Lucchino has hunch Selig may stay on as Commish

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Red Sox president/CEO Larry Lucchino said Friday that he is not convinced that Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig will retire as planned in January 2015.

Lucchino said that as recently as Thursday, Selig had assured him again that he intends to retire. Lucchino believes numerous supporters will try to persuade Commissioner Selig to continue in that role beyond his planned retirement date.

On Sept. 26, Selig announced that he will retire upon the completion of his current term, which runs through Jan. 24, 2015.

Selig has been Commissioner of Major League Baseball since 1992. Twice previously Selig had publicly stated his intention to retire, but he was persuaded by team owners to accept a contract extension. Selig will be 80 in July.

Summarizing his most recent conversation on this topic with Selig, Lucchino said:

"I teased the Commissioner [on Thursday] about his departure date. It's kind of an open secret. He knows that some of us believe that the pressures for him to stay will be so great that he will have to accede to them.

"I think that's a possibility. But he laughed at me [Thursday] and said: 'You'll see. You'll see.'"