The offseason is tough enough for New York Yankees fans. However, Twitter makes it far more difficult to weed out the real from the fake.
The second the New York Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs this season, all of the crazy came out of the woodwork.
While Twitter has some incredible features, allowing fans to connect with each other from across the globe, it also sometimes makes you want to throw your phone clean across the room. It makes you question the sanity of those using this website. After all, it is free.
So now that the Boston Red Sox have won the World Series and will continue to rub it in the faces of Bombers fans until the Yankees win their 28th title, Yankees fans have time to explore some crazy yet potential trades the Yankees could pull off.
But the problem is, it’s hard to tell fact from fiction when there are so many rumors circulating around the internet. So we’ve got you covered.
Before you hit retweet or start calling your friends to earn the honor of being the ultimate fan, check out these tips on how to learn the truth this offseason.
Check your dates
Offseason is prime time for Twitter trolls to do their dirty work by retweeting old reports from reputable sources. In fact, just a week ago people were bringing back a tweet talking about J.A. Happ signing with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Cue the panic.
Naturally, Yankees Twitter went nuts over the revelation. That is until a few eagle-eyed fans pointed out that this report was indeed from 2015 when he re-signed with the Blue Jays.
In short, don’t be an idiot. Always check the dates before sharing a report because you don’t want to be made out to be an absolute fool. The Yankees already lost to the Red Sox on their home turf. We don’t need that added embarrassment.
Check marks the spot
This one is pretty obvious but you’d be surprised how often people get tricked by unreliable sources. Always take a look out for the blue checkmarks next to the Twitter names.
Of course, there is the fake Ken Rosenthal who never fails to trick a few people every single day. But besides that, the checks will determine who exactly fans should listen to.
There have been occasional no-names who have been the first to report trades but the truth always comes from the guys who are getting paid to report these trades … so follow the checkmarks and you won’t go wrong.
Take a break from the website
In all seriousness, this is probably the best option if you don’t want to drive yourself crazy. Any big trades that happen will can be revealed on your MLB notifications.
The truth of the matter is, scrolling through Twitter and listening to insane theories of trades that will absolutely never happen can take a toll on our mental stability. I mean how many trade proposals have you seen so far that have you rolling your eyes so far back that you’ve actually seen your brain turn to mush?
Watching all the mind-numbingly idiotic trade proposals pop up on your feed is enough to make you become disinterested when the actual trades happen. I can only see “The Yankees should trade Gary Sanchez” so many times before I start to lose faith in humanity.
While the offseason is an incredibly exciting time, especially with Winter Meetings slowly approaching, it can also be frustrating to watch. The fake reports, the overly eager fans hoping to break the stories before professionals: sometimes it gets to be too much.
The New York Yankees are going to make a splash this offseason, that much is guaranteed. So in order to make it to the great moments, we have to suffer through the tough moments on Twitter.
Oh well. Hey, at least we’ve got some tips to make it through Hot Stove season. The stove is sizzling and so are the hot takes on Twitter.
