MLB 2019: Can't Hurdle the Turtle

Some more changes, which I say “fuck all of these” to:

I think I’m about ready to give up on baseball. The three-batter minimum rule is so terrible it could only have come from the mind of Rob Manfred.

I am against any rule which makes it harder for position players to pitch.

What’s the point of that position player/pitcher stuff? Like, damn it, this is baseball. When you grow up playing it, if you’re good, you can pitch and hit and field and do it all. Why do they want so badly to specialize it like that?!

OP (not OT) is glad they waited until March to implement the batter minimum, along with a bunch of other LOOGYs who got picked up this offseason.

Also, this:

is not a great sign when you’re trying to negotiate and avoid a major strike.

I do think dictating how many pitchers a team can have on it’s roster and who exactly is a pitcher is kinda crazy. And while I like in principle the idea of trying to speed up the game the 3 batter minimum is a dumb idea.

How often do position players pitch in the 1st 9 innings of a game that is within 7 runs, anyway?

Not very often.

Yeah, that rule makes zero difference in normal play. The only time I can see it actually mattering is if some guy wants to do the all-nine-positions-in-one-game thing in a meaningless game. So good job, commissioner’s office, you’ve limited fun in meaningless games.

I really like the September roster shrinkage. They need to couple it with something like hockey’s healthy scratch, which you could use for starting pitchers. But any movement is good.

The position player’s not pitching limit is super stupid but it is needed because of the other super stupid rules. They are limiting the number of pitchers on the roster so now they have to have rules for what a pitcher is for roster purposes.

I think that the 3 batter minimum is the absolute worst of them. Can’t wait for teams to bring a reliever in who just doesn’t have it and everyone has to sit there while he throws 16 balls 3 feet off the plate.

Have you guys all just wandered in from another dimension where we haven’t seen 14-pitcher rosters so managers can bring in four specialists in an inning that takes half a ridiculously tedious hour to play?

Yes, pitchers will occasionally suck. This is not new. Yes, this is the death of the LOOGY. Thank goodness, says I.

I’m with Adam on this one. I think the 3-batter min is a good idea, it will stop a bunch of the pitching nonsense managers do. Right now, they just run people in there and hope. Now, they’ll have to really use the right pitcher.

I guess it’s the other dimension where 2 minutes to change a pitcher after he walks the first batter takes longer than a pitcher who doesn’t have it and gives up 3 straight hits…and then 2 minutes to change the pitcher.

I just think that is a teams/managers choice as to whether they want 12-14 pitchers. Some teams need fewer and others need the extra one or two.

Maybe instead of a batter minimum the league should limit the number of pitchers you could use in an inning.

An interesting thought: how about a minimum number of pitches a pitcher has to throw? It would have to be at least 9, though they could set it higher.

These rule changes feel like classic eyewash, showy micromanagement by the commissioner to make it look like the home office is doing something useful.

This makes me feel better about bringing Santana back into the fold. With some of the vets like Brantley gone it’s good to know there’ll be player leaders to hold the guys accountable.

Pretty damn sad that some players can’t find a way to focus on their team’s games while earning the high salaries. I’d be pretty damn livid too. Why was the manager not taking care of that though? Or whoever the team captain is?

Mike Trout is gettin’ paid.

Reports this AM that he and the Angels are finalizing a 12-year, $430 million deal.