I dont think expansion is the issue' date=' you have had 4 expansion teams in 24 years. Of which all 4 of them have been to the world series, 2 of which have won a world series, one team twice.[/quote']

 

That has nothing to do with the fact that the talent level has been watered down over the years.

Remember the OP: "Radical Idea"

 

I'm largely OK w/ baseball as it is, but I am likely in the minority and aging out of the demographic baseball needs to keep engaged. They are using a "shot clock" for pitchers in minor league games now. There are rules about whether a batter can step out of the box if he didn't swing at the prior pitch. There are basically no bench clearing brawls in the minor leagues due to automatic and stiff suspensions. All of these rules would have been considered "blasphemy" by baseball purists a few short years ago. The minor leagues are a great incubator to test some radical ideas and see how they work out.

 

There was a brawl Monday in the minors.

 

But I did see a pitch clock and I do think batters don't need to step out every pitch unless they are getting signs from a coach.

Here are some ideas: contract MLB to 28 teams, but add 2 roster spots to each team (27 players). This increases total MLB players to 756 from 750. Players union is happy. Go back to 4 divisions of 7. NL East and West and AL East and West. I will use NL East as my example. Play 6 other teams in division 12 times (72 games). Play 7 other teams in NL 6 times each (42 games). 1st year all NL East teams play AL EAST teams on the road 3 games (21 games) and all AL West teams at home (21 games). Total games played is 156. Each team loses revenue from 3 home games but overall revenue only has to be shared by 28 teams. Should balance out. Also, increase rounds of playoffs like this using NL as example. NL-E 1 vs NL-W 4

NL-E 2 vs NL W 3

NL-W 2 vs NL- E 3

NL-W 1 vs NL - E 4

Best of 3 at higher seed

 

Then down to 4 teams best of 5

Then NL Championship series best of 7. More playoffs means more money for owners. There happy.

Also, when Interleague play happens you use the DH rule of visiting team. That way I can see the visitors like they are most of the time. THOUGHTS?

Fix baseball? Same way you fix all other sports. Pay the athlete for what they do- not what they may do in the future or have done in the past. Pay for performance. You'd see a lot more guys bunting if they were paid by the hit. You'd also see guys run out ground balls for the same reason. If you got docked for an error, that guy might take some extra ground balls at practice the next day.

Fix baseball? Same way you fix all other sports. Pay the athlete for what they do- not what they may do in the future or have done in the past. Pay for performance. You'd see a lot more guys bunting if they were paid by the hit. You'd also see guys run out ground balls for the same reason. If you got docked for an error, that guy might take some extra ground balls at practice the next day.

 

Am I the only guy old enough to believe that "kangaroo court" took care of some of this stuff?

Am I the only guy old enough to believe that "kangaroo court" took care of some of this stuff?

 

Nope. I think it did. However, how many times to you want to watch a 35 year old with 12 years of service ground to the SS and trot to first. We all know he's going to be out but show some effort. For $18M I want some effort. How about the shift. How many times do we have to watch Bruce line out into the shift when he could drop down a bunt to third and stroll into 2nd? Wouldn't a runner on 2nd be more beneficial to the team than a GO to 2B? If you've got enough service time and make enough $ what's the incentive to play 'team' ball?

Make some of these changes strategic:

 

1 - after 2 strikes, you get 2 more foul balls. On the 3rd foul ball, you're out.

2 - after 2/3 pickoff moves in any AB, another pickoff move counts as a ball on the batter (you can still do it, but there is a cost)

3 - give each manager up to 3 innings (2 of which must be used before the 8th) where they declare a "1-1" count. All / 1st 3 batters of that inning start with a 1-1 count. Advantage is to the pitcher and keeps game moving.

4 - give each manager up to 2 innings (1 of which must be used before the 8th) where they get to start the inning with the runner that made the last out of the prior inning on 2nd base.

5 - make all bases like 1B where overruns are allowed without jeopardy of being put out unless you make an attempt to go to the next base. (The speed of current runners like Hamilton makes it almost impossible to stop.) Would increase SB attempts, I think.

 

Just some thoughts that are worth exploring in lower leagues to see if it improves pace of play. My contention throughout has been that length of games is an imprecise measure. Reduce the dead time and keep things moving.

 

I guess next you'll want them to switch to big, bright fluorescent yellow balls too.

Baseball is fine other than the economic setup. It is now a localized sport like it or not. When the Yankees, Red Sox or Dodgers do well it helps become more of a national draw. Probably Cubs as well.

When you play 162 games in a year, most people who are not die hard fans will not focus that long on what's happening. Football is great because of the pace but what really helps is playing once a week. There's time for a buildup. Watch ESPN and see how it's so overhyped it's almost not worth watching.

MLB is not changing much nor should it. It's a mentally tough game to play and there will be stinkers once in a while. The sport has been bypassed nationally by football and the NBA and soccer soon if not already. Doesn't mean it's not enjoyable. If it's not your cup of tea, fine, watch what you like.