Getty Image / Stacy Revere
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred poured gasoline on a dormant fire this week when he discussed regrets regarding the 2017 Houston Astros cheating scandal and he further incensed the baseball world discussing the Oakland As moving to Las Vegas.
The Oakland As will soon leave the Bay Area and head to Las Vegas. Manfred’s comments on that had Oakland A’s fans up in arms.
In an interview with TIME Magazine, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said:
“I feel for the fans in that market. Oakland has a proud history. But the fact of the matter is, we have a facility in Oakland that is not a major league facility. It’s not suitable for the A’s to be there. It’s not suitable for the other 29 teams to have to go into that facility. [A’s owner] John Fisher devoted the better part of a decade, and a willingness to put up the largest private financing for a baseball stadium ever, and still couldn’t get a deal done. At some point, you need to find an alternative. I don’t like that idea. I would have preferred in some ways for it to have worked out in Oakland. But at some point, you have to admit that it’s not going to get done and find an alternative that’s better for the game.”
Now, while he’s in London for the Cubs vs Cardinals ‘London Series’, Rob Manfred is attempting to do a bit of ‘slight of hand’ work and deflect. Saying his comments about Oakland were taken out of context:
Speaking at London Stadium on Cubs-Cardinals workout day, Commissioner Rob Manfred was asked if he regrets anything he has said about Oakland A's fans: pic.twitter.com/eNwbbELoq9
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) June 23, 2023
Manfred said:
“My comment about Oakland was that I feel sorry for the fans, that it was my initial preference that we find a solution in Oakland. The comment I made about the fans on a particular night (during the reverse boycott) was taken out of context of those two larger remarks. I feel sorry for the fans. We hate to move. We did everything we could possibly do to keep the club in Oakland. And unfortunately one night doesn’t change a decade of inaction.”
I keep reading and re-reading that for anything ‘out of context’ but it seems pretty explicit. Rob Manfred has been getting LIT UP by the media this week, especially after his comments about the Houston Astros.
The Houston Astros won the 2017 World Series thanks, in large part, to an intricate system of cheating. And they faced virtually zero punishment for it which has allowed the Astros to win another World Series and appear in 3 since they were caught red-handed.
“I’m not sure that I would have approached it with giving players immunity. Once we gave players immunity, it puts you in a box as to what exactly you were going to do in terms of punishment. I might have gone about the investigative process without that grant of immunity and see where it takes us. Starting with, I’m not going to punish anybody, maybe not my best decision ever.”
For anyone wondering, Rob Manfred earns a salary of $17.5 million per year. Upon learning this information, it is a common refrain to hear “I’d get up there on a podium and get yelled at by fans for that much money every year” and honestly, I would too.