What would you do to improve the game?

[The Tariff King]

Don't think the game needs improving.

I actually want to remove some of the stupid rules implemented recently.

Catcher's protection rule, and the Utley rule. Baseball is a soft game, that should have some hard aspects to it.

I would give time violations to the pitcher though. I wouldn't have a shot/pitch clock, but I definitely would want the umpires to enforce something. In tennis there's a 24 second rule from the point ends to the next serve. Many umpires give leeway to the server, if it was a long point where a lot of running was done. Generally most umpires adhere to this unwritten rule, but some decide in the heated part of a match to implement the rule and it pisses off the fans who know the players are working and grinding it out there.

I don't mind the rule of players stepping out and doing their entire routine all over again (like Howard). That is definitely a waste of time.

I would say if the game goes past 12 innings, there should be a rule to let a pitcher used earlier come back in the game. I see it as 5 innings being a complete game. 12 innings is 2 official games, plus 2 more innings. That's fair enough. If you don't wanna do this, then enhance roster from 25 to 30.

1 pitching change per inning. No more only face one batter and we have to wait another 5 minutes to see the next batter. Or to slightly alter this rule, each pitcher has to face a minimum of 2 batters per inning before another change. You bring in the lefty to get the lefty guy that's great, now you have to get the righty out right after him. So managers have to choose wisely on which pitchers they bring in, and it forces specialists to be halfway decent against their bad side.

 

[DirkPiggler]

Don't think the game needs improving.

1 pitching change per inning. No more only face one batter and we have to wait another 5 minutes to see the next batter. Or to slightly alter this rule, each pitcher has to face a minimum of 2 batters per inning before another change. You bring in the lefty to get the lefty guy that's great, now you have to get the righty out right after him. So managers have to choose wisely on which pitchers they bring in, and it forces specialists to be halfway decent against their bad side.

I like it, but would put in an exemption in the event that the second pitcher of an inning allows three baserunners. Sometimes guys just don't have it. Forcing that guy to stay in for the remainder of an inning when he's essentially throwing batting practice is counterproductive to the goal of shortening the game.

 

[Russ2dollas]

Eliminate draft pick penalty for FA.

If you want to give teams that lose players a comp pick, fine. But don't penalize teams for signing them.

I'm against a salary cap. Baseball is raking in money, why should the players not get some? They should give more money to the minor leaguers why they are at it. Baseball has had more parity than a lot of sports. Teams just have to get smart and/or collude to stop giving out these long deals to older guys.

get rid of the blackout restrictions

 

[The Tariff King]

I like it, but would put in an exemption in the event that the second pitcher of an inning allows three baserunners. Sometimes guys just don't have it. Forcing that guy to stay in for the remainder of an inning when he's essentially throwing batting practice is counterproductive to the goal of shortening the game.

That's why I altered on the second half.

You face a minimum of 2 batters per inning.

If you start the inning, you can leave after 1 batter. That's one pitching change that didn't take place after everyone's on the field, as opposed to the pitcher warming up during the commercial break in between innings. If you get changed into the game you have to face a minimum of 2 batters before the next pitching change, and no dugout visits allowed to allow more time to warm up in pen. If you suck for 2 batters the next pitcher can be subbed in, that way you don't have to watch someone out there suffer and throw BP. But I want to eliminate the overmanaging of bullpens and having 3-4 pitchers per inning. Sure it happens if the offense keeps hitting but also forces managers to stop going to the hook so quickly.

I also think this encourages managers to leave their starters in longer, as opposed to having the quick hook and going to the pen too early.

 

[mfree80]

One other point get rid of replay. No point in having it. NY doesn't have the ***** to call the plays correctly.

Replay has turned into a complete joke. Stop the game for 3-5 minutes and still get it wrong 50% of the time.

Chip and Joe said last game that 47% of calls had been overturned (I think that was the number). Given the fact that teams look at the video before deciding to appeal, one would expect that number to be more like 80%. If you aren't going to use it to get the call right, then don't bother with it.

 

[DirkPiggler]

Eliminate draft pick penalty for FA.

If you want to give teams that lose players a comp pick, fine. But don't penalize teams for signing them.

