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

[Hallas]

 

11 minutes ago, MMussina35 said:

I don't like two recession proof teams. 

Are you referring to the Red Sox and Yankees?  Because I don't necessarily think the Red Sox are recession-proof.  They've had a 20-year period of relative success, which I attribute more to having good management, rather than having intrinsic advantages.  If Canadians decided they liked to watch baseball more the scariest team from a financial standpoint (excluding the Yankees) is actually the Blue Jays.

The Yankees are a different story, of course, and the fact that they've had no fewer than 3 decade-long dynasties is reflective of this.  The next expansion into NYC should really involve a 3rd team in the NYC area.  I know that won't happen, of course.  But even if you divide their market share in half, they would have a larger local audience than an undivided Chicago, which is the 3rd biggest market.

[Hallas]

The current baseball "meta" is a response to the 1990s and early 2000s power hitting explosion.  But that style of hitting is becoming harder to succeed with, in my opinion partly because increased PED testing has made it harder for athletes to have the requisite bodies for it.  When you combine that with the increased pitcher velocity, it's not hard to see why strikeouts are ballooning.

It seems like these meta-shifts takes about 10 or so years to stabilize.  My theory is that scouts notice these trends, and using today's environment as an example, they would begin selecting away from players with questionable contact skills.  So the top prospects in the next couple years are going to be more heavily selected for contact skills, ability to catch up to 95+ heat, and bat control (to prevent a shift from being effective.)  I know that baseball tends to make subtle rules changes to keep the situation from getting too extreme (such as when they increased the bottom of the strike zone by an inch or two a few years back.)  I think that sort of minor maintenance is all that should be needed.  Someone suggested mound height adjustment - that's a good lever.  I don't like draconian things like banning the shift.  Some of these countershifts in the baseball meta are already happening.  For example, velocity is less correlated than before with positive outcomes for pitchers.

[UpstateNYfan]

4 hours ago, NCRaven said:

I think this would lead to teams carrying more relief pitchers, meaning more AAAA fodder on ML rosters, resulting in more pitching changes during the games, and making the games even harder to watch.

I'm not sure...the two players not on the game day roster would more likely be the previous two starters, who do nothing on off days. Yes, teams could chose to add two more relievers which would make the game ridiculous and even longer. People complain about the DH and specialization..pitching staffs are classic examples of specialization