MLB Trade Rumors employs a team of writers to bring you the latest hot stove news and analysis. Let’s meet the team:
Tim Dierkes started MLB Trade Rumors as a hobby in 2005, and has since written over 12,000 posts as MLBTR grew into baseball’s most popular hot stove website as well as his full-time job. MLBTR has received over 2.2 billion pageviews since its inception and is a favorite of baseball writers, executives, agents, players, and fans everywhere. Tim currently lives in the Chicago suburbs with his wife and four children. He is a lifelong Cubs fan, but swears it does not affect his objectivity on MLBTR. Follow him on Twitter: @timdierkes.
Steve Adams is a full-time staff writer for MLB Trade Rumors. MLBTR’s longest-tenured writer, Steve grew up in the Twin Cities and currently resides in New York City. He is a graduate of St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, where he studied English Literature with a Writing Emphasis and Public Relations (when his fantasy baseball schedule permitted). Steve has been a baseball fan since he can remember, and is thankful to be (barely) old enough to have vivid memories of his beloved Twins’ most recent World Series title in 1991. Steve has been writing for MLBTR since May of 2008, and began providing fantasy analysis for MLB.com in May of 2011. He has also written about the Twins for SB Nation’s Twinkie Town and fears that his voice may never fully recover from 2009’s Game 163 tiebreaker against the Tigers. You can follow him on Twitter: @Adams_Steve.
Jeff Todd left his legal practice to join the MLBTR staff and pursue his love for the game of baseball. After completing his B.A. in History and Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia and getting hitched to Bethany, his high-school sweetheart, Jeff wrote and edited for the Harvard Law Review while obtaining his J.D. from Harvard Law School. A former rugby player, Jeff re-discovered his passion for the National Pastime while working as a litigator in downtown DC and playing catcher on a men’s league team. Jeff and Bethany were blessed with a daughter, Mae, who blissfully fell asleep during the 4th inning of Game 5 of the NLDS at Nationals Park and whose favorite object is a Nationals cap signed by Mike Rizzo. The family has since welcomed a little boy, Gibson (a nod to Josh and Bob), and moved to Denver, where they enjoy hiking, climbing, and skiing. While he makes no promises that he will say anything worthwhile, Jeff has finally joined the 21st century by creating a Twitter account: @JA_Todd.
Connor Byrne is a longtime writer/editor who came aboard the Trade Rumors family in January 2015 as a member of the team at Pro Football Rumors. Connor left PFR in September 2017, but he has been on the MLBTR staff since the spring of 2016, and he became a full-time writer for the site in May 2019. A Buffalo, N.Y., native, Connor studied journalism and English at nearby St. Bonaventure University – which was after it became painfully obvious that he was not destined to pitch in the major leagues. Nowadays, he’s perfectly content to write about his lifelong favorite sport.
Mark Polishuk has loved baseball ever since his seven-year-old self personally witnessed Kelly Gruber hit a walkoff single for the Blue Jays during a 1989 game. Mark has been part of the MLBTR crew since October 2009, and has also written about baseball, soccer and hockey for such outlets as ESPN Chicago, ESPN Boston, The Boston Herald, The New York Post, The11.ca, The Canadian Press, The Sports Xchange, and the official websites of both Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer. A native of London, Ontario, Mark holds a BA in English/Film Studies from the University Of Western Ontario. His greatest on-field achievement was performing an unassisted triple play from second base during a softball game in eighth grade gym class. “Just like Bill Wambsganss!,” Mark immediately yelled, a reference lost on all.
Anthony Franco gave up his dream of being an MLB player when he went hitless all season his final year of youth baseball. One of two Buffalo, NY, natives on the MLBTR staff, Anthony was a Cubs fan growing up but lost track of baseball for a few years once he stopped playing. He rediscovered his passion for the sport in college at the University at Buffalo, where he got his first opportunity to write about baseball for Fantrax, a fantasy sports site. A part-time writer at MLBTR since 2019, Anthony also contributes to Prospects Live, primarily focusing on Division I college baseball and draft coverage. Anthony graduated from UB with a history degree in 2017 and is currently in his third year at Boston College Law School, his first taste of life outside Western New York. You can find him on Twitter discussing baseball and the occasional 1950’s movie: @affranco10.
