Rob Manfred

Robert Dean Manfred Jr. (born September 28, 1958) is an American lawyer and business executive who is serving as the tenth commissioner of Major League Baseball.

He previously served as MLB's chief operating officer.

Manfred was born on September 28, 1958, in Rome, New York.

As a child, he played tennis, golf and baseball, opting to focus on tennis by his eighth grade year, which he continued to play through college at Le Moyne.

He attended Rome Free Academy and graduated in 1976.

Manfred enrolled at Le Moyne College from 1976 through 1978 before transferring to Cornell University.

He earned his Bachelor of Science from Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations in 1980 and his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1983, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

After law school, Manfred clerked for Judge Joseph L. Tauro of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts from 1983 to 1984.

He then joined the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, where he worked on labor and employment law.

In 1987, Manfred began working with Major League Baseball (MLB) during collective bargaining.

During the 1994–95 MLB strike, he served as outside counsel for the owners.

He joined MLB on a full-time basis in 1998, serving as the Executive Vice President of Economics and League Affairs.

Manfred negotiated MLB's first drug testing agreement with the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) in 2002, and represented MLB in negotiations with the MLBPA when forming new collective bargaining agreements in 2002, 2006 and 2011.

The position had been vacant since Bob DuPuy resigned in 2010.

In 2013, Manfred led MLB's investigation of the Biogenesis scandal.

At the end of the 2013 season, Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig promoted Manfred to chief operating officer of MLB.

Following the announcement of Selig's retirement, effective after the 2014 season, Manfred became a finalist to succeed him as Commissioner.

On August 14, 2014, MLB owners elected Manfred to succeed Selig, beating Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner and MLB executive vice president of business Tim Brosnan.

Manfred succeeded Bud Selig as commissioner on January 25, 2015.

Manfred assumed office on January 25, 2015.

He stated that his primary goals as commissioner were youth outreach, embracing technology, quickening the pace of play, strengthening player relations, and creating a more unified business operation.

As commissioner, Manfred instituted rules before the start of the 2015 season to address the pace of play, including having batters remain in the batter's box and the installation of time clocks to limit the time spent around commercial breaks.

For the 2017 season, no-pitch intentional walks were approved in MLB for the first time.

The first Little League Classic was also played in August 2017, which received widespread praise.

He also refused to strip the Astros of their 2017 World Series title because "It has never happened in baseball" and that he believed "that precedent happens and when you deviate from that, you have to have a very good reason."

During this Manfred used the phrase "Hunk of Metal" to describe the Commissioner's Trophy.

After many fans and players pushed back to the description, Manfred issued an apology, stating his intent was to make "a rhetorical point".

Before the 2018 season, Manfred introduced more rule changes to affect the pace of play, including reducing the time in commercial breaks and limiting player visits to the pitcher's mound.

He has also advocated for expansion franchises, listing Portland, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Nashville, Montreal, and Vancouver as possible locations for new teams.

On November 15, 2018, the owners extended Manfred's contract through the 2024 season.

On July 26, 2023, his contract was extended through the 2028 season.

In February 2024, Manfred said that he would step down when his contract expires in January 2029.

In 2020, Manfred led an investigation that found that the Houston Astros had used illegal methods to steal signs during the 2017 season, in which they won the World Series, as well as part of the 2018 season.

Manfred fined the team $5 million, the maximum allowed by the MLB constitution, and revoked their first- and second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021.

Astros manager A. J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow were each suspended for the entire 2020 season, including the playoffs.

No Astros players were punished because they received immunity in exchange for their cooperation in the investigation.

Manfred was widely criticized for his handling of the situation.

In an interview with ESPN, he defended his decision not to discipline players involved with the scandal, arguing that the MLBPA would not accept it.

On March 12, 2020, one day after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization, Major League Baseball cancelled spring training and delayed the start of the 2020 season by at least two weeks.

Four days later, it was announced that the start of the season would be pushed back indefinitely due to the recommendation made by the CDC to restrict events of more than 50 people for eight weeks.