Rob Manfred Has Zero Credibility - With Players And With Fans - And It's His Own Fault

Bradford William Davis, Daily News:

On Thursday, Tommy Pham posted a picture of a wrinkle on Jose Altuve's jersey. ...

The Padres outfielder, who was eliminated by Altuve's Astros while with the Rays in 2019's ALDS, posted it in response to an MLB statement about the rumored use of electronic buzzers by Astros hitters to signal the upcoming pitch. "MLB explored wearable devices during the investigation but found no evidence to substantiate it," the league told reporters on Thursday after players egged on rumors of Astros hitters using electronic buzzers.

That's a somewhat weaker denial than commissioner Rob Manfred gave Sports Illustrated on Monday. "I will tell you this: we found no Band-Aid buzzer issues," Manfred said three days ago. "There's a lot of paranoia out there."

It was the latest evolution in a neverending spate of allegations against the Astros, and conspiracies about rampant sign-stealing across baseball. ...

Pham's response, a response then echoed by players across the league, shows how quickly trust has eroded between the game's players and its leaders.

How did we get to a place where a burner account baldly lying about being Carlos Beltran's niece has more equity with fans and players than the league? ...

On sign stealing, Rob Manfred said that MLB's investigation "revealed no evidence to suggest that GM Jeff Luhnow was unaware of the banging scheme," referring to the trash can Astros personnel whacked from the dugout to relay stolen signs to Houston batters. Mere sentences later, Manfred wrote, "there is both documentary and testimonial evidence that indicates Luhnow had some evidence of those efforts, but he did not give it much attention."

In other words Luhnow was aware of the sign-stealing attempts but not what is, literally, the loudest part of the sign-stealing attempt. Good luck parsing that. ...

But while blaming Luhnow, Manfred absolved Astros owner Jim Crane. Relying on Crane, Luhnow's boss — to steer the Astros to integrity is ridiculous, and that's before you get to his scandal-ridden business career. ...

Manfred said Crane was "extraordinarily troubled and upset by the conduct of members of his organization" and claimed Crane "fully supported" his investigation. Yet, moments after the report was released, Crane rejected Manfred's assessment of his franchise and its problematic culture. ...

Baseball's commissioner has tasked the Astros' owner with cleaning up a problem he does not believe exists.

It makes sense, though, in a larger pattern of Manfred minimizing the scandal before a full reckoning had come.

After Mike Fiers blew the whistle to The Athletic, Manfred vehemently denied the widespread nature of sign stealing. "I have no reason to believe it extends beyond the Astros at this point in time," Manfred told ESPN's Jeff Passan in November.

The same report that fingered the Astros hinted that other teams were also cheating. Guess what: It extended beyond the Astros. ...

Manfred's credibility among fans is gone. If the players don't believe him either, then how can he run their game?

Manfred's promised "really, really thorough investigation" has prompted more questions than conclusions; any reason to believe Manfred fades with every reported article, suspicious video clip and blurry tweet.

Craig Calcaterra, Twitter:

Major League Baseball's "we do things only when the PR becomes a big problem" approach is probably something Manfred should rethink.

I mean, they were doing nothing despite obvious suspicion inside the game and only acted in response to The Athletic story. Then said "just the Astros, no one else." Then another story, then Red Sox get investigated. So . . .

. . . when Manfred says "no evidence of devices!" he has no credibility. And of course, given that he only reacts, he is inviting Pham and other players to go public. Because that, obviously, is all he responds to.

It's like Selig and PEDs. Nada until Caminiti and Canseco went public in 2002. And then only actual action in response to more external pressure over years.

In some instances, sure, as a leader of a pubic-facing institution you don't go crazy unless you have reason to. But when it deals with the very basis of your business - competitive integrity - you had better be more proactive than reactive.

Anyway: this is what happens when your priorities are out of whack. And MLB's priorities, while always questionable to some degree or any toner, have been more out of whack under Manfred than at any time in decades. So none of this is terribly shocking.