Major League Baseball: Five pace of play change ideas

Oct. 14, 2014; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Detailed view of the pitch clock being tested during an Arizona Fall League game between the Surprise Saguaros against the Salt River Rafters at Salt River Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

There’s a lot of talk about the new rules that Major League Baseball is putting into place in regards to the pace of play. Some players seem to be fine with it while others, for example David Ortiz, are furious about it.

Well, of course ‘Big Papi’ is going to be furious about it. He’s one of the biggest offenders of slowing the pace of play.  While Ortiz says he won’t change his game plan, he might want to re-think that.  Initial reports said that there was going to be a small fine for violators of the rule of $500.  But Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal has indicated that there is more to the rule than just a fine.

In an article written by Sports Illustrated – it says that Rosenthal has noted that the first offense will be just a warning.  The next four offenses will then result in a “progressive fine” as Rosenthal put it on Twitter.  He went on to say on Twitter that players who show a “willful disregard of the rule” by the sixth offense could be suspended – which is something most players tend to avoid – if for no other reason than simple financial motivations.

The real problem I believe isn’t so much how long the game is taking as far as hours and minutes.  The issue is the lack of actual action with the amount of time wasted with meeting at the mound and players stepping out of the box. It makes the casual fan lose interest in the game.

Thanks to the bevy of technology at our fingertips, the casual fan has more distractions than ever before. There really is a lot to fix.  I can think of five simple changes that can be made by Major League Baseball that will increase the pace of play and improve the action of the game.  I’ll also look at how a couple of these changes could affect the Chicago Cubs.

Here are the five fixes I feel need to be made this year in Major League Baseball.

Next: Umpires need to make the call