MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred Says League Must Improve Minority Hiring at Entry Level

Rob Manfred, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, believes that the league must improve minority hiring. Manfred stated that in order to do so, minority hiring must begin at the entry-level.

"I think it starts with respect to entry-level jobs," Manfred said Tuesday in an interview with Mike & Mike on ESPN Radio. "We've been engaging with the clubs as they go through the fall and begin to rebuild front offices -- there's various people moving around and get promoted -- that there needs to be significant minority representation at entry-level jobs.

Manfred continued, "And the reason I think those entry-level jobs are so important is it helps us build a pipeline of qualified diversity candidates -- male, female, African-American, Latino -- who are available to interview for top jobs. I don't think you can just start at the top."

MLB only has one minority club manager, Fredi Gonzalez of the Atlanta Braves, who was born in Cuba. There are no black managers at the moment after the Seattle Mariners fired Lloyd McClendon. However, since there are openings to fill (Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle, Miami Marlins, San Diego Padres and Washington Nationals), there could be a black manager next season. The last time the league did not have any black managers was in 1987.

"We have had a year where our numbers are down in terms of the diversity that we have in some of our key positions," Manfred said on Monday. "I think it's incumbent upon us to come up with additional programs and ways to make sure that our numbers look better over the long haul."

He added, "There is a certain cyclical nature to this. Obviously, field managers are high turnover jobs. And you're going to have peaks and valleys in terms of representation within what's a very small sample; there's only 30 of them out there. Having said that, we are focused on the need to promote diversity, not just African-American, but Latino, as well, in the managerial ranks."

In 1999, then-commissioner Bud Selig made it mandatory for teams to consider hiring minorities in several positions, including manager, general manager and assistant GM.