I'm the MLB Commissioner

[Dogeshak]

5 hours ago, WSU151 said:

 

So breaking the rules, especially a rule like betting on your own team, should have no bearing on HOF status?  If so, any player that is a shoe-in for the HOF should break all the rules they possibly can.  What's it matter?  

I highly doubt a current member of the Hall of Fame would be erased from the books if people found out they broke some rule after they were done playing. For example, some crazy allegation of Griffey doing steroids ends up being true twenty years after he is inducted. Most athletes make poor choices, but to say that what Pete Rose aka Mr. Hustle did on the field has no significance compared to his off the field issues is absurd. Guy has 4256 hits.

[WSU151]

1 minute ago, dorshak said:

I highly doubt a current member of the Hall of Fame would be erased from the books if people found out they broke some rule after they were done playing. For example, some crazy allegation of Griffey doing steroids ends up being true twenty years after he is inducted. Most athletes make poor choices, but to say that what Pete Rose aka Mr. Hustle did on the field has no significance compared to his off the field issues is absurd. Guy has 4256 hits.

 

That's pretty much changing the goalposts though.  Removing someone from the HOF ex-post is different than not allowing someone in the HOF because of significant rules violations.

[Dogeshak]

3 minutes ago, WSU151 said:

 

That's pretty much changing the goalposts though.  Removing someone from the HOF ex-post is different than not allowing someone in the HOF because of significant rules violations.

Seems rather unfair to deny someone the ability to be in the HoF, yet look the other way if they were all ready inducted because of the process. But there's no crying in baseball. 

[Kramerica Industries]

The DH rules should remain the way they are forever. I suspect a large part of the reason why fans of NL teams ended up that way, or, at least, part of the reason they remain loyal to their league, is they loathe the DH, and vice versa with the AL. I'm a fan of an AL team and I live in an AL market; no kidding I'm never going to get behind disposing of the DH under the current circumstances that exist.

 

My only changes would be entirely to the playoff structure, which I've talked at serious length before:

 

A) Two divisions per league

 

B ) Entirely balanced schedules within league; I'm generally opposed to interleague play but I'm not a staunch purist, but balancing the schedules either way would be an idealistic must (CBA provisions are why the schedules became unbalanced in the first place, and I suspect that's never changing back, however)

 

C) Four top records in each league to the playoffs; this can be the two best teams in each division or three from one and only the division winner from the other; I will at least concede the division winner a spot even if it's a 1987 AL-type situation, but that said...

 

D) Home-field is determined by W-L only, regardless of divisional finish. We've seen 98-win teams have to be the road team to 90-win teams before. That's stupid. If the A's win 95 games and finish 3rd in the West, and the Jays win 92 and win the East, then haul your asses to Oakland, Jays.

 

E) Best-of-7 throughout the playoffs in all three rounds. I'm on record of preferring a smaller playoff field, but I'm compromising a bit here for reality's sake. One travel day off; it can be after Game 2 or Game 5, doesn't matter, but force the hand of depth in the playoffs and resemble the every day nature of baseball better in the season's biggest games.

 

Baseball is 162 games in 183 days and is immediately greeted by a best-of-5 chaos round; well, greeted first by a one-off wild card that, last year, featured the 2nd and 3rd best W%'s in the entire sport where-in one of them would immediately be eliminated, which is even worse, but the best-of-5 will never not be terrible. Over the last ten years, I think I remember the stat I researched being that the #1 seed in each league has been knocked out in the LDS more often than they have advanced. It's a terrible construct. Best-of-7 doesn't entirely protect against chaos, no, but it is inherently better than the best-of-5 in that department, for sure. I'd even be on record as making the 1/4 matchup in the LDS as being a 3-2-2 or 2-2-3 where the #1 has five home games, not four, but I'd settle for just that much.

 

The playoff structure being so horribly flawed really hurts so much of the sport, for me, to the point where I really had to entirely change my mindset of how I watch an MLB season last year; something that was an improvement, personally, but one brought about by complete accident. I've grown to tolerate the absurd degree of parity that has beseiged the sport (or, at least, the AL); I've become tolerant to it, but the playoff structure really needs serious tweaks, if not complete overhaul. Because, as it is, it really doesn't do any justice to the teams that, over 162 games, really proved to be the crème de la crème. 

[The_Admiral]

A division series should be between the 1st-place and 2nd-place team for the division. Something to shoot for when we get to 32 teams and can kill off the Central Divisions.

[BBTV]

I'm legalizing bats with barrel diameters up to 4 inches, and gloves up to 18 inches. 

[2001mark]

2 hours ago, the admiral said:

A division series should be between the 1st-place and 2nd-place team for the division. Something to shoot for when we get to 32 teams and can kill off the Central Divisions.

[Discrim]

I read an article at Fangraphs a little while back that pondered the possibilities of essentially turning a single game of 9 innings...into three 3-inning games.  Odd idea, admittedly, but it seems like an idea that could be workable in the WBC or something like that.

[2001mark]

7 hours ago, Discrimihater said:

I read an article at Fangraphs a little while back that pondered the possibilities of essentially turning a single game of 9 innings...into three 3-inning games.  Odd idea, admittedly, but it seems like an idea that could be workable in the WBC or something like that.

I like to dabble with 1 inning games playing MVP Baseball 2005 PC... though I'm not sure how real world ties after 3 innings would end up.  There'd be an awful lot of low scoring finals yes?  

