Changes to the IL
 

Apparently next season pitchers will return to a 15 day IL while hitters will remain at 10 days.

That's completely illogical. the 10-day DL (I know not PC) was a vast improvement that shouldn't be reversed. If anything the DL should be 5 or 7 days for both.

Apparently they think this will prevent teams from gaming the system somehow.

How were they gaming the 10-day DL?

If the moves were consistent with the rules, no gaming occurred. If the results were bad (open to interpretation) then it was a bad rule. Blame the right party.

The phrase "gaming the system" almost always means using the rules in a way in which they were not intended. Politicians "game the system" by using the rules to their advantage. To claim no "gaming" occurred if no rules were broken is a disingenuous claim.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaming_the_system

If teams were using the ten day IL in order to effectively increase the size of their pitching staff, then they were, by definition, gaming the system.

I have no idea

Teams are basically using the 10 day injured list as a way to stash a reliever who doesn't have options left when they need to rotate a fresh arm into the bullpen. This is actually a great rule change to bring back fairplay on how the IL is supposed to be used

Wonder how this will work for 2 way players?

My guess is they will allow someone like Ohtani to come off the IL after ten days but will restrict him from taking the mound for five additional days. Just a guess though.

It's not so much that it's "PC", just that it's "C". This is true of most things that are labeled "PC".

A player isn't "disabled" when they pull a hamstring, break an ankle or tear a UCL. They're injured. And people that have an actual disability can certainly play in the MLB.


As to the actual rule: A longer required IL stay incentivizes teams (and players) to ignore injuries. A shorter one allows for more gaming of the system (easier to have a guy skip one start than two).

I'd be in favor of more of a taxi squad approach and then you can do away with the IL completely.

Give a team 20ish active players per game - anyone from the 40 man roster - with a limit on the number of relievers.

Starting lineup 8 (or 9)
Bench 5 (or 4)
Starter/Follower 1
Relievers 6-8

Then, teams can switch out the starter/follower and any other players they don't want to use the next game.
Players can be moved on/off the active roster at will (no more options - this would also require changes to how service time is acquired (starting pitchers shouldn't lose service time on their rest days).
If a guy is injured, then you just leave him off the active roster until he's ok (there'd still be a 60-day IL that would function just like the current one).