Phillies Rumor Roundup!: Hunter Pence on the Move... Wait, No.

In the wee hours on the east coast, Jeopardy! champion and CSNBayArea.com reporter for the San Francisco Giants pooted forth this tweet, and the world froze.

KPIX-TV is reporting that the Giants have a "deal in place" for Hunter Pence, pending ownership approval.

— Andrew Baggarly (@CSNBaggs) July 30, 2012

Baggs is a reputable guy, KPIX is a legit source, and he goes to great lengths in his feed to explain that "awaiting ownership approval" can be a long process, and proves nothing for certain.

A little while later, Hank Schulman from the San Francisco Chronicle came correct (literally) with this:

I'm told as well there's no deal for Pence. Also no deal for League. But I will say this: O'Donnell is a good reporter who's broken Gs news.

— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) July 30, 2012

O'Donnell being KPIX sports reporter Dennis O'Donnell. So even by trying to smother the rumor, Schulman vouches for the legitimacy of the source.

So what do we get from this?

1. There's smoke, certainly.

2. "Pending ownership approval" can mean a lot of things. Remember Ryan Madson this past offseason?

3. Everything is up in the air.

One name discussed as a possible return is catcher Tommy Joseph, the Giants second round selection in the 2009 draft. Joseph, 21, has a .260/.313/.391 line for Double-A Richmond in the Eastern League.

I'll take this opportunity to "granddad" everyone and caution you against taking too much you see too literally. If you're on Twitter, be very careful about hoax accounts. Skepticism is a virtue, particularly this time of year and particularly among baseball fans.

Rest assured that when a deal is definite, we'll let you know that it's definite, and we'll give you the in-depth breakdown.

In the meantime, for breaking Phillies news, if you're on the Twitter dot com, give Jim Salisbury (@JSalisburyCSN), Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki), and Matt Gelb (@magelb) a follow if you haven't already. If something happens for sure, you'll hear it from them.

Go read Grant's take over at McCovey Chronicles.