Feb. 9: The league has formally announced this year’s health-and-safety agreement. The on-field alterations include the return of seven-inning doubleheaders and runners on second base to begin extra innings. Any player is permitted to work as a pitcher in a given game — a departure from the rules the league had previously planned to put into place that prohibited position players pitching until a certain inning or six-run deficit was in place.
There will also be “strict” enforcement of of unsportsmanlike conduct violations that break physical distancing guidelines (i.e. players and coaches going out of their way to argue in an umpire’s face, bench-clearing brawls, etc.).
From a roster construction standpoint, the standard roster size will revert to 26 players until a September expansion to 28. In the event of a Covid-19 outbreak within a club, those teams will be permitted to add players to the MLB roster and return them to the minors, without burning minor league options or placing them on waivers, once their infected players are cleared to return from Covid protocols. Teams will again travel with five-man taxi squads.
MLB is also enforcing facemasks “other than for players on the field during a game or during pre-game warmups,” enhancing its contact-tracing capabilities and adding mental health resources for each club. Players who come in contact with a confirmed positive case of Covid-19 will now be subject to a week-long quarantine and must test negative on the fifth day of said quarantine.
The full scope of the changes and a detailed, point-by-point description can be seen in MLB’s official press release.
Feb. 8, 9:31pm: It looks as if we will see a 10-team playoff in 2021, Sherman writes. A 26-man roster that expands to 28 in September may also be in the offing, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com.
8:19pm: Major League Baseball and the MLBPA have reached an agreement on health and safety protocols for spring training and the regular season, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets. Hannah Keyser of Yahoo Sports previously reported a deal could be in place as early as tonight.
According to Keyser, the league will keep seven-inning doubleheaders and the runner on second base in extra innings around during the upcoming campaign. However, there will not be a universal designated hitter in 2021, meaning pitchers will go back to hitting for at least another season as the league and the union negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement before ’22 (Sherman confirms Keyser’s report). Questions about the universal DH have loomed large this offseason and affected such high-profile free agents as Nelson Cruz (Twins) and Marcell Ozuna (Braves), though those two sluggers have agreed to new contracts in recent days.
The league and the union haven’t been able to agree on much lately, including MLB’s 154-game regular-season proposal for 2021. But there’s at least more clarity on how the upcoming season will look, thanks in part to Monday’s news. Barring any COVID-related changes, spring training will commence Feb. 17 and a 162-game season will start April 1. However, between now and next winter, MLB and the players still have a lot of ground to make up in order to avoid a work stoppage.
Oh boy
Well done to both sides. Some semblance of functionality is important.
I mean they kept two rules they both wanted but screwed the fans out of the DH we and they both wanted
*some of the fans
A lot of fans dont want the DH.
Speak for yourself. Not everyone wants the DH.
I hate the DH.
So, I take it the kissing rule didn’t get approved?
Well don’t worry, they aren’t going to institute it for Cleveland
And most fans hate the runner on second rule
Anyone against the DH at this point is *special.
I love the DH. I have no interest in watching a pitcher hit. Here’s a compromise for the non DH fans. Let teams decide if they want a DH or not. So if teams still decide they want to bat their pitchers then go for it. As a visiting pitcher I would gladly take your #9 hitter bunting or hitting around .150 every day!
Making pitchers hit is a joke. In no world is it enjoyable to watch. Maybe if a pitcher is a two-way, it wouldn’t be that bad. No universal DH is an archaic rule that needs to change or else the NL runs the risk of losing popularity further. If I weren’t a Cubs fan I’d be watching an AL team all the time.
Bring back Morganna
Hey, there’s the typical, “agree with me or I’ll insult you” mentality. Bc people can’t possibly have a different opinion without hurling insults, right?
hoyaparanoia:
I was originally a big proponent of the DH for the very reason you cite. But when I moved from an AL city to an NL one, I realized there was a lot more impact from the DH than simply a better hitter batting for the pitcher. It’s a far more complex game without the DH. The pitcher batting puts more pressure on the manager, as far as strategy goes.
If you don’t care so much about strategy, and only are interested in seeing better hitter hit, then the DH is for you. But if you care about strategy, and a more complex game, then you’re against the DH like I am. To me it’s a dumbing down of the game I grew up with.
I read the current DH rule and it’s clear that using a DH is optional.
So why are you OK with me having to watch that defense-first, offensive lightweight SS or CF hit? Let’s DH for them too. Just DH for everyone. Following your logic, the game would be astronomically better.
Just pointing out that the current rule for the DH in the American League allows teams to NOT have a DH. Assuming the same rule would apply in the NL.
Most do.
Some fans braves person.
I hate the dh, love the runner on second. Undecided on 7 innings.
It’s always been optional
Runner on second is the dumbest rule ever.
There’s no rhyme or reason for someone who throws 60 to 100 pitches every five or six games to be swinging a bat.
Or even worse:
“Two outs, down by three runs with bases loaded, and, “oh gee willagers, look who’s up to bat… some relief pitcher with zero hits in 145 plate appearances”.
You sentimental types are simply masochists. Let the game evolve into what it was meant to be.
I have no interest in watching pitchers hit or bunt.
Archaic.
Well, a strategic game and not a dumb HR contest.
Yeah your right you should risk injury to pitchers that’s smart
That makes no sense.
None of the rules are fair. 2B rule is simply stupid. Seven inning rule dramatically changes the game. The extra player on the roster with the ability to call up another on doubleheader days was supposed to balance things caused by the pandemic and as a purist, I want the sport to remove the DH. Fielding is part of the game. Those old enough to remember why it was brought in was to create offense. That’s not a problem today with pitchers who simply throw hard, batters who are in better shape overall, smaller stadiums and livelier balls and bats.
“There’s no rhyme or reason for someone who throws 60 to 100 pitches every five or six games to be swinging a bat.”
With your logic, the Catcher receiving hundreds of thrown baseballs a night shouldn’t be swinging a bat either.
Masochists? Yeah, they’ll call you ignorant in-return. And they’d be correct.
Not everyone wants the DH. I do, though, because most pitchers can’t hit at all.
Pinch hitter? Why would a relief pitcher hit in that situation?
Why stop at DH? Let’s be like football. Offensive team and defensive team. Why should we expect players to be good at the whole game. Its too boooring.
Little league BS.
Speaking of dumbing down the game, get rid of the 3 batter minimum for pitchers. That is far more egregious than any DH rule.
A lot of fans want the DH.
Why on earth would a RP pitcher being batting in that situation. Just making up unrealistic scenarios in your head to feed your biased opinion.
A smart manager would probably pinch hit for a relief pitcher. But I suppose those who watch the AL know nothing about the pinch hitting rule.
They should learn, Jim Rice learned to play left field. Wade Boggs became a good third baseman. As for other sports, imagine if the NBA allowed someone else to take Shaq’s foul shots instead of creating a new position for those who cannot make them. Why reward athletes for what they can’t do?
I’m so for the DH, I think every gold glove caliber fielder who can’t hit above .100 should get their own DH. Full offensive and defensive sides. Cus PiTcHerS cAn’T hiT!! iT bOriNg whEn piTcHeRs HiT!!
