Commissioner Rob Manfred spoke with reporters (including USA Today’s Bob Nightengale) today about the latest proposal he has presented to the players’ union in regards to reducing the average time of games. After the last plan was officially rejected by the MLBPA, Manfred’s latest offer removes the 20-second pitch clock — that previous proposal’s most controversial feature — from the equation as long as players adhere to other time-streamlining regulations and game-times fall as a result.
The on-field procedures would include hitters remaining in the batter’s box at all time, and both hitters and pitchers would have to be immediately ready once the commercial break in between innings comes to an end. (The commercial breaks themselves would also be shortened.) As well, each team would be limited to six total mound visits per game, whether it was a manager, pitching coach, catcher or another player making the trip. Should these changes result in an average game-time of two hours and 55 minutes in the coming season, Manfred said a pitch clock wouldn’t be implemented for the 2019 season. The pitch clock also wouldn’t be used in 2020 should game times in 2019 fall to two hours and 50 minutes.
Some of the rules in the new proposal are holdovers from Manfred’s previous proposal, though it was the pitch clock that particularly drew the ire of players, or rather the idea that the game itself would be influenced (via balls or strikes accessed to pitchers or hitters who took too long) by a strict countdown.
The players’ union has until roughly the opening of Spring Training camps to respond to this latest proposal, as though Manfred said that he didn’t have “a drop-dead day, firm” in regards to when a deal on rule changes could be finalized, “we need to make an agreement between now and when the players report.”
After Manfred’s statements today, MLBPA executive director Tony Clark’s response included a pointed comment about the slow-moving offseason transaction market:
“As we sit here today, the first week of February, our focus is on the 100-plus free agents still available. Players and the players association remain committed to the competitive integrity of the game on all fronts, including on-field rules.”
It should be noted that the collective bargaining agreement gives Manfred the power to unilaterally implement his plan, so he doesn’t officially require the MLBPA’s assent about the pitch clock or any other pace-of-play initiatives. The commissioner would naturally want all parties to agree to a plan, of course, since as Nightengale notes, “it could be a public relations nightmare if [rule changes are] implemented without the players’ cooperation.”
Things are going to get ugly in the next CBA.
Talk to me in 2021. players probably getting $400-$500M contracts, and will be used to it.
If the minor leaguers can do it (and not be bothered in the least bit, last 3 years) the professionals making $$$ should be able to adapt.
There has been huge issues with it in the minor leagues. Players losing games based on over zealous umpires enforcing rules. As well as stadiums starting a clock to soon or too late to give their team the advantages. The proposal is better apart from limiting the mound visits. I think 6 visits per game by a coach should be there but the catcher needs more. No need to penalize the closer because the starter and catcher couldn’t get on the same page
6 mound visits puts a cap on pitching changes. That’s a fundamental change to the game.
a manager can make a pitching change without using a mound visit
Link to that stuff please…
How are players losing games due to “zealous umpires” enforcing rules?
Please give us your thoughts.
Plus, I assume that’s six visits per NINE-INNING game… Extra inning games would have to have an additional visit per inning, perhaps.
Nope on earth does capping 6 mound visits per game change anything? It doesn’t. I’m so tired of people using this as a crutch. Players will adapt. And I’ve never heard of a single minor league player complain about the pitch clock. Please sure examples with links, not just I heard so and so said it one time. The players are using this as a negotiating tactic nothing more nothing less.
Maybe at the start of each inning, a relief pitcher can be warmed-up, and just stand behind the mound until he’s called-upon to pitch.
Don’t wake the sleeping giant
That’s the problem when you let lawyers take over running things!
Here’s the problem the Union isn’t looking at pace of play right now at all. They want the 100 the free agents signed. So to summarize they are mad they signed a bad deal. Remember they agreed to this CBA. They need to sftu and play, and fire Tony Clark and find the next guy they want to bargain the next CBA. It’s in there best interest to make a proposal for pace of play instead of using it as a negotiating tactic where they have no leverage it’s dumb.
Here’s a couple things I’ve suggested that would speed up the game a lot that doesn’t cost money or affect the game
Quit throwing away baseballs every single time the ball hits the dirt, have the balls rubbed with mud and ready to play with out of the package
Better fitted batting gloves, stay in the box and no adjusting your gloves if your a batter
No walk up music. Guys don’t move until their walk song is on.
