Rob Manfred says he will retire as baseball commissioner in January 2029 after 14 years

By: Mark Didtler, The Associated Press Posted: 4:32 PM CST Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024 Last Modified: 6:28 PM CST Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024

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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday he will retire when his current term ends in January 2029.

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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday he will retire when his current term ends in January 2029.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/02/2024 (631 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday he will retire when his current term ends in January 2029.

Speaking at a spring training news conference, Manfred noted he will be 70 years old and will have been commissioner for 14 years when his term ends on Jan. 25, 2029.

“You can only have so much fun in one lifetime,” Manfred said.

FILE - Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred speaks during a news conference after an owners meeting in Arlington, Texas, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he would be disappointed if the Oakland Athletics don't open their proposed Las Vegas ballpark at the start of the 2028 season and expressed skepticism about big leaguers appearing in that year's Olympics, during a news conference following an owners meeting in Orlando, Fla., Thursday Feb. 8, 2024.(AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

Manfred, 65, succeeded Bud Selig in January 2015 and was given a five-year term as baseball’s 10th commissioner. S

Owners voted in November 2018 to offer Manfred a new deal through the 2024 season, then voted last July to approve his latest term.

“I have been open with them about the fact that this is going to be my last term,” Manfred said. “I said it to them before the election in July and I’m absolutely committed to that.”

Manfred beat out Boston Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner in the first contested vote for a new commissioner in 46 years. The third candidate, MLB Executive Vice President of Business Tim Brosnan, withdrew just before the start of balloting.

Candidates to succeed Manfred have not publicly emerged. Dan Halem, who joined MLB in 2007 as general counsel for labor, has been deputy commissioner since 2017. He will be 58 in May.

“I’m sure the selection process is going to look like it looked the last time,” Manfred said. “There’ll be a committee of owners that’ll be put together and they’ll identify candidates, an interview process and ultimately someone or a slate of people will be put forward.”

Among the major unresolved issues of Manfred’s tenure are new ballparks for the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays. Oakland received approval from MLB in November to move to Las Vegas, where the A’s hope to build a new ballpark that will open in 2028.

Tampa Bay hopes to construct a new ballpark adjacent to the current Tropicana Field, also aimed to open in 2028.

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred speaks during a baseball spring training media day Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

“I’m hope that I’m here to go to opening day as commissioner for both Tampa Bay and Las Vegas,” Manfred said.

He does not expect expansion to 32 teams will be completed by 2028.

“I don’t think realistically those clubs would be playing before I’m finished,” Manfred said. “I would like to have the process in place and operating before I go.”

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