The average time of a nine-inning MLB game "is up nearly seven minutes compared with this point last season," and Commissioner Rob Manfred "isn't happy about it," according to Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. Manfred said, "The single biggest thing we had going for us early in the year [last season] was player focus on the topic. And we feel like we've lost a little focus. So we're doing a variety of things to try to get that focus back." Stark noted through Monday, the average time was 3 hours, 26 seconds compared to last year's 2:53:33, following new "pace-of-game rules." Manfred said that officials in his office "have reached out" to the MLBPA to "let the union know that they're 'concerned' about this trend." Sources said that players "identified as repeated violators of pace-of-game rules have actually received personal phone calls reminding them to adhere to the rules." Manfred "absolved baseball's replay system of blame." He said that he looks at the 35% "increase in replay reviews, compared with last year, as more of a pace-of-game issue than a time-of-game issue." Manfred said that he is "actually gratified that the expanded replay system has worked so well over its first three seasons that MLB has 'only tinkered at the edges with the system.'" Nevertheless, he said the 35% rise in total replays and the trend toward longer reviews are issues "that merit analysis." Manfred added that he thinks MLB "needs to look at 'creative ways' to improve both time and pace of game." He "promised that this will be a major topic this summer in negotiations over the next labor deal" (ESPN.com, 5/17).
