Major League Baseball owners have elected Rob Manfred as the new commissioner to replace Bud Selig next year. This is according to Jon Heyman.
Manfred wins
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) August 14, 2014
This is a move that pretty much assures MLB will continue to be operated in the same way that it has been under Selig. Bob Nightengale of USA Today had an article on the battle between the commissioner candidates, and had this to say on Manfred:
They argue Manfred is the perfect choice, maintaining the status quo for a sport that’s projected to generate $9 billion this year. They point out Manfred, as head of labor negotiations, is responsible for 19 years of peace with the players union. He helped implement the toughest drug-testing program in American team sports. And he headed the Biogenesis investigation, bringing down Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun and Tony Bosch, among others.
His opponents say baseball owners have the worst labor agreement in pro sports, and the only one without a salary cap. They say the bulk of the credit for the drug agreement goes to the players union for changing its stance. They remember Manfred’s role in MLB approving billionaire Steve Cohen to bid on the Los Angeles Dodgers, a move that nearly blew up on the league when Cohen’s hedge fund plead guilty to insider trading and agreed to pay a $1.2 billion fine. And they still are seething over Manfred’s negotiated deal during the Dodgers’ bankruptcy hearings that permits the team to protect all but $2 billion of their $8.35 billion TV contract from revenue sharing.
If you’re a fan of the Dodgers receiving more per year in their local TV deal than every other team spends in payroll, then you’ll probably like Manfred.