Rob Manfred has drawn plenty of controversy during his tenure as MLB commissioner, but the owners still think he’s the man for the job.
So, the 30 majority team owners voted Wednesday to extend his contract through the 2028 season.
Manfred has made some debatable moves as commissioner, but there’s no denying that perhaps his most controversial decisions in his rule changes, despite backlash from baseball purists, have been a huge success.
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MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred speaks to the media at the Arizona Biltmore resort on Feb. 15, 2023, in Phoenix. (Daniel Shirey / MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Perhaps the biggest change was the pitch timer, but MLB’s exact goal to up the pace has been accomplished. Entering Wednesday, the average length of a nine-inning game was two hours and 38 minutes. If that length holds, it would be the shortest average time since 1984, when games took two hours and 35 minutes on average.
That is a dramatic difference from the 3 hours and 11 minutes in 2021, the longest ever, and the three hours and six minutes from last year. The average game hasn’t been under three hours long since 2015.
Fans were afraid to see timer violations, but that has practically become a non-issue. According to data MLB provided at the All-Star break, up to that point, the number of violations per game went down from 0.87 on Opening Day to 0.23 on the final day of the first half of the season.
Commissioner Rob Manfred is shown during the MLB Draft at Lumen Field on July 9, 2023, in Seattle. (Daniel Shirey / MLB Photos via Getty Images)
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MLB also instituted larger bases, which has had an effect on the basepaths. At the break, there were 1.8 stolen base attempts per game, the highest since 2012, and the 79.4 success rate, at the time, was also the highest in baseball history.
Contrary to popular belief, the new rules have brought fans back to the ballpark. The average MLB game is bringing in 28,635 people, the most since 2018. In 2022, that number was 26,566, which was the lowest number since 1996 – not including 2020 and 2021 when attendance was either limited or not allowed.
However, despite the recent success, Manfred has drawn plenty of ire. He did not punish any active players for the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal (a move he says he regrets) and said he didn’t understand why people were so upset about “a piece of metal” – meaning the World Series trophy.
Manfred was also critical of the players during the lockout from December 2021 to March 2022, and he also has recently been in a war of words with Oakland officials regarding the Athletics’ eventual move to Las Vegas.
But at the end of the day, The Athletic notes that Major League Baseball drew close to $11 billion last year, up from the $9.5 billion generated in 2015, his first full year as commissioner after taking over for Bud Selig the year prior.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred speaks during the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Clark Sports Center on July 24, 2022, in Cooperstown, New York. (Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)
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Manfred is in his ninth year as commissioner and will be 70 by the time his new contract officially expires in January 2029.
The deal also means Manfred will be in yet another collective bargaining negotiation in 2026, which will be his third collective bargaining agreement.
