Do you like the style of baseball that is currently being played?

[bpilktree67]

The thing in today’s game that you can’t change is the atm strength. Guys use to steal bases because the catchers had ok arms.  Back in the day if you had a big arm you pitched or were in the outfield.  Now you see guys that play infield positions with cannons.  Heck Valencia came into game throwing 92 Davis was in the 90s. If Manny or Schoop got to pitch I think you would seee mid 90s.  The players arms have surpassed the change in speed of the runners.  There are plays all the time now back in the day we’re easy hits.  The defense shits which takes away holes they are quicker and more range because they are taller and more athletic and have better arms.  If you watch video of game now compared to past watch where the infielders stand they are a good two steps back on the infield because they have bigger arms this gives them more range to get to balls and takes away the ground ball hits lots of times.  The same thing with pitching lot bigger arms and throwing sliders at 90mph.  

[VaBird1]

Lowering the mound might help with the strike out problem. Not using juiced balls would help too 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

4 hours ago, ORIOLE33 said:

I don’t like the shifts. 

I don’t like that hitters seem incapable of adjusting to the shifts.  Shifts only work because of the home run first and pull the ball mentality.

Pitchers and defenses wouldn’t have been able to get away with shifts in 1970’s and 80’s,   

[Oriol3s]

1 hour ago, NedFromYork said:

I would outlaw shifts, require two defenders between first and second and two between second and third.

The problem here is that a REALLY dedicated analytics team could pull an outfielder into the infield to get around this rule change.

[Moose Milligan]

I'd like to see more speed, more stolen bases.  

The game is cyclical.  It won't last this way forever.

That said, I do believe one of the posts above...arm strength is here to stay.  Guys are throwing harder than ever, that won't change.

[El Gordo]

2 hours ago, mdbdotcom said:

25-man rosters built for different rules.

If the DH is optional it's not necessary.

[Barnaby Graves]

6 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Sure.

Stagnation equals death.

I'd like the balk rule eliminated and of course the litany of changes to how pitching staffs are handled.

 

I am nearly always simpatico with you.

And here I am again.  Evolve or die.  I think it's more fun than the alternative.

[Barnaby Graves]

30 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I'd like to see more speed, more stolen bases.  

The game is cyclical.  It won't last this way forever.

That said, I do believe one of the posts above...arm strength is here to stay.  Guys are throwing harder than ever, that won't change.

Great post.

[Sessh]

- I don't mind shifts. It is the result of hitters becoming one dimensional. The only way I want the shift to go away is by hitting skill returning to the game again.

- I don't mind starting pitchers and relief pitchers (designated pitchers BTW.. we need to make them hit too! How DARE they be one way players!), but I think there should be limits on pitching changes per nine innings that are not the result of an injury. In extras, anything goes.

- I hope the "teams start with a runner on second in extras" never makes it to the majors. That is probably the dumbest rule change I've ever heard proposed. Taking the excitement out of extra inning games is just ridiculous. Reduce game time by reducing commercial breaks. A commercial break in the middle of the third, fifth and seventh innings with no commercials in extras. THAT will speed games up considerably without any other measures taken.

- I don't think the balk rule should be removed. The stolen base needs to come back, not be pushed further away. I don't want to see pitchers "faking out" runners by stopping their windup in the middle whenever they want. No jump is big enough to steal if pitchers are allowed to do that. Balks don't happen nearly enough and the collateral consequences would hurt the game way more than eliminating the balk would help anything.

- As for the DH, there is absolutely no strategy to putting an automatic out in the lineup every single game. That is shooting yourself in the foot. I would much rather see Mark Trumbo hit than Masahiro Tanaka and I don't even like Trumbo much. However, the only rule change I want to see with this is to allow the home team to decide whether there will be a DH or not. THAT involves way more strategy. Maybe you want to take the opposing team's DH out of the lineup or make them play the field even if it means sacrificing your DH or maybe you just want someone in the lineup that can actually hit. Allowing teams to choose is the way to go with the DH. Then, we will see what the teams think is the better strategy. That's how it should be anyway. Make a rule that states that the home team decides whether or not the DH will be used in the game. I really don't see any drawbacks to that and there's no strongarming one way or the other. I don't mean only for interleague games, either. I mean for any game whether it's AL only or NL only games. The DH rule should be fully optional 100% of the time in both league.

