If it's true that the first step toward change is first admitting you have a problem, then Major League Baseball is finally headed in the right direction.
On Thursday, MLB announced that it was introducing a series of experimental rule changes across its minor league levels, with the aim to "increase action on the basepaths, create more balls in play, improve the pace and length of games and reduce player injuries.''
It's no secret that the game has issues. Games take longer to play than ever, and too often, offer less action than ever before. The focus on "three true outcomes'' -- walks, strikeouts and homers -- has made for a sometimes tedious product.
For the first time, the game seems serious about addressing some of these problems. That's a positive. I've long maintained that MLB is far too hidebound by tradition and needlessly afraid to evolve. In being so inflexible, it has ignored the wishes of fans who want a quicker game, one with more action.
The NFL has shown no such reluctance. Annually, the league tweaks it rules to provide fans with more offense, and thus, more scoring. Strangely, no one worries much about what Gino Marchetti would think. The NFL's competition committee meets, listens to proposals, and votes on changes. There is no wailing about or gnashing of teeth.
So the very fact that baseball is acknowledging that it could use an overhaul is an encouraging sign. Thankfully, they've successfully tuned out the purist crowd, for whom even the slightest change represents some existential threat.
And let's face it: baseball could use some work.
There's no bigger consumer of all things baseball than Alex Cora, who found himself with a lot of unexpected time on his hands last season after being suspended for the year by MLB for his involvement with the 2017 Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal.
Back home in Puerto Rico, Cora watched nearly every Red Sox game, and after those were done, took in games from the West Coast.
"I lived it last year, just watching from afar. There's certain days it's tough to watch,'' he acknowledged. "I've just got to be honest -- (there's too much of an emphasis on) strikeouts, walks, and homers.''
Cora's stance is that postseason games lasting four hours can be tolerated, because of the stakes and the quality of the teams. But when middle-of-the-season games take that long, and both teams are swinging for the fences in an all-or-nothing offensive approach, it became more of a challenge.
Part of what drove MLB's experimentation was the result of exhaustive polling and interviews with fans about what they liked -- and didn't like -- about the modern game. The study found that, despite the 1990s campaign that fans "dig the long ball,'' what fans today miss most is the athleticism and action and speed that was more associated with the game in the 1970s and 1980s.
The phrase used by many in announcing the changes -- including Theo Epstein and former Miami Marlins GM Mike Hill -- was an effort designed to create "the best version'' of the game, one that includes the ball being in play far more, with far less down time and a renewed emphasis on stolen base attempts.
Let's look at the set of experimental rules selected for the 2021 season in the minors and their potential impact:
- At Triple A, an enlarging of bases -- 18 inches by 18 inches, instead of the current 15 inch by 15 inch -- that will help ensure the safety of both fielders and baserunners by reducing the potential for collisions. But it stands to reason that because first base is now three inches closer to home, there will be more infield hits. And with the 90-feet distance between first-and-second shortened by 4.5 inches, more steal attempts and more successful steals.
- At Double A, a rule that states that all four infielders must be on the infield dirt. So, say goodbye to shifting the third baseman or shortstop in shallow right to take away base hits. There's also the possibility that, in the second half of the season, a second rule could be introduced which will mandate that teams have two infielders each on either side of the second base bag, further eliminating the possibility of shifts.
- At High A, pitchers will be forced to step off the rubber before throwing to an occupied base on a pickoff attempt. Failure to do so will result in a balk.
- At Low A, pitchers will be limited to two pickoff attempts -- or step-offs -- per plate appearance. Pitchers may try a third pickoff try, but should it be unsuccessful and the baserunner returns to the base safely, the pitcher will charged with a balk. That should send stolen base attempts skyrocketing.
- At Low A Southeast, an automated, robotic-driven strike zone will assist umpires.
- Two picks from Bloom's first draft: No. 9 infielder Nick Yorke and No. 11, third baseman Blaze Jordan.
- One Rule V pick: No. 30 Garrett Whitlock.
- Eight prospects acquired by trade: No. 2 INF Jeter Downs (Mookie Betts/David Price trade); No. 12 C Ronaldo Hernandez (Chris Mazza/Jeffrey Springs trade); No. 5 RHP Connor Seabold (Brandon Workman/Heath Hembree trade); No. 17 C-INF Connor Wong (Betts/Price trade); No. 22 Jeisson Rosario (Mitch Moreland trade); No. 24 INF Hudson Potts (Moreland trade); N0. 29 RHP Jacob Wallace (Kevin Pillar trade).