Report: MLB will investigate Yankees president over Mike Trout remark
Major League Baseball will be investigating New York Yankees’ team president Randy Levine over comments he made at Jacoby Ellsbury’s welcoming press conference on Friday.
The comment in question had to do with coveted Los Angeles Angels’ outfielder Mike Trout. Apparently, Levine said the following, via ESPNNewYork.com’s Wallace Matthews:
"“Now, if it was Mike Trout, I’d offer him a 10-year contract,” Levine said, referring to the Los Angeles Angels’ 22-year-old center fielder. “But for people over 30, I don’t believe it makes sense.”"
Levine, of course, was talking about the Yankees decision to not go over 7 years for recently departed second baseman Robinson Cano.
Cano claimed that the Yankees disrespected him, as has been widely reported, and Levine was elaborating on that situation.
"“No, I feel bad for him (Cano) because I think he’s disappointed he’s not a Yankee. But I respect him, and he’s free to say whatever he wants to say. We still respect him, and he’ll always be fondly remembered as a Yankee,” Levine said."
Well, according to the Los Angeles Times’ Bill Shaikin, MLB took exception to Levine’s line of thinking, and might consider it “tampering”.
MLB plans to investigate #Yankees president Randy Levine's comments about #Angels Mike Trout to see if they consititute tampering.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) December 13, 2013
The comments regarding Trout seem fairly harmless, and actually make quite a bit of sense. Trout is a perennial MVP candidate and just 22-years-old — it’s not like most baseball fans wouldn’t do the same thing. But, he is a team president and maybe, just maybe, should have kept that thought to himself.
Still, it seems like MLB might be nitpicking a bit on this one.