Privacy is basically dead. If you’re a high-ranking official in a billion-dollar sports league, you probably know that better than anyone. Yet, for some reason, the lure of "clapping back" at a random fan with seven followers is just too strong to resist.
We’ve seen it in the NBA. We’ve seen it in the NHL. But the MLB executive burner twitter saga—specifically the weird, messy drama surrounding Dave Kaval and the Oakland Athletics—is a special kind of chaotic.
It isn't just about one guy being thin-skinned. It is a window into how the stress of a failing franchise and a hostile relocation can make even the most polished suit lose their mind online.
The Night the Mask Slipped
Imagine you’re the President of a Major League Baseball team. Your team is leaving a city that has loved it for half a century. The fans hate you. The local media is digging through your trash.
What do you do?
If you’re Dave Kaval, you apparently (allegedly) hop on a burner account named "John F" to argue about hazardous waste.
In early 2024, the Oakland A’s community on Reddit and Twitter started noticing something fishy. A specific account—@jf89052—was defending Kaval with a level of specificity that felt... intimate. Most trolls just tell you that you suck. This account was different. It was obsessed with "Schnitzer Steel," a metal recycler that the A's were in a legal battle with.
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Now, who cares about a steel recycler?
Dave Kaval cares. He had been tweeting about Schnitzer Steel from his official account for months. Suddenly, this random "John F" account starts using the exact same legal jargon, the same punctuation patterns, and even referencing a zip code in Henderson, Nevada—the very place the A's were trying to move to.
It was the MLB executive burner twitter equivalent of leaving your wallet at the scene of the crime.
Why Do They Do It?
It's ego. Honestly.
Think about Kevin Durant. He’s one of the greatest players to ever touch a basketball, yet he couldn't handle people saying he "couldn't win with those cats." He had to go undercover to defend his honor.
For an MLB executive, the stakes are different but the insecurity is the same. They spend their lives being "the smartest guy in the room." When a fan on the internet calls them a "disingenuous empty suit," it stings. They want to explain themselves. They want to say, "You don't understand the complexities of the Howard Terminal project!"
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But they can't say that as the President of the team. So they become @NYRFan92360244 or @phila1234567.
The Bryan Colangelo Shadow
You can’t talk about MLB executive burner twitter without mentioning the gold standard of this nonsense: Bryan Colangelo.
Back in 2018, The Ringer dropped a bombshell report that the Philadelphia 76ers GM was using five secret accounts to trash his own players. He was criticizing Joel Embiid’s conditioning and defending the size of his own shirt collars.
Colangelo eventually resigned. It was a league-wide wake-up call.
In baseball, the "John F" saga didn't result in a massive forensic investigation by the league, but it did cement Dave Kaval’s reputation as a "snake" among the Oakland faithful. By the time Kaval resigned in December 2024, the damage was done. Whether it was actually him behind the keyboard or just a very dedicated, very weirdly informed staffer, the "burner energy" had already poisoned the well.
How to Spot a Burner (A Field Guide)
If you're scrolling through baseball Twitter and you see a suspicious account, look for these three things.
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- Hyper-Specific Fixations: Does the account care way too much about a niche lawsuit or a specific stadium rendering?
- The "Defend the Suit" Syndrome: If someone is passionately defending a GM's trades at 2:00 AM, it might be the GM's wife. Or the GM.
- Linguistic Quirks: We all have "tells." Maybe it's a double space after a period or a specific way of abbreviating "Spring Training."
The Actionable Truth
Social media has removed the barrier between the front office and the bleachers. For fans, the lesson is simple: keep receipts. These executives are watching. They are reading the comments. They are, quite often, losing sleep over what you think of their latest trade.
For the executives? Get a hobby. Or at least learn how to use a VPN.
The era of the "secret" burner is over because the internet is a hive mind of amateur sleuths with nothing but time. If you’re going to run an MLB executive burner twitter account, just know that someone, somewhere, is tracking your zip code and your "Schnitzer Steel" mentions.
Next time you feel the urge to argue with a teenager about a luxury tax threshold, maybe just put the phone down and go for a walk. Your career will thank you.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Pros
- Fans: Use tools like "Social Blade" or "Account Analysis" if you suspect a burner. Patterns in "following" lists are usually the smoking gun.
- Executives: If you must post, do it through a third party. The "linguistic quirks" are what get people caught 90% of the time.
- The Big Picture: Burner accounts are a symptom of a culture that values "winning the trade" over building community trust. Transparency always wins in the long run.