If these don’t work then start looking at the pitch clock but first I’d limit the mound visits.
Limiting pitching changes could be on the table too, RP can pitch to more than 3 guys and one inning but it’s just not as effective. Looking at ways to encourage teams to train pitchers who pitch longer should be looked at as well. Make the changes above first and re evaluate afterwards
Cool
Way to backpedal Tony…
I’m very much for the limited mound visits. Catchers who constantly do that just bog the game down terribly. (Looking at you Willson Contreras.)
Who did it more, Contreras or Sanchez? I wanna call this limiting rule “The Sanchez Rule”
Go back and watch every game they both caught count up the visits and get back to us…
because you have?
No and neither has this guy to make that post…
just let Moss handle this already
Its about time the mound visits are limited. That is probably the most annoying thing about the game, e.g. Molina and Contreras.
I think the pitch clock is needed as well. Having a gave last over three hours in the evening (10pm -11pm) is ridiculous. Doesn’t baseball understand that people still have to work in the morning? I think games should be starting at 6:30pm and ending at 9pm.
Wont happen.
Figure most people work a 9 to 5 job giving them an hour and a half to go home, possibly get the family, eat, find parking, etc. Very hard.
Most people dont work
yep, nuts alright..
Just curious, does anyone know what percentage of the owners it would take to fire Manfred, or if that’s even how firing a commissioner works?
Owners voted no confidence in Vincent by a tally of 18–9, and he resigned
Manfred will destroy the game….wanna speed up the game, go to robo ball n strikes,hard to argue with a computer
No
is that a suggestion on how he can destroy the game? cuz that’s how you destroy the game
Plenty of ways to speed up the game.
1. Hitters are limited to 1 reset per at bat. Stepping out, redoing their gloves, getting back in. Limit hitters to 1 stepping out per at bat. If they do it twice or more its a strike.
2. Limits mound visit times by catchers and coaches.
3. Move pens closer and possibly make pitchers face minimum 3 batters unless injury occurs. 1 out then switch wastes time.
The best way to speed up the game is don’t play baseball. If Manfred finds baseball so boring and arduous, why did he take a job where he has to go to so many games?!
Big mistake–huge.
Why would MLBPA give them that power?. Gave MLB permission to suspend for as long as he wants for “alleged domestic abuse” too. Commisioner judge and jury. HGH testing. Not saying I disagree with the last one but they got nothing in return. At least set some parameters and clarity for abuse suspensions. Horowitz muddied the water on PED suspensions and MLBPA did not try and clarify that to prevent him going beyond the 80/162/life for 1st/2nd/3rd. (You cant call the first bust 3 offenses )Then the rest of the ridiculous give aways under the Weiner/Clark era
Seriously, this union must be coopted
How about a mlb pace of off season
But, seriously, does the old rule stick work with qo players? If they don’t sign by the draft you don’t lose a pick?
Lol, yes please!!! (On pace of off season)
Here’s a novel idea. Instead of changing the game how about limiting the commercials between innings and during pitching changes. “Oh, no, we can’t do that! Too much money involved.”
Buy a DVR…
and how does that work when you’re actually at the game?
Dots
Who is this appealing to? People who don’t like baseball aren’t going to start watching because you’ve shortened the game by ten minutes. The replay is the biggest change to the game in years and it slows the game down considerably.
Nobody is gonna be like “I couldn’t watch baseball before. It was just too long. But now that they shaved off that extra 10 minutes, oh man, now I can watch it anytime.”
I watch all the time and the constant stepping out to fix batting gloves and catcher visits because they can’t get signs straight when someone reaches 2nd base, is EXTREMELY ANNOYING. They’re professionals, they should knows multiple sets of signs and able to bat with gloves a bit looser.
It’s a technique for resetting your mind before the next pitch most of the time it has nothing to do with the gloves needing adjusted.
Real life isn’t a video game.
biggest change by far is the pitcher changes. rarely anyone pitches a complete game.
In addition to restricting catchers mound visits & shortening the manager’s call for replay, I suggest limiting rosters to 11 pitchers other than for doubleheaders. The limit would force teams to make less pitching changes. I’d prefer not to see a clock on the field, ever.
That wasn’t a rule change though.
