Rob Manfred spoke with the media today and said that his current tenure as MLB commissioner will be his last. His current term runs through January of 2029. Alex Speier of The Boston Globe was among those to relay the news.
“You can only have so much fun in one lifetime,” Manfred said, per Evan Drellich of The Athletic. “I have been open with them (the owners) about the fact that this is going to be my last term.”
Manfred, now 65, has been the league’s commissioner since 2014, replacing the retiring Bud Selig. During that decade at the helm, he has proven to be incredibly unpopular among baseball fans but has consistently received the approval of club owners.
That tenure has had many standout elements, notably the significant rule changes aimed at speeding up the pace of the game, the tampering with composition of the baseballs, the expansion of the postseason, the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, the 2020 pandemic, the 2021-22 lockout and the Athletics’ planned relocation to Las Vegas.
The rule changes naturally rankled many purists among baseball fans. The fact that no players received any punishment for the sign-stealing and that Manfred referred to the World Series trophy as a “piece of metal” also caused a great deal of upset, particularly among fans of clubs that lost to the Astros in the postseason. The ongoing relocation of the A’s was clearly not popular in Oakland. The work stoppage, baseball’s first since the 1994-95 strike, was not well received by those who want players to receive a larger chunk of baseball’s revenue relative to the owners.
But the commissioner is ultimately chosen by those owners, who have clearly been happy with the profitability of the game. In July of 2023, Manfred was unanimously approved for another five-year term, with no reports that there was any hesitation or alternative path considered by the bloc.
As with all modern sports leagues, baseball has been gradually pivoting from cable TV towards online streaming. This has not been without challenges, as seen by the tumultuous recent history of the Diamond Sports Group, but the league has also signed lucrative streaming deals with outfits like Apple and NBC. That’s in addition to national deals with traditional broadcasters like Fox and ESPN. As Diamond Sports Group’s relationship with MLB clubs has splintered, the league has taken over broadcasts for some clubs and has future plans for a multi-team streaming package, which would essentially be like MLB.tv but without blackout restrictions.
Despite various challenges, Manfred said in late 2022 that league revenue would be a record $11 billion, per Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. At the time of Manfred’s extension vote in July of last year, the league pointed out on X that attendance was trending up, perhaps a symptom of those pace-of-play changes. Franchise valuations continue to rise over time, highlighted by the recent agreement to purchase the Orioles. A group led to Peter Angelos purchased the club in 1993 for $173MM and his family agreed to sell it recently to a group led by David Rubenstein for $1.725 billion, multiplying roughly tenfold in just over 30 years.
Everyone in baseball, from fans to historians to players and owners, will naturally form their own opinions of Manfred and his tenure. For now, he still has much on his plate in the remainder of his term. The A’s relocation is still ongoing and the future of Diamond Sports Group remains up in the air. Manfred has also said that he would like to get the ball rolling on expanding the league to 32 teams by the time he leaves.
The league will also have to start a process for replacing him, though they have five years to plan that out. When Selig was stepping down, Manfred was quickly seen as a favorite to succeed him, having already represented the league in collective bargaining talks for many years. Manfred was named the league’s chief operating officer in September of 2013 and Selig reportedly preferred him as his successor. A committee was formed in May of 2014 consisting of seven owners, with the eventual vote requiring 23 out of 30 owners to approve a new commissioner. Manfred and Red Sox chairman Tom Werner were the two finalists, with the initial voting in August 2014 resulting in a 22-8 split, which was in favor of Manfred but not enough to seal the deal. It eventually got over the line the next day.
GET THE FIREWORKS
Not a fan of the Commissioner, but nor do I blame him for doing the owners’ bidding.
Manny – Hopefully 5 years will be enough time for Theo to clean up the mess John Henry created in Boston.
Letting mookie leave was a disaster of a decision. Hall of fame player in his prime. They have replaced him with trevor story who is washed up and a bat first Yoshida who didn’t hit nearly enough in year 1. A ton of money going to 2 guys who din’t equal half of mookie. They also let eovaldi leave and he delivers another title to texas after nabbing sox one. John henry has lost it
Mookie said he was testing free agency and wasn’t interested in an extension. Then did that real quick in LA. One less ego in Boston and one more to add in LA
Funny. Ask anybody else about Mookie and they’ll say he’s just about the least egotistical guy in baseball. Just another example of a player who is a problem in Boston but is loved somewhere else.
Blue – Most of Red Sox Nation knows Mookie wanted to stay, and wishes ownership had let him. Unfortunately his free agency coincided with ownership no longer caring about winning.
If Dombrowski had stayed, Mookie would have as well.
I don’t doubt it, but still I think Boston fans can be so… weird. Sorry that’s best word I can think to describe the attitude that a player who they believe has somehow dissed their city is automatically a terrible person and good riddance to them. I’ve heard this said so often it can’t be my imagination.
Blue – Yes I agree, some Boston fans have turned on Red Sox legends in the past …. Clemens, Damon, Boggs, Schilling, Xander, etc. Quite often the Boston media played a big part in that, they were brutal towards Nomar. And unlike laid back LA, fans in Boston are very passionate and intense. It takes a lot for them to side with a former player instead of current management.
