Manfred emphasizes importance of diversity

CHICAGO — Commissioner Rob Manfred encouraged Major League teams to improve minority hiring practices this week at the quarterly Owners Meetings.

In fact, Manfred said it was the most important of all the topics he addressed during the two-day session, which wrapped up Thursday. And he did more than talk about the issue — he unveiled a project that he hopes will help identify qualified candidates.

“We’re going to take some high-profile baseball operations positions, starting with field manager, and try to do a study about qualifications and characteristics that may be predictive of success,” Manfred said. “I think a little science in that area may be helpful to us in terms of identifying candidates who will be particularly appealing to clubs.”

That came after Manfred urged the owners to “comply religiously” with the Selig Rule, which requires that minority candidates be interviewed when managerial and front-office vacancies occur.

“We don’t know exactly how we want to do the study,” he continued. “But the idea is that it’s not uncommon in business … to try to determine exactly what qualifications and traits are predictive of success. It’s something we haven’t done on an industry basis, and I just think it might be a useful experiment for us. It’s one of those things where maybe nothing comes of it. But it’s something worth trying, because we have not done it historically.”

The goal is to shine a spotlight on candidates — especially minority candidates — who might otherwise be overlooked.

“In my mind, it has everything to do with that,” Manfred said. “I think certain perceptions develop as to what people are looking for in …

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