Who Had The Scoop?

Given the number of journalists in competition these days, as well as the instantaneous nature of breaking news, it is very difficult to scoop a major baseball story.  Let’s tip our cap to the journalists who were the first to report this winter’s biggest deals.  I won’t list them here, but in many cases one person scooped the agreement and a second person had the terms.  Many of these are open to interpretation due to the language used.

Free agents

• Mark Teixeira: Jon Heyman of SI.com
• C.C. Sabathia: Joel Sherman of the New York Post
• A.J. Burnett: Jerry Crasnick of ESPN
• Derek Lowe: David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
• Ryan Dempster: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports
• Francisco Rodriguez: Joel Sherman of the New York Post
• Oliver Perez: Jon Heyman of SI.com
• Raul Ibanez: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports
• Milton Bradley: Bruce Levine of ESPN Radio
• Rafael Furcal: Tim Brown of Yahoo (difficult to determine)
• Kenshin Kawakami: David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
• Kerry Wood: Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com (difficult to determine)
• Adam Dunn: Chico Harlan of the Washington Post
• Edgar Renteria: Tim Brown of Yahoo (difficult to determine)
• Casey Blake: Jayson Stark of ESPN
• Brian Fuentes: Buster Olney of ESPN
• Pat Burrell: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports
• Jamie Moyer: Howard Eskin of WIP 610 Radio
• Juan Rivera: Tim Brown of Yahoo
• Damaso Marte: Impacto Deportivo (journalist unknown)
• Koji Uehara: Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun
• Randy Johnson: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports
• Jon Garland: Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic
• Trevor Hoffman: Barry Bloom and Adam McCalvy of MLB.com
• Andy Pettitte: Jon Heyman of SI.com
• John Smoltz: Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe
• Jason Giambi: Buster Olney of ESPN
• Bobby Abreu: Jon Heyman of SI.com
• Brad Penny: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports
• Jason Varitek: Jon Heyman of SI.com
• Randy Wolf: Tim Brown of Yahoo
• Nick Punto: Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune
• Kyle Farnsworth: Steve Phillips of ESPN
• Dayan Viciedo: Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune
• Junichi Tazawa: Sponichi (journalist unknown)

Extensions

• Ryan Howard: Jim Salisbury of the Philadelphia Inquirer
• Prince Fielder: Tom Verducci of SI
• Cole Hamels: Joel Sherman of the New York Post
• Nick Markakis: Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun
• Dustin Pedroia: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports
• Kevin Youkilis: Peter Gammons of ESPN
• Paul Maholm: Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• Jayson Werth: John R. Finger of CSN Philadelphia
• Ryan Madson: Jim Salisbury of the Philadelphia Inquirer
• Ryan Doumit: Jerry Crasnick of ESPN
• Chris Snyder: Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic

Trades

• Matt Holliday: Jon Heyman of SI.com
• J.J. Putz: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (difficult to determine)
• Javier Vazquez: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports
• Jason Marquis: Steve Phillips of ESPN
• Mark DeRosa: Bruce Levine of ESPN Radio
• Edwin Jackson: Ed Price of FOX Sports
• Ramon Hernandez: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (difficult to determine)
• Gerald Laird: Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press
• Khalil Greene: Joel Sherman of the New York Post
• Coco Crisp: Brian McRae of Sports Radio 810
• Kevin Gregg: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports
• Nick Swisher: Jerry Crasnick of ESPN
• Scott Olsen: Peter Gammons of ESPN
• Mike Jacobs: Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star