I think every fanbase has a portion that doesn’t remain loyal to former star players, they root for the laundry instead. But the vast majority usually give a warm welcome back when a former star returns in an opponent’s uniform. Mookie got plenty of love during his first trip back to Fenway.
You must be listening to the minority, a severe minority of Boston fans. Few say good riddance to mookie, and most all wish he was still here.
Mookie has zero arrogance. Thank you for sending him our way. Remember reading about the Babe Ruth trade in 1918? Red Sox just aren’t really good at identifying talent.
Stop lying about what Betts said. He said he was open to an extension and that never changed. You should be ashamed of yourself.
The story that LA fans are “laid back” only comes from people who have never been to a Dodger game. The reality is a lot of players who were supposedly “cancers” to Boston fans thrived here, not because LA fans are “laid back” but because they don’t judge the players by how much they kiss their feet. This attitude seems to be unique to the Boston sports culture, which is not just the fans but the media. Nomar, Adrian Gonzales, and even that bad boy Manny Ramirez were embraced by fans and thrived here, because of how they played the game.
I must have been responding to a comment.
Wrong blueskies
The laid back nature of LA fans has been mentioned by countless players as a selling point for LA.
It’s not dodger stadium they’re telling about. They’re talking about the LA culture. In Boston, there’s not as many celebs. The Red Sox are Boston. In LA, celebs are more common and fans don’t bother them as much for autographs and pictures.
Going to dinner undisturbed means a lot to these guys. As a fan, your mind is focused on the field but these guys care about their lives and families.
Blue – Denying SoCal fans are laid back is kinda silly. I haven’t been to Dodger Stadium, but I’ve been to the Big A, and it was exactly as advertised.
Perhaps you should spend some time not only in Boston, but in NYC and Philly. It’s a much higher level of intensity. Traffic is bad in those cities as well, but you don’t see a huge portion of the crowd arrive in their seats in the 3rd-4th inning and leave in the 6th-7th inning.
BTW – Manny was absolutely adored in Boston, he was THE most popular player on a team that featured highly entertaining talents such as Ortiz, Pedro, Damon, etc.
Same with Nomah, he was a god until he became tired of the media and felt reporters weren’t worth the time and effort.
Stros – Well said. Boston is all about history and sports, especially baseball. Go to Quincy Market or Boston Common and literally about a third of everyone you see will be wearing a Sox hat or shirt.
Other than Cubs fans, where else can 3 generations of a fanbase say they’ve been to the exact same park their whole life.
I grew up in the NYC area as a Mets fan. So don’t talk to me about fan culture in the different parts of the country, and not especially if you don’t actually know about it from experience yourself. And enough with the myth that LA fans arrive in the third inning and leave in the sixth. That’s just trash talk.
And don’t try to rewrite any history. I remember what was said by Boston fans when all of these players were traded, especially Manny and Gonzalez. They were both hated in Boston. Nomar btw is part of the Dodgers broadcast team, so I guess he didn’t get tired of the media after all. Are you seeing how this works yet? I sure do.
Try Dodger Stadium, the third oldest stadium in baseball. I sit in seats that have been in the same season ticket group for over 40 years. Yes that’s three generations. Are you getting this yet?
He would have signed with Boston if they offered him the same deal that the Dodgers did. John Henry was just being cheap and didn’t want to give him that much money / that many years.
I’ll be completely honest, I do not remember reading about the Babe Ruth trade in 1918. If I was that old, I wouldn’t remember these words as I type them
Betts was traded
Dave – That makes no sense. In both instances, ownership shipped off the player so they (owners) could use the money elsewhere outside the team.
Blue – I spent literally 50 years in the Northeast, went to Fenway more than a couple thousand times, and attended games in both Yankee Stadiums, both of the Mets stadiums, and both Phillie stadiums. I think you also missed the part about me attending games at The Big A. So yeah, I do have plenty of personal experience.
And unlike you getting defensive about LA, I have zero reason to make up anything negative about SoCal. I love The Big A vibe, and wouldn’t be going back if I didn’t. Just face the facts, anybody who watches games on TV and sees the stadium seating early and late can clearly see how empty the stadiums in SoCal are. Of course that could change a bit for the Dodgers with their superstar acquisitions.
You’re probably just remembering the haters, which every fanbase has, Negativity always gets more attention and is remembered more than positivity, it’s like that in every aspect of life so don’t worry, I’m not singling just you out for that. Manny is a beloved legend in Red Sox Nation, that didn’t change even after the PED suspensions and domestic assault.
Adrian, that’s a different story. He certainly wasn’t hated, but he wasn’t a beloved player either. That had more to do with the fact he spent only one full season in Boston, he was part of the epic 2011 collapse, he underperformed in 2012 and he didn’t feel comfortable …. can’t blame him, a truly laid back SoCal guy who was very religious and didn’t have a lot in common with his teammates. Funny you should mention him, I was a huge fan and still wear his Red Sox jersey on occasion.
As for Nomah, broadcaster is not really media … and I meant the BOSTON media which absolutely sucked back then. I would have reacted the exact same way as him if I had to deal with the Boston media back then.
Blue – I’m well aware of #3 and #4 on the age list! Enjoy your rambunctiousness BTW, the New Yorker is still in you. LOL!
