The average tenure of a finance leader in professional baseball is more than double the length of CFOs in other industries, according to data compiled by CFO.com. Judging by their unusually long tenures, professional sports CFOs — like those working in Major League Baseball (MLB) — may have found one of the most attractive CFO gigs available.
Whether it’s the allure of the position, perks or considered a dream job, data shows that among all of the CFO or equivalent positions across MLB’s 30 teams, the average tenure of the lead finance position is 10.5 years. This is compared to the average CFO tenure in U.S.-based large companies of 3.5 to 4.5 years.
More than half — 17 of 30 of the teams — currently have an internal promotion serving as CFO or in an equivalent position. This pattern has resulted in an average tenure rate of 16.5 years with the team. This is a stark contrast for companies in other industries with notorious finance leadership issues such as CVS Health Group, Lumens Technology and Jack in the Box — each of which went through four CFOs in five years, according to Datarails.
Notable MLB finance leadership tenures
Brad Wood, senior vice president and CFO of the St. Louis Cardinals, is the highest-tenured CFO with any team in the league. The team confirmed Wood’s tenure with CFO.com. He was hired in November 1988 as controller and was promoted to CFO in 2007. In total, Wood has worked for the Cardinals for nearly 36 years.
Other notable tenures include the Chicago White Sox’s senior director of finance Bill Waters (36 years), Seattle Mariners’ executive vice president and CFO Tim Kornegay (30 years), Arizona Diamondbacks’ CFO Tom Harris (29 years) and the Detroit Tigers’ CFO Steve Quinn (27 years).
Six of the 30 teams have a female in the finance leadership role. The Texas Rangers’ Kellie Fischer has been executive vice president and CFO since March 2005 and has been with the team since 1999.
Other notable female CFOs with long tenures are the Los Angeles Angels’ senior vice president of finance and administration Molly Jolly (24 years) and the San Francisco Giants’ CFO Lisa Pantages (21 years). The Pittsburgh Pirates promoted Libby Waltman, who has worked with the organization for the last 16 years, to CFO in January 2023.
Prospects getting a shot
Some other teams also have a green finance leader at the helm. The Colorado Rockies’ Douglas Mylowe is the league’s newest finance chief, joining the team as vice president and CFO in August 2023.
Matt Causey, vice president of finance for the Las Vegas-bound Oakland Athletics, is also new to his role. He stepped into his position in August 2022.
Internally promoted finance leaders in recent seasons also include New York Mets’ senior vice president of finance Peter Woll (promoted January 2023, hired July 2015) Miami Marlins’ CFO Fred Koczwara (promoted November 2022, hired December 2019) and Los Angeles Dodgers’ senior vice president of finance Eric Hernandez (promoted February 2022, hired October 2010).
Data on MLB CFO tenure was gathered by CFO.com using a mixture of MLB’s official front office pages and finance execs with updated LinkedIn accounts.