Does Rob Manfred Work for the Owners?
Rob Man worked for the Owners as outside counsel During the MLB lockout of 1994–1995.
He became the Executive Vice President of Economics and League Affairs for MLB in 1998, after which he became a full-time employee.
Manfred negotiated MLB’s first drug testing deal with the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) in 2002, and he also represented MLB in new collective bargaining agreements with the MLBPA in 2002, 2006, and 2011.
MLB’s investigation into the Biogenesis issue was overseen by Manfred in 2013.
Manfred was promoted to MLB’s chief operations officer by Commissioner Bud Selig at the end of the 2013 season.
Since Bob DuPuy departed in 2010, the seat had been empty.
Following the announcement of Selig’s retirement, which will take effect after the 2014 season, Manfred was named as a finalist for the position of Commissioner.
Manfred was voted to succeed Selig by MLB owners on August 14, 2014, defeating Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner and MLB executive vice president of business Tim Brosnan.
On January 25, 2015, Manfred took office. Youth outreach, embracing technology, accelerating the tempo of play, enhancing player connections, and developing a more united commercial operation were among his top priorities as commissioner.
Before the start of the 2015 season, Manfred established restrictions to address the pace of play, such as requiring hitters to stay in the batter’s box and installing time clocks to minimize the amount of time spent between commercial breaks.
