I recently finished this new book from Jane Leavy—previous biographer of the likes of Mickey Mantle, Sandy Koufax, & Babe Ruth. As baseball nonfiction tomes go, I found it—okay. A LOT of snark, but if you can handle that you’ll enjoy it even more than I did.
Make Me Commissioner’s basic premise is Leavy analyzing what seems to be holding MLB back at the moment compared to its previous heydays. The usual topics of analytics, rule changes, youth specialization, marketing, and economic structure are all present and accounted for. The author may be a tad late to the party for die-hard hardballers, but in the end comes to some cogent conclusions.
This got me thinking: what would I do if given the MLB commissionership (besides of course the obvious eviction of The Pohlad Bunch for my hometown residents)? I think my top three ideas would look something like this…
Decry #1: Fix—or at least work on—competitive balance
Right now, MLB is as out-of-whack economically as it has been since the late-1990s. Every offseason, the Los Angeles Dodgers & New York Mets—and maybe a few other clubs here and there—load up on the high-octane free agent talent while the rest of the league picks through the scrap heap. The luxury tax and cable TV contracts held the competitive balance line as long as they could—but no more.
For as nice of a bounce-back as baseball has had the last few years, this is a ticking time bomb threatening to destroy hope in most markets before Opening Day dawns. Put in a salary cap to appease the owners and institute a salary floor to make sure those same owners don’t just turtle up. But something needs to be done, even if—as much as I hate to say it—it means games lost in 2027.
Decry #2: Make SP matter again
Perhaps the idea I most agreed with Leavy on was the notion that “baseball used to tell a story”. The “hook” of the story was the starting pitcher—but now that position is more sacrifice-able pawn than endgame piece.
With hurlers on strict pitch counts to prevent injuries—even that hasn’t made much of a dent—and going max-effort on every throw, SP-as-focal-point of any given contest has faded away in favor of bullpen churn-and-burn. No doubt the statistically-significant way to gain an edge—but also dampening the overall aesthetic.
Gradually shrinking P roster spots? Losing the DH when the SP is removed? I’m not sure what the answer is, but if I’m commish I’m working on it right now.
Decry #3: Give a little away for free
From the early-00s to about 2022, TV contracts kept MLB afloat financially. Sure, there were still disparities even within that structure, but the Twins (or other small-market owners) were allowed the opportunity to re-invest that yearly big check without a ton of risk. Cord-cutting and streaming killed all that.
I like the new Sunday Night Baseball partnership with NBC—that’s a good first step. But MLB could go further—especially in-market. Why not put all Saturday/Sunday games on over-the-air (not cable/streaming) local TV? Keep them all on the MLB TV plans too, but entice more subscriptions by giving away some product for free.
MLB needs every new pair of eyeballs—especially the young ones—to continuing thriving. The on-field product has improved fairly substantially in the last 2-3 years—now more people need to be able to see it.
I don’t want to give the impression that MLB is a flailing endeavor. But there are clearly some areas that need work in order to preserve its integrity for future generations.
If you found your name taped over Rob Manfred’s at MLB headquarters, what would you focus on?
