Post Your Suggested Rule Changes

[powrwrap]

There's got to be something you would change in the rules of baseball so let's list them. I'll start.

 

I'd like to see a limit on the number of times a pitcher can throw over to first base to hold a baserunner from stealing. I was at a Twins game last month and the pitcher threw over to first base 9 times during one guy's at-bat. If a pitcher throws over to first base more than five times during the same at-bat he can no longer throw over there again or else the baserunner is automatically awarded 2nd base. Let's say the pitcher has thrown over there 4 times. If he throws over there the 5th time and the runner returns to 1st base safely, the umpire calls time and awards the runner 2nd base. If during the throw over the runner vacates the base the play is live and the runner is in peril of being put out.

 

I'd also like to see the 25 seconds between pitch rule enforced.

[one_eyed_jack]

1) Expand instant replay - some kind of system similar to the NFL where the manager gets a set number of challenges per game on safe/out and fair/foul calls while certain calls, like home runs, are subject to automatic review.

 

2) Outlaw takeout slides and home plate collisions - these are non-baseball plays that create huge injury risks and add nothing to the game.

[NorthwestTwinsFan]

There are a few things I would change that aren't rules per se, but changes I would like to see nonetheless. The first would be to allow the official scorer to decide who the winning and losing pitchers are for each game. It just doesn't seem right that a starter could pitch 8 scoreless innings, the closer comes in and gives up the lead and if his team scores in the next inning, he gets the win.

 

Another one is if a fielder madly misplays a ball, it should still be considered an error even if he didn't touch it. The batter shouldn't be awarded a hit if a popup lands in between 3 fielders in front of home plate.

 

I realize these aren't exactly rule changes and would have no impact on the actual game, they are still things that should be changed.

[Boom Boom]

Eliminate the rule that using your DH as a defensive replacement forfeits the DH.

 

Not that I disagree with the rule, I'm just sick of Gardy tossing and turning over it.

[J-Dog Dungan]

1) It rarely happens that a pitcher throws over to first 9 times, and the occasion that you're talking about led to the Twins scoring several runs.

2) I wouldn't have a problem with them enforcing the 25 seconds between pitches rule either.

3) I wouldn't have a problem with having a LITTLE more instant replay, but if we add too much to the replay rules, it will slow the game down even more.

4) Takeout slides are frowned upon; just yesterday the Twins got a DP called because A.J. did a takeout slide on Dozier even though they only got one out, and home plate collisions are just part of the game.

[Twins Fan From Afar]

On any team that has a player with the last name "Butera," such team shall only be allowed to have that particular Butera play in a baseball game one (1) time per week.

[twinsfanstreif]

Trades in the draft, it's so dumb that we are the only sport that can't trade picks. If someone covets certain players or is trying to rebuild then they should be able to do what they can to get what they want. It usually works out for both sides. Say we draft Buxton with our number 2 pick but we still want a college starter that can come in and help, that may not be there at 32 so we trade 32 and 42 to a team who is not impressed with the talent at the top to get another top 15 pick. It works out on both sides.

[adjacent]

Regarding to the draft, I hate that draft position rewards losing. There should be some trick there. Like, if you don't win 8 (or 7, or 9) games in September, you lose your draft position. Or something of that sort, so teams have something to play for until the end of the season.

[J-Dog Dungan]

The only rule change that I would like would be that teams could trade draft picks.

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

Award two bases for an intentional walk - I've seen that written a few times in other places, and I like the idea as a way to encourage the players/managers to pitch to guys in key situations.

[powrwrap]

Award two bases for an intentional walk - I've seen that written a few times in other places, and I like the idea as a way to encourage the players/managers to pitch to guys in key situations.

I'll go a different direction--if a team wants to intentionally walk a batter have the catcher call time and inform the umpire, "we're intentionally walking this guy", ala high school rules. Let's speed up the game.

