The other annoying clickbait trend the past few years is that the headline never says who the story is about, and they make sure the photo doesn't tell you either.
In this case it is also a real circle-jerk - Fansided, which like SI is owned/run by Minute Media, does a purely speculative blog post in which Gainwell is #3 on a list of 3 potential trade candidates, and then the SI Eagles site spins that into the post above. And meanwhile SI does still employ some real reporters but you barely would know or see their work (in baseball, Stephanie Apstein is good and Tom Verducci is still there).
At this point, due to the collapse not only of print advertising but also the way all Internet ad revenue goes mostly to Facebook and Google, the only way to support a publication (as a reader or an owner) is for it to cost something, even as places like The Athletic or the Inquirer still struggle (or at least don't grow. And now Athletic is probably draining instead of expanding NYT). Print mags especially are no longer cheap. There are always deals but the old days of 50 cent an issue loss leaders are gone, and $10 an issue niche luxury titles are more and more common. This would ironically be a great time to revive Inside Sports - an all-depth, long-read sports publication. SI was still trying to do that to some extent before the latest round of troubles; my subscription actually never picked back up after the latest sale and I haven't bothered to chase it down (or resubscribe).
