Report: Jerry Reinsdorf At Odds With Selig Over Next Commissioner
(CBS) If outgoing MLB commissioner Bud Selig has his way, indications are he would like Rob Manfred, the league's chief operating officer, to succeed him as baseball's leader.
To that end, Selig hasn't conducted a widespread search or hired a search firm to vet potential candidates. And to that inaction, White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf has a beef, the New York Times reported.
Reinsdorf is playing the role of an "antagonist" in Selig's move to have Manfred take over, according to the Times. It should be noted that the Times writes that Reinsdorf has long been "one of Mr. Selig's most loyal allies in the game."
Here's part of the report:
Mr. Reinsdorf has broken ranks and tried to upend the plan to slide Mr. Manfred into the commissioner's office on Park Avenue, several owners say.
In discussions with other owners, Mr. Reinsdorf has raised questions about Mr. Selig's transparency as commissioner and argued that Mr. Selig should play only an advisory role in picking his successor. Mr. Reinsdorf argued that, unlike owners who have hundreds of millions of dollars invested in their teams, Mr. Selig has no ownership in the game after he retires.
"What I have said about Rob is none of your business," Mr. Reinsdorf said in a telephone interview, interjecting an expletive.
Mr. Reinsdorf said he "had never said a bad word about Bud," who he said "was the game's best commissioner." But he said that he believed that the owners — not Mr. Selig — should be in charge of picking the next one.
Selig, 80, plans to step down after season's end. Read the full story for more explanation on why Reinsdorf opposes Manfred as Selig's successor. The article states that because Reinsdorf isn't close with Manfred, he's wary of losing some of the power he has in the game.