Rob Manfred, MLB To Re-Up, Massive Regret Likely To Follow

Rob Manfred is coming up for re-election to his position as commissioner of Major League Baseball and it is likely to result in a dominating vote by his employers to maintain his job. As long as a majority of the 30 Major League owners – or their designated representatives – deliver an endorsement for Manfred, he will remain employed in a position that pays him up to $25 million per year.

Manfred has been the commissioner of MLB since Bud Selig stepped down from the position in 2015, and he has had a multitude of decisions that have influenced the game.

Much of his impact has been negative. The Houston Astros cheating scandal that took place during the 2017 season was handled in an incomplete and unsatisfying fashion. After a 2020 report concluded that the Astros used video technology to steal signs and alert batters about incoming pitches, many were expecting a series of significant penalties.

Instead, not a single player was suspended or fined. Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch were suspended for the 2020 season as was Red Sox manager Alex Cora because he had been an Astros coach on the 2017 team that defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. The Astros also lost four draft picks and they were hit with a $5 million fine. That was it.

Other issues that have been handled badly include inconsistent baseballs and how the sport seemingly went between lively and low-flight baseballs without reason, pulling the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta for political reasons, harsh CBA negotiations in 2022, and insensitive remarks to and about the city of Oakland concerning the A’s potentially leaving a city that they have called home since 1968.

On the positive side, Major League Baseball has instituted a pitch clock this season that has dramatically increased the pace of play and helped return the game to a more enjoyable experience for nearly everyone. The exception may be veteran pitchers who don’t like being told to execute a pitch within 15 seconds if no runners are on base and 20 seconds if a base is occupied.

Going hand-in-hand with the advent of the pitch clock has been the decision to get rid of the infield shift, which badly hurt hitters – especially the left-handed variety. Hard contact is being rewarded much more frequently in 2023.

These negatives and positives may pale in comparison to Manfred’s future legacy. He wants to be remembered as the man who changed Major League Baseball’s structure, a move that will likely ruin the sport’s most important traditions.

The first part of that legacy is coming up with acceptable solutions to the Oakland and Tampa Bay “problems.” In short, both teams have unacceptable stadium situations, and alternatives must be put in place.

For the A’s, it likely means a move to Las Vegas unless a last-minute miracle intercedes. The Rays have one of the best teams in Major League Baseball but they need a new baseball-only facility in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area.

After those situations have been fixed, Step 2 is the expansion of the sport to 32 teams. That’s a reasonable number that could lead to a balanced schedule. The cities that are being considered for expansion include Portland, Nashville, Charlotte, Montreal and Vancouver.

Once the new teams are added, Manfred would like to impose the third and final step of his grand plan — Radical Realignment. The idea has been floated by former MLB executive and Manfred water carrier Jim Bowden, and it would give baseball eight 4-team divisions.

It would also deliver a death blow to the American and National Leagues. Instead, baseball would divide its teams geographically with the Eastern and Western Conferences.

Why would MLB end its current setup and go with a geographical division of its teams? To save travel dollars. As if this multi-billion dollar industry has to save nickels and dimes to survive. It makes no sense for traditional National League teams like the Reds, Pirates, Mets, Phillies and Braves to join American League teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles and Tigers in the Eastern Conference, yet that’s part of the Manfred plan.

The Western Conference would see the breakup of the Cubs-Cardinals and Dodgers-Giants rivalries. Instead, Cardinals fans could get used to their new matchup with the Texas Rangers, while Giants fans could live and breathe encounters with the Seattle Mariners.

The All-Star Game would no longer exist as we know it, and the World Series could give us a Miami-San Diego or Tampa Bay-Seattle matchup.

Seeing a repeat of the classic 1975 World Series between the Red Sox and Reds would be impossible. So would the legendary 1960 battle between the Yankees and Pirates.

Baseball owners are about to re-up with Manfred. It will likely turn out to be a move that the stewards of the game and loyal fans will come to regret.