MLB Commish Rob Manfred Comments on World Series Winner Visiting Donald Trump

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred commented Wednesday on the possibility the 2018 World Series champions will visit President Donald Trump at the White House.

With the series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox underway, Manfred said the following regarding the tradition, according to Jesse Yomtov of USA Today: 

"I think as an institution, Major League Baseball has always had the greatest respect for the office of the presidency. That doesn't change, no matter who's there. Often we've had situations where individuals, players, whatever, don't agree with all of the policies of the individual that occupies the office. I think the important thing is respect for the office."

Since Trump has been in office, the 2016 World Series champion Chicago Cubs and 2017 World Series champion Houston Astros have both visited the White House.

Winners from other leagues haven't always followed suit.

The Golden State Warriors declined to go to the White House after winning the NBA title in each of the past two years, while the Philadelphia Eagles skipped their White House visit after winning the Super Bowl last season.

Per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com, Red Sox manager Alex Cora took issue with tweets from Trump in reference to Hurricane Maria's impact on Puerto Rico in September:

"To be tweeting about 3,000 people and being efficient, it's actually disrespectful for my country," Cora said. "We see it that way. I know he probably doesn't feel that way. ... Three-thousand, six, 18, I don't know. We will never know how many we lost. I hate that people make it a political issue. This is about human beings. The people that went through this, they know what happened."

In August, the Puerto Rican government reported the death toll as 2,975.

Cora has not indicated whether he will visit the White House if Boston wins the World Series.

The Red Sox hold a 2-0 series lead over the Dodgers ahead of Game 3 in Los Angeles on Saturday.