rules change - this is going to speed things up

[swampdragon]

and Vlad Guerrero weeps about it - http://deadspin.com/vladimir-guerrer...lls-1689124654

the change

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/1...-signal-dugout

[Hornsby]

Arrrggghhhh, I hate this SO much. It's not like 4 pitches took 5 minutes, maybe a minute and change at the most. And there was always the outside chance that the pitcher would toss one high and away, or the batter might reach one and poke it for a hit. If this is Manfred's idea of a good rule change, I hope the players association keeps opposing him.

[Sour Masher]

Vlad was amazing. As a fan, I loved him as a player. It must have been frustrating to coach him at times, although as special a talent as he was, probably not too hard.

[DMT]

Arrrggghhhh, I hate this SO much. It's not like 4 pitches took 5 minutes, maybe a minute and change at the most. And there was always the outside chance that the pitcher would toss one high and away, or the batter might reach one and poke it for a hit. If this is Manfred's idea of a good rule change, I hope the players association keeps opposing him.

Bemoaning the demise of the intentional walk? Gimme a break, that is one of the most obvious fixes IMO.

They should also allow pitchers just one visit per inning from the catcher.

[kawaise]

I really don't see a problem with an indication from the dugout for an IBB.

I was surprised that I liked the pitching clock when I watched minor league games last year. Doubt it would gain much traction in MLB, however.

[fuhrdog]

I still say make all umpires call the same strike zone, ya know...the one in the rule book and make batters stay within the batting box. These two would make me the happiest.

[Hornsby]

Bemoaning the demise of the intentional walk? Gimme a break, that is one of the most obvious fixes IMO.

They should also allow pitchers just one visit per inning from the catcher.

It's a solution in search of a problem...it's not going to save any appreciable amount of time, and tinkering that's just no necessary. Some of the fun moments in baseball are when the IBB went bad...I've seen wild pitches, hits off pitches that were too close, and hitters swinging to get a 2 strike count to try to get the pitcher to pitch to them. Absolutely no reason to do this. It's like the stupid idea of starting extra innings with a man on 2nd...brilliant. Let's turn this into the NHL shootout while were at it...if a game goes into extras, just wheel out a pitching machine and have a home run derby.

[madducks]

The biggest slowdown of the game is the pitching changes and all of the subsequent warmup pitches. With managers today being slaves to using the lefty/righty matchup to their advantage we are seeing way more pitching changes than ever before. And nobody is going to stop that. But, i say give the relief pitchers just 3 pitches instead of 8 to familiarize themselves with the mound on the playing field because they should already be warmed up from throwing in the bullpen. You can still give them the standard 8 pitches at the beginning of each half inning. If both teams use 3 relief pitchers each that eliminates 30 warmup pitches and probably saves 10 minutes. Also require them to run in from the bullpen. That could save a few more minutes. Maybe they need a timer for pitching changes. Nothing makes the casual fan lose interest faster than a manager using 3 pitchers to get one out each during an inning. Consider all the time that goes with waiting for 3 pitchers to warm up, 2 walks to the mound by the manager, and 2 walks in from the bullpen by the reliever. When a 1,2,3 inning takes a half hour to complete you are causing the casual fan to lose interest.

[revo]

It's about time. Sayonara!

[harmon]

The biggest slowdown of the game is the pitching changes and all of the subsequent warmup pitches. With managers today being slaves to using the lefty/righty matchup to their advantage we are seeing way more pitching changes than ever before. And nobody is going to stop that. But, i say give the relief pitchers just 3 pitches instead of 8 to familiarize themselves with the mound on the playing field because they should already be warmed up from throwing in the bullpen. You can still give them the standard 8 pitches at the beginning of each half inning. If both teams use 3 relief pitchers each that eliminates 30 warmup pitches and probably saves 10 minutes. Also require them to run in from the bullpen. That could save a few more minutes. Maybe they need a timer for pitching changes. Nothing makes the casual fan lose interest faster than a manager using 3 pitchers to get one out each during an inning. Consider all the time that goes with waiting for 3 pitchers to warm up, 2 walks to the mound by the manager, and 2 walks in from the bullpen by the reliever. When a 1,2,3 inning takes a half hour to complete you are causing the casual fan to lose interest.

I couldn't agree with this more, exactly my thoughts. It's even worse in the playoffs when starters often get the hook well before the 5th inning.