Rob Manfred

Poll: Is Geographic Realignment A Good Idea?

By Nick Deeds | August 25, 2025 at 11:59pm CDT

Commissioner Rob Manfred created quite a bit of buzz around the baseball world last week when he made comments on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball last weekend that suggested the league’s desired expansion to 32 teams could be coupled with a dramatic realignment of MLB’s current structure.

“I think if we expand, it provides us with an opportunity to geographically realign,” Manfred said on the broadcast. “I think we could save a lot of wear and tear on our players in terms of travel. And I think our postseason format would be even more appealing for entities like ESPN, because you’d be playing out of the east and out of the west.”

The possibility of MLB following in the footsteps of other American sports, like the NBA and NFL, by adopting an eastern/western conference layout as opposed to the current AL vs NL structure is certainly an interesting one. Fans of teams on the east coast and even in the midwest have long bemoaned the late night games associated with west coast road trips, and Manfred’s suggestion that a geographic realignment could lessen the burden of travel on players throughout baseball’s marathon schedule is difficult to argue with. Fans have little reason to care about the desirability of postseason games for broadcasters like ESPN and FOX, but both Manfred’s comments and simple common sense would indicate that possibility will be highly appealing to the league, as well.

Of course, the downsides to a potential geographic realignment are obvious. Baseball is a sport steeped in history, and the loss of the AL/NL structure would necessarily complicate our view of that history. Had the league moved away from the AL/NL structure previously, would Aaron Judge’s chase for 62 home runs in 2022 have been nearly as noteworthy? Without a division between the two leagues, Judge would simply be seventh on the single-season home run leaderboard, rather than the AL record holder. And that’s before considering the possibility of lost rivalries. There’s several ways that MLB could look to realign geographically, but many proposals (including one from Mike Axisa of CBA Sports) would split up historic rivalries like Cubs/Cardinals and Dodgers/Giants. That would be a tough pill to swallow for those teams, who view their longtime rivalries as a key part of their team’s culture and history.

On the other hand, the distinction between baseball’s two leagues has been eroding for years now. The NL has adopted the designated hitter rule, the All Star game no longer determines home field advantage in the World Series, and the schedule has been altered so that every team plays every other team in at least one series per season regardless of league. That amount of inter-league play would guarantee that even rivalries split by this geographic realignment, like the Cubs and Cardinals in Axisa’s proposal, would still play each other on occasion. It’s also worth noting that many interleague rivalries, such as Mets/Yankees and Cubs/White Sox, would benefit from more games on the schedule each year if they were to be pushed into the same conference by geographic realignment.

Realignment on some level is inevitable, as with 32 teams it would be impossible to create six even divisions. Still, that doesn’t mean the AL/NL structure must be lost entirely. Stephen J. Nesbitt of The Athletic was among those to propose a realignment structure that would preserve the status quo for the most part, with only a handful of changes to the current structure as both leagues would move from three divisions of five teams to four divisions of four teams. Under Nesbitt’s plan, the Rockies and Rays would swap to the AL and NL respectively, but all other teams would remain in their current league and no historic rivals would be divided. Of course, maintaining what fans appreciate about the current structure would also mean maintaining many of its frustrations; late night games for fans on the east coast whenever their club takes a road trip out west, and a more much more extreme travel schedule for the players.

How do MLBTR readers feel about the possibility of geographic realignment coming to the majors? Would changing the league’s current structure so drastically detract from the sport’s history for little benefit, or with the leagues already more similar than ever is a major shakeup worth if it improves travel- and timezone-related experience for fans and players alike? Have your say in the poll below:

Rob Manfred Downplays Salary Cap Dispute With Bryce Harper

By Leo Morgenstern | August 2, 2025 at 10:59pm CDT

An altercation between MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and Phillies star Bryce Harper made headlines in July, with the two-time MVP reportedly standing “nose to nose” with the commissioner and telling him he could “get the [expletive] out of our clubhouse” if he was going to talk about implementing a salary cap (per ESPN’s Jeff Passan). Manfred was holding his annual meeting with the Phillies’ players at Citizens Bank Park.

Reports from Passan and the New York Post’s Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman differ on when the confrontation occurred. Passan writes that Harper sat quietly for most of the meeting, which lasted over an hour, before tensions boiled over and he approached the commissioner. In contrast, Heyman and Sherman write that his comments came “about five minutes into” Manfred’s opening remarks. Regardless of certain discrepancies, what’s clear is that, while Manfred never directly mentioned a salary cap, Harper believed it was implied. He felt strongly enough to claim that players “are not scared to lose 162 games” in their fight against a cap (per Passan). He also questioned what Manfred has ever done “to benefit the players” (per Heyman and Sherman). Despite Harper’s comments, Manfred stayed to finish the meeting, doubling down on the importance of talking about, in Passan’s words, “threats to MLB’s business and ways to grow the game.”

