Epilogue
Writers have to meet a deadline every day, and their only sources of material, until there’s some actual news, are interviews and unnamed sources at the coffee shop.
At the deadline and the Winter meetings in particular, don't get too excited about a report until changes from nearing completion, and even then, it may fall through, as the Carlos Correa deal showed last year.
GMs or POBOs like the Atlanta Braves Alex Anthopoulos need to give interviews to answer questions, squash rumors, and remain engaged with fans. His answers are only restating the obvious, but there’s nothing else he can do until a deal is done.
We here at HTHB have to write about rumors as well, but we ignore rumors from the third stool just before the flush and attempt to offer context to those from recognized sources. I think we do that pretty well.