MLB teams
Jerry Crasnick, ESPN Senior Writer 9y

Rob Manfred commends A-Rod; discusses pace of game, other topics

MLB, New York Yankees

NEW YORK -- A year removed from an ugly skirmish between Alex Rodriguez and Major League Baseball, commissioner Rob Manfred commended the Yankees slugger on his comeback Thursday. Manfred also said he will leave any disputes over milestone bonus money to be resolved between the player and the team.

Rodriguez, who missed the entire 2014 season after MLB suspended him for his role in the Biogenesis drug scandal, is hitting .246 with 10 home runs and 22 RBIs this season. He recently hit his 661st homer to pass Willie Mays and move into fourth place on MLB's career list.

"I think Alex has done a great job re-entering in a difficult situation,'' said Manfred, who met with Rodriguez in January at A-Rod's request. "Whenever a player is suspended, it's difficult to return to the field. He's played well, and good for him. I'm pleased for him.''

The Yankees have publicly said they do not plan to pay Rodriguez the $6 million milestone bonus that's in his contract for passing Mays, because his PED suspension negated their ability to market the event. If Rodriguez ultimately decides to file a grievance through the players' association, the commissioner's office will leave it to the Yankees to make their case.

A source told ESPN.com's Wallace Matthews Thursday that A-Rod plans to inform the MLBPA that he would like it to file an appeal on his behalf against the Yankees, and let the MLBPA and its attorneys plead his case before an arbitrator, which will likely be Fredric Horowitz, who presided over the suspension appeal.

"The Yankees have a well-founded legal position,'' Manfred said. "If there's a dispute over it, it will get handled in the ordinary course [of events].''

Manfred, who replaced Bud Selig in late January, presided over his first quarterly owners meetings Wednesday and Thursday at MLB's Park Avenue headquarters. He addressed a number of items on baseball's agenda in a 15-minute question-and-answer session with reporters.

• Manfred said baseball's new pace-of-game initiatives -- which include the addition of a clock to monitor the return from commercial breaks and a one-foot-in-the-box rule for hitters -- have helped to shave about nine minutes from the average game time in April and May. Manfred credited a "really good process'' that allowed the players' union to have input in the changes, and said umpires have done a good job in "encouraging people without being confrontational.''

• In the aftermath of the Milwaukee Brewers and Miami Marlins making managerial changes without conducting an interview process, Manfred said MLB remains committed to increased minority hiring. The Brewers replaced Ron Roenicke with Craig Counsell and the Marlins named general manager Dan Jennings as their new manager after firing Mike Redmond -- leaving Seattle's Lloyd McClendon and Atlanta's Fredi Gonzalez as the only two minority managers in the game.

Although the "Selig rule'' requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate for manager openings and several high-level front-office jobs, Manfred said it would be difficult to force the Brewers or Marlins to adhere to the rule because of the timing of their managerial changes.

"You have to bear a couple of things in mind,'' Manfred said. "Point 1: They were in-season changes. Those are always more difficult because time is of the essence. Point 2: 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 really doesn't make a lot of sense.''

• Manfred declined to give an update on Pete Rose's bid for reinstatement from baseball's ineligible list. He said MLB continues to be in contact with the Reds about the specifics of Rose's involvement at the upcoming All-Star Game in Cincinnati on July 14. Manfred said he is not concerned that Rose's involvement will overshadow the game.

"The idea that any individual could overshadow the great players that we're going to have at the All-Star Game in Cincinnati is just not something that seems realistic to me,'' he said.

• Manfred said he remains "optimistic'' that MLB will play exhibition games in Cuba in 2016, in conjunction with a move toward normalized relations between the U.S. and the island nation.

• A day after plate umpire Marvin Hudson ejected Washington outfielder Bryce Harper and manager Matt Williams during a heated dispute at Nationals Park, Manfred briefly discussed the incident with Joe Torre, MLB's executive vice president of baseball operations. But he plans to leave any follow-up discipline to Torre.

"The great thing about issues like that is, my chief of baseball operations is about as qualified to deal with them as any human being,'' Manfred said, laughing. "I don't worry about them that much. He does a nice job.''

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