Ken Rosenthal out at MLB Network due to criticism of Rob Manfred

[soxhop411]

MLB Network has cut ties with insider Ken Rosenthal that is believed to be the end result of acrimony that peaked in the summer of 2020 after Rosenthal criticized commissioner Rob Manfred, The Post has learned.

Rosenthal, a top news breaker, was first kept off the air for around three months, according to sources, after he wrote columns in 2020 — with the season in jeopardy due to the pandemic — analyzing Manfred’s handling of the situation for The Athletic.

There was no stated suspension at the time, and it went publicly unnoticed by MLBN.

Rosenthal was still paid, but was put in a months-long penalty box. He did return for the trade deadline, which was pushed to Aug. 31 that season due to COVID-19.

Since then, Rosenthal had been regularly on MLBN, including as late as prior to Christmas on “MLB Tonight,” one of the network’s signature shows. His contract was up at the end of last year.

Rosenthal, 59, remains at Fox Sports, where he is a fixture on its weekly coverage and is a dugout reporter for its top games, including the World Series. He also will continue at The Athletic.

https://nypost.com/2022/01/03/ken-rosenthal-out-at-mlb-network-over-rob-manfred-criticism/
This. Uh. Seems like a really bad look for MLBN, essentially saying that you are not allowed to criticize the league if you want to work for the network.

And yes, I know the league owns the network, but the fact that, someone as well known as Ken Rosenthal gets kicked to the curb because he dared to question the commissioner is absurd

 

[RedOctober3829]

MLB Network has cut ties with insider Ken Rosenthal that is believed to be the end result of acrimony that peaked in the summer of 2020 after Rosenthal criticized commissioner Rob Manfred, The Post has learned.

Rosenthal, a top news breaker, was first kept off the air for around three months, according to sources, after he wrote columns in 2020 — with the season in jeopardy due to the pandemic — analyzing Manfred’s handling of the situation for The Athletic.
https://nypost.com/2022/01/03/ken-rosenthal-out-at-mlb-network-over-rob-manfred-criticism/

 

[soxhop411]

its also pretty apparent that they want any "reporter" that works for the network to disregard long standing journalistic standards and just become a PR mouth piece for the league....

Shame on them

 

[jon abbey]

Kind of a dubious article though, starting with the fact that you can’t be fired if your contract has already expired.

 

[Mueller's Twin Grannies]

They're just following ESPN's lead w/r/t LeBron, the NBA and China, and the NFL.

I mean, Max Kellerman lost his gig because he stood up to the biggest loudmouth and gimmick on the network, who is as useless as teats on a boar but still gets kept around to yell about a sport he was never any good at anyway.

 

[lars10]

They're just following ESPN's lead w/r/t LeBron, the NBA and China, and the NFL.

I mean, Max Kellerman lost his gig because he stood up to the biggest loudmouth and gimmick on the network, who is as useless as teats on a boar but still gets kept around to yell about a sport he was never any good at anyway.

I didn’t realize Stephen A Smith was able to play so many sports at one point.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Between this and Manfred's complete-name signature to the notice about the lockout, Manfred comes off as a dweeb

 

[P'tucket rhymes with...]

Between this and Manfred's complete-name signature to the notice about the lockout, Manfred comes off as a dweeb

I believe the applicable term you're looking for here is not "dweeb," but "Roger."

 

[bsj]

Yet this network employs Harold Reynolds.

Makes sense.

 

[Murderer's Crow]

Would you say they cut...bow ties with him?

 

[soxhop411]

Rosenthal confirms he is out at at MLBN and includes a subtle dig at the network regarding journalistic integrity
View: https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/1478167228415627265

Can confirm MLB Network has decided not to bring me back. I’m grateful for the more than 12 years I spent there, and my enduring friendships with on-air personalities, producers and staff. I always strove to maintain my journalistic integrity, and my work reflects that. 1/2

View: https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/1478167253317296128

Nothing else is changing for me professionally. I am proud to remain part of the great teams at The Athletic and Fox Sports. 2/2

 

[P'tucket rhymes with...]

Interested to see what he puts out for The Athletic going forward. Manfred might regret not keeping his (perceived) enemies closer.

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

So he was kept off the air….even though he was on the air for the last few months of the season?

 

[jon abbey]

So he was kept off the air….even though he was on the air for the last few months of the season?

Yeah it’s a terrible article. Also he wasn’t fired, his contract expired and wasn’t renewed. And this article is in a Fox-owned publication and Rosenthal (who I have no strong feelings about either way, he may have integrity but he rarely has insight) still works for Fox Sports.

