Rosenthal out at MLBN

[Squirrel]

Right now I'll just put this out here with no comment other than that is a poor decision, imo ...

https://nypost.com/2022/01/03/ken-rosenthal-out-at-mlb-network-over-rob-manfred-criticism/

[wsnydes]

17 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

Right now I'll just put this out here with no comment other than that is a poor decision, imo ...

https://nypost.com/2022/01/03/ken-rosenthal-out-at-mlb-network-over-rob-manfred-criticism/

Not only a poor decision, but also really bad look.  Manfred doesn't do much for his own PR image.

[lecroy24fan]

#FireManfred

[notoriousgod71]

I always respected mlbn for being allowed to criticize mlb but I guess those days are over. Tow the company line, fellas.

[HerbieFan]

He won't be unemployed very long....

[Squirrel]

14 minutes ago, notoriousgod71 said:

I always respected mlbn for being allowed to criticize mlb but I guess those days are over. Tow the company line, fellas.

Well, it’s certainly clear who’s calling the shots … and I don’t think it’s Manfred in this case but who Manfred represents. In a lockout, ownership doesn’t want ANY criticism

[HerbieFan]

...guess he's still employed....but this is MLBN's loss...

[ashbury]

23 minutes ago, HerbieFan said:

...guess he's still employed....but this is MLBN's loss...

It might be complicated for him.  His role at Fox seems to be diminished.  And employment at The Athletic has to be considered a question mark given what I recall hearing about their financial situation.

He may be rethinking his career and going through his rolodex of contacts right now.

[wsnydes]

13 minutes ago, ashbury said:

It might be complicated for him.  His role at Fox seems to be diminished.  And employment at The Athletic has to be considered a question mark given what I recall hearing about their financial situation.

He may be rethinking his career and going through his rolodex of contacts right now.

For him, it could have just been too many irons in the fire.  Perhaps he's just stretched himself too thin.  He's too good of a reporter to not be able to settle into one employer and still succeed.

[dxpavelka]

don't bite the hand that feeds you

[Richie the Rally Goat]

11 hours ago, Squirrel said:

Well, it’s certainly clear who’s calling the shots … and I don’t think it’s Manfred in this case but who Manfred represents. In a lockout, ownership doesn’t want ANY criticism

The timing is odd. Why now? Why not December 3rd? Or End of last season or this one? Does it mean something pertaining to the lockout or to what Rosenthal was working on?

[TopGunn#22]

This is unfortunate.  Rosenthal is a respected baseball guy.  I'm not sure this bodes well for future Labor Harmony either.

[old nurse]

2 hours ago, Sconnie said:

The timing is odd. Why now? Why not December 3rd? Or End of last season or this one? Does it mean something pertaining to the lockout or to what Rosenthal was working on?

His contract was not renewed. The timing was due to whenever he started with yearly contracts

[Richie the Rally Goat]

9 minutes ago, old nurse said:

His contract was not renewed. The timing was due to whenever he started with yearly contracts

From the NY Post “His contract was up at the end of last year.”

the context leading up was a flap about his criticism of Manfred August of ‘20.

Did he work for a year without a contract? Did MLBN extend him for a year after the kerfuffel and just now pull that card?

Either way, my questions still stand

[gunnarthor]

I have to say, one of the things I had liked about baseball was that the journalists were often able to be free. It isn't like the NFL where you don't get access if you're critical. Rosenthal, Heyman, Verducci, etc are fantastic, knowledgeable, league-wide journalists who have done excellent reporting over the years. I really hope that doesn't go away.

[ashbury]

36 minutes ago, Sconnie said:

From the NY Post “His contract was up at the end of last year.”

the context leading up was a flap about his criticism of Manfred August of ‘20.

Did he work for a year without a contract? Did MLBN extend him for a year after the kerfuffel and just now pull that card?

Either way, my questions still stand

"The end of last year" meant he'd been out of work for three days.

[chpettit19]

Rosenthal said he's still with Fox and The Athletic. I'd expect a journalist with his reputation around the game would have no problem continuing to find work. The question with Fox is whether or not they want to piss off MLB (if the reasoning for this really is Manfred/MLB being mad at Rosenthal) by continuing to employee Rosenthal and have him involved in the biggest moments/events of the MLB season. I'd like to think this was just MLB changing things up, and not them getting rid of someone "speaking truth to power," but it's weird to me cuz Rosenthal is one of the best in the biz. Love his work.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

23 minutes ago, ashbury said:

"The end of last year" meant he'd been out of work for three days.

If the article from August of ‘20 was the reason for letting him go… then why extend him for ‘21 to let him go now?

[ashbury]

1 hour ago, Sconnie said:

If the article from August of ‘20 was the reason for letting him go… then why extend him for ‘21 to let him go now?

I don't have information beyond what is in the NY Post article, but it sounded like Rosenthal already had a multi-year contract that went through 2021. 

Wouldn't it be just like baseball executives, though, to put up with a guy for 1+ year rather than can him and have to eat the rest of the contract?

Heh, and maybe Rosenthal's will be the last multi-year contract a reporter receives from MLBN. "Sabrmetric studies show that a reporter's value declines sharply after the first year of any contract."