Afterwards, Harper’s teammate Nick Castellanos described the ordeal to ESPN as intense and passionate, and he seemed to confirm it went both ways. “The commissioner [was] giving it back to Bryce and Bryce [was] giving it back to the commissioner,” he explained.

Afterwards, Manfred declined to comment to ESPN or the New York Post, while Harper later told reporters (including Bob Cooney of NBC Sports Philadelphia): “You guys saw what was in the article. But I won’t be getting into the details of what happened or how I felt or anything else like that…I’m just trying to worry about baseball…Everybody saw the words and everything that happened. I don’t want to say anything more than that.”

Harper continued: “I’ve talked labor and I’ve done it in a way that I don’t think I need to talk to the media about it…I’ve always been very vocal, just not in a way that people can see.”

Yesterday, however, Manfred spoke at Wrigley Field to announce that the Cubs would host the 2027 All-Star Game, and he finally addressed his dispute with Harper, claiming: “It was an individual picking a particular way to express himself, and I don’t think you need to make more out of that than that” (per Patrick Mooney of The Athletic).

Perhaps that’s true. Yet, there is no denying it would be in Manfred’s best interests to downplay his altercation with one of the most influential players in the league. It’s also in his best interests to believe this was an isolated incident of an “individual” expressing himself rather than a reflection of how many players feel across all 30 teams.

With the current collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the MLBPA set to expire on December 1, 2026, it’s no secret that several owners are interested in instituting a salary cap. Indeed, according to ESPN’s Jorge Castillo, the MLBPA believes Manfred is pushing for a cap in his clubhouse meetings this year – even if he isn’t using those exact words. Unsurprisingly, the players association is strongly against a cap, arguing it would primarily serve to artificially suppress player salaries rather than increase parity around the league or help to grow the game.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the All-Star Game last month, MLBPA executive director Tony Clark described a salary cap as “institutionalized collusion” (per Castillo). “A cap is not about growing the game,” he said. “A cap is about franchise values and profits. That’s what a cap is about.”

What’s more, while Manfred might not be willing to say “salary cap,” he has already mentioned the possibility of a lockout. Back in March, Clark said that he is expecting a work stoppage after the 2026 season, and many around the league are concerned about the possibility of contentious CBA negotiations eating into the 2027 campaign. It’s not hard to guess what the sticking point in those negotiations might be.

Castellanos told Hannah Keyser and Zach Crizer of The Bandwagon (who first reported on the “heated” meeting between Manfred and the Phillies) that the commissioner was “very eloquently speaking around” the idea of a salary cap. He later said to ESPN: “Rob seems to be in a pretty desperate place on how important it is to get this salary cap because he’s floating the word ’lockout’ two years in advance of our collective bargaining agreement [expiring].”

Manfred began holding annual meetings with each team’s players three years ago, following the lockout that lasted much of the 2021-22 offseason and delayed the start of the 2022 campaign. One reason for these meetings? He wants to communicate directly to the players rather than have his messages go through the MLBPA. During a recent investor event held by the Braves, he said: “The strategy is to get directly to the players. I don’t think the leadership of this union is anxious to lead the way to change. So we need to energize the workforce in order to get them familiar with or supportive of the idea that maybe change in the system could be good for everybody” (per The Athletic’s Evan Drellich).

One way to read those comments? Manfred knows the MLBPA is staunchly opposed to a salary cap. It certainly seems as if he’s hoping to pit the union’s membership against the union’s leadership, in an effort the push through changes that would, in Clark’s words: “add to the owners’ profits and franchise values, while prohibiting clubs from fully competing to put the best product on the field for the fans and limiting player compensation, guarantees and flexibility” (per Drellich).

If Harper’s reaction is any indication, Manfred might not be having as much success connecting with players as he hoped, even as he has, at times, been accompanied at his clubhouse meetings by respected former players in the Commissioner’s Ambassador Program (CAP). But at least for now, the commissioner insists it’s not that serious: “I think more has been made out of this than needs to be made out of it. Bryce expressed his views. At the end of the meeting, we shook hands and went our separate ways. Not all that significant” (per Andrew Seligman of the Associated Press).

Photo in article courtesy of Bill Streicher, Imagn Images.

Cubs To Host 2027 All-Star Game

By Steve Adams | August 1, 2025 at 11:53am CDT

The 2027 Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be hosted by the Cubs at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, commissioner Rob Manfred announced Friday morning. MLB’s 97th midsummer classic will take place on July 13 that year.

“This is an honor for our team, our city and our state,” Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said in this morning’s press release. “We can’t wait to showcase how we have preserved this iconic ballpark. Wrigley Field means so much to Cubs fans and millions of people who have visited what we believe is a baseball cathedral and one of Illinois’ top tourist destinations. We play in a world-class city that is especially beautiful in the summer and we’re looking forward to hosting the best players in our great game and fans from around the world.”

