By Ben Fidelman
Editor-in-Chief
Don’t be fooled everyone, it’s just politics as usual.
As MLB Commissioner Bud Selig’s term in office inches closer to completion, there is much attention being drawn to the process in which his replacement is being selected. Although Selig urged owners and other baseball executives to keep quiet about the selection period, stories of a late push for one of three finalists are surfacing.
A vote will be held on August 14 that will give the owners their first shot at electing a new leader, but many speculate that some of the most powerful men in baseball are simply playing for a push.
A group of owners, led by the White Sox’s Jerry Reinsdorf, Angels’ Arte Moreno, and Red Sox’s John Henry, are trying to scrounge together enough votes to block the vote — 23 of 30 ballots are needed to win the commissionership — from landing a successful heir to Selig’s office.
It has been reported that Reinsdorf doesn’t genuinely want the candidate he is backing (Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner) to win the commissionership, but is frustrated at the mindset the seven-man selection committee had about the candidates. He felt they came in focused on one name — MLB chief operating officer Rob Manfred — instead of having a truly open mind. Manfred is viewed to be the odds-on favorite to win, and Selig’s pick to replace himself.
No matter what the projections are, to get his point across Reinsdorf is hitting the phones to recruit owners for the necessary eight votes to at least block an election on Thursday.
My take on the matter relates to Selig’s time as commissioner as a whole. What he did better than anyone else wasn’t just getting votes to fall the way he wanted — but getting it done in unanimous fashion. Although this vote looks like it will be closer to 23-7 than 30-0, I don’t believe that this, one of his last votes, will fall far from his average. Expect a successful election in Baltimore one way or another on Thursday — because Bud gets what he wants.
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