Rather than explain in words, I’ll let you watch this great video that does an excellent job of doing just that.
youtube.com/watch?v=I2JbRYrmf74
Nomar deserved the boos. While Jeter was jumping into the Fenway seats to catch a ball Nomar was pouting. I am a Sox Fan but that play sold me on the greatness of Jeter.
mj – You are correct. If it was true the Red Sox had verbally suggested $300M and Mookie countered with $420M, then a meeting in the middle would have resulted in the same contract the Dodgers gave him.
But John Henry already has his 8 WS Championship rings, and he was starting to work on acquiring more sports entities (such as the Penguins), so his focus and finances were not centered around the Red Sox anymore. He acknowledged that when he brought back Theo.
One size does not fit all.
I went in person to a lot of Dodgers games in the late 1970s and early 1980s and it was not uncommon to see a lot of fans leave in the 7th or 8th inning to get a head start out of the parking lot.
But I have also seen this happen in other stadiums as well.
My experience i that all baseball fans are better behaved on the average than football fans – and if that is low key then I favor it.
Anaheim isn’t LA and the Angels are not the Dodgers. If you’d asked me about the atmosphere in Dodger Stadium ten or more years ago when the team was bankrupt and mediocre and the place was half empty most days, I might have little to argue. It was not such a fun place to be. This is what Anaheim is like now, but which Dodger Stadium is most definitely not at all like today. If anything it is uncomfortably loud. But then, you haven’t actually been there, have you?
Explaining isn’t being “defensive” it’s tell you something you don’t know. So here’s something else you don’t know about Dodger Stadium that I do from actually going there. First, the food service stinks. Always has. Long lines are common and the concourses are jammed. They tried to fix this a few years ago and it helped, but only some. Second, a lot of us often watch the last inning or so from the concourses because getting out the gate to those parking lots in the first wave can make an hours difference in getting home. But again, you’d have to be there to see it. So now you know, right?
We can debate the players endlessly, and yes I am remembering the negativity, because I heard a lot of it right here. The sports media in Boston it seems to me was only catering to what they thought the fans expected to hear, which is that Boston is special. Also without meaning to I suspect you are reflecting exactly the attitude I am describing. Gonzales for instance didn’t “fit in” to Boston for vague reasons that are hard to explain and ones we never heard about here, at all. As in not ever. (FWIW this “SoCal guy” actually grew up in Mexico.)
BTW, I don’t live in LA, or even in LA County. Dodger Stadium is a 130 mile roundtrip from where I live.
@stros- You describe LA fans as laid back but then imply their fans bother players for autographs and pictures. That doesn’t sound laid back to me.
and always good for a laugh, going out pretending he’s been the one dictating terms to the owners.
Who? What?
Perhaps the Beekeeper can be called
provoker – I wanted to see that movie, is it good?
@nannybeingmvp
He has to tsk responsibility for his actions
You can’t blame the owners without seeing Manfred is the one who gets paid to tell the blame.
That’s why he’s quitting because everyone hates him. If everyone acted like you, it would allow Manfred to stay commish.
If manfred doesn’t want the blame, don’t do the deed. I hate how simple minds want this to be a commish vs owner’s argument. They both have done enough to both be blamed. There’s no either or
The commissioner literally works for the owners.
His job is to make them more money.
The owners just renewed his contract again because he keeps making them money.
He literally does their bidding.
You cannot separate the two.
And the only person he is responsible to is the owners.
Are you sure you know what his job is?
The league literally gets special treatment and support from the government (antitrust exemptions and hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars). It’s not irrational to hope for outcomes that aren’t 100% focused on making the owners more money.
Asterisks Back Baby
Manfred is essentially the attorney or butler for the owners. So I question anyone who says they are on the owners side but hate Manfred. Makes more sense just to say you think the owners are exploitive than to focus on Manfred.
The antitrust exemption is quite a bit less meaningful than many assume. It really only applies to the ability of MLB to control the number and location of franchises. If they lost that control nothing would really change. Other pro sports get the same treatment.
THANK GOD he doesn’t ‘think’ he wants another term. We can only hope. I thought Pud Selig was a lap dog. Manfred is that, and more. Good riddance.
Yup. He’s a pure dolt, although that’s mostly our (fans) fault. He serves at the will of the owners, and as long as we keep lining the owners pockets with $, he’s the dolt king.
Precisely, Manny. Manfred is just a front. They pretend to pay him 40 million or whatever a year to pretend to make decisions, to announce his decisions to the paid-off media, and to manage all of that press.
He’s like Joe Rogan, who very, very likely makes only 1/100th or 1/1000th the salary that is published, and who gets told who to interview and what to ask them. It’s all controlled.
For very good reasons.
It doesn’t matter; any new commissioner still reports to the owners
Clark should leave the MLBPA. His lack of negotiation skills has set back player rights by two decades at least.
Hail Theo!
So indirectly, this guy has court blonde to reinvent the wheel and then bail? Unbelievable.
Carte blanche
I liked it better the other way. Isn’t she the one who is always sits in the front row at basketball games?
Blue – Are you old enough to remember Morganna? I really miss her.
If I was I wouldn’t admit to it! 🙂
he remembers her when she was in a training bra
So, that’s creepy.
