The tenure of Bud Selig at the helm of Major League Baseball came to an end on January 25. He leaves behind him a sorted legacy. He’s credited for adding the Wild Card and spicing up the All Star Game. He’s also blamed for dropping the ball on multiple issues as well.
This is where newly appointed commissioner Rob Manfred comes in. Don’t expect him to take over with guns blazing like a sheriff trying to clean up the Old West. That’s simply not going to happen. In fact, judging by his recent comments on key, hot-button issues, he is more likely to keep those guns in their holsters.
Three topics of interest to fans of the New York Mets that he has taken a stand one way or another on are the reinstatement of Pete Rose, MLB;s position on Mets ownership and the treatment of PED/steroid users when records and accolades are concerned.
First, as Mets fans, we are first and foremost fans of the sport of baseball. The fundamental object in the game is to hit the ball. In the unequaled and storied history of the sport, no one has collected more hits than Pete Rose. With that said, Rose has been banned from the sport for betting in 1989.
A decision at the time that was very controversial and remains so to this day. How can the greatest hitter of the game not be allowed to be celebrated by the game? After all, the Hall of Fame has drunks, womanizers and every lot of degenerate human being you can think of representing the best the sport has ever offered, yet, Rose is the outcast.
Here’s a man that admitted to gambling, however, he bet on his team to win. There’s no way he could have fixed the outcome of the games for his advantage if he was hoping for them to win. He just simply played his best players in the right match-ups and hoped for the best outcome. Isn’t that what every manager does? Why then is what Rose did so wrong?
He recently stated that he’s optimistic, if not hopeful. to speak to the new commissioner and try to be reinstated. Manfred’s response? “There is no timetable”. Does that sound like a guy that’s in a hurry to do the right thing by the fans and the sport? Don’t expect it anytime soon either.
Next, is the MLB’s stand on how the New York Mets ownership is running their team after the massive Madoff debt. Major League Baseball helped bail the Mets owners out after the Madoff scandal that rocked the organization. In doing so, the commissioner’s office practically appointed Sandy Alderson as the Mets’ GM because he has experience with financially struggling clubs.
Five years later, Alderson is still around, the farm system is strong and the team on the field is promising at best. He’s done his job for the most part, but the Wilpon’s still owe an enormous amount of money back to MLB. Does Manfred plan to keep his fingers in the pie or force them to sell the franchise to settle the debts?
His recent comments on the lack of spending habits by Mets ownership shed some light on that as well. He states; “I have never had a question about the Mets’ capacity to spend if they decided it was in their baseball interest to spend money. I really don’t believe that’s an issue”.
This sounds very much like a man who has no interest in interfering with what’s already in place. Furthermore, it almost sounds as if he’s not even giving the Mets’ financial woes a second thought. Judging by this, the Wilpons will be around for as long as they want to be.
Finally, there has been several players who have been able to excel in the past decade or so as a result of using performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) or steroids. Of these players, several have achieved great success, records and accolades. There are however, other players who were never proven guilty except in the court of public opinion where they were suspected.
Among these players, it has been extremely difficult to find an element of acceptance of their success without the lingering questions of how they obtained said success. Does this new commissioner want to put an asterisk next to records or strip certain players of accolades? What is his view on those suspected players?
Again, we can turn to recent comments to see where he might stand. When speaking of Alex Rodriguez, a known PED user who is still facing a ban from the sport after already serving a year suspension last season, Manfred says, “I hope that Alex has an opportunity to resume his career”.
While this is a very forgiving attitude from the highest office in baseball, it also speaks volumes of his stand on PED users. He wants to see them serve their punishment but he is willing to accept and forgive the offense to the sport. That doesn’t seem like someone that wants to place an asterisk next to Barry Bonds or that is willing to wipe the name Ryan Braun off of any awards does it?
Yet, when it comes to those players on the borderline of suspicion versus guilt, Manfred takes a different stand entirely. He says “everyone should keep in mind the difference between players who tested positive and were disciplined on the one hand, and players where somebody has surmised that they did something on the other.”
This opens the door for players like Mike Piazza, Jeff Bagwell or Curt Schilling to be welcomed into the Hall of Fame and among elite baseball circles free of the suspicion of having cheated the game they love.
So Manfred will stand up against those suspecting certain players without proof, but he will not stand up for the integrity of the game against those who have cheated it. This tells us where his true priorities are and it’s not with the fans.
In closing, the sport of baseball and the Mets organization have endured some growing pains in recent years. Despite these, it seems as if no real change is on the horizon for either. If, as a baseball fan, you were expecting MLB to step in and change the status of Pete Rose, Mets ownership or even righting the wrong of cheaters acquiring records simply because they changed commissioners, you can stop holding your breath.
By saying nothing of substance, the new commissioner has made it abundantly clear where he stands. That stand? Maintain the status quo.
Manfred’s comments about possibly banning defensive shifting were so monumentally stupid that it told me all I needed to know about the guy. He scares me a little bit. But I never expect much from these types. He talks about reaching a younger audience with bells and whistles, but neglects to address the TV contracts that make it impossible. He stands there and repeats the tired lies about the Wilpons. And so on and so forth.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
Did you want him to say he’s changing the course of baseball in his first press conference?