 

[MFYankees]

The treatment of Rosenthal is consistent with the Pravda-like crap mlb.com has been posting about the CBA negotiations.

 

[Van Everyman]

Ah, I like Rosenthal. Didn’t he really break a lot of the Astros scandal? If so, I think this is a pretty big swing and miss by the league.

 

[jon abbey]

Ah, I like Rosenthal. Didn’t he really break a lot of the Astros scandal? If so, I think this is a pretty big swing and miss by the league.

That’s probably the real reason actually.

 

[soxhop411]

Interested to see what he puts out for The Athletic going forward. Manfred might regret not keeping his (perceived) enemies closer.

He will be his normal self. Which seemed to piss off the league. He will continue to write and report on stories that the league/Manfred may not like.

if they expect him to memory hole any stories that makes the league look bad… well good luck to them.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Maybe we should combine the threads?

 

[DJnVa]

So he was kept off the air….even though he was on the air for the last few months of the season?

He was kept off the air 3 months in 2020 and brought back. Then his contract wasn't renewed. Could one thing be unrelated to the other? Sure.

 

[CarolinaBeerGuy]

Maybe we should combine the threads?

Yes, that would be ideal.

 

[Mugsy's Jock]

Almost immediately after MLB Network launched, there was major breaking news in the Alex Rodriguez steroids scandal. The network went full-in on the coverage, bringing on Costas for lots of editorials and interviews and directly confronting how steroids had tainted the sport.

I knew the head of the network at the time, Tony Pettiti, just barely well enough to send him an email congratulating him on the launch and sharing my appreciation for their not ducking the story. Having worked at the David Stern NBA a briefly in the 80s, I know that league at that time would 100% have ignored the story. He thanked me fir the note, and said MLB Network was a different animal, and there was never any hesitation about following the story wherever it went.

On reflection, I suppose they never went full journalism and called out MLB a leadership/ownership for complicity in the rise of steroids, and realistically that would’ve been a lot to ask of a house-owned broadcaster. Today it appears the bar is even lower.

 

[Sille Skrub]

Maybe we should combine the threads?

Done.

 

[Seels]

The MLB is run as bad as the WWE at this point. They deserve to actively lose fans.

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

From everything I’ve heard, Manfred is a terrible person. But MLB Network is a pretty small part of the leagues business and it’s getting smaller and smaller with dwindling subs and less and less content. I imagine Rosenthal was making a good amount of money, which was probably the driving force behind his dismissal. I’m sure him criticizing the league didn’t help but I’m sure he will continue to do that wherever he is .

 

[Mueller's Twin Grannies]

The MLB is run as bad as the WWE at this point. They deserve to actively lose fans.

No.

NOTHING is run as poorly as WWE.

Nothing.

 

[donutogre]

Craig Calcaterra had some great thoughts about the Rosenthal situation in his Cup of Coffee newsletter. It's a paid newsletter, so I'm only going to post a portion, but his overall take is that this is a huge overreaction by Manfred, considering that Rosenthal didn't generally stir the pot too much. (Emphasis mine.)

Let’s be clear about something: Ken Rosenthal is an excellent journalist and a well-loved presence on Major League Baseball broadcasts, but he is not out there lighting people up or anything. He is not speaking uncomfortable truth to power on the regular. Indeed, as I’ve often mentioned here, Rosenthal — along with Jeff Passan at ESPN — are the first people Rob Manfred usually calls when he wants to get a talking point out in public in a way that makes it seem like news as opposed to an announcement from the league. He is not a shill for Major League Baseball — God knows there are some of those out there — and his name is on the byline of a lot of stories Major League Baseball probably wishes weren’t being reported, but he is not the sort of person people in power usually rant and rave about and wish to be rid of. That Manfred is treating him like he is says everything you need to know about Rob Manfred and absolutely nothing about Ken Rosenthal.

He continues to rip Manfred pretty hard, which is no surprise if you've ever read his work before.

At the same time, Rosenthal is one baseball’s most prominent faces — a very friendly face at that — who is the closest thing to an institution in baseball media going at the moment. I’m struggling to think of anyone who even attempts to do what he does who is more popular among fans and viewers and who does more to make baseball seem fun and enjoyable. Why you would shitcan him when the league is in the midst of labor strife and when there’s a non-trivial chance that the 2022 season will be delayed or significantly disrupted is so far beyond me that it’s gone all the way around the world and is creeping up behind me.