Major League Baseball is raking in the big bucks these days – just look at the contracts being doled out even for average players – but like everything else. It has its share of challenges. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred begins 2016 with a full plate. In no special order, here are some items on his To-Do List:
A 2016 To-Do List for Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred
1) Prepare to negotiate a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, since the current agreement expires at the end of this year. There hasn’t been a work stoppage in twenty-two years, but the 1994-95 players’ strike was so harmful to the interests of the game that no one wants to see a sequel to that particular movie. A salary cap – the idea of which spurred that last work stoppage – is not going to be on the table, but changes in the luxury tax, instant replay, revenue sharing and a possible return to a 154-game schedule are all likely to be items on the negotiating menu, among many other items. This agreement will only determine the future of the game, so no big deal.
2) Resolve the stadium issues in Tampa Bay and Oakland. These have festered for a very long time now and there are no easy answers.
The Rays play in a domed dreary warehouse way out in St. Petersburg that is not an easy destination for folks in Tampa. While the sun shines outside, half-filled-at-best crowds come inside to a venue that is not conducive to modern-day baseball. Catwalks that are part of the support structure have even interfered with balls in play. What to do? Moving to Canada and becoming the Montreal Ex-Rays might be a possibility, but relocation would have tremendous hurdles. The current lease keeps the team there for twelve more years, and the complicated language forbids them even from looking for a new ballpark site in the area. So to sum up, the team needs a new facility in a different location, but is locked into its current situation until 2028 and cannot even look for a suitable new location to keep the team in town. It’s a mess.
In Oakland, the Athletics play in a concrete bunker that they share with the Raiders, who were just denied the ability to move to Los Angeles but could still move to San Diego if the Chargers vacate. Their uncertain situation does not help the A’s, who have explored moving to San Jose and Santa Clara in the past, but in any event do need a new ballpark. The current and former mayors of Oakland have tried to sell team owners on waterfront property that might offer great views and be beneficial to the city in terms of redevelopment, but the owners are not interested since the site would need a massive toxic-chemical cleanup and is not currently readily accessible by public or private transportation. Everyone involved has long recognized the need for a new ballpark for the team, and that was before raw sewage seeped into the dugout in 2013.
3) Continue to increase African-American interest and representation. Last Opening Day, just 7.8% of players were African-American, compared to 19% back in 1986 when where were four fewer teams than there are today. The Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program has been a positive here, helping guide many younger African-Americans toward and into playing baseball. Having more African-Americans working in baseball management would help also. Major League Baseball has long had a policy that teams with managerial vacancies interview minority candidates, and now Dave Roberts (Dodgers) and Dusty Baker (Nationals) constitute two more African-American managers in the game than were there at the end of last season after the Mariners fired Lloyd McClendon. So there’s progress on this front, including once current African-American general manager in Dave Stewart (Diamondbacks), while former White Sox GM Kenny Williams is now the team’s Executive Vice President.
4) Address the financial limitations of the Mets’ owners. The team is in the country’s largest market but has operated as if it’s in Fort Wayne since Bernie Madoff bilked the stewards of the organization. Bud Selig forced former Dodgers owner Fran McCourt to sell his team for similar reasons, but declined to do so with the Wilpons. If they go through the offseason with a shiny new National League pennant but refuse to spend money to add some more octane to the offense while their stud pitchers are still young and affordable, this could finally get on the table. Speaking of which, if you look at the money that’s going to free-agent pitching these days (roughly $16M for just an average starting pitcher), you have to wonder how or if the Mets could afford to keep any one of their starters when free agency beckons, never mind all five of them.
5) The Shift. It’s become increasingly prevalent in recent years and Manfred has talked openly about banning it. It’s unclear how that would even be possible, since a creative manager would be able to get around any rules by moving outfielders or bringing the DH into the field or something. Whether he should or shouldn’t ban something that’s been around in various forms since baseball began is an issue that’s sure to come up again unless he addresses it with some measure of finality.
6) Address Pete Rose’s permanent ban. Just kidding.
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