And now a word from John Smoltz

[Benjamin Grimm]

Smoltz wants to eliminate the shift (“I think it’s single-handedly killing the game), curtail the relentless use of relievers, stop the exploitation of the disabled list, but most of all, revolutionize the schedule. Smoltz proposes that MLB adopt a split-season schedule, just as they do in the minor leagues, in a move that he believes will create dramatic division races again, reduce the number of teams tanking for draft picks, and make baseball great again in September.

Full article: Hall of Famer John Smoltz says MLB needs an overhaul and proposes drastic changes

I'm not sure what he means about the exploitation of the disabled list. But doing something about the relentless use of relievers sounds appealing. I can't say I like the idea of a split schedule. The first-half winner could have a significantly different roster by the time October comes.

[Ceetar]

go away John Smoltz.

[Fman99]

Eliminating the shift is stupid. Teach guys to bunt for singles. I think the split season is interesting, personally.

[Benjamin Grimm]

It would have erased the Mets' June, which would have been nice.

[Centerfield]

I'm ok with no rivalries and everyone playing a balanced schedule.

Not a big fan of interleague play either, but it does give a nice way for NL fans to see AL parks.

I want to see shifts go away. By hitters learning to exploit the holes in the defense they expose.

[Guest 41Forever]

Fman99 wrote: Eliminating the shift is stupid. Teach guys to bunt for singles. I think the split season is interesting, personally.

'
Yup. It's like saying, "The curve ball is too hard to hit." Make them stop.

No, learn how to hit a curve ball.

Learn how to hit against the shift.

[Guest 41Forever]

I like interleague play, and I think playing the division teams over and over and over is boring.

But the split schedule thing seems like an artificial way to make more teams competitive, more than the wild cards. You want to be competitive? Figure out how to scout better, develop better, plan better and play better.

[Guest d'Kong76]

I got an idea, expand the lineup to 11 with three floating DH's (who of course
can use aluminum bats) and can be deployed five times per game.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Watching them float would certainly be entertaining!

[seawolf17]

I even hate the *thought* of banning shifts. I'd rather see the DH in the NL than see shifts banned.

Don't like it? Then stop fucking hitting ground balls to the right side. Done.

[HahnSolo]

This is so stupid. If shifts are banned, then wouldn't you also have to ban:

- playing the infield in with a runner on third and less than two out.
- playing corners in in a bunt situation.

That's not even considering moving your outfielders either.

[seawolf17]

And that would *never* fly in any other sport.

Football: Can't throw the ball? Well, the other team is going to stick eight guys on the line and stuff the run until you get better.
Basketball: Can't hit jumpers? Then hang out there all you want, but we're going to clog the middle so you can't drive to the hoop until you get better.

[smg58]

The shift is single-handledly preventing boring, one-dimensional swingers from completely overrunning the game.

[Edgy MD]

Smoltz wants to eliminate the shift

No.

curtail the relentless use of relievers

No.

stop the exploitation of the disabled list

I guess I agree but I'm not sure he and I would mean two different things.

but most of all, revolutionize the schedule.

I'm certainly for eliminating designated rivalries and so make schedules more fair.

As for creating drama with the schedule, I get no support (and Grimm hates it), but promotion and relegation is the answer.

[Gwreck]

The parade of September relievers *is* stupid.
There is a real simple fix: you can call up 40 players in September if you want, but only 25 of them can be active for one game. You can appease the union by making anyone on the expanded roster still accumulate ML service time.

If you really want to tweak it, there probably needs to be some fix as well so you can't just de-activate your other starting pitchers when they aren't going, so maybe add the rule that if you were the starting pitcher, you also have to remain one of the 25 active players for the next 3 games (unless on the DL).

[Fman99]

Edgy MD wrote: As for creating drama with the schedule, I get no support (and Grimm hates it), but promotion and relegation is the answer.

You won't ever see this in an American sport. The disparity in the size of cities makes this an unrealistic choice. Are you going to give Syracuse a MLB team and demote the Atlanta Braves to AAA? I don't think so. This only works in countries where people drive on the wrong side of the road, and wear hats on their feet and shoes on their heads.

[Edgy MD]

Fman99 wrote: Are you going to give Syracuse a MLB team and demote the Atlanta Braves to AAA?

Sheesh, give me five minutes. Where do I sign up? I mean, you don't want to be standing between me and the signup table at the time.

Damn, this would be so great. What's wrong with you?

[A Boy Named Seo]

Not a lot in this article and I don't pay for the Athletic, but sounds like there is momentum gaining to flush the shift in some form anyway --> https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-commissioner-rob-manfred-gaining-support-to-limit-defensive-shifts-report-says/

Changes to the way teams line up -- and are allowed to line up -- defensively could be coming to Major League Baseball. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has received "strong" backing from baseball's competition committee to try to "put something in place" to limit shifts, The Athletic's Jayson Stark reported Wednesday.

[Guest cooby]

I like all his ideas

[Guest Mets Willets Point]

MLB has always been very conservative - in the sense that its resistant to change - and I think Edgy's promotion & relegation proposal would actually help address problems like overuse of the shift. Think about, the infield shift first came into practice in the 1920s and was employed against Ted Williams in the 1940s, but it didn't achieve widespread adoption until the past decade or so. That is a long time for an innovation to gain widespread acceptance. Now that every team uses the shift, MLB's innate conservatism would seem to have them all stuck using the shift for the foreseeable future, and fans are going to be disgruntled about that.

The Minor Leagues would seem to be a place to innovation, but since the Minors are focused on individual player development rather creating winning teams, there is very little reward for a minor league manager to come up with a program for something like hitting against the shift. But, if instead you had lower division teams hoping to win games and gain promotion to the top division, then some genius is going to come up with a way for their team to hit against the shift, and if it helps them win, other teams will adopt it as well. And them some other genius will have to innovate a way around the new system. The problem of every team doing the same thing and baseball getting stuck in a rut is resolved.

[Guest cooby]

I think Smoltz means using the shift as often as it is used today, not just as a tool against the occasional batter

[Edgy MD]

Willets Point, come collect your prize.

[nymr83]

cooby wrote: I think Smoltz means using the shift as often as it is used today, not just as a tool against the occasional batter

Who gets to decide when to use it then?

Maybe we can have manager's challenges and more instant replay!

Calloway can come screaming out of the dugout "THEY CAN'T SHIFT AGAINST HIM, HE IS ONLY HITTING .279!!"

[Benjamin Grimm]

I guess they could paint lines on the field and specify that each fielder has to position himself within his designated zone.

Banning the shift is an awful idea, but this is one way to implement it.

[batmagadanleadoff]

And what's next after that: a curve ball ban?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Shorten the distance between the bases to 60 feet and have the batters hit from a tee.

[HahnSolo]

I mentioned this earlier in the thread, but I don't see how this is entirely different from:
- pulling the infield in with a runner on 3rd and less than 2 outs
- playing corners in on a bunt situation
- corner infielders guarding the lines in late game situations
- moving your CF ten steps to the left or ten steps to the right depending on the batter

These are all "shifts" to a certain extent.

[Edgy MD]

Ban the NO DOUBLES outfield alignment!!

[Guest cooby]

Nymr83 wrote: cooby wrote: I think Smoltz means using the shift as often as it is used today, not just as a tool against the occasional batter Who gets to decide when to use it then? "

The team manager, Smoltz, and me, by conference call

[seawolf17]

Fuck. That. Shit.

You want to shift? Go for it. I'm going to teach my guys to bunt so you cut it the fuck out. "Banning the shift" is fundamentally changing the game, and it's a load of crap.