On Tuesday, in a completely unexpected turn of events, MLB Network–owned my MLB–fired its highest-profile reporter, Ken Rosenthal for what appears to be…simply doing his job. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has not been a very successful boss during his seven years on the job since taking over for the respected Bud Selig and Rosenthal was simply reporting on those facts throughout the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Here is one of his most “egregious” statements about his boss:
“Manfred and the owners keep sinking lower. Unless making dead-on-arrival proposals, tone-deaf public remarks and other assorted blunders is your idea of negotiating savvy.” – Ken Rosenthal
While that may not be your idea of a lambasting, Manfred sure held a grudge because the second Rosenthal's contract was up, it was not renewed. What Rosenthal said surely made Manfred look bad, and that is never good for an employee to do to their boss, it is also Rosenthal's obligation as a journalist, to tell the truth to the fans. The firing did not sit well with veteran NBA reporter David Aldridge, who had this to say on the subject:
“I worked for Turner Sports, which operated NBA TV & NBA.com in partnership w/the league, for 14 years. You know what David Stern did when I wrote or said something he didn’t like? He called me up and cussed me out. But he didn’t go to my bosses & try to fire me.” -David Aldridge
Manfred chose to punish Rosenthal for making it seem like he was “pro-owners,” when in reality, the people already knew that when he refused to punish the Houston Astros players for cheating. He is in the owners' pockets and there is not much of anything that anyone can do about it. The best that baseball fans can hope for is this lockout to end quickly so that spring training can start on time and then wait until the end of 2024 when Manfred's contract is hopefully up.
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