Commissioner Rob Manfred said Wednesday that Major League Baseball is open to reconsidering the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. However, the addition of a second wild-card team back in 2012 drastically changed the playoff picture and now teams are a bit hesitant to declare themselves sellers before the deadline since the odds of making the postseason have increased.
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San Francisco activated reliever Jeremy Affeldt from the 15-day disabled list and optioned Josh Osich to Triple-A Sacramento.
One of Manfred’s long-term priorities, however, is to ultimately establish formal avenues for Cuban baseball players who want to come to the United States and play for MLB teams. Sure, there will be an exhibition game or two in Havana next year, but calls for an affiliated team playing out of, say, Gran Stadium, probably won’t be heeded. Commissioners Adam Silver of the National Basteball Association and Gary Bettman of the NHL had taken part in earlier discussions. “I think the Wilpons made a really good decision when they hired him”.
While I understand his reasoning, the premise of pushing the trade deadline back two weeks would completely ruin the excitement surrounding the trade deadline as we know it now.
Manfred said baseball has been talking with President Barack Obama’s administration about U.S. relations with Cuba.
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The MLB commissioner was one of several bold-face names supporting Hall of Fame Yankee manager Joe Torre’s “Safe at Home” charity golf event at Sleepy Hollow Country Club, and he said a new domestic violence policy for baseball is “in the final stages”. “I’m gonna wait, review all the facts, meet with Mr. Rose, and I’ll explain to people where I’m coming down and why I got there”.
