ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Like his counterpart in the NFL, baseball commissioner Rob Manfred is tasked with taking teams’ obvious actions and pretending that something else is going on.
Whereas Roger Goodell insists that Colin Kaepernick isn’t being blackballed — despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary — Manfred contends that multiple teams aren’t tanking — despite a bevy of unsigned free agents for the second consecutive offseason.
“This narrative that our teams aren’t trying is just not supported by the facts,” Manfred told reporters Sunday during a news conference. “Our teams are trying.