As spring training gets underway, MLB is considering a laundry list of rules changes that could impact the game in a variety of ways. (Photo by Rob Foldy/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Changes are coming in one form or another to Major League Baseball after Commissioner Rob Manfred’s office and the MLB Players’ Association exchanged proposals on a variety of new rules this offseason
Negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement are still two years off, and just how drastic those changes will turn out to be remains uncertain, but Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona isn’t overly concerned quite yet.
Francona said that in the past, similar proposals would have caused him trepidation, but so far none have turned out to impact the game in a big way.
“We’re pretty good about making adjustments,” Francona said. “The league’s been really good about explaining stuff to us.”
MLB administrators, including chief baseball officer Joe Torre, met with the Indians last week and discussed some of the proposals at length. Among the possibilities mentioned was the 20-second pitch clock, which is already in use in some minor league games.
“They gave us some scenarios where they’ve done it without telling people for a week at a time and they had no offenders,” Francona said. “I just don’t think those things are quite as big a deal as maybe us traditionalists think.”
Francona said he starts to worry, however, when proposals target the “competitive nature of the game” such as the number of hitters a pitcher has to face.
“As a manager, man if you’ve got a guy coming in and he can’t find the plate, that’s my responsibility to get him out of there,” Francona said. “You start to invade the competitive part of the game.”
With average game times still hovering above the three hour mark, Francona understands what the league is trying to do regarding pace of play, and he does not want to sound like the “old guy” who isn’t changing with the times.
“If we need to improve in some areas, we need to improve,” he said. “But on the competitive side, you need to be careful.”
Some of the proposals make a lot of sense when it comes to player safety, such as ending spring training games after 10 innings, or beginning extra innings with a runner on second base in order to end games more quickly.
“They’re not telling you how to compete,” Francona said. “They’re trying to save arms. Every time you play a 17-inning game, somebody loses a job.”
Other proposals get brought up from time to time as red herrings or possibilities that both sides know have little chance of being implemented, such as lowering the mound or moving the pitcher’s rubber back.
“Just because something gets mentioned, doesn’t mean it’s going to happen, and we know that,” Francona said.
Still, MLB and the players’ association are looking into a variety of changes that have irked “traditionalists” and stat-heads alike.
Below are several of the proposals that have been reportedly floated by both MLB and the MLB Players’ Association in bargaining sessions throughout the offseason.
Be the first to comment