Over at SBNation.com Jeff Sullivan talks about changes he'd like to see in baseball over the next decade. Now I'm way too much of a traditionalist to like some of his suggestions. Robot umpires, penalizing intentional walks, limiting pitcher changes, getting rid of home plate collisions and penalizing pitchers for hit batters all just sound silly to me. The idea of moving one team from the NL to the AL, to balance the leagues, just wasn't thought out at all.
I wouldn't mind baseball trying to speed up some of the slower pitchers. Steve Trachsel is annoying. But then I don't want them making a mockery of the game by forcing pitchers to throw too quickly or awarding to batter one ball added to the count if pitchers are slow. I want the game decided by the players. They did try to get the managers to run out to the mound on visits but expecting Bobby Cox to run to the mound shows someone didn't think the idea through.
But it would be nice if baseball did something to make payroll disparities a little but I'm not sure how that will happen. And he's right about fixing the playoff schedule, there were too many off days. I think MBL will fix that next year.
Anyway what changes would you like to see baseball make over the next few years?