The point is, nobody wants a rally-killing pitcher batting. Period. You’re pinch hitting for a reason, right? Pitchers are lousy hitters, so it stands to reason that if your preference is to pinch hit for pitchers, the DH is the best option. On Catchers, they are, statistically, the worst position hitters in the game. However, they play everyday or multiple games a week. Which means, they get more at-bats throughout the season, and throughout their careers. Pitchers don’t get enough at-bats to be proficient hitters. And why should they have to if they’re throwing multiple innings. Most of them can barely run the bases without hurting themselves for the same reason. It’s just dumb sentimentality. Evolve.
Teams will pinch hit because pitchers reach 100 pitches. It’s not just because they aren’t good hitters. The best option is for pitchers to put down the video game controller and work on their swing.
Asking someone to evolve when you showed your baseball acumen to be nil with your original yet awful take is quite rich. Considering my team resides in the AL you made a bad assumption that I am pro-pitcher hitting. Your take was garbage and you compounded it with excuses. It had to be pointed out.
Fresno, I took your DH rule comment to infer that “optional” was new. All I’m saying is that it’s not new. So maybe I misunderstood your intent. And of course the DH rule is the same for the NL during interleague games in AL parks.
I am evolving. I just told you. I want every position player who sucks at hitting to have their own DH. I want 9 DHs on every team. CUZ THAT WOULD BE MORE FIRE BRO
correct. That is not permitted by many here.
The comment on the scenario I gave suggested pinch hitting for a relief pitcher. Don’t change the context to suit your narrative. All the (outdated) strategy dealing with switches and pinch hitting developed out of a need to mitigate poor hitting and reduced stamina of pitchers, both of which can be addressed by adding a DH.
baseball is 9 players take the field and the same 9 bat. that is baseball. anything else is a joke
But but but what if one player no hit good?
Yeah, as a fan of an AL team, I used to be pro-DH. But as I got more interested in baseball beyond just my own team, I started to see how vastly superior the NL game was to watch.
And the “pitchers don’t hit well” argument stinks, a lot of Ozuna/Mountcastle/Cabrera types don’t field well, should they have a “designated fielder”? Should Lewis Brinson get his own designated hitter cuz he sucks at the plate?
Pitching and defense are part of the game. Why not eliminate the pitcher and all batters to hit off a tee? You then eliminate the need for any infielder as well. Provided you remove bunting and intentional chopping, everyone will just do what they currently do: swing for the fences. Allow one swing per at bat and anything short of a home run is an out. Thus, you no longer need anyone on defense….This beautiful sport is getting harder and harder to appreciate.
WouldSettle, it did seem to help football.
To funny! So, so, so much strategy in pinch hitting for a pitcher. Hahaha, You better be smarter than a 5th grader to figure that out…
The DH is coming! In both leagues soon enough, so you better start getting accustomed to it. 😉
That means the Mets don’t need JBJ. Let’s sign Walker or Odorizzi and get more bullpen help.
Mets would be smarter to take a flyer on Paxton unless they can get Walker for cheap. Odirizzi looks done.
No universal DH when both the players and owners want it is asinine. It’s criminally dangerous to force pitchers to hit when not a single one of em did that at all last season. Then add the stress on the arm with the ramp up in innings of a 162 game schedule, you’ve got to be kidding!.
Have to have hope these NL pitchers and owners can convince their AL counterparts of their selfishness in allowing this dangerous and unfair silliness to take place. Yes, selfishness. Doesn’t matter to them, their pitchers can breathe a sigh of relief and only have to worry about their arms falling off because of the extra innings, and not oblique’s and hamstrings from hitting and running also.
They should have added the 2 extra roster spots for pitchers all season to help with the aforementioned extra innings also. They’re all a bunch of idiots, if this doesn’t get changed by OD.
They don’t hit in the minors and then come up and do it. Bad take.
T-ball rules. How nice!
Let’s go!!!!’
Spit ball is still banned
And no DH in the NL.
But stickum is still a go!
Yanks, you are kidding right?
YankeesHave27:
You’re absolutely right. And not only that, the hitters have no problem with pitchers using pine tar. When pitchers are throwing upwards of 100 mph, hitters are fine with the pitcher having a better grip, especially when conditions are a bit wet.
Or cold and dry, like what can happen in early April or late October.
Pine tar, or any substances that allows for a stickier grip, can increase your spin rate by 300-500 rpms instantly. It 100% is used to affect the movement of the baseball. Every pitcher uses it because they refuse to enforce the rule.
Also there have been an uptick in HPB every year. So it seems pine tar is not really helping with pitchers control either. I don’t care if it makes Bryce Harper feel better, the data shows it shouldn’t. Why do you guys spout nonsense without reading into anything that you say?
Of course Yankee fans would be delusional about this because they don’t want Cole, who has obviously been using it, to get punished.
That’s not right. The spin rate comes from the pine tar. That’s how Bauer’s spin increased- he started cheating. And players do mind. K rate has increased some 20 seasons in a row. Hitters would surely prefer if nearly every pitcher didn’t cheat!!
Here is how drastic it is !-
Verlander (17)(not cheating w Detroit)
3.82 era over 206 innings w 219ks
Verlander cheating w Houston in 18
2.52 era over 219 innings w 290 Ks
Cole 17 (not cheating in Pittsburg)
4.26 era over 203 innings w 196ks
Cole 18 Cheating in Houston
2.88 era over 199 innings w 276 Ks.
Bauer called them all out on it as cheaters. Then admitted doing the same in 2020 when he won the cy young.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=-8zgvK1UAH4
The term “nobody” refers to all the sheeple who come to this site and pretend like baseball players have integrity
Punished and he’d also suck again !
If it wasn’t for pine tar, Bauer would be making $10 million not 40
Looking forward to a 162-game season as I suspect we won’t get that in 2022.
In 2022 we may be lucky to have any.
“Remember how great 2020 was when we got 60 games??”
The season that had 4th outfielders wanting 5 year deals for big money.
Umm… ok…
Good. Now play 162 regular games and let the fans back into the stadium.
Or not. Might be a few reasons out there not to rush into that just yet.
Why? They have been letting fans in all over the country in small amounts for football. Those that are afraid to live can stay home and watch on TV.
There’s the insults to anyone who doesn’t share your point of view again. They can’t be just cautious, they must be scared.
I assume it’s also beyond Dodger to comprehend that if COVID spreads amongst those brave fans that date to attend the games, that those people then pass it along to others that didn’t choose to attend, and some of those people die.
Sounds like fear to me. Preached to ya by fear mongerers
Caution is just fear rationalized.
Yes, the same thing that happens with every communicable disease. I’m sure he can comprehend that.
Small amounts? If they do what football does theyll be letting 10-15k in per game in baseball.
Every other sport has had fans. why would MLB who has proven to handle covid the best out of all major league sports should they not have fans?
Bravesiowa, not taking sides, but you just said the sport that is best handling covid is also the one that doesn’t allow fans in attendance.
Just one reason. Political virtue signaling.
Let the states decide. California, New York, Michigan, and Washington can have their empty stadiums. Florida and Arizona (where the NFL 49ers played and the NHL San Jose Sharks now play, with fans) will do it right.
The Super Bowl last night had more than the 25,000 that was announced. Some news organizations said it was at least 40K.
“News organizations” Ahahahaha!
News writer from papers like the Wall Street journal and some bloggers were there, did estimated counts by the sections and saw they overloaded the sections on the opposite side of the cameras.
