MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is on shaky ground with fans, and players may not be all too fond either, but team owners appear to have a lot of support for him.
Manfred was first voted as the replacement to the retiring commissioner Bud Selig on August 14, 2014, and he began the job a few months later on January 25, 2015. Since then, Manfred’s primary focus has been on the pace of play and increasing offense, which led to a number of rule changes being implemented.
One of the biggest controversies surrounding Manfred comes from the investigation into the Houston Astros for sign stealing throughout the 2017 season, which led to him granting all players immunity, levying light punishments for the scandal, and calling the World Series trophy “a piece of metal.” Manfred later expressed some remorse for all those decisions.
In addition, Manfred oversaw the MLB lockout, which delayed the start of the 2022 regular season and brought complaints by players saying he was lying about negotiations, continuously and secretly changed the baseballs, made mid-season adjustments to enforcement of sticky substances on baseballs, and has helped the Oakland Athletics pursue their potential move to Las Vegas.
But from the owners’ standpoint, Manfred is making them money, and that’s their bottom line. During the 2022 season, MLB set a record of nearly $11 billion, which came after a successful rebound in 2021 following the coronavirus-shortened season.
With Manfred’s success on the business side of things, the owners are expected to re-elect him as MLB’s commissioner, and it’s all but official, via Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic:
A re-election vote for commissioner Rob Manfred is scheduled for next week and he’s expected to have sufficient support for another term, people close to the process who were not authorized to speak publicly told The Athletic.
“No doubt, there never was,” said one person briefed on the vote when asked if Manfred will be re-elected. “It’s a foregone conclusion.”
To officially be re-elected, Manfred needs at least 16 of the 30 owners to vote his way. While it may not be popular for the fans or players to see Manfred back, at the end of the day, he works for the owners and he’s doing exactly what they want him to do.
Manfred was last re-elected as MLB commissioner on November 15, 2018, and received a contract extension through the 2024 season.
The length of how long MLB commissioners stay in office has varied significantly, with the first, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, spending more than two decades in office from 1921-1944, while Bartlett Giamatti only lasted from 1988-1989. Selig officially held the role from 1998-2015, but he served as the interim commissioner beginning in 1992.
Manfred first started working in MLB in 1987, and during the 1994-1995 strike, he served as an outside counsel for the owners before joining the league on a full-time basis in 1998 as the executive vice president of economics and league affairs.
He also represented MLB in negotiations with the Players Association (MLBPA) in 2002, 2006 and 2011. Prior to the 2014 season, he was promoted to chief operating officer of MLB, and quickly became a finalist to succeed Selig as commissioner before winning the nomination.
Rob Manfred met with Dodgers to discuss rule changes
Manfred has individually met with teams this season to discuss the new rules, and on Tuesday he visited the Los Angeles Dodgers prior to their matchup against the Baltimore Orioles.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts praised Manfred for taking the time to provide transparency to clubs and answer questions from players.
As teams get used to the new rules that were introduced this season, another big change may be on the horizon. An automatic ball-strike system (ABS) has been tested in select Triple-A games and could come to MLB as soon as 2024.
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