Dylan A. Chase grew up in Imperial Beach, California, a sleepy beach hamlet sitting five minutes from Tijuana and an hour’s ride away from the Qualcomm Stadium confines where his childhood Padres played baseball. Though he never amounted to much as a baseball player, Chase’s lanky frame nonetheless passed through the academic farm leagues at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he graduated in 2014 with a degree in Communication (emphasis: Creative Writing and Applied Napping). The right-hander logged appearances as a teacher, an Uber driver, and a paralegal before finally latching on with the MLBTR organization in 2019. Nowadays, you can find him showcasing his stuff both here and on Gaslamp Ball, the SB Nation site of the Padres. Scouts grade him as a 40-grade runner with a 50-grade command of the English language. Follow him on Twitter: @DylanAChase
TC Zencka is a Chicagoland native who nonetheless claims the 2001 Diamondbacks as his favorite team of all-time. Since graduating from St. Olaf College in Minnesota, he’s worn almost as many jerseys as Edwin Jackson: notably, as an investigator for Public Defenders in DC and a closed captioneer for gems of American television such as Pawn Stars and The Dick Van Dyke Show. He also fed horses for a time in Arizona, ran a 9-stage live-performance venue in Wicker Park, and brewed beer in the mountains outside Beijing for one of the first American craft breweries in China. In 2017, he earned his MFA in Writing for the Screen + Stage at Northwestern University. These days, he provides in-game social media coverage for MLB to the Washington Nationals as a video editor at Nats Park. TC has been writing for MLBTR since 2018. You can follow him on twitter @tczencka.
Whoo! Go Jays!
Cool man. Loving this post. It’s really neat to get to read more about the writers at this site. MLBTR ROCKS!
Slow day boys?
MLBTR is a site I check every single day. You guys do a great job… keeep up the great work.
Ditto. I love the site, and I can guarantee I check it about 5 times each day. Seems like today has been slow though with a “Meet The Writers”, a RotoAuthority article of “Pitchers to Watch”, a “Market for Cuban Players” that has no new info, and a heads up of some possible 2012 Free Agents. It’s not an insult Dierkes, just an observation.
Try like 5 times a day. Great work guys!
even 40 times per day. How’s that!
I refresh every 5 minutes…WHAT!!?!!
Damn, I was hoping that MLBTR would finally get pictures in at-least one article.
MLBTR rocks! I’ve been checking this website just about everyday since 2007. I remember seeing a post from Tim saying that he had taken MLBTR as a full-time job and thinking “Does it get that much attention?”. Glad it does, great job Tim and the rest of the MLBTR staff!
I think you ought to hire me to make it an even 10.
Keep up the great work boys.
Not that your loaded with free time, but any hope you’ll start up a Website for my other love? Football?
Tim,
I’ve been a reader since the early days and appreciate the work the MLBTR team does for the sport. Baseball has always been a year long sport with different seasons, but the contribution your team has offered us has solidified that notion. You keep us tuned in even during the coldest months of winter.
And for that, we thank you.
In conclusion, Canada has the smartest baseball fans in the world.
Thanks Tim!
Good read. I have been checking this site daily for the past few years like many others, and I feel like it has made my baseball knowledge grow exponentially. There is always something going on at every point in the year, even when there isn’t, Tim and the crew find something to post about.
Here’s to many more years of great baseball coverage from the best site on the net!
I check this site maybe 6 times a day, and have been consistently for the past few years. And today I’ve found out that Tim Dierkes in fact lives in my home town!! That is awesome except the fact he’s a cubs fan. Keep up the great work guys!!
