PHILADELPHIA — Major League Baseball, which has not had a single minority hired for the six managerial openings or any of at least seven GM or head of baseball operations vacancies, says it is almost helpless to reverse the trend.
The league requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate, and to provide a list of minority candidates it is considering in a rule implemented in 1999 by former Commissioner Bud Selig, but cannot force teams to hire minorities for their vacancies.
“We have as recently as last year amended provisions of the Selig rule to try to make it more effective,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said, “and we continue to work hard with our pipeline programs to identify candidates that we can present to the clubs to provide them a choice in terms of diversity. We’re adding new programs all the time in this area all the time to make sure we have great candidates.
“But at the end of the day, they are individual club decisions. … People are going to make decisions that they think put them in the very, very best position to compete, and it’s really hard to second-guess and leverage those decisions when you sit in New York. It’s the truth.
“All we can do is do everything we can to make sure they have qualified candidates that we’re presenting to clubs. They’re going to make their decisions at the end of the day.”
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The Chicago White Sox are the only team with a vacant managerial vacancy, which is expected to be announced soon after the conclusion of the World Series. This is also the first World Series since 1950 that there will not be a single US-born Black player on the field.
MLB has discussed ways to perhaps reward teams with hiring minorities for manager or front office positions like the NFL and other leagues, but no decision has been finalized.
“We talked about a variety of things,” Manfred said. “We’re going to wait until after the hiring season is over and what, if anything, we should do differently.”
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Manfred, who said the industry has grown to nearly $11 billion in revenue, remains discouraged about the Oakland A’s getting a new ballpark, which could lead the way for a move to Las Vegas, but no decision has been finalized.
“The pace in Oakland has not been rapid, Number 1,” Manfred said. “Number 2, we’re in a stadium situation that’s really not tenable. We need to do something to alter the situation. So, I’m concerned about the lack of pace.
“Given the fact they have not made a deal in Oakland – and I’ve been talking about this since the day I started eight years ago – I think it’s prudent they are exploring another alternative, because something needs to happen in Oakland.”
Manfred was also asked about the increase in spin rate by pitchers, raising the question of whether pitchers are finding different ways to illegally doctor the baseballs.
“Like every enforcement issue in the offseason, we look at what we think happened,” Manfred said, “and try to make a decision what we need to do going forward. Obviously, spin rates are one of things we’re looking hard at.”
Is he concerned?
“I know what the data says,” Manfred says.
Follow Bob Nightengale on Twitter @Bnightengale.