It’ll be the Cubs’ fourth time hosting the All-Star Game — including their first since 1990. The Cubs also hosted All-Star Games in 1947 and 1962. Wrigley Field now becomes the only active MLB stadium to host the All-Star Game four times. Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium (closed in 1995) and old Yankee Stadium (closed in 2008) are the only other MLB venues to host four All-Star Games.

“I applaud the Ricketts family, the entire Cubs organization, the City of Chicago and the Chicago Sports Commission for presenting an impressive vision for 2027 All-Star Week,” Manfred said in his own prepared statement within this morning’s release. “The hard work put in to transform all of Wrigleyville into an outstanding destination deserves to be celebrated and shared on a national stage. We look forward to bringing the Midsummer Classic back to historic Wrigley Field and working alongside the Cubs, city and state officials, and the local organizing group to bring an extraordinary experience to the baseball fans of Chicago. Most importantly, Major League Baseball and its partners will leave behind a lasting impact on the communities across Chicago through the meaningful initiatives of the All-Star Legacy program.”

Of course, the 2027 All-Star Game is shrouded by the looming specter of a potential work stoppage. The active collective bargaining agreement spans the 2022-26 seasons and concludes on Dec. 1 of next year. With several owners and Manfred himself publicly referencing their desire for a salary cap — and the union’s swift retort that a cap would amount to “institutionalized collusion” — another league-implemented lockout has been widely speculated upon.

Major League Baseball locked out the players in the 2021-22 offseason — a decision which resulted in a 99-day transaction freeze and for months jeopardized the 2022 season. The two parties agreed to an eleventh-hour deal and an abbreviated spring training that allowed a full 162 games to be played. A similar stalemate could play out in the 2026-27 offseason, though if the league is earnest in its desire to steadfastly hold out for a salary cap, that’s expected to be a nonstarter for the union and would more seriously threaten the loss of games in the 2027 season.

Asked today about a contingency plan for Wrigley Field’s All-Star hopes in the event of a 2027 labor stoppage, Manfred replied only: “My contingency plan is to make an agreement with the players and play the 2027 season” (link via ESPN’s Jesse Rogers).

Manfred: Longer Break In 2028 For All-Star Game And Olympics Is Possible

By Darragh McDonald | July 15, 2025 at 6:26pm CDT

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred spoke to the media today, ahead of tonight’s All-Star game, addressing various topics relevant to the league. One subject that got a lot of discussion was the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and the potential of MLB players participating. Baseball will be an event at the Olympics, with Dodger Stadium being the venue, but it’s still not confirmed if MLB players will be able to play. Manfred suggested it could be possible for the league to have a slightly longer midsummer break to include both the All-Star game and the Olympics, while also not impacting the regular season.

“It is possible to play the All-Star game in its normal spot, have a single break that would be longer but still play 162 games without bleeding into the middle of November,” Manfred said, per Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post. “That is possible.”

MLB players have never participated in the Olympics. Baseball has occasionally been an event in the games, but has been played by minor leaguers or college players. In recent years, it has not been unusual for MLB players to compete in international play. The World Baseball Classic has been running every few years since 2006, even though the COVID-19 pandemic threw the normal schedule off for a bit.

The main difference with the Olympics would be the timing. The WBC is held in March, ahead of the MLB regular season. The ’28 Olympics are scheduled to take place in Los Angeles from July 14th to 30th. Per J.J. Cooper of Baseball America, the baseball field would include six teams, set by qualifying tournaments, who would then play from July 15th to 20th. Per Evan Drellich of The Athletic, the league would prefer that to be a little earlier. The All-Star break is usually the second Tuesday of July, which would be July 11th in 2028. The opening ceremony of the Olympics is scheduled for July 14th.

There are logistical challenges but it’s theoretically possible to line everything up. The fact that the games are taking place in the United States is also convenient, compared to a distant country where travel would be more of a concern.

It has been suggested in the past that perhaps the league could look to skip the All-Star game for one year, with the Olympics taking over as the main midsummer event. Manfred’s comments today point to both taking place, which would raise some interesting questions. Presumably, there could be a lot of overlap in terms of All-Star selections and Olympic rosters. If a player is planning to play in the Olympics and is also selected for the All-Star game, would they simply skip the latter like injured players do? Would some try to do both?

In terms of the scheduling, the details there aren’t clear either. In recent years, the MLB season has sometimes had some teams start the regular season in mid-March in order to play games in other countries such as Japan or South Korea. Starting the regular season earlier for all teams could perhaps allow for a longer midseason break, though that would lead to many weather-related annoyances in certain parts of the country.