[Craig in MN]

I'd add a timeout rule. Managers stay in the dugout unless they call a timeout. If they want to talk to a pitcher or argue a call, they need to call a timeout to go on the field. The only exception is for injuries. If they want to make a pitching change, they walk out to tell the home plate umpire and then go back to the dugout. If the new pitcher takes too long to get to the mound, his team gets charged with a timeout. That should keep things moving quite a bit.

 

I'd also set a 25 man active roster for September games. A team can carry 40 guys if they want, but they name their 25 active players before each game. It's not often that it becomes a problem, but a team with no limits can make a ton of extra moves that don't make the baseball any better.

 

This isn't a specific new rule, but I'd give some teeth to keeping batter in the batters box and the pitcher throwing quickly.

 

Trading draft picks is fine, but the bonus limitations on signing players and crapshoot nature of any signing make it a not very valuable endeavour.

 

I've always wondered about batters being able to steal first base....if a runner tries to steal second, or there is a wild pitch, etc, the batter can try to steal first.

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

I'll go a different direction--if a team wants to intentionally walk a batter have the catcher call time and inform the umpire, "we're intentionally walking this guy", ala high school rules. Let's speed up the game.

I'm in favor of combining the two. Or, at least, you don't have to throw 4 wide ones if the bases are empty. If there's a guy on, the pitcher should still have to account for the runner that could potentially advance on one of those 4 pitches.

[Guest USAFChief]

Put a 5th umpire in a booth with access to all television feeds. That's how you implement instant replay. In most cases we at home know whether a call was blown within a few seconds, almost always before play resumes. This umpire follows the game and lets the crew chief know if he's reviewing a call. Calls that are reversed result in umpires best judgement on placing runners, etc, like they currently do with fan interference for example.

 

More correct calls, little impact on the flow of the game. Managers can still come on the field to argue rules, but cannot argue judgement calls, just like they can't argue balls and strikes.

[Thrylos]

Rules? Lets see:

 

- A balk works the same way it works now (i.e. runners on base move up one base) but also as a HBP (i.e. batter goes on first.)

- A home plate umpire who does not get 90% of the ball-strikes called correctly (per Pitch F/X) is suspended for a series the first time, two series the next, half a season the third and forever the last.

- Established a 5th umpire on a booth who can review every out and hit by instant replay an have the ability to over-rule what is called on the field (this will not take any more time it takes now, since there is replay going on anyways. Crew chief wears a headphone and is told on the spot of the over-rulling)

- If a manager gets out of the dugout to argue a call, it counts as a mound visit. If the argument is longer than the mound visit allowd time (30 seconds) the pitcher on the mound has to be replaced. Same with the second visit in an inning. (would be obsolete by instand replay, but...)

- Umpires who touch managers/players/coaches etc are suspended the same way players/managers/coaches who touch umpires are.

- A throw to an occupied base counts the same as a pitch out (i.e. a ball)

[IdahoPilgrim]

I realize this is a touchy subject, but you asked, so: Standardize whether or not the DH is used. My personal preference is to get rid of it, but I understand the practical difficulty in that, so I'll accept everybody using it - just everybody use the same rules. I know some like the diversity between the leagues and the effect it has on interleague play and world series, but I'm not sold on that.

 

I'm also ready, especially if my above proposal is rejected, to scrap interleague play - keep it in the leagues, play a balanced or semi-balanced schedule, and only have the leagues meet in the Series.

 

OK, OK, I'll admit, I'm a traditionalist. I'm not big on the wild card thing either.

[powrwrap]

Rules? Lets see:

 

- A balk works the same way it works now (i.e. runners on base move up one base) but also as a HBP (i.e. batter goes on first.)

 

Why? A balk is almost always an accident. A balk is deceiving the runner. Why should the batter get rewarded?

 

- A home plate umpire who does not get 90% of the ball-strikes called correctly (per Pitch F/X) is suspended for a series the first time, two series the next, half a season the third and forever the last.

 

Do you know umpire scores via F/X? I admit I don't, but I'll guess that no one gets less than 90% correct.

