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MLB To Pay More Attention To Minority Hiring

It's hard to say MLB is focusing on minority hiring, when, according to Bud Selig, they've been doing just that since 1999. Now, though, a group headed by Hall of Famer Frank Robinson will attempt to compile a list of all the minority candidates out there and pass it along to Selig.

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Did you catch the problem with this system? It was sitting right there in Ken Rosenthal's article on the issue. Seems that MLB teams are not required to disclose interviews they conduct for open positions. They usually do for managerial openings, but if they want to cut out the media on GM candidates, they can do that.

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This just goes back to Selig's tried and true "rules" that aren't actually, you know, codified. Just like with the slotting system the past few years, this process was something Selig told all the owners about, but never actually made it a rule.

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That's the difference between baseball's system and the Rooney Rule in football. It's also why Selig is having problems with the system he tried to put in place. It's a great idea to try and increase minority candidates, but it can't be to just increase the perception that they are getting more consideration. It has to be real and the only way to do that is to create a hard and fast rule, not some flim-flammy commissioner's memo.

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Images by eflon used in background images under a Creative Commons license. Thank you.