Jazz Chisholm Jr. issues stern message to Cam Newton for the controversial MLB vs. WNBA take

New York Yankees star Jazz Chisholm Jr. is not buying Cam Newton's controversial statement that "baseball is a dying sport," which the former Heisman winner said in the first week of last month on his podcast.

Newton also said that the WNBA, the women's equivalent of the NBA, will surpass the MLB in 20 years.

"Baseball is like a — I hate to say — a dying sport," Newton said on his '4th & 1' podcast. "I think baseball will be surpassed by WNBA in 20 years. Baseball isn’t being played by Americans anymore... It’s like, who’s really paying attention to baseball? Especially paying attention to baseball in the regular season."

While baseball may have fallen behind in terms of popularity with respect to the NBA and NFL, there's a reason it's called "America's pastime." There were, of course, several reactions to Newton's controversial take, but Chisholm had a short reply to dismiss the former quarterback's notion.

During an appearance on the first episode of "The Absolutely Ridiculous," the infielder said:

"Cam, I have one thing to say—am I? Oh, my bad. Am I going to be dead in 20 years? Like, you’ve got to let me know, because I will not let that go—ever. That’s never going to happen. Not if I’m alive, at least."

Other MLB stars also criticized Cam Newton for his bold take on baseball's future

Jazz Chisholm Jr. was not the only one and neither the first to dismiss Cam Newton's speculation.

Pittsburgh Pirates star Andrew McCutchen also came forward and rebuffed Newton's take.

"He talks about baseball like a person who has never been around baseball talks about baseball," McCutchen wrote on X.

Boston Red Sox ace Lucas Giolito said the reason Cam Newton even made this bold take was because he wanted to get clicks on his podcast.

"You're just trying to get a bunch of people riled up in clicks," Giolito said on the 'Baseball Insiders' podcast. "I mean, that's like the game now, you wanna get your sound byte, you wanna get your likes and your clicks and your comments. I don't think that's a real statement.

"I think that's someone that's talking that doesn't really know what's going on in that world. Like, I'm not gonna make any comments about football to Cam Newton, because he knows football a thousand percent better than I do. So I just disregard that."

Meanwhile, there have also been whispers to make baseball more interesting, like the NBA and NFL, where LeBron James can make the buzzer-beater jump shot or Patrick Mahomes can throw a 70-yard touchdown pass in the dying seconds of the game.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is already doing some work in that area, and one rule that came out of owners meetings held in Dallas in December was "The Golden Bat Rule." To know more about it, click here.