MLB: 5 tasks new commissioner should prioritize

On August 14, Rob Manfred was elected as the successor to Bud Selig and, in January 2015, will become just the tenth Commissioner in baseball history. Whilst Selig, a definitive figurehead in the game’s exponential growth and modernization, changed the very face of baseball during his 22 years in office, Manfred inherits a situation not without uncertainty.

The National Football League, a true juggernaut which satisfies the capricious desires of contemporary sports fans, provides major competition for attendance and interest. Likewise, the NBA, in all its ferocious, instantaneous glory, caters to a new generation with the shortest attention span in human history, further depleting the popularity of America’s National Pastime.

Whilst record revenues of $8 billion suggest an industry in fine health, baseball, naturally slow and monotonous, is struggling to reinvent itself in this hyperactive, techno-charged era. Games are long; seasons are seemingly interminable; and offensive production has reached a nadir unseen in generations.

Manfred will be charged with finding a solution to these problems upon assuming office, in addition to maintaining labor peace, fine-tuning the instant replay system, and rectifying franchise issues in Oakland and Tampa.

Quickly, it becomes clear that the incoming Commissioner will be a very busy man. To help him out, here are five major issues he should initially prioritize, for the short-term resurrection, and long-term prosperity, of Major League Baseball.