Thanks to Sports by Brooks’ Twitter account (@SPORTSbyBROOKS) for pointing this out.

Mike Goldstein - not sure who he is, but I’m assuming a radio personality - maintains a blog on ESPN760.com. Today, he blogged about a mailbag posted by Philadelphia Inquirer columnist John Gonzalez.

Goldstein wrote, “Philadelphia Inquirer columnist John Gonzalez is a joke.”

Pretty damn harsh.

To summarize the post, Gonzalez posted a mailbag. The first question - from “Alex” - asked a question about Ryan Howard’s contract that was nearly word-for-word the same as the lead of a Keith Law blog post a few days ago.

Mailbag question:

The contract extension the Phillies gave Howard made me laugh. If you sign a player two years before he hits free agency, you’re supposed to get a discount. Instead, the Phillies paid a premium, giving Howard more money to cover years when he won’t produce nearly enough value to justify the salary.

Law’s lead:

The contract extension the Phillies gave Ryan Howard made me laugh when I first heard about it. If you sign a player two years before he hits free agency, you’re supposed to get a discount. Instead, the Phillies paid a premium, giving Howard more money to cover years when he won’t produce nearly enough value to justify the salary.

Goldstein thought this post reason enough to implicate Gonzalez. However, in doing so, Goldstein violated a VERY basic rule of journalism.

SOMEBODY IS INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY

I deal with it daily at Newsday.com. We get plenty of crime stories in where people are “alleged” to have been driving while intoxicated, or “police said” that a man assaulted another man.

While Goldstein made a brief, half-hearted attempt at saying he doesn’t know all the facts, he should have given Gonzalez the benefit of the doubt. What’s to say that a reader didn’t rip Law’s lead? Law has been the poster boy for bashing Howard’s contract, so assumedly, his article has been read by most baseball fans. Couldn’t a reader of Gonzalez’s work simply copy and pasted the question to make it his own?

Goldstein needs to realize that maybe, just maybe, not EVERYONE has memorized ESPN writer (and assumed colleague, even if it is on a six degrees of separation level) Law’s piece. So, by jumping to conclusions, Goldstein just called out a fellow member of the industry, calling him a joke.

What’s more is that it has hit Twitter, possibly tarnishing Gonzalez’s name when it could have been an innocent mistake.

Listen, maybe there was some shady journalism here. But if ANYBODY is a joke in this case, it’s Goldstein, for ignoring his “10 years” of journalism experience and violating a basic code.

(And yes, I know I just implicated Goldstein without talking to him. And maybe he spoke to Gonzalez. That should be PLAINLY stated in the blog post though.)

Just as the NFL and NBA find themselves in salary pinches, the MLB continues to head due north.

Somehow, the Philadelphia Phillies signed Ryan Howard to a five-year extension at $25 million per. My first and only thought:

W-W-WHATTT?!?!?

As noted by MLB insider Keith Law, Howard is a great, but not elite, position player. Sure he’s got serious power, and is a legit cleanup hitter for one of the best teams in the league, but he’s got big flaws.

Strikeouts. Hitting vs. lefties. Fielding. His size. And strikeouts - yea, it’s worth mentioning twice.

Howard is entering a realm where only one player has ever seen - earning $25 million-plus for a (full - sorry Roger Clemens) season’s work.

The Phillies’ first basemen is in no way deserving of being in that class. And from here, you’re going to see a cataclysmic domino effect, starting with Phat Albert Pujols.

Bobby Cox said he’s worth $50 mil. Law said $40 mil. I say he’s worth right in the middle - $45 mil - but will sign a 5-year, $200 million contract.

Yep, $40 mil per.

Pujols is far, far superior not only to Howard, but to every other position player in the Majors. Keep in mind, this guy has put up inhuman numbers with back issues. When he gets healthy - which it looks like he is now - he is a .400 BA threat, a 65 HR threat, a 200 RBI threat, and a .550 OBP threat.

And now, with Howard earning a $125 million deal over five years, the Cards are going to pay up.

Then, watch some more salaries. Prince Fielder, Evan Longoria, Ryan Braun - when these young studs are ready to re-up, they’ll all be looking at $30 mil-plus. And all of the sudden, we’re going to have an overpaid, bloated league that will cause extranneous numbers - for example, ticket prices - to spiral out of control.