If you’re under like 75 years old, you’re gonna be just fine. No reason stadiums shouldn’t be full of younger people.
Legitimate question. How are you going to keep younger people away from old people? You don’t seem to have thought this through.
Nor has he looked into medical stats of people under 75 that is positive. Silly kid!
We won’t have to because we have enough vaccinations for the elderly.
I have looked into the case fatality rate by age. That’s specifically what I was drawing from when I made that comment.
yes, having zero fans in stadiums that can sit 40,000 plus is unnecessarily overcautious. a percentage can attend, safely, easily
Every player will be required to wear body condoms during games……sliding into 2nd base will be interesting….
Lmao
Astroglide ??
Looks like a lockout is coming next year…
Yup… enjoy this season while it lasts, and get those custom SHOW rosters ready. Gonna be a long winter after October.
Disgusting…. the horrible things I wish on Rob Manfred as a person can’t even be said here.
That’s really sad
both sides coming to an agreement angers you?
Any changes to in-game baseball rules angers me. I don’t care about who agrees.
Man you must have really hated in 1880 when they lowered the number of balls required to walk from 9 to 8. And furious in 1884 when it was lowered again from 8 to 6.
I don’t understand why when someone disagrees with someone else they wish horrible things will happen to them. It’s the same way in politics it’s really stupid people can’t get past there differences
So, if someone destroyed every ounce of value of the sport you have loved all your life, solely for more money and marketing reasons, that’s how that happens. Because of Manfred’s rule changes, I went from having four season tickets for several years and having 3 TV’s in my living room to watch 3 games at a time on the MLB package while I worked from home, to cancelling two of those season tickets and not watching a single inning of baseball on TV last year at all, solely because of the rule changes instituted. Any of the 3 changes alone would have been enough, although the expanded playoff idea was especially bad. I kept two season tickets because I hoped that baseball wouldn’t keep the changes and that its COVID excuse was real like it said. I’m cancelling those next week and never spending another dollar on baseball again if this report turns out to be true.
I agree with you in terms of not wishing that sort of thing on people for most differences in politics, and in life. Rob Manfred has single-handedly forever destroyed baseball because of these rule changes for me, no matter what the result in terms of popularity. So for me, that kind of hate comes from permanently ruining a sport I loved forever for me. Some can say that’s a choice, but for me, I now get angry whenever I walk by a bar that has baseball on, or see it somewhere on TV, because it cannot ever have any value at all to me anymore.
I also think its worth this analogy… its different to hate the actual candidates in politics than to hate those that don;t agree with them. I’m hating the person making the changes, not those that view it differently like other candidates.
Sorry to hear that I guess.
Well, that’s all personal choice on your part. Sad that you can’t adjust and continue loving the sport.
I’m going to go out on a serious limb and say this dude is never the life of any party.
I sincerely hope you have someone close to you that you can talk to. It’s not good to keep all this anger bottled up inside you. Perhaps you could contact someone in your area to talk about what you’re going thru. You need to develop interests outside of sports. Do you have a church that you attend? Talk to a spiritual leader. I hope you find peace
I can respect your personal opinion and feelings. However, Manfred is representing the owners. My love for baseball dropped a bit when instant replay was implemented in ’08 and I still don’t like it. I miss the mgr-ump crap-talking/dirt-kicking.
Reality alert: when Manfred’s lips move, the voices of the owners comes out. So if someone really has destroyed the game you love, then you know who to blame now. Right?
I think 2019 will go down as the last 162 game season with the DH in the AL only.
angt222: That is (probably) going to be the 2021 season. I mean it states in the article that “there’s NOT going to be a DH in the NL this season”. Reading is fundamental.
But we might not get to 162 games in 2021.
162 has already been agreed to and contracted
Oh, cool! Then this weird “flu” thing will just go away because an agreement was signed!
They’ll play 162 games. It’s just that most of them will be 7 inning doubleheaders.
The pandemic has drastically reduced the chances of a labour disruption since the owners and players have lost a lot of money last year as well as again this season.
Too bad both the Union and owners are repped by morons.
We hope you are right on this. The acrimony between the owners and players has been so bad over the past few seasons it seems at least part of 2022 is doomed. But the pandemic has hurt both sides financially. So maybe that does get them to come to an agreement in a reasonable time frame and we get a full 2022 season.
Hate the 7 inning double headers
totally agree. Extra innings man too. I’d rather have ties.
No ties, Please.
Same. Pick your poison if you want teams to play 162 games. It’s inevitable that we’ll get game postponements aside from rain. I don’t envy the schedule makers.
Yay! (except for that bad runner on second to start extra innings rule)
i think the CBA concerns are overstated. given how many people seem to think there will be a strike id confidently bet the other direction. how are we, members not of either party, so positive that the disagreements of the past year will have any bearing on the CBA, assuming it implys normalcy returning by the 2022 season?
The 7th inning doubleheaders and the runner on second base are awful. Fans will be throwing MLB/MLBPA garbage out in the dumpster.
not a fan of the doubleheader and runner on 2nd rules, but for the sake of negotiating purposes i can tolerate them for one more year [knowing both probably wolnt be sticking around in 2022 assuming some semblance of normalcy.
I don’t think we’re ever getting regular extra innings back during the regular season ever again. there’s no reason for either side to do it.
I mean why would players want to play any unnecessary innings?
they arent unnessicary. 100% of extra inning games are decided in extra innings. I can see the rule coming back but not in this form, and even at all isnt a given. players probably dont care, so they may hold the owners to give something up for it a la the DH. personally, its not universally popular enough for me to say its a sure bet.
Neither the owners nor the players benefit from long extra-inning games. The owners don’t bring in much if any more revenue and presumably have more expenses due to keeping the stadiums open and staffed longer. And the players don’t get paid any more while increasing their risk of injury.
So I would expect both sides to be incentivized to agree to rules that minimize the number of extra innings.
The fans’ preference is a secondary consideration, and won’t have much impact unless a majority of fans really hate those rules. My impression is that while many hard-core tranditionalist fans loathe the rules, most other fans don’t feel that strongly (and several actually end-up liking the new rules when seen in practice), and casual fans just don’t care. In sum, this won’t be enough to offset the owners’ & players’ mutual interest in preventing long extra-inning games.
It has nothing to do with stadium staffing. TV networks have long complained about the unpredictable length of baseball games. They don’t want to have a game go 6 hours and preempt all their other programming, it just causes headaches all around, especially if they have a contract to air another sporting event in that time. They’ll pay more for the TV contract if they have some degree of assurance that games won’t go on forever.
I actually like the rule, just because it’s the only time anybody thinks about bunting or advancing runners and playing fundamentally sound baseball these days. And it makes sure there’s no boring 10th innings.
what is the proof that players dont like them even if they don’t “benefit” from them.
Hate the runner on second base. More garbage baseball. Little League stuff. Guys getting paid millions of dollars and they need help to score a run.
The pitchers are also getting paid millions of dollars to prevent runs from being scored so your point makes no sense.
Pitchers get paid to get 3 outs. Runner on second flyball to right 1 out no with man on 3rd. Next pitch fly ball to center run scored. Next pitch k 3 outs. You make no sense
And the other team will have the opportunity to do the same.
