TORONTO – Rob Manfred enjoys going north of the border for both business and pleasure, and he derives all kinds of the latter from the fact the country’s Major League Baseball city is crackling again.
“I like Canada so much I even went on a vacation in Canada this year,” said the MLB commissioner. “But I like it better because of the support that the Blue Jays have had up here, in Toronto especially, but all across Canada.”
The Blue Jays averaged 41,880 fans at Rogers Centre this summer, the highest number in the American League and third-best mark across all of MLB. Toronto’s love affair with baseball was reignited about 14 months ago and Manfred couldn’t be happier to see Canadians so hot and heavy.
“I think the idea of having Toronto, the market here, buzzing again is a huge boost for Major League Baseball,” he said. “I saw some survey information today that fan avidity in Canada for the Blue Jays is the highest of any of our markets.”
In addition to the excitement in Toronto, the commissioner spoke on a variety of topics. Here’s a sample of what he had to say:
On possible expansion to Montreal
“The only thing I can say in terms of timing is this: I think there are two or three things, depending on how you count, that need to happen. First of all, we need to make a new basic agreement. Nothing is going to happen on that front until we make a new [collective bargaining agreement] with the players. [The current agreement expires in December.]
“Secondly, there are two stadium situations, Tampa and Oakland, that need to be resolved before I believe the owners have any appetite for thinking about expansion. Hopefully, we’re going to make good progress on both of those stadium situations in the relatively short term.
“And then we would begin, first, with an internal debate as to whether baseball wants to go to 32 [teams]. Assuming the owners make that decision, it would then begin the process of selecting two cities.
“I will say, in terms of schedule format, 32 teams is a nice number for us.”
On the wild card game format
“We just had a final day of the season where you had all sorts of meaningful baseball games, and most of those meaningful games were related to the fact that we had a second wild card. I think that’s very important. I think that the unappealing nature of a one-game playoff encourages teams to play through and win their division, and you should get rewarded for winning your division.
“Those are the benefits, as I see them, associated with the season itself, and I believe them to be really substantial. In terms of the [one-game format], I understand that baseball doesn’t usually have one-game knockouts, but I do believe these two games get our playoff season off to a really exciting start.”
On the rise in home runs the past two years
“Look, we have tested the baseball. We are absolutely convinced that this issue is not driven by a difference in the baseball.
“My own view is that the spike is related to the way that the game is being played now, the way that we are training hitters from a very young age, and we have not been able to find any external cause that explains the spike in home runs.”
On the prospect of another spring training game in Cuba in 2017
“We have not made any firm plans for returning to Cuba. We have the [World Baseball Classic] next spring. We’ll have the Cuban national team playing in the WBC. I think it’s somewhat unlikely that in the same spring period when we were doing the WBC, that we could go back to Cuba.”
On changing rules around roster expansion in September
“September call-ups were a non-controversial item for many, many years. I think that the controversy has arisen because of the changes that have taken pace in the way the game’s played – particularly in the use of so many relievers, so many matchups – [that’s made] the presence of the extra players so much more visible. It’s brought attention to the pace of our games, and I do believe that a reform of those rules [should be explored], again, protecting the benefits that are available to players. I’m not looking to take away service time or anything like that.
“But I do think it would make sense to get to a situation where we played our September games closer to the rules that we play with the rest of the year.”
