Podcast: Buster Olney on 104.5 The Team

With Bud Selig retiring at the end of the year, the MLB front office has been quiet in their search for their next commissioner. It appears the job vacancy will be empty for a very short amount of time now.

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"Rob Manfred I would expect is going to be elected as the next commissioner," said Buster Olney, Thursday on 104.5 The Team (10:00 minute mark in the podcast). "He's the number two guy in baseball now. He's been Bud's hand-picked guy.

"This is sort of the way congress works. Bud would not allow a vote to happen unless he had the votes in hand."

The official vote will come this next week and Olney said that Manfred does not get the nod from every individual then it's a problem of trouble to come.

"How this has played out with this little insurrection that's gone out from a small group of owners, it does not bode well for what's going to happen in the next labor agreement. I think there's some real unhappiness with the direction the sports going.

"If you see they announce the election of Manfred next week and it's not unanimous, that's going to be a sign of major labor problems the next time the agreement comes up."

Manfred needs to be ready for some unhappy people, and Olney said that the MLB Chief Operating Officer is the good fit for that.

"You can say what you want about Bud Selig and whether you agree with what he's done or disagree, but he's taken the bullets for the sport. He's been out there as the public face. That's what they need with the next guy and Rob has taken his share of that."

Other Commissioner Finalists:

"Tim Brosnan who works in the TV side of baseball as Executive Vice President, he's also a candidate. He's a complete long shot.

"Tom Warner who's a former owner of the Padres, now part of the Red Sox ownership group, his name came up although that made me crack up. Tom was the owner of the Padres back when I was covering them in the early 90's.

"They went through the fire sale at that point, and Tom sort of distinguished himself as the guy who disappeared when they were having problems. And I'm sorry if you're the commissioner, your job can't be to disappear."

Was Joe Torre ever a serious candidate?

"I doubt it. That's not really Joe's deal. You need someone who's been in the trenches and been in those meetings. He certainly would be a good public face for baseball and the speeches he would make would be great but you need to have someone who can call up an owner and say, 'You know what? I don't like the way you've done thing.' And I don't think Joe has the stature in the league.

Buster Olney joins Armen and Levack every Thursday at 5:15pm EST on 104.5 The Team, powered by Mohawk Army Navy.

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