The beginning of the Yankees season was ravaged by weather postponements, part of the reason why they've played four fewer games than their AL East rival Boston Red Sox.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred admits it's been pretty tough. Not just the rainouts, but even some of the games that were played in less than ideal conditions.
"It's actually been kind of tough," Manfred said on WFAN's Boomer and Gio. "We've had a record number of games postponed, but even worse, early in the year, I think we played 35 games in April where the game time temperature was 40 degrees or less."
Manfred doesn't believe there's anything the league can really do about it.
"Well, first of all, we don't have enough warm weather, domed sites to actually make a material change in terms of the schedule." Manfred said. "But you also have to remember, everybody wants to get opened at home at some point. They don't want to play for any extended period of time without a home opener."
Manfred also discussed the legalization of sports gambling, acknowledging its potential benefits.
"We understand that it's here to stay," Manfred said. "We have to expend time, effort, resources to make sure that the increased legalized gambling doesn't become a threat to the integrity of our game. We also recognize that gambling can be a source of fan engagement. We want our fans engaged with our sport in every possible way and we will take advantage of this new landscape to try to make people even more interested in Major League Baseball."
Of course, the issue is more complex than just the positives. Manfred's biggest concern is the potential of point-shaving and other nefarious behavior.
"The deepest fear is that somehow people involved in betting try to influence the outcome of the game on the field," Manfred said. "That's the deepest fear."
Manfred says that ensuring integrity is no inexpensive feat.
"Integrity monitoring is a really expensive undertaking," Manfred said. "It's very sophisticated. It involves the analysis of massive amounts of data in order to detect patterns in the betting that can be of concern."