues work.