MLB Winter Meetings 2018 Rumor Cliche Bingo

The Winter Meetings are upon us, and instead of doing yet another “Indians checklist” or “what to expect from the Indians at the Winter Meetings” post (because the answer to both of those is getting a reliever or and outfielder and maybe trading a pitcher, there you go, done), I figured it would be fun to compile all the rumor cliches into a game of bingo.

Is this a cheap way for me to easily crowdsource keeping up with rumors while also allowing you a shot at bingo champion immortality? Maybe a little, but it might also be kind of fun.

The goal is to complete a bingo by finding the same tired cliche phrases we’ve heard since the unholy intersection of MLB trade rumors, Twitter, and 24/7 baseball coverage combined. Because this is an Indians blog, all the rumors must be directly involved with the Indians somehow. The Tribe can be the “willing to listen” for a trade, or the team that someone else “expressed interest in,” but they must be front and center in a Twitter rumor. Just so you can’t make up rumors yourself and claim yourself a champion, the rumors must come from verified Twitter accounts.

I’ll start with this, the official card of Let’s Go Tribe (though staff can play on their own, too):

Here’s how it’s going to work for everyone else.

1. Reply in the comments or at @LetsGoTribe here to let me know you want a card. I’ll lovingly handcraft your own personal bingo card and reply to you with it. This is your card. There are many similar to, but completely different than, it. But this one is yours, complete with a complimentary #FreeYandy space.
2. If you see a rumor with any of the phrases on the bingo card directly involving the Indians from a verified Twitter account or you record someone on TV or radio saying it, you can reply to your card in the comments or at @LetsGoTribe on Twitter with a link to the Tweet and cross it off your card. If a phrase is present in an article linked directly from a verified Twitter account, that also counts to fill a space.
3. Any verb phrase goes. I.E. “Zeroed In On” and “Zeroing In On” both work.
4. If you win, I don’t know, brag about it or something. Feel free to put “Let’s Go Tribe Winter Meeting Cliche Bingo 2018 Champion” in your LGT signature or Twitter bio and enjoy a free shoutout on LGT’s social media. I have no idea how much of a shitshow this is going to be so I’m not going to tempt fate by including a real giveaway, but maybe next year.
5. New entries for cards will stop being accepted by 8:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, and I’ll try to get everyone who enters a card no matter how long it takes. Tweets for taking spaces are valid starting at midnight ET on Monday and run through the end of the Rule 5 draft on Wednesday.

May the odds be ever willing to listen to your favor.