Per Cooper, insurance is another potential hurdle. For the WBC, there are insurance policies in place to compensate an MLB team if one of their players is injured. But the WBC is put on by MLB, whereas the Olympics are put on by the International Olympic Committee. As noted by Cooper, it’s unclear if the IOC would be willing to pay the insurance premiums or if MLB would be willing to do so. MLB wouldn’t be directly benefiting from the event, since the IOC receives the proceeds, though the league would obviously hope that the Olympics would help to grow the MLB brand and expand its reach. Cooper mentions the possibility of Olympic committees of individual countries covering the insurance premiums but says this is the least likely scenario.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the logistical challenges could lead to San Francisco hosting the 2028 All-Star game. She says the league and the MLBPA would prefer a West Coast club host that year, in order to be near the Olympics in Los Angeles. She points out that San Diego, Seattle and Arizona have all hosted the All-Star festivities fairly recently, whereas the Giants last hosted back in 2007.

Slusser adds that MLBPA executive director Tony Clark also seemed open to the players agreeing to the Olympic plans, though with some details still to be worked out. “There’s just a lot of conversation that needs to be had sooner rather than later to see how viable this is,” Clark said. “But we’re hopeful that we can figure our way through it for the benefit of the game.”

If it comes to pass that the Giants host in 2028, it will kick things down the road for other clubs that have been waiting their turn. Last year, Manfred acknowledged that the Blue Jays were due, since they haven’t hosted since 1991. However, the Phillies are hosting in 2026, a decision that was made long ago to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It seems likely that the Cubs, who haven’t hosted since 1990, will be hosting in 2027. Putting the 2028 game in San Francisco would mean the Jays and other teams hoping to host would probably have to wait until 2029 at the earliest.

Manfred still seems to have a Toronto All-Star game on his radar, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. “Obviously, (the Blue Jays) are kind of perking up to the top of the list based on time,” he continued. “I’d like to be back in Toronto. Rogers has made a really significant investment in terms of improvements in the stadium. TBD at this point, beyond that.” Davidi adds that the Orioles and Red Sox are also interested. Baltimore last hosted in 1993 and Boston in 1999.

Photo courtesy of Brett Davis, Imagn Images

Rob Manfred Discusses Broadcasting Situation, ABS, Pitcher Health

By Nick Deeds | April 6, 2025 at 10:51pm CDT

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred recently conducted an interview with Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times where he discussed a variety of topics that have made headlines around the league of late, including the league’s plans for the future of MLB broadcasting, the future of the automated ball-strike system that was tested during Spring Training this year, and the ongoing conversation around the league regarding the rise in pitcher injuries over the past few years.

Regarding the broadcasting situation, Manfred once again acknowledged that any overarching changes to the status quo for broadcasting around the league will likely need to wait until after the 2028 season, when MLB’s national TV deals with FOX and TBS expire. The same was true of ESPN, though both the network and MLB decided to opt out of the final three years of that agreement earlier this year, leaving ESPN to stop broadcasting MLB games following the 2025 campaign. It has long seemed likely that the commissioner’s office has its sights set on a more all-encompassing streaming package that MLB.tv currently offers, and Manfred reiterated his desire to “get out of the business of blackouts” going forward.

None of that is exactly new information, but one thing Manfred did note is that fans in Japan may see a change in how they access MLB games when the league’s broadcasting deals expire after 2028. Manfred suggested to Schmidt that while the league has previously sold its broadcasting rights in Japan to Japanese broadcasting companies, that may no longer be the case in 2029 and beyond. Instead, Manfred suggested that the league’s international broadcasting rights, including those for Japan, could be sold to an international streaming company.

“I think [Japan] is vitally important from a business perspective,” Manfred told Schmidt. “When you can say to a streaming company, “I have the ability to deliver an audience of 25 million people in Japan for a game,” they’re interested.”

That would be a major change in the status quo for fans in Japan but could also result in a substantial windfall for the league, allowing them to leverage the league’s rapidly growing fanbase in Japan financially in a more impactful way. Manfred said as much during the interview, suggesting to Schmidt that the value of those broadcasting rights in the streaming market is “way more significant” than the value the league would be able to extract by continuing to sell to traditional broadcasters in Japan.

It’s against that backdrop of upcoming potential streaming deals, both domestic and international, that the next round of collective bargaining between the league and the MLB Players Association will occur. The current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire in December of 2026, and while that’s still more than 18 months away the possibility of another lockout after one disrupted the 2021-22 offseason during the most recent CBA negotiations has been widely discussed. Just last month, MLBPA chief Tony Clark indicated that the players’ association expects a lockout following the 2025 season, and recent discontent among fans regarding the disparity in spending between the league’s top teams and those at the bottom has teed up a potential fight over the club’s economic system.

The league has frequently pushed for a salary cap over the years, even as the MLBPA has always considered the idea a complete non-starter. While Manfred did not discuss the idea of a cap directly in his interview with Schmidt, he did make clear that he is “cognizant” of and “sympathetic” to fan frustrations regarding the disparity in spending among MLB clubs. He went on to note that teams that are outspent by the top teams can overcome that disparity, as seen in the past successes of smaller-market clubs like the Brewers and Guardians, though he suggested that the perception of inevitability surrounding top spenders like the Dodgers and Mets can impact ticket sales for smaller clubs.

