11/4/19

Baseball Rules I'd Like to See Changed - A Repost: Tom Brennan


BASEBALL RULES I'D LIKE TO SEE CHANGED

I wrote this article in 2018, and thought I'd repost it.

Yes, one of the rules I wanted to see changed in the article below will be implemented in 2020.  

What do you think about the others I've listed?

And what rules not discussed here would you like to see changed?


Baseball is a game designed with genius, and has many rules established to make it a lasting and cherished game to millions.

Some rule changes could make it better, in my opinion.  Here are mine:

1) 40 MAN ROSTER RULE SHOULD BE CHANGED

Jack Reinheimer gets called up, Peter Alonso does not...which of course makes no sense at all, talent-and-performance-wise.  Peter has over 30 homers and leads all of baseball, majors and minors, in RBIs.

We hear that Peter won't be added to the team in September because he'd have to be added to the 40 man roster.  I say he is being discriminated against.  

I say, why not suspend the 40 man roster rule as it pertains to September call ups, allowing a team to increase its September roster to a maximum of, let's say, 35.  That would allow Peter to be called up.  

That would allow a player like Patrick Kivlehan to be called up, too.

Kivlehan gets no ink here, or elsewhere, because he is not on the 40 man roster and is unlikely to be added to it.  Yet, the 28 year old has had 199 major league at bats in 2016 and 2017, hitting just .203, but with 10 homers and 28 RBIs. 
 
In his last 10 AAA games, he is 15 for 38 with 7 homers and 15 RBIs.  Wouldn't it be nice if a guy like this, hitting .304 in 87 games for Las Vegas, could get called up and get another chance to show he is more than a journeyman in September?

(FWIW, Kivlehan hit 32 minor league HRs in 125 games in 2019, but did not get called up in 2019).

Oh, but Peter Alonso would not be called up anyway because that would "start his clock."  So...

2) PLAYER CLOCK RULES SHOULD BE CHANGED

If an Alonso is called up in September, change the rule that it will NOT affect his time on the so-called "clock".  It is another arbitrary hindrance.  

What do you think, if someone went to Alonso and said, "buddy, you have a choice...we can not change the "40 man and clock" rules and leave you in the minors, or change them (as Tom Brennan suggests) and have you come up for September".  

What choice do you think he, or anyone in his shoes, would happily make?

I know the fans would love to see him, fully ready or not.


3) YEARS TO FREE AGENCY RULE

Pitchers like Matt Harvey or Jake deGrom play Russian Roulette every time they pitch - will they stay healthy, or have a career-damaging injury on their next pitch?  

I would advocate that pitchers get to free agency a year earlier for that reason.  Hitters can get hurt too but not, in most cases, as suddenly and impactfully and catastrophically as a pitcher can.  

So I would shorten pitchers up to free agency by a year.

Hurts the teams somewhat, but it is the right thing to do for them.  Jake makes nowhere near as much as his peer, Max Scherzer, because of these rules.  Change it.


4) INCREASE ROSTER TO 26 PLAYERS

Back when I was a teenager in the 1960's, teams had 10 pitchers and 15 position players.  Now, it's 12 and 13.  That's 2 less position players, if 15 minus 13 is tough to calculate in your head - just here to help.

So, hitters like a Kivlehan or a Luis Guillorme get relatively less opportunity to make teams for any meaningful amount of playing time than in days gone by.  One more player on each team would drastically increase a team's in-game versatility. 

For instance, you want to carry 3 catchers?  Go ahead.  I think it would add to the game.


5) DITCH THE SHIFT

Jay Bruce moaned earlier this year about it being a fact that with the shift, almost any hard hit ball to the right side not in the air is an out for him.  Some say, "learn to hit to all fields like a Jeff McNeil then."  

Good for Jeff, not good for a Jay Bruce. I say the shift's thievery robs guys of their strengths - I don't want a Jay Bruce to have to alter his power game just to try to thwart a shift.

Make it so that when Jay is up, the shortstop must remain left of 2nd base until the pitch has reached the hitter.  And when a righty is up, no 3 man shifts on the left side.

