The Commissioner met with reporters on the annual Cactus League Media Day.
PHOENIX, Arizona — It’s a rite of spring just as much as pitcher/catcher report day or the first Spring Training game.
That’s the annual appearance of Commissioner Rob Manfred at a conference room at the Arizona Biltmore hotel to meet with the media. I’m glad to have been able to attend this presser so I can report on it to you.
Manfred introduced things by talking about last year’s postseason. He said, ‘No one was happier than me to see a New York/Los Angeles World Series.” You can understand that, I’m sure. While that was great for TV ratings — and certainly would have been better had the WS gone to seven games — it wasn’t that great for those of us who root for teams outside MLB’s two largest media markets.
That would become a theme during Manfred’s presser.
He continued by saying that he was glad to see that by MLB’s demographics, there are still a lot of young people (the “18-34” crowd) following baseball. Anecdotally, I will tell you this is true from what I see when I go to Wrigley Field and other ballparks. The demographic survey I posted earlier today shows that this particular site skews a bit toward older people, but that might be because your site manager is … one of those older people. I do think baseball still appeals to kids, but they certainly need to do more as years go by and going to games becomes more expensive.
Manfred pivoted to talk about international baseball and how Japanese players have become important to the game. This is true, he said, not only for the upcoming Tokyo Series, but because quite a number of Japanese players have become among the best in MLB. Manfred sees this as a positive development, and he also noted that there has been a partnership between MLB and NPB for a long time, and he hopes that continues.
He mentioned that the World Series generated huge ratings in Korea and Japan — likely because of the presence of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto — and also mentioned that demand for the Tokyo Series games was “huge.” In fact, this Reddit post indicates that nearly half a million people tried to access ticket sales for the Tokyo Series games. I was lucky enough to score tickets for the games and will be reporting to you from Tokyo next month.
In addition to the international regular-season games, Manfred noted that MLB will be returning to Monterrey, Mexico for two exhibition games between the Boston Red Sox and the Sultanes de Monterrey next month, and also talked briefly about the game that will be played at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee between the Reds and Braves coming up in August.
Manfred was asked about the possibility that the Cubs could host the 2027 All-Star Game at Wrigley Field. His reply was basically what we’ve heard for a couple of years now — that there are still issues to be worked out between the Cubs and the city of Chicago and that the team is working through those. He wouldn’t commit to anything about 2027.
A lot of the further questions and answers were about the Dodgers and what they’ve done payroll-wise this offseason, whether that’s good for the game, and what might happen to MLB’s media revenue going forward.
About the Dodgers, Manfred said, “They’ve gone out and done everything possible within the rules that currently exist.” Manfred claimed that was a “good thing for the game,” but fans in many markets feel their team can’t compete.
He continued, “At the end of the day we sell competition. That and changes in media environment are number 1 and number 2 in owners’ minds. The downturn in media has hurt smaller markets.”
Regarding that media downturn, Manfred noted that currently there’s a “hybrid model,” with both linear TV and streaming, but also said, “Streaming alone does not produce the kind of revenue we’ve been accustomed to.” He said MLB “hoped” that over time, streaming could generate more revenue. But he added that payroll disparity (one writer mentioned that payrolls this year will range from $70 million to $400 million) was “at the top of my list of concerns.”
Then Manfred was asked if this would be addressed in the next CBA. He replied that the CBA is “not the way to fix this,” instead saying the time to address it would be when the next national TV contracts will be up after 2028. Asked about a salary cap, Manfred said “some owners” are in favor of one, but there won’t be any public discussion of this, instead it will be “handled privately with the MLBPA,” which I took to mean at least that would be a topic of discussion for the next CBA.
Manfred was asked about the A’s upcoming debut in Sacramento. He said, “The level of excitement there is palpable,” and that the Triple-A River Cats owners have “worked hard” to make it as close to a MLB experience as possible. He called the park “charming and intimate,” and I know some Cubs fans are planning to head there for the A’s home opener, for which the Cubs will be the opponent March 31. I won’t be able to make that one, but if you’re going, I hope you’ll let us know about the experience.
About Las Vegas, Manfred said, “The timeline is the same,” but gave no further details.
He was also asked about the setup for the Rays at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa and said about $50 million was spent to make that ballpark suitable for regular-season games and said to give a lot of credit to Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner, who invested “tens of millions.”
A question was asked about a worldwide draft and whether that would cut down on “corruption” that has been perceived in some international signings. Manfred said there are two ways to address that sort of thing: First, to catch people who break the rules and use that as a deterrent. He said the league has invested tens of millions in that sort of thing. Second, Manfred says he feels the “best systemic approach” would be the “transparency” associated with a worldwide draft.
On that, I tend to agree with him. And such a draft was discussed in the last CBA negotiations, but ultimately MLB and the MLBPA could not come to an agreement on this. Because of that failure, the qualifying offer system for free agents remained in place for this CBA. I am certain this will be another major topic of discussion for the next CBA.
There were just a couple more topics addressed before Manfred departed. First, he was asked about the passing of Bob Uecker. He said Uecker was a “unique treasure for our game” and that his fame transcended baseball. He continued, “Those types of ambassadors are really important for our game.”
About all the new rules that have been instituted in baseball over the last couple of years, Manfred said the response has been “uniformly positive” and credited the fact that these rules were tested in the minor leagues first so that MLB could project what might happen when they were instituted in the majors, and the results were quite similar. I’ve noted this before, but I am a big fan of all of the rule changes — with the exception of the placed runner in extra innings. Particularly good is the pitch timer, which has knocked more than 30 minutes off the average game time. You can see that clearly here:
Just look at those last two years. The average length of a nine-inning game has been reduced to about what it was in the mid-1980s. This makes for a much better experience, in my view, without compromising play on the field.
Lastly, later this afternoon MLB is going to be giving a demonstration of the ABS challenge system that will be tested in several Spring Training parks when Cactus and Grapefruit League play begins later this week. I’ll report on that here tomorrow.