I'm against a salary cap. Baseball is raking in money, why should the players not get some? They should give more money to the minor leaguers why they are at it. Baseball has had more parity than a lot of sports. Teams just have to get smart and/or collude to stop giving out these long deals to older guys.

get rid of the blackout restrictions

With a cap like i proposed the players would still get their money. The cap would be set based on revenue.

It's slightly illegal for owners to collude with respect to free agents.

Can't believe I failed to bring up blackout restrictions. I don't have a problem with blacking out a reasonable area. But for example, I live 6 hours from St. Louis, 4.5 hours from Dallas, and about 7-8 hours from Kansas City. When the Braves play in those cities I'm not able to watch because I'm in their market area. Restricted areas should cover no more than a 50 mile radius of a team's home ball park.

 

[Horsehide Harry]

You must be a union worker or sympathizer.

I admit I'm coming more from the perspective of the ownership rather than labor, although I do think the concessions I suggested were fair.

The NFL goes to far in being able to cut players at will in spite of contracts. MLB goes to far the other way - there are way too many players who get paid too much for being absolute crap on the field. Of all the things I posted (which are pie in the sky, I know), #2 is the one that would do the most to improve the game. MLB is pretty much the only industry on earth where you can be paid your full salary to be a detriment to your organization. Even in coaching you rarely see fired coaches get the full amount of their remaining pay. There is almost always a buyout that is lower than the contracted amount.

I have nothing against players being paid fair market value, no matter how high that salary might be. The game would be better if the players earning that kind money were the ones who truly deserved it.

Not at all. I am about as free market, anti-union as they come. But I also hate hearing super millionaires and billionaires whine and cry about "it's not fair, it's not fair!" when they knew EXACTLY what they were getting when they bought in. All a salary cap does is put more money in ownership pockets by artificially limiting their costs (which they could do themselves simply by establishing a budget and sticking to it), encourage lousy ownership and management (would guys like Billy Beane, the guy at Cleveland, the Rays GM tree, ever have an opportunity to develop innovations in roster creation if everyone was limited to an equal payroll?) and deflate the earning power of the players.

That's why I am for eliminating the draft altogether, eliminating the arbitration process, but shortening the ML control number to 4 years. Players would get paid what they are worth. The whole International games being played with agents, etc. would be out the window. Teams would put a lot more stock into college players. Have-not teams could stockpile high end young talent if they wished and look for bargain opportunities because teams could only protect 40 TOTAL every year. Would the big spenders spend big? Of course but they do that now. And arguing for a salary cap doesn't truly level the field because the star players will ALWAYS want to play in the big markets because of what they can make outside the game.

In the NBA, Shaq didn't leave Orlando for Milwaukee. In the NFL, Eli Manning didn't force his way to Green Bay. Large markets have an advantage simply by being a large market. And, it's not just that. Atlanta and Houston are both top five markets in the Country but neither is seen as a great sports town.

 

[mfree80]

With a cap like i proposed the players would still get their money. The cap would be set based on revenue.

It's slightly illegal for owners to collude with respect to free agents.

Can't believe I failed to bring up blackout restrictions. I don't have a problem with blacking out a reasonable area. But for example, I live 6 hours from St. Louis, 4.5 hours from Dallas, and about 7-8 hours from Kansas City. When the Braves play in those cities I'm not able to watch because I'm in their market area. Restricted areas should cover no more than a 50 mile radius of a team's home ball park.

I agree wholeheartedly with this. I am 9 hours from Denver and 12 from Phoenix, but can't watch the Braves feed when they play either Colorado or Arizona. I get the Rockies cable channel, so I can watch, but am subjected to some of the worst play by play guys I have ever heard. My wife leaves the room when they start speaking. When they play the D-Backs, I can't watch at all.

If MLB wants to create fans of local they are doing it wrong. If I could watch the D-Backs on TV once in a while, I might follow them and become interested. Since I NEVER get to watch them play on TV, why would I ever travel to watch them? I don't know them or anything about their players. Watching them on TV would make me more likely to become interested.

I really like the 50 mile radius idea... maybe 100 in less populated areas.

STEPS OFF OF SOAPBOX!!!!

