Robert Manfred was named the new commissioner of Major League Baseball Thursday, in a vote by baseball owners. Manfred, an alumnus of Cornell's ILR School, is currently the league's chief operating officer, and will replace current commissioner Bud Selig when he retires in January. In that position, Manfred headed negotiations on three previous contracts with the MLB Players Association, as well dealing with disputes over television rights in the Capitol area, and the Biogenesis scandal. Manfred will face a number of serious challenges when he takes the helm, including negotiating a new labor contract with players in 2016 that observers say could be threatened by a work stoppage.
See "Baseball Promotes Selig?s Deputy", Michael S. Schmidt, The New York Times, August 14, 2014