I was listening to ESPN Radio in Los Angeles (KSPN-AM) Tuesday afternoon when esteemed ESPN baseball writer Jerry Crasnick was on the air as a guest.

(Bad Idea Dept.: Magic 8-Ball as headline writing guide)

During the segment, Crasnick said he received an email that updated Manny Ramirez’s situation with the Dodgers. That email turned out to be a story ESPN had just posted on its website. The report, from ESPNer Enrique Rojas, claimed that Ramirez and the Dodgers had reached “common ground” on a possible deal.

But based on that initial report, Crasnick, like the rest of us, wasn’t convinced that Ramirez signing with the Dodgers was imminent.

Suddenly though, moments later, if you looked at ESPN.com and saw the crawl on ESPN-TV, you would’ve thought the ink was already dry on the deal. The reason? The original report at ESPN.com - on the same website page, had been edited to indicate the deal had been agreed upon.

So why wasn’t Crasnick convinced from the start? One of the initial versions of the report contained the hedge, “A source told ESPN.com that obstacles still remain to completing the contract.“ 

ESPN.com subsequently reported that Ramirez  “may have changed his mind” and Ramirez agent Scott Boras later told Jayson Stark that the deal isn’t done.

Boras: “We are in discussions and we have no deal in place.”

And about that original URL of the story - it has now been changed several times as ESPN has backpedaled away from Rojas’ original report. Not updated, completely changed with the initial reports wiped out.

Rojas’ byline has also since been removed from the story URL. He’s now credited under the report.

What a mess.

Look, I know that because ESPN is now getting beat by competitors and sports blogs for scoops that it is is hypersensitive about being FIRST! FIRST! FIRST! FIRST! on breaking news.

But for crying out loud, can they just call us when the deal is actually done?