Rob Manfred might've taken uncalled for shot at Angels with comments on MLB expansion

Baseball fans are buzzing about the sport's potential geographic realignment, one way or another. Some are fired up by the prospect of the significant change for change's sake, while others are bemoaning the league continuing to sully baseball's rich history in order to appeal to a broader audience. All this hubbub came up during ESPN's latest Sunday Night Baseball broadcast, when MLB commissioner Rob Manfred discussed realignment possibilities. His comments were poignant for Los Angeles Angels fans, as Manfred unwittingly took a shot at their favorite team.

Rob Manfred might've taken uncalled for shot at Angels with comments on MLB expansion

Manfred made the case for geographic realignment by first stating that it would cause less wear-and-tear on the players, due to the travel schedule being much less arduous. He went on to say: "Our postseason format would be even more appealing for entities like ESPN because you'd be playing out of the East, out of the West. In that 10:00 time slot where we sometimes get Boston-Anaheim would be two West Coast teams, in that 10:00 slot that's a problem for us sometimes becomes a real opportunity for our West Coast audience."

Manfred, of course, refers to the Angels as "Anaheim" here, despite the organization not being called the "Anaheim Angels" since 2004 or the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" since 2015. The commissioner is clearly living in the past if he is using a Boston-Anaheim series as an example of a playoff matchup, which has not occurred since 2009.

Additionally, the Boston-"Anaheim" playoff series that took place in 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2009 were the last vestiges of Major League Baseball being a powerhouse industry in the sports world. The sport began to decline in popularity soon after, especially from 2015-on when Manfred succeeded Bud Selig as commissioner.

Angels fans also took offense to the team not having mass appeal. The Angels-Dodgers game where Shohei Ohtani took the mound against his former team drew 446,000 viewers, which made it the most-viewed late night game (9pm ET start or later) in the history of MLB Network (per Austin Karp of the Sports Business Journal). The Angels are a top-ten valued franchise in the sport, roster one of the greatest players in the history of the sport in Mike Trout, and still have a massive fanbase despite having the longest active postseason drought. Can you imagine how good this org would be if Manfred actually did something about Arte Moreno's management tactics?

This is not the first time Manfred has made an ignorant comment that involved the Angels, and likely will not be the last. It's fine, Angels fans are used to being talked down to. We're still out here representing, though.

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