North American professional sports leagues operate networks specifically geared to market the product, ranging from the NFL Network to NBA TV and beyond. The rivers of neutrality, analysis, and criticism can present obstacles when negotiating exclusive broadcasts of rare game footage, compelling documentaries, or even studio programs. Ken Rosenthal, a well-known journalist and reporter for The Athletic and Fox Sports, was fired from MLB Network on Monday, according to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, in a move “believed to be the end result of acrimony that peaked in the summer of 2020 after Rosenthal criticized commissioner Rob Manfred.”
Marchand reports that Rosenthal’s contract expires at the end of 2021, despite the fact that MLB Network was not his primary employer. An MLB official then issued a statement to the New York Post.
“As MLB Network continues to look at fresh ways to bring baseball to our viewers, there is a natural turnover in our talent roster that takes place each year,” the statement reads. “Ken played a significant part at MLB Network over the last 13 years. From spring training to the winter meetings, we thank him for his work across MLB Network’s studio, game and event programming, and wish him the very best going forward.”
After writing on Manfred’s performance amid MLB’s pandemic-led issues, Rosenthal was supposedly “taken off the air for roughly three months” in 2020. The circumstance was a “months-long punishment box,” according to Marchand, which he defines as “a seemingly never-ending penalty box.”
Manfred was criticized in part in the essay in question, which was written by Rosenthal for The Athletic, but not to the point of being out of bounds or raising any red lights for being unfair. As if the perception that Manfred is beholden to owners and out of touch with players wasn’t bad enough, he was trending on Twitter on Monday after performing a massive flip-flop, according to Rosenthal. “Rob Manfred finally appears to have realized he has no choice: strike a deal with the union and salvage the 2020 season, or ruin his legacy as commissioner of baseball,” he wrote.
Overall, this is an odd situation, especially considering that it has been more than a year since the first column that supposedly garnered MLB’s ire. This is also the type of sticky situation that makes league-run networks difficult to work with, and it should be noted that MLB has always insisted on a firewall between the commissioner’s office and any journalism, which does not exactly align with this reporting. The continued lockout by MLB and the fact that MLB.com currently displays very little information about any active player, including the elimination of any imagery, add to the intrigue.
Rosenthal’s work at The Athletic and as a sideline/dugout reporter for FOX’s MLB coverage appears to be his most well-known. As a result, he should be able to land on his feet quickly, but it doesn’t diminish the strange nature of MLB’s conduct, especially if Marchand’s story is genuine. A long history of unusual and frequently absurd conduct has characterized Manfred, and if the decision to break ways with Rosenthal came from the top, that behavior may be continuing today.