I hear Trump should be looking for a job, probably on a work-release.
Republicans are favored in Vegas to win the presidency. -115. Lets win millions cause you are right!
Thank the Lord ! Man mutt is going to be done !
Nice! Get someone in there that actually likes baseball.
AROD for Commish! /s
Red – ARod’s nephew is with the Red Sox organization, can you believe it.
JOSE CANSECO 🙂
Craven – How come we don’t hear about Canseco anymore? He was always entertaining.
Fever Pitch Guy – I used to follow him on Twitter until he blocked me 🙁
Craven – What did you do that ticked him off?
Did you call him Ozzie?
Fever Pitch King-
I asked Jose if Madonna was truly a freak in the sheets
Shoot Craven, you could probably just ask 10 to 20 posters here for the answer! 😉
Gwynning you a real 1 homie
ANTHONY RENDON!
×checks notes×
NEVERMIND!
GEORGE W. BUSH. ENOUGH WITH THE PAINTINGS ALREADY.
are you kidding manfred loves i-, oh you said baseball I thought you said money.
Trevor Bauer?
Comments are closed.
To quote Dubya in a different tense, “well, that would be some weird $&!t.”
“Mission accomplished”
Bauer’s just misunderestimated
Other than all of us being five years older, 2029 can’t come soon enough! He has been horrible for baseball.
Ha, that was immediately my first thought. Dang, we gotta wait that long?!…Still was glorious Manfred had to award the Braves their ‘Piece of Medal’ Trophy after pulling the Allstar Game. He’s always been a terrible Commish.
Piece of Metal
Very insightful thx
I agree however who’s his replacement going to be? He’s more of a puppet doing the owners bidding. He has successfully generated the league more money and interest. I don’t think his replacement will be any better and in fact could be way worse.
I agree. His tv deals with Peacock and Apple have been a thorn in fan’s sides but made the owners more money. I like the overseas games, I think those are cool. But his foray into politics has been my biggest gripe with him. In those cases he wasn’t doing the bidding of the owners but other masters with nefarious intentions. Many owners would like to stay out of the political sphere as it can be extremely messy and polarizing and they just want butts in seats, merch flying off the shelves and TV money (Padres sad face).
He is paid to be a tool and a tool he is.
Why not today!!!
I think he’s making $44M/yr… So, about $220M reasons why. Oh, and he just MIGHT be able to oversee the complete destruction of the game.
In theo we trust.
Theo Epstein had a big hand in a lot of the changes made by MLB while he was an exec there.
Jump 84
“In theo we trust.”
…to finish the job Manfred started?
Too bad he doesn’t just call it quits now
Yea, we have to wait until 2030 to end these ridiculous blackouts
Rob didn’t start the blackouts… and he said they are actively working on ways to get around them, so far several of the teams that lost the RSN already have options for non blacked out MLB.tv packages… and more are supposed to get added next year.
He’s still working on his legacy, the 2025 Manhattan Trash Barge A’s. It’s a great place to enjoy America’s pastime with the family!
What will the large markets do without their boy Robby the robot in the commissioners office?
I’m not a fan either, but what leads you to believe he favored large-market teams? They are the ones paying all the competitive balance and other taxes to teams that just keep the money.
They also get hundreds of millions more dollars in local TV money than those small market clubs. The piddly amount of those taxes they receive doesn’t even come close to making up for that.
If those taxes were such a detriment to pay, they would avoid them rather than be willing to pay more.
Apparently you buy their narrative about teams pocketing money rather than knowing how those small and mid market teams have to operate.
Oh Man…
fred
Thank God! If he could only quit now, as bad a league commish as Gary Bettman.
Hall of Fame commissioner.
Hall of Infamy, you mean?
Proof that if you work hard, keep your head down, and are born the son of a high ranking corporate executive, you can one day be a tap dancing minion for your prep school classmates. Truly an American success story.
Do you know how many sons of high ranking corporate executives there are? thousands.
Please check Kendall Roy
1st ballot.
If Bud Selig, the Steroid King, who should not be in the Hall of Fame, then his phony successor will.
Oh no! Anyway…
I won’t miss him one bit, but let’s not pretend that his successor will be substantially different. Someone else will come in and continue to serve the owners before all else
The commish job is to make owners money not make game better. I agree that manfred is likely the blueprint. All that follow will be same guy different name.
There should be a third position for the good of the game/fans. Someone that doesn’t answer to owners or players
What’s the second position if that’s the third?
Could it be because that’s the job description, and always has been?
Good. Did he really deserve to give himself such a long extension though? He needs to get rid of Blackout restrictions. It’s absolutely ridiculous that I personally can’t watch any west coast teams play when they play the cubs. Doesn’t matter if it’s a road game or at Wrigley. I live in Las Vegas. Unless he gets rid of them before the A’s come to Vegas they’ll be blacked out too
It would be nice to not have to go to a sport book at a casino and 2nd hand smoke just because I can’t watch the Cubs and Dodgers at home
The owners gave the extension. They hire and pay him…..
Yes I know. It was a joke. He has the ego to give himself an extension though.
OOOPS!! Sarcasm detector was off, LO<!!
