MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said President Donald Trump had an influence on the decision to remove Pete Rose from baseball’s permanently ineligible list.
With no major votes are expected to take place at this week’s quarterly MLB owners meetings in New York, Manfred discussed Trump’s influence on Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson’s reinstatement, the automated ball-strike (ABS) system and more on Wednesday.
Trump’s influence on Pete Rose decision
Last month, MLB announced Rose and Jackson were among a list of players reinstated from baseball’s permanently ineligible list. Rose, who died last year, was banned in 1989 for accusations of gambling on the game as a player and manager. He later admitted to gambling on games while managing the Cincinnati Reds and said in a 2007 radio interview that he bet on every Reds game while he as manager.
“(President Trump) was one of a number of voices that was supportive of the idea that this was the right decision,” Manfred said at the owners’ meeting, per the Associated Press. “Obviously, I have respect for the office and the advice that he gave I paid attention to, but I had a lot of other people that were weighing in on the topic, as well.”
Trump had been vocal about his disapproval of the ban and his belief that Rose should be in the National Baseball Hall of Fame as the leader for games played (3,562) and hits (4,256).
“Major League Baseball didn’t have the courage or decency to put the late, great, Pete Rose, also known as ‘Charlie Hustle,’ into the Baseball Hall of fame. Now he is dead, will never experience the thrill of being selected, even though he was a FAR BETTER PLAYER than most of those who made it, and can only be named posthumously. WHAT A SHAME!” Trump wrote on Truth Social in February before the decision was announced.
The removal from baseball’s permanently ineligible list means Rose can now be considered for election into the Hall of Fame.
Automated ball-strike challenge system
Manfred – who’s spoken previously about his hope of bringing the automatic ball-strike (ABS) challenge system to the majors – reiterated his plans, with an eye on the 2026 season, according to The Athletic’s Evan Drellich.
Since its implementation in the minor leagues, the pitch calling challenge system was trialed in spring training to explore its suitability for full-time use in the majors. Manfred believes the response from teams was positive. However, he wants to make sure players, managers and umpires remain part of the conversation.
“My single biggest concern is working through the process and deploying it in a way that’s acceptable to the players,” Manfred said, per MLB.com. “I want them to feel like we respected the committee process, and that there was a full airing of concerns about the system and an attempt to address those concerns before we go forward.”
The commissioner noted a similar experiment in the minors testing a check swing challenge system is further from possible implementation.
“We haven’t made a decision about the check swing thing,” Manfred said. “We do try to think sequentially about what’s coming out. I think we’ve got to get over the hump in terms of either doing ABS or not doing it before you’d get into the complication of a separate kind of challenge involved in an at-bat.”
Other topics on the agenda
Manfred and the owners also discussed media rights, improved viewership and attendance figures and Tropicana Field’s re-opening.
Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays, incurred significant damage during Hurricanes Helene and Milton last year. The Rays have been playing home games this season at the New York Yankees’ spring training stadium, Steinbrenner Field.
“The big contingency is what happens with hurricane season. There’s not much you can do about that other than keep your fingers crossed. But we are hopeful that we’ll get it ready for Opening Day ’26,” Manfred said regarding the construction timeline.
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