Baseball to Study Success of Some High-profile Positions

CHICAGO (AP) — Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says the league plans to study some high-profile baseball operations positions to determine if certain qualifications and characteristics are more predictive of success.

Manfred says the study "has everything to do" with the sport's minority hiring issue. Only three of baseball's 30 teams are managed by minorities.

Manfred made his remarks on Thursday at the end of two days of owners' meetings at a downtown Chicago hotel just two weeks before baseball's collective bargaining agreement is set to expire. Negotiators for owners and players have been meeting since spring training.

Manfred says he remains optimistic that a deal will be completed by the time the current agreement runs out on Dec. 1. He declined to address any details from the bargaining sessions, but says an international amateur draft remains on the table.