Acrimony toward the unilateral implementation of a pitch clock made it less appealing for ManfredGETTY IMAGES
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's move to take the pitch clock off the table for '19 could end up "being the instrument for meaningful change" as MLB and the MLBPA prepare for labor negotiations ahead of the current CBA's expiration in '21, according to David Lennon of NEWSDAY. A source said that these negotiations "could produce a new set of rule changes within the next few days -- and in time for Opening Day." MLB is "willing to increase active rosters to 26 players (up from 25) through August but limit them to 28 (rather than a potential 40) for September." Those 30 additional jobs "should be a big carrot for the union, in addition to ditching" the proposed pitch clock. Manfred "knew there would be pushback" to that suggestion, but the "degree of acrimony ... made the unilateral implementation of a pitch clock less appealing from the commissioner's viewpoint" (NEWSDAY, 3/4). In Boston, Sean McAdam noted Manfred "knows that players are already irate" over the slow free-agency market over the past two offseasons. However, with players "dead-set against the clock," Manfred also understood that the pitch clock would be "one more divisive issue between the sides and would set in motion the possibility of a work stoppage" in '22 (BOSTONSPORTSJOURNAL.com, 3/2).
MAKING ADJUSTMENTS: In Boston, Peter Abraham wrote the rule mandating that a relief pitcher must be used for three batters is "going too far." Taking the late-inning strategy out of the game is a "bad idea and will only serve to annoy people who are already fans, not draw in any new ones." MLB also should "look into ways to speed up replay reviews." Umpires "waste too much time walking over to talk on that phone-in-a-bag contraption" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/3).
NOTHING TO FEAR: In Baltimore, Peter Schmuck wrote the word "'strike' has re-entered the baseball vernacular," but all the "saber-rattling is just that." It is "certainly possible that the players could walk out" near the end of the CBA three seasons from now, but even that is "unlikely." Both MLB and the MLBPA "understand the Cold War concept of mutually assured destruction actually applies here, and everybody is making way too much money to pile all of it up and light it on fire" (BALTIMORE SUN, 3/3).
