Trevor Bauer Had 'Productive' Meeting with Rob Manfred After Criticizing MLB

In the wake of criticizing Rob Manfred on a number of topics, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer met with Major League Baseball's commissioner Wednesday. 

Bauer tweeted that he had a "very productive meeting" with Manfred:

Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported last month that MLB was considering expanding its playoff format to seven teams from each league with a live TV show featuring the No. 2 seed in both leagues picking its opponent from the group of wild-card teams.

In response, Bauer tweeted that Manfred is "a joke" for releasing the proposed format to the media. His media company, Momentum, released a video in which the right-hander called the commissioner out as a big reason why MLB is losing fanfare. 

"As the commissioner, figure it out man ... how are we supposed to get them interested in the game when they can't even see the damn game?" Bauer said. "And on top of that, they cant even go to Twitter, where all the young people hang out." 

MLB's popularity has been a major topic of discussion for years. In ESPN's World Fame 100 list published last year, Bryce Harper was the only baseball player featured at No. 99.

Per Baseball Reference, MLB's total attendance has declined every season since 2012. Last year's attendance figure of 68,494,895 was the fewest in a single season since 2003 (67,630,052). 

Bauer's meeting with Manfred comes on the cusp of the 2020 season. All 30 teams will play Opening Day on March 26.