Report: MLB Officials Complain to ESPN After Rob Manfred Interview
MLB officials complained to the management of ESPN after Commissioner Rob Manfred's interview with Dan Le Batard concerning the sale of the Miami Marlins, reports the Big Lead.
During an interview on the Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on Wednesday, Le Batard grilled Manfred from the start of the interview, questioning the Marlins plans with their team, including trading multiple players to cut payroll.
"South Florida is really mad," Le Batard told Manfred at the beginning of the interview, "baseball has been really bad to South Florida for many years, and I don't believe that baseball deserves a single customer in South Florida."
The interview remained testy when Manfred took exception to the way he was being questioned.
"I'm not gonna be deposed like this is some adversary thing. You wanna ask me some questions, I'll answer them the way I want to answer them. If that's not enough, we can move on," Manfred said.
ESPN confirmed with The Big Lead that they had a discussion with MLB concerning the interview, saying, "We have a terrific relationship with Major League Baseball and we’re in constant communication at all levels, so it’s not uncommon that we would discuss both issues and opportunities in the course of that communication.”
The Marlins agreed to be sold in August for $1.2 billion to a group that included former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and businessman Bruce Sherman.
After the season, the Marlins traded National League Most Valuable Player Giancarlo Stanton to the Yankees and also shipped Marcell Ozuna to the St. Louis Cardinals and second baseman Dee Gordon was dealt to the Seattle Mariners.
