FWIW New Rules

[raflahie]

MLB, ALPB REVEAL RULE CHANGES

(March 8, 2019) - Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) announced today the experimental playing rules and equipment that will be in place during the 2019 Atlantic League Championship Season. The list of changes is as follows:

• Home plate umpire assisted in calling balls and strikes by a TrackMan radar tracking system
• No mound visits permitted by players or coaches other than for pitching changes or medical issues
• Pitchers must face a minimum of three batters, or reach the end of an inning before they exit the game, unless the pitcher becomes injured
• Increase size of 1st, 2nd and 3rd base from 15 inches square to 18 inches square
• Require two infielders to be on each side of second base when a pitch is released (if not, the ball is dead and the umpire shall call a ball)
• Time between innings and pitching changes reduced from 2:05 to 1:45
• Distance from pitching rubber to home plate extended 24 inches, in the second half of the season only; with no change to mound height or slope

MLB will analyze the effects of these changes before deciding on potential additional modifications during the 2019 ALPB All-Star Break and in future seasons.

“This first group of experimental changes is designed to create more balls in play, defensive action, baserunning, and improve player safety,” said Morgan Sword, MLB’s Senior Vice President, League Economics & Operations. “We look forward to seeing them in action in the Atlantic League.”

“Players sign in the Atlantic League for the Major League Baseball showcase opportunity it offers,” said Rick White, ALPB President. “We are excited to see that showcase grow exponentially, while working with MLB on initiatives critical to the future of the game.”

The experimental playing rule and equipment changes are part of a new three-year agreement between MLB and ALPB. The agreement covers the transfer of players from ALPB to MLB and enhances MLB’s scouting coverage of ALPB games. MLB will provide statistical and radar tracking data from ALPB games to MLB Clubs.

[Reed]

Seems like the catcher should be able to go to mound to check signals etc..
Sounds like trying to get rid of infield shift instead of making batters better hitters.
3 batter minimum sounds excessive. I would be ok with 2 batter minimum.
It will be interesting.

[mitchkenn]

i personally hate the shift. what i hate more is batters too stubborn, or stupid to learn to go the other way.

no mound visits i can live with. Pitchers and catchers can get their signs straight in the dugout.

i'm not in love with robo umps, but - with so many calls missed these days, i feel it might be time to make the strike zone the strike zone and not each umpire having his own variant of it.

but they are all just experiments right now and my guess is nothing will be done until they reopen or renegotiate the Collective Bargain Agreement. So as of now, it's just a testing ground. (But so was the DH in the minors once upon a time just a test.......)

[kq76]

I'm curious why they are increasing the size of the bases. To make them easier to see or touch? Was there a problem before?

I like the decrease in time between innings and pitching changes!

I don't mind the 2 fielders on either side of 2nd base. I heard it proposed before and I thought it was okay then. I agree, batters should learn how to go the other way, but I don't dislike this rule either.

I don't like any of the other changes.

[rudel.dietrich]

Originally Posted by kq76

I'm curious why they are increasing the size of the bases. To make them easier to see or touch? Was there a problem before?

An attempt to increase player safety and reduce player injury.
When data was looked at it was found that smaller bases meant players came within closer proximity to one another and chances of collisions were higher. Also when sliding it is thought that a larger base may cause fewer hand and wrist injuries.

Hopefully this study will pan out and we will see fewer base path related injuries.

[kq76]

Ahh, ok. It makes sense I suppose. I can kind of see how, as a baserunner, not so much reaching for the side of the base closest to you, but to the side farthest from the fielder could help prevent injuries.

[rudel.dietrich]

Originally Posted by kq76

Ahh, ok. It makes sense I suppose. I can kind of see how, as a baserunner, not so much reaching for the side of the base closest to you, but to the side farthest from the fielder could help prevent injuries.

Also incidents at first base where 1B or Pitcher who fields the balls hits knee on knee with the base runner.
Or one of the other accidentally stepping on one another.
It has happened before but the most famous example I can think of was a few year ago when Tim Hudson was with the Braves and covered 1B and got the throw and the runner accidentally stepped on and broke his ankle and ended his season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9WIUVebPf8


The thinking is that making the bases bigger all around would make this less likely and lead to less injuries.

[Westheim]

I am violently opposed to any and all of these.

[Whoofe]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/...vBw?ocid=ientp

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Major League Baseball and the players’ union are expected to announce Thursday a series of procedural changes, including roster size and trading deadlines, the creation of a joint committee that will consider future on- and off-field modifications to the game and a commitment this summer to address the players’ lingering economic and competitive concerns.

The Players Association and MLB are expected to announce they have agreed, in 2020, to:
Roster expansion by one to 26, including a maximum 13 pitchers, in the regular and postseasons. After Aug. 31, rosters may grow to as many as 28, with a maximum of 14 pitchers. Previously, September rosters were allowed 40 players. The larger roster creates 30 major league jobs.

