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Rob Manfred is, by many measures and in the opinion of an untold number of baseball fans, one of the worst commissioners in all of professional sports. Alex Rodriguez is never going to get into the Hall of Fame because he cheated then lied about it. When you put those two things together, you get A-Rod making the absurd statement that Rob Manfred belongs in the Hall of Fame.
“I’m a big Rob Manfred fan,” Alex Rodriguez told Colin Cowherd with a straight face on Tuesday. “I think he deserves a lot of credit. Single-handedly, with the changes he’s made the last two or three years to really save our game, he probably belongs in Cooperstown.”
Tale of the tape
Let’s do a quick tally of the ways Rob Manfred has saved baseball since he became Major League Baseball commissioner in 2015. He lost the league’s deal with ESPN. He has promoted implementing a crazy new rule that he once ripped. After blaming the city of Oakland for the team leaving town, he suggested that A’s fans start rooting for the San Francisco Giants. Eight years later, he is still infuriating fans with his comments about the 2017 Houston Astros cheating scandal. He issued rules to teams that could get batboys and batgirls fired for being too slow during the World Baseball Classic. He has repeatedly done nothing to fix the problem with blackouts. He made inexplicable comments regarding the poverty-level salaries most Minor League Baseball players receive. His “leadership” led to a 99-day players lockout that delayed the start of the 2022 season, shortening it to just 60 games. And he called the World Series trophy “a piece of metal” in trying to defend his decision to not punish a single Houston Astros player for cheating their way to a championship in 2017.
But sure, put him in the Hall of Fame because Alex Rodriguez, who still isn’t getting in, no matter how much sucking up he does, says he should be there.
"I'm a big Rob Manfred fan, I think he deserves a lot of credit…with the changes he's made the last two or three years to really save our game, he probably belongs in Cooperstown." – Alex Rodriguez pic.twitter.com/h74C4vTMl8
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 15, 2025
Like a lead balloon
A-Rod’s dubious statement about Rob Manfred belonging in the Hall of Fame has elicited a lot of responses on social media. They range from incredulity and laughter to anger and disappointment.
“Lol out of all the former players to come out and acknowledge their appreciation for who is quite possibly the absolute worst commissioner in all of sports, and who has also been quite possibly the worst commissioner of any sports league ever, I am so not surprised it’s A-Rod,” one fan wrote.
“He should have given this interview on his knees,” another fan commented.
“Can we give Alex the lifetime ban like Pete Rose just for this take?” someone else asked. “Not even including getting suspended for PEDs not once but TWICE.”
“What a slobbering boob. Maybe steroids does kill brain cells after all,” read another comment.