 

[DirkPiggler]

Not at all. I am about as free market, anti-union as they come. But I also hate hearing super millionaires and billionaires whine and cry about "it's not fair, it's not fair!" when they knew EXACTLY what they were getting when they bought in. All a salary cap does is put more money in ownership pockets by artificially limiting their costs (which they could do themselves simply by establishing a budget and sticking to it), encourage lousy ownership and management (would guys like Billy Beane, the guy at Cleveland, the Rays GM tree, ever have an opportunity to develop innovations in roster creation if everyone was limited to an equal payroll?) and deflate the earning power of the players.

The problem with this is that it only takes one owner who refuses to set and live by a budget to screw up the system for everyone. If one idiot pays 5 years/ $75 million for B.J. Upton then that becomes the going rate for mediocre center fielders. The responsible GMs/ owners can get priced out of the market.

That's why I am for eliminating the draft altogether, eliminating the arbitration process, but shortening the ML control number to 4 years. Players would get paid what they are worth. The whole International games being played with agents, etc. would be out the window. Teams would put a lot more stock into college players. Have-not teams could stockpile high end young talent if they wished and look for bargain opportunities because teams could only protect 40 TOTAL every year. Would the big spenders spend big? Of course but they do that now. And arguing for a salary cap doesn't truly level the field because the star players will ALWAYS want to play in the big markets because of what they can make outside the game.

In the NBA, Shaq didn't leave Orlando for Milwaukee. In the NFL, Eli Manning didn't force his way to Green Bay. Large markets have an advantage simply by being a large market. And, it's not just that. Atlanta and Houston are both top five markets in the Country but neither is seen as a great sports town.

The draft idea is interesting. I wasn't around when the draft was instituted back in the late 60's, so I don't know what the big complaints were that drove its formation. I suspect it was a lot of complaining about the Yankees signing all the good players though.

 

[Horsehide Harry]

The problem with this is that it only takes one owner who refuses to set and live by a budget to screw up the system for everyone. If one idiot pays 5 years/ $75 million for B.J. Upton then that becomes the going rate for mediocre center fielders. The responsible GMs/ owners can get priced out of the market.

The draft idea is interesting. I wasn't around when the draft was instituted back in the late 60's, so I don't know what the big complaints were that drove its formation. I suspect it was a lot of complaining about the Yankees signing all the good players though.

Sure you are going to have idiots who will sign those contracts with the BJ Uptons of the world, but then it blows up, he isn't worth the contract, and the GM who paid that gets fired, sending a warning throughout baseball to other GM's not to do such a stupid thing. It is self correcting.

Again, the idea of Salary Caps as messaged by ownership to fans is that it will "level the playing field so everyone has a chance" when what it is really about is cost certainty and cost control. A salary cap is 180 degrees from free market. It's corporate communism.

As for "leveling the playing field" it doesn't really work any better for the NFL or NBA than it does for baseball. I mean, Kansas City is the defending WS Champion. In the NFL and NBA you typically get dynasties that are more player driven than cost driven, Brady in NE, LeBron in Cleveland, etc.

As for the Yankees being able to hoard talent, if you could only have 40 Total under control, all leagues from ML down to rookie ball included, then they wouldn't be able to. In fact, the fact that they are a large market team would be a driver to force them to have a large percent of that 40 man tied up with ML players. The fact that you can only have 40 "protected" each year would put pressure to reduce committed years on ML contracts and would create all kinds of opportunity for teams not contending to pull talent and stockpile for a future run. As for International talent, it would encourage teams to go back to looking for bargains without the interference of international agents. How crazy is it that Oliver gets the kind of cash that he got and a guy like Bregman was limited to a slotted value in the draft?

 

[JohnAdcox]

The Braves automatically get the first five picks in every draft.
The Braves also get the next five picks.
The Braves get 15 additional picks in the first through third rounds, in addition to the other picks they'd normally get.
Authors, CEOs, and screenwriters get free elite tickets.

 

[depley]

1. First off I hate the DH, if you are a baseball player you play both offense and defense , there is no professional hitters in my game (pinch hitters the exception)

2. The idea the all star game is for home field advantage is ludicrous, return it to what it was, and that also means doing away with interleague play and a return to the balanced schedule, where all teams in a division play the same number of games against the same number of opponents.

