Rob Manfred says granting Astros immunity 'not my best decision'

[fulltritty]

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/37898171/rob-manfred-says-granting-astros-immunity-not-my-best-decision

"I'm not sure that I would have approached it with giving players immunity," Manfred told Time, which published the interview Wednesday. "Once we gave players immunity, it puts you in a box as to what exactly you were going to do in terms of punishment.

"I might have gone about the investigative process without that grant of immunity and see where it takes us. Starting with, I'm not going to punish anybody, maybe not my best decision ever."

[KhalDrogo]

Manfred has the same spine that Silver does.

[MiamiMarlinsFan]

He has a lot of “maybe not the best decision ever”s at this point…

[Bosoxfan5990]

He makes Gary Bettman look competent.

[SupermanBrandon]

It’s almost like people knew that already. He’s spineless.


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[panamamyers]

The biggest mistake was pretending like this was an isolated event.
Imagine had they done the same with steroids and just pretended like it was Petite, Clemens, giambi and a few other Yankees and then closed the book and refused to investigate further.

[JustinVerlander07]

Worst commish in sports, and that's saying something.

[KhalDrogo]

The biggest mistake was pretending like this was an isolated event.
Imagine had they done the same with steroids and just pretended like it was Petite, Clemens, giambi and a few other Yankees and then closed the book and refused to investigate further.
Nah. That was the best move for the league. Always best to brush what you reasonably can under the rug. You can’t have the integrity of the game being called into question. You think Tim Donaghy is the only crooked ref that’s graced the NBA? Of course not. But the league will never say otherwise.

[packman80]

Manfred is trash. Just few weeks ago made threat no doubt direct from the Brewers owner that if taxpayers don't pay nearly $500 million in upgrades to the stadium they will relocate the Brewers.

[jduds]

The biggest mistake was pretending like this was an isolated event.
Imagine had they done the same with steroids and just pretended like it was Petite, Clemens, giambi and a few other Yankees and then closed the book and refused to investigate further.

It was more beneficial to treat it as such like when the NBA had the Tim Donaghy scandal. Much better for publicity to pretend everything is cool, move on, and try to staunch any larger problems quietly.

[hammertime]

https://pyxis.nymag.com/v1/imgs/c8f/601/3aa091f9a41ec205d13afad0a0514cb1a7-cage-meme.2x.w250.jpg

[Raleigh504]

I feel like all owners (most of them are millionaires pretending to be billionaires) are just threatening to move unless cities give them new stadiums or upgrades.

Since really most of them actually can not afford to do it themselves since they really aren't billionaires. (If the leagues would cease to exist, then most of them would not be billionaires)

[msink28]

Kind of staggering. He can't even pretend for a few days a year that he likes the sport.

Worst commish in sports, and that's saying something.

[Silent George]

Take a page out of how the government works.

Do something obviously stupid for obviously corrupt reasons.

Years later call it a mistake. Oops!

Repeat.

[Skipscards]

His worst decision, by far, was accepting the job.

[awz50]

He makes Bud Selig look like the second coming of jesus christ

[anusinha]

This is how all politics are run, just ignore and toss it under the rug and move on.

[BostonNut]

Nice to know the Fighten' Corndogs are firmly lodged in a certain fan bases' noggin's. :coffee: :sip:

[spuds1961]

Nice to know the Fighten' Corndogs are firmly lodged in a certain fan bases' noggin's. :coffee: :sip:

Fan not Fanbase. ;):D

[discostu]

His worst decision, by far, was accepting the job.

Correct.

[oplum29]

if he really wanted to send a message, he should have Black Soxed' or Pete Rosed' them.

[PeteD]

He makes Gary Bettman look competent.

Chris Chelios strongly disagrees. :D

[fulltritty]

Nice to know the Fighten' Corndogs are firmly lodged in a certain fan bases' noggin's. :coffee: :sip:

Yes, because I don't have a track record on here of posting MLB-related news article to generate discussion. :rolleyes:

[fabiani12333]

MLB knew about the Astros cheating before it became public and they didn't do anything about it. It was only after Mike Fiers went public with it that MLB was forced to act.

Manfred's first instinct was to manage the scandal -- not enforce the rules. If he hadn't given immunity to the players, it would have prolonged the process. But he didn't anticipate the level of backlash for not punishing the players.

[fabiani12333]

The biggest mistake was pretending like this was an isolated event.
Imagine had they done the same with steroids and just pretended like it was Petite, Clemens, giambi and a few other Yankees and then closed the book and refused to investigate further.

Cheating has been a fixture of MLB since its inception -- it's ingrained in the culture of the sport. It's a competitive sport and players and teams are always looking for an edge. MLB just needs to make sure specific kinds of cheating don't get out of hand like it did with steroids and sticky stuff. Don't be passive and let it become widespread.

[fabiani12333]

Nah. That was the best move for the league. Always best to brush what you reasonably can under the rug. You can’t have the integrity of the game being called into question. You think Tim Donaghy is the only crooked ref that’s graced the NBA? Of course not. But the league will never say otherwise.

Fans aren't naive. They know cheating and corruption exists in sports, just like it does in other parts of society. The best thing MLB can do is show them they are trying to police cheating and keep the game on the level. Trying to sweep cheating under the rug only builds mistrust and resentment in fans.