Off-Topic » A diversity report released Monday on Major League Baseball f

RALEIGH B.J. Upton Jersey , N.C. (AP) —inds the sport remaining largely on the same footing from the previous year in racial and gender hiring practices, with the biggest area of concern coming in the front offices of league teams.The annual report card from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at Central Florida found slight fluctuations in scores for racial and gender hiring. The grade for racial hiring was an A-minus with 89 points, up a point from a year earlier, while the grade for gender hiring dropped one point to a 70 for a C.The overall score was unchanged at 79, a B-minus.Richard Lapchick, the institute’s director and the lead report author, has praised racial and gender hiring practices at the league’s central office as the result of diversity initiatives directed by Renee Tirado, a league vice president serving as MLB’s chief diversity and inclusion officer. The goal now, Lapchick said, is having that overall emphasis “filtered down to the teams in a strong way so that the pipeline is built in those teams.”“Most of the senior positions are occupied by white men, and that’s something that affects the game,” he said. “It affects who’s on the teams, it affects how they’re perceived in the community.“Young people are attuned to it, and if they’re deciding to play a sport, and they see not very many people who look like them in Major League Baseball … they’re going to choose the other sports. And that’s going to impact how many players are playing as well as all the other data in the report.”The report relied primarily on data as of Dec. 31 that was collected by the MLB central office and provided to TIDES researchers.The league’s central office received an A-plus for racial hiring and a C for gender hiring for the second straight year, though their scores dipped slightly. The league also received an overall A-plus for what the report called “impressive” diversity initiatives.But the report said team levels “remain far behind” the league’s main office.Teams received a B for racial hiring in senior administration and a B-plus among professional administration levels. Those grades were lower for gender hiring, with women making up 28.6% of team senior administration positions (earning a C-minus) and 26% of professional administration positions (earning a D-plus).The Boston Red Sox led the league with 10 women in vice president positions or higher http://www.indiansfanproshop.com/authentic-b.j.-upton-jersey , while the San Francisco Giants were next with eight, according to the study.“It’s kind of a circle that goes around,” Lapchick said. “Unless there’s a breakout across the league with improvement, it’s going to be very difficult to change the cycle.”The study didn’t include 2019 numbers on the small percentage of black players on opening day rosters. In 2018, that number was 8.4 percent, which was up from 7.7 percent in 2017 but far below the 18-percent mark of 1991, according to the study.TIDES released the report as MLB observes Jackie Robinson Day at ballparks across the country in honor of Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Hal Steinbrenner had heard the constant criticism in New York: Why haven’t the Yankees tried to sign Bryce Harper or Manny Machado?“I get hammered every year about something,” the New York owner said Thursday. “If you don’t win the World Series, that’s perfectly justifiable.”Speaking at the owners’ meetings, Steinbrenner would not rule out more moves before opening day but sounded as if a deal for a high-priced free agent is unlikely.“Fans should keep an open mind that I’m never done until I’m done, and that’s usually not until opening day,” he said. “Proposals come to me every day with these guys, between the analytics guys and the pro scouting guys, and I’m going to consider every single one of them.”New York’s offseason moves included re-signing CC Sabathia, Brett Gardner Jason Kipnis Jersey , J.A. Happ and Zack Britton, acquiring James Paxton in a trade, and signing reliever Adam Ottavino and infielders DJ LeMahieu and Troy Tulowitzki.After New York avoided the luxury tax last year for the first time since it was established in 2003, the contracts with LeMahieu and Ottavino have lifted the Yankees’projected luxury tax payroll to about $220 million, well above the $206 million threshold.Still, not the splashy moves his father, George Steinbrenner, was famous for.And although Hal Steinbrenner doesn’t listen to sports radio and devour the tabloids, he’s kept abreast of the vox populi by nephew Stephen Swindal Jr., assistant director of player development.New York had the major leagues’ top payroll for 15 straight years through 2013 but has not since and was sixth last year. Many fans say because the Yankees have the highest revenue, they should spend the most on players.“With no discussion of our costs, that’s always the problem,” Steinbrenner said. “I hear everything about our revenues, I hear nothing about our cost. I hear nothing about the gargantuan debt service payment that we have to pay every year (on bonds that financed new Yankee Stadium), nothing about all of our stadium operations, all the security, not to mention player payroll http://www.indiansfanproshop.com/authentic-b.j.-upton-jersey , not to mention revenue sharing.”And he keeps in mind the price of keeping Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Gleyber Torres and other emerging young stars.“I have to look at the big picture, and it is my responsibility — that my family expects, my partners expect — not just to look at the present but to look at the future, too,” he said. “Three, four, five years from now we get a lot of homegrown kids that we love, our fans love, that are going to be coming up for free agency.”Steinbrenner has said many times he didn’t think a team had to spend $200 million to win a championship. New York reached the 2019 threshold by signing Britton, and Steinbrenner gave general manager Brian Cashman authority to keep spending.“We weren’t good enough, so we went out and signed a really good contact hitter in DJ, who can play multiple positions,” Steinbrenner said. “And then we went and got Ottavino really to secure a pretty good bullpen, which can certainly help the starting rotation, right?”New York went 100-62 last year Larry Doby Jersey , its best record since its last championship season in 2009, yet finished eight games back of AL East champion Boston. The Yankees beat Oakland in the AL wild-card game, then lost to the Red Sox 3-1 in the Division Series. Boston went on to win its fourth World Series title in 15 years.“I think we’ve definitely got a better club opening day than we did opening day last year, particularly in pitching, which is my biggest area of concern,” Steinbrenner said.Steinbrenner said ticket sales are about flat, though premium seat sales are down because of the expiration of 10-year contracts that began when the new ballpark opened in 2009. He said talks are ongoing about a potential repurchase of 21st Century Fox’s stake in the team’s YES Network.A big move might spark sales. He hasn’t ruled that out completely.“I wouldn’t be surprised, because these guys come to me all the time with stuff,” he said of his staff. “I can’t tell you if 17 days from now they come with some kind of proposal that I say no or I say yes.”Notes: Paxton, speaking at the team’s minor league complex in Tampa, understands the expectation. “It’s kind of World Series-or-bust for Yankees, fans and I’m excited about having that pressure, and just being on a team that’s so committed to winning,” he said. … Happ threw a 30-pitch mound session to Sanchez. … SS Didi Gregorius, recovering from Tommy John surgery, swung a bat one-handed in an indoor cage.