If you look at these last ten months, baseball's image hasn't been good. I don't know what kind of job security Rob Manfred has, but I'd be a little nervous. With a few teams having games postponed because of positive tests, the MLB commissioner might look to shut down the league very soon if things don't get under control. This will be the continued downfall of a man who receives tons of criticism and rightfully so.
It goes back to last October with the Houston Astros. With the suspension of LA Dodger Joe Kelley recently, it opened up old wounds of the cheating scandal and a number of players in support of him. Many won't say it, but they probably are still angered that none of the players in Houston got in trouble. Immunity, essentially. There was no justice. It resulted in two managers getting fired, a GM fired (though his attitude will make any future baseball job impossible), a player's Hall of Fame credentials being questioned. Blame the damn players union.
The way Manfred has handled the coronavirus pandemic is also less than stellar. Not all of it is on him, though. You do have players who don't want to follow the rules, not protect themselves, and not think of the season or anything but themselves. But, it doesn't excuse the commissioner completely. The constant fighting with the players union, proposals. It will make both sides look bad, but when you combine all the issues going back to October, there should be concern.
I don't see the league giving up completely. They will try to get the 60 games in. Fingers crossed there's no other major positive tests like the Marlins situation. I know Florida has nice stuff, but with huge upticks there, you'd think Don Mattingly and Derek Jeter would get on the players for their actions. I don't think we've seen the last incident to occur. How many more we see will seal the fate of Manfred.
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