Manfred's 'piece of metal' angers Doolittle, Turner, others

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Players who have won a World Series -- and those who have come up short -- seethed Monday at Commissioner Rob Manfred's reference to the sport's championship trophy as merely a "piece of metal," saying that comment reflected a disconnect between baseball's boss and those who produce the product on the field.

"It bothered me, man. I hated it. It made him sound really out of touch," said reliever Sean Doolittle, a member of the 2019 title-winning Washington Nationals. "That's the holy grail of our sport. That's what we show up for in the beginning of February, thinking about and working towards."

Added Doolittle: "I just can't believe how out of touch that is. You're the commissioner of our game. You're the steward of this game. That's a really special thing. It's an iconic symbol of our game. Please don't say that, even off-hand, even tongue-in-cheek."

As with so many things being talked about around the majors as spring training gets started, this all stems from the Houston Astros' sign-stealing scam in 2017 and 2018.

There have been calls for players involved to be punished in some way; MLB gave them immunity in exchange for cooperating with the investigation.

"I'm sure a lot of people were mad," three-time AL MVP Mike Trout said at Los Angeles Angels camp in Tempe, Arizona. "They think the punishment should be more or something."

Some think the Astros should be stripped of their 2017 championship, but Manfred said this on Sunday in an interview with ESPN: "The idea of an asterisk or asking for a piece of metal back seems like a futile act."

That phrasing did not sit well.

Doolittle and other players noted that the official name of the hardware itself is The Commissioner's Trophy.

"For him to devalue it the way he did yesterday just...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Manfred-s-piece-of-metal-angers-Doolittle-15062862.php