NEW YORK (AP) – New baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said he understands why the Milwaukee Brewers and Miami Marlins did not interview any minority candidates when they hired new managers this month.
Then-Commissioner Bud Selig told teams in April 1999 they had to consider minorities when hiring a manager, GM, assistant GM, director of player development or director of scouting.
Milwaukee replaced Ron Roenicke with Craig Counsell, and Miami general manager Dan Jennings took over from Mike Redmond.
Manfred said the rule is difficult to apply to in-season changes “because time obviously is of the essence.”
“If a club has an internal candidate that they’re so sure about that they’re willing to forgo the opportunity to interview anyone, forcing people through an interview process doesn’t really make a lot of sense,” Manfred said Thursday following his first owners’ meeting since replacing Selig as commissioner in January.