Buster Olney has (accidentally) gone phishing.
The longtime ESPN baseball insider was the victim of an online hacker on Monday, as someone managed to gain access to Olney's X account, formerly known as Twitter.
The culprit used the platform to send a variety of strange tweets, but three (false tweets) stood out most, especially to baseball fans.
Olney is one of the most well-respected insiders when it comes to the MLB, and fans have gained enough trust in the reporter to take his word when it comes to news around the league. However, baseball followers should be wary not to fall for any of the misinformation reported by Olney's X account while it was compromised.
Here is more on Olney's Twitter hacking and what moves it "reported" that are untrue.
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Buster Olney Twitter hack
Fans of certain MLB clubs might have been jumping for joy to see news breaking about star players coming to their teams. Alas, that happiness quickly vanished when the full details of the circumstances were revealed.
Olney's X account originally began posting tweets that very clearly were not from the ESPN employee. One said "I Hate METS" while others admitted that the account was hacked, even if the culprit did not realize whose account they had access to.
However, three posts got the most circulation due to their structure. The Olney account posted about a trade between the White Sox and Phillies involving All-Star outfielder Luis Robert Jr. at first, in a style that is very similar to the one used by many reporters on the platform.
Then, the account "broke" another fake trade, stating that the Mets decided to trade star shortstop Francisco Lindor to the A's. Like the Robert message, the post looked believable, but the news was false.
It appears Buster Olney’s twitter account has been hacked. The hacker has reported a Francisco Lindor to the A’s trade and a Luis Robert to the Phillies trade. pic.twitter.com/3BgQp7Udem
— Jack Vita (@JackVitaShow) June 10, 2024
A Robert trade could be coming eventually — there have been reports that Chicago could be moving on from the slugger — and the Phillies are a team that needs help in the outfield, especially given its current offensive struggles. So, the idea of Robert to Philadelphia actually makes a ton of sense. Unfortunately for Phillies fans, that deal isn't happening for now.
The second trade was a lot more unrealistic. The Mets could be sellers at the upcoming deadline, but Lindor is viewed as one of the pieces who will be staying in Queens. If for some reason New York elected to put Lindor on the trade market, the A's would be one of the last teams expected to trade for the infielder. Oakland has a history of trading away its star players, not trading for high-end talent.
The final post that drew the attention of diamond fanatics was about Dodgers two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani and the fiasco involving his former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, and his gambling debts. The post suggested that the MLB would be banning the Japanese star from the game, with jail time on the horizon.
Buster Olney being hacked almost got me with this Ohtani post 💀😭 pic.twitter.com/adZRx89NhC
— Capone Collects (@CaponeCollects) June 10, 2024
Again, this is completely false. Ohtani was found not to have any connection with Mizuhara and his gambling.
The posts from Olney's account have all been deleted, so it appears as though X is in the process of restoring its account.
With the trade deadline looming ahead in July, hopefully this is the final time a baseball insider gets their social media hacked and gives false hope to certain fan bases. Condolences to those Phillies and Athletics faithful who thought for a second they were landing a star player.
