MLB 2018-19 Offseason Thread

Defensive positions will be renamed as well, Firstbaseperson. Secondbaseperson, Abbreviated Stop (SS). Catcher notthattheresanythingwrongthat.

 

That’s nuts. Why not bring in aluminum bats too?

 

Maybe MLB should start making rules on which medical procedures are okay and which could be considered "performance enhancing." You have developing pitchers that throw gas, knowing they can always get a TJ surgery or two and be back in a year.

 

What the hell is the deal with all the proposed, game-altering rules changes all of the sudden?
These aren't minor tweaks, these are things that break the basic fundamentals of the game that no one, anywhere, ever seemed to suggest would be improvements. And they're all coming out of left field (pardon the pun).

 

And they’re coming with less than two weeks until spring training. It smells of flailing.

 

They started that in the minors last year or the year before. I remember talking to some guys with the local Double-A team and they said it didn't take long for games longer than 11 or 12 innings to become pretty rare. So it does speed things up.
They've also used a pitch clock in the minors for a while now. I figured that was coming at some point, especially once you get a generation of pitchers cycling up to the majors who have become accustomed to it.
That said, minor league games are glorified exhibitions. Nobody gives a shit if you win or lose, so there's no harm in getting it over with or speeding things up a bit. What works down there might not fit in the majors.

 

TJ is a performance enhancer? Should it be outlawed and the pitcher be forced to retire?

 

I think one of the ways the game has changed is that arm surgery isn't the career ender that it often was in the past due to medical advances. That allows more quality pitchers to stay in the game and knowing the medical advances are out there. I'm not saying it should be banned, just that the game has tilted toward pitchers almost exclusively in the last 20 years. Advanced fielding scouting, improved pitching strategy - even the offensive strategy of HR, K or Walk limits what a pitcher has to worry about in facing a hitter.

 

Play 2 extra innings and if no one wins, have a home run derby

 

It’s just negotiation. None of those major changes will actually happen