MLB on Thursday announced a new makeup of the eight-owner Exec Council, the league's most prominent owner committee. The new panel will be chaired by Cardinals Chair & CEO Bill DeWitt Jr., who previously led the league’s Search Committee to find the successor for Commissioner Bud Selig. DeWitt will be joined on the committee by Stu Sternberg (Rays), Jim Pohlad (Twins), Ray Davis (Rangers), Hal Steinbrenner (Yankees), Tom Ricketts (Cubs), Bob Nutting (Pirates) and Terry McGuirk (Braves). “I am very much looking forward to working with this group,” Manfred said. Coming off the committee are David Glass (Royals), Peter Angelos (Orioles), Jerry Reinsdorf (White Sox), John Henry (Red Sox), Bob Castellini (Reds) and David Montgomery (Phillies) (Eric Fisher, Staff Writer). In Tampa, Marc Topkin notes the appointment to the Exec Council "is the latest indication of Sternberg's stature among owners." In the past, Sternberg has "served on several top committees, including as chairman of the Diversity Oversight Committee." Joining the Exec Council "comes at an interesting time" for Sternberg, as "resolution of the Rays stadium issue will be one of the issues" incoming Commissioner Rob Manfred will inherit from Selig (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 1/16). In Dallas, Gerry Fraley noted Davis' appointment to the committee is the latest example of his "rapid rise from low-profile co-owner ... to a significant position in the game" (DALLASNEWS.com, 1/15).
LOVE AFFAIR: MLB.com’s Richard Justice wrote MLB’s 30 team owners Thursday at the league's owners meeting “stood and began to applaud and to cheer” Selig, who has "led them with grace, dignity and tenacity for the last 23 years.” The meetings are the last of Selig’s tenure, and “there were some tears, too, and, along with them, a message that couldn't have been simpler.” Team owners “respect this man who has led Baseball from some of its darkest hours to this amazing time of growth and prosperity.” They “love his ability to build a consensus and to innovate and to push Baseball into the future while respecting its past” and they “love that he makes every single one of them feel that the time he's spending with them is the best part of his day.” Justice: “Most important, they love his honesty and decency” (MLB.com, 1/15).
