MLB owners today unanimously approved a dramatic new instant replay system that promises to change how the game is played, as well as the in-game experience. In the new system, a wide variety of on-field plays will be challengeable by managers, and teams now gain new ability to show close plays on their videoboards, regardless if they are reviewed. After several months of format tweaking, managers will be given one challenge per game to use. If they are correct on their challenge, they can use a second challenge. Umpires retain the ability to review plays at their discretion, regardless of the number of challenges a manager still has.
Both the MLBPA and umpires’ union have approved the changes. “This is historic, and as you can see, quite complex,” said Braves President John Schuerholz, head of a league subcommittee studying the replay issue. “For the first time, a manager has the power to directly alter the outcome of a game in this fashion.” MLB Commissioner Bud Selig similarly called the measure one of the high points of his 21-year-plus tenure.
MLB will hire two additional crews, numbering eight umpires in total, to man the new Replay Command Center at MLBAM’s N.Y. headquarters. The new measure also promises to place an increased priority on the skill of teams’ video coordinators, as managers will have the ability to communicate with those staffers via dugout phone to help determine whether to challenge a play.
