The Tampa Bay area has one daily newspaper, and therefore only one print outlet that follows the team. That is the Tampa Bay Times, which acquired its rival and narrowed the beat writers deployed to one. Marc Topkin is the last man standing. He was been with the Times and has been documenting the Rays from the start: he was on the story before there ever was an expansion team.
Twenty years later, you have to assume he has his finger on the pulse of Tampa Bay baseball. You have to assume he knows how the front office operates, and that to the extent they tip their hand to any journalist, they share information with him.