You want to speed the game up?… tablets for umps to review themselves immediately. Most umps would rather get it right and see for themselves and change their call. Obviously not you Angel Hernandez
I disagree with the most umps wanting to make things right. Its because jim joyce taking the perfect from galarraga for replay. Jim Joyce had the the jumbo screen right in front of him and wouldn’t change his on the field call, but the following day wants to cry.
Watching replay is so boring. Coach makes the decision, then all umps report. Theres two minutes. The ump talking to the replay office and for what? Just put a ump in charge of each game and the delay won’t be as long.
Or, speed up the current process which at the minimum takes a good 5 to 8 minutes.
How about we limit the time for reviews? Sometimes it takes 2-3 minutes per review, which could happen multiple times throughout the game. Shave it down to one minute, and you’d save at least 5 minutes or so.
It’s not more vital to get it right than shaving off a few minutes.
It’s more vital to get it right than shaving off a few minutes.***”*
mlb1225 has a point
I thought that too, they could limit the review time.
1 or 2 minutes to review it, if it takes longer than that, you’re forcing yourself to review the play
If it takes longer than the limit, you’ll have “Inconclusive evidence” and the call on the field stands
who knows when the connection to the review office takes place? they could be waiting for a connection.
I would hope the MLB has better systems then taking multiple minutes for a yes or no answer.
my thing with replay is it needs to be clear evidence to overturn a call. if you’re taking more than a minute, it isn’t clear evidence imo
I have not met a single person who has said they’d become a long term fan and spend money on the game if they were just a few minutes under three hours long.
More worried about the pace of the off season. God damn this is boring.
Best way to speed up the game is by allowing catchers have earpieces connected to coaches. Just like NFL. That would remove mound visits all together. Also, limit how many times a coach can change his pitcher per inning. I remember watching a game where they changed pitches like 3- 4 times. Still though, they shouldn’t speed the game up that much, it’s something that is very cool about baseball.
How about having players run to the dugout after strikeouts like in Little League? Pay me.
You could also only give them orange slices of the game runs under 3 hours
Fire Manfred
Yep
Leave the game ALONE!
Agree. Their are things you can do to speed up the game. but it’s not necessary. It’s part of baseball ands it’s not hurting anyone.
When a new pitcher comes into the game, why does he need 8 warm up pitches?
Isn’t that what the bullpen is for?
There is no reason on Earth they need more than 3.
different quality of mound. no two are the same.
OK, so…3 pitches to get used to new mound. MORE than enough for a PRO.
QB gets injured, the new one comes in the next snap. NO warm up.
Goalie gets switched in hockey. NO warm up.
Baseball players are professional athletes, they will manage.
If that bothers you, stop watching baseball.
Hey forwhomth belltolls has a good point endinstealth!
He’s entitled to his opinion.
Why aren’t the mounds by rule supposed to be the same in the bullpens as they are in the field?
Other sports have no issues with “warming up” on the field of play, why should MLB baseball?
Different landing spots. It’s impossible to make them the same. But seriously that’s an issue?
Thanks for the clarification Endin. It’s nice to know I might not be an idiot…LOL
All good. I agreed with 90%
They usually do this during commercials I believe.
for all you younger fans
baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/misc.shtml
average game time history
35 plus minutes longer now than in 1978.
games are getting longer and longer
11 minutes per game of that increase is commercials. 17 minutes per game of that increase is pitching changes. A typical game in 1978 involved 5 pitchers between the 2 teams. Today it’s 9.
So 28 minutes of the 35-minute increase in game time is unavoidable with the current rules. Manfred is saying they will shorten commercial breaks but I did not see how much. They are not going to kill off that revenue stream.
The other 7 minutes can be achieved by enforcing the current rules that say batters have to stay in the box and pitchers have 12 seconds once the batter is ready in the box.
No other changes needed.
