MLB experimenting with huge new rule changes

Replay has to go.

They need to stop overturning exciting stolen bases on technicalities.

I’d give the teams 3 challenges a game. Have 15 seconds to throw it from umpire call. Umps have 60 seconds to overturn it or not. Only fix blatant misses
 
There is a difference in time of play vs pace of play and level of excitement.

If they want to cut down on time of play they need to shorten or eliminate TV breaks. Every game is televised and has commercials and the time between innings fits the length of the commercials NOT how long it takes to be ready to play.

They've tried to address pace of play through rules changes. But pace of play and level of excitement at least somewhat counter one another. If you want pace of play then you deaden the ball, increase the size of parks, increase the strike zone and force hitters to put the ball in play. However, 162 Greg Maddux 2-0 or 2-1 games for each team during the year isn't going to be very exciting.

If you want excitement, you focus on how fast a pitcher is throwing, how many K's he's getting, how many HR a man is hitting and the man to man showdown for each batter, hoping for high leverage situations with plenty of scoring. Of course, that may lead to longer games.

The real problem is that the game is now a TV game trying to hold on to the quaint history of being at the ballpark. They have to make the game TV friendly which means longer games and more attention keeping excitement. For those watching on TV, it's too easy to go to something different whether that be another program or just walking away to something else entirely, with almost no loss of time or monetary investment.

With those at the park, it's different. If they don't like what they see, they have to learn to find something to like because their only option is to leave giving up their investment of time and money. There is always a risk that they may not return. But baseball is losing more in-stadium fans to TV than to any diminished on the field product.
 
As pitchers throw harder and harder the mound will have to be moved back at some point.

Now or later doesn’t really matter.
 
Hot take: baseball will be effectively dead in 20 years.

All the tinkering is going to turn off the old fans while the changes don't endear enough young ones.

The big 3 in America will be football, basketball, and soccer, although I think sports in general are going to see a big decline as e-sports and virtual reality take bigger pieces of the pie.
 
MLB and MLBPA have announced the following changes that have been agreed upon:

Home Run Derby will have cash prizes beginning in 2019 ($1m to the winner)
Commercial breaks between innings will be shortened
Pitchers will be required to face 3 batters (beginning in 2020)
July 31st is the hard Trade Deadline, no more waiver wire in August, beginning in 2019
The standard roster will expand to 26 (13 pitcher max) beginning in 2020
September rosters will go from 40 to 28 (14 pitcher max) also in 2020
All Star Game will have an "Election Day"

20 second pitch clock and universal DH will not be instituted but will continue to be discussed

Now that the rule changes have been agreed upon, they will now turn their attention to discussing the labor issues...figures that with such a big divide between players and owners, they knocked out the rule changes early to give them a lot of time to find common ground to avoid a strike
 
bravesfanforlife88 said:
MLB and MLBPA have announced the following changes that have been agreed upon:

Home Run Derby will have cash prizes beginning in 2019 ($1m to the winner)
Commercial breaks between innings will be shortened
Pitchers will be required to face 3 batters (beginning in 2020)
July 31st is the hard Trade Deadline, no more waiver wire in August, beginning in 2019
The standard roster will expand to 26 (13 pitcher max) beginning in 2020
September rosters will go from 40 to 28 (14 pitcher max) also in 2020
All Star Game will have an "Election Day"

20 second pitch clock and universal DH will not be instituted but will continue to be discussed

Now that the rule changes have been agreed upon, they will now turn their attention to discussing the labor issues...figures that with such a big divide between players and owners, they knocked out the rule changes early to give them a lot of time to find common ground to avoid a strike
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Wow. Kinda surprised at this. Baseball takes SO long to change, that seems like a SLEW of changes for a 1-2 year period. The DH is coming, might as well give teams a 2 year warning to prep for it and say come 2022, that's the deal.
 
MLBPA gained 1 roster spot for 6 months by giving up 12 roster spots for 1 month. This change is a net positive for players if the 26th roster spot earns an average salary over 2x the league minimum. If teams use the extra roster spot on a cheap player (like they currently do with the end of the roster), the MLBPA actually lost money.

The goal of the trade deadline change was to add incentive for off season additions since adding at the end of the year is now more difficult. I have a hard time seeing how this will make any measurable difference for FAs, but at least it wil make the trade deadline easier for more casual fans to understand.

I'm shocked teams agreed to shorten commercial breaks. Unless it's something silly like 5 seconds, this could actually shorten game times a bit.
 
Enscheff said:
MLBPA gained 1 roster spot for 6 months by giving up 12 roster spots for 1 month. This change is a net positive for players if the 26th roster spot earns an average salary over 2x the league minimum. If teams use the extra roster spot on a cheap player (like they currently do with the end of the roster), the MLBPA actually lost money.

The goal of the trade deadline change was to add incentive for off season additions since adding at the end of the year is now more difficult. I have a hard time seeing how this will make any measurable difference for FAs, but at least it wil make the trade deadline easier for more casual fans to understand.

