2020 has not been a great year by any standard – but it’s been especially awful for MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. Entering the year, most non-die hard fans couldn’t even identify him if they had to but then came the Houston Astros scandal, his public comments on it and the PR nightmare that was the MLBPA-owners negotiations to start the season.
At the end of the day, the commissioner’s job is to be the face of baseball, speak on behalf of the owners, try to help the owners and the players get along and take the heat from the public when the fans are not happy with a decision that was made. Some of the heat he takes is due to decisions that were not his but that’s the nature of the job – you have to be able to take the criticism and he doesn’t really seem built for it.
I’m sure the public opinion of him is not the same as the owner’s opinions of him because he has certainly made them richer and he insulates them from criticism. My point is that they are probably not looking to replace him. He received his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School, has worked in Major League Baseball since 1987, learned from Bud Selig, represented MLB when forming collective bargaining agreements in 2002, 2006 and 2011. Those are all the nice things you can say about him. I do think, however, that Major League Baseball needs to go in another direction – one that creates more transparency between the owners and the fans. One that promotes excitement within the game and not just revenue. One that holds owners accountable for their shady behavior. He has acted in the interests of protecting the owners first and foremost. I think there needs to be some new blood.
Here’s some names I came up with that I think would help grow the game beyond the average demographic of a 58-year-old white male. One that would inject some life and ultimately help wrestle back some of the strangehold that NBA and NFL has on the youth.
I don’t believe any of these will happen. More likely to happen it will be someone that has “paid their dues” and been silently involved in Major League Baseball for 30+ years.
Doug Glanville
Glanville currently works for NBC Chicago, The Athletic and writes occasional articles for The New York Times. He played in the big leagues from 1996 to 2004 with the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and Texas Rangers. I remember him as a player, but I really enjoy his podcast Starkville with Jayson Stark. He’s extremely thoughtful and he certainly has the experience as a big league veteran. That’s just scratching the surface of his acumen, though. He graduated from UPENN – which is one of the top schools in the nation – with a degree in engineering. His mother is a math teacher and his father is a psychiatrist, so I think he has a pragmatic approach to problems. Additionally, he’s the President of GK Alliance, which provides capital to start-up companies in Illinois. So he’s a former player with business experience, still involved in the game of baseball, well-spoken and has a level-head when making decisions. I think that’s someone that deserves to be in a high-level position, not just analyzing the game.
Ron Darling
Young Mets fans are familiar with Darling for his work as a color commentator for SNY. Older fans know him for being a reliable starting pitcher for the Mets during the 1980s – especially during their World Series title in 1986. He is a graduate of Yale, with a degree in American studies. His playing career ended in 1995, and he was hired by SNY in 2006 and has been with them ever since. He has also announced on the national level for TBS during the MLB playoffs. Having a knowledge of the entire sport and just one team is a big deal, so I think that was critical for him in his post-playing career. He has also written three books and beat thyroid cancer. When you listen to him announce games, you notice how insightful he is – even after 13 seasons of doing it on a nightly basis. Also, when you listen to him in interviews, you realize he brings so much experience to the table.
Farhan Zaidi
Now here’s an impressive guy. He was the first Muslim general manager of any American sports franchise. He’s only 43-years-old and already helped build the Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers and is now head of baseball operations for the San Francisco Giants. He is a graduate of MIT and a PhD in economics from University of California, Berkeley. Billy Beane called him “absolutely brilliant”. He is credited with finding Yoenis Cespedes.
Alex Rodriguez
I’ll be honest – I don’t care that he did steroids. I do care more about how he handled it publicly and how many times he lied about it. I think that says more about his integrity. He has certainly done a 180 though, repairing his public image to the point where he is announcing games on ESPN and Fox and also still being involved with Major League Baseball. He probably has very little reason to help out Rob Manfred, as he famously suspended him for 211 games. On the field, he was one of the most physically gifted players ever. He compiled 3 AL MVP Awards, was a 14x All Star and won the World Series in 2009. He’s proven to be extremely astute in the business world. He is involved in a number of successful businesses in real estate and El President beer, and is rumored to be looking to buy a piece of the New York Mets. While this would’ve been a complete joke in 2014, A-Rod has gotten to the point where this wouldn’t be a shock.
Gary Vaynerchuck
Alright, so this one is very far outside-the-box and would never happen but Vaynerchuk is brilliant. He started out working at his father’s wine store and is now worth over $160 million through his various investments and his Vayner Media and Vayner X. He’s written five books and publishes more free content than anyone. He was on a podcast with Alex Rodriguez last year and I was amazed at his ideas regarding Major League Baseball. He had some modern ideas such as televising batting practice and allowing fans to bet on it, essentially like a blackjack game where you have a 50/50 chance of winning on each swing. He also said the game needs to rally behind charismatic young players such as Javier Baez especially in minority communities to excite young fans about the game of baseball. He said they need to end the blackout restrictions on MLB.tv and they already dropped the ball severely with their draconian rules on posting content on social media. He doesn’t have the experience playing the game of business, but he’s a new-age media savant and extremely gifted in the business world and with bringing people together. My bet is he eventually becomes part of an ownership group down the road once his net worth gets in the 10 digits.