Never have understood that I would think the goal would be to get the sport in front of as many eyes as possible. It’s also not like every team doesn’t get a cut of the telecast.
MLB one of few sports if not only that cares much more about regional then it does national.
It is because of the RSN rights that all the local cable channels had. Teams like the Dodgers and Yanks that made a ton more from their local TV deals. I live in Pittsburgh. If I travel, I could not stream Pirates or Penguins games on the AT&T streaming service on their app unless I was close enough to home.. It was a combination of the local rights and the MLB Network and the NHL Network streaming rights coming into play and I was screwed
Unlike football, no one wants to watch KC play the White Sox except those living in those cities. That’s why local is more important until the playoffs.
I don’t care for the blackout either.
Happy to see what they are doing for the Rockies. I just cancelled my usualy MLB.yv subscription and upgraded for that one. While I live in the market, I’m not really a Rockies fan, but I figure supporting something like this gives steam for ending blackouts.
Good riddance.
I hope the cake at his going away party gives him diarrhea
Diarrhea would be letting him off easy.
I hope he has severe mudbutt hahaha
Make him wipe with the pages of an old Sears catalog
That has sandpaper samples on the pages.
The thing I’ll always remember about Manfred is how he always came unhinged when reporters asked him if the balls were juiced. Then it turned out they were, and he knew it. I’ve had zero respect for him since.
JUICED BALLS
🙂
Schweddy
Don’t let the door hit you where the good lord split you, Sponge Rob.
Fans hate all MLB commissioners. Stay tuned for a heroic cat tree rescue by our local FD.
Speak for yourself. The owners hated Fay Vincent. Can’t have your self- appointed henchman stepping out of line.
But did the fans like him?
Vincent only became commisioner because he was Giamatti’s #2 at the time of his death, aka the owners never voted him in. He was there for all of 3 years.
I wonder if someone else could be a better commissioner than Manfred.
Doubtful; he is the pinnacle, on the Mt. Rushmore of commissioners.
That just means he has 5 years left to completely ruin the game (I’m waiting for the inning clock)
Between inning clock would be nice. Too many commercials.
That already exists.
They have that already for the regular season. For the playoffs, I think they extended the time because of the national TV ad money
He wants to shorten the game in every way except where commercials are concerned.
2:30 I believe, with a real clock.
Tha’s correct, 2.5 minutes break between half innings for regular season games.
Every job looks easy when you’re not the one doing it.
Whatever. The Commish is hired by the owners. Nothing will change as whoever the new boss is will have the same mandate as Manfred has had. Make the most money you can for we the owners and you can keep your job. Kinda ;like “Won’t Get Fooled Again” –“Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss…..”
It is time for a woman or minority
Give Lenny Dykstra a shot he can’t be any worse
@craven i think he just had a stroke. also, you’ll pay for your crimes against dracula.
@Tyson’s Pet Tiger
I’ll try and do better. Maybe I should change my pfp to an actual convicted rapist like someone else we know…
🙂
He did. Reports say he was moved out of ICU yesterday.
Aubrey Huff disagrees.
Lol did they let that dude back on Twitter?
Did he say that? He should be banned for life
Nice having you on the chat, Mr. Kapler. Now please log off.
How about whoever is the most qualified to perform at the position, liberal steve? Because, of course.
You think white people have been qualified 100% of the time in the last 100 years in all 4 major sports? Old,straight,white conservative male talking point
Didnt mention color of skin, you did. Spoken like a true anti-american lib
you got owned
Why? All for either but more interested in a good commish.
DEI
His best decision yet.
Quite honestly I thought his reign of terror would end when he was in the casket.
Five years is a long time so fingers crossed
It would be good to see someone with a passion for baseball be commissioner.
PETE ROSE
🙂
The only passion the commissioner needs to have is making money for his employers. If you believe the commissioner has any other mandate you are living in a dreamworld. Sadly you will have a lot of company.
BlueSkies: I bet his wife would disagree!
If you don’t mind I’ll leave that research to you!
@blueskies
Didn’t say I believe it would happen just said it would be nice! Sadly, I know the reality and I agree.
joey votto for commissioner 2029!
Trust a Canadian with America’s Pastime? Pffffftttt
I was hoping it would be a real American like Neil Young or Dwayne Johnson or Keanu Reeves or Jim Carrey or Alanis Morissette or Michael J Fox
Oh boy five years from now. He can do so much more damage in that time
It doesn’t matter; any new commissioner still reports to the owners
Pete Rose for commissioner!!!
Don’t bet on it.
Thanks for the 5 year warning. Fake extra inning baseball and no electronic balls and strikes. Maybe he can accelerate the timeline? Lame Duck for 5 years? Just retire already!
I’ll do the job for half his salary and baseball would be even better.
i’d do it for a penny
This is the best news I heard all day. When fans of the biggest rival teams can come together and cheer.
This is the best news Ive had all week, literally.
Can you leave now though?
One word: YAY!!!!!!
Yippee! Now take those other money grubbing, anti-baseball mugs Moreno, and the clown who owns the As with you.
“You can only have so much fun in a lifetime.”
How does he always manage to say the most annoying thing possible?
2029? Hahah.
I will finally get my chance! All of my years playing MLB the Show are about to pay off big time.
