Brosnan, Manfred, Werner finalists to succeed Selig as MLB commissioner

Major League Baseball has identified three finalists to replace Commissioner Bud Selig and will vote on the successor Aug. 14, a high-ranking MLB executive with direct knowledge of the hiring process told USA TODAY Sports.

The owners, according to the executive, will choose between Rob Manfred, MLB's chief operating officer; Tim Brosnan, MLB's executive vice president of business; and Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner.

The executive spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the search.

Approval is required from 23 of 30 owners to elect a new commissioner.

St. Louis Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt, chairman of the seven-person search committee that was announced in May, was not immediately available for comment.

Selig, 79, who announced his retirement in September 2013, is scheduled to stay aboard until Jan. 24, 2015. Selig, commissioner for 22 years, is expected to remain in baseball in a limited capacity.

The search committee finalized their Commissioner's candidate list late last week, and will present the trio to MLB's executive council at their quarterly owners' meetings next week in Baltimore.

Now, it's up to the owners to determine if they can agree on Selig's successor.

"We're obviously looking for a strong CEO and a visionary leader,'' DeWitt said in May, "who has a passion for the game and will look to maintain the integrity of the game. We're looking for someone who will build on the tremendous accomplishments and legacy of Bud Selig.''

Selig has the second-longest tenure of any commissioner in baseball history behind only Kenesaw Mountain Landis, baseball's first commissioner, from 1920 to 1944.

"I determined last fall that there's a time to come in life and a time to go, and I had determined it's the time to go,'' Selig said in May. "There's no sense playing any games. I know they've rehired me four or five times and people kept thinking that was going to happen again, but it's not.

"A lot of people, including my family, have had difficulty accepting this. But it's been real to me for a long time. I meant what I said last (fall). I've accepted it for the last five or six months.''