Rob Manfred appears poised to net a rather nice extension to remain the MLB Commissioner. The report suggests that he will stick around in office for a long time, which is good for some people but dreadful for others.
While many of Rob Manfred’s decisions have been well-received, like the pitch clock, others have not. In fact, some consider him a pretty poor comissioner. Here are some of the blunders he’s made in their eyes.
•
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s biggest mistakes
5) COVID-19
The pandemic season was shortened to 60 games, and much of it was a result of bad negotiating on the MLB’s part. THings were going smoothly until they weren’t, and it cost the league games that year. Fans and players weren’t all that thrilled with how things went after games began.
4) Atlanta/Colorado All-Star Game
In 2021, the All-Star Game was moved from Atlanta to Colorado thanks to Atlanta and Georgia’s role in the 2020 election scandals. Manfred opposed the new voting laws that were put in place to restrict access and moved the game. The intent seems noble, but that didn’t matter to many fans who were displeased with the choice.
3) Juiced balls
Juicing the balls made life fun for everyone in 2019- except for pitchers. Players were hitting the ball out of the park at an incredible pace and offense was exploding, but it wasn’t good for pitchers. That alone would be one thing, but it’s another to then reverse course and go back to normal balls. Many have theorized that the balls have selectively been juiced from time to time, which is another controversy.
2) Ghost runner
One of the most polarizing things Rob Manfred has done was introduce the ghost runner. In extra innings, each team begins the inning with the last recorded out on second base to make it easier to score. This, in theory, prevents games from running deep into the night. However, many fans believe it is awful and say it’s “not baseball.”
1) Astros immunity
It’s a bad decision when even the one who made it can come out later and regret it. When the Houston Astros cheating scandal broke, Rob Manfred offered the players immunity to reveal what they’d done and expose those in charge. In turn, they got off without a punishment, something the baseball world has never forgiven him for.