Changes are coming for baseball once the MLB lockout is settled.
For a long while, MLB has been toying around with the idea of robot umpires.
As a part of the Players Association’s proposal on Sunday, MLB would be granted the ability to unilaterally implement rule changes so long as they gave 45-days notice.
The changes that were approved were banning the shift, larger bases, and a pitch clock, all going into effect by 2023
The idea of robot umpires is not something that was included in MLBPA’s proposal yesterday but is something that has been kicked around for some time now.
MLBPA proposal per source:
• Would grant MLB ability to implement 3 specific on-field changes w/45-day notice, starting w/2023 season: pitch clock, larger bases, shift restriction. MLB also wants robo umps w/45-day, players didn’t offer
• Prearb pool starting at $80m, down $5m— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) March 6, 2022
How Much Would Baseball Change?
Robot umpires would change everything in baseball.
It would likely affect the pace of the game quite a bit, potentially speeding it up slightly.
Robot umpires would also cut down significantly on the amount of umpire arguments we see.
It’ll be interesting to see if this change is one that will end up going into effect in 2023.
Baseball has been falling behind other sports in large part due to the pace of the game progressively slowing down over the years, and the sport badly needs to adapt to avoid falling further behind and completely fading from relevance, at it is on track to do right now.
Robot umpires would be a change for the good if it is indeed approved.
Obviously, MLB has been kicking around the idea, but would need approval from the players in order to go into effect.
If approved, the game might potentially speed up a little bit, which is something Commissioner Rob Manfred has been trying to do since he took over in 2015.
NEXT: Joey Gallo Will No Longer Have To Beat The Shift