MLB owners have elected Rob Manfred, Bud Selig's right hand man, as the league's new commissioner. Manfred will become the league's 10th commissioner once Selig retires in January.
After a pair of votes earlier today led to a stalemate, Major League Baseball's owners officially elected Rob Manfred as the league's new commissioner this evening.
Manfred is new commissioner. #MLB
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) August 14, 2014Manfred, who was most recently named MLB's Chief Operating Officer on September 28, 2013, was long considered a frontrunner for the position and was the top choice of outgoing commissioner Bud Selig, who is set to retire in January. Before being named the league's COO, Manfred served fifteen years as MLB's Executive Vice President of Labor Relations. While in this role, MLB has had unprecedented labor peace, as they've negotiated three collective bargaining agreements without a strike or lockout in 2002, 2006, and 2011.
The primary opposition for the commissioner's seat was Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner and current MLB Executive Vice President Tim Brosnan, who announced his decision to drop out of the race this morning prior to the initial vote. Assembled in Baltimore, MLB owners voted twice earlier today with Manfred getting 22 votes, one shy of the 23 required to be named the league's commissioner. Though it's unsure which team changed their vote in the third go-round, we do know that the Mets voted for and were in support of Manfred from the beginning.