Rangers' Robert Ahlstrom Found Out He Was Traded on Instagram
The business side of baseball can be a lot of things. In terms of trading a fan-favorite, like the Texas Rangers did by trading Jose Trevino on Saturday, it can be painful for both the club and the player.
For Robert Ahlstrom, one of two pitchers acquired in the trade, it was surprising.
While the Rangers gave Trevino the honor of an in-person meeting—including president of baseball operations Jon Daniels, general manager Chris Young, manager Chris Woodward and catching coach Bobby Wilson—to inform him of the trade, Ahlstrom found out on social media.
A New York Yankees fan page on Instagram called "Yankees Source" commented Saturday on a March 21 post from Ahlstrom, saying, "Good luck in Texas ... gonna miss u."
Ahlstrom responded, "wait what?"
The fan page then informed him of the trade, which warranted another confusing response from Ahlstrom: "I did?"
Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard via Imagn Content Services, LLC
BRIAN HAYES / STATESMAN JOURNAL via Imagn Content Services, LLC
Most of the time, trades are leaked to the media ahead of any official announcements by clubs. There are final details (exchange of physicals, etc.) that have to be ironed out before trades are approved by Major League Baseball and become official. Once an agreed-upon trade is leaked to a reporter, the trade does not become secret for long.
This was not the case in Saturday's trade. The Rangers' official announcement of the transaction beat any report by someone in the media.
While Ahlstrom is considered the second player in this trade (Albert Abreu will immediately have an impact at the big-league level for Texas), it is astonishing and perplexing that some players are still finding out they are traded from fans on social media before being informed by their clubs.
