MLB and Union talk major rule changes

[atomic]

13 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

When Davis was an all-star, he was far from a one trick pony.

He played plus defense at first and could really stretch out to catch the incoming throw.

He was an average first baseman at his best.  He certainly was no Mark Texeira at first.  And First base is usually the position you put your worst fielding player. 

[Redskins Rick]

1 minute ago, atomic said:

That is the trade-off.   And that's a team decisions.  There are some good hitting pitchers.  I think if pitchers batted in the minor leagues they probably would hit a little bit better in the majors.  But there is no reason you can't play your poor defending, good hitting player in the field.  It will cost you in the defense category and you will have to decide if it is worth it to your team.  

 

Pitchers dont even hit in college these days, and not in the minors.

I think with the amount of money spent on pitchers, and how fragile they can be. Not sure, I want a pitcher batting and running the bases.

 

[DrungoHazewood]

2 hours ago, Redskins Rick said:

I am even less a fan of MLB trying to manage the game through stupid rules.

My #1 complaint about Major League Baseball is that the powers-that-be let blatantly obvious problems fester for years or even decades because they don't want to touch the rules.  They treat the rules like they were handed down to Moses on stone tablets, instead of thrown together by guys attempting to invent a viable form of money-making entertainment in the 19th century.

They let the game evolve in crazy ways, like nine strikeouts per nine and four-hour games, they do nothing, and their response is "the RFer standing around picking daisies is a feature, not a bug!"

[DrungoHazewood]

22 minutes ago, atomic said:

They should eliminate the DH.  If you aren't good enough to play the field you shouldn't be playing the game.  

I think they should have 12-man rosters.  If you're not good enough to pitch and play a position and hit you shouldn't be playing the game.

[atomic]

10 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

My #1 complaint about Major League Baseball is that the powers-that-be let blatantly obvious problems fester for years or even decades because they don't want to touch the rules.  They treat the rules like they were handed down to Moses on stone tablets, instead of thrown together by guys attempting to invent a viable form of money-making entertainment in the 19th century.

 They let the game evolve in crazy ways, like nine strikeouts per nine and four-hour games, they do nothing, and their response is "the RFer standing around picking daisies is a feature, not a bug!"

Exactly.  I for one enjoyed the games when starters regularly threw complete games more than when each team put 6 pitchers in a game.  Now you have the Rays having starters go one inning.  And you have guys striking out 200 times a season.  

I would rather just see the players play the game.  Another change I would like to see is the manager not allowed on the field.  There is no reason for a manager to come out for a pitching change.  Or to have breaks for mound discussions with a pitching coach. If a player is out of gas he can signal the dugout.  

They have waited too long to make changes and if they don't make some soon the game will continue to lose fans.  

[Beef Supreme]

2 hours ago, Redskins Rick said:

I think its ludicrous to have the DH in only the AL.

 

I like the set-up as it is currently so that fans who like the DH can enjoy the game as well as fans who like to have pitchers hitting.

Vive la difference!

[atomic]

12 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

I think they should have 12-man rosters.  If you're not good enough to pitch and play a position and hit you shouldn't be playing the game.

It would be interesting.  At least baseball isn't specialized as football. You would think one player would be able to both punt and kick field goals.  

[Number5]

2 hours ago, Diehard_O's_Fan said:

I absolutely love the thought of having a DH in the National League. That sure would make inter league play more fair for American League teams. 

This is more easily resolved by eliminating interleague play.  The novelty of that has worn off, anyway.  Why not go back to having fair and balanced schedules?

[DrungoHazewood]

17 minutes ago, atomic said:

 There are some good hitting pitchers. 

Where?  Since 2000 there are five pitchers (min 100 PAs) with a career OPS better than Mark Belanger.  Brandon Backe and Brian Bohanan barely cleared the 100 PA minimum.  Mike Hampton got most of his ABs in pre-humidor Colorado, and Dontrelle Willis and Carlos Zambrano had .650ish OPSes and 10:1 K:BB ratios.  You can round off the number of good hitting pitchers who'd qualify as good at any other position to zero.

The DH exists mainly because pitchers hitting are several orders of magnitude worse than any other position hitting. On a scale where 100 is average the 10 positions are something like 112, 109, 107, 102, 100, 99, 97, 92, 89, 28.

[Beef Supreme]

Just now, Beef Supreme said:

I like the set-up as it is currently so that fans who like the DH can enjoy the game as well as fans who like to have pitchers hitting.

Vive la difference!

But the implementation of a universal DH has seemed inevitable for some time now.

[atomic]

8 minutes ago, Number5 said:

This is more easily resolved by eliminating interleague play.  The novelty of that has worn off, anyway.  Why not go back to having fair and balanced schedules?

Yeah I agree.  

[atomic]

9 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Where?  Since 2000 there are five pitchers (min 100 PAs) with a career OPS better than Mark Belanger.  Brandon Backe and Brian Bohanan barely cleared the 100 PA minimum.  Mike Hampton got most of his ABs in pre-humidor Colorado, and Dontrelle Willis and Carlos Zambrano had .650ish OPSes and 10:1 K:BB ratios.  You can round off the number of good hitting pitchers who'd qualify as good at any other position to zero.

The DH exists mainly because pitchers hitting are several orders of magnitude worse than any other position hitting. On a scale where 100 is average the 10 positions are something like 112, 109, 107, 102, 100, 99, 97, 92, 89, 28.

Ohtani seems to hit pretty well. 

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, atomic said:

Yeah I am against outlawing the shift.  The guys bothered by the shift are the same guys who make the game incredibly boring.  These are the same guys who strike out close to 200 times a season.

One change that would make the game a lot more interesting but would never happen.  Make it a foul ball when you hit the ball over the fence in fair territory.  No more home runs.  It would eliminate guys like Trumbo and Davis.  And you would have more hits and less strike outs. Like I said they would never let that happen but really there should be some way to get rid of the guys who strike out constantly have no speed and try for a home run at every at bat. I think WAR over values such players and I think analytic departments are getting wise to the overvaluation of them. 

Unfortunately, I think you’re way off base there.   There’s a reason why hitters are opting to try to increase the launch angle on their swings, which leads to more extra base hits and more strikeouts.   It’s because analytics are telling them this is the way to go.   

That said, I see the Astros had the second fewest strikeouts in the AL last year, so perhaps that means Elias will value guys who make contact.   

[DrungoHazewood]

3 hours ago, Frobby said:

I kind’ve like the three batter rule.   I’m not a fan of multiple pitcher changes during an inning.   As a fan that’s extremely boring, and it allows for over-specialization.   So yeah it would change the game, but I’d like that change.   

I think that the three batter rule is okay.  But I'd rather they just reduce the number of pitchers allowed on the roster (over a number of years) to eight or nine.  You'd have to structure the rule to avoid cheating, and not allow sending guys down to AAA every three days.  But if you could stay to the spirit of the rule you'd both eliminate LOOGYs, and force starters to go longer.  Might bring back the four-man rotation.  And it would stunt the trend towards 100% max effort pitching, possibly reducing injuries.

You'd probably have to unjuice the ball at the same time.

[Beef Supreme]

1 hour ago, atomic said:

Nope.  They just have to make an effort to win more games.  Why reward a team for being the worst team in the league?  The Orioles should be working to win more games this season. If they don't want to spend the money to improve their team than they should not be rewarded with the top pick two years in a row.  Finishing last should not be a goal of anyone. It is poor sportsmanship and ruins the integrity of the game. 

Oh, yeah, that's all. Just make an effort. And then win! They should have tried that approach last Spring.