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