I'll bet that will boost teams' major league averages by 10-15 points.  Right now, no team is hitting .270, and only 2 above .260.  That's 2 out of 30 teams above .260.  That stinks. 

Change the rule.

What do you think?  

Do you agree?  

Any others you would want changed?

3 comments:

Hobie said...

Two completely different rule sets, Tom: Players' Association (contract) rules, and in-game rules. The first, you have to talk to the PA about. I don't see being active and not accruing MLB time as being an acceptable choice to the players. I would mind mind seeing 25 players "dressed" for a particular gane out of 28-30 "Active." Non-dressed would probably be starting pitchers on off-days, allowing more postion players in the dugout. Not sure owners would go for that.

Don't see how you can ruglate against the shift absent marking off zones on the field for one occupant only, like the catcher's box. Max of 4 on either side of 2B I hear? OK My CF moves to a deep 2B position, LF moves just shy of 2B line extended in CF, SS plays a "Deep short" (i.e LF). And up course that CF'er was may SS last batter, they swapped positions, Jusy freaking "hit it where they ain't" and it'll be fixed.

Tom Brennan said...

Hobie the Jay Bruces of the world don't want to give up the long ball in order to try to beat shifts, so we'll have a lot of low average, high homer hitters. Which means a lot of boring at bat outs into shifts will continue.

It would be cool to see a players' poll on it, were they to ever do one.

Anonymous said...

SNY

I love SNY and I do respect their team of professional analysts and journalists a lot usually, mainly because they are outstanding. But today on their SNY website, they had an article that for once I had to disagree with.

It was a listing of "five free agent players" that the journalist felt the NYM would greatly benefit by and should go after this off season. The only player that made any sense (at all) on this list was the Mets' own pitcher Zach Wheeler. The rest of these players (Gardner, Pineda, Pomeranz...) I felt were clearly not the answer for upgrading this team because I had followed their careers and knew this about them. They were all either too old, too far down the regression racetrack, or have had injuries and/or issues that could easily repeat themselves once signed.

I said this a week ago and I still believe that it is true. There is basically almost nothing on the Free Agency List right now other than Wheeler, Cole, and Strasburg) that is still primal good enough to be a game changer here. Yes, Grandal is a nice catcher, (although I definitely prefer Wilson Ramos to him) but if Grandal is so good, then why does he bounce around so much. You would think that one of these teams would have tied him up contractually. But they have not. My question is as to why?

To me, I feel that the real key to having a highly successful 2020 NYM season may too often be overlooked by many journalists and even management people at times. For the Mets it is simply this.

Take all the really good things that we saw second halfof 2019 (after the many kid players here had made their adjustments from AAA to the bigs, and then "build upon that fine core" with the additions to the team that do not move core pitchers and players out of position or off the team. Instead strengthen the few weaknesses that need to be upgraded to make all this a true WS contending 2020 NYM team.

It literally should be that simple a thing now. We have seen that this team has the bulk of what it needs now from its young core of talented players. And it only needs a few well targeted player additions to be made to it. Namely here, two new starting fielders/hitters for third and right field (providing that Yoenis Cespedes cannot make it back in 2020), one new lefty starter (maybe like Boston's Daniel McGrath or Adrian Morejon) to go with newly re-signed Steven Matz), a somewhat stronger bench and then a new lefty closer-type reliever.

In other words here, it's possible that the Mets brass could get "too fancy" here now with its off season additions and moves of new players, and be set-back by this. It could alter unfavorably a core that really had worked very well in second half 2020.

I love what has been started here from 2019:

1B Alonso 2B McNeil/Cano SS Rosario 3B Maybe Bobby Dalbec (mainly because I think Rendon will go to the highest bidder (maybe NYY) LF JD Davis CF Nimmo RF Maybe an Austin Meadows type younger player who can hit for power and BA, C Ramos

This would be not just a solid offense, but possibly a truly great one. And its core is not 30+ year old high priced/longer term players plucked off a free agency list either.

Certainly a team needs veteran leadership, I concur totally with this. But the 2019 offense did not need anything more beyond catcher Wilson Ramos for this really, because its "kid core" was literally that good and that professional.

Build around what you have may be sound advice here for this team.