Dan Le Batard says that Rob Manfred wished him fired from ESPN over a contentious interview within the wake of Derek Jeter slashing Marlins payroll in 2017.
Dan Le Batard has many foils in positions of energy, and certainly one of them is MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.
Reacting to Andrew Marchand’s scoop in The Submit that Ken Rosenthal was exiting MLB Community ostensibly over earlier criticism of the commish earlier this week, Le Batard advised his viewers that Manfred tried, unsuccessfully, to do the identical factor to him in 2017.
At the moment, Derek Jeter had simply bought the Marlins in Le Batard’s hometown of Miami, and instantly slashed payroll to the bone. Le Batard was defensive of criticism of Miami followers that he believed would come from nationwide followers and media over lack of assist for a workforce that had been gutted. He teed off on Jeter and had a really contentious interview with Manfred.
This week on the “Dan Le Batard Present with Stugotz,” Le Batard referred to the chat with Manfred as “the one worst interview a sports activities commissioner has ever given.”
“We caught him saying some issues that we may show, factually by documentation, weren't true,” Le Batard mentioned. “In doing that interview, what occurred after that, ESPN defended us a hell of loads higher than MLB Community defended Ken Rosenthal.
“MLB Community is a propaganda arm. NFL Community is a propaganda arm. There are issues that won't be mentioned on these platforms as a result of they aren't unbiased entities. If Rob Manfred may have gotten me fired at ESPN, he would have.”
Within the interview in 2017, Le Batard pressed Manfred on if he knew that Jeter would slash the Marlins’ payroll. Manfred received defensive and mentioned he wouldn't be deposed. At about the identical time, the Miami Herald revealed that the Marlins had paperwork that referred to their organizational plan as “Venture Wolverine” — an apparent reference to payroll slashing — circulating to traders prematurely of the workforce’s buy.
On the time, Burke Magnus, the ESPN govt accountable for the community’s reside rights, confirmed in a assertion to The Massive Lead that MLB officers had taken concern with Le Batard’s interview of Manfred.
“We've a terrific relationship with Main League Baseball and we’re in fixed communication in any respect ranges, so it’s not unusual that we might talk about each points and alternatives in the middle of that communication,” Magnus mentioned.
Le Batard left ESPN in early January 2021 and based Meadowlark Media with former ESPN president John Skipper later within the yr. The platform has a $50 million endorsement cope with DraftKings, and distributes the “Dan Le Batard Present with Stugotz” and quantity of different unique audio and video content material.
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