Hello, Rob! Congratulations on replacing the Witch-King of Angmar as the commish of the MLB. The Thousand-Year Reign is now over, and Mr. Manfred will indelibly try to leave his mark on baseball as soon as possible. He’s given some thoughts as to what he might do (and what he might not do). I’m sure he could not give less of a shit what some blogger in Indianapolis thinks, but I’m more than fine with giving unsolicited advice. Here goes!
1. Don’t screw with the shift.
This is one of the more disconcerting things I’ve heard you say so far. I can understand, sort of, how the shift must look these days. It’s happening more and more often. When all 4 infielders are right of where the shortstop normally lines up, it looks wonky! I get that. However, just because it looks weird doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing! The shift is moderate useful, but it does not really depress offenses. It injects a little more strategy into a game that benefits from strategic wrinkles. It’s also not like the shift is unbeatable.
2. Speed up the game, but we’ll be realistic.
Baseball exists to generate revenue. I know that, you know that, everyone else knows that. We aren’t asking for 2 hour games, and we know that commercial breaks are going to stay the same length. How about having batters and pitchers ready to go as soon as we get back from break? How about 1 mound visit per pitcher per game? How about enforcing the rules regarding time limits to pitch and step in the box? The last one is a particularly touchy subject; I’m not a fan of awarding balls and strikes if a player isn’t ready. You know what I am a fan of? Fines. 5% of your game check to the MLB if you foul twice in a game. 10% if you foul four or more times. 25% of your game check if you foul 6 or more times. Do you think Clayton Kershaw will be ready to pitch if it means $100,000 to him if he isn’t?
Those numbers are just a guideline, by the way. You can make whatever economic incentive you want. Just don’t make it prohibitively expensive for the bottom of the roster, and we’ll be cool. Speaking of…
3. Treat the minor-league players less like dirt.
The very best major-leaguers are fabulously, even ludicrously wealthy. I do not begrudge them this! They will make what the market will bear, and that’s good for them. It provides a powerful incentive for people to get into baseball, and those in baseball to keep toiling away.
A short aside, if I may:
If my kids ever want to seriously play a sport, I can’t in good conscience recommend any sport that isn’t baseball. Genetics ensure my progeny will struggle to eclipse the 6 foot mark, so unless they are God’s gift to ballhandling, basketball will generally be a struggle to them down the road (high school to division III college is basically the realistic max). Football is, at this point, almost comically dangerous. In the 1920s, if they were to invent a hyper-violent sport for a book or something, football would actually make sense in that context. Football is violence given applause, and it is ruled by a commissioner so incompetent and malicious that one wonders openly if he could keep his job through any crisis whatsoever (besides, of course, a loss in revenue. Let’s be realistic.) Baseball (or softball) is incredibly hard to play at the highest level, but you can typically find a role if you’re small or tall, heavy or light. Baseball/softball provide my kids the best chance (of the major sports) to get a college scholarship, which is the end goal for me.
Back to you, Rob. The problem is that the very top (let’s call it the 1%) make a ton, but the bottom 75% (the minor leaguers) make almost nothing. The typical minor-leaguer makes around $5,000 a month…but only for the 5 months they are playing baseball. That’s $25,000 a year. Sure, they can get a job in the off-season…except when they can’t, because trying to make the major leagues is in itself a full-time job. Perhaps they can make $10/hr at Lowe’s in the offseason. The majority, maybe even the vast majority, of baseball’s labor force makes barely enough to live (there are all kinds of additional expenses professional athletes have that you don’t. They have agents, promoters, trainers for the offseason…not to mention they could (at the drop of a hat) get traded to Kodak, Tennessee. Get there by tomorrow! Lastly, many of these players, if not 90% of them, never graduate college, or go to a trade school, or have any relevant work experience outside of the sports industry. Sure, playing a college sport looks great on a resume if you’re applying for an accounting job, after you’re a CPA. What type of future lies for Daniel Lockhart after 5 seasons of minor league baseball and a high-school diploma?
