While baseball in Toronto couldn’t be going more swimmingly as the Blue Jays are atop the AL East and their broadcaster Sportsnet is getting record ratings, there’s been a reported riff between outfielder (and face of the team) Jose Bautista and the TV network. Brendan Kennedy of The Toronto Star reports Bautista is boycotting Sportsnet because the company forced rookie second baseman Devon Travis to purchase a suit (in part of a makeover segment) and didn’t reimburse him for the cost.
Here’s more from the report.
Bautista believes Sportsnet took advantage of Travis — since it was the network’s idea to do the suit-buying special — and that he needs to stand up for his rookie teammate, who is unable to stand up for himself given his lower-echelon status in the league and with his new team.
As the report notes, Bautista seems to be singling out the television side of Sportsnet, as he’s still giving interviews to other Sportsnet properties.
Bautista is still giving one-on-one interviews to other media outlets, but the last time he spoke exclusively to Sportsnet was May 12, according to a search of Sportsnet’s video archive by the Star. Since then he has not done any post-game, on-field interviews and has only been interviewed by Sportsnet cameras as part of group scrums with other media.
On July 29, for instance, Sportsnet evening talk show hosts Tim and Sid used a recording of Bautista speaking to MLB Network radio when discussing comments he made following the trade for Troy Tulowitzki. But Bautista’s boycott appears to be reserved only for the TV side of Sportsnet’s operation, as he has done occasional radio interviews with Sportsnet 590 The Fan.
As Kennedy notes, Bautista has been boycotting the station since May 19th and he acknowledged the reports being true without confirming them in an official statement. Representatives from the Blue Jays and Sportsnet (which are both owned by Rogers Communications) declined to comment. Travis, who’s currently rehabbing an injury, also declined to comment.
The article has quotes from a journalism instructor who says Sportsnet may refuse to pay for the suit because of journalistic integrity, but it can be questioned how journalistic the report was. If it was the companies idea to take him suit shopping, why make the rookie – who’s earning the MLB’s minimum salary – pay for the suit? Also how is a fashion makeover journalism?
The boycott is not a good look for the Sportsnet and if it’s resolvable by covering the cost of a suit, they should probably bite their tongue and do it – even if they don’t believe they deserve too. Bautista is a huge part of Toronto’s leadership, and to not have him comment for the rest of the season would be catastrophic for coverage.
