Rob Manfred Should Pledge to Resign if 2020 MLB Season Doesn't Happen

It's early June, and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has yet to see his sport plan a regular season game. Worse yet, Manfred seems totally unmotivated when it comes to making a season happen.

The negotiations between the league's owners and the players have gone on for so long that MLB has inadvertently passed over a July 4 rebirth that would have a perfect restart date.

"The idea of starting the season July 4th, that is pretty much gone... Do I believe baseball will be played in 2020? I do. But they've already blown one opportunity. A July 4th Opening Day would have been so great for the country."

— @Ken_Rosenthal on Owner/Player negotiations pic.twitter.com/IURpvRowuW
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 5, 2020

Manfred, supposedly a master negotiator, can't stay in charge of the league if he can't foster peace between these two parties. If he can't get a season started in 2020, it's time to resign.

His players and owners are currently locked in a staring contest with no end in sight because of some disagreements about salaries. Has Manfred done anything about this? Has he come out in favor of either side, an endorsement that could essentially strong arm one side into giving up and force a 2020 season to get started? Nope. He's just been sitting atop his hoard of TV rights plunder in New York figuring out more ways to bastardize the game in order to shave two minutes off of the average game time, running out the clock until he can mandate a 50-game season.

Our @NYDNSports back page: Baseball is blowing its chance to lead sports back with July 4 return as it continues tone-deaf money squabble. @mlb @MLB_PLAYERS #RobManfred -- https://t.co/BlPUgun077 pic.twitter.com/YaC4XcSgWg
— Tom Biersdorfer (@TomBiersdorfer) June 7, 2020

Most fans want baseball back, but a small chunk of fans are so jaded and irritated with the constant back and forth between the owners and players, petty squabbles, and insider updates that make it seem like a season is around the corner one day and literally impossible the next that they almost do not care if the game returns. Manfred likely doesn't realize this.

If he DID realize this, and the fact that the long-term viability of his sport could go down the tubes without a season, he would take steps to fix the relationship rather than hiding in the shadows.