Great! Time for the next comprimised, corrupt shill to take over.
So this dude has carte blanche to reinvent the wheel and then run away
Big thanks to the owners for their ridiculous rule changes they made this guy implement.
I like the new rules! Game goes more quickly.
Rejoice
Let’s gooooo. And let’s hope whoever replaces him reverses some of these awful rule changes.
@rowbradfo
The owners want these rule changes. They just use him as the scapegoat. Blame the owners for these rule changes.
Didn’t the changes have to be agreed to by the players’ union as well?
Yes
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE RETIRE EARLY!!
Dear Next Commissioner,
Please get rid of all of the stupid rules Manfred has implemented during his tenure.
Sincerely,
Baseball Fans Everywhere
Please get rid of all of the stupid rules Manfred has implemented during his tenure.
=========================
Pitch clock is universally liked.
Pitch clock is universally liked.
===============================
No it isn’t.
I like the batter end of the pitch clock rule. There’s no reason a batter needs to take almost a minute between pitches to practice swing and adjust everything, have a signal conversation with the coach. Get in the box and play.
It’s high time to end the baseball monopoly. With what he has done so far the game won’t be recognizable in five years. Let the fans decide the game they want to support, let someone start an alternative.
There are plenty of other baseball leagues out there to watch. No one HAS to watch the MLB. It’s just that most people want to watch them for the level of talent and being seen as the top league in the world. If you want, you can go cheer for an independent league or even follow other leagues like in Japan & Korea.
@Luvochka
I’m in if you put up the money!
It would fail out of the gate.
Bart Giamatti’s corpse could do a better job than Manfred
So could the Ghost of Harambe
Manfred is the only commissioner who could make Selig look good.
Fr
Thank God but it’s too late in my humble opinion at least speaking for myself personally. I realize that he & all sports commissioner(s) work for the owners in the respective sports league(s), But Manfred was a horrible choice for commissioner, yet I feel & can acknowledge that he was & is only essentially a puppet of the owners & doing things that the owner(s) thought that they wanted.,A lot has happened since Manfred took over as commissioner that ruined the game & experience for me this former 2o+ year Fan. Among these things the stupid rule & pace of play changes. If we could go back to Baseball during the latter years of the Selig Era, then maybe I *might* consider going back, but at that point that would be after 10+ years away, I have moved on now as it is with no regrets & that will only further be cemented come 2029. If only the owners had thought about this before they made Manfred commissioner to push their agenda.
Yet you just happened to be passing by this baseball posting site after 10+ years away. How coincidental!
Stymeedone – beat me to it.
Everybody can sing and dance all they want, but the two most important takes from the story are “the owners like Manfred” and “the owners will pick the next commissioner.” They’ll do everything in their power to replace Manfred with a Manfred clone…
“Maximizing owners’ profits” and “being considerate of fans” rarely, if ever, go hand in hand.
Serious question: What would you like a new commissioner to do?
Not make the game political, ignore the players association on rule changes, stop making rule changes that most existing fans don’t want in order to pander to non-fans who he still can’t attract
Hand out free beers during games.
Defer fan payments on beer until 2034
love the game
The damage has already been done. The sport is a shell of its former glory.
Nobody ever likes the Commissioner. Nor should they like him all that much, he’s hired by the owners. That said, 2023 was a banner year for Manfred.
A lot of us liked Faye Vincent. Unfortunately the owners did not and they canned him after only a few years.
3rd worst commish of all time.
Kenesaw Mountain Landis who refused to allow blacks is 2nd worst. Bart giamatti who banned pete rose & shoeless joe all time worst. Manfred’s right behind ‘em
Pete Rose should have been banned. lol at making that a reason
Uh Johnny, landis banned Shoeless Joe, way back in 1920 my friend. Might give Bart a pass on that. Shoeless Joe absolutely should be in HOF. The guy had a 3rd grade education and tried to give the money back, following the 1919 Black Sox scandal.
Lol another reason to hate landis. But giamatti had the chance to reinstate shoeless joe and declined. Basically said it was too late to undo it. Thats what commishes have been saying about rose for 35 years. Its a disgrace those 2 are not in HOF!
Plenty of time left for him to further destroy the game, run off old fans, fail to attract new fans and make the game political.
Stop the chop in Atlanta!
How amazing would it be to see Tim Kurkjian as commissioner? He would be 72 in 2029 though. :/
Hilarious at the hate directed his way. Oh no! He made some rule changes that MLB needs because the popularity is in the dumps!
Quiet, Steve. Go watch “The View”.
Best commissioner ever, by far.
Actually, Joe, no.
Joe, you must be 11 years old.
Worst Commissioner Ever!
Completely destroyed the game of baseball.
Great like he hasn’t done enough damage, just like our president.
what damage has he done
dpsmith22 is in the clan, he admitted to it once
You need to get out more, steve.
Let’s hope the new guy abandons the idea of uniform advertising and kicks nike to the curb.
Insert the unconcerned oh no don’t leave meme
Would Manfred consider retiring before the end of Spring Training?
I know many would be against this but I think A Rod would be great at the helm of MLB. Great baseball IQ, was a superstar, has a natural passion for the game, and isn’t biased
Yeah, that should happen, said no one ever.
