MLB's high-profile partnership with DraftKings has raised a "new round of ethical questions," including if it is the "same as MLB endorsing a form of gambling on its own players," according to David Lennon of NEWSDAY. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said, "We see a very clear distinction between people who affect the outcome of the game and fans who want to engage through daily fantasy." Lennon also wonders if there is a concern that players, whose "performance is wagered on, could become complicit in the process?" MLBPA Exec Dir Tony Clark said, "Considering where we've been and where we're at, we're walking a very delicate line, a very sensitive line" (NEWSDAY, 7/19).
AROUND THE HORN: In Boston, Nick Cafardo noted MLB is discussing possible expansion, and there are "cities in which baseball is dying, and others that believe baseball could thrive." Charlotte, despite building a "beautiful Triple A stadium downtown, is all in on being considered." Portland also is "clamoring for a team." Other locations that "feel they could support a franchise" include Vancouver, Las Vegas, Nashville, Memphis, San Antonio, Indianapolis, northern New Jersey, Brooklyn, San Jose, Sacramento and Oklahoma City. The "new energy expansion would create would be good for baseball" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/19). But in Charlotte, Tom Sorensen wrote the city "can’t support" an MLB team. Sorensen: "On weekends, fans from Greensboro and Charleston would fill the seats. On weeknights, unless there’s a glamour match-up, we’d be a testament to empty sections" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 7/19).
THE LAP OF LUXURY: The N.Y. Daily News' Mike Lupica discussed the salary caps of various sports and said the "system in baseball is the best." While MLB does not have a salary cap, Lupica noted he has "no problem" with luxury taxes. He said, "Baseball owners will tell you that taxation has had a profound effect on the entire system. But in a sport where you can spend as much as you want to on stars, somebody catch me up: In the last five years, how many World Series have the New York Yankees won? How many World Series have the Los Angeles Dodgers won? There is the greatest party of any sport in baseball, and they manage to do it without a salary cap, and pay stars whatever stars can make” ("The Sports Reporters," ESPN2, 7/19).
MINORITY REPORT: In N.Y., William Rhoden writes about the "shrinking number of minority managers" in MLB and notes, "I don’t place all of the blame on baseball. I blame myself, and those who have spent their careers fighting for fairness. Collectively, we fell down on the job." The Mariners' Lloyd McClendon currently is the only black manager in MLB, and in the "blink of an eye, decades of gains have been lost." Manfred faces a "difficult challenge," as it is "impossible to legislate good will and morality." But a "strong commissioner can put owners and executives on notice that diversity is not only a worthy goal but is also good for business" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/20).