Then why not make the bullpen mounds the same as the on-field mounds? It’s not like the starting pitcher was out there in spiked heels, standing on a snowbank. 3 warmups, and move it along. And yeah, Wilson Contreras gets 1 visit per game!
part if the game, making the opposing pitcher pitch on a differently shaped mound coming in from the bullpen
Then please enlighten us, as one of the best fans in baseball…why do relievers from the home team need 9 warm-up pitches too? And does “part OF the game” extend to intentionally throwing at opponents, and catchers with pine tar all over them, throwing the ball back to the pitcher?
snowflakes are the only ones that raise a stink on a brush back pitch. pitch inside though, not headhunt
Aaaaaand there it is! “Cardinal fan approved, when LaRussa ordered intentionally throwing at the other team’s stars!” Stop the presses. Notice how he had no defense of Molina tarring up the baseballs? Or hacking into another team’s computer database? If fans of McCutchen, Votto, Brandon Phillips, Fielder and Rizzo take offense when an opponent has to play outside the rules, then they’re snowflakes. Another insufferable St. Louis fan…
insufferable, as in 11 world series championships?
correction, relief pitchers only get 8 warm up pitches
People keep talking about limiting pitching changes but honestly that won’t necessarily speed the game up, it would speed up strategic moves but if you have to let a reliever who is out of gas out there then the game actually gets longer and out of control
NHL has got it going on, no pace of play bs.
NHL has got it going on, no pace of play bs. P.S. Manfred you suck!
P.S. Manfred you suck!
Call the proper strike zone. Armpits to knees. This is a game of hitting, not walking. They don’t need clocks and all these other measures.
If you’re counting the manager, PC, and catcher visits all in 6 total, that’s basically saying the catcher can’t go out. Heck, managers alone make 4 or 5 visits a lot of games
All the old timers on here talking about the rule changes destroying the game.. how about when they lowered the mound-didn’t ruin the game..the DH-didn’t ruin the game,steroid testing(somewhat effective)-hasn’t ruined the game,last years intentional walk rule-didn’t ruin the game,and so-on and so-on.
Couldn’t agree more. Subtle changes are what keep the game relevant and current. People aren’t realizing that this isn’t about saving 10 minutes off of everybody’s lives: it’s about having a more lively product for people to tune into that will make them more likely to make the ~3 hour nightly investment to watch games. I’m a huge baseball fan, but this isn’t the same game from 1950.
I’d actually be in favor of having a minimum batters faced per pitcher, I’d say three. It would kill LOOGYs, but I’m fine with that. That would help speed up the final innings, so we can avoid a manager using three different pitchers in an inning. If they are injured, they can leave the game, but have to go on the 10 day DL so that nobody fakes injury to get out of a game. Can’t tell you how many games I’ve watched where it was humming along, 1.5 hours through 6 innings, then the final three innings take nearly two hours.
Does anybody really think the games are going to get any shorter? Why is MLB so adamant about adding a pitch clock that’s going to shave maybe a minute off the game time, and risk a fight with the union? My feeling it’s not to get us fans off our derrieres a couple of minutes sooner. What the pitch clock will do, however, is make the timing predictable and allow them to stick a couple more commercial messages in. It’s about satisfying the broadcasters, just like the disappearing day games, and stupid playoff games that are arranged so West Coast viewers can boost the Nielsen ratings.
2 hrs 55 min is still way too long for regular season games, and I highly doubt this proposal will get them there.
Just have to agree with everyone here that shortening the game ten minutes really doesn’t seem like it’ll achieve anything. I wish they’d focus more on making the game feel like it’s happening quicker than actually changing the amount of time a game takes. I think the NFL’s new 30 second commercial and kickoff timing rules were brilliant. Not sure if it changed the time games take at all, but it did make it feel like more is going on. I think baseball should focus on giving that feeling to fans rather than worrying about the actual time of the game.
I think the owners and Manfred see the inevitable major problem of the future and they are desperately trying to stay ahead of the curve. Gen Z simply doesn’t have the patience for baseball. And the generation after that will more than likely care about the sport even less. Baseball, unfortunately, may be viewed to these generations as the Boomers and Gen Xers viewed soccer. Yeah profits are up now, but will they still be headed in that direction in 20 years when Gen Z starts having families of their own? Maybe not. I don’t think these proposals are going to do much to alter this trend but I think that’s why they insist on testing the ideas.
Leave the beautiful game alone. Manfred needs to chill out and come up with a way to keep teams from tanking instead.
Does this mean that pitching changes will start to happen without the manager taking the slow walk to the mound to take the ball from the pitcher?