I agree having a runner on 2nd wasn’t earned very stupid
I agree having a runner on 2nd wasn’t earned very stupid
Right so risk your pitchers health
Yep. Runner on 2nd idea is crap. The rest of it seems ok.
This is a bad job by all involved. 7 inning double headers and a runner on second in extras is stupid and damaging to the game. The only change that would be good is a universal DH and that’s the one thing they don’t agree on? Time to oust Manfred and Tony Clark and get some better people in charge
Not unreasonable for the upcoming season. With the likelihood of some missed games due to COVID, lack of fans in the parks (at least full attendance) 7 inning DH and the runner on 2nd for extras makes sense if we are trying to get all these games in.. And while I get the concern that these rules could be permanent, it seems unlikely. MLB owner want full gates for all their games, which is why we do not have old fashioned DH. Split DH allow a gate for each game. The owners will want to return to that once the pandemic is behind us. With that, the need for the runner on 2nd for extras goes away.
Excellent post. Good points all around.
if the 7 inning DH was what was needed to get the extra 8 games in then im still bitter with the owners but overall pleased they could come to an agreement on 162.
I don’t see how the new extra-innings rules would impact the ability to do split DHs. In fact, more stability as to the lenght of games would be beneficial for scheduling of split DHs.
Split 7-inning DHs would be weird, so I can some argument there. But there are so few scheduled double-headers that I don’t think this would be much of a factor one way or the other.
Makes no sense to me, expanded playoffs gives both sides more money, and the DH helps both sides too! Yet they want to use it as a bargaining chip. The new CBA needs to have a floor on spending, universal DH, 154 schedule, expanded playoffs, and 4 years to free agency. They also should have a franchise player rule or the Bird rule, to keep players on a team. Not having the DH in NL really hurts most of the contenders in the NL this year.
The only way you get a floor is if there is if there is a hard ceiling instead of a luxury cap. The players dont want the hard cap and the owners dont want a floor. They can do all the investigations they want, the only thing they may stop is the “penalty” monet the lower revenue teams receive will go away. Do you think teams like the pirates are going to add more into the payroll out of their pockets?
Big market clubs will have no problem with a floor, let’s say (100M) , they might even like it so teams like Cleveland, tampa, Pittsburgh, have to spend some of that money that they give them.
Ok, then you don’t care if you win, you just want to be in the game to get beat!
Any word on the 3 batter rule?
The 3 batter, or record last out rule is staying I presume. That was intended to happen prior to covid rule changes.
This is great news. So nice to see the two are able to play in the sandbox together without kicking dust up.
Well, Manfred IS accusing the union of “stealing my pail and shovel…”
I wouldn’t mind a handful of scheduled 7-inning double-headers, such that each team played the same number of such games throughout the season. That could be a way to keep a 162-game schedule while adding some more days off during the season but not overburdening the players with full-length double-headers.
150 9-inning games + 12 games played in 7-inning double-headers would require 1 fewer game day (i.e, an extra day off) per month for each team.
A another baseball strike will hurt the sport. I think both sides will agree to that. The last strike, nearly killed the game and lost millions of fans. Another strike or hold out, could actually do the same thing all over or kill the sport. 2022 will be interesting and I am quite worried about the state of baseball come that time. I think this next hold out/strike will be 100% on the owners. For 25 years, players have (thanks Tony Clark) been on the short end of the stick. I also believe a salary cap needs to be in place before more fans turn away from the sport. A lot of fans (not including NY, LA, etc.) are sick of these near or even more than half a billion dollars contracts. I get baseball is at its peak, but no one is worth 40-60 million a year. No disrespect to Trout, Cole, JT, and many others, but that is more than the president of the USA makes in their 4 years combined. It’s just insane at the price tag clubs give to these players. I am almost at the point of just enjoying Babe Ruth league. At least that is purity and not corrupted by money
The players are worth what they are paid, because the decision to pay them that much is completely voluntary. It seems the owners have done an excellent job of turning the fans away from the very players they pay to watch. And how was that done? By disclosing how much every player makes right down to the dollar and then keeping how much the owners profit from the game a deep, dark secret. It should not be so easy, but look how many fans fall for it.
You really think fans wouldn’t resent players’ salaries if owners’ profits were disclosed? I don’t buy that. I think most know profits for owners are typically astronomical.
A lot less, I really think that, yes, because it would restore some balance to the discussion. Either way it would go a long way toward dispelling the myth that baseball isn’t profitable, and the owners are running the teams as some kind of hobby or charity.
These presidents on chinas payroll make more than 40 mil a year. Poor comparison
Runner on second is by far the most pathetic excuse for a rule change I’ve ever seen, followed closely by the seven inning double header…4 whole innings people, dumb
DH is the one that makes the most sense. Been saying it since 2000.
Benefits everyone except some that root for tradition. Its a sport SMH.
Ugh… No. 7-inning games… ghost men on 2nd… Fake Baseball continues. I can’t believe how popular this has become. It’s a virtual game breaker imho. And why leave out the Universal DH? Might as well go all the way in changing the game. And btw… this has NOTHING to do with COVID. The league have been lobbying for this way before COVID came around.
The DH sucks. It dumbs baseball down to cater to the casual fan. No real baseball fan wants the DH
A real baseball fan wants to see better baseball on the field and more opportunities for more players to either extend their careers or at jobs at the pro level.
Look, they don’t pay hitters to pitch. That’s not what they specialize in. They specialize in hitting and handle fundamental fielding. So why do we require that pitchers pitch, field and hit? What a ridiculous concept when you think about it. Let’s pay pitchers to do what they are good at and let’s pay hitters to do what they are good at, and have a better overall quality of game because of it.
It’s like asking Brady to be QB, MLB, and place kicker all in one. It’s just silly
chefly is right, although I don’t agree that no real baseball wants the DH. I’m sure plenty of real baseball fans want the DH, but I don’t think they understand the effect of it. But he (or she) is correct about the DH being a dumbing down of the sport.
Baseball was conceived as 9 players in the field, and 9 players batting in a 9 inning game. Having a guy sit on the bench and hit for the pitcher is a vast departure of that simple, but elegant original concept.
One example is an Al manager can simply replace a pitcher anytime he wants. An NL managers has to factor in when the pitcher’s spot in the lineup is, and if it’s in the next inning, he has to decide whether to take the guy out, or gamble on staying with the guy, so he can use a pinch hitter, and not burn an additional arm out of the pen. That example comes down to DH, no strategy, no DH, strategy.
If all you’re interested in is what happens, then I understand wanting the DH. But if you’re into the chess match that baseball can be, then you really don’t want it.
Why not have 9 DHs on each team? That way the 9 best bitters are in the lineup and the 9 best fielders are on the field, which gives us the best possible quality of play. Or take it a step further and let a team send their best hitter up to the plate for every at bat — when he gets on base, the best baserunner runs for him as the designated runner. Why watch somebody else hit when you can watch Mike Trout hit again? Why watch anybody but Billy Hamilton run the bases?
I’m a baseball fan, and I want the DH. To assume that anybody who wants the DH in the NL is stupid is just a stupid ideologue in of itself.
^this
No REAL baseball fan lol !!!
BREAKING NEWS: the League and the Union agree on something…
I’m very concerned that there will be a work stoppage. I don’t think either side actually realizes how much that will hurt the sport. Their relationship is so dysfunctional.
