Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed on Thursday that he will retire from his position after his current term is set to expire on Jan. 25, 2029, according to multiple reports.
Elected to serve in 2014 and beginning in the 2015 season, Manfred oversaw a multitude of rule changes in the league, most notably the addition of the controversial pitch clock and ghost runner rule in extra innings.
He stated that his primary goals as commissioner were youth outreach, embracing technology, quickening the pace of play, strengthening player relations, and creating a more unified business operation.
A case can be made for the sped-up state of modern baseball, as Manfred added rules to
America’s pastime less than a year into the job. Before the start of the 2016 season, a rule was
added for batters to remain in the batter’s box, as well as the addition of clocks to limit time spent during commercial breaks. For the 2017 season, no-pitch intentional walks were approved in MLB for the first time; for the 2018 season, the commissioner introduced more rules to reduce time in commercial breaks and limit player visits to the pitchers’ mound.
Manfred has also been a supporter of expansion, listing Charlotte, Las Vegas, Montreal,
Nashville, Portland, and Vancouver as possibilities locations.
The most notable set of rules were instituted in 2023; in addition to the pitch clock, the league
implemented the “shift ban” where infielders were mandated to be evenly divided between
second base, pitcher disengagement, and increase of the size of bases from 15 inches to 18 inches.
With five years still left in his term, there is still a lot of room for more changes to be made.
In the same meeting where he said that this term is his final, he touched on the possibility of
having a limited free-agency signing period.
“[MLB] would prefer to have a free agent signing period, ideally probably in December,
with a deadline that drove people to make their deals, to get things settled,” Manfred said. “We actually made proposals to that effect to the MLBPA, they were not warmly received.”
His start in baseball was in 1987 in collective bargaining agreements for the league, before
negotiating the league’s first-ever drug test agreement with the players association in 2002.
He was part of the team that investigated the Biogenesis scandal in 2013, and when at the helm of the league, led the investigation against the Houston Astros in their illegal sign-stealing scandal in 2020. After fining the organization $5 million and suspending both the general manager and team manager, he was widely criticized for not punishing the players involved because of immunity granted in exchange for their cooperation in the investigation.
