This page in a nutshell:
Many popular sports, especially at the professional level, receive extensive news coverage. Wikipedia isnot a newspaper . However, transactions involving hirings/signings, trades, and firings/releases areoften considered encyclopedic for articles on a season for a league/team, or biographies of athletes and other key personnel.
When extensive coverage exists,reliable sources may reportbreaking news on a transaction based onanonymous sources . Indications that news is speculative include phrases such as "a person with knowledge of the negotiations says", "spoke on condition of anonymity", "has not yet signed a contract",[ 1] "are expected to acquire",[ 2] "cannot become official until",[ 3] and "still trying to confirm details".[ 4] Titles of publications generally won't state it as a fact in their own voice, but rather attribute to "reports" or "sources". Deals that are pending and not completed might avoid the past tense, e.g. "are trading".[ 5]
Wheneditors present unconfirmed transaction rumors as factual statements, it violates thebiography of living persons policy , particularlyWP:BLPGOSSIP :
Avoid repeatinggossip . Ask yourself…whether the material is being presented as true…Be wary of relying on sources that useweasel words and that attribute material to anonymous sources.
Some sports leagues have periods where negotiations can take place, but a deal cannot become official until a future date e.g. theJuly moratorium in theNational Basketball Association (NBA).[ 3] In these cases, the transaction should not be presented as having been completed, andinfoboxes should not be updated.
In the past, some unofficial transactions were not consummated due to reasons including players reneging on verbal agreements,[ A] vetoes by the league,[ B] complications withno-trade clauses ,[ C] or a different transaction materializing altogether.[ D] If anything is to be presented at all, it should be limited to proseattributed to the source that is reporting the transaction. For example, "On March 5, 2013, ACME News reported that John Doe will sign with XYZ." It would be inappropriateoriginal research andfuture speculation to present this as "On March 5, 2013, John Doe signed with XYZ."
A transaction can be considered officialif sources report it as completed and attribute it to a named, reputable league or team official.[ 12] Sometimes players that arefree agents may announce their agreement to a contract before the team confirms a contract has been signed and completed. Consensus at Wikipedia articles may determine that the player should be reflected in the article as being a member of the team, even prior to an official announcement by the team.[ E] Otherwise, it may be a lengthy discussion on the distinction between an "official signing" and a player's publicly announced agreement to sign.[ 15]
Examples of deals that fell through or where reports were plain wrong[ edit ] Below are some transactions that were reported as completed, but then fell through after the initial reports:
Aaron Sele , free agent agreement withBaltimore Orioles , 1999–00 offseason[ 16] Alex Rodriguez , trade to theBoston Red Sox , 2003–04 offseason[ 17] Mike Lowell , trade toTexas Rangers , 2009–10 offseason[ 18] Chris Paul , trade toLos Angeles Lakers , 2011–12 season[ 19] [ 20] Charlie Austin , move toHull City 2013, Summer transfer window.[ 21] Grant Balfour , free agent agreement withBaltimore Orioles , 2013–14 offseason[ 22] Frank Gore , free agent agreement withPhiladelphia Eagles , 2015 offseason[ 23] Wilmer Flores , trade to theMilwaukee Brewers , 2015 season[ 24] DeAndre Jordan , free agent agreement withDallas Mavericks , 2015 offseason[ 25] David de Gea , move toReal Madrid 2015, Summer transfer window.