Wow, so many Canadians. I knew there was something off about this site.
Just kidding guys, keep it up, and make less bad things happen to the Mets if you could.
The only thing the site is missing IMO is a mobile version of the site. My iPhone agrees.
Great work with the site Tim & crew.
What about mlbtraderumors.mobi?
I can get the site on my mobile easy, but I can’t sign into Disqus no matter what I do.
I can get on the regular site easy, but the comment section half the time doesn’t load, and the odd time the disqus doesn’t load either. I believe you have to delete all the cookies to fix that problem.
Thanks! I will definitely give that a shot.
Well paint me green and call me gumby. Thanks Tim for the heads up on the mobile page. It’s a little bland, but it’s simple and is bandwidth savvy.
there is a mobile site. it is mlbtraderumors.mobi i use it alot
“He grew up learning Spanish from the sides of taco trucks…” hilarious.
Would the walled city in Spain be Toledo?
You guys do an excellent job!
Tim, I didn’t know you went to UIUC. But I should’ve known only an ILLINI alum could have come up with such an excellent idea!
Errr… I never knew so many of the writers here were from Western. May have to stop coming to the site now…
Haha, kidding, great to see so many Jays fans around!
I, as a Canadian, am proud that so many other Canadians make this site what it is. However, unlike them I am not a Blue Jays fan, I am a Red Sox fan. And I am surprised that a fellow Ottawian like Ben would like the Jays, R.I.P. Les Expos. Anywho, good job guys!
Nice job guys, I don’t always agree with your takes, but always enjoy the site.
Well done.
Great to meet the team behind the scenes. Keep up the great work, guys!
Nice work guys, keep it up, I appreciate it! I’m on the site about 10 times in an average day!
You guys are awesome. I consider you the online bible of player/team ongoings in baseball.
Shout out to Illinois! Tim, I grew-up in Macomb, but I now live in Bloomington-Normal, life-long White Sox fan.
Very Good job guys. I am constantly on this site. Avg about 8 hours a day. Even though I’m a die-hard red sox fan, I consider myself a fan of baseball in general. Tim, I think I started reading MLBTR around early 2008. Thank you for breaking down articles and generating a wealth of information. Even though I do not post comments often, I had to take the time today to give you guys my appreciation. Thank you very much and continue the great work you’re doing.
Hey Polischuk,
I remember that inside the infield home run you speak of. I believe I was on deck.
Keep up the great work gents!!
I realize this is more of a football thing, but I find myself wishing this site would have it.
What do you think about having a section with depth charts for each team. Sometimes I find myself arguing about who has a better rotation, the brewers or the reds, and I don’t have a good place to look that up. You could have contract length and salary next to the names as well.
If this does exist already or if it’s already on ROTO or something like that let me know.
Tim, you’re doing such a great job and have created such a great community that I had the oppurtunity to write a college paper focusing on the community of mlbtr. I’d be happy to e-mail it to you if you’re interested in reading it.
An impressive lineup of writers Tim, but how about someone west of the Rockies (the mountain range and the team)?
I didn’t realize that there were Canadians on your team. Way to go. Go Jays.
Where’s Dan on here?
One of these guys has to be able to pitch.
-B. Cashman
If the Pirates can somehow grab another bat they’re going to compete until the end because they’ve done well against the NL Central…. except Milwaukee.
keep the news comming guys im an admin for mlb forever page on face book and you guys are like my num 1 source, thanx alot best news site ever!
I’ve been visiting this site regularly for probably at least 4 years now. It’s good to meet the folks I spend so much of my life paying attention to.
Excellent staff.
would really enjoy covering baseball down in the Tampa areafor someone
I can play base ball and i can hit the ball
love it
I was just trying to figure out how long I’ve been using this website. Then I found this page. I’m thinking 2010 was when I started. Finally created a screen name recently. Being newly retired has it’s advantages.