Increasing the injured list and option-recall duration for pitchers from 10 to 15 days.

The shortening of between-inning breaks at Major League Baseball’s discretion.

Extra innings of the All-Star Game would begin with a runner at second base.


The union rejected an MLB proposal that would make it mandatory for pitchers to face a minimum of three batters. MLB has the authority to impose the rule in 2020, and union officials believe that is likely. As part of the recent negotiations, MLB did agree to postpone implementation of a pitch clock for at least two seasons.

Also, MLB and the union agreed to a single summer non-waiver trading deadline -- July 31 -- and eliminated the Aug. 31 waiver deadline, beginning this season. The union believed late-season trades diminished the relevance of the season’s first four months.

[Jason Moyer]

20 years too late on some of these (the ones related to pace of play), but I guess that's baseball. Sometimes you have to change some things when the natural strategies of the game start working against it as a form of entertainment.

[Galeg]

I'm not sure how much useful data they will get by making all of these changes at once.

[Le Grande Orange]

The official version of the changes: Rule changes coming this year and next. From the article:

CHANGES EFFECTIVE IN 2019

Inning breaks: Subject to discussions with broadcast partners, inning breaks will be reduced from 2:05 to 2:00 in local games and from 2:25 to 2:00 in national games. The Commissioner’s Office retains the right to further reduce the breaks to 1:55 in local and national games for the start of the 2020 season.

Trade Deadline: The August waiver trade period will be eliminated. The July 31 Trade Deadline will be the only deadline. Players may still be placed and claimed on outright waivers after July 31, but trades will no longer be permitted after that date.

All-Star Game: Fan voting will be conducted in two rounds -- a “primary round” that mirrors the All-Star voting of old, followed in late June or early July by an “Election Day” in which the top three vote-getters at each position in each league during the primaries will be voted on by fans in a prescribed time period to determine the All-Star starters. As far as the game itself is concerned, the 10th inning -- and all subsequent innings -- of All-Star Games that go into extra innings will begin with a runner on second base.

Home Run Derby: Total player prize money for the Home Run Derby will be increased to $2.5 million. The winner of the Home Run Derby will receive $1 million.

Mound visits: The maximum number of mound visits per team will be reduced from six to five per game. MLB had instituted an initial mound-visit limitation prior to the 2018 season.

CHANGES EFFECTIVE IN 2020

Active roster provisions: The roster size from Opening Day through Aug. 31 will increase from 25 to 26 (with the minimum number of active players rising from 24 to 25, and roster sizes for doubleheaders rising from 26 to 27). The 40-man active roster for September will be eliminated. From Sept. 1 through the end of the regular season, all clubs will carry 28 players.

Furthermore, the number of pitchers a club can carry on the active roster will be capped at a certain number, to be decided [later].... To adhere to that rule, clubs will have to designate each of their players as either a pitcher or a position player prior to each player’s first day on the active roster for a given season. That designation cannot change for the remainder of the season. [Article provides details on the restrictions involving when a position player can pitch in a game.]

Three-batter minimum for pitchers: Rule 5.10(g) will be amended to require that starting pitchers and relief pitchers must pitch to either a minimum of three batters or to the end of a half-inning, with exceptions for incapacitating injury or illness.

Injured list: The minimum time a player spends on the injured list will be increased back to 15 days from 10, and the minimum assignment period of pitchers who are optionally assigned to the minors will increase from 10 days to 15. MLB had reduced the minimum injured list period to 10 days prior to the 2017 season to reduce the incentive for teams to play shorthanded or for players having to play at less than full strength. However, teams manipulated the rule change to rotate relievers on and off their active rosters, thereby maintaining a full stash of rested arms, which resulted in more pitching changes.

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The change in the minimum stay required by a player on option is interesting. It's the first change in that rule since it was adopted in the early 1950s. Now there'll be players having to stay on option for 10 days while others have to stay for 15 days. I wonder how that is going to affect option years.

Under previous rules, a player on option for 19 days or less is not charged an option year. In other words, two full stints on option would equal 20 days, given the prior minimum stay requirement, and thus use up an option year. But now there are 15-day minimum stays for pitchers. Does that mean pitchers can now stay up to 29 days in the minors without using an option year, in order to equal the previous two full stints equaling an option year? Or is the 20-day rule still in effect, meaning one full stint and a partial second stint will equal an option year for pitchers?

It's interesting as well to note the expanded active roster size for (some) doubleheaders is being retained even though the active roster size will be increasing by one.

[Westheim]

With the game spoiled and stained with the 3-batter rule, I am just glad that I can forever merrily play on in the proper way in OOTP 16...