Manfred defends new Marlins owners in combative interview

Less than 24 hours after Miami Marlins CEO Derek Jeter defended his recent moves to slash payroll to a group of aggrieved season-ticket holders, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred threw his support behind the team's new ownership group, saying they deserve a chance to show their "long-term commitment to winning."

In a tense interview on "The Dan Le Batard Show" on ESPN Radio, Manfred also snapped back Wednesday at the accusation that he cared more about maximizing the franchise's purchase price than finding an ownership group that was both financially capable and inclined to operate the team in good faith.

"Can I tell you something? You actually have no idea what I care about and don't care about," Manfred said. "The fact of the matter is, a competitive club in each one of our 30 markets is my foremost concern.

"This is really simple. We approved a very well-funded group that made numerous presentations to us about their commitment to provide winning baseball in South Florida over the long haul. That's generally what we look for in the approval process."

Since buying the club for $1.2 billion in October, the Marlins' new ownership group, fronted by Jeter, has traded away Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, and Dee Gordon to offset expected financial losses in 2018 - a series of cost-cutting moves reminiscent of the fire sales engineered by former owner Jeffrey Loria.

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Though the deals have sparked considerable ire in south Florida - both at the Marlins' new owners and the league for approving them - Manfred explained that the club's level of debt was the same before and after the sale, and emphasized that the commissioner's office doesn't get involved in operating-level decisions or ask for player-specific plans in the ownership approval process.

"I understand the concerns that have been expressed in South Florida ..." Manfred said. "There have been two World Series champions in South Florida. Whether people like everything that's happened in between, after, or not, there are a lot of markets that would make that trade in terms of having those two World Series champions.

"I said this before. This group deserves a fair opportunity to demonstrate that they have a long-term commitment to winning."