Manfred Comments.

[D-train]

My point was what was he supposed to say. He is looking forward to locking the players out? You give SS crap for his milquetoast pressers

Yeah that was the least interesting of the comments for sure. Actually a bit surprised about going back to pre covid rules especially given they have been obsessed with shortening the game.

[GL_Storm]

I wouldn't mind a pitch clock to keep the Justus Sheffields of the league moving things along. And I would ban the shift probably. And stop fucking around with the ball.

[Lincoln2207]

Ban the shift, absolutely.

[D-train]

I am probably in the minority but telling defenses to play where it is less likely the ball is going to be hit just seems absurd to me. It also gives in to hitters that refuse to go the other way or bunt. Hit it where they ain't.

[ddraig]

Teach your brainless players to go the other way against the shift. Talk about a free batting average improvement!

[bhofferb]

As appealing as simply telling players to "hit it where they ain't" may be, I'm not sure it's all that simple. Most of the time going the other way is going to result in a lot of singles. Nothing wrong with singles, but it will probably take three of them to score a run. Since seemingly every pitcher out there throwing in the mid to upper 90's and having spin rates that produce breaking balls we haven't seen since our wiffle ball days, the statistically smart move is to swing as hard as you can, elevate the ball, and hope that the ball lands in the seats. End result is lots of strikeouts, most runs being scored via HRs, and an overly boring game.

So when I become Commissioner, this is what I will do:

Come up with an effective grip enhancer so pitcher's spin rates are not artificially enhanced. Make it the standard and make it a forfeit if pitchers are caught using anything else.
Ban the shift. We all know a hard hit ball up the middle should be a hit, not a routine ground out.
Move the mound back a foot or two. Slightly more reaction time for the hitter.
Make the bases slightly bigger. Stolen bases are fun.
And most importantly, limit teams to three pitchers per game. Because I'm the Commissioner and pitching changes are boring, that's why

Once we see how that works, then we can start talking about making adjustments to the actual baseball...

[ddraig]

Rather than moving the mound, which means pitchers would need to relearn how to pitch, I'd prefer they LOWER the mound again. Same motion, same velocity, but harder to get the ball where you want it.

The height of the mound has been arbitrary since standardization was introduced, but it has only been reduced once. From 15 inches to 10 inches. And it made the game more "offensive." How about we go to a seven inch height rather than 10 inches? See if that works. If it doesn't. then go to 5 inches. I think I'd rather see more scoring than less.

Oh, and one thing that wasn't mentioned in my "teach players to go the other way" comment, was that much of the result of hits into the shift are due to the placement of the ball by the pitcher. Kinda hard to go the opposite way if the ball is thrown inside on you. So, perhaps the easiest way to increase offense is to outlaw the shift. But I'd still like to see them lower the mound.

[Bil522]

At least it isn't to be as Woke as possible to the point of F-ing over Black majority Atlanta to move the AS game to the whitest MLB city in the country.

But he did move the All Star game

Hopefully he realized his mistake and is now focusing on important things that are critical for the game like avoiding a strike.

This smacked Manfred right in his racist ass.

https://youtu.be/q25YXj-PdLI

[D-train]

As appealing as simply telling players to "hit it where they ain't" may be, I'm not sure it's all that simple. Most of the time going the other way is going to result in a lot of singles. Nothing wrong with singles, but it will probably take three of them to score a run. Since seemingly every pitcher out there throwing in the mid to upper 90's and having spin rates that produce breaking balls we haven't seen since our wiffle ball days, the statistically smart move is to swing as hard as you can, elevate the ball, and hope that the ball lands in the seats. End result is lots of strikeouts, most runs being scored via HRs, and an overly boring game.

So when I become Commissioner, this is what I will do:

Come up with an effective grip enhancer so pitcher's spin rates are not artificially enhanced. Make it the standard and make it a forfeit if pitchers are caught using anything else.
Ban the shift. We all know a hard hit ball up the middle should be a hit, not a routine ground out.
Move the mound back a foot or two. Slightly more reaction time for the hitter.
Make the bases slightly bigger. Stolen bases are fun.
And most importantly, limit teams to three pitchers per game. Because I'm the Commissioner and pitching changes are boring, that's why

Once we see how that works, then we can start talking about making adjustments to the actual baseball...

Imagine a rule in football which you can only have four guys within 10 yards of the LOS or that your 4 DBs had to be at least 20 yards from the LOS when the ball is snapped. It makes no sense and enforcing it would be onerous as guys are always trying to sneak into better position as the ball is pitched. Trust me it would make a mockery of the game.

[Michael K.]

The shift hasn’t been around that long, and the game wasn’t a mockery before. It really wouldn’t be that big of a deal....right now a ball is hammered in the four hole or up the middle, and we say “damn, that would have been a hit.” When the shift isn’t on, do we say “damn, that woulda been an out”? Comparing this to football isn’t fair, in football you can’t play everyone at the LOS of scrimmage and then dictate that the other team run the ball into your defense. Playing a hitter to pull and then forcing him to pull by throwing on his hands is just that. Sure, bunt. You want Vlad Guerrero bunting?