By David Scott
Boston Sports Media

****UPDATED: 5:45 p.m. Monday afternoon****

It appears “The Cartel” won’t have the Boston Herald’s Howard Bryant to kick around anymore.

Scott’s Shots has learned that Bryant is on the verge of taking the job of Washington Post Redskins’ beat writer. (That position opened in mid-September when former ‘Skins beat guy, Nunyo Demasio, left the paper for a position at Sports Illustrated. Here’s how that news was reported by Media Bistro .)

Bryant, contacted by Shots while en route to LAX to return from the ALCS which he’s been covering for the Herald, refused comment. Post sports editor Emilio Garcia-Ruiz also would not comment publicly. A late afternoon email to Herald sports editors was not immediately returned.

Bryant is expected to inform Herald honcho Hank Hryniewicz of the pending departure in the next couple of days. A formal offer from the Post should be coming to Bryant once some procedural details are worked out. At that point, unless Hank Herald and Deputy Dog Mark Murphy can convince Bryant to stick around and continue his “Boston Uncommon” and other writing duties, it appears Bryant will be heading south on 95, leaving a gaping hole at the already under-manned Herald.

Bryant has made consistent (and often cogent) waves in Boston with both his commentary on race and his humorous creation of “The Cartel” analogy to describe the rival Globe’s relationship with the Red Sox. His recent steroids coverage for the Yellow Boxers has consistently out-paced that of the Globe and he has been constantly urged by his Herald bosses to continue his dogged pursuit of the steroids story. (You’ll recall Bryant’s prominent seat, in prime camera view, during the famous testimonies from Mark McGwire, Raffy Palmiero, et al.)

He was particularly outspoken on the WEEI/METCO fiasco, writing in Boston Magazine’s July 2005 issue: “(Michael) Holley now works at sports radio giant WEEI, a station famous for its bombast, its influence, and its racism. Neither John Dennis nor Gerry Callahan, the morning team, can overcome their infamous “Metco gorilla” exchange or their deserved reputations as the leading racists on the airwaves. They most likely don’t care to, for their act — reassuring the angry-white-guy element (long the Herald’ s dominion) that, even in a politically correct universe, there’s still one place where everything will be all right — plays big in Boston. If it didn’t, both would have been sacked by now. They have power and they use it.”

Bryant has mostly been a ‘baseball guy’ and previously covered the Yankees (for the Bergen Record), the A’s (San Jose Mercury News) and was also an editorial and technology writer for the Oakland Tribune. He joined the Herald staff, on the Red Sox beat, in 2002. Shots has been told that Bryant came highly recommended to the Post by former San Jose Mercury News colleagues currently on staff at the Post.

According to the back flap of his first book Shut Out: A Story of Race and Baseball in Boston, Bryant “grew up in Boston (Dorchester) during the busing crisis of the 1970s and has written extensively on race and baseball.” (A 2004 interview at The Hardball Times gives some more intriguing Bryant background, as does Part 2 of that interview.

More recently Bryant authored the book, Juicing the Game: Drugs, Power and the fight for the soul of major league baseball. That book, coupled with his steroids reporting for the Herald (during this time of the “Great Steroid Scandal”) has raised Bryant’s national profile, in addition to making him the de facto face of the Herald’s sports section.

. . . The timing of Bryant’s impending departure comes just as it appeared Hank Herald had begun to steady the rocky ship known as the SS Herald Sports Desk. Already understaffed from layoffs/buyouts, the Herald had made a positive step forward by signing on ex-Lawrence Eagle Tribune Red Sox writer, John Tomase (whose byline appeared in the Monday Herald) for purposes of Patriots coverage. But no sooner does HH fill one hole, than another develops.

If Bryant’s departure goes through, the Herald will be left with a “general columnist” roster of one and one-half (Steve Buckley and part-timer/‘EEI heavy, Gerry Callahan). Five-tool, utility writer, Karen Guregian would likely slide back over to a columnist position, but that will only stem the tide.

Major dailies thrive on the presence of loud, opinionated and prominent general columnists. To have such an anemic (yes, Herald folks, that’s the proper word at this juncture) columnist stable has got to be a major concern for Hank Herald and his superiors.

. . . (The Post has been using writers Len Shapiro and Jason La Canfora for its Skins coverage this season. Shapiro, in an on-line chat from October 7 answered a reader’s question of whether he would be sharing the beat with La Canfora by replying: “Yes, I am filling in on a beat I first started covering as a kid reporter in the 1970s with George Allen. It’s an interesting team and I look forward to the rest of the season.” Shots has been told that should Bryant get and accept the offer, he and La Canfora would double-staff the beat, leaving Shapiro to return to other writing duties. . . Another alum of the ‘Skins beat is David Aldridge, formerly of ESPN who’s now at the Philadelphia Inquirer on the NFL beat.

. . . Bryant is walking into a firestorm of sorts (out of the Sox frying pan into the ‘Skins fire), with the Post and squirrelly ‘Skins owner, Dan Snyder, having had their share of disagreements. And here as well . And here, too!

Demasio’s departure and various rantings that sprouted from it, are in full bloom (as you’d expect) at old Shots’ friend, sportsjournalist.com).)

. . . Once Bryant goes to the Post, he will find his new boss, Emilio Garcia-Ruiz to be someone who values both investigative reporting (he oversaw a Pulitzer prize-winning investigation into academic fraud at the University of Minnesota for the St. Paul Pioneer Press in 2000) and Internet savvy. Those would both appear to be strengths of “Steroid” Bryant, who has been able to spread his wings a bit in the Herald’s Red Sox blog and dug deeply into the “roids rage.

. . . Shots will have more on the Bryant move in our regularly scheduled Shots this coming Friday.

. . . Also, for all you late afternoon, early evening Scotts Shotters, be sure to check out Jeff Goodman’s Foxsports.com Marcus Banks report. Goodman continues to impress with his scoops, insight and insider info. Tell ‘em Shots sent ya!