Why on Earth Is ESPN MLB Insider Jeff Passan Wearing a Peacoat in Mid-June???

Jeff Passan showed up to talk baseball wearing a heavy coat in the middle of June, and the explanation was as good as any of his trade-deadline scoops.

First, Passan paid tribute to the prop he was holding, his "all juice team," a tradition carried on from his late friend Terez Paylor, who every year put out a list of the grinders who stood out on film. Passan said he's glad to continue Paylor's legacy any chance he gets.

Then Rich pulled up a photo of Passan in a camel-hair coat, and Passan owned it completely, declaring that if you looked up "smug prick" in the dictionary, you'd find that picture. The backstory: he forgot to pack a coat for a postseason game in New York, figured he'd buy one and quietly return it the next day, then showed up to the ballpark and got more compliments on that single item of clothing than he'd received on anything in years. Being, by his own admission, a fragile egomaniac, he couldn't bring himself to return it.

So there he was, sober in Kansas City, deciding to wear the coat anyway and button it up for a baseball conversation in June heat. The crew egged him on to pull the hood out the back for full effect, joking that the visual only loses its smug-prick energy if he opens it up. Passan, ever game, kept it buttoned and got down to talking ball.