Students of history know that bad things often happen even when really nobody want them to happen. The players and owners could very well stumble into a strike or a lockout if they can’t figure out how to make it not happen.
Can we all agree that the runner on 2nd extra inning rule staying in place and the lack of a DH is a total miss on baseball’s part and a complete ignorance to what fans have been begging for. Absolutely embarrassing, the one thing everyone loved about 2020 is not coming back, the 1 thing everyone hates about 2020 is coming back. Riddle me that.
MANFRED’S LAW… Coming this Fall on CBS. Co-starring Peter Scolari.
bravesfan”
No, we cannot all agree. I hate the DH. I also hate the minimum 3 batter rule. And I hate those two thing more than I hate the 7 inning double header and the runner on 2B in extras.
So, not “everyone” loved everything about 2020, and not “everyone” hates what’s coming back in 2021.
Nothing more exciting than watching pitchers hitting .078 and running the bases. Yes, I know, their are a few who can hit. For every pitcher who can hit, their is 10 more who can’t. Not exciting. Don’t tell me about strategy, most can’t bunt either.
Nothing more exciting than watching CATCHERS hitting .078 and running the bases. Yes, I know, their are a few who can hit. For every CATCHER who can hit, their is 10 more who can’t. Not exciting. Don’t tell me about strategy, most can’t bunt either..
Why not replace the catcher with DH as well? How many times have you heard “he hits well for a catcher?” How about anyone that is considered a defensive player/position such as short stops or a JBJ have a DH for them. How about we just change it to you have a squad that fields and pitches then a separate squad to hit.
How many catchers bat below .100? again?
Lol, really dumb post. Very few catchers or position players hit below .200, or they won’t have a job for long.
@flyby … I believe the overall batting average for pitchers is .118. I’m willing to bet the average for catchers is over .200 and they even take walks and can hit homeruns occasionally. Pitchers do nothing but eek out the rare base hit. I’m willing to bet that pitcher batting averages have decreased over time to the point where I’m actually a proponent of the NL DH. Never saw that coming !
It’s the worse when a team is rallying and about to score then the pitcher comes up to bat w 2 outs. That for sure needs fixed !
It’s like Perfect Game is hosting a tournament this year ahaha
No universal DH but the runner on second in extra innings is the dumbest thing I’ve heard in a long time.
No expanded playoffs… interesting.
I love the lack of expanded playoffs… but why only 28 man rosters in September? That’s one of the great things about the game, seeing all those new faces come up and play in September. I wonder what the thought would be in that? Covid shouldn’t be very concerning by then.
That was slated prior to Covid.
Then I’m really confused. Why?
I would assume it was to make the change from 5 months with a 25-man roster plus 1 month with a 30-man roster (155 total man-months) more cost neutral compared to 5 months with a 26-man roster plus 1 month of a 28-man roster (158 total man months).
Honestly, saves the owners some money. Also, it was a bit silly teams pushing it out to 40 and teams playing non-competitive lineups.. I think there is an in-between to reward some AAA guys and give some players a late-season shot.
The big bad virus only works in double headers if each game is 9 innings long. 7 innings long and the virus can’t function. Just like RM
I know man… we’re living in a madhouse now.
The rule was being talked about way before Covid was a conversation. Strange take
And in only certain locations
That must be why I believe in the science
Although, I’m not a fan of the double header/extra innings rules, I can either get use to them or just not watch them.
As a long time fan of baseball, way back before the DH, interleague play, divisions and playoffs, I’ve had to get use to a lot of changes in the game. Change happens.
The extra innings rules and 7inning Doubleheader is seriously so dumb. NL with a DH is bad but it’s better than those two.
Good, I liked last year’s rule changes. And I am so excited to watch pitchers who have never hit in college or the minors take awkward swings or just stand there with the bat on their shoulder. It is thrilling!! I know the players are using the DH as leverage but it is only a benefit for the players, not the owners.
DH makes the Mets win 105. Let’s make it happen.
I find it hard to believe the players association would agree to the extra inning rule. if I was a pitcher I would be passed to have a fake loss on my record because of these stupid rules. They are ruining baseball.
Did people notice how empty stadiums get during extra innings…. Based on actual evidence, fans don’t like extra innings.
I don’t know if it is that but just overall length. i mean if a game starts at 7 and is going to the 10th at 10:15, you have to go home. Crowds at most night games tend to thin out in the 7th/8th innings. I don’t think baseball needs 16 inning games but to change the rules of the game in the 10th is just jarring.
Sounds like you’re a Dodgers fan. The rest of MLB doesn’t thin out in the 8th inning.
Unpredictable game length is a big problem for TV broadcasters trying to schedule their day though.
Really don’t understand the point of removing 4 innings from a doubleheader series
That means the Mets don’t need JBJ. Let’s sign Walker or Odorizzi and get more bullpen help.
One more season of real, DH-free baseball for us NL watchers.
That means the Mets don’t need JBJ. Let’s sign Walker or Odorizzi and get more bullpen help.
Glad to see 10 team playoff. It cheapens the feel of being a playoff team with so many teams.
Totally agree. Now, we have a meaning to say the Dodgers and Padres fighting it out in the NL West. this year. or the White Sox/ Twins. and no .500 playoff teams.
The most important thing is playoffs staying at 10. I don’t see the players union even negotiating on this much in the new CBA w/ out just massive concession that likely will not happen. Just totally changes the dynamics of a regular season. and how teams spend + the meaning of the regular season.
– I don’t like the DH but I’d be fine w/ a DH but you lose it after you use your 3rd pitcher. Pitchers would still never bat but that spot in the lineup for double switches late in games would still come up
– The extra inning rule is silly. I mean did it really save much time? It stinks but man start it in the 12th? The change from the 9th to 10th is too sudden – it’s a different game and a team should never ever score on a groundout and a flyout. I think the key will be how fans react when they are allowed back at games. Man, do I despise this rule.
– 7 inning DH. I think players will get vaccinated in April. Hopefully, we will have fewer of these. I really don’t mind these provided teams only play a couple. Nobody needs the cardinals playing 20 of these.
– 28 man September. Should have an active roster and sure don’t need 40 but September is a great time to try out new players, reward guys from AAA and you can’t really do that.
The amazing thing is they can have all these rules and not one is about pace of play.
An alarming number of people in here speak for everyone else. “Only real baseball fans think XYZ…Most people hate/love the DH…” where did these facts come from?
The only rule I really don’t like is the man on second. Everything else has good and bad points.
Curious what you think about my idea for extra innings as a compromise. Just spitballing.
10th/11th innings normal baseball
Moves to a shootout like format. Home team can choose to bat/pitch. Runner goes on 2nd. Team scores the run, they win – they don’t game over.
Keeps normal extra innings for 2 innings and totally eliminates long games.
Obviously not for playoffs.
I kind of liked the first round with all the 3 game series, was a fun week. I loved the runner on second rule and am glad the dh is gone again. Not sure about the double headers but hopefully that will come up less.
They should force AL pitchers to bat and give the DH to the NL, just for the laughs.
No expanded playoffs. A**holes.
