MLB Agrees to New CBA

[saevel25]

To those who care, the MLB has a new CBA. 

The National League now has a DH. I for one thought that either both leagues should have a DH or both leagues should have the pitchers hit. I did not have a preference either way, but I thought rules should be applied uniformly across MLB. 

The "Ghost Runner" rule was done away with. Which, I like. The Ghost Runner rule was stupid. 

Playoffs will be expanded to 12-teams. There will be three division winners and three wild card games for each league. Two division winners in each league, with the best record will have a first round bye. The first round will be a three game series. After the first round the format will resemble what has been used in previous years. Best of five until the World Series which is a best of seven. 

The commissioner can implement rule changes with 45 days notice, which include increasing the base size, defensive shift rules, and implementing a pitch clock. 

I don't mind a pitch clock. It works fine in the minors. I would be for banning a shift. Though, Fangraphs looked at how banning the shift will not be that big of an influence. 

What Banning the Shift Does And Does Not Accomplish

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Rob Manfred and co. want the shift gone, but what are they getting out of it?

The larger bases would be for player safety, less likely to have a player step on another player. 

In 2023, the schedule changes will be that each teams plays at least one series against all other MLB teams. There are a few roster rules as well. 

Here is a summary, 

MLB’s new extra innings rules, doubleheader rules, universal DH - The Washington Post

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Major League Baseball’s new collective bargaining agreement contains several rules changes.

 

[boogielicious]

I’m looking forward to the changes. I like the play all teams approach too. 19 games against the division opponent is too much.

[Golfingdad]

I also look forward to the changes.  I used to be against to DH, but I've long since gotten over that - pitchers hitting is just dumb.

I also originally thought banning the shift would be lame, or at least unenforceable, but I'm for it now.  They still haven't said how they'd do it exactly, so I'm still curious.  I've heard some logical assumptions that they'd A) require 3 players be on each side of 2B or B) require infielders to stay on the dirt or perhaps both?  I don't know, but I'm all for trying stuff out.  Even if Matt's article claims that overall things wouldn't change much, it would still be nice for lefty's to be able to hit solid singles to right field without the risk of the 3rd baseman throwing him out at first base.

And I like the bigger bases too, and think that in addition to the safety thing, it could also help with a minor uptick in offense and stolen bases in particular.  Considering how many bang bang plays there already are, shortening the batters running distance by 3" and the runners distances to 2nd and 3rd by 6" can only tip things in their favor, even if marginal.

But, mostly, I'm just excited baseball is back!

[mcanadiens]

26 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

They still haven't said how they'd do it exactly, so I'm still curious.

They are going to slap these bad boys down on the field. 

[iacas]

Disappointed there's still no salary cap/floor. MLB will continue to be a joke until that's implemented.

[Vinsk]

11 hours ago, boogielicious said:

I’m looking forward to the changes. I like the play all teams approach too. 19 games against the division opponent is too much.

When it comes to baseball games, too much , is not a phrase to be used. You risk being exiled. 

[boogielicious]

7 hours ago, Vinsk said:

When it comes to baseball games, too much , is not a phrase to be used. You risk being exiled. 

I grew up in the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry. It was a bit deal until the Sox beat them in ‘04 and won three more. Now it has lost its luster. MLB keeps pushing it, but frankly I’d like to see more teams play. Heck, when Papi was in the hospital, half the Yankees team came up to see him. They’re all good friends. Not much of a rivalry anymore.