As Baseball Teeters, Rob Manfred’s Words Ring Hollow

Bud Selig presided over a canceled World Series, which would seem to be about as bad as it gets for a baseball commissioner’s legacy. Yet his successor, Rob Manfred, may sink even lower. Manfred just might cancel the entire 2020 season.

On the First-Year Player Draft broadcast last week, Manfred said with absolute certainty — “100 percent” — that there would be a Major League Baseball season this year. On Monday, he told ESPN he was “not confident” there would be a season at all, because of the acrimony with the players’ union.

“It’s just a disaster for our game, absolutely no question about it,” Manfred added. “It shouldn’t be happening.”

He got that right, at least. But Manfred’s blatant contradiction will haunt him, if he indeed refuses to stage a season. Whatever the outcome, he has already given whiplash to the fans — those who still care, anyway — and further provoked the players. He is failing in his responsibility as a steward of the game.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/sports/baseball/rob-manfred-mlb-season.html