It’s been a turbulent season for the Guardians and the team hasn’t needed anyone’s help in creating drama – but Twitter newsbreaker Hector Gomez did his level-best to provide some, and I’d like to see some accountability for it.
Unless you’ve been in a hibernation chamber, you are probably aware of the paid, administrative leave situation for Guardians’ pitchers Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase. The Clase situation felt like a special kind of gut-punch to the team and to fans, given that it came just a few days before the trade deadline and removed the franchise leader in saves from a team trying to climb back into the playoff push. We should know more about just what Ortiz and Clase did and what the consequences will be in about ten days. However, we are now far enough removed from that date to ask some pointed questions about the way the news was handled by one Hector Gomez.
On the day the suspension was announced, self-proclaimed “MLB Insider” and editor of a digital paper from the Dominican Republic, Hector Gomez tweeted:
For those without access to Twitter, the tweet says: “SOURCE: Other Guardians pitchers are being investigated for MLB’s sports-betting. According to the source, the names of the pitchers involved would be revealed in the coming days. They will be placed on non-disciplinary paid leave, as has been the case with Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase.”
This tweet was surprising given that the Guardians publicly released a statement including the information “We have been informed that no additional players or Club personnel are expected to be impacted.” This statement was backed up by reliable Guardians’ beat reporters such as Zack Meisel of the Athletic, reporting that the league went out of their way to make it plain to the Cleveland franchise that no one else on the club was under investigation.
Gomez has broken news many times. He has extensive connections in baseball, especially among Dominican players. It’s clear that this news would provide an additional level of uncertainty and anxiety among Guardians’ players at a time they desperately needed to find a way to trust their teammates. Credit to manager Stephen Vogt and the rest of the staff, the team perservered through this turmoil to play well over the next few weeks, as it became clear that, in fact, no additional Guardians’ pitchers were being investigated.
I am writing this article to ask, respectfully, that Hector Gomez explain why he tweeted this information, contrary to the public statement the Guardians (and MLB) offered, to own up to his information being inaccurate, and to make clear how he will avoid making this kind of reckless speculation appear as sourced news in the future.
Some may say, “Well, Gomez isn’t the only reckless Twitter newsbreaker. Remember ‘Arson Judge to the Giants’, by Jon Heyman? Or, Jon Morosi reporting that Shohei Ohtani was flying to Toronto when it was actually Robert Herjavec? Or, any number of Bob Nightengale disastrous mistakes including reporting that Bryce Harper had died? Why pick on Gomez?”
My response would be that I am not intending to “pick-on” Gomez. I am asking Gomez AND others like Heyman, Morosi and Nightengale (all three fairly notorious for their high profile gaffes) to set a higher standard for newsbreaking and rumor-reporting. And, in this particular case, Gomez’s irresponsible behavior affected the team that I cover, so I am addressing it.
We don’t need to know first; we need to know the best information. And, I do not share this call as a journalist; I am not a journalist. I am what would probably best be termed a “fanalyst.” And, I get “scoops.” Sometimes, I get information about things that would make for GREAT columns or tweets that would get lots of interaction and clicks. And, even though I am decidely not a journalist, I never share that information unless I confirm it and get the permission to share it from someone that I trust. There is also something far different about user @Wahoo_69 on Twitter saying “My cousin’s fiance told me the team is shopping Jose Ramirez” and someone who is attempting to be an MLB Insider running with information flatly contrary to statements released by the team and the league he is trying to cover.
It’s probably a lost cause to demand accountability in today’s world. I am doubtful that Hector Gomez will even see this article, much less respond to it. But, Mr. Gomez, if you care about the work you do, the league and lives you cover, I would like to respectfully ask that you revisit your tweet of July 28th and help us understand why you decided to click send and how you plan to adjust your newsbreaking in the future to avoid making bad situations worse for no apparent reason. Perhaps this can even be a moment where you can help alleviate the situation by revealing a potential bad actor who was attempting to sow additional discord on the Guardians? I don’t know, but I have the slim hope of a relentless optimist that you can do something to help make a wrong (albeit small in the grand scheme of things) right.