You are inheriting a lawsuit that more-or-less challenges baseball’s antitrust law exemption. There is a small wellspring of support in Congress to overturn that exemption. Curt Flood lost his bid in 1972 but gained arbitration and free agency. The wheels are turning, Rob. The antitrust exemption will fall. How will you deal with it? Why not give some now and delay the inevitable? I’m not a lawyer and I won’t pretend to be, but you have to see the writing on the wall at some point. Right?
4. Stop with this blackout shit.
This is the most crucial point. The way people consume media is changing…and you realize this. MLB Advanced Media is a great product, and it is probably the most important thing that baseball has done since 1994. Interest for baseball (a regional sport, largely), has never been higher.
And yet, I can’t watch it. I live in Indianapolis, home of the AAA affiliate Indians. I love going to Indians game, but they are the affiliate of the Pirates. I’m more of a Pirates fan now that I can follow the players I’ve seen up-close and personal, but I’m still a Cubs fan at heart (obviously). Unfortunately, every Cubs game is blacked out.
Look at this map. Why do you hate Iowa? Why do you hate southern Nevada? It is absolutely insane that this policy exists. There are two alternatives that I have. I can either use a proxy to pretend I’m somewhere else (a hassle, a cost, and a dubious legal platform), or I can just say “forget it” and not buy your product. I’ve done the latter the past 3 years, and I fully expect I’ll do it again.
I want to give you money. Why are you making it so hard? I understand that TV rights and other legal stuff makes this difficult. I could not care less. That is not my problem. My problem is that I can’t consume your product in an easy way. I can’t buy channels a la carte, so I’m not spending $150 on the most expensive TV lineup so I can watch the Cubs on one of the 5 (5! CSN Chicago, WGN-9, ABC-7, ESPN, Fox) channels they’ll be on this year. That’s even if my WGN or ABC affiliates will even carry the games (it’s a station-by-station issue). Your job is to make it as easy as possible for me to give you money. Please do that. I want to watch Cubs games on the West Coast on my laptop in bed.
5. Make your own Hall of Fame.
You don’t actually have to do this. I just want you to scare them a little. There are so many things screwed up with the BBWAA, and it would be so nice if you could fix some of that stuff. The National Baseball Hall of Fame is run by private interests and employs the BBWAA to vote in players. The BBWAA allows people to vote who haven’t covered baseball in 35 years, and more-or-less disregards people who cover baseball for a living right now. Sahadev Sharma doesn’t have a vote. Brett Taylor doesn’t have a vote. Larry Rocca does have a vote. This is not smart.
Mr. Manfred, you’ve inherited a great sport with few warts. Basically, don’t screw it up royally and you’ll look golden. I trust you. Enjoy the honeymoon.
We’ll probably be asking for your resignation this time next year.
BONUS CONTENT!
JonKneeV brought up two additional great points.
6. Shit or get off the pot re: DH.
It was 1973 when that “experiment” started. It’s been 42 years since then. Let’s go ahead and call it one way or the other. I used to be a hardline advocate of pitchers batting, but I’ve come closer to the other side of the aisle in recent years. Honestly, though, let’s make the league equal again. Either bring it over to the NL or take it away from the AL. Since one of these is a “job creator,” let’s assume that’s the one that will happen. Get that done during the next CBA.
7. Fix the All-Star Game.
Selig screwed this one up pretty badly (it ended in a tie instead of a home-run derby or something). The solution was worse than the problem (ASG deciding home-field advantage for the Series). Just make it an exhibition again. Jeez. It’s not that hard.
8. Expand to 32 teams.
GW brought this one up. Great idea, in my opinion. Read this article. I don’t think is arguments are particularly persuasive, but clearly there is something there. I think there are probably a half-dozen places that could support a team right now. Portland, Austin, Montreal, Las Vegas, Buffalo, Indianapolis, maybe even Des Moines or San Jose (Oakland will move to San Jose in a decade, I’d wager). Why can’t we do this?