Colin Cowherd will no longer appear on ESPN following remarks toward Dominican players

Colin Cowherd's offensive remarks geared toward Dominican baseball players has expedited his departure from ESPN.

The outspoken radio host announced earlier this week that he was leaving the network after more than a decade, signing a new deal with FOX Sports, though no date was announced. Nevertheless, ESPN isn't willing to wait for that day to come.

"Colin Cowherd's comments over the past two days do not reflect the values of ESPN or our employees," ESPN said in a statement Friday. "Colin will no longer appear on ESPN."

Cowherd suggested on his live radio show Thursday that baseball is simple. So simple, he went on to say, that even Dominicans can play it.

"It's too complex? I've never bought into that 'baseball is too complex.' Really?" he said. "A third of the sport is from the Dominican Republic."

MLB condemned Cowherd's remarks in a statement, while demanding an apology.

"Major League Baseball condemns the remarks made by Colin Cowherd, which were inappropriate, offensive and completely inconsistent with the values of our game. Mr. Cowherd owes our players of Dominican origin, and Dominican people generally, an apology," the statement read.

Cowherd's apology was lackluster, and his comments ignited a firestorm of controversy, with Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista among those taking aim at the radio host.

"Dear Mr. (Cowherd) before i rip you a new one i would like for you to explain what u meant to say about baseball and dominicans, please," Bautista tweeted.

Just before MLB released its statement, Cowherd addressed his ill-advised on-air remarks during his morning show Friday:

I could've made the point without using one country, and there's all sorts of smart people from the Dominican Republic. I could've said a third of baseball's talent is being furnished from countries with economic hardships, therefore educational hurdles.

For the record, I used the Dominican Republic because they've furnished baseball with so many great players. Was I clunky? Perhaps. Did people not like my tone? I get it. Sometimes my tone stinks.

Nevertheless, the backlash against Cowherd continued to mount. Tony Clark, the MLBPA executive director, defended the Dominican population in the majors, saying baseball is "infinitely more complex" than Cowherd knows.

"To suggest otherwise is ignorant, and to make an ignorant point by denigrating the intelligence of our Dominican members was not 'clunky' - it was offensive," Clark said in a statement Friday.