On Saturday, I received a direct message from the father of a top Dodgers prospect, who also happens to be a good friend of mine. He was clearly very excited, telling me that his son, again, a top Dodgers prospect, was being traded as part of a blockbuster deal involving Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp and Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun.

I informed him that, if true, this is huge news and that I needed to know for sure if this was 100 percent accurate and not merely an early April Fool’s joke before posting it. He assured me that it was 100 percent true, as it had come to him directly from his son’s agent, who is vice president of a well known sports agency. In fact, he said that the agent told him that the trade was currently being held up because the Dodgers did not want to part with his son and were trying to convince the Brewers to take outfield prospect Johan Mieses instead.

Believing the word of a trusted friend and an understandably very excited father, I posted this on Twitter:

As you would expect, this tweet drew much attention and private texts, emails and direct messages from several well-respected media folks asking me for the source of the information. And although I did not (and will not) reveal the name of my source or the name of the agent from whom the information had come, I reiterated that my source was trusted and that he had a vested interest in the information.

As the story began to spread across social media, I and several of my close media friends and colleagues began taking pot shots from those who did not believe that the information was true, this in spite of specifically using the word “possible” in my initial tweet. In fact, when I began seeing some of the replies, I re-contacted my source and again inquired if the information was 100 percent accurate. He reiterated that it was 100 percent accurate because it had come from his son’s very well respected agent and agency.

Within an hour, the trade rumor eventually reached Brewers beat writer Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, who dutifully asked Brewers general manager David Stearns if there were any truth to it. Stearns immediately dispelled it, after which Haudricourt posted this on Twitter:

After seeing Haudricourt’s tweets, I had absolutely no reason in the world to doubt him and I again contacted the father of the Dodgers prospect, informing him of what Haudricourt had posted. Several minutes later, I receive a reply from the prospect’s father (who had also seen Haudricourt’s tweets) and he replied to me saying that he had recontacted his son’s agent, who informed him that it was indeed an April Fools prank.

All I can do is apologize for passing along information which, at the time, I absolutely believed to be true due to its origin, and I beg your forgiveness.

That being said, I am reminded of the age-old saying “Fool me once, shame on you, Fool me twice, shame on me.” I can also absolutely positively guarantee you that it will never happen again – at least not from me.

As for the agent – who, out of respect for the Dodgers prospect and even more so to his father, shall remain nameless – I say ‘shame on you’ for your unprofessional and sick April Fools prank which caused a considerable (and unwarranted) stress and anxiety to two very kind and thoughtful people.

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Author’s note: Although the information about the Dodgers top prospect was false, the information about Dodgers outfield prospect Johan Mieses was not.

On Sunday morning, the Dodgers announced that Mieses had, in fact, been traded – albeit to the St. Louis Cardinals and not the Milwaukee Brewers. In return, the Dodgers received 26-year old Montalban, Venezuela native infielder Breyvic Valera, who was immediately optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.