But while speaking to reporters before Game 1 of the World Series, Manfred insisted that unbridled parity in October is a positive, not a negative. He cited statistics that show 100-win teams have never been able to win it all, even before the playoffs expanded last year to include 12 teams.
“All I can say about the dismay, because it’s a constant in our game, is that it will at least motivate a conversation about whether we’re right,” Manfred said. “I’m sure that conversation will happen in the playoffs. Enough has been written and said that it needs to be thought about and talked about.
Consternation is indeed a constant of life in MLB, especially when it comes to evaluating change. But it seems that this particular barrage of criticism has seeped into Manfred’s consciousness a little more than most others.
Earlier in the postseason, Manfred said two years was too small a sample size to draw conclusions, and he did not commit to reevaluating MLB’s postseason setup this offseason. He said he was open to those discussions with the players’ union, which would have to collectively bargain any format changes, but it did not seem certain those conversations would take place. Friday, before what turned into one of the most exciting World Series openers In recent history, Manfred seemed more confident that some sort of assessment would take place, at least in his office. But he was also hesitant to change the format simply because teams that did well in the regular season fared worse in October.
“If the die was cast, that if I win 100 in the regular season, I’ll win the World Series, I don’t think that’s as interesting as what we’ve seen over the course of the last month,” Manfred said.
The commissioner also touched on a wide range of other topics, including one MLBPA chief Tony Clark discussed with reporters earlier in the evening: pitcher injuries. More than a dozen elite pitchers have had to undergo Tommy John surgery or other major elbow surgeries this year, which some players have attributed to strains introduced by the pitching clock. However, in an era that emphasizes high velocity, such injuries begin to seem inevitable rather than unusual for successful pitchers.
“We don’t want to see anyone get hurt. We don’t want the match to be played in a way that causes more injuries,” Manfred said. “And, far behind, it’s a costly problem.” I think everyone in the game would like to see fewer injuries.
Manfred offered no clear solution to the injury issue, but said he believed the owners remained committed to finding ways to restore the importance and relevance of the original pitch in an era where openers and piggybacking have become commonplace. He said the league tried to introduce guardrails into the most recent collective bargaining agreement by limiting the number of pitchers a team can carry to 13. Manfred suggested that one way to increase the importance of the initial launch would be to further reduce the number of authorized launchers. on a list.
“I think there are a lot of fans that want to go from ‘let’s see who’s today’s pitching matchup’ to ‘who’s the opener today?’ has not been positive,” Manfred said.
Among other issues Manfred addressed, he said he expects owners to vote on the Oakland Athletics’ potential move to Las Vegas at their meetings in mid-November. He said MLB had struggled in its quest to find a new, stickier baseball to avoid the use of sticky substances, admitting that several balls tested did not work in all conditions, leading MLB to ask Japanese baseball officials what worked best. them. He also said MLB was still trying to master autoballs and strikes to the point where they could implement a player challenge system, but added the final hurdles were figuring out how to adjust a digital strike zone. ‘one batter to another and exactly what the strike zone should be. be.
“What is actually in the rulebook is not what is actually advertised. We have to figure out what we’re going to call it,” Manfred said. “It will call whatever shape you tell it to call.” But we have to decide if you’re calling out exactly what’s in the rulebook: is it the right form? We have to think about it.
Manfred said one reason he thinks the implementation of the pitch clock has gone so well is because it has been tested in more than 8,000 minor league games, so the MLB knew exactly what to expect when implementing the rule in the major leagues. He said he would prefer to delay introducing changes rather than rush that process and would take that approach with automatic balls and strikes.
“The results were what we predicted based on what we saw in the minor leagues,” Manfred said. “If we want to change something at the big league level, we think we owe it to our fans to have the same kind of certainty about the results.”