Maybe if baseball were nearly dead one day & they wanted to become more like soccer.  Guaranteed not to be the case in my lifetime so it's moot for me.

[Discrim]

If you think that's crazy, you aint seen crazy til you've read Radical Baseball.  Basically this thread's overall idea in blog form.  A few of RB's greatest hits:

Eliminate the catcher position

Designated Fielders + 6-man batting order

October Madness

Standardizing the fences, adding a clock, eliminating walks, etc

Replace pitchers with pitching machines

Players who leave the game should be allowed to return

never trade a somebody for a bunch of nobodies

A-Rod, future Yankees manager

There's a lot more where that came from, but it'd take me an eternity to list em all.

[2001mark]

10 hours ago, Discrimihater said:

If you think that's crazy, you aint seen crazy til you've read Radical Baseball.  Basically this thread's overall idea in blog form.  A few of RB's greatest hits:

October Madness

 

October Madness might be an idea if baseball ever developed some global Champions League style event... aka not happening in my lifetime so it's moot.

[kroywen]

Postseason Changes:

1. Move to a 2-division-per-league model, each with 7 or 8 teams. The playoffs will be composed of the two division champions in each league, and the next two teams with the highest records in their leagues.

2. Eliminate the existing Wild Card games, and move the LDS to a 7-game format.

3. Change World Series home field advantage to the team with the best record (with division champions automatically taking precedent over Wild Cards).

 

Umpiring and Instant Replay:

1. Tighten up the strike zone slightly, and evaluate umpires based on Pitch F(x) data.

2. Revise the instant replay system to eliminate manager challenges, and institute a fifth "video umpire" at each game who can intervene and overturn incorrect calls.

3. Bring back the blue umpire uniforms.

 

Pace of play changes:

1. Limit pitching coach mound visits to 3 per game, with a 30 second time limit.

2. Institute a 20 second pitch clock.

 

Financial/Free Agency Changes:

1. Institute a combined international/domestic amateur draft

2. Eliminate the existing free agent draft pick compensation system, and instead have the free agent's signing team pay the player's former team a tax equivalent to of 1% of the total value of the player's new contract (this would not come out of the player's salary, but be a separate team-to-team tax).

3. Close the "Kris Bryant" loophole around free agency eligibility, where teams can stash away a rookie in the minors for the first couple weeks of the season in order to gain another year of team control. I would personally revise free agent eligibility to occur after 5.5 years of service team, meaning if a player played the bulk of 6 seasons in the majors, he is eligible for free agency.

4. Allow teams to trade draft picks.

5. Revise the luxury tax rules to kick in at a threshold, and eliminate the re-set provision if a team gets under the threshold. The luxury tax rate would be decreased, and would be revised to a progressive tax above the tax threshold.

6. Distribute MLB's 50% share of luxury tax revenues to the other 29 teams based on existing revenue sharing formulas.

7. Revise local TV revenue sharing requirements to close the loophole for revenue gained from a team's equity share in a regional sports network. Should a team, or its owner, hold an equity share in an RSN, the revenue the team generates from that RSN based on MLB broadcasts would be subject to revenue sharing requirements.

 

Television:

1. Do everything possible to allow in-market streaming (much easier said than done given existing cable contracts, but vital for the long term health of the game)

2. Increase number of nationally broadcast games - preferably at least 3 weeknights a week, plus 1 PM, 4 PM, and 7 PM ET Saturday timeslots, in addition to the exclusive Sunday 8 PM exclusive timeslot. Sunday 8 PM would remain the only exclusive national timeslot during which no other MLB games may be played. These games would not be simulcast with a local RSN (and blacked out in local markets), but would instead be broadcast solely by the national broadcaster.

 

Miscellaneous:

1. Allow certain foreign substances (such as pine tar) to be used by pitchers for the purpose of gaining a better grip on the ball.

2. Focus on central MLB promotion of young stars, especially amongst kids and teens.

3. Tighten up the baseball to promote offense.

[DCarp1231]

The idea of elimating interleague play is not good, BUT elimating DH is better. That would essentially get rid of the interleague play feeling. Shortening the regular season is a good idea too.

 

Here is a wild idea:

Shorten Spring Training by a week, separate the ST games into three 3-inning outings per day, 30 minute breaks in-between the outings. Using a starting pitcher for the first outing, middle innings pitcher for the second outing, and setup/closer for the third outing.

[@axpze]

To settle "the DH problem," the NL eliminates the hitting pitcher position and the AL eliminates the DH.

An 8-man batting order in both leagues. Ta da!

[BBTV]

On 4/6/2016 at 2:30 PM, DNAsports said:

The idea of elimating interleague play is not good, BUT elimating DH is better. That would essentially get rid of the interleague play feeling. Shortening the regular season is a good idea too.

 

Here is a wild idea:

Shorten Spring Training by a week, separate the ST games into three 3-inning outings per day, 30 minute breaks in-between the outings. Using a starting pitcher for the first outing, middle innings pitcher for the second outing, and setup/closer for the third outing.

 

I have absolutely no idea what benefit this brings.  If anything it would be detrimental.

[Gary]

22 hours ago, @axpze said:

To settle "the DH problem," the NL eliminates the hitting pitcher position and the AL eliminates the DH.

An 8-man batting order in both leagues. Ta da!

 

Or just leave everything be and just keep the 9 man batting order. I personally like both ways in both leagues. 

[DCarp1231]

15 hours ago, BringBackTheVet said:

 

I have absolutely no idea what benefit this brings.  If anything it would be detrimental.

Hence the wild idea