 

- If a manager gets out of the dugout to argue a call, it counts as a mound visit. If the argument is longer than the mound visit allowd time (30 seconds) the pitcher on the mound has to be replaced. Same with the second visit in an inning. (would be obsolete by instand replay, but...)

 

So managers who argue calls while his team is on offense accumulate mound visits??

 

- A throw to an occupied base counts the same as a pitch out (i.e. a ball)

 

That's an interesting twist on my idea, but would lead to gigantic lead-offs and more stolen bases. If that is your intent, OK, but I'd rather see scoring via hitting the ball rather than guys constantly stealing bases. (go watch any 12 or 13 year old ball game.)

[powrwrap]

I realize this is a touchy subject, but you asked, so: Standardize whether or not the DH is used. My personal preference is to get rid of it

 

http://i46.tinypic.com/jtw66h.jpg

[NorthwestTwinsFan]

Standardize whether or not the DH is used. My personal preference is to get rid of it, but I understand the practical difficulty in that, so I'll accept everybody using it - just everybody use the same rules. I know some like the diversity between the leagues and the effect it has on interleague play and world series, but I'm not sold on that.

I like this idea, although I'd go the other way and have both leagues use the DH. Obviously I'm in the minority on this one, but I hate watching pitchers bat. I'll admit, the added strategy of an NL game is interesting, but I'm not paying to see players who are either going to bunt or strike out on 3 pitches every time. I'd rather see guys who are paid to hit in the batter's box.

[Riverbrian]

1. Trading of draft picks for sure.

2. Minimum and maximum salary cap.

3. Relegation ala soccer. (I know... be careful with that one and near impossible with the current farm systems)

[Mike Sixel]

1. Change the draft. Allow the worst 10 teams to sign any two players they want before any other team. Give them 2 weeks to negotiate any price they want. After that, it is a draft, with slots for salaries. Allow trades of picks and picked players once they are picked.

2. DH for both leagues. It is not more exciting to watch a double switch than allowing legit hitters to hit 5 times a game. There isn't all that much added strategy, because a huge percent of the time, there is only one logical choice.

3. Intentional walks are automatic. While you are at it, runners don't have to run every base on a HR (ok, that ones not totally serious).

4. Every team makes the playoffs. This one is complex, and I'll have to dig it up off Fangraphs.....and is way too controversial to happen.

[Bark's Lounge]

If it is deemed that a batter was intentionally hit by a pitch (the crew chief gets to make this judgement call). The pitcher will not be ejected, but as punishment the team who had their batter get hit gets to use aluminum bats the rest of the game. This is of course a joke.

[Ultima Ratio]

Only one base on a overthrow

 

oh oh oh and peg outs!

 

[Ultima Ratio]

In all seriousness, I'm not sure how to make a pitch f/x computerize strike zone work, but I'm becoming more receptive to the idea. The reason is because of how poorly umps call the outside corner. Most umps set up on the inside corner and have a great view of that corner, but really guess/estimate on the outside corner. There are way too many balls outside being called strikes, especially against our lefties. Tennis has successfully appropriated technology in support of human line judges to call the lines on a serve. I think you could have a computer call the outside corner in this same way, or this would be like only using the technology to call the service box line deep, but not the center line. I only want the outside corner called by technology to begin with to see how it goes, and I really don't see how to computerize the strike zone high and low since batters are different heights, therefore while the corners are the same for eery hitter, hight and low strike differ and would be more problematic for a computerized system to call. Last, you still need a human ump to call safe and out on the base baths after a ball is in play. Just like the variety in stadiums, I used to really enjoy the human variety of different strike zones... but the more I've seen with the pitch location technology and with my own eye, I think a consistent and accurate strike zone would be just swell.

[DaveW]

Award two bases for an intentional walk - I've seen that written a few times in other places, and I like the idea as a way to encourage the players/managers to pitch to guys in key situations.

It wouldn't work, teams would simply "unintentionally" walk a guy on purpose anyways by throwing everything 2 feet above the strike zone.

[Snortwood]

Trades in the draft, it's so dumb that we are the only sport that can't trade picks.

