A Quick Rant about Rob Manfred and MLB

I was going to save most of this rant for our podcast tomorrow (go Subscribe to the YouTube and follow us on streaming) but the unfortunate series of events that happened to me this morning made the dam burst.

Most sports fans know the news by now that MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred will step down from the league after his contract expires in 2029. First off, that is absolutely magnificent news. Secondly, the fact MLB gave him another 5-year deal after his complete and utter incompetence over the last decade is beyond me.

One of the more recent showings of Manfred’s incompetence, and the reason for this mini-rant, is his inability to secure a deal with television streaming tycoon YouTube TV back before the start of the 2023 season.

Mind you NBA TV, NHL TV, Tennis TV, BIEN Sport, Fox Sports 2, SEC Network, ACC Network, BIG 10 Network, the Olympic Channel, and NFL Network all still exist on the platform.

So, in a time where the sports world should be shifting its focus towards pitchers and catchers reporting and the remaining question marks of the offseason, your league’s flagship channel isn’t available on America’s most popular TV streaming platform. 

Instead, I was forced to watch an hour of NFL franchise tag talk this morning on ESPN and every other sports network. To put this into an even more absurd, wider, perspective. Free agent pitcher Blake Snell won the CY Young award last year. According to the league and the gatekeepers of it, Blake Snell is the creme de la crop. He was the BEST pitcher in the senior circuit last year, yet he remains unsigned with exhibition games just 48 hours away.

That should be unheard of. Can you imagine going into training camp next season with a star player like Justin Jefferson left unsigned? It would be front page, around the clock news on every major network.

*I’m aware players sometimes do this in the NFL due to holding out for a new contract. This example would mean they are on the free market and have not received any offers. The player isn’t choosing to hold out, he is forced to because of lack of interest*

I’m sure the network heads over at MLB Network are talking about it but it’s not like me or 6.5 million other YouTube TV subscribers can hear it. We’re left to sift through the cesspool that Elon Musk’s “X” has become to find bi-daily updates from Jeff Passan or Ken Rosenthal (neither of whom work for the league by the way).

Rob Mafred’s job as Commissioner is to grow the game. He has taken that job and shat all over the description.

Rob Manfred is a pair of soggy socks. He is the hot pockets burn on the roof of the league’s mouth. He is a white pizza.

And don’t even get me started on Opening Day being the same day as the Sweet 16. I’ll save that for tomorrow’s pod.