Offer or not, Marlins interested in Russ Branyan

Yesterday afternoon ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark reported that “the Marlins offered Russell Branyan a one-year deal with a low base salary and lots of incentives.” However, today Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports that “two sources said the Marlins have NOT made an offer” to Branyan. In addition to putting “not” all in caps Spencer also quotes “one person close to the player” as saying that Stark’s report is “not true.” Of course, the rest of Spencer’s report sure makes it seem like the Marlins have done everything BUT (see, I can do the all-caps thing too!) make an official offer to Branyan:

The Marlins are “kicking the tires” on a number of left-handed hitters for a bench role, and Russell Branyan is one of them. ... [T]he Marlins have merely contacted Branyan’s agent, as they have done with more than a few players, to gauge the situation. It’s possible they might have even tossed around salary figures. But no deal was ever offered.

So they’re interested in Branyan, have talked to his agent, and have probably even discussed the terms of a deal. Why then is Spencer making such a big deal about the difference between that and an actual offer? Perhaps because yesterday he wrote an anti-Branyan screed focusing on strikeouts that ended with: “If the Marlins wind up with this guy, I’ll be surprised.”