It might help for people to re-read Baker's original piece about this. The debate has expanded and doubled back on itself a number of times, and if you read the original article, it's fairly innocuous. The main point of the 'expose' is the bungling and lies by the front office in this trade.
Geoff has taken pains to spell out the philosophy underlying his articles, which we all appreciate.
The articles themselves were quite neutral in tone, and directed fundamentally at the Mariners' management of the issue.
Just because he has 'defended' his rather emotionally-restrained 'scandal' reporting, doesn't mean that we should make his worldview the very core of the issue.
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Personally, I've pursued the rationale behind the 'Get Lueke out of here' subtext because it goes to so many different questions of sports (Mariners) ethics for the fan.
But, again, we've just about got our arms around this one.