Baseball Nation Interviews MLBTR's Tim Dierkes

[CoreyR]

Tim Dierkes is the writer and creator of MLB Trade Rumors. MLBTR is well-known for being Baseball's premiere hot stove website.

Q: Baseball Nation - What challenges do you face running MLB Trade Rumors?

A: Tim Dierkes - One would be that there is not enough time in the day. On one hand we want to have the best, fastest coverage and aggregation of the rumors and deals. On the other we want to spend time analyzing and doing original reporting. During crazy months like December our analysis and reporting has to take a backseat.

Another challenge might be filtering out certain pieces of information that we don't have full confidence in. That can be tough because sometimes an unknown source can report something accurate.

Q: Baseball Nation - Do you ever get flack from players or baseball officials?

A: Tim Dierkes - I don't think it's ever happened with a player; from what I hear they like seeing themselves on the site for the most part. Team execs have occasionally objected to something we wrote, but only once in a while. Most common is an agent complaining.

Q: Baseball Nation - Did you ever anticipate MLB Trade Rumors being this successful when you first launched it?

A: Tim Dierkes - Not at all, I was hoping to carve a living by selling fantasy spreadsheets with RotoAuthority and did not know what to expect with MLBTR.

Q: Baseball Nation - Who were you surprised to find out are avid followers of MLBTR?

A: Tim Dierkes - A bunch of GMs and agents, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly, Dustin Pedroia, Dan Haren, and a lot of other players...it is a major thrill for all of us to learn that these people read the site.

Q: Baseball Nation - If you had to pick any player to start a franchise around, who would it be and why?

A: Tim Dierkes - Troy Tulowitzki would be very high on my list as he's a great hitter at a premium position. It is so hard to find a shortstop like that and he is only 26. Evan Longoria would probably be my #2, especially with the boost of such a team-friendly contract.

Q: Baseball Nation - You started MLB Trade Rumors in November of 2005 as a hobby. In January of 2008, it became your full-time job. How would you describe that transition?

A: Tim Dierkes - Exciting. Once I had more time to focus fully on MLBTR I could work on a bunch of ideas to take the site to the next level, and I think we've done that since then. It is great not having to waste time commuting, not having a boss, and seeing my family during the workday.

Q: Baseball Nation - Are the Brewers acquisitions this off-season even more intimidating to you as a Cubs fan with an already tough division?

A: Tim Dierkes - Yes, as a Cubs fan I am very concerned about how Chicago could win the division with the Brewers having such a strong rotation. The Cardinals look great, the Reds are strong, and people keep picking the Cubs to finish fourth.

Q: Baseball Nation - Do you have any other baseball related hobbies? (e.g. Collecting Baseball Cards, Memorabilia, Figurines, Bobble-heads)

A: Tim Dierkes - I love playing fantasy baseball, though I may pare it down to two leagues this year. I was into baseball cards when I was a bit younger; these days I buy one pack a year to see what they look like. I am not a big collector of any of those things you named though. I do have a pretty good collection of baseball books, and when I read most of them it's not necessarily a work thing.

Q: Baseball Nation - What is something you enjoy doing when you get some time-off?

A: Tim Dierkes - Spending time with my family, we just had our second child a few weeks ago. We have two kids under two and it is keeping us very busy right now. I also like playing poker and the usual things like watching movies and TV shows, listening to music, and reading.

Q: Baseball Nation - Assuming you are a Bears fan, how tough was it to see the Packers win the Super Bowl after losing to them in Week 17 and in the NFC Championship?

A: Tim Dierkes - Very tough, I had to root for the Steelers by default. But, I can't get too worked up over anything aside from baseball. It was much tougher to see the White Sox win the World Series.

Tim was excited about this interview. He thought they were fun questions!

[Mudge]

Great Interview. And a great connection to make.

Good job.

[JoshRedcay]

Great interview CLG! Cool to hear from him, sounds like he loves doing what he does, and I can see why!

[Jake]

He's a great success story for anyone who wants to make a living in the online journalism realm; especially for sports writers.

[RickD]

Awesome. Great interview! Hopefully he will link it on his site!

Good job CLG.

[LarryBud]

That was a fantastic interview.

[CoreyR]

I had a blast with this interview. Such a great one. Tim really enjoyed the questions which makes it even better!

[LetsPlay2]

These interviews are really cool. What other baseball chat site makes a special effort to do this?

Tim runs a baseball site that any fan worth their weight in salt should have set as a favorite on their web browser.... pretty cool that he made some time for BN.

Thanks for using my question!

[CoreyR]

Thanks for using my question!

Thank you for submitting a great question!

Tim is a very nice person. I did a minor design job for him a couple months ago and if I ever shoot him an email he will reply almost instantly.

[astrosfanatic]

way cool...did he link this to his site??? that would be uhmazing