Gee, this is a tough audience
When Synbad, or anyone else, posts on this site, he can wear a number of hats.
First, he can be giving his opinion as we are all entitled to do. So he has made it known that he thinks Lance should be traded for draft picks. No confusion there - it has always been clear that this is his personal view.
Secondly, he can post in the fashion of a journalist. In that case he relies upon sources, and he should convey the information from that source fairly and make it clear what comes from the source and what is his own opinion.
If he knows someone who has greater access to information than the general supporter, by all means let us know the info. It doesn't mean he warrants its accuracy. Especially when it is more a prediction rather than information regarding existing facts.
As Synbad has said, the fact that Lappin signed does not negate that the club and his source believed at an earlier time that he would not.
If any one of us had talked to Pagan a month ago about Lappin's future, and had been told by him that he was likely to leave, would that have been interesting? Of course it would have been. Even if ultimately it was proven wrong.
That is not to suggest that I think Synbad's source is that highly placed. Maybe (s)he is, maybe (s)he ins't. I would assume that the source would be lower in the hierarchy, and not involved in those negotiations directly. But I remain interested in second-hand information from those at the club, from bootstudder upwards.
The fact that we don't know who the information comes from means that we have to be sensible in assessing its accuracy. And we also have to accept that the club or various people within it might choose to disseminate false information. Maybe to mislead other teams or those with whom they are negotiating (e.g. player managers for players like Lappin). Maybe a source wants to pass on malicious gossip for his or her own reasons. That is the case with any report that you might see based on unidentified sources. The technique of "kite-flying" is often used by politicians, and the White House is currently embroiled in a scandal after Scooter Libby allegedly used journalists to attack a vocal critic of the pretext for the Iraq war.
But as with a journalist, you can form a view overall as to the reliability of Synbad's sources over time. It is strange that critics would use this thread to prove a lack of reliability when Synbad correctly reported ahead of the official announcement that, contrary to earlier indications, Skinny had signed.
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