MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is certainly not popular among the sport’s fans or players.
The lockout was further proof of that, with Manfred and the owners making bad proposal after bad proposal and dragging on the work stoppage for as long as they possibly could before ultimately pulling it together at the last minute.
“To just put it bluntly, he doesn’t do anything for us,” said St. Louis Cardinals’ ace Adam Wainwright shortly after the lockout ended.
On Opening Day, though, Manfred left each player a set of Bose headphones and a note of appreciation as he hopes to improve his relationship with the players.
Rob Manfred has said he needs to repair his relationship with MLB players following the lockout. Here’s a small gesture from Opening Day. Each player had a gift box waiting at their locker with Bose headphones and this “note of appreciation” from Manfred inside. pic.twitter.com/kxHnGcoaQT
— Stephen J. Nesbitt (@stephenjnesbitt) April 10, 2022
Is Manfred Trying To Be The Hero?
This is a nice gesture by Manfred, but is it enough to change the players’ perception of him?
Probably not.
This doesn’t take him off the hook for all of the damage he has done to the game of baseball.
It actually seems like a weak attempt by him to regain the players’ trust.
To put things in perspective, Manfred not only bares a large responsibility for the lockout, but for other things as well.
Fans may recall how the return to play negotiations in 2020 went.
It was quite similar to the lockout and if anything, served as a dress rehearsal for what was to come.
He is also responsible for the extra-inning rule where if a game goes into extra innings, the team hitting will start with a runner on second base.
There’s plenty more damage Manfred has done, but we don’t have time to go through every last detail.
The point is this gesture, while nice, almost seems half-hearted and also doesn’t take Manfred off the hook by any means.
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