Manfred will step down in five years

Rob Manfred will soon be calling it a day.

The MLB commissioner said during a news conference in Tampa on Thursday that he will step down from his post after his term ends in January 2029.

Last July, MLB clubs voted to extend Manfred’s contract.

“You can only have so much fun in one lifetime,” Manfred told reporters. “I have been open with [the owners] about the fact that this is going to be my last term,” Manfred said. “I said it to them before the election in July, and I’m absolutely committed to that.”

Manfred, 65, took over as commissioner from Bud Selig in January 2015, and he said he expects the owners will interview a wide slate of contenders to replace him in five years.

“I’m sure the selection process is going to look like it looked the last time,” Manfred said. “There’ll be a committee of owners that’ll be put together, and they’ll identify candidates, an interview process and ultimately someone or a slate of people will be put forward.”

Under his polarizing tenure, MLB has gone through rule changes, expanded playoffs and high-profile controversies. Early on, Manfred put an emphasis on hastening the pace of play, first attempting to curtail hitters from stepping out of the batters’ box during an atbat and instituting a clock that put a uniform time limit on commercials in between half innings in 2015.

But the most transformative changes came in 2023 when MLB instituted a pitch clock, banned the ubiquitous infield overshift, limited the number of disengagements a pitcher can make during an at-bat and increased the size of bases — in an effort to shorten game times while adding more hits and stolen bases.

According to MLB, games lasted a tick over 2 hours and 39 minutes last year, the first time the average was under 3 hours since 2015.