I detest the idea of expanded playoffs. It should mean something to get there. Having over half of the teams make it means there’s technically a shot that a team that couldn’t even win half of its regular season games gets to hoist the trophy as baseball’s “best” team at season’s end. It’s nonsense. I honestly prefer 8 teams to 10, but that particular ship has sailed.
So with the stupid extra innings rule it’s theoretically possible to pitch a perfect game & still take a loss?
And to go 0-for-5, all groundouts, and still score the winning run.
That was always possible, if one of the groundouts is a fielder’s choice. (Also possible with all strikeouts, if one of them involves a wild pitch on the third strike).
Does anyone know if that counts as an “earned” run? I think that runner should effectively count as though he got on due to an error, but I don’t know the technical scoring.
Pretty sure it’s unearned.
How does the 7 inning double header & the extra innings rule help prevent the spread of covid?
The little league rules for doubleheaders and extra innings stink… But this is temporary until regular attendance is deemed safe, I hope – whenever that may be.
I don’t get it what is the point of waiting for universal DH for another year? I never understood the point of the AL having DH, but not NL. Liked that it was universal. Seems like it’s a cave in by players union as owners get most of what they wanted.
The DH is coming either this year or next year.
That seems likely, yet MLB wants the MLBPA to give something up for it, while the MLBPA has no interest in doing that because they know the owners want the Universal DH. The fact they both want it and can’t agree to it sums up how difficult the upcoming CBA negotiations will be. If they can’t agree on something they both want…
I was not a fan of the universal DH until the Braves signed Ozuna last week. Now I’m warming to it.
I do not get why they did not want expanded playoffs..It’s more money, more jobs, more chances for great players to show their stuff., greater TV revenues, more teams spending money to get the players they need to get them over the “hump” , less teams wanting to tank and more chances for fans to see players in the big games. Makes no sense to not have it. Before people say they want the best teams only in the playoffs, What about the second place team in one division who has a better record than the winner of another division? Is that getting the best teams in? How about the third place team having a better record? We’ve seen that before. Wild card does not solve it when those 2 teams have to play for a win to get in while the worse record team is in by default. Should be a 16 team playoff. Division winners get in BUT teams are ranked based on their record (so a division winner could be the 8th seed). Teams 1-4 get homefield advantage. Teams 1-3 get to pick their opponent, of teams 5-8, with 1 picking first.
If I was an owner knowing that there are no expanded playoffs and did not have a chance at being the top team in the division, I would put the cheapest team on the field and shoot for that top draft pick. With the chance of little to no fans at the gate this season why pay big bucks for players when you know that only one team in the division will make it…unless you want to gamble on the wild card one game.. (IMO the wild card game, one and done,is just stupid. Better they went back to the 3 + 1 get in.
Most sports have 16 team playoffs and it works fine.. Baseball did it once and it worked fine.
It makes the regular season meaningless for the best teams. The only race is to see who the 8th best team is. Before they added the fifth team to the playoffs, making finishing first important, the sport became bastardized. There was one final day of the season where the Dodgers were playing the Padres with first place at stake, but since they were both going to the playoffs, the starting pitchers pitched three innings and most of the regulars rested. That was when they changed to the rule.
Sorry that is bogus reasoning. The first place team could still be playing meaningless games in Sept. regardless of which playoff format, it totally depends on their lead. If there is a close race for first then the wild card negates that because they still get in. Also, first place, under either of MLB system still only holds home field advantage nothing else.
What the old WC system does not address, is the best teams getting into the playoffs. As i stated above if teams in spots 2 and 3 of one division have a better record than the division winner of another division, then one or both those teams will have a stupid one a done game OR not even get in to the playoffs because the third division also has two teams with a better record than that division winner.. (for example_ 3 teams in NL east and 2 teams in NL west have a better record than NL central winner but NL central winner gets in while only 2 of those 2nd and 3rd place teams {with better records than Nl central winner} have a 1 and done while the other get nothing. Also the winner of the Wild card game never gets home field advantage in spite of a better record..
All this is why I suggested a 16 team playoff with a twist listed above.
MLB and the MLBPA continue on their path to ruin the greatest game ever created with ludicrous rule changes and an unwillingness to compromise on a universal DH that both sides want, along with the vast majority of fans. Then they rattle their sabres and threaten each other with lockouts or strikes if each side doesn’t get their way, with little regard to the fans. Screw this. I say diehard baseball fans should strike and let these two sides know angry we are with them as poor caretakers of the game we love and support. Perhaps this site and others would consider conducting a poll and send the results to both sides as they arbitrarily implement rules that their most loyal fans don’t seem to care for.
The owners and players are selfishly concerned with their own agendas while ignoring their partnership with the fans. The two sides just had a season with none of us in attendance due to a pandemic. Perhaps we should give them another one ahead of their negotiations for a new CBA and send them a message they won’t soon forget: Fans matter too and without us you have nothing!
While I understand and share your anger, I doubt you’ll get much buy-in. And even if you did, the billionaire owners would just use it to screw over the players because they can afford a protracted work stoppage. Also, you say they’re selfishly concerned with their own agendas; aren’t you as well? You want them to compromise, even though they’ll be unhappy, so you can continue to have baseball. Everyone has their own selfish agenda. I’ll agree that they’re being petulant and unreasonable, but I also think a complete fan strike is unreasonable. Plus, keep in mind that if we all stopped watching, they’d have nothing, but we’d also get nothing.
I was speaking of striking games when fans are allowed to attend, not boycotting the game entirely. I would also suggest not paying extra for the ‘privilege’ of watching the games on subscription TV with so few games ‘free’ these days. Hit them in the pocket book where it hurts the most. I grew up listening to baseball on radio and would still follow the game via other media. We can all enjoy the game of baseball through the amateur level as well, from little league on up.
Nonsense. Runner on 2nd base and 7 inning games are NOT baseball. As for the DH, I don’t care if every team uses one or if no team uses one, but it is asinine to have different rules in each league since they play interleague games EVEFY DAY!
Its pathetic. Idk how any player who grew up loving the sport they play can be in support of such idiotic rules. Just making a gimmick out of our sport. Its sad. Grown men playing 7-inning double headers and believing it has anything at all to do with health. Eye roll.
When you make 100k a game, these dudes would play in their underwear if told to. Almighty dollar wins. Can you blame them?
So they agreed to disagree. I guess that’s progress.
The owners and their commissioner continue to ruin our game.
Clark and the MLBPA aren’t much better. It takes two to argue.
Barring any COVID-related changes, spring training will commence Feb. 17 and a 162-game season will start April 1.
If there is one thing you can count on in this country whose people have done the worst job in the world with this pandemic (the people, not the government, not the media, but the people), there will be COVID-related changes before the “pretend nothing’s happening” baseball season gets off the ground. I understand MLB is doing the best they can and it’s important to plan ahead but let’s be honest about this, it is pure FUBAR on the part of the people in this country. Again, not the government, not the media.
Get over yourselves America.
Wow! Your rose colored glasses must be 4 inches thick !
The national defense for the US is greater than the rest of the world combined. We have no rival and covid did not occur naturally. So if China or some other country/government lead to covid being released on the US and world that lead to millions of deaths- we would blow that country off the map! As we have done to several other countries for less. That makes the #1 suspect of releasing covid on society, you guessed it, our own government. And the government ran media has convinced you to hate your neighbor. Classy !
