Longtime Twins consultant set to become baseball's new CFO

Major League Baseball will announce a major overhaul of its executive unit on Thursday, and the game's new financial leader will be a Twin Cities businessman.

Bob Starkey, who has worked with the Twins and consulted with MLB for over 20 years, will be named the league's chief financial officer, a significant appointment as the league approaches $8 billion in annual revenue, and the collective bargaining agreement between owners and players expires after the 2016 season. Starkey figures to be a key player in helping negotiate how players and owners split the financial pie, according to incoming Commissioner Rob Manfred, who replaces the retiring Bud Selig next month.

"He's been with me in every single negotiation since I came to baseball," Manfred said of Starkey. "He's been a crucial part of that team. He has tremendous support and trust from the current commissioner. He has been involved in difficult issue after difficult issue on behalf of Major League Baseball."

Starkey, 61, is being ribbed by his friends and colleagues that he already has been the CFO for the influence he has within the league. Starkey's time with Major League Baseball dates to 1991, when he served as a consultant.

"He got involved because Carl Pohlad brought him in as a consultant to the Twins on revenue sharing," Twins President Dave St. Peter said. "Then he got to know people in baseball through Carl."

Starkey over the years has participated on MLB's finance, revenue sharing, labor policy and Executive Council Committees.

When Selig named his blue ribbon panel on baseball economics in 1999 — a panel that included Sen. George Mitchell, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker and commentator George Will — Starkey served as the financial resource.

He plans to retain his office in the Twin Cities but operate primarily out of league headquarters in New York. Cushy? Not all the time. When Starkey assisted on the last CBA between owners and players, he spent six months away from home.

"The biggest transition is going to be the CFO stuff, the routine operations, because I haven't been involved with that," Starkey said. "My role has been more of an adviser in financial and economic matters, like collective bargaining, revenue sharing, the debt service rule, transactions within the league."

Although Starkey's association with the Twins began as a consultant, owner Jim Pohlad said that Starkey was invaluable during the push to get Target Field's financing approved.

"He did a ton for us, for sure, on the ballpark projects," Pohlad said. "That was where his most concentrated activities were.

"He had an extremely close relationship with Mr. Selig, and they just razz each other all the time, good-naturedly. Everyone who has witnessed it can sense the close relationship."

"I think that continues to be an evolving issue, one we have made a lot of progress on," Starkey said. "Competitive balance, obviously, for the 30 clubs is a really key issue by any measure. They have come a long, long way. Anytime we do one of these CBAs, we get input from the big-market teams and the small-market teams and the players' union on revenue sharing, and we will this time, too.