Rob Manfred Elected MLB Commissioner

Rob Manfred, Major League Baseball’s chief operating officer, will succeed Bud Selig as the sport’s next commissioner. Manfred was selected over Red Sox chairman Tom Werner for the spot, drawing the necessary 23 votes to become the 10th commissioner in the game’s history.

Opposition came from a number of owners, but the most vocal was Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, according to a report from Yahoo Sports. MLB executive vice president Tim Brosnan was also a candidate, but withdrew his name before the votes were cast. He had been chosen, along with Werner and Manfred, by a committee selected by Selig.

Manfred is a lawyer and was formerly head of baseball’s finance, labor and drug-testing departments since 1998, a time fraught with steroid allegations and abuse. He was the lead negotiator in productive labor talks in 2002, 2006 and 2011 that successfully resulted in new collective bargaining agreements, and was promoted last September to chief operative officer.

Selig, 80, is expected to retire at the end of this season.

Twenty years ago this month, baseball shut down for the rest of the 1994 season and part of the next, with the 1995 World Series the first ever to be cancelled. Players’ current collective bargaining agreements will expire in December of 2016.