[ 26] Hisashi Iwakuma , free agent agreement withLos Angeles Dodgers , 2015–16 offseason[ 27] Jay Bruce , trade to theToronto Blue Jays , 2015–16 offseason[ 28] Dexter Fowler , free agent agreement withBaltimore Orioles , 2015–16 offseason[ 29] [ 30] Bud Black , agreement to manage theWashington Nationals , 2015–16 offseason[ 31] Brandon Nimmo , trade to theCincinnati Reds , 2016 trade deadline[ 32] [ 33] Gerrit Cole , trade to theHouston Astros (the first try), 2017–18 offseason[ 34] Seung-hwan Oh , free agent agreement with the Texas Rangers, 2017–18 offseason[ 35] Josh McDaniels , agreement to become head coach of theIndianapolis Colts , 2018 offseason[ 36] [ 37] Trevor Rosenthal , free agent agreement with the Miami Marlins, 2018 season[ 38] Robbie Ross Jr. , free agent agreement with the Cincinnati Reds, 2018–19 offseason[ 39] Antonio Brown , trade to theBuffalo Bills , 2019 offseason[ 40] Anthony Barr , free agent agreement withNew York Jets , 2019 offseason[ 41] TheMookie Betts trade, 2019–20 offseason: Michael Brockers , free agent agreement withBaltimore Ravens , 2020 offseason[ 44] Marqui Christian , free agent agreement with New York Jets, 2020 offseason[ 45] Eli Apple , free agent agreement withLas Vegas Raiders , 2020 offseason[ 46] Yasiel Puig , free agent agreement with theAtlanta Braves , before the 2020 season[ 47] Michael Brantley , free agent agreement with theToronto Blue Jays , 2020–21 offseason[ 48] Tyler Anderson , trade to thePhiladelphia Phillies , 2021 MLB trade deadline[ 49] Max Scherzer , trade to theSan Diego Padres , 2021 MLB trade deadline[ 50] Eric Hosmer , trade to theWashington Nationals , 2022 MLB trade deadline.[ 51] Joe Espada , hired by theChicago White Sox , after the 2022 season[ 52] [ 53] "Arson" Judge to theSan Francisco Giants , 2022–23 offseason[ 54] Carlos Correa , free agent agreement with theSan Francisco Giants andNew York Mets , 2022–23 offseason[ 55] [ 56] [ 57] Nicolas Jackson , move toBournemouth 2023, January transfer window.[ 58] Hakim Ziyech , loan move toParis Saint-Germain 2023, January transfer window.[ 59] Malcolm Brogdon , trade to theLos Angeles Clippers , 2023 offseason[ 60] Hakim Ziyech , move toAl-Nassr 2023, Summer transfer window.[ 61] Harry Maguire , move toWest Ham United 2023, Summer transfer window.[ 62] Shohei Ohtani 's "flight to Toronto" and agreement with theToronto Blue Jays , 2023–24 offseason[ 63] [ 64] [ 65] [ 66] Kliff Kingsbury 's hiring asoffensive coordinator by theLas Vegas Raiders in early 2024[ 67] [ 68] [ 69] Eric Kendricks , free agent agreement with theSan Francisco 49ers , 2024 offseason.[ 70] Alex Len , free agent agreement with theIndiana Pacers , 2024–25 season.[ 71] [ 72] Samaje Perine , free agent agreement with theTampa Bay Buccaneers , 2025 offseason[ 73] [ 74] David Hancko , move toAl-Nassr 2025 Summer transfer window.[ 75] Morgan Gibbs-White , move toTottenham Hotspur 2025, Summer transfer window.[ 76] Marc Guéhi , move toLiverpool 2025, Summer transfer window.[ 77] ^ In theNational Basketball Association (NBA) in 2015,DeAndre Jordan re-signed with theLos Angeles Clippers after originally reaching an agreement to join theDallas Mavericks .[ 6] ^ In theNational Basketball Association (NBA) in 2011,Chris Paul was allegedly traded to theLos Angeles Lakers until the league rejected the trade.[ 7] An earlier report by theLos Angeles Times had conditional phrases such as "The Lakers areexpected to acquire..." and "Paul, 26,would replace ..." (underlining added for emphasis).[ 2] ^ InMajor League Baseball (MLB) in 2012,Ryan Dempster was allegedly traded to theAtlanta Braves until the deal fell through. An initial report said the deal was "confirmed" while the reporter was also "still trying to confirm details".[ 4] [ 8] Dempster was deciding whether to waive his no-trade clause, but the Braves moved on after their self-imposed deadline passed.[ 9] ^ In theNational Basketball Association in 2014,Travis Outlaw was reported to be released according to a "source with direct knowledge of the situation",[ 10] but he was later traded.[ 11] ^ In the NBA in 2014,Chris Bosh 's July 12 post on Twitter was interpreted by the media as affirmation of his intention to re-sign with theMiami Heat .[ 13] However, his signing was not officially announced by the Heat until July 30.[ 14] ^ "Aaron Brooks to rejoin Rockets" .ESPN .Associated Press . March 4, 2013. Archived fromthe original on March 8, 2013. 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