Let the Celebrations Begin !!!!
Aubrey Huff next MLB commissioner!!! They’ll use rocks instead of balls, have “tackle a player” night and of course, grape feeder fridays! It’ll be full on Idiocracy by 2029. And The Rock should be president by then. And no, he won’t go by Dwayne Johnson, he’ll be President The Rock cuz thats bad ass!
IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT HE GOES BY!
Where do I apply?
Not soon enough. A clock needs to be set on his time on the job, and it should be a shortened clock for Manfraud! Don’t let the door hit U where the good Lord split U!
The sacred selection of the next commissioner now begins.
Significant articles from the current commissioner are placed alongside new and shiny revenue sharing agreements, streaming rights, expansion sites and the like, and are repeatedly shown to the prospective young candidates. When the candidate is found who unfailingly chooses the favored articles, the new incarnation is identified.
Rob Manfraud can’t leave soon enough & it’s too bad that he won’t be gone for another 5 years simply because he’s done nothing but work to destroy the traditional game of Baseball
MLB should have a fan commissioner as well.
I guess technically it was a “work stoppage” but I don’t think we actually lost any games. Just some offseason downtime.
He also caved into the woke community and gerrymandering clowns by tampering with and stealing the all star game from Atlanta.
By 2029 will it even resemble baseball?
I’m sure the owners will allow him to do whatever he wants for 5 years.
Funny, I’m sure he still gets his paychecks from them.
Can’t crawl back under his rock soon enough for me.
And another commissioner with take his place and be the next big villain,
I am not sure if people realize what the Commissioner’s job is or who he works for.
Manfraud’s second in command who may take over his job is known to have thought of all the negative changes to the game most of us hate.
What a wonderful day in baseball history.
All sports have grown significantly in the past 30 years. It’s more important to compare MLB vs other major league sports, especially the NFL and the NBA. On that front, MLB is faltering – declining ratings, declining fan interest, and an aging fanbase.
MLB has been left in the dust by the NFL, a sport with a hard salary cap, and franchises from “small” markets like Baltimore, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee/Green Bay and Buffalo competing at the highest levels. Meanwhile the Brewers can’t hold on to their best player. Think that makes them as popular as the Packers in Wisconsin? Compare the popularity of the Pirates and Steelers – it’s not even slightly close. That wasn’t true 40 years ago.
Baseball’s problem is obvious – competitive inequality and ridiculous salary inequality. A few teams end up with the top free agents, and the average player gets stuck in a 7 year marriage that limits his ability to get paid.
The winners? A few top franchises and a few veteran players, most of whom are vastly overpaid in the last few years of their contracts.
The “powerful” Players Association no longer represents the average player – if they did, they would have dropped opposition to the salary cap in return for a salary floor and a much faster path to free agency (like the NFL). Instead the MLBPA wants to protect guys like Scherzer and Verlander who already have $100 million in the bank. The luxury tax that the Players were arguing about is irrelevant to all but 5 or 6 clubs. 15 teams were $100 million below the luxury tax last year!
The NBA has a max contract and max length of contract, so you don’t get absurb albatross deals like the one that forced Colorado to trade Arenado. If MLB had the same rules, mid market clubs would be willing to pay up for their homegrown stars, knowing they wouldn’t be stuck with 5 years of declining performance at the back end and no payroll flexibitity. Players would benefit because dollars would get spread around more. Having home grown stars leave hurts fan attendance in smaller markets.
This past “free agency/hot stove” season was a farce – literally only two bona fide top tier free agents and both go to the 105 win Dodgers! It shows 2 things – 75% of the team have zero chance to sign an impact player, and the 7 year requirement means almost no impact players get to free agency before they have started to decline. The ones who do command absurd premiums. Bellinger had 3 awful years before his salary drive year and wants $200 million! The level of interest in free agency was accordingly close to zero outside of die hard fans.
So I guess Manfred represented the owners, but MLB remains the worst managed of the major sports leagues.
I appreciate your take but MLB revenue exceeded $11B and attendance exceeded 70MM or up by 9.6% over 2022. 17 teams each crossed 2.5MM gate receipts. These are all new records.
NFL contracts are not guaranteed and NBA rosters are limited to 15. If the MLBPA weren’t looking out for their players, why did the new CBA create a bonus pool for pre-arb players and fight to increase pay significantly for minor league players?
A hard salary cap just wouldn’t work in MLB without the same kind of revenue sharing they have in the NFL, which just isn’t possible for MLB to copy for various reasons. The NFL’s contract system is also a complete mess with their non-guarenteed contracts that in combination with the cap have resulted in common hold-outs and releases of still good players
If MLB went with a maximum contract length, the superstar free agents would simply make up for much of it by negotiating for significantly higher average annual values instead, and the top markets would still meet those demands. Even in the unlikely event that the market didn’t go in that direction, small and mid markets would still be just as unlikely to keep their homegrown stars, as they’d be just as unlikely to afford paying them $25M+ per year whether that’s for the next 5 years or the next 7+ years.
The 6+ years before free agency is a necessary evil to ensure that the smaller markets can draft and develop their own cheap, young stars for a reasonable period of time to allow for decent contention windows. Otherwise, the competition would be stacked much more heavily in the favor of the large markets
It doesn’t hurt the Dodgers signed a $8B 25 year contract with Time Warner a few years ago.