- I want the stolen base to come back. The problem with the fixation on the home runs is that it is a leftover to the days when anyone could use any PED's they wanted. Home runs were abundant always and there was no problem. Although I still think players use today, they are more careful and do not produce "suspicious" numbers for prolonged periods of time or maybe for a contract year. I don't have a problem with PEDs at all, but if players aren't going to be putting up those monster numbers anymore, then the all-or-nothing HR or K strategy needs to be phased back out in favor of stolen bases, hit and runs and all that stuff. It needs to come back. The game the way it is is not as exciting at all.

- I don't mind replay. My biggest gripes with replay is that it takes way too long. The people home on the couch can see what the call should be minutes before the replay guys do. That is ridiculous. It needs to be more efficient.

- I'm ok with 25 man rosters. I think I'm also ok with pinch hitters or players that were switched out during regulation baseball to be eligible for play again in extra innings.

- I absolutely hate this idea of penalizing players for foul balls. A 13 pitch at bat that results in a walk or hit can completely change the momentum of the game. I really hate proposed rules like this that take any competitiveness out of the game at all or penalizes players in any way for this.

[oriole]

1 hour ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

I don’t like that hitters seem incapable of adjusting to the shifts.  Shifts only work because of the home run first and pull the ball mentality.

Pitchers and defenses wouldn’t have been able to get away with shifts in 1970’s and 80’s,   

I wish players would at least attempt to adapt. It's one thing to try and hit it the other way. It's another thing to bunt once every two or three games to keep them guessing if it's worth the shift. I know bunting is hard but so is getting a base hit when everyone is covering all the ground you can hit it to. I'm mostly thinking of Davis here lol

[Mendoza Line]

1 hour ago, Moose Milligan said:

I'd like to see more speed, more stolen bases.  

The game is cyclical.  It won't last this way forever.

That said, I do believe one of the posts above...arm strength is here to stay.  Guys are throwing harder than ever, that won't change.

 

31 minutes ago, Sessh said:

- I don't mind shifts. It is the result of hitters becoming one dimensional. The only way I want the shift to go away is by hitting skill returning to the game again.

- I don't mind starting pitchers and relief pitchers (designated pitchers BTW.. we need to make them hit too! How DARE they be one way players!), but I think there should be limits on pitching changes per nine innings that are not the result of an injury. In extras, anything goes.

- I hope the "teams start with a runner on second in extras" never makes it to the majors. That is probably the dumbest rule change I've ever heard proposed. Taking the excitement out of extra inning games is just ridiculous. Reduce game time by reducing commercial breaks. A commercial break in the middle of the third, fifth and seventh innings with no commercials in extras. THAT will speed games up considerably without any other measures taken.

- I don't think the balk rule should be removed. The stolen base needs to come back, not be pushed further away. I don't want to see pitchers "faking out" runners by stopping their windup in the middle whenever they want. No jump is big enough to steal if pitchers are allowed to do that. Balks don't happen nearly enough and the collateral consequences would hurt the game way more than eliminating the balk would help anything.

- As for the DH, there is absolutely no strategy to putting an automatic out in the lineup every single game. That is shooting yourself in the foot. I would much rather see Mark Trumbo hit than Masahiro Tanaka and I don't even like Trumbo much. However, the only rule change I want to see with this is to allow the home team to decide whether there will be a DH or not. THAT involves way more strategy. Maybe you want to take the opposing team's DH out of the lineup or make them play the field even if it means sacrificing your DH or maybe you just want someone in the lineup that can actually hit. Allowing teams to choose is the way to go with the DH. Then, we will see what the teams think is the better strategy. That's how it should be anyway. Make a rule that states that the home team decides whether or not the DH will be used in the game. I really don't see any drawbacks to that and there's no strongarming one way or the other. I don't mean only for interleague games, either. I mean for any game whether it's AL only or NL only games. The DH rule should be fully optional 100% of the time in both league.

