MLB named Paul Beeston as its President & COO
yesterday. Beeston, who resigned his position as President
& CEO of the Blue Jays, will report to Acting Commissioner
Bud Selig and be responsible for all phases of the central
offices in New York, with the exception of the operations of
the AL and NL. Beeston will start August 1. Beeston and
Selig will meet the media in a conference call today (MLB).
START SPREADING THE NEWS: Beeston, at his Toronto news
conference: "I leave with a little queasiness. I leave with
a little bit of trepidation. But I leave with confidence"
(Stephen Brunt, Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 7/23). Beeston: "I
believe it is the best game in the world, even if that is
sacrilegious for a Canadian to say that." Beeston, on his
new position: "Before, what you had was a number of
different areas that would all report to the Executive
Council. ... Now, all those things report to me and I will
in turn report to Bud and the Executive Council" (MILWAUKEE
JOURNAL SENTINEL, 7/23). On relations with the MLBPA: "The
future of the game rests in the relationships between the
players and the owners. That's a very serious part of my
mandate" (Ken Fidlin, TORONTO SUN, 7/23).
SELIG'S FUTURE: Yesterday, Selig dismissed speculation
that he will be named full-time commissioner. Selig:
"Everybody in the world knows how close Paul and I are, but
what I've said all along hasn't changed" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL
SENTINEL, 7/23). But one MLB official told Mark Maske of
the WASHINGTON POST: "They're going to make a great team."
Maske added that MLB's "only other strong internal candidate
for commissioner appears to be NL President Leonard
Coleman." Maske: "Beeston's appointment almost certainly
means that baseball's current marketing chief, Greg Murphy,
will resign or be dismissed" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/23).
REAX: In Toronto, Richard Griffin: "Beeston as
president of [MLB] is more important as a symbol. A symbol
of change for the players, for the union and for baseball's
owners. Any changes to the actual structure of the game
that he might accomplish in the next 12 months will be
secondary" (TORONTO STAR, 7/23). In L.A., Ross Newhan
called the move "long anticipated and widely applauded. ...
Few baseball executives are more respected by the players'
union" (L.A. TIMES, 7/23). MLBPA Exec Dir Donald Fehr:
"It's a pretty good day" (USA TODAY, 7/23).
JAYS FUTURE: Beeston will remain as a consultant to the
team until December 31 to assist new ownership. Team
VP/Business Affairs Bob Nicholson will retain his title, but
"devote more time to baseball." He will report to team
Chair Sam Pollock (GLOBE & MAIL, 7/23). Fox's Steve Lyons:
"I'd look for Pat Gillick to leave the Orioles now and go
back to Toronto and run that ballclub" (FSN, 7/22).