[Brock Beauchamp]

Remember when we all hated Selig? Man, what I'd give to have him back compared to what we have in Manfred.

[diehardtwinsfan]

Yeah, terrible look for Manfred here. He needs to go.

I don't anticipate him finding a fix for the lockout either... or the competitive situation... or well... anything. I think there need to be a lot of changes at the top with both management and the players union. People like Manfred aren't helping the sport. 

Rosenthall on the other hand, I'd think someone would take him. 

[old nurse]

6 hours ago, Sconnie said:

If the article from August of ‘20 was the reason for letting him go… then why extend him for ‘21 to let him go now?

https://nypost.com/2022/01/03/ken-rosenthal-out-at-mlb-network-over-rob-manfred-criticism/

Note the date on the article.. They might not have liked what he said in 2020, but they did keep him on. People are pointing to the criticism as to why he was not renewed at the end of the year, but it is all speculation. If baseball is relying to draw younger audiences is an old guy in a bow tie going to do it?  You are not young enough to answer the question.. Ageism or anti Boomer, take your pick. The networks are numbers driven

[Richie the Rally Goat]

20 minutes ago, old nurse said:

https://nypost.com/2022/01/03/ken-rosenthal-out-at-mlb-network-over-rob-manfred-criticism/

Note the date on the article.. They might not have liked what he said in 2020, but they did keep him on. People are pointing to the criticism as to why he was not renewed at the end of the year, but it is all speculation. If baseball is relying to draw younger audiences is an old guy in a bow tie going to do it?  You are not young enough to answer the question.. Ageism or anti Boomer, take your pick. The networks are numbers driven

I get the ageism idea, and it is less sexy than anti-Manfred, but this needs more proof not just get tossed out there 

[old nurse]

3 hours ago, Sconnie said:

I get the ageism idea, and it is less sexy than anti-Manfred, but this needs more proof not just get tossed out there 

IDK, there is no proof that the non renewal of the contract had anything to do with Rosenthal’s comments from over a year ago, but look at it churn away on the net. Tossed out there like the news on your least favorite political station

[Richie the Rally Goat]

40 minutes ago, old nurse said:

IDK, there is no proof that the non renewal of the contract had anything to do with Rosenthal’s comments from over a year ago, but look at it churn away on the net. Tossed out there like the news on your least favorite political station

The source is the NY Post that cites sources. I’m giving credence to journalistic integrity.

[bean5302]

If pretty much any professional posted a negative comment about their company or executive management even on their personal social media, they'd likely be canned. It's not surprising MLB chose not to move forward with him based on just that; however, MLB ownership and the commissioner are in the midst of tense negotiations and their own reporter has been hostile towards them. I would personally view him as a security risk to leak confidential information.

Letting Rosenthal go looks like the decision made by competent management, not vice versa.

[old nurse]

6 hours ago, Sconnie said:

The source is the NY Post that cites sources. I’m giving credence to journalistic integrity.

The Post article cites that he was off the air for 3 months because of the comments. The story also notes the talent the network has, 

[Whitey333]

I have always liked Rosenthal.  Hope to still see and hear a lot from him. In any case Manfred is the worst baseball commissioner I've seen in 60 years.  The game has become unwatchable.  The MLB game has been going downhill since he came in.  He has turned MLB into a joke.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

6 hours ago, bean5302 said:

If pretty much any professional posted a negative comment about their company or executive management even on their personal social media, they'd likely be canned. It's not surprising MLB chose not to move forward with him based on just that; however, MLB ownership and the commissioner are in the midst of tense negotiations and their own reporter has been hostile towards them. I would personally view him as a security risk to leak confidential information.

Letting Rosenthal go looks like the decision made by competent management, not vice versa.

This is a news reporter, not an executive. He’s only a security risk if the executives in the room let him be one.

If employers canned every low level operations employee for disparaging their employer on social media, most companies would have to close up shop because they fired too many workers.

[Cap'n Piranha]

2 hours ago, Sconnie said:

This is a news reporter, not an executive. He’s only a security risk if the executives in the room let him be one.

If employers canned every low level operations employee for disparaging their employer on social media, most companies would have to close up shop because they fired too many workers.

But Rosenthal is not a "low level operations employee".  He is a very visible,  customer-facing entity.  A better analogy to a "regular" company would be a senior PR rep who routinely speaks to the press in an official capacity.  If that person made disparaging comments about the CEO, would it really be so shocking to see them fired on the spot?  Also, as has been pointed out, the comments in question came more than a year before his contract was allowed to lapse, so there's not any real strong connection linking one with the other. 

That said, even if the August 2020 criticism is directly tied to his "dismissal", should that be a surprise?  As an MLB employee paid to produce content for public consumption, it should be obvious that the content needs to paint MLB in a favorable light; would any organization pay someone why was portraying them in a negative light?  Would Amazon continue to pay a PR rep who blasted the company for anti-union activities?  Would Target continue to pay a PR rep who said Walmart is a better run company?  Would Google continue to pay a PR rep who wrote about bias and favoritism within the company?  I think all of us know the answer to that, and would have no problem with those companies firing an employee failing at their job (to increase the favorable public perception of their employer);  if so, why would it be expected that MLB act otherwise?