- I want the stolen base to come back. The problem with the fixation on the home runs is that it is a leftover to the days when anyone could use any PED's they wanted. Home runs were abundant always and there was no problem. Although I still think players use today, they are more careful and do not produce "suspicious" numbers for prolonged periods of time or maybe for a contract year. I don't have a problem with PEDs at all, but if players aren't going to be putting up those monster numbers anymore, then the all-or-nothing HR or K strategy needs to be phased back out in favor of stolen bases, hit and runs and all that stuff. It needs to come back. The game the way it is is not as exciting at all.

- I don't mind replay. My biggest gripes with replay is that it takes way too long. The people home on the couch can see what the call should be minutes before the replay guys do. That is ridiculous. It needs to be more efficient.

- I'm ok with 25 man rosters. I think I'm also ok with pinch hitters or players that were switched out during regulation baseball to be eligible for play again in extra innings.

- I absolutely hate this idea of penalizing players for foul balls. A 13 pitch at bat that results in a walk or hit can completely change the momentum of the game. I really hate proposed rules like this that take any competitiveness out of the game at all or penalizes players in any way for this.

As proposed above, I think this will mostly solve the issue of arm strength.  Yes conditioning of athletes has certainly improved, but without chemical enhancements (PEDs), humans are humans.  We haven't magically evolved in only a few generations.  Starters come in throwing so hard because they don't throw nearly the innings they did even 20 years ago.  You can now have guys basically go 6 innings, then hand it off to other guys who sit in the high 90's to work 1 inning at a time. 

If you limit the amount of relievers a team can use in a 9 inning game, it will make teams rethink the strategy of pitchers always throwing as hard as possible.  Otherwise you will end up with overworked and then ineffective/injured relievers.  It will instead promote starters pitching more innings again, albeit at a lower velocity. This obviously won't change the caught stealing thing with catchers, but I think it will re-infuse the excitement of  more contact hitting, rather than the 3 true outcomes, which I personally find as a league wide philosophy, boring baseball. 

Also Seesh, I only note the reliever issue, but I basically 100% agree with all your other points as well.  Spot on.

[Satyr3206]

4 hours ago, Dark Helmet said:

Hate shifts, but batters aren't doing anything to adjust to them. If the batters start adjusting more, they will go away. 

Winner! It's the hard headed hitters that could solve the shift issue.

[24fps]

Kill the DH.  Bury it on a moonless night then murder the gravediggers so the corpse will never be found.

Establish strict and narrow elasticity parameters for baseballs and publish them so independent parties can measure souvenir balls whenever they want.

Send Rob Manfred on a long vacation.  25 years ought to do.  His twin Alfred E. Neuman can take over and nobody will notice.

[Moose Milligan]

3 minutes ago, 24fps said:

Kill the DH.  Bury it on a moonless night then murder the gravediggers so the corpse will never be found.

 

I've never understood this.  Nothing more boring than watching a pitcher flail away at the plate.  

I know, I know, I know..."double switches!  and managers have to be a good judges of when they should take a pitcher out or pinch hit for them!! baseball strategy for the win!!"

Which is fine.  But having someone in the lineup every night that has to struggle to hit .125 is just terrible.  

[24fps]

1 hour ago, Moose Milligan said:

I've never understood this.  Nothing more boring than watching a pitcher flail away at the plate.  

I know, I know, I know..."double switches!  and managers have to be a good judges of when they should take a pitcher out or pinch hit for them!! baseball strategy for the win!!"

Which is fine.  But having someone in the lineup every night that has to struggle to hit .125 is just terrible.  

Why stop at designated hitters?  How about designated fielders?  We could have Chris Davis play first and Caleb Joseph hit for him for a clear net gain.  Why there's no end to the tinkering, all that's missing is a little imagination and a servicable narrative.  Get Rob Manfred on the phone...