Bud Selig says baseball needs to make changes, and he is saying it while the franchise he formed is on the cusp of its first World Series title.
The 92-year-old commissioner emeritus, who acquired the Seattle Pilots franchise out of bankruptcy in 1970 and moved it to Milwaukee to create the Brewers, said this week that MLB needs a hard salary cap and floor. Selig has been out of the commissioner’s office for nearly 12 years, but he has stayed close to the sport and remains in regular contact with league executives and team owners, including Rob Manfred.
Selig links the Brewers' run to a broader league debate
Selig’s comments come at a meaningful moment for Milwaukee. The Brewers are in their first World Series appearance in 44 years, a run that Selig said makes him proud and reflects the work done by Mark Attanasio and the organization from top to bottom. He said the achievement makes Milwaukee proud as well, calling it a momentous event in baseball history.
At the same time, he stressed that the success of a small-market club does not erase the larger financial issues facing MLB. Selig said the Brewers’ run is a powerful statement about what the team has done, but it does not change the fact that small-market challenges remain. His view is that owners are right to push for adjustments, and he described those proposed changes as rational and essential.
A familiar fight for Selig
The salary-cap debate is not new for Selig. In 1994, while he was commissioner, he unsuccessfully pursued a salary cap, setting off a bitter labor fight with the MLB Players Association that led to the early cancellation of the playoffs and World Series. That history gives added weight to his latest comments as MLB again faces a major economic discussion.
Selig also said he and Mark Attanasio have discussed the issue at length, adding that it is no surprise they see it similarly. And while he is scheduled to be part of Friday’s ceremony at American Family Field with Robin Yount, he said Yount will handle the first pitch. Selig joked that at 92, it is best that Yount throw it, but said he will be there and expects it to be the start of a great moment.
For Milwaukee, the timing is hard to miss. The Brewers are chasing a championship, and the man who helped bring baseball to the city is using the moment to argue that MLB’s economic structure still needs work.
