MLB owners close to finding next commissioner for 2015

Today, the owners of all 30 MLB teams met to vote on the next commissioner of baseball. Only nine people have been given the position of commissioner, but with Bud Selig's retirement prior to next season, the major league owners will need to find the tenth commissioner of the sport. 

Two candidates, Rob Manfred, MLB's chief operating officer, and Tom Werner, Red Sox part owner, are up for the position. Manfred has been working with major league baseball on a full-time basis since 1998, and since has had the position of chief operating officer since 2013. He has helped keep baseball out of a labor strike for 20 years and has kept the sport profitable, with revenues expected to top $9 billion this season. He has kept the sport fresh and is expected to be the prime candidate for the position. Manfred is a believer in big-market teams like the New York Yankees. 

As for Werner, he is a supporter of the teams in smaller markets. He impressed the other 29 owners with his presentation when explaining his position.

"He knocked it out of the park," one owner for Werner told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. "Don’t know if he changed anyone’s mind, but he made some outstanding points on where he sees the game going and what we need to do to be more current and change with the times."

The first vote was held earlier this afternoon, and Manfred received the majority of the votes, getting 22 of the 23 votes (75 percent) needed to win the election. A second vote was held, according to reports, that was a yes/no vote in favor of Manfred becoming the commissioner. Again, Manfred was one vote shy of winning. The owners would love to leave today's elections with a verdict. 

According to the New York Daily News Sports on Twitter, the eight teams backing Werner for commissioner are the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Angels, Oakland Athletics, Arizona Diamondbacks, and the Cincinnati Reds. 

Stay tuned for more updates here at Cover Those Bases and be sure to follow Devan on Twitter for consistent coverage @CoverThoseBases. 

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