Not sure if this saves time, but eliminate the ability for coaching staffs to review replays before throwing the ‘flag’ and initiating review. Give them 10 seconds, if they think the call is wrong, throw the flag. The ‘review’ before the ‘review’ bothers me more than anything else about replay.
rule changes must start in little leagues. reindoctronate the players on the proper rules on pace of play. it will take a while, but the lower leagues won’t be imitating their favorite players stepping out of the box after every pitch.
i can fix this in a heartbeat .. go back to the real day of baseball a strike is from the jersey letters ao the knees. not the belt to the knees
The pitchers are totally getting squeezed!
How about this: larger strike zone, plus a “juicier” baseball!
Reading all the opinions combined with my own, I have mixed feelings about the pitch clock. Part of me thinks why not make it 25 seconds. Another part of me thinks who really needs 20 seconds to throw a ball. Another part of me thinks they should just leave it alone.
IPace of play is an issue. The concern is that a slower pace of play will turn off younger fans and more causal fans. Us hard core fans, no, we’ll watch. But baseball cannot thrive, maybe not survive, on just the hard core fans. And the pace of play has been gradually slowing over time. The average game did not last 2 hours until the 1930’s and was 30 minutes shorter 30 years ago. Even minor league games are lasting 3 hours on average. I go to a lot of low A ball games in my hometown and they take nearly as long as MLB games and they don’t have commercial breaks or replay. So yes, the younger generation does pay attention to what is happening at the major league level. Something does need to be done.
Clock based games are unappealing to me. I like team vs team, not team vs team vs clock management.
Also, tickets are expensive. I like longer games. More time to enjoy the game, see the park, have some food and some drinks. If things get rushed by a clock, then restroom breaks are an inning of time, food could be 2 innings, a stroll around the park is half a game.
Maybe cap the number of times the catcher can visit the mound per pitcher.
it’s all about money. the longer the game, the more the fans spend, more commercials.
The extra commercials lose value when less and less fans are consuming the game.
Manfred needs to be fired. The beauty of baseball is it takes as long as it takes. I’m not saying the games aren’t too long, just that rules are not the way to do it.
Btw how many extra mound visits do you get for a 17 inning game?
And here’s an idea. 10 pitchers active. Not really a rule changes but this will limit pitching changes especially the dreaded lefty specialist who can’t pitch to a righty.
What really amazes me is people like watching football more than baseball. The game is meant to be 60 minutes long, but it takes at least 3 hours to finish. Of that 3 hours… they only play about 12 minutes
The pace of play stuff is absurd. Baseball is too slow? Has anyone ever watched the last, say, five minutes of a basketball game? That takes like an hour. There is about 17 minutes of actual action in an NFL game but those things take three hours at minimum and the Super Bowl is slotted for five hours this Sunday.
Those two leagues don’t have the widespread “it’s too slow,it’s boring”said about them. MLB is trying to catch up with them and certainly not the other way around…
Here’s some suggestions for those of you that panic over a game being 10-15 minutes too long.
1. Shorten the game to 7 innings. Maybe at least we would see a few complete games pitched.
2. If a guy hits a homerun,, he and any runners on base immediately head for the dugout. Why waste time actually running around the bases?
3. Implement a new rule that requires fly balls to come down faster.
4. 3 balls you walk. 2 strikes you’re out.
5. A foul ball counts as strike 3 (or strike 2 relative to item number 4 above).
6. Or, and this is the best solution. Go to the game. Check your watch. When your allotted time for a baseball game expires…LEAVE! The rest of us will appreciate the lighter traffic when the game is actually over.
Enough is enough, like I said on a different thread if you can’t handle a 3 hour game then go watch videos of cats dancing on Instagram and take selfies with your Snapchat filters. I am young 30’s and am tired of hearing that it’s too long and boring. If you can’t handle it don’t watch. Obviously numbers are ok right now. Baseball is the only major sport without a clock and it needs to stay that way. Runner on 2nd in extras, pitch clocks? You’ve gotta be kidding me. The only proposed rule change that I could maybe get on board with is limiting the mound visits. But 6 should only be for non pitching changes (changes don’t count as a visit)
I think the runner on second thing is okay for exhibition games.
Who really wants a faster game anyway?
Baseball is fun to just sit back and chill…
Of course, I do enjoy a briskly-played pitcher’s duel.
Anyway, best way to speed up a game is to enlarge the strike zone, but then offense will suffer.
This is a much better proposition than the pitch clock.
I’m actually proud of them for listening to fans about how to improve the speed without hurting the flow of the game.