Manfred says no plans for ‘Golden At-Bat’

December 6th, 2024

Commissioner Rob Manfred addressed the idea of a "Golden At-Bat" rule in MLB -- where, once per game, teams would be able to send any hitter to bat regardless of where they were in the batting order -- in an interview with the YES Network on Thursday evening.

"For people who are concerned about that kind of change, I'd make a couple of points," Manfred said. "No. 1: It has come out that I have spoken publicly about this kind of change a few years ago, that I was not particularly in favor of it, and that remains the case. But more importantly: To go from the conversation stage to this actually showing up in Major League Baseball is a very, very long road. If you don't like the idea, I wouldn't be that concerned about it right now."

In the interview, which took place at the Italian American Baseball Federation annual gala where Manfred was being honored, he clarified that that it was "a very preliminary conversation" among MLB's owners on its Competition Committee and was not discussed by the full MLB ownership group.

The possibility of Major League Baseball implementing the Golden At-Bat has become a topic of conversation recently after Manfred said on a podcast just before the World Series that "there was a little buzz around it at an owners’ meeting."

He confirmed that the concept of the “Golden At-Bat” did generate some buzz at that Competition Committee meeting, saying: "I do encourage the owners to have conversation about the game, and what we might do, what we should think about." But Manfred reassured those who might not like the idea of a Golden At-Bat in MLB that any potential rule change would be a long way off.