No rule changes likely until spring training

CARLSBAD, Calif. — Major League Baseball and its players’ union likely will not decide until the eve of spring training whether to change rules in an effort to increase action on the field next year.

Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem said Thursday as the annual general managers’ meetings ended that there was no consensus for change yet. More discussions will take place when owners gather next week in Atlanta, the union’s executive board convenes in late November and major league executives go to Las Vegas, Nev., for the winter meetings in mid-December.

Topics being discussed include the increased use of defensive shifts, the decrease in innings thrown by starting pitchers and technology that aids sign stealing. A possible 20-second pitch clock and alterations to rules for waivers, trade deadlines and disabled lists also are being talked about by a tradition-bound sport resistant to change.

“We’re an entertainment product. Certainly, we want to play the game in a way that’s compelling for our audience, including the younger audience,” Halem said. “We’re constantly looking at the way the game is changing organically and trying to balance the competitive issues with our clubs and our GMs doing everything possible to win versus what those decisions result in, in terms of the product on the field. And it’s not an easy balance, but we work very hard at it.”

Agreement with the union is necessary for playing rules changes, but management has the right to unilaterally implement a new playing rule with one year advance notice. Commissioner Rob Manfred had the right to mandate pitch clocks for 2018 but backed off when the union refused to agree, and he retains the ability to order clocks for 2019.

MANFRED: Baseball owners plan to vote on a new term for Commissioner Rob Manfred, a new television contract with Fox and an agreement for in-game cut-ins with the subscription video streaming service DAZN when they meet next week in Atlanta.

Manfred was elected commissioner in August 2014 to succeed Bud Selig and started a five-year term the following Jan. 25. The person said Manfred’s new term likely will be for five years.

Fox and Turner Broadcasting are in the midst of eight-year agreements through 2021.

DAZN, which launched this year, has been negotiating a $300 million, three-year deal with MLB, the person said.

ARBITRATION: Cincinnati outfielder Scott Schebler and Texas pitcher Matt Bush just missed the cutoff for salary arbitration eligibility, while Chicago Cubs pitcher Carl Edwards Jr. and Toronto pitcher Joe Biagini earned the final spots.

The Major League Baseball Players Association said Thursday the cutoff for eligibility this winter is 2 years, 134 days of major league service, up from 2 years, 123 days last year. The top 22 percent of players by service time with at least two years but less than three are eligible for arbitration as long as they had at least 86 days this year. They join the older group of 3to 6-year players.

Players and teams are scheduled to exchange proposed salaries on Jan. 11, and hearings for those lacking agreements will be scheduled for Jan. 28 to Feb. 15 in St. Petersburg, Florida.