Ken Rosenthal pulled a Bob Nightengale during Monday’s MLB trade deadline.
The Athletic reporter Rosenthal got roasted for a mistake that he made in reporting the trade of Foster Griffin. The lefty pitcher Griffin was traded by the Washington Nationals to the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for four prospects.
In his haste to report the news, Rosenthal accidentally called the pitcher “Griffin Foster” instead. Though he later issued a correction, Rosenthal was thoroughly roasted over social media for the error.
Griffin Foster to Guardians, source tells @TheAthletic
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 3, 2026
In fairness to Rosenthal, he did have a whole lot of deals to report on Monday’s trade deadline day. But a reporter’s primary job is accuracy, and Griffin is also a pretty well-known name these days as he was just named a 2026 MLB All-Star.
Rosenthal was not quite in peak form at other points of this year’s trade deadline either. In fact, Rosenthal even got the biggest deal of the deadline wrong (Tarik Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers) by mistakenly reporting that Dodgers pitcher Emmet Sheehan had been included in the trade.
CORRECTION: Told Sheehan not in deal
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 2, 2026
The 63-year-old Rosenthal is perhaps the single best-known reporter in the entire sport of baseball. But social media was more than happy to clown him on Monday, especially since Rosenthal is not quite the most popular guy around.
