MLB's pace-of-play initiatives "have shaved 10 minutes off the average time of games from last season," according to Nick Cafardo of the BOSTON GLOBE. The league office said that while "prolonged at-bats have long been the biggest culprit when it comes to long games, the tide seems to be changing to shorter, more aggressive at-bats, and even 10-pitch or longer at-bats are taking less time ... because batters have to keep one foot in the box, which means pitchers are staying on the rubber." There have been "very few" pace-of-play fines. A source said that fewer than 10% of hitters "have been fined, and there have been few repeat offenders" (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/14).
DON'T BLAME CANADA: ESPN THE MAGAZINE's Howard Bryant writes it is "not hard to figure out what's driving" the return of MLB to Montreal conversation: the league "has problems." The problem is with teams such as the A's and Rays, which are "not for sale." The A's are "unwilling to relocate outside of the Bay Area but desperately in need of a new stadium," while the Rays are "frustrated enough to move." But MLB "has another problem: It is out of places to go." Maybe it is "just a leverage ploy, but Montreal, once the problem, might be a solution" (ESPN THE MAGAZINE, 6/22 issue).
OMAHA, OMAHA! BASEBALL AMERICA's Michael Lananna noted the talk last Monday was that the MLB Draft "will move, though the future home is not certain." One likely scenario -- MLB Network "already has made site visits to go over the logistics of staging the broadcast -- is Omaha, potentially on the day before media day" for the College World Series (BASEBALLAMERICA.com, 6/13).
