The search Bud Selig’s successor has reached a fever pitch, with the short list for the new MLB commissioner down to a final three according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.
Next MLB commissioner expected to be hired next week, per report
Three candidates -- two MLB executives and a team chairman -- are on the short list to replace Bud Selig, with the choice being made at next week’s owners meetings in Baltimore.
David Banks
Nightengale's source, whom he refers to as "a high-ranking MLB executive with direct knowledge of the hiring process," says that the owners have narrowed their choices to MLB COO Rob Manfred; Tim Brosnan, MLB executive VP of business; and Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner. The chairman of the seven-person committee -- St. Louis owner Bill Dewitt -- has not commented on Nightengale's report yet, but the names are in line with what he claimed the group was looking for when it was convened in May of this year.
“We’re obviously looking for a strong CEO and a visionary leader, who will build on the tremendous accomplishments and legacy of Bud Selig,” DeWitt told Nightengale at the time.
Finalized “late last week”, the list will be shown to MLB’s executive council at their quarterly owners’ meetings next week in Baltimore. There will be at least one round of voting, where 23 of the 30 owners will have to approve Selig’s successor, something which may lead to some complications according to ESPN’s Jayson Stark.
Stark is reporting that a group led by Angels owner Arte Moreno and White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf are looking to gather enough dissenting votes against the leading candidate -- which has long been Manfred, who Selig made COO after announcing his impending retirement -- for their choice: fellow team executive Werner. Whether this is being done because of a perception that Manfred -- who was the executive VP of labor relations for much of Selig's tenure -- is not going to work in the best interests of the owners, or if the potentially rogue owners simply want "one of their own," remains unclear.
However, considering that the search committee “were not going to be comfortable electing someone who didn’t come from baseball’s inner sanctum,” it is clear that many of the owners have specific ideas of what they are looking for in the next commissioner.
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