 

[Carp]

Eliminate the DH all together. Pitchers field a position. They should have to hit as well. I don't care if they suck. Baseball isn't about seeing how many homeruns each team can get.

Increase active roster numbers to 26.

Get rid of instant replay outside of fair/foul balls and home runs. This isn't football. It helps the sport in no way whatsoever, and makes the game longer than what it is.

Remove HFA stipulations from AS Game.

 

[smootness]

I brainstormed this morning and came up with these 6 points so far:

1. Eliminate spring training and add games at the front end of the schedule so the regular season isn't going into October.

2. Eliminate the divisions. Top 8 teams from each league advance to the playoffs.

3. Make the All-Star Game an exhibition again. Home-field advantage in playoffs is determined by best regular season record.

4. Put the DH in the National League.

5. Attract an NL team back to Brooklyn and an AL team to Las Vegas, preferably in a stadium near The Strip.

6. Implement an international draft.

I like 2, 3, and 6; am ok with 4; would be ok with 5 only if you contracted 2 teams; and don't like 1. Hitters don't need all of spring training to get ready, though they do need some time, but pitchers absolutely do. And teams need to be able to try guys out and give them a taste of the big leagues before they're playing in real games and starting clocks.

My changes:
1. Get rid of replay. It sucks. It was better without it. Trying to 'fix' it will always end up in it doing at least as much harm as good.
2. Reintroduce the neighborhood play. This goes hand in hand with #1.
3. Make home-field advantage in the WS determined by regular season record.
4. That's it. I'm ok with moving the DH to the NL also.

 

[zitothebrave]

SO here we have a few things.

1. Bring DH to both leagues and change the rule to limit the number of PAs a DH can have. So say you limit the DH to 350 or 400 PA. Which means that your true full time DHs like Ortiz etc. have to play 1B, or LF, or another position. IT also greatly benefits talented hitting catchers. Can you imagine the value of extra PA that Buster Posey would add if he caught 20 less games and DH'd for 30 or so?

2. CHange the playoffs. To me the play in game is dumb. I like that it puts the Wild Card at a disadvantage, but it can easily lead to a lesser team getting an advantage on a superior team. I think the better way to do it is bring one more team in the fold and have the top 2 records get a bye. The other division winner hosts the WC team with the worst record, the wild card team with the best record hosts the team with the second best in a pretty quick best of 3 series where the home team gets all 3 games. For me what this adds is a massive disadvantage to the teams who in the past wouldn't have made the playoffs at all, they have to win 2 out of 3 road games. It also benefits the 2 teams with the best record as they get about a week off and then face tired teams.

3. International draft, I concur. Would still benefit teams with scouting, but mainly it would stop teams with massive financial resources from dominating the league.

4. Move teams around and expand. This would obviously take time, but we have some ****ty franchises. Tampa, Miami, Oakland, all consistently struggle to get fans into the games. Some teams are struggling with attendance because of sucking like Philly. Only other teams I'm on the fence with are Chicago White Sox and Cleveland because they've beena round there forever. Oakland would obviously stay as the Athletics. I would guess Vegas or San Jose to be the likely destinations. I would move Tampa to NYM. Brooklyn was mentioned but it could also succeed in the Meadowlands complex as well as other boroughs. Miami would move to Mexico City if MLB has balls, if not, then Austin, Charlotte or Nashville should have enough of a base. The 2 new expansion teams would be Montreal and Vancouver.

5. More automated umping. HAve an extra ump up top making calls on plays that he can clearly see and be the replay official.

 

[Spanky Westside]

Agree with a lot of what has been said on here. Some of this has already been said, but here it is.

1. Eliminate DH all together. If a pitcher can throw at a batter, why shouldn't he have to stand in the box and have one thrown at him. Or at least let all home teams have the option of it.

2. Eliminate infield shifts. No more than two players on either side of 2nd base.

3. Add a team to each league so there would be 16 in each with 4 divisions. I like the idea somebody had with 4 division winners and 4 wildcards. 4 wildcards play each other in each league while the 2 best teams in each league get a bye.

4. International Draft would be a nice addition.

5. Replace the competitive balance picks with complementary round.