Manfred to retire as MLB commissioner in 2029
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David Schoenfield, ESPN Senior Writer
TAMPA, Fla. — Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters Thursday that this will be his final term in office and he will retire when it expires in January 2029.
Manfred, 65, replaced Bud Selig as commissioner in January 2015 and has since been given two five-year terms. The owners voted in July to give him a third term.
“You can only have so much fun in one lifetime,” Manfred said to reporters at Grapefruit League media day in Tampa, Florida. “I have been open with [owners] about the fact that this is going to be my last term.”
Manfred, a lawyer who has worked with MLB since 1987 — first as outside counsel, then as a chief negotiator for labor matters — took over from Selig, who spent 18 years as commissioner.
In Manfred’s tenure, the game has undergone vast changes. The successful implementation of a pitch clock last year coincided with a nearly 10% increase in attendance, and in 2022, Manfred oversaw playoff expansion to 12 teams.
His tenure will in part be defined by his handling of the Houston Astros‘ cheating scandal, in which he gave players blanket immunity in exchange for their testimony. “Maybe not my best decision ever,” he told Time.
Manfred also oversaw the lockout of players in 2021-22 that pushed the game to the precipice of a significant work stoppage. The league and the MLB Players Association eventually struck a deal on a five-year collective bargaining agreement that will expire after the 2026 season.
Before Manfred leaves the job, he said Thursday, he hopes to have a process “in place” for the league to expand to 32 teams.
Manfred preaches patience on new uniforms
Although some players — and many fans on social media — have criticized the new Nike Vapor Premier uniforms for looking like cheaper replica jerseys, Manfred said they will become “popular” with time.
“We always pay attention to what people are saying about any new initiative. As you know in baseball, with any new initiative there’s going to be some negative feedback,” Manfred said. “First and most important, these are Nike jerseys. We entered into this partnership with Nike because of who they are and the kinds of products they produce.”
There have been multiple reports about players not liking the look or fit, however. Players have also complained there are fewer tailored options available for the pants.
One player, who wished to remain anonymous, told ESPN.com: “They’re not great, definitely not an advancement.”
“The jerseys are different,” Manfred said. “They’re designed to be performance wear as opposed to what’s been traditionally worn, so they are going to be different. But they have been tested more extensively than any jersey in any sport. The feedback from the All-Star Game last year where the jerseys were worn was uniformly positive from the players, so I think after people wear them a little bit, they’re going to be really popular.”
Owners push for free agent signing period
With several top free agents still unsigned, including National League Cy Young winner Blake Snell and postseason hero Jordan Montgomery, Manfred said the owners would prefer a free agent signing period similar to other sports in order to expediate the process.
“We actually made proposals to that effect to the MLBPA. They were not warmly received,” he said. “With the system we have right now, one of the tactics that’s available to player representatives is to stretch out the negotiation in the belief they’re going to get a better deal. That’s part of the system right now. There’s not a lot we can do about it. Certainly, from an aspirational perspective, we’d rather have two weeks of flurried activity in December, preferably around the winter meetings where you’re all there to write about it.”
Manfred ‘confident’ on A’s move to Vegas
There were no new updates on the Oakland Athletics‘ move to Las Vegas or the pending sale of the Baltimore Orioles to private equity billionaire David Rubenstein. Manfred said that he remains “confident” that the move to Las Vegas is “solid” and that the league hopes to move quickly in approving the Orioles’ sale.
While the A’s will play in Oakland in 2024, they are still searching for a temporary home until the proposed Vegas stadium would open in 2028. With the 2025 schedule finalized in July, Manfred said the A’s will need to settle on the 2025 home before then.
MLB to support teams in DSG fallout
The fallout from the Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy case is still ongoing, but Manfred reiterated that the league would be prepared to back teams.
“Any club that Diamond walks away from, we will be in a position to support them, both in the traditional cable model and the digital side of the house,” Manfred said. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s three more or 10 more, we will handle them.”
MLB took over the local broadcasts for the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks last season after Diamond walked away from those deals.
Following up on teams fabricating injuries
Manfred said the league is still looking into teams fabricating player injuries, an issue for which he suspended former New York Mets general manager Billy Eppler last week.