There were a few incidents where not-as-yet drafted players "held up" the team(s) that were looking to draft them by making specific demands. The rule that disallows MLB teams from trading a draft pick the first year resulted from Pete Incaviglia's refusal to play in Montreal. But - we've seen similar behavior in other sports, and they seem to survive - Elway forcing his way out of somewhere to get a mile high, Manning Eli escaping San Diego for New York (which is only sane in NFL-World), Kobe finagling a deal to LA right out of high school.

 

Maybe now that baseball's collective bargaining agreement is long-term and relations between the players and the owners, and more importantly among the owners themselves, is stable, maybe this would be the right time for baseball to revisit and perhaps repeal the Incavigilia Rule. I'd be for that, perhaps with the NBA's Musselman Rule attached, that a team cannot be without a first round draft pick two years in a row. By trade, that is - the Musselman Rule offers no protection when you sign an illegal agreement and it gets discovered in an agent's file and Commissioner Napoleon goes ballistic on you.

[Guest USAFChief]

Couple things:

 

1. I think trading MLB draft picks would prove to be a bad idea, with richer teams ending up with an even bigger advantage than they already have. One think I'd like to see eliminated somehow is the "sandwich picks" inserted after a round, which devalue the picks in later rounds, mostly at the expense of teams that had nothing to do with the transaction that resulted in the sandwich pick being awarded. Team A signs team B's free agent, team A gets a sandwich pick, the Twins end up picking one spot later in round two. Why should the Twins second round pick be devalued because another team signed a FA?

 

2. Technically, there really isn't such a thing as an "intentional base on balls." It's not even defined in the MLB rule book's official list of terms, where a base on balls is defined as four pitches outside the strike zone. It's mentioned in rule four, briefly, but only to confirm that only the catcher can position himself in foul territory, but must start play in his legal position behind the plate. So I don't know how you increase the penalty for something that doesn't exist. As noted above, teams would just have the catcher squat and have the pitcher throw a foot high and outside anyway. I'm not sure why anyone thinks this is a problem, anyway. Intentionally putting a runner on base is enough penalty in and of itself. And absolutely the pitcher should have to throw those four pitches. I've seen wild pitches occur in these situations, most of you have too.

 

3. I wouldn't mind seeing the balk rule simplified, but I'm not even sure how to do that.

[DaveW]

I can't remember the last time MLB had a major "rule" change, which indicates they have the formula correct.

 

Couple things that I wouldn't mind would be:

-Expanding the major league roster to 26.

-Get rid of pitchers hitting- Now that interleague play will be going on at all points throughout the season (2013+) its time to stop having pitchers hit, I honestly don't see the point. People argue that it adds strategy or whatever to a game, I just think it adds a Drew Butera to the bottom of the lineup for every team. If its game 7 of the world series I don't think we need to see CC Sabathia and Clayton Kershaw taking at bats in the most meaningful game of the year.

[YourHouseIsMyHouse]

I love the way the game is played, and I don't think many changes need to be made. Although, I do have a few to throw out there. The rules that involve time limits posters have suggested are not in the best interest of the game. I feel that they would make baseball a little too artificial. After all, it is one of the only sports that doesn't have a game clock and that's one of the reasons why it's the greatest sport. With that said, here are a few rule changes I'll offer.

1. Allow rule 4 draft picks outside of round 1 to be traded. The only exception for trading first rounders is if they were acquired by a team through losing a Type A free agent. That pick may only be traded back to its former team (or the team who signed the Type A FA). Supplemental picks can be traded as well. Rule 5 draft picks do not apply as I'd like them to stay similar to waiver claims.

2. Instant replay expansion. Baserunning calls behind home plate only for safe/out. All fair/foul hits under the consent of the corresponding 1st base/3rd base umpire.

3. Stricter umpire regulations. The MLB needs to be harsher when reviewing umpires. The 90% rule mentioned by another poster is a start.

4. Limit pick off attempts to 3 per base runner.

[Mike Sixel]

So, as a runner, once the pitcher has thrown over 3 times, I can get as big a lead as I want, right?