Reports are surfacing that Major League Baseball president and chief operating officer Bob DuPuy is on his way out, which presumably would open up the No. 2 spot in the MLB hierarchy for the person who eventually will replace commissioner Bud Selig.
Nobody is saying anything, but the timing of the leak from an unnamed baseball official seems suspiciously coincidental with the announcement on Thursday that Washington Nationals president Stan Kasten is stepping down at the end of the season. Kasten (left) is a longtime MLB insider who has played a major role in the economic development of the sport over the past three decades.
Both Kasten and Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail have been mentioned in speculation about an eventual replacement for Selig, but neither has directly addressed that possibility.
Kasten's explanation for leaving the Nationals -- but not retiring -- is easy to interpret as a signal that he might be headed to New York.
"I know the stories and speculation," Kasten told reporters on Thursday. "Let me assure you, this is just about me. This has nothing to do with anybody else or anything else. This is just about me, what's good for me, for my family and my own personal expectations, goals, aspirations - purely that and nothing else."
File photo: Getty images