PHOENIX (AP) Major League Baseball intends to give the players’ association the required one-year advance notice that would allow management to unilaterally change the strike zone, install pitch clocks and limit trips to the pitcher’s mound starting in 2018.
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred made the announcement Tuesday after union head Tony Clark said last weekend he did not foresee players agreeing to the proposed changes for 2017. Under baseball’s labor contract, management can alter playing rules only with agreement from the union – unless it gives one year notice. With the one year of notice, management can make changes on its own.
Manfred said he will send a letter to the union in the coming days and plans to continue dialogue with Clark and others in hopes of reaching agreement.
”Unfortunately it now appears that there really won’t be any meaningful change for the 2017 season due to a lack of cooperation from the MLBPA,” Manfred said during a news conference. ”I’ve tried to be clear that our game is fundamentally sound, that it does not need to be fixed as some people have suggested, and I think last season was the kind of demonstration of the potential of our league to captivate the nation and of the game’s unique place in American culture.”
Yet, he also added: ”I believe it’s a mistake to stick our head in the sand and ignore the fact that our game has changed and continues to change.”
Manfred said while he prefers an agreement, ”I’m also not willing to walk away.” Clark met with Cactus League teams last week, five at a time over Thursday, Friday and Saturday, before departing Monday for Florida to visit each Grapefruit League club – and proposed rules changes were a topic.
”I have great respect for the labor relations process, and I have a pretty good track record for getting things done with the MLBPA,” Manfred said. ”I have to admit, however, that I am disappointed that we could not even get the MLBPA to agree to modest rule changes like limits on trips to the mound that have little effect on the competitive character of the game.”
Manfred said he didn’t want to share specifics of his priorities for alterations.
”There’s a variety of changes that can be undertaken,” Manfred said. ”I’m committed to the idea that we have a set of proposals out there and we continue to discuss those proposals in private.”
MLB has studied whether to restore the lower edge of the strike zone from just beneath the kneecap to its pre-1996 level – at the top of the kneecap. Management would like to install 20-second pitch clocks in an attempt to speed the pace of play – they have been used at Triple-A and Double-A for the past two seasons.
Players also have been against limiting mound meetings. The least controversial change appears to be allowing a team to call for an intentional walk without the pitcher having to throw pitches. In addition, MLB likely can alter some video review rules without the union’s agreement- such as shortening the time a manager has to call for a review.
”Most of this stuff that they were talking about I don’t think it would have been a major adjustment for us,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.
Manfred said starting runners on second base in extra innings sounds unlikely to be implemented in the majors. The change will be experimented with during the World Baseball Classic and perhaps at some short-season Class A leagues. Manfred said it was a special-purpose rule ”beneficial in developmental leagues.”
Manfred also said Tuesday that a renovated Wrigley Field would be a great choice to host an All-Star Game and Las Vegas could be a ”viable market for us.”
”I don’t think that the presence of legalized gambling in Las Vegas should necessarily disqualify that market as a potential major league city,” Manfred said.
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AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum and AP Sports Writer Bob Baum contributed to this report.
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