“The outcome result is not perfectly correlated with the spending,” Manfred told Schmidt, “But the fact of the matter is the inability or the constant failure to spend affects the business in a way that’s bad for it.”

Manfred went on to agree “one hundred percent” with Schmidt when asked if the disparity in spending “is a massive problem” that the league needs to address. MLBTR readership clearly agrees, as a poll from MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes back in January found that two-thirds of respondents want a salary cap to be instituted in the next round of CBA negotiations, while just over half of respondents went as far as to suggest they would be willing to lose the entirety of the 2027 campaign if it meant that a salary cap would be put into place.

It should be noted that while a salary cap is the most often discussed way to reduce payroll disparity, it’s far from the only method. Many smaller market clubs do not spend in a way that’s commensurate with the revenue sharing dollars they receive. The MLBPA has filed grievances against the Pirates, Rays, Athletics, and Marlins in the past over just that issue, and the A’s needed to spend aggressively this winter in order to get in line and avoid an additional grievance. The Marlins, meanwhile, are risking a grievances by going into the 2025 season with a projected payroll of just under $70MM according to RosterResource, and that’s a figure that could drop further if a pricey veteran like Sandy Alcantara gets dealt at some point this season.

The possibility of a salary cap won’t be the only thing discussed during this next round of CBA negotiations, however, and Manfred’s comments to Schmidt could give the public a window into some other issues that could be discussed. Expansion has been covered in past agreements and remains something Manfred has an eye toward, as the commissioner told Schmidt that he hopes to have the cities selected by the time his final term as commissioner ends in 2029. Aside from that, a major topic of discussion in recent years has been how to mitigate pitcher injuries. As Manfred noted to Schmidt, the incentives for both players and teams as things stand are for both to pursue velocity and spin rate over effectiveness.

That analytics have shown premium stuff to be extremely valuable cannot be debated, and it’s true that teams have increasingly rewarded players with big strikeout numbers, high velocity, and impressive spin rates that all could correlate with an increased risk of injury. A notable point Manfred made in his interview with Schmidt, however, was that the guaranteed contracts offered in baseball skew player incentives away towards maximizing effectiveness rather than staying healthy.

“From a competitive perspective, it’s absolutely clear to young people that we pay for velocity and spin rate,” Manfred told Schmidt. “…So you get injured and they fix you up and you go right back and you do it again. Under our system, because it’s basically all guaranteed money, you get paid. So the incentives there that apply on the athlete are really misdirected. They actually encourage behavior that increases injuries.”

While Manfred did not outright suggest that the guaranteed nature of free agent contracts in MLB could be up for debate during this next round of CBA negotiations, that the commissioner brought it up when discussing the need to “alter incentives” for players and clubs in order to keep pitchers healthy is very notable. Some sports leagues such as the NFL allow contracts that aren’t fully guaranteed, meaning the club may not necessarily have to pay the player in event of injury, but that’s not the case in MLB and would of course need to be collectively bargained with the MLBPA. Much like a salary cap, that seems very likely to be a nonstarter with the union.

One other notable item that Manfred suggested more directly could be part of the next round of CBA negotiations is the automated ball-strike system. ABS was introduced to big league Spring Training games this year as a challenge system, which was mostly viewed as a success around the league. That’s led to plenty of interest in ABS being adopted in regular season games, and Manfred suggested to Schmidt that its arrival could come as soon as 2026. With that being said, Manfred noted he was “uncertain” of that because the union would have to approve it for the 2026 season and suggested that “it would not be shocking” if the union pushed for the specifics of ABS to be resolved during the next round of CBA negotiations after the 2026 season.

On the topic of ABS, Manfred noted that the Umpires’ union (with which the possible implementation of ABS has already been collectively bargained) actually preferred fully automated ball-strike calls as opposed the challenge system used in Spring Training. Manfred noted that players have expressed a preference for the challenge system, in part to protect players who have made a career out of elite pitch-framing abilities from having their skills devalued. It seems as though the league is satisfied with the compromise of a challenge system given that it’s what was used in Spring Training this year, but if either the players decide they’re against the challenge system or the league decides to push for full ABS that could theoretically become an issue discussed in the upcoming round of CBA negotiations even if the challenge system were to get implemented for the 2026 campaign.

Rays Owner Stu Sternberg Facing Pressure To Sell From Fellow Owners, Commissioner’s Office

By Nick Deeds | March 9, 2025 at 8:11pm CDT

Rays owner Stu Sternberg is facing pressure to sell the club from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and “several” fellow owners, according to a report from Evan Drellich of The Athletic. On Thursday, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that while no deal was close, a group of businesspeople local to the Tampa Bay area have started to put together ownership groups with their sights set on purchasing the team. Drellich’s report expands on that report, confirming that no sale is close but that “several groups” with ties to Florida have expressed interest in purchasing the club.

