DON'T GET IT TWISTED, THE YANKS LOVE GREG BIRD!

Photo: MLB.com

And you know what? They'll wait for him to get right after his injury runs it's course.  Bill Madden writes fake news, and has for years now.... it's as simple as that.

I hate non-stories and I hate that Baseball Insiders need to use unnamed sources and floating pieces pointed at players in the same organization they're apart of, just to stir the pot and cause trouble for not only the team itself, but also aggravate fans and ultimately put an unwarranted bulls-eye on certain players heads, all because they want to sell newspapers. For many of these assholes, it's about them, the writer, trying to top other writers in their weird world of reporting.  You have to admire a lot of the good guys. I mean, not all of them are shameless. As I've stated numerous times here certain reporters are just outstanding; Jason Keidel, Pete Caldera, Jack Curry when he was with the New York Times, and even now with YES. Pete Abraham, Andrew Marchand, Ken Davidoff... Bob Klapsich, several others out there too. These guys do the job right.

Now Bill Madden is ridiculous.  He wasn't ridiculous when he began his quest for solid sports journalism, but something happened along the way, and I have no idea what it is. Maybe it's the fact that his kid fell on hard times and he's just angry about that, or maybe he's just old now.  I don't know.  I do know that he's causing trouble.  So much so that professionals like Andrew Marchand of ESPN is handling the story correctly... don't even mentioning Madden or the New York Daily News by name, but instead offering the story as a "report." Class act Marchand, and smart.  I like that.

Madden's piece is called, Crippling injuries and Greg Bird mystery — which is exasperating Yankees brass — dashing promising season. I'm not linking it, because it's stupid.  But I will quote Marchand's piece so you know what's happening:

Photo: Newsday

"Yankees injured first baseman Greg Bird defended himself against a published report that questioned his desire to come back from his ankle injury.

'I want to play,' said Bird, who has been limited to 19 games this year. 'I've always wanted to play since I can remember. I love baseball. For me, I'm doing everything I can to come back. I love it and I want to be playing with these guys. I would hope people see it.'

Photo: NJ.com

The newspaper report quoted a 'Yankee insider' saying, 'You really wonder what's with this guy. You'd think with Judge and Sanchez, the guys he came through the system with, doing so well up here he'd want to be a part of this. Apparently not.'"

And so I did some digging because I actually have a friend at the Yankees organization.  He's not a high up guy, but he is in tune with the inner workings and chats with all the higher ups to know what people are actually saying there. I knew he'd have a finger on the pulse when it comes to this garbage.  Luckily for me, here's the text I received from him an hour and 25 minutes ago:

(Frank Franklin II | AP)

"Brass loves bird. there is no indication that he's milking injury and not wanting to play.  They know he's hurt, they know he needs to get better, and while it seems strange, they know there is nothing they can do but wait and all will eventually be fine.  Why rush injury, especially with so much going on with the team right now?"

I went further and asked about Madden's story...

"Yeah... it's probably bullshit. You don't praise a kid and then rip him behind his back."

And you know what? I believe him.  No reason to not, and kind of falls in line with Madden's reputation in recent years. Be provocative, get clicks, try to stay relevant and yes... cause unnecessary trouble.

I wonder how Bill Madden would feel if a Daily News insider questioned his integrity as a journalist.  Let me guess... he's too far gone... he wouldn't care.

Despicable.