MLB Network has sent longtime reporter Ken Rosenthal to the showers.
The news comes a year and a half after Rosenthal drew the rancor of Rob Manfred by critiquing the MLB commissioner’s handling of player union negotiations ahead of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Among Rosenthal’s writings at that time, he opined for The Athletic that Manfred — whom he derided as “beholden to owners and out of touch with players” — needed to “[s]trike a deal with the union and salvage the 2020 season, or ruin his legacy as commissioner of baseball.”
According to the New York Post, Rosenthal was quietly benched at the time for three months (paid), but brought back just in time for that season’s end-of-August trade deadline.
“Can confirm MLB Network has decided not to bring me back,” Rosenthal shared on Twitter Monday evening. “I’m grateful for the more than 12 years I spent there, and my enduring friendships with on-air personalities, producers and staff. I always strove to maintain my journalistic integrity, and my work reflects that.”
Despite being put on waivers by MLB Network, Rosenthal will continue on at his other gigs.
“Nothing else is changing for me professionally,” he tweeted. “I am proud to remain part of the great teams at The Athletic and Fox Sports.”