Meet the two teens who scooped the MLB world and broke news of the Billy Butler signing

Before there was Billy Butler's three-year, $30 million deal with the A's, before there were jersey number exchanges with Josh Reddick, there were 13-year-old Devan and 18-year-old Robert on Twitter, scooping every other MLB reporter in the game.

Source: #Athletics showing strong interest on a deal with DH Billy Butler. Source considered them "close" to a deal.

- Devan F. (@CoverThoseBases) November 17, 2014

Source: Billy Butler agrees to three-year, $30M deal with the #Athletics. $5 million signing bonus.

- Robert Murray (@RobertMurrayMLB) November 19, 2014

That's right: two teenagers were the first to report that the A's and Butler were in talks. Even Ken Rosenthal had to give credit when credit was due:

Sources: #Athletics in serious talks with free agent Billy Butler. First reported: @CoverThoseBases.

- Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 19, 2014

Tune in to "Hot Stove" at 9aE as I bow to the two teens - @CoverThoseBases and @RobertMurrayMLB - who had Butler-to-#Athletics scoop!

- Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 19, 2014

"He's the guy who had this," Rosenthal said on MLB Network's Hot Stove Wednesday morning, referring to Devan.

He then explained how Devan contacted him on Twitter, and that's when Rosenthal offered to confirm their information and promised to credit Devan and Robert if their scoop indeed turned out to be true. And, as we know now, it did.

For Devan and Robert, breaking the Butler deal was simply doing what they do at their respective sites Cover Those Bases and MLB Daily Rumors -- reporting MLB news.

"I got the scoop from a source that just flipped me some information. I looked into what the source told me a little bit more and trusted what he heard," Devan said in an email, explaining how his big scoop came to be. "A lot of trust was involved."

"Devan sent me a text letting me know he had a big story in his hands," Robert explained, also in an email. "I was skeptical, but I confirmed it via an A's source." And once he had it confirmed, his source gave him details of the deal, and then it started to set in: "I woke up my dad because I was so excited."

And did they have any worries?

"I was pretty confident actually, but still very nervous. Getting something as fragile as that can make-or-break your reputation, so it had to be right," Devan said.

As @Ken_Rosenthal noted, yes I am a teen. I'm 13 to be exact. Just got out of school.

- Devan F. (@CoverThoseBases) November 19, 2014

We think getting hat-tipped by Rosenthal (whom Devan describes as "pretty much my baseball reporting idol") will have a bit of an impact on their reputations, too. But don't think it's lost on Devan and Robert just how cool this all is.

"The past 24 hours have been crazy … Seeing myself on MLB Network and thinking about what I just did is so crazy," Devan said. "I don't think what went down has fully sunk in yet."

Robert echoed that sentiment: "Crazy. That's the only way to put it. Truly an incredible experience."

I'd like to thank you all for the support and kind words. What a night it has been.

- Robert Murray (@RobertMurrayMLB) November 19, 2014

As for how the pair found themselves working together:

"Ever since I started, I haven't been able to stop," Robert said of covering MLB news and rumors. "I knew Devan was a great guy to do this with, so I asked him, and he accepted right away."

"I started writing MLB news and rumors two years ago for my own website as a hobby. It still is a hobby," Devan said. "The website has surely helped me grow as a writer and a reporter."

But big scoop or not, there won't be any laurels-resting:

"Can't wait to get back to work," Robert said.

Well, after a quick appearance on MLB Network, that is: