Monday at Dodger Stadium represented a number of the greatest baseball has to supply.
The legacy of the sport was honored with the presence and efficiency of St. Louis Cardinals nice Albert Pujols in the course of the Home Run Derby. And one of many present faces of the sport, Washington Nationals outfielder Juan Soto, gained the occasion by topping Seattle Mariners rookie Julio Rodríguez within the finals.
“To say we’re excited about where our young guys are, where our game is, our veteran players, what they’re accomplishing on the field, is an understatement,” Major League Baseball Players Association government director Tony Clark stated throughout a Q&A session with members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Tuesday in downtown Los Angeles.
“I’m positive you possibly can admire Albert Pujols, one of many biggest gamers that has ever performed our sport, being a part of the festivities right here in L.A. in addition to a number of the most gifted younger gamers that we have now had in a while on the sphere on the identical time.
“To say I’m excited where the game is, what our players are doing, is an understatement.”
Commissioner Rob Manfred stated he was “really pleased with how the first half has gone.”
“We’ve had those milestones that are so important to our game,” stated Manfred, who adopted Clark in assembly with the BBWAA. “Miguel Cabrera notably being in the midst of that (along with his 3,000th profession hit). Our greatest stars like (Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei) Ohtani proceed to shine for the sport.
“And it’s another year of the young player. That’s great for the game.”
Those accomplishments occurred after a lockout delayed the season. As a part of the settlement that ended the lockout, a contest committee was created that reportedly consists of six administration officers, 4 union representatives and one umpire.
What may look completely different in 2023?
A pitch clock, enlarged bases and limits on defensive shifts are the focal factors for consideration, Clark stated.
“Every time you change something, it’s going to look slightly different,” Chicago White Sox nearer Liam Hendriks advised the Tribune earlier than Tuesday’s All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium. “I handled the pitch clocks within the minor leagues. I feel it’s one thing you possibly can implement however not essentially implement.
“That is hopefully an honest indicator of the way in which issues will go. You can put it up there however not essentially implement it. … Put it up and remind guys that they’re attempting to. And it could be that reorganization that ‘I’m taking longer than I feel.’
“As far as the bigger bases, it will be interesting to see who that benefits the most. Whether it be bang-bang plays that they’re out or stolen bases that they’re safe. Who knows?”
One subject not at the moment being mentioned is an automatic ball-strike system.
“We assume at some point in time it would become part of the conversation; it wouldn’t be for 2023,” Clark stated. “It would maybe be for 2024. But gamers have weighed in for a while and are very opinionated in regards to the system. About what it could do, what it could not do.
“Guys are offering tangible evidence about what it’s doing and what it may do moving forward with the game and are taking positions accordingly.”
Some of the potential adjustments have been applied and examined within the minors.
A separate subject of minor-league pay arose throughout Tuesday’s session with Manfred, who stated, “I reject the premise that they’re not paid a living wage.”
That drew a response from Advocates for Minor Leaguers government director Harry Marino, who stated in an announcement: “Most minor league baseball players work second jobs because their annual salaries are insufficient to make ends meet. The commissioner makes an annual salary of $17.5 million. His suggestion that minor league pay is acceptable is both callous and false.”
Manfred acknowledged that attendance is at “95% of where we were pre-pandemic.”
“We have work to do,” he stated. “To be 95% of where we were in 2019 is not our goal. Our goal is to be higher than we were in 2019. We need to work hard on things like pricing, promotion to make sure we get as many people as possible in the ballpark.”
There is perhaps new ballparks — and groups — on the horizon within the type of enlargement.
“Growing the game, we are a big fan of,” Clark stated. “Expansion, we’d be a fan of. We’ve been having the enlargement dialog it looks like for a very long time now. Making positive that the group in Oakland and the group in Tampa are located is vital. We’re hopeful that in the course of the course of this five-year window that these issues are settled and we will discover ourselves in a world of 32 groups.
“I’m a head of a labor union, so I like it when jobs are added. But what would be great, too, is if those teams that are added, that there is a commitment to fielding the best team possible so we’re not just adding teams. Where every fan can come to the ballpark every day of every year and believe that their club is putting its best foot forward.”
As for a timeline for enlargement, Manfred stated: “I need to get Oakland and Tampa resolved before we can realistically have a conversation about expansion. Those situations in my view are serious enough and timely enough, they have to be our No. 1 focus.”
The focus Tuesday night time was on lots of the sport’s greatest gamers gathering at Dodger Stadium. The sport started with Ohtani on the plate and three-time National League Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw of the hometown Dodgers on the mound.
Change was even a risk within the All-Star Game, with MLB asserting a house run derby would happen if the sport is tied after 9 innings.
But don’t anticipate to see that within the common season anytime quickly.
“I don’t see the derby-type format as something we can use beyond the All-Star Game,” Manfred stated. “I think it’s something that could be exciting for the fans for a one-off event. I don’t see it as a regular-season undertaking.”
As for conditions corresponding to the present extra-innings format with a runner beginning every half-inning on second base, Manfred stated: “Visiting and revising rules should be an ongoing process in the competition committee. That’s why we’re so interested in the change we made in the basic agreement.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com