Dan Le Betard grills MLB commissioner over Derek Jeter-Marlins sale in testy interview
Filed under: News, Sports, MLB
- MLB commissioner Rob Manfred was a guest on Dan Le Betard's radio show, and faced a gauntlet of questions regarding the sale of the Miami Marlins.
- Le Betard pushed Manfred to admit that he knew that Derek Jeter and his group planned to gut the team and slash their payroll, a charge that Manfred repeatedly denied.
- Jeter has come under criticism since taking over the team, having traded away three of the Marlins most talented players in moves that appear to put finances ahead of baseball.
ESPN's Dan Le Betard conducted a stinging interview with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred on Wednesday, grilling the commissioner on the details of the Miami Marlins sale to a group led by Derek Jeter.
"A source directly involved in the Marlins sales process, after hearing the Le Batard interview, said, via text: 'Commissioner said was not aware of [Jeter] plan to slash payroll. Absolutely not true. They request and receive the operating plan from all bidders.
"'Project Wolverine [the name for Jeter’s plan] called on his group to reduce payroll to $85 million. This was vetted and approved by MLB prior to approval by MLB. Every [Jeter] investor and non investor has the Wolverine financial plan of slashing payroll to $85 million. Widely circulated."
- Derek Jeter held a town hall meeting and was taken to task by angry Marlins fans
- ESPN host Dan Le Batard broke down in tears on air upon learning ESPN president John Skipper was resigning
- ESPN is why there are now 41 college football bowl games and other networks are catching on