Friday, September 4, 2015

How about two "commissioners": money maker and game administrator?

National Football League (NFL) commissioner Roger Goodell supposedly made these salaries:
2012 $44 million
2013 $39 million.

Yesterday a federal judge excoriated the way Goodell and the NFL handled its punishment of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and ruled in favor of Brady on procedural grounds.  This over the inflation of footballs.

Yet there is no movement among the NFL owners to replace Goodell.  I'm guessing that's because the NFL is making oodles of money and, whether or not Goodell deserves his huge salary, the owners seem unwilling to rock the boat.

The Major Baseball League (MBL) is the same.  How else to account for the previous commissioner, Allan Huber "Bud" Selig, lasting 22 years.

What is Rob Manfred's Net Worth? davemanuel.com

Rob Manfred was elected the 10th Commissioner of Major League Baseball on August 14th, 2014 ...

Manfred was awarded a five-year contract before he officially took over from Bud Selig in January of 2015. Prior to leaving his post, Selig was reportedly making $22 million per year in salary and other compensation. It would stand to reason that Manfred would be making at least half of that to start, which would put his salary and other compensation at $11 million per year.

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Bud Selig in retirement: $6M annually 12/19/2014 ESPN

Outgoing Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig will receive a salary of about $6 million annually in retirement, sources told ESPN's Buster Olney...

Selig will get the title commissioner emeritus and will be compensated in future years for his service and advice to Manfred and the league. MLB is not revealing the number of years Selig will serve in the role...

... the league will not reveal compensation but said that $6 million a year is inaccurate...

Since retiring from the league in 2006, former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue has been paid more than $30 million in deferred compensation and retirement pay.

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Obviously both Selig and Manfred have fulfilled their prime directive: maximize profit and franchise value by monetizing baseball in every conceivable way.  They were not being paid to properly administer baseball, which is one reason it has devolved into an unwatchable mess.

May 1: fines begin for pace of game violations. Yeah, right. Friday, May 1, 2015

Yeah, right.  I'll be looking for David Ortiz to be confronted by the plate umpire in tonight's Yankee game in Boston.  Yeah, right.

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Pace of play improvement policy abandoned? Sunday, May 3, 2015

If the league even bothered to issue a press release about it abandoning the matter and declaring victory, I could not find it.  What a mess.  Manfred, the A-Rod Slayer, could not even do this.  What a joke.

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Pace of play reform failed but is acceptable to owners. Wednesday, May 20, 2015

fat cats are congratulating each other for going about their business 
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Here is a summary of my posts on the juxtaposition of Tom Brady and Alex Rodriguez:

Tom Brady v. Alex Rodriguez. Thursday, May 14, 2015

The common theme we now know is a personal vendetta by the commissioner of each league against a star player.  The main difference: the Kraft family supported Brady and the Steinbrenner family abandoned Rodriguez.  Based on Brady winning in federal court yesterday it seems as though, with better lawyers than he had, Rodriguez might well have also prevailed had he, too, gone to court.

Goodell lost and Selig/Mandred won.  But these commissioners are performing their sport's admin functions on a very part time basis.  It's not their real job as we fans tend to think.

Doesn't the MBL already have someone doing the baseball admin stuff?  Yeah, right.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/about_mlb/executives.jsp?bio=torre_joe

MLB OFFICIAL INFO

MLB Executives

Joe Torre

Chief Baseball Officer
Joe Torre
Joe Torre is Major League Baseball's Chief Baseball Officer, overseeing areas that include Major League Operations, On-Field Operations, On-Field Discipline and Umpiring.

Appointed to his role by Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig on February 26, 2011, Torre is the Office of the Commissioner's primary liaison to the general managers and field managers of the 30 Major League Clubs and the Major League Umpires regarding all baseball and on-field matters. Since December 2009, he has served on Commissioner Selig's Special Committee for On-Field Matters. He also was a key part of the sub-committee on the expansion of instant replay for the 2014 season.

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It sounds pretty good but who thinks that is what I was describing above?

Joe Torre, the Next MLB Commissioner?
August 2, 2011 by DIANE M. GRASSI  sports-central.org

Torre was appointed on February 26, 2011 by current MLB Commissioner Bud Selig as Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations. He also serves as the commissioner's liaison to general managers and field managers of all 30 MLB teams...

Torre accepted an unverified $2 million annual base salary ...

... given the $8-$10 billion yearly business that MLB has become, it will require an acute business mind to allow MLB to eventually join the 21st century, where the rest of us arrived over a decade ago.

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Apparently the owners think that Manfred, the A-Rod Slayer, has "an acute business mind", which leaves us with Torre to administer at least some of the game. The commissioner is dragged out to perform ceremonial admin functions and to act as judge, jury and executioner for offenses that are barely on his business radar. This is part of what got NFL commissioner Goodell into trouble. These commissioners are spread way too thin to perform any reasonable job administering their sport.

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