I'm shocked teams agreed to shorten commercial breaks. Unless it's something silly like 5 seconds, this could actually shorten game times a bit.
Click to expand...

I think you're going to see more split screen commercials. It's what you see in soccer.
 
striker42 said:
I think you're going to see more split screen commercials. It's what you see in soccer.
Click to expand...

Big reason networks have taken so long to embrace soccer is the lack of commercial breaks. You only get pre game, halftime and post game to air full screen commercials.
 
Enscheff said:
MLBPA gained 1 roster spot for 6 months by giving up 12 roster spots for 1 month. This change is a net positive for players if the 26th roster spot earns an average salary over 2x the league minimum. If teams use the extra roster spot on a cheap player (like they currently do with the end of the roster), the MLBPA actually lost money.

The goal of the trade deadline change was to add incentive for off season additions since adding at the end of the year is now more difficult. I have a hard time seeing how this will make any measurable difference for FAs, but at least it wil make the trade deadline easier for more casual fans to understand.

I'm shocked teams agreed to shorten commercial breaks. Unless it's something silly like 5 seconds, this could actually shorten game times a bit.
Click to expand...

Not a terrible idea to shorten the commercial breaks. Teams can charge a little higher price per commercial so there won't be too much lost revenue. And honestly, there could be advertisements done during the game while you are waiting for the hitter to get to the box, or in between pitches...kinda like listening to the game on the radio
 
bravesfanforlife88 said:
Not a terrible idea to shorten the commercial breaks. Teams can charge a little higher price per commercial so there won't be too much lost revenue. And honestly, there could be advertisements done during the game while you are waiting for the hitter to get to the box, or in between pitches...kinda like listening to the game on the radio
Click to expand...


If it raises ratings, it should end up working out fine.
 
Enscheff said:
MLBPA gained 1 roster spot for 6 months by giving up 12 roster spots for 1 month. This change is a net positive for players if the 26th roster spot earns an average salary over 2x the league minimum. If teams use the extra roster spot on a cheap player (like they currently do with the end of the roster), the MLBPA actually lost money.

The goal of the trade deadline change was to add incentive for off season additions since adding at the end of the year is now more difficult. I have a hard time seeing how this will make any measurable difference for FAs, but at least it wil make the trade deadline easier for more casual fans to understand.

I'm shocked teams agreed to shorten commercial breaks. Unless it's something silly like 5 seconds, this could actually shorten game times a bit.
Click to expand...


It’s 5 seconds for local and 25 for national. 2:00 across the board
 
I am pretty much in agreement with everything. I've been harping on the 26 man/25 active with a cap on the number of pitchers for a few years. Totally makes sense. Definitely in favor of the 3-batter rule for pitchers. I imagine Tony Fossas is livid, but I, for one, was getting tired of the over-specialization. I also like the one trading deadline.
 
50PoundHead said:
I am pretty much in agreement with everything. I've been harping on the 26 man/25 active with a cap on the number of pitchers for a few years. Totally makes sense. Definitely in favor of the 3-batter rule for pitchers. I imagine Tony Fossas is livid, but I, for one, was getting tired of the over-specialization. I also like the one trading deadline.
Click to expand...
What about Tony LaRussa
 
All the rule changes seem good except the three batter rule. I hate it amd I don’t think it will work as anticipated.

Say you are facing an LRL lineup. If I’m the manager I let my logy pitch to the first batter, intentionally walk the second, then pitch to the third. Three batters faced same number of pitching changes.

I like the 20 second pitch clock. I like the pace of Milb games with it. I feel like it helps you focus on the game because you know when the action will happen.
 
JxnMissFan said:
All the rule changes seem good except the three batter rule. I hate it amd I don’t think it will work as anticipated.

Say you are facing an LRL lineup. If I’m the manager I let my logy pitch to the first batter, intentionally walk the second, then pitch to the third. Three batters faced same number of pitching changes.

I like the 20 second pitch clock. I like the pace of Milb games with it. I feel like it helps you focus on the game because you know when the action will happen.
Click to expand...

I would assume that, you don't want to intentionally walk people because you don't wanna put more runners on base. Not sure if there's data, but are loogy's are generally brought in a lot more during key situations with runners on base or to start an inning off against a lefty.

If Donaldson gets on base, and Freddie and Neck are following. You IBB Freddie but also put a runner in scoring position.

I don't like the 3-minimum rule either tbh.
 
Individual-1 said:
I would assume that, you don't want to intentionally walk people because you don't wanna put more runners on base. Not sure if there's data, but are loogy's are generally brought in a lot more during key situations with runners on base or to start an inning off against a lefty.

If Donaldson gets on base, and Freddie and Neck are following. You IBB Freddie but also put a runner in scoring position.

I don't like the 3-minimum rule either tbh.
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If you’re playing by the old school book you would never IBB a middle of the order hitter. If you’re managing with analytics and are trying to setup up the most favorable matchup and have a constraint on your pitcher then IBB’s May make sense in some untraditional times.

With a 3 batter min I could see times were if a slow runner was leading off you would walk the slow guy and play for the double play.
 
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