Robert Manfred became MLB Commissioner in 2014 after securing unanimous votes from all MLB team owners to replace Bud Selig to whom he was a deputy for a long time. On August 14, Manfred was elected the 10th Commissioner of Baseball and the Head of All Operations in the MLB.
Before becoming Commissioner, in 1998 Rob Manfred was appointed Executive Vice President in charge of Labor Relations and Human Resources. He played a major role as deputy to former COO Bob Dupuy, both responsible for avoiding player strikes after the 1994 lockout.
BREAKING NEWS: Rob Manfred appointed new MLB Commissioner. (Via @MichaelSSchmidt) http://t.co/XIl50oWBmA
Manfred was also very influential in making the MLB take a tough stance against PEDs. In 2011, he was a central executive figure on behalf of MLB in the Biogenesis scandal. In 2013, he was promoted to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) position, becoming a direct deputy to Bud Selig. So when it came time for Selig to retire from his long career as an executive, Manfred came first in line to succeed him.
He was one of three people who were up for election, the other two being Tim Brosnan and Tom Werner. After initial rounds of voting, Brosnan withdrew and Rob Manfred overcame a late surge of anti-incumbenin to the Selig lobby to become the Commissioner unanimously.
Rob Manfred’s tenure as MLB Commissioner
Rob Manfred’s time as MLB Commissioner has been filled with various ups and downs. On one hand, he has taken important steps to fix up the MLB and its players’ image, but on the other hand, he has been criticized for the many changes he has been bringing to the gameplay of the sport.
His first assignment as the head came when he undertook a strong stance against domestic violence. Many players have been suspended since the strict rule was applied to players and crewmates in the MLB. Continuing his strong stance against PED use, he vowed to clean baseball out of cheating and steroid scandals.
On the flip side of things, he introduced a pitch clock in the minor leagues, and in mid-2016 expressed his intention to have the move extended to the majors. He also put restraints on pitching changes and limited visits to the mound. This restricted the defensive gameplay of the teams but he defended his decision as a need to make the sport more interesting.
During the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, Rob Manfred took some of the harshest fines given out by a Commissioner. However, he was criticized by other teams for letting go of players who deserved to be dealt with. His biggest challenge came when he had to sign a new Collective Bargain Agreement with the owners when the previous one expired. The league was very close to a lockout but that was avoided.
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