“I’ve read a couple comments from players that we’re following up on,” he said. “If in fact it is more widespread, it concerns me, because it’s a form of cheating and it’s incumbent upon us to figure out if it’s more widespread. One thing I’ve been absolutely clear about: The fact that you allege that somebody else is doing is not a defense if we catch you. Everyone has their own personal responsibility on these issues.”
ESPN’s Jeff Passan contributed to this report.
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Adam Rittenberg
BOULDER, Colo. — Colorado coach Deion Sanders said he feels “healthy and vibrant” after returning to the field for preseason practices after undergoing surgery to remove his bladder after a cancerous tumor was found.
Sanders, 57, said he has been walking at least a mile around campus following Colorado’s practices, which began last week. He was away from the team for the late spring and early summer following the surgery in May. Dr. Janet Kukreja, director of urological oncology at University of Colorado Cancer Center, said July 30 that Sanders, who lost about 25 pounds during his recovery, is “cured of cancer.”
“I’m healthy, I’m vibrant, I’m my old self,” Sanders said. “I’m loving life right now. I’m trying my best to live to the fullest, considering what transpired.”
Sanders credited Colorado’s assistant coaches and support staff for overseeing the program during his absence. The Pro Football Hall of Famer enters his third season as Buffaloes coach this fall.
“They’ve given me tremendous comfort,” Sanders said. “I never had to call 100 times and check on the house, because I felt like the house is going to be OK. That’s why you try your best to hire correct, so you don’t have to check on the house night and day. They did a good job, especially strength and conditioning.”
Colorado improved from four to nine wins in Sanders’ second season, but the team loses Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, the No. 2 pick in April’s NFL draft, as well as record-setting quarterback Shedeur Sanders, the son of Deion Sanders. The Buffaloes have an influx of new players, including quarterbacks Kaidon Salter and Julian “Ju Ju” Lewis, who are competing for the starting job, as well as new staff members such as Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk, who is coaching the Buffaloes’ running backs.
Despite the changes and his own health challenges, Deion Sanders expects Colorado to continue ascending. The Buffaloes open the season Aug. 29 when they host Georgia Tech.
“The next phase is we’re going to win differently, but we’re going to win,” Sanders said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be the Hail Mary’s at the end of the game, but it’s going to be hell during the game, because we want to be physical and we want to run the heck out of the football.”
Sanders said it will feel “a little weird, a little strange” to not be coaching Shedeur when the quarterback starts his first NFL preseason game for the Cleveland Browns on Friday night at Carolina. Deion Sanders said he and Shedeur had spoken several times Friday morning. Despite being projected as a top quarterback in the draft, Shedeur Sanders fell to the fifth round.
“A lot of people are approaching it like a preseason game, he’s approaching like a game, and that’s how he’s always approached everything, to prepare and approach it like this is it,” Deion Sanders said. “He’s thankful and appreciative of the opportunity. He don’t get covered in, you know, all the rhetoric in the media.
“Some of the stuff is just ignorant. Some of it is really adolescent, he far surpasses that, and I can’t wait to see him play.”
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Adam Rittenberg
LSU starting quarterback Garrett Nussmeier aggravated the patellar tendinitis he has been dealing with in his knee but will not miss any significant time, coach Brian Kelly said Friday.
Kelly dropped in ahead of a news conference Friday with offensive coordinator Joe Sloan to tell reporters that Nussmeier did not suffer a severe knee injury or even a new one. According to Kelly, Nussmeier has chronic tendinitis in his knee and “probably just planted the wrong way” during Wednesday’s practice.
Nussmeier ranked fifth nationally in passing yards (4,052) last season, his first as LSU’s starter, and projects as an NFL first-round draft pick in 2026.
“It’s not torn, there’s no fraying, there’s none of that,” Kelly said. “This is preexisting. … There’s nothing to really see on film with it, but it pissed it off. He aggravated it a little bit, but he’s good to go.”
Kelly said Nussmeier’s injury ranks 1.5 out of 10 in terms of severity. Asked whether it’s the right or left knee, Kelly said he didn’t know, adding, “It’s not a serious injury. Guys are dealing with tendinitis virtually every day in life.”
LSU opens the season Aug. 30 at Clemson.
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