MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred continues to make the media rounds around the start of the season, saying that his goal by instituting new rules to improve the pace of play is for the "experience of the fan to just be a little crisper." Appearing on FS1's "MLB Whiparound," Manfred said, "At the end of the year I’d like people to say, ‘You know, they made a few changes. It didn’t harm the game, didn’t change the game. It was just a little crisper.’ And if it turns out that it’s 2:59 or 2:49, I’m not that focused on that." He added, "We want to take the dead moments out of the game, make sure our inning breaks are nice and tight. Obviously, we want to give our great (television) partners the time they’re entitled to, but we don’t want to go long on those inning breaks." Manfred also addressed sports gambling and said league officials have looked "very carefully at the fantasy space." He said, "We’ve done an in-depth look at games on various fantasy sites to satisfy ourselves that they are legal as opposed to illegal gambling.” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver last year stated his desire to legalize and regulate sports gambling in the U.S. Manfred said, "I find Adam to be a very thoughtful person. One of the things he’s talking about makes great sense to me, and that is that we have state-by-state regulation in gambling. That’s a very confusing system on a variety of fronts. One thing that Adam advocated was a uniform federal standard on gambling, and I do think that would be a good thing" ("MLB Wraparound," FS1, 4/7).
LEARNING FROM THE PAST: Manfred appeared on Sportsnet over the weekend to discuss the '15 season and said he learned a "tremendous amount" from Bud Selig, whom he succeeded as Commissioner in January. Manfred noted "success in this job is about maintaining a consensus among ownership," and Selig's style in achieving that was talking to owners one-on-one. Manfred said he was a “little more inclined to have ... free-flowing debate." Manfred: "I’m not opposed to the idea of some 25 to 5’s.” Meanwhile, the issue of a team returning to Montreal is gaining steam after another sellout of a two-game exhibition series in the city over the weekend. Manfred said, "The Expos left because the feeling was there was an inadequate facility in Montreal. There would have to be, at a minimum, a commitment on a facility before a club would be prepared to relocate there or before we would consider it as an expansion site” ("MLB Central Season Preview," Sportsnet, 4/5).