Drellich reports that those involved in one group include the family of San Francisco 49ners owner Edward DeBartolo Jr. and former Yankees minority owner Joe Molloy, with Tampa-area business man Dan Doyle Jr. involved in another group. Molloy subsequently confirmed to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that he’s leading a group with interest in purchasing the Rays, adding that his group would have interest in pursuing the stadium deal the Rays currently have in place with Pinellas County and the city of St. Petersburg. Notably, Molloy led the Yankees while George Steinbrenner was suspended during the 1990s, while Doyle previously expressed interest in purchasing the Rays back in 2023.

That deal, of course, has been publicly thrown into doubt by clashes between the Rays and the Pinellas County Board of Commissioners. The county delayed a vote in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton that the Rays claim held up the construction process and increased costs, and the club argues that it should not cover those costs on its own despite the deal stating that the Rays will handle any cost overruns. That deal is just weeks away from a key deadline on March 31, just after Opening Day, that requires Sternberg to meet certain obligations if the stadium deal is to proceed.

Given the hostile relationship between Sternberg and local officials, Drellich suggests that it could be difficult to revive the deal if Sternberg allows that March 31 deadline to pass without acting. It’s possible the deal could be revived in some form under new ownership, however, and that appears to be the impetus behind Manfred’s push for Sternberg to either work out the stadium issue or sell the club. Drellich emphasizes the MLB believes strongly in Florida as a viable market despite the lackluster financial showings of the Rays and Marlins since the franchises came into being during the 1990s, and the league seems unlikely to approve relocation out of Florida for Sternberg—or a hypothetical future Rays owner. If the stadium deal in St. Pete falls through, Drellich reports that MLB believes the Ybor City neighborhood in Tampa or perhaps even Orlando could be viable alternatives for the Rays.

As the commissioner’s office looks to pressure Sternberg, Drellich writes that the league could look to take away at least some of the Rays’ revenue sharing dollars, which he notes add up to around $60MM annually. That would be a major blow to the club’s finances, but it’s one that could not be exercised unilaterally by Manfred. Instead, alterations to revenue sharing would need to be collectively bargained during the next CBA negotiations. The current agreement runs through 2026, and when it expires Drellich suggests that Manfred and the league could seek a carve out in the CBA that applies specifically to the Rays that would cut the club off from its revenue sharing dollars if they failed to get a stadium deal done before a certain date. As Drellich points out, the league utilized a similar tactic to pressure A’s owner John Fisher into getting a binding stadium agreement into place by January 15, 2024.

Of course, any pressure tactic that needs to be collectively bargained wouldn’t necessarily have much of an immediate effect given that the end of the current CBA is nearly two years away. With that being said, Drellich does note that Manfred has some ways to financially pressure the Rays and Sternberg at his disposal in the more immediate future: the commissioner’s discretionary fund and supplemental discretionary fund. The distribution of those funds is not publicized, but Drellich notes that the Rays have been a beneficiary and that the payments from those funds are typically in the neighborhood of “several” million dollars, though not quite reaching tens of millions.

It’s unclear to what extent any losses in funding from the league, be they from the commissioner’s discretionary fund or eventual revenue sharing losses at some point in the future, would impact the Rays from a baseball perspective. The club already runs one of the league’s lowest payrolls with their $90MM projected payroll for 2025 ranking in the bottom five in the league per RosterResource. That’s exactly in line with last year’s payroll numbers, but slightly higher than where the club has lived in the past. It wouldn’t be a shock, then, if the losses in funding were passed on in at least some capacity to the baseball operations department.

Infielder Ha-Seong Kim’s $16MM player option is the only guaranteed contract on the Rays’ books beyond this season apart from the Wander Franco contract that is currently going unpaid, but the club does have a number of pricey club options on veterans like Yandy Diaz, Brandon Lowe, and Pete Fairbanks next season. If the club’s baseball operations budget tightens in response to financial pressure from the league, it’s possible the front office could look to move some of those players in the offseason or even at the trade deadline this year depending on the club’s position in the standings.

As Drellich notes, there’s little incentive for Sternberg to lower his asking price for the Rays in order to facilitate a sale. The Rays were estimated to be worth $1.25 billion according to franchise valuations by Forbes last year, and that value figures to have only gone up since then. Even if Manfred and the commissioner’s office begin putting financial pressure on Sternberg to sell, those financial losses would surely pale in comparison to the potential loss in value that would come with selling low on a franchise estimated to be worth more than a billion dollars.

Commissioner’s Office Considering Petition To Remove Pete Rose From Ineligible List

By Nick Deeds | March 1, 2025 at 8:37pm CDT

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is considering a petition filed by the family of Pete Rose to have Rose posthumously reinstated from the ineligible list, according to a report from Don Van Natta Jr. of ESPN. Rose passed away in September at the age of 83, and Van Natta notes that the petition was filed on January 8 following a conversation between Rose’s daughter Fawn, the family’s lawyer, and the commissioner’s office that took place on December 17.

