Sour grapes? Naaaaaaaaa. Haven't seen the MLB rules.
I do know though what intent is.
And when George made his announcement about Joe losing his job based on perfromance he knew EXACTLY what the media would do with it.
Seems to me common sense would rule here what the intentions were. Breaking the rule? Probably not.
Getting to the end result the rule was put into place for? You bet!
Mel? He's a pitching coach not head coach. Quite frankly only ones that care much are Mariner fans and it didn't distract from any playoff games so not sure why you would list him. No effect took place.