New rules set to shake up look of MLB game
PHOENIX – One-out relievers will soon be obsolete in Major League Baseball.
Multiple trade deadlines, with no trade permitted after July 31, also are about to be gone by the wayside.
A pitch clock? Soon expired. And no longer will teams such as the Dodgers and Phillies be playing with a 40-man roster in September while the Marlins are playing with only 25 players.
MLB and the union announced Thursday several major rule changes, most which will be implemented in 2020.
❚ Pitchers will be required to face a minimum of three batters in a game beginning in 2020.
❚ There will be one trade deadline, on July 31, starting this season, with teams prohibited from making any type of trade after that.
❚ Mound visits will be reduced from six to five during games beginning this year and perhaps reduced to four in 2020.
❚ There will be an All-Star Game election day beginning this summer when fans can determine the starting players with 24-hour voting. Fans and players still will vote in the traditional way for the team until July, but the top three finishers at each position will be on the one-day election ballot.
❚ The Home Run Derby will pay $1 million to the winning player. It’s designed to get the best stars to participate, with a total pool of $2.5 million.
❚ Commercial breaks during innings will be shortened by 20 seconds to two minutes.
❚ Position players will be prohibited from pitching in games that don’t go to extra innings unless a team is ahead or behind by at least eight runs.
❚ Committees will be appointed by the commissioner’s office and the union to formally discuss economic concerns. They will study ways to make the free agent market more active. They will discuss eliminating the incentive for teams from purposely losing to gain top draft picks. They will explore efforts to prevent teams from manipulating service time that delays their top prospects from being called up to the major leagues.
❚ The minimum time a player spends on the injured list will be increased back from 10 days to 15.
❚ Finally, beginning in 2020, all teams will have a 28-man roster in September after having a 26-man roster the first five months of the season.