In Boston, John Powers notes, "Any chance that baseball had to get back in the Olympics for 2020 likely was scuttled" when MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said that the league "wouldn’t put its season on pause to enable the best players to compete." Selig's stance on the matter "won’t fly" with the IOC, which "isn’t going to hold a tournament for horsehide retirees and minor leaguers when the NBA and NHL send their best" to the Games. That also is "bad news for the softball folks, who merged their federation with baseball’s last month in a bid to give both dropped sports a better route back in." But it should "help the wrestlers" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/7).
CAUSE FOR CONCERN? FOXSPORTS.com's Ken Rosenthal writes the "early struggles" of Rays P Fernando Rodney and Orioles P Pedro Strop are "raising questions about the impact of the WBC on their respective performances." Officials with the Rays and Orioles "wonder if the heavy workloads and extreme intensity of the WBC had a negative impact on their respective relievers." But there is "no way to know if a true cause-and-effect is taking place." The season is "barely 20 percent complete, making it difficult to pass judgment" (FOXSPORTS.com 5/7).
ON-DECK CIRCLE: In Orlando, Shannon Owens writes Nationals manager Davey Johnson is a "wild suggestion" to take over for Selig when he retires in '14. Filling the role of commissioner takes someone "with a keen ability to maintain relationships." Owens: "And when you've spent almost 50 years of your life committed to professional baseball like Johnson, I'd say you have a relationship or two." The "obvious knock against Johnson is age, of course." Johnson is 70 years old, but commissioners "don't have to rule for 20-plus years." If eight years is "enough time for person to run a country, perhaps that term limit is more than enough to run the MLB" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 5/7).
