MLB Network let go of longtime insider Ken Rosenthal recently, according to a Monday report from Andrew Marchand of the New York Post.
Soon after the report was published, the reporter confirmed the unfortunate news on social media.
“Can confirm MLB Network has decided not to bring me back. 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,” Rosenthal wrote on Twitter Monday.
The longtime baseball reporter did share that he plans to continue in his other roles at Fox Sports and The Athletic.
“Nothing else is changing for me professionally,” Rosenthal said. “I am proud to remain part of the great teams at The Athletic and Fox Sports.”
Can confirm MLB Network has decided not to bring me back. 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. 1/2
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 4, 2022
Nothing else is changing for me professionally. I am proud to remain part of the great teams at The Athletic and Fox Sports. 2/2
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 4, 2022
MLB Network didn’t provide a specific reason for letting go of Rosenthal, attributing his departure to “natural turnover” that “takes place each year.”
“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 Marchand. “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.”
However, it’s believed that there’s more to the story. According to Marchand, tension between Rosenthal and the league-owned network stemmed back to the summer of 2020 when the reporter criticized MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.
Rosenthal was first kept off the air for about three months in 2020 after he wrote a series of columns for The Athletic, bashing Manfred’s handling of the COVID-19 altered season that same year. He returned in time for the Aug. 31 trade deadline and was reportedly paid during his time off-air, but missed many of his usual appearances.
Whatever the reasons are for the split, MLB Network will be hard-pressed to find a reporter as connected and charismatic as Rosenthal moving forward.
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