Ken Rosenthal out at MLB Network due to previous criticism of Rob Manfred per New York Post

The league-owned network has cut ties with Ken Rosenthal, and it is believed that Rosenthal's past criticism of MLB commissioner Rob Manfred in columns written for The Athletic, according to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post.

Richard Wachtel

Jan 03, 2022 - 1 min read

According to a New York Post article the MLB Network has cut ties with Ken Rosenthal. From the article "MLB Network has cut ties with insider Ken Rosenthal that is believed to be the end result of acrimony that peaked in the summer of 2020 after Rosenthal criticized commissioner Rob Manfred, The Post has learned. Rosenthal, a top news breaker, was first kept off the air for around three months, according to sources, after he wrote columns in 2020 — with the season in jeopardy due to the pandemic — analyzing Manfred’s handling of the situation for The Athletic. There was no stated suspension at the time and it went publicly unnoticed."

The article wernt on to say "Rosenthal was still paid, but was put in a months-long penalty box. He did return for the trade deadline, which was pushed to Aug. 31 that season due to COVID-19. Since then, Rosenthal had been regularly on MLBN, including as late as prior to Christmas on “MLB Tonight,” one of the network’s signature shows. His contract was up at the end of last year. "

Rosenthal, still remains at Fox Sports, where he covers weekend games from the dougout and including top games such as the World Series and the All Star Game. In addtion, he will contiune to report The Athletic.

The Post went on to state “As MLB Network continues to look at fresh ways to bring baseball to our viewers, there is a natural turnover in our talent roster that takes place each year,” an MLB spokesman told The Post:“Ken played a significant part at MLB Network over the last 13 years. From spring training to the winter meetings, we thank him for his work across MLB Network’s studio, game and event programming, and wish him the very best going forward.”

What might have gotten Rosenthal in trouble and then eventually got him off the MLB network? According to Yahoo Sports, the "hot water with MLB Network would have come around June 2020, when the league and MLB Players Association were trading barbs and proposals with the season still shut down by the pandemic. Rosenthal was among the most active writers on the topic, with his byline appearing 27 times on The Athletic in June alone. Nearly all of those articles covered the negotiations, some as straight news articles and others coming from an analytical perspective.