Former Colorado Rockies reliever Tyler Matzek blasts Rob Manfred over Ken Rosenthal dismissal

The baseball world was stunned, in a way, when Andrew Marchand of The New York Post reported that MLB Network was not going to renew the contract of MLB insider Ken Rosenthal due to past criticism over MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. As a result, many people, including former Colorado Rockies and current Atlanta Braves reliever Tyler Matzek, were among the many who voiced their displeasure with MLB and Rob Manfred.

While many were surprised at MLB Network’s move, it also wasn’t surprising considering Manfred’s actions in the past, whether it was with the Astros scandal, calling the World Series trophy “a piece of metal,” the handling of MLB coming back from the pandemic, and various other things too.

But the handling of MLB coming back from the pandemic is what got Rosenthal in hot water.

Tyler Matzek voiced his displeasure with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred once again

With the MLB lockout, former Colorado Rockies reliever and current Atlanta Braves reliever Tyler Matzek has been vocal with his criticism of MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred on Twitter (just check out his Twitter bio). And he took to Twitter again to criticize Manfred and MLB Network over getting rid of Ken Rosenthal.

For Rosenthal, according to Marchand, things started to fall apart for him at MLB Network in June 2020. Rosenthal, who has and still will write for The Athletic, wrote an article (subscription required) that mildly criticized Rob Manfred. He just said that if baseball wasn’t played in 2020, it would “ruin his legacy.” That completely stands to reason.

Rosenthal was put in a “months-long penalty box” in 2020 and 2021 over it as he, who was still getting paid, was used less and less on the network. Rosenthal’s contract ended at the end of 2021 and, as a result, MLB Network decided not to renew it.

Tyler Matzek was one of a handful of players to criticize Manfred and MLB over the move but a slew of people in the baseball industry, media world, or in the sports industry, in general, criticized Manfred for Rosenthal’s dismissal.

This has and will continue to be a PR disaster for MLB because people’s minds have now changed on what MLB Network analysts can and can’t say. And, frankly, as long as the MLB lockout is still in place and Manfred is still MLB Commissioner, he will be a walking train wreck for the PR of MLB.