On January 14, 2014, Bud Selig told espn.com that he is 100% certain that he will retire after the 2014 season. This is a huge loss for baseball, as Selig has held the spot of Commissioner since 1998 and has provided the game with things such as advanced drug tests, peace between the MLB and the MLB Players Association, and Jackie Robinson Day. So, the question now looming over baseball is: Who will take Selig’s spot as Commissioner? Many names have been mentioned as future commissioners, such as Tony La Russa, Joe Torre, and Sandy Alderson. That being said, I have taken it upon myself to go further into detail about each candidate, and predict their odds of holding such a high position.
Tony La Russa– Tony La Russsa retired from his managerial spot on the St. Louis Cardinals following their 2011 World Series Championship season. He then returned to manage the 2012 National League All Star team at Kauffman Stadium. On December 9, 2013, La Russa was elected into the Cooperstown National Baseball Hall of Fame along with Joe Torre and Bobby Cox. So why would La Russa be a good candidate for the position as MLB Commissioner? For starters, La Russa has been a part of the game since he broke into the Major Leagues in 1963, and has been on a total of five Major League teams as a player and manager: the Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Chicago White Sox. He has won three World Series Championships, and six League Pennants. Therefore, La Russa is clearly a great baseball mind, and he would stop at practically nothing to help the game.
Odds of becoming Commissioner: 50:1
Joe Torre– Former manager of the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, and Los Angeles Dodgers. As mentioned before, Torre was elected into the Cooperstown National Baseball Hall of Fame on December 9, 2013. Despite contrary belief, Torre was never a great manager, and he won all of his six Pennants and four World Series titles while playing for the New York Yankees. However, Torre does know the game extremely well and has seen it from many angles. He has been a player, a player/manager, a manager, and is now the Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations. So, he would probably be one of the better choices for the position of the Commissioner of Baseball.
Odds of becoming Commissioner: 5:1
Sandy Alderson– The current General Manager of the New York Mets and President of the MLB Rules Committee, Sandy is another candidate for the Commissioner of Baseball. Of course, Alderson is not as decorated as La Russa or Torre, but he is still a high-ranking candidate that will give them a run for their money. Personally, I am not the biggest fan of Alderson and what he has done to this point as a General Manager for the Mets. However, in 1981, Alderson became the first person ever to hold the title of General Manager in the history of Major League Baseball. He held the position for the Oakland Athletics until 1997, and he definitely made his mark by signing future All Stars and Rookies of the Year such as Jose Conseco, Mark McGwire, and current Rockies manager Walt Weiss. He has also helped the MLB rid collisions at home plate and added replay to the game, both of which will come to play in the 2014 season. He has definitely kept his head on straight by working for the MLB, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres (which he help win back to back division titles in 2005 and 2006), and the New York Mets.
Odds of becoming Commissioner: 10:1
Major League Baseball still has two years to figure out who will be the next Commissioner of the game, but that has not stopped fans and reporters from throwing out names of the future Commissioner. Names such as Tony La Russa, Joe Torre, and Sandy Alderson have come up in these talks, and all of them are truly deserving of the job. There is no guarantee that any of the three men will become the Commissioner, as it may end up going to a current ball club owner or somebody involved with Major League Baseball in a different way. But for now, we can only guess who the next Commissioner will end up being.
If Selig is going to retire at the end of the 2014 season – how does MLB still have two years left to figure out who will be the next commissioner?
Also, are there no candidates under the age of 65?
The owners will never elect a former player or manager as “their” commissioner. I think SA has a better chance than Joe Torre(though I don’t see either being chosen).
It’s possible ol’ Dubya could be a consideration. Then my head will explode.
Dubya will be close to 70 by the time he would take over. Need someone a little younger and not so geriatric.
Dan,
Does it really matter? Whoever gets the job (I’ll believe Bud’s retirement when it happens) will simply be a lackey for the owners. That means that the Wilpon schemers (scammers?) will not be forced out simply because they are incompetent and underfunding their franchise. No owner wants to turn on another (with the exception of McCourt, who was almost universally disliked). So, be it Torre-La Russa-Alderson or someone else, nothing will be done to make the Mets a viable big market operation.
I think it matters.
The Commissioner has always been around to protect the interests of the owners. Sure, Bowie Kuhn liked to pretend that he was impartial but that was a colossal farce.
But to pretend that there’s no difference between Bart Giamatti and Bud Selig — well, to me that doesn’t pass the smell test. Whoever replaces Selig will not have the power that Selig has now. But Selig built that over 20-plus years as an owner and however long he’s been commissioner.
Selig’s goal was to make MLB more like the NFL. Who’s to say what the next commissioner’s goals will be? Maybe instead of extorting cities to build stadiums, the next commissioner will push for an international draft. Maybe instead of making the big-market teams subsidize Carl Pohlad and Jeffrey Loria, the new commissioner will be interested in having World Series games end before midnight. Maybe instead of dreaming up wedge issues to break the MLBPA, the new commissioner will focus on bringing MLB back to Montreal.
I think Sandy Alderson would have made a great commissioner. But I worry that he’s too old for the gig. Baseball needs someone smart enough to utter, “That’s either a threat to be ignored or an offer to be accepted.” Surely the owners can find someone smart, tough and young to represent them.
Hey, Billy Beane is a minority owner — maybe he’d be interested.
Some owners need an incentive to win. So long as MLB continues to subsidize teams like the Marlins, Loria has no reason to put a competitive team on the field. Sad and unfortunate for Miami fans. I don’t think the owners will give the kind of power that the new commissioner would require to remedy the situation. Money talks. If it’e someone from within it can’t be a figure head or former player like Joe Torre or Tony LaRussa.