January 7, 2025
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This week we asked our writers the following:
If you could change one rule about baseball, what would it be?
Here are their responses:
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Ed Botti - Tough to narrow it down to just one change, because in the last 3 years or so , the commissioner made changes that I would reverse.
The Ghost Runner is a joke at the MLB level. I’d throw that away immediately.
3 batter minimum pitcher rule should also be canned ASAP
The two pickoff throw attempts rule would also get thrown in those very same garbage cans the Astros used to win a World Series.
As far as non-Manfred alterations, I would rid the teams the opportunity to take advantage of the system, and put a 10%/60 month cap on any Salary Deferment.
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Paul Semendinger - There's much I'd change, but of all the bad rules, I dislike the ghost runner the most. I'd get rid of pretend runners immediately.
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Cary Greene - If I could change one rule about baseball, I would like to see MLB do away with the automatic runner on second base rule pertaining to extra inning games. Granted, games dragging on into the wee hours of the morning aren't fun, but I'd rather see that than a free pass x 2. A compromise might be to play 3 innings with no gift runners, then if necessary, play 3 innings with a runner on first base and then, 3 more innings with a runner on second base --or-- just call it a tie after 9-innings.
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Derek McAdam - I’m not a huge fan of the disengagement rule for pitchers. I don’t think it takes away too much time if they’re throwing over 4-5 times per at bat for a certain player. And after all, not every base runner is going to get the same treatment. And very rarely have we seen pitchers pick off the base runner on the third attempt. I get the idea is to speed the game up some, but I don’t think this has done a great job of accomplishing that goal.
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Tim Kabel - I would eliminate the ghost runner rule in extra innings. I think it’s contrived and not part of the game. It doesn’t fit well and is unnecessary. I know the games might be a little longer but, that’s one of the beautiful things about baseball. There is no clock and it goes along and its own pace.
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Ethan Semendinger - I only have one thing to say: NO MORE GHOST RUNNERS!
Thank you for your time.
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Andy Singer - It's a tough one for me. I really hate two rules: the limit on pitcher disengagements from the rubber and the ghost runner. If I were forced to pick just one, I'd have to go with the ghost runner in extra innings. I know the players love it, because it leads to shorter games in the regular season, but it has to go.
There's just something totally anti-baseball about a ghost runner at the MLB level. I know there are those who claim that it creates new strategy avenues, but I don't see it that way. The only real strategy is to bunt the runner to 3rd and hope for a sac fly, or swing away with the middle of the order, depending on where you are in the lineup. It's boring and an affront to traditional baseball. I don't see it going anywhere, but I really can't stand that rule.
And teachers
And principals
And....
But we don't generate millions of dollars...
I say, I gotta agree with Ed on all of his picks. But I would also want to give a pitcher a time out or 2 per inning. A batter can get a money to collect himself, but a pitcher can't?
Baseball purists HATE the Ghost runner, however it creates excitement in extra innings...It's the baseball version of "sudden death." As noted above the playoff system needs to be revisited
Get rid of the ghost runner. It's a total abomination.
Off topic - captchas to log in? They're as annoying as the ghost runner rule. I'm not interested in training some one's AI model.
Ghost runner goes without saying. I would suggest a hard limit (20%?) on the amount of a contract that can be deferred, and a limit on the number of deferral years. Let's squash the salary toothpaste back into the tube.
I would also seriously look into league realignments/expansion to reduce ridiculous travel and eliminate interleague play. Who cares about Seattle playing the Cardinals? (And if that helps to clean up the playoffs to prevent week-long idleness for bye teams, so be it.)