Eliminating shifts.
Shortening the season.
Pace of play rules…
Rob Manfred has said that “he’ll listen” on nearly every way to improve the game of baseball during his tenure as commissioner. Naturally, the fact that he’s even brought up the previous three topics (despite not even coming close to acting on the first two) has rubbed some baseball fans the wrong way. That got me thinking about what *other* ideas Manfred could discuss that would cause baseball fans to get extremely pissed off…even if he just mentions any of these topics in a casual conversation.
Contraction. Remember when Bud Selig and baseball’s owners flirted with contraction in 2001, and everyone lost their damn minds? That was fun. Imagine if Manfred started going down that rabbit hole again. The baseball world would have a meltdown. MLB hasn’t really touched the issue again, and the league would be wise to avoid it going forward. The league’s membership has been remarkably consistent – it’s only added four teams in the last 35 years, and only one team (the Montreal Expos) has been relocated. Compared to the other American pro sports, MLB has been the model of stability in terms of franchises entering or finding new homes. Now, relocation for the A’s or Rays could still be a possibility that improves the game, but completely killing one of those teams? It’s not even worth discussing.
Universal DH. Forcing NL teams to use the DH is the most obvious solution to help increase offense in the game and help the NL field a more competent overall slate of teams, but there are still some baseball purists that crave watching pitchers hit. They claim that National League baseball is “real” and “requires strategy”, despite the fact that every damn NL manager uses the same general strategies when a pitcher is scheduled to come to the plate. Whatever – implementing a universal DH would be an easy fix (though it’s not a magic bullet to fix all of baseball’s woes), one that the union likely wouldn’t fight a lick, and one that would annoy the hell out of people who love sac bunts.
KANSAS CITY, MO – SEPTEMBER 30: The Oakland Athletics line up during pre-game ceremonies for their American League Wild Card game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on September 30, 2014 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
Playoff expansion. I was a young buck in 1995, the first season in which MLB had a Wild Card make the playoffs. But TOC was alive and kicking in 2011 when MLB introduced the second Wild Card, and I remember the backlash towards baseball (especially when the Braves were eliminated from the Postseason after one loss, thanks in large part to a dubious infield fly call) after the new format was announced. So how could Commissioner Manfred somehow make that idea worse? MORE PLAYOFF TEAMS! Let’s add a third Wild Card to each league, and give the top two division winners byes into the Division Series! Perfect!
(for the record…I do believe that the Wild Card playoff should be best of three instead of a winner take all one game, but that’s just me).
Balanced schedule. A balanced schedule would be a great idea. It’s silly that two teams in the same division don’t play the same interleague opponents. An an example of this silliness, the Angels go to San Francisco, have six with the Dodgers, and have split series with the Rockies and Diamondbacks…while the Mariners go to Los Angeles, have six with the Rockies, and have split series with the Giants and Padres. Those interleague games could be the difference in the AL West. However, if Manfred were to balance the schedule, you’d get fans pissed off that they’d be seeing their division rivals less, would be seeing interleague rivals less, and would be seeing intra-league teams more. You can’t please everyone.
CHICAGO, IL – MAY 3: Manager Mike Matheny #22 of the St. Louis Cardinals (R) takes out relief pitcher Randy Choate #36 during the eighth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on May 3, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs defeated the Cardinals 3-0. (Photo by Brian Kersey/Getty Images)
Limiting/adjusting pitching changes. Please don’t do this. Yes, it sucks that some pitchers and hitters are limited and can’t hit/pitch against lefties/righties, but it’s just like the shift – if you suck at something, maybe try to adapt. Saying that pitchers would have to face more than one batter in an inning or pitch until the end of the inning or what have you would create regulations for a problem that isn’t there. It’s literally all a matter of trying to speed up the game and increase offense – there are easier ways to do that than changing part of the basic fabric of the game.
Pitch clock. It’s going to be at the minor league level this year…and people already hate it. “The best part about baseball is that there isn’t a clock!” Well, everything is still timed, and there’s a ton of dead time we can slice out of games without anyone noticing. Now, putting up a giant clock and calling attention to it is absolutely not the right way to go about things, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having a couple of smaller clocks around, timing how long pitchers take, and letting them know just how much damn time they’re wasting on nothing. Adding a pitch clock won’t destroy the game, no matter what purists may believe.
