MLBPA Reportedly Unhappy After Colin Cowherd's Comments on Dominican Players

The Major League Baseball Players Association sought an apology from ESPN Radio host Colin Cowherd after an insensitive remark made Thursday during a discussion about managing in the major leagues.  

Jorge L. Ortiz of USA Today reports the comments about Dominican players from the often controversial Cowherd, who's preparing to move from ESPN to Fox Sports, sparked outrage.

"It's baseball," Cowherd said. "You don't think a general manager can manage? Like it's impossible? The game is too complex? I've never bought into that, 'Baseball's just too complex.' Really? A third of the sport is from the Dominican Republic."

ESPN.com later provided an apology from Cowherd:

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"I could've made the point without using one country, and there's all sorts of smart people from the Dominican Republic. I could've said a third of baseball's talent is being furnished from countries with economic hardships, therefore educational hurdles. For the record, I used the Dominican Republic because they've furnished baseball with so many great players."

"I understand that when you mention a specific country, they get offended. I get it. I do. And for that, I feel bad. I do. But I have four reports in front of me ... where there are discussions of major deficiencies in the education sector at all levels. ... It wasn't a shot at them. It was data. Five, seven years ago I talked about the same subject. Was I clunky? Perhaps. Did people not like my tone? I get it. Sometimes my tone stinks.

"I think when you host a radio show, just like Jon Stewart hosts a show, I think sometimes I bring up stuff ... that makes people cringe. I'm not saying there's not intelligent, educated people from the Dominican Republic. I cringe at the data too."

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Tony Clark, head of the players union, released a statement, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports:

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"As a veteran of fifteen MLB seasons, I can assure you that our sport is infinitely more complex than some in the media would have you believe. To suggest otherwise is ignorant, and to make an ignorant point by denigrating the intelligence of our Dominican members was not “clunky” -- it was offensive.

"These recent comments are particularly disappointing when viewed against the backdrop of the important work being done to celebrate and improve the cultural diversity of our game. Baseball's partners and stakeholders should help such efforts, not undermine them."

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Rosenthal also provided a statement from MLB on the matter:

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Major League Baseball condemns the remarks made by Colin Cowherd, which were inappropriate, offensive and completely inconsistent with the values of our game. Mr. Cowherd owes our players of Dominican origin, and Dominican people generally, an apology.

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The USA Today report notes the MLBPA hasn't released an official statement on the situation, but a source told the outlet it's considering whether to withhold cooperation with both ESPN and Fox based on their lack of responses to the matter.

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista, a native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, took to social media to call out the radio host:

Awful Announcing notes this isn't the first time Cowherd found himself in hot water due to his use of unfair generalizations:

ESPN and Fox have yet to issue a response to Cowherd's comments, and it remains to be seen if any action will be taken.