MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's comments on ESPN last night "not only made him look terrible, but enraged both the players and the fan base,” according to David Lennon of NEWSDAY. After listening to Manfred’s latest remarks, it is "not hard to see why these negotiations turned into a dumpster fire." The MLBPA "wouldn’t trust Manfred now to tell them if it was raining outside, forget about starting a season during a pandemic” (NEWSDAY, 6/16). In N.Y., Tyler Kepner writes Manfred’s “blatant contradiction" about his confidence in the season being held "will haunt him, if he indeed refuses to stage a season.” Kepner: “Whatever the outcome, he has already given whiplash to the fans -- those who still care, anyway -- and further provoked the players. He is failing in his responsibility as a steward of the game” (N.Y. TIMES, 6/16). Also in N.Y., Joel Sherman writes MLB is “losing the game of optics.” Sherman: “What Manfred needed to do on national TV was to make a direct appeal to the players that they are the most important element of Major League Baseball. … He must find a way to escape a narrative that for something to be good for management it has to be bad for players. Ultimately, what is good for the players is good for the game” (N.Y. POST, 6/16). In Cincinnati, John Fay writes it "was clear -- until Manfred said what he said Monday -- that if the season did not happen, the players would take the blame." However, negotiating through the media is "not how to win friends and influence fans" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 6/16).
BLAME FALLS ON MANFRED: THE ATHLETIC's Ken Rosenthal writes Manfred has "no choice" but to "strike a deal with the union and salvage the 2020 season, or ruin his legacy as commissioner of baseball" (THEATHLETIC.com, 6/16). In N.Y., Mike Vaccaro writes MLB is a “pitiable wreck, an irredeemable embarrassment,” and no one "bears a greater burden of the shame than Rob Manfred." He has "proven time and again that he views the sport with all the reverence of a highway pit stop, and the fans with all the respect due a litter box” (N.Y. POST, 6/16). In San Diego, Bryce Miller asks, “Is Manfred considering the good of the game? We all know the answer to that. It would be a laughable question if it weren’t so utterly avoidable” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 6/16). In Chicago, Gordon Wittenmyer wrote this is “one of those rare times the messenger is as big a problem as the message.” Wittenmyer: “Manfred made a career in baseball as its chief labor negotiator before replacing Selig five years ago, and he still can’t seem to get out of his own way when it comes to acting like a commissioner -- a leader -- and not a labor lawyer” (NBCSPORTSCHICAGO.com, 6/15). In Houston, Brian Smith writes if MLB owners and players during Manfred’s tenure are “too stubborn, selfish, ignorant, clueless and narcissistic to agree to a season during an already historic year that has featured the coronavirus pandemic, a national economy in freefall, racial unrest, peaceful protests and riots,” then Manfred himself will “soon be wishing you were as praised and revered" as Bud Selig (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 6/16).
OWNERS NOT OFF THE HOOK: In Boston, Tara Sullivan writes Manfred “should be embarrassed, almost as much as the owners who employ him.” However, the “longer this ridiculous standoff continues, the more obvious it gets that the owners have no shame when it comes to forcing their will upon the players” (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/16). In L.A., Bill Plaschke: “What a joke that the owners have made of their sport. … The national pastime has become a national fraud by allowing selfishness to silence its game when its fans crave it most” (L.A. TIMES, 6/16). ESPN’s Keith Olbermann said it seems clear that the owners are "trying to take advantage of the players in a pandemic” ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 6/15). NBC’s Craig Melvin said, “I don't know if baseball can continue to call itself ‘America’s pastime.’ When America needs it most, it decides that greed is going to consume it” (“Today,” NBC, 6/16). In Minneapolis, Chip Scoggins: “Is there any remaining doubt why MLB’s house is in disarray? Failed leadership and greed are a killer combo” (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 6/16). In Miami, Greg Cote writes the idea that the owners and players "might each sacrifice a little money for the good of the country, for the fans, is naive to even suggest, I guess, as both sides wear blinders and seem to see only money” (MIAMI HERALD, 6/16).
HORRIBLE OPTICS FOR THE SPORT: In Chicago, Paul Sullivan writes the “optics clearly are embarrassing for the game.” Sullivan: “Baseball’s display of greed and the nonstop accusations have undoubtedly cast the national pastime in a harsh light during a period in which millions of Americans are suffering through economic hardships” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 6/16). In Seattle, Matt Calkins writes this would be a case of “some of the most privileged people in the world failing to find common ground when ‘normal life’ has become a distant memory for most of the nation” (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/16). In Tampa, John Romano writes MLB “had an opportunity to be there for a nation in need during a pandemic, and instead it stomped all over our silly illusions” (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 6/16). In Toronto, Rob Longley: “Clearly those who run the sport have no concept (or worse, concern) over the potential fan fallout from pissing away a season” (TORONTO SUN, 6/16). In Minneapolis, Patrick Reusse wrote there has "never been a worse look for a sport, much less for baseball, than the players and owners exchanging insults" in the midst of both the pandemic and social unrest (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 6/15). In St. Louis, Rick Hummel: “Beaten down by the pandemic, raging unemployment, police brutality and racial inequality, a nation waits. And not very happily” (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 6/16).
FANS WILL ALWAYS RETURN: In Philadelphia, Marcus Hayes asks, “Will any of this sour fans on the game? Will it matter, in the big picture, if baseball doesn’t have a season? Hardly.” Hayes: “Fans already believe the owners are out-of-touch billionaires and the players are spoiled millionaires, and in this regard the fans are right, yet still, they watch” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 6/16).