The timing of the report is notable given that President Donald Trump commented on Rose late last night, suggesting that he would sign a posthumous pardon for Rose in the coming weeks. Qasim Nauman and Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times were among those who reported on Mr. Trump’s comments this morning. Such a pardon would have no bearing on Rose’s status within the game of baseball, and Nauman and Schmidt note that it would instead focus on a five-month sentence Rose served in federal prison back in 1990 after filing false income tax returns.

Tax issues, of course, are not the reason that Rose is currently on baseball’s permanently ineligible list. MLB announced late in the 1989 season that an investigation had revealed Rose had placed bets on baseball, including games his team was participating in, during his time as manager of the Reds. Subsequent reporting in the decades following Rose’s placement on the ineligible list indicated that Rose also placed bets during his time as a player. Rose never admitted to those allegations, though he did acknowledge that he had bet on baseball as a manager in 2004.

Rose only bet on his team to win, and there’s no evidence that he made an attempt to fix any MLB game. Even so, that’s a violation of MLB’s biggest rule and grounds for a lifetime ban, leading the league to place Rose on the permanently ineligible list. Not long after Rose’s ban, in 1991, the Hall of Fame announced a policy stating that anyone who was suspended from MLB for life was ineligible for induction. As such, Rose has never been on a Hall of Fame ballot, though there’s little question that a lifetime .303/.375/.409 hitter with the most career hits in MLB history and 79.5 bWAR would be a slam-dunk candidate for induction if looking exclusively at his numbers on the field.

Ever since Rose’s suspension, the hit king’s worthiness for a Hall of Fame induction has been a divisive topic among fans of the game. An icon of the game with hitting records that could very well prove virtually unbreakable and a staple of Reds history with three World Series championships under his belt, Rose was among the very best players of his era. He remains a controversial figure, however, particularly in an era where the Hall’s voters made the controversial decision not to elect other titans of the game such as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens to Cooperstown in light of their association with the league’s performance-enhancing drug scandal and baseball has had to reckon with the increased presence of sports betting not only within United States culture, but also as a partner of MLB and its clubs.

The possibility that Rose could be posthumously reinstated from the ineligible list is the latest development in that debate, and could theoretically open the door for Rose to be considered for entry into Cooperstown. Representatives of the Hall of Fame have previously stated that players who are on the permanently ineligible list will not be considered for induction even after death, suggesting that Rose’s passing will have no bearing on the Hall’s willingness to consider him. Van Natta notes, however, that Manfred reportedly views placement on the permanently ineligible list as a punishment that ends upon the player’s death for “all practical purposes.” Formally removing Rose from the ineligible list, then, could open the door for the Hall to reconsider its stance on Rose’s eligibility.

Notably, Manfred himself has made clear in the past that the Hall of Fame’s decisions regarding Rose or any other player do not fall under his purview. As relayed by Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com at the time, “It is not part of [MLB’s] authority or responsibility here to make any determination concerning Mr. Rose’s eligibility as a candidate for election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame… any debate over Mr. Rose’s eligibility for the Hall of Fame is one that must take place in a different forum.”

AL Central Notes: Warren, White Sox, Manfred, Caglianone

By Mark Polishuk | October 26, 2024 at 2:55pm CDT

The Tigers had interest in right-hander Will Warren during their trade talks with the Yankees this past summer, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reports. The two clubs reportedly had a provisional agreement involving Jack Flaherty relatively close to being completed before New York backed out due to concerns over Flaherty’s medical records, though it should be noted that Heyman didn’t directly say that Warren was part of whatever trade package the Yankees were prepared to send to Detroit. Flaherty instead was dealt to the Dodgers for two position players, one of whom (Trey Sweeney) ended up playing an important role in the Tigers’ surprising late-season surge to a wild card berth.

Ironically, Warren ended up making his MLB debut on the trade deadline day of July 30, and he posted a 10.32 ERA over his first 22 2/3 innings in the big leagues. He also had a 5.91 ERA over 109 2/3 innings at Triple-A, though his minor league numbers were a little skewed by a nightmarish four-start stretch in May. Scouts and evaluators generally view Warren as a back-end starter or perhaps a long reliever at the MLB level, and while the Yankees naturally want to keep pitching depth on hand, Warren could be a relatively expendable prospect in terms of future trade possibilities (with Detroit or any other teams).

Quick Hits: Nationals, Merrill, Athletics, Rays

By Mark Polishuk | October 23, 2024 at 11:37pm CDT

As the Padres and Nationals were negotiating the blockbuster Juan Soto trade in advance of the 2022 trade deadline, the Nats were able to obtain such top-tier young talents as CJ Abrams, James Wood, and MacKenzie Gore as part of the six-player trade package. One player Washington didn’t land was Jackson Merrill, though Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the Nationals asked about Merrill as part of the trade talks.

