Commish excited by MLB youth movement

CHICAGO — A year ago, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said Yankees star Aaron Judge could become the face of baseball. On Tuesday night at Wrigley Field, Manfred said the Yankees right fielder now faces stiff competition for such an honor.

“I think Aaron is part of a group of young players,’’ Manfred said before the NL wildcard game. “The only problem with identifying any one of them right now is there are so many of them. I talked about Judge last year. Everybody was all excited about it and then [the Braves’ Ronald] Acuna comes and then [the Nationals’ Juan] Soto. It seems like every year we have a new one to add to that list of great young players. It is a very fortunate time for the game in terms of the quality of the young talent that is coming into the game.’’

Manfred said this was a good season of competitive balance for baseball, such as teams like the Athletics, with the lowest payroll, making the postseason.

“The most important thing for us over the long haul is that teams in markets of all sizes feel like they have a chance to win. If you are in a smaller market you see what Milwaukee did all season long, that’s a nice thing.’’

Oakland will face off against the Yankees on Wednesday night in the AL wild-card game at Yankee Stadium.

“There are different ways to win and people are getting a lot of productivity from young players that are relatively inexpensive,’’ Manfred said. “It’s a good thing in terms of financial investment.’’

It appears MLB is on a path to regulate defensive shifts.

“We’re excited about the product we are putting out there right now,’’ Manfred said. “We’re going to get through the postseason. Paid a lot of attention to what goes on in the field. During the offseason we will thoughtfully review what we saw this year and make a decision if whether we want to pursue some sort of change.’’

It sounds like a change is in the works.