Rob Manfred is barely into his second year as Commissioner
of Major League Baseball and already he has left his mark on the game of
baseball. Instant replay has been changed and expanded, Pete Rose was denied
reinstatement back into the game once again, steroid testing gets tougher and
tougher with every passing year, all teams will have Spanish translators
working for them all season long, television deals are going through the roof,
protective netting is being put up at all 30 MLB stadiums to protect the fans
and among other things there is discussion about adding the designated hitter
position to the National League. Manfred has a lot on his plate but he is far
from done as he looks to expand and improve the game so here are a few key
notes he is still working on today as we inch closer to spring training and the
2016 regular season.
Baseball’s strike zone is getting bigger and bigger and is
especially growing low in the zone. At one time the strike zone was defined as
at the top of the hitter’s kneecap to right around the letters on the chest
part of his uniform. It has since been changed to the hollow beneath the
kneecap and many are complaining that the strike zone is simply too low. This
changed after the 1995 season and will likely be part of the new CBA in 2017,
not before.
The league is also talking about playing regular season
games in London as soon as the 2017 season. Manfred did say the league was
working hard to play there but it would have to be later on in the season due
to weather. With travel delays and such you would have to wonder if it would be
sometime around the All-Star break when these teams would make the travel
across the pond.
Manfred is picking up where former Commissioner Bud Selig
left off as the league still works towards and strives for an international
draft. Manfred said nothing is imminent on this matter but he said “we were
closer to getting there in certain rounds of bargaining than people may have
understood and probably it was a mistake not to push it across the finish line”
in a recent interview at the owners meetings in Florida.
Manfred states the league is still investigating the
domestic violence charges against the Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman, Rockies
shortstop Jose Reyes and Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig. Manfred and the league
need to decide whether to suspend one or all of them under the league’s newly
formed domestic violence policy.
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)