If this story is about Manfred, quit talking about the Red Sox. Five more years for Manfred to ruin the game.
All you meanies are just being mean. He has been the best commisioner MLB has had since 2014.
I totally agree!
Lets be real for a second, the whole “so much fun in a lifetime” crap isn’t the real reason, the real reason is because he knows people hate him and he knows he sucks…
Outstanding news today about Manfraud! He should immediately resign though.
Aloof elitist TOOL
6 more seasons of this spineless dweeb.
His actions are solely driven to generate revenue. His decisions are done with reckless abandon driven by chasing tv money and have no forward thinking elements. Average fans cannot afford to buy tiered up plan in cable package. If you can’t view it the less interested you are.
His instituted rule changes are massaging tik tok brains who wouldn’t watch a baseball game if you beat them with a stick. Again he lacks forward thinking, too reactionary and not methodical in his approach at all. Baseball will suffer long term by his appointment.
If a consolidated streaming service charged something like $20 per month per individual team, that’s perfectly affordable for the average fan who only cares about watching a single team’s games.
Yay! Right said Manfred is too sexy for this spot!
Pete Rose
Pete Rose is a pedophile
I am sorry to hear that
Come on February 2029……
He’s stepping down in 2029 when he’s 70. I wish the politicians had as much sense.
Expanded play-offs after 162 is poor. Good riddance to Manfred, and hopefully one day it will revert back to 162 being the true test, not handing out participation spots to teams that didn’t cut it in 162 and giving them a chance of winning a World Series when they patently should not have that chance – they are unearned play off spots. Manfraud can go and jump in the lake.
While I do think 12 playoff teams out of 30 is too many, the expanded playoffs are at least better than that stupid Wild Card Play-in Game that Selig created in the previous playoff expansion.
I’m old enough to remember when the WS had the best team from each league, every year.
Rob Manfred has changed the game sooo much since he’s become commissioner I’m glad he’s not running again!
Manfred at least did the right thing in the sign-stealing scandal with both the Astros and the Red Sox. It would be a fool’s errand trying to figure out just how much each individual player took advantage, and the responsibility ultimately belonged to the management for ignoring Manfred’s warning letter. We also don’t know just how many teams might have been cheating in a similar way (if not to the same degree) but never got caught.
As for the 2017 Championship, while insulting the trophy like that is going too far, it really wouldn’t look good to unilaterally order that the Championship be revoked after it was already awarded. Such a thing should only be considered in extremely bad situations.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSS
YESSSSS! GET THIS CLOWN POS OUT OF OUR SPORT
Thank goodness. What MLB needs to do is move offices out of New York, say Kansas City or someplace in between the two coasts. Equal attention needs to be paid to the West coast. Not good optics having offices near the Yankees and making decisions regarding the left coast (Athletics situation being one). I would also like a commish who is pro expansion. MLB is woefully behind NFL, NBA and NHL in this regard. There needs to be teams in Charlotte, Nashville, San Jose, Salt Lake City, San Antonio and Portland.
How does putting a office in the middle of country make it any better for west coast teams.? Stupidest comment ever on MLBTR. Yeah let’s add 10 more teams and dilute the product even more.
The current 30 teams have enough trouble finding good starting pitching. Lay off the booze or whatever you’re smoking. I’m sure you would vote for Carrot Top for Commish,
Two of those cities can be taken care of simply by relocating the Rays and As.
However, the talent pool is spread pretty thin, as is. Return to a 25-man roster, change the definition of a quality start to 7/3, rather than 6/3 and, possibly, contract 2 teams. That would help more.
In addition, move away from letting the statheads define performance. Pitching velocity and 100 pitch limits doesn’t improve pitching. Launch angle and exit velocity doesn’t improve hitting.
Manfred and Bud Selig Ruined the A’s and their economic success
in the SF Bay Area.
Reggie Jackson facebook.com/thehowardsternshow/videos/reggie-jack…
No they didn’t It was bad ownership and a terrible ballpark in a lousy location. The trifecta..
Thank god! Still… 5
More years of that P.O.S though. Maybe we’ll get lucky and some scandal will come out and he’ll resign or get indicted.
The Censors are out removing my truth ful posts\
about how Bud Selig and Rob Manfred SABOTGED THE A’s
in Oakland and the SF Bay Area
marca.com/en/mlb/oakland-athletics/2023/03/24/641d…
youtube.com/watch?v=EVlXbORV3_Q
Manfred has done a lot of damage to the game. We need a real baseball man in the office. Many people think Bob Costas should be in it.
latest news reports and talk around the league about A’s proposed move to Las Vegas?!
No one would be surprised if A’s proposed move to Las Vegas fell apart”.
Reggie Jackson claims Bud Selig blocked him from buying Oakland A’s
The legendary ‘Mr. October’ accuses the former Major League Baseball commissioner of blocking his attempt to acquire the team.
Because he is Black?!
Why wait till 2029 do us a favor and just hang it up now so you wont mess up baseball more than you have – you are a lousy commish and you dont listen to the fans wants and needs – its no wonder MLB is going downhill and on ur watch
Hurray for baseball