The MLB's trading deadline is right around the corner. And for the first time in SB Nation history, there is a location for all the rumor-mongering, speculation and gossiping. That would be MLB Daily Dish. It's only about a month old now, but it's caught on fairly quickly as many baseball fans love their transactions.
The site is currently being run by Matt Buggenhagen and he's done an incredible, masterful job of bringing the latest rumors from all over the Web and consolidating it in one place with exceptional analysis. With the deadline being this upcoming Friday, I figured who better to put in the spotlight this week than Matt.
Matt Buggenhagen: Believe it or not I actually just kind of fell into blogging. My co-writer on the site Eli Greenspan told me he was getting involved in this new site (MLB Daily Dish) and he was looking for some help. Next thing you know here I am. I've always been extremely passionate about sports, and I love writing, so it just seemed like an ideal fit.
Buggenhagen: I really enjoy the roller coaster ride that you can be on with some of these MLB transactions (trade rumors specifically). Take for instance the Roy Halladay sweepstakes. It seems like every day there are five new teams involved, and five old teams out. Every writer has a different story, and every fan has a different opinion. The stories constantly take twist and turns, which always keeps it exciting.
In terms of building a community I think we have a huge advantage from some of the other sites. Unlike some of the more team specific sites we have the ability to attract fans from all 30 major league teams. Now at first it will be difficult. Anytime you're the new kid on the block you'll have your bumps and bruises along the way; however, we're very confident that MLB Daily Dish will be a huge success in the near future.
Buggenhagen: We're hoping the tone is very fan oriented. We want to make MLB Daily Dish a place where fans can come and just talk shop about anything baseball. People visiting our site should expect to see a variety of different stories. They'll get everything from news stories, trade rumors, free agent signings, and various other stories about controversial issues in baseball. We want to be a one-stop shop for anything baseball related.
Buggenhagen: I personally think Roy Halladay is going to be dealt (probably to the Phillies), but other than that don't expect a lot of big names to be changing teams this year. Maybe Matt Holliday will go as well, but I'm sure Billy Beane is going to ask for too much in return, and I wouldn't expect Beane to settle for less. It's much trickier these days to make a deal given the state of the current economy. In past years there was a lot more activity because teams had the financial flexibility to take on "salary dumps", but that's not the case anymore. Teams are more conscious than ever about player salaries, and players with huge contracts are pretty much untradeable at this point. However, I still expect well see a lot of small moves. Probably focusing more on role players and bullpen help.
Buggenhagen: My favorite baseball team is the New York Yankees.
Believe it or not it doesn't impact my blogging all that much. I'm not going to say here and there the Yankee fan doesn't come out in me, but overall it's not too big a deal. However, I will say that I'm very conscious of it when writing, and I do all I can to try and leave any bias out of my stories.
Buggenhagen: I actually inherited the bug from my parents. Both my mom and dad are huge baseball fans, so naturally I just gravitated to the sport. I still can remember the first baseball game I attended, which was at the old Yankee Stadium. I went to see the Yankees play Ken Griffey Jr. and the Mariners. The electricity in the stadium was amazing, and from that point on I was hooked.
Buggenhagen: Without question I think it's Theo Epstein. I understand he has tremendous resources, but what he has done in Boston is really remarkable. At age 35 his regime has already produced two World Series rings. How many other GMs can say that? Additionally, I have to give credit to Brian Cashman and Billy Beane. Cashman already has four World Series rings during his tenure, which is pretty impressive. Understandably, it's with the Yankees and their near limitless payroll, but nobody has put up with as much crap as that guy. And Beane probably does the most with the least in Oakland.
I'm not sure I can pinpoint one team in particular that is more fascinating to watch than the others. I'd probably say the big players are often the most interesting (i.e. Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, Phillies, Dodgers and Angels). They always seem to be involved in every player that's on the market, and it's usually a rat race to see who wins. However, this year I guess the most fascinating team would be the Blue Jays. They're the one team providing a little spunk to this dismal trade market.
That's the great thing about baseball news the information never stops coming. A lot of people associate July 31 as the end; however, the wheeling and dealing really never stops, it merely changes. Following the July 31 non-waiver deadline we enter the August waiver trade period. It's a little different concept, but essentially players can still be traded after July 31. And this year most insiders believe that market may turn out to produce more deals than the non-waiver trade market. Additionally, you still will have plenty of free agent signings, international signings, and draft pick signings occurring throughout the rest of the year. So essentially I don't think a great deal will change for us following the deadline. That's the one thing I really love about our site. We don't have an offseason.
Buggenhagen: Umm I'm getting married next year, which is somewhat nerve-racking and expensive, but other than that I'm just a pretty simple guy.
Buggenhagen: My experience truly has been amazing. I can't thank SB Nation enough for allowing me this tremendous platform. I was fortunate to join MLB Daily Dish at its infancy, and to watch how it has steadily grown in such a short period of time has been really remarkable. Most of that is just a testament to the great folks over at SB Nation. Also, quick shout out to Eric Simon of Amazin Avenue he's kind of taken me under his wing and shown me the ropes, which has been really helpful.
Buggenhagen: Anytime!
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