ESPN MLB reporter Jeff Passan and FOX MLB analyst Ben Verlander exchanged barbs on Twitter Tuesday, and WFAN afternoon hosts Craig Carton and Evan Roberts were one of the first to discuss the development.
Passan mocked Verlander in a tweet for his love of Shohei Ohtani by criticizing Verlander’s brother, Justin, who was struggling during his start for the Astros against the Seattle Mariners.
Verlander then replied with a shot about Passan’s height, before the ESPN reporter replied “when you’re talking about Shohei, you’re usually on your knees, though, right?”
“Are you aware of a feud going on right now on Twitter between Ben Verlander and Jeff Passan?”, Evan Roberts asked.
“No, but I like and support Ben Verlander in everything he does,” Craig Carton replied.
“So Jeff Passan tweeted about 18 minutes ago as (Justin) Verlander was struggling,” Roberts replied before reading the tweets traded by the MLB personalities.
“Really? Screen grab that. Screen grab it, because ESPN is gonna make him take that down. In a minute,” Carton replied. “Really? So Jeff Passan likes to get dirty. I wonder what the journalistic mob thinks about that.”
“I mean, I love a good feud, but Jesus,” Roberts replied.
“Book Ben Verlander for the show. ASAP. Tell him he has a friend,” Carton added.
He then brought up the irony of Passan criticizing someone else for their approach, after Passan had to apologize for calling a collective bargaining agreement proposal from Major League Baseball a “shit sandwich” during the MLB lockout in March of this year.
“One might ask if he was on his knees during that coverage,” Carton quipped. “Of course, you couldn’t tell the difference because he’s not 5’9. He’s like 5’1.”
Carton has been critical of Passan in the past, saying Passan is “public enemy #1” after the ESPN Reporter took aim at WFAN’s characterization of his reporting on Mets General Manager Jared Porter’s sexual misconduct in 2021. Carton also said he believes Passan “views himself as untouchable” earlier this year.