Don’t be crazy, these governments did not “release” any viruses…
They were shot down from space using lasers, possibly controlled by Jon Stewart. The MSM won’t tell you that.
Nor will they admit that Bill Gates has been putting microchips into Bud Light and beef jerky for years now. It’s already too late for most of the sheeple.
Just remember, Patriot…they can’t seize control of your mind with the 5G network if you never blink. Just don’t blink. A real man can do it. Fight the power!!!
Back in 1990, when media still had a shred of credibility, the LA times published a story from a whistle blower who leaked that the US and Britain created AIDS and released it on society. Same publication today will say some tribal person got it from having sex w a monkey. Just like covid came from a fish market or someone consuming a raw bat. Feel free to settle in whatever version of reality makes u most comfortable though ?! And your rose colored glasses are 4 inches thick
Uh oh, you must have blinked. It’s going to be hard to save you now, but…
At least you understand that EVERYONE ON EARTH IS OUT TO GET YOU AND ACTIVELY SPENDING EACH MOMENT OF THEIR OWN LIVES CONSPIRING AGAINST YOU.
Good. That’s a start.
You are going to need to start wearing your pants for shirts and your shirts for pants. That will throw them off.
Then, you must remember that each doorknob is wired to steal your DNA in order to clone you. NEVER touch a doorknob with bare skin. Use your shirt or learn to open them with both shoes like a monkey.
You also need to watch full seasons of Family Matters backwards and at half speed. That will undo any of Soros’ brainwashing that might have infected you.
If none of that works, a guy who used to have an important job thinks direct injection of bleach might be the way to go.
Good luck, Brother!
Worlds not after me mate. And it’s the same world it’s always been- wicked to the core. Maybe that’s why you are so infatuated with it as u inspire your fellow man to inject bleach.
And That was literally the dumbest post I ever read. You’re like “I’m going to scream and insult over and over til this guy shuts up” backing what u say w no fact, no reality, just you’re own erratic emotion and preconceived judgmental notions as I am far from a patriot. Maybe u should figure out how to quiet that obnoxiously loud voice in your head and pay more attention to your surroundings. Promise you’re not as important as u pretend to be.
only a low IQ individual or purposely disingenuous one will fail to recognize what is happening all around them….in your case, I’m guessing it’s the former
I love talking baseball!!!
Whyhayzee – the three groups all interrelate and have played a role (good or bad), but you’re right. There is enough information available for individuals to make good decisions. Unfortunately many people can’t parse the information to act upon it (they really are too stupid), are selfish, have no impulse control etc. That requires structure, guidance, rules and laws to keep society functioning.
The recent federal restrictions are about all that can be done from that aspect to mandate behavior- masks etc. A lot was already being done, so it’s not incrementally much, but it’ll make the “it’s his fault” crowd either feel better or at least shut up.
The biggest failure are the governors who were all over the map with inconsistent, ineffective and even egotistical preferences. They largely failed.
The media is so far away from fair, factual, unbiased , accurate and consistent that you’re mostly better off by ignoring them.
We’ll see baseball this season, some of it with fans and can expect interruptions. Take care, protect the vulnerable, dont panic and help others
another bootlicking white coat worshiper. keep following Fauci’s advice and take your shots, see where it gets you.
it takes critical thinking to see how a government and media controlled response to the coof has led to a disastrous result in the USA. the people? were they the ones that told hospitals to move covid positives into nursing homes? tell people to wear ridiculous face coverings 24/7? youre one of those people that goes around looking for someone to yell at about putting a mask on aren’t you?
baseball will play a full season, the usual manginas will squeal about safety and omg positive results! and the season will be completed just like the NFL and NBA completed theirs
should never have paused last season that is obvious in retrospect. how is it FUBAR to proceed with a full MLB season with the obligatory “safeguards” to assuage the irrational fears of emotional and easily duped covid heads like you? seems completely appropriate to me
I’m just glad they won’t have every damn team make the post season.
DH pls!
Let’s see…fifty years, or so, down the road, one could envision baseball as a Home Run Derby where all the parks would have identical dimensions, probably in domes so there would be no advantage like the Green Monster or a hitter-friendly right field. The height of the fences would be limited so three (or more) outfielders would have a chance to make home run robbing catches and they could used robotic pitchers so batters would have an even chance. A Cricket-like idea could be adopted so that each batter would stay at the plate until he fails to get the ball out of the park and all nine batters hit in each half-inning (and obviously there would be a DH for the robot pitchers, who also could throw from either side). Since there would be no need for baserunners, the diamond could be expanded beyond 90 degrees and the need for umpires, catchers, and infielders would be eliminated. Think of the money the owners will save (once the new parks are built).
I am for a universal DH, but it needs to be changed, have the DH hit 4 times in a game at any time. and only an 8 man line-up. The DH could be someone in the game, but if he is he can only hit once as the DH. Kind of like a penalty kick in soccer, or an extra foul shot in basketball. In football , you throw to your best players when the game is on the line, baseball should try and do the same type thing. I”m also for a universal strike zone. The strike zone should be the same for every hitter, It should start at the belt and go 12 inches up and 12 inches down. This way the little players with better reaction time doesn’t get a big advantage. If you crouch like Ricky Henderson,it is still one foot up and one foot down. All goals in soccer are the same size, and all basketball hoops are the same size, why not baseball. That leads to the robot ump!! Love to see Arron Judge hit with that strike zone!
While we are thinking about changes, I would like to see some kind of Go Pro on players hats or helmets. This way you could see the view of the person hitting the ball or the players fielding the ball on TV. This tech would draw in the younger crowd.
they’ve used that during the little league world series i think.
How bout instead of uniforms the players wear clown suits & big floppy shoes & have to run around the bases backwards. Maybe umpires can dress as their favorite superhero & call balls & strikes using an air horn,1 blast for a ball & 2 for a strike. It becomes more & more absurd everyday, miss you, love you baseball
Hey!! I’m in charge of sarcasm on this site thankyouverymuch.
Manfred really hates baseball. I’m not sure why he wanted to be commissioner of something he hates. The 7 inning doubleheader’s and extra inning rules are stupid.
They’re trying to attract new viewers but these rule changes ain’t gonna get new viewers. If anything it’s gonna drive the real fans away
It’s unfair to the American League The national league gains a hitter in American League parks. The American League loses a hitter and has to change there whole game in the national league parks
If you can’t manage the strategy of when to switch out a pitcher because of at-bat considerations, you shouldn’t be managing at the big-league level.
Grown effing men playing 7 inning DHs. What a soft world we live in.
There is nothing soft about a 100 mph fastball, most kids give up on baseball because hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports. Pitchers hitting is like have a goalie take a penalty kick, or like have a kicker as a quarterback for 4 plays a game!
A goalie taking a penalty kick would put a hole in the back of the net. Seriously.
Ok, then why don’t they take penalty kicks?
You mean the same grown men who play a game for a living? I think you are overvaluing their “hardness”.
I dont understand the runner on 2nd rule, who does this help?
Think of it like a coin flip in football overtime, it shortens the game!
The umps and their dinner reservations
If they absolutely must keep the runner on 2nd rule, I wish they’d have that nonsense start in the 12th inning. Most extra inning games are over by then anyway. I don’t like the 7-inning double-header rule, either. And, though I know it wasn’t really being discussed, I’d rather have a limit as to how many pitchers you can use in a 9-inning game than a 3-batter minimum. If you want to bring in a LOOGY in a high-leverage situation, you should be allowed to, but that takes one of the five guys (with exceptions for injury) you’re allowed to use.
