Did Blog Comment Tip Bernie’s Crew Blogger Off to Zack Greinke Trade?

Late Saturday evening, we passed along word of a reported Zack Greinke to the Brewers trade. The report was met with skepticism because a fan blog called “Bernie’s Crew” published the news, while no mainstream reporters had any information on the deal. Between Greinke’s trade demands and Milwaukee’s candidacy to make a deal, we thought the report was significant and it turned out to be accurate.

Credit goes to Bernie’s Crew blogger Jim Breen for blowing away the competition when it came to the Greinke trade. He was ahead of information men like Buster Olney, Ken Rosenthal, and even Brewers reporter Tom Haudricort. So how did Breen come out of nowhere to break the news? He told LBS in an email “I do not feel comfortable giving much information on my source, as I do want to adhere to his wishes as far as anonymity and the like. I was simply lucky enough to make the right connections at the right time.” His wishes to protect his source makes complete sense. But did he get tipped off to the news by a commenter on his blog? Sure seems like a possibility.

As D.J. Short informed us via Fantasy Fix, a commenter left this informative comment on a Bernie’s Crew post Saturday afternoon:

“Jim,

I’ve heard from a very reliable source that the Brewers got Grienke in
exchange for Cain, Escobar, and Jeffries. I suggest you look into it and
see if you can confirm. If so, 2011 is the year for the Brewers.”

That information gave Breen several hours to work on confirming the information, which he did perfectly. Maybe this is to what he was referring when he said he was lucky enough to make the right connection, but let’s give the man credit for confirming the trade and getting it right. This is the biggest trade the Brewers have made since acquiring CC Sabathia and it was a blogger that broke the news. Score one for the little guy, with a big hat tip to the commenter.