OC Register: Alexander: Does baseball need fixing? Here are some ideas

[AngelsLakersFan]

This sounds nuts, but maybe they should consider changing the distance between bases from 90 feet to something like 88 feet.

This will drastically increase the value of putting the ball in play, while also making base running skills great again. 

 

[AngelsLakersFan]

I really don't want to see the DH in both leagues. I'm not a big fan of watching pitchers bat, but I do like the strategy it adds to NL games and the value it brings to bench players, which are generally useless in the AL.

Rather than putting the DH in both leagues I think they should abolish it and replace it with some sort of single player elimination substation rule where the manager can return either player back to the field after a pinch hit / run / defensive substitution. So when the pitcher comes up to bat, he can be pinch hit for and still return to the mound the next inning. Alternatively the same batter could be used to pinch hit multiple times as long as the pitcher or position player was replaced.

[BackUpTheTruck]

5 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

I really don't want to see the DH in both leagues. I'm not a big fan of watching pitchers bat, but I do like the strategy it adds to NL games and the value it brings to bench players, which are generally useless in the AL.

Rather than putting the DH in both leagues I think they should abolish it and replace it with some sort of single player elimination substation rule where the manager can return either player back to the field after a pinch hit / run / defensive substitution. So when the pitcher comes up to bat, he can be pinch hit for and still return to the mound the next inning. Alternatively the same batter could be used to pinch hit multiple times as long as the pitcher or position player was replaced.

Instead of DH/no DH, maybe there should just be 8 players in the batting order.

[BackUpTheTruck]

If baseball were like football, you would have 9 defensive specialists, and 9 designated hitters.

To take it a step further, you can have pinch runners anytime a DH reaches base.

[AngelsLakersFan]

6 minutes ago, BackUpTheTruck said:

Instead of DH/no DH, maybe there should just be 8 players in the batting order.

That was my other suggestion

[Tank]

1 hour ago, BackUpTheTruck said:

Instead of DH/no DH, maybe there should just be 8 players in the batting order.

Hmm,  intriguing idea. 

More ABs for Trout, Stanton, Judge, et al.

 

[kevinb]

2 hours ago, BackUpTheTruck said:

Personally, I think baseball is doing just fine. Just get rid of the blackouts, and make MLB.tv free w/ ads, pay for ad-free. The condensed games they have now are great, they only take 10 minutes to watch.

I think basketball has more problems. The foul calls are ridiculous, and watching the end of the fourth quarter feels like slow death.

Baseball is nationally not very relevant. Playoff ratings show that. Baseballs attendance is down 7-10% from last year. Baseball is not dead but it’s not in a great spot either. 

[floplag]

12 hours ago, stormngt said:

From the tv vantage that I view the pitchers use both sides of the plate.  

Yes, but often those are missed pitches.  If you are playing a RH batter to pull you arent going outside, unless you feel he cant hit that pitch.  If its a guy that uses the whole field he will burn your shift and you let him do it.  
Its a multi-factored thing.  Not hitting to all fields is part of it, the shifts are part of it, pitchers hitting their spots... but then thats always been the case.   its batter laziness that has most directly led to the extreme shifts though and the loss of so-called small ball in general.

[zenmaster]

Go Pro devices mounted on every players head. That should make for some fun TV watching. (if we can see it on TV)

[ScottT]

• Fix the nonsense regarding expanded rosters in September.  Choose 25 active per game.  Something else. Anything else.  
• Make changes to ensure teams are promoting their best players.  See Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 
• Change the rules regarding player options.  I'd rather not see players shuttled between AAA and MLB more than five or six times.  

[stormngt]

On 8/2/2018 at 12:16 PM, Barrett said:

Another thing they need to do is shorten the season, and start the season sooner, cut down spring training by half. By the time the NFL is here baseball is third fiddle and is barely seen. Even the WS gets less attention than a random Sunday NFL or College game. I would like to see baseball playoffs end by early October/late September.

That's all we need.  More east coast and midwest games cancelled because of weather

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

On 8/2/2018 at 11:44 AM, Scotty@AW said:

1. Put a hard cap and floor on salary. It's always the Red Sox and Yankees. It'll likely be the Astros, Cubs and Dodgers for at least the next decade. This sport needs more variance. Make it more fair.

How would that work exactly. Top players are already making big bucks leaving their teams with a high payroll. If they make a hard cap on salaries they would either have to set the upper limit somewhere near the where the luxury limit is now, or grandfather in the salaries until the higher priced player's contracts run out. Either way the player's union is just too strong and it will never happen.

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

On 8/2/2018 at 10:50 PM, Tank said:

Hmm,  intriguing idea. 

More ABs for Trout, Stanton, Judge, et al.

 

Ohtani, JD Martinez, and Kris Davis would have to play a position. David Ortiz would have had to retire years earlier. I like the DH.

[kevinb]

5 hours ago, stormngt said:

That's all we need.  More east coast and midwest games cancelled because of weather

Start the season later and end it sooner. Make it a 3-4 month season instead of 6. Baseball would own the summer and end the season late September or early October. We don't need 30 plus games of spring training.

[Stradling]

3 hours ago, Kevinb said:

Start the season later and end it sooner. Make it a 3-4 month season instead of 6. Baseball would own the summer and end the season late September or early October. We don't need 30 plus games of spring training.

The players aren’t going to go for less days off during the season and the owners aren’t going to go for eliminating 50 games.   So that won’t work.  

[Second Base]

10 hours ago, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

How would that work exactly. Top players are already making big bucks leaving their teams with a high payroll. If they make a hard cap on salaries they would either have to set the upper limit somewhere near the where the luxury limit is now, or grandfather in the salaries until the higher priced player's contracts run out. Either way the player's union is just too strong and it will never happen.

Players Union is WAY too strong for that to happen.  It was just dreaming, but the way I imagine such an implementation would likely have to be done over a five year period, giving teams necessary time to plan and deploy resources accordingly, while also giving mega-contracts time to expire. 

[kevinb]

3 hours ago, Stradling said:

The players aren’t going to go for less days off during the season and the owners aren’t going to go for eliminating 50 games.   So that won’t work.  

The question wasn't what would work. The question was how would you fix baseball. That is how I would fix baseball. The seasons too long. I would also change the divisions so that west coast teams were all in one division east coast teams in one division example: Dodgers Angels Padres Giants A's all in the same division.

[Lou]

1. merge the Yankees and the Red Sox 

2. buy beer 

3. sit back and watch their fans go apeshit 

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

3 hours ago, Kevinb said:

The question wasn't what would work. The question was how would you fix baseball. That is how I would fix baseball. The seasons too long. I would also change the divisions so that west coast teams were all in one division east coast teams in one division example: Dodgers Angels Padres Giants A's all in the same division.

The season isn't too long for me. In fact I get restless in December/January time frame just wishing spring training would start already...