There are not that many extra inning games in baseball to worry about this rule. It’s not like Hockey where there are a lot of ties!
Roughly 9% of baseball games go to extra innings. Only about 3% make it at least 12 innings. 9% is enough for me that the rule used for those innings matters, and 2/3 of the time, the game is decided in those first two extra innings, so there’s no need to change the rule for those innings, imo.
Yes, but how many of the 9% are contending teams!
There hasn’t been a tie in hockey since George W. Bush’s first term.
Kids born after that tie can legally drive now.
I used to be against the DH. But I dont see any justification for charging current ticket prices and subjecting fans to that many at bats from players that havent batted since HS. I don’t believe the strategy is there as much as it seems. It’d be like having your kicker take every 9th snap as QB.
Beyond anything the leagues (if they are going to play eachother interleague…which I’m personally over) need to equal rules.
Not sure your football comparison applies here. Your kicker likely wasn’t a QB throughout high school.
Your pitcher might not been much of a hitter either…and every level below MLB has the DH. It’s worse than maybe running a kicker out to run a pass play. It puts the bat in the hand of someone who usually doesn’t have anywhere close to major league ability. I think it’s just wrong to sell that in this day and age.
all those rules but the first two I like actually.
Hate, hate, hate the 7 inning DH…and hate the runner on 2nd even more. Baseball has become a circus.
I don’t think you’ve ever been to a circus.
This is getting grossly comical. We’re in a pandemic. If we follow simple rules, we’ll be fine. But no, let’s have 7 inning games and automatic men on base in extra innings. How about we play 9 innings and don’t have 25 people over at your house. For any reason. Holy cow.
Jesus Christ MLB, don’t kill yourself over “unsportsmanlike conduct” crap. I know this is to get people out of the faces of others, but I know the snowball effect MLB likes to do with their rules and changes. Don’t turn into the NFL, “Let the kids play” was great until they did absolutely nothing to “let the kids play”. It’s comical, and I hope this doesn’t go any further after Covid.
And I don’t care – Covid or not – if some guy throws a perfect game, there was be a big crowded area. Are they going to punish them for that? “Hey, I know you’re making league-minimum and all, but… you gonna have to pay a $50,000 fine… thks xoxo ttyl bae – Rob Manfred”.
Agree. Those crappy rules have nothing to do with “safety”!
the man on second rule is silly, but i’ll let it go during pandemic- especially when we are trying to have pitchers last 162 games after just going 60, shortening extra inning games somehow makes sense- and im fine with the 7 inning doubleheaders for that same reason- as long as they go away if we ever get back to normal.
still surprised that im annoyed no DH this year after being anti- DH all my life- its just that the pitchers hitting is only going to continue to get worse as pitchers dont hit in the minors and make more money- the owners are only holding off to use it as a chip in next years negotiations, so its coming soon anyway- so may as well have it in there now.
How hard is it to get a couple thousand people vaccinated?
So freaking stupid. They are never going to allow fighting or arguments in baseball again. Just another thing Manfred and the league are doing to slow suck all the joy and fun out of baseball. Who doesn’t love a good mound charge or bench clearing brawl?
where is the robot umpire?
While facemasks are not required on the field, players do have the option to use their protective cups on their faces when they’re bored between pitches.
That’s only going to work for rumpers because they’re d!ckheads.
The MLB dropped the ball on amateur draft reform too. Instead of “worst gets first,” it should be the other way around. Best team gets the first pick in the amateur draft. It will force teams to WIN!!
That’s essentially why they instituted the draft. The Yankees were winning AND gobbling up talent. You cant have free market free agency that favors large markets…and then give them even more of a favor. Yeah..let’s let the Dodgers have the #1 overall until it’s the Yankees turn. Let’s make our small markets have no chance to build from within.
Also… allow aluminum bats and outlaw helmets and all other batter protective gear.
Lets F’in do this!!!!
Boycott- dont be absurd. Market research shows that most people want titanium bats and steriods for players. They also want Portland Rules for controlled substances while at the stadiums. How did you miss this ? Don’t you have social media accounts?
The 7 inning double headers aren’t a big deal, but the runner on 2nd base to start extra innings is awful. I don’t know any fans who actually like that change. Why play an entire 9 innings with one set of rules, then change the rules in such a dramatic way for extra innings?
I personally like the DH, and live in a market where we have both an AL and NL team. I can certainly understand people having a preference for no DH though as well. I wouldn’t mind them keeping it the way it is, but I think it’s probably inevitable that we get the universal DH with the new CBA (whenever that actually happens).
Yeah, the DH is unfortunately needed, the days when your best pitcher was often one of your best hitters has long past. As a longtime Braves fan I saw the value of having capable pitchers hit, but that’s now past tense. It was also interesting to watch two opposing managers try to outwit one another. The funny thing now, or stupid thing, the Union and MLB are both trying figure out how to use the DH as bargaining tool, hilarious and sad at the same time.
I see nothing about the rumored expanded playoffs. Are they still negotiating that or will it hopefully revert back to the original playoff structure?
The post makes clear that the playoffs will NOT be expanded. 10 teams only.
Does this mean Justin Turner can’t do what he did during the world series?
Looking forward to the Mike Trout pitching to Clayton Kershaw matchup!
The only real good news is that the playoffs have not been turned into a 16 team circus, watering down the regular season. Unfortunately, I think Manfred and the owners are going to ram extended playoffs down our throats at the new CBA. Ugh!
Never let a good crisis go to waste. These rules put into effect because of the pandemic, will be permanent once this is over.
I have this really radical idea that maybe the best thing for baseball is to keep it baseball. All these rule changes are just giving the sport a creeping death. I love baseball because it’s the closest thing in life to perfection, yet here I am reminded that nothing is sacred. The DH in both leagues is whatever to me because it’s still baseball. The runner on 2nd in extra innings, and 7 inning double headers are pure bush league. It completely changes the game dynamic in a strange and unnecessary way and is no longer baseball.
Agree
MLBPA should refuse all deals unless Manfred is removed from his post. Would save the game.
In 50 words or less, describe what would change if MLB hired another mouthpiece to speak for them. Your answer will be graded on logic and completeness.
A different mouthpiece might emphasize something which would truly benefit MLB like an automated strike zone that everyone wants including fans and umpires. A different mouthpiece might also stop these latest rule changes that few want. I also don’t ever need to hear about a new shift rule going forward.
Cut me off a slice of that wishful thinking, it looks tasty.
Something for you to chew on in the meantime. Commissioners are not hired to be fan advocates (not that I agree with you on what “everyone wants”). They are hired to do the will of the owners, and they get fired if they don’t do the will of the owners.
hopefully it includes something about showing respect and standing for the national anthem
Not sure if this is irony or not, but a bunch of people claiming they know what’s best for the game can’t come to an agreement on the agreed upon rules for the upcoming season whilst the MLBPA and MLB actually agree upon something finally. Weird man, crazy stuff.
Very surprised the Player’s Union nixed the DH for the National League. They (Player’s Union) put many of their brethren out of a job.