Though Merrill was the 27th overall pick of the 2021 draft, his prospect stock didn’t really start to take off until he started to post big numbers for the Padres’ rookie league and A-ball affiliates during the 2022 season. In fact, injuries limited Merrill to only 25 games in 2022 at the time of the Soto trade, so the Nationals weren’t working off a lot of scouting information when they checked into Merrill’s possible availability. Though the Friars gave up a lot to bring Soto to San Diego, it looks like they made a canny move in keeping Merrill, as his tremendous rookie season helped lead the Padres to the NLDS this season. Merrill hit .292/.326/.500 with 24 home runs over 593 plate appearances, and (even more remarkably) played strong defense as San Diego’s everyday center fielder despite never before playing center during his pro career.

Some other items from around baseball…

Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park will remain a natural-grass stadium when the Athletics begin play next season, a league spokesperson told the media (including The Athletic’s Evan Drellich). Since the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate will continue sharing the ballpark with the A’s, the initial idea was to install an artificial surface for 2025 and beyond, as a grass field will take quite a bit of wear-and-tear from two full schedules’ worth of games. However, players still preferred even a beaten-up grass surface to turf, as playing on an artificial surface outdoors in California would’ve routinely raised on-field temperatures to well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, even for some night games. “In light of the players’ clear preference for natural grass, and after weighing with the MLBPA the potential risks and benefits of maintaining natural grass versus replacing the playing surface with synthetic turf, all the parties are aligned in moving forward with a natural grass field for Opening Day 2025,” the spokesperson said.
In other stadium news, the Rays’ immediate landing spot isn’t yet clear as the club continues to assess how badly Tropicana Field was damaged by Hurricane Milton. Amidst speculation that the Rays could at least open the 2025 season in any number of different cities, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred made it clear in an interview on the Varsity podcast that the league’s preference is to keep the Rays in the Tampa/St. Pete area. “The easiest thing is always to stay in the market where the clubs are anchored, if we can manage it,” Manfred said, in terms of Tropicana Field, “we’re hopeful…the repairs can be done in a way that allows them to resume playing.” That said, Manfred is aware of the “complication” of how the city could balk at a large repair bill for a stadium that will soon be abandoned entirely, as the Rays’ new ballpark is slated to be ready for Opening Day 2028. (Hat tip to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.)

Rob Manfred Hints At Changes To Rules On Trading Draft Picks

By Darragh McDonald | July 16, 2024 at 4:05pm CDT

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred spoke on various topics today, including possibly loosening the rules on trading draft picks. Per J.J. Cooper of Baseball America, Manfred suggested the owners have some openness to allowing teams more freedom to trade picks but he also noted that changes would have to be collectively bargained with the MLB Players Association.

Under the current rules, teams can only trade competitive balance picks. Only the clubs with smaller markets/revenues get those and they make up a small portion of the overall number of picks in the draft.

Plenty of other sports allow the trading of draft picks, which adds an element of excitement to the draft itself as well as trades during the rest of the year. Many have argued for MLB to follow suit and allow picks to be traded, but the counterargument has been that teams might send away too many picks and doom themselves to years of fielding ineffective teams.

The counter to that argument has usually been that teams can already do themselves plenty of harm by trading away prospects and that things wouldn’t meaningfully change by adding draft picks to the equation. Furthermore, it has been argued that teams should be subject to the consequences of their own actions as opposed to being preemptively protected from them. This latter point seems to be something that Manfred is receptive to.

“The positions the clubs have taken over time in terms of what they want us to do at the table has been a product of a balance between flexibility in terms of utilizing the resources available to you on the one hand and paternalism on the other—that is I’m going to prevent you from doing acts because I think it would be stupid,” Manfred said. “I don’t think we have that many stupid clubs. We’ll see how it shakes out. We will go through our (collective) bargaining prep,” he continued. “The clubs are really sophisticated now. I do think that there’s a really good argument for allowing them to decide how to use their resources.”

The MLBPA clearly has some level of concern about tanking, the practice of teams intentionally making themselves worse in the present in order to improve their chances of winning in the future. They have tried to push back against the practice by looking for things in CBA negotiations like a salary floor or draft lottery, successfully getting the latter but not the former.

A team that hamstrung itself by trading away numerous draft picks could perhaps impact free agent earning power, as such a franchise might get into such a poor long-term state that they effectively sit out free agency for a while. But as mentioned, that’s not too similar from a team under the present system that has traded away significant prospect capital and spend many years in rebuilding mode. It could also be argued that such a club may be incentivized to sign free agents who could then be traded for draft picks, making up for those that were traded away in previous years.

Whether the two sides can agree to change the rules will be known in the next few years, as the current CBA extends through the 2026 season. They will have many other issues to address, such as the competitive balance tax, minimum salaries, TV/streaming revenue plans, expansion and other topics, but perhaps there’s a glimmer of hope for those who want to see draft picks trade hands in the future.

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