Ken Rosenthal’s time at MLB Network was good — until the end.
He left MLB Network in 2022 when his contract expired. Although he continued his work with The Athletic and Fox Sports, his departure from the network wasn’t entirely smooth. Tensions had been building, particularly due to his outspoken criticism of MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, which ultimately led to the network choosing not to renew his deal.
During the pandemic, Rosenthal was sidelined for nearly three months after publishing critical columns for The Athletic about Manfred’s handling of the league’s response, as reported by Andrew Marchand at the time.
MLB Network provided Marchand with this statement then:
“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.”
And that natural turnover of talent roster included long-time personalities, Chris Rose and Eric Byrnes, in addition to Rosenthal.
Perhaps his time there lasted a bit too long, but Rosenthal told host Brandon Contes on the Awful Announcing Podcast that he doesn’t regret it for a second.
“Honestly, I understood the decision not to bring me back,” Rosenthal told Contes. “And I had no problem with it. Their idea was: ‘Hey, this guy is critical of the league; he’s critical of the commissioner; we don’t want him on our league-owned network.’ That is an absolutely understandable decision — you can’t argue with it. They’re not a journalistic entity. They’re a promotional vehicle. Now, early on, they were more of a journalistic entity. And when I came aboard in 2010, the idea was: you do your thing. There were moments under Tony Petitti when he ran the network, and he actually encouraged me to do some things that were critical.
“But, things change, and I understood that. What I didn’t understand was how this could go on for years. This went on for a long time before the decision was made on the conflict — and it should’ve ended sooner, to be perfectly honest. I’m glad it didn’t in many ways. I have so many friends there still, and I miss those people, but the relationship was not good. And understandably not good from their perspective, and even from mine.”
Rosenthal’s eyes were wide open.
He understood what was going on.
But did he briefly worry that being critical of Manfred (or MLB) would cost him his job?
“I didn’t really think of it like that; I was just doing my job,” he explained. “And if it cost me my job, so be it. Now I will say this: at the time, I had Fox, of course, and The Athletic. So, I was not in a position where let’s say MLB Network was my only employer, maybe then, I’m not so pure in my mind — and maybe I’m a little more careful.
“I don’t know. I’ve never been that way. When I was with the Baltimore Sun, I was critical of people. So, that was a time when I only had one job, but I did have that cushion. I knew I had that cushion. So, I was just going to be the same person I tried to be the whole time, and if the outcome was that outcome, that was just the way it was going to be.”
But if that’s the way it’s going to be, you don’t have to have a good relationship with Manfred to cover the league, Rosenthal says.
“No, you don’t,” Rosenthal replied to Contes’ inquiry. “But, it is professional and when I have questions, he will answer the questions. There’s no ‘ostracize this guy’ or anything like that. Now, there’s things that happened from time to time, I won’t go into detail, but I can sense are driven by him and where he wants certain coverage to go. But that’s his absolute right. Just as it’s any source’s right to pick whoever he wants to deal with or not.”
Rosenthal may have understood the dynamics at play, but he was never about to compromise what he stood for.
At least in his mind.
And perhaps that’s why he feels his departure from MLB Network was ultimately inevitable.
