Top 10 Ways to Improve Major League Baseball (MLB)

The MLB has a rather serious issue right now. Attendance is declining rapidly and they’re losing ground to the NFL and NBA. Some cities like Miami, Baltimore, Detroit, and Kansas City have bad attendance due to poor on field product. Nobody wants to see a losing team. The MLB has some issues that need to be resolved to gain ground on the NFL and NBA.
The Top Ten
1 Enforce a Pitch/Batter Clock

This would not be hard to do and would keep the game moving at an orderly pace. And it's not just pitchers either. Batters often take way too long in between pitches adjusting their batting gloves. It shouldn't take 76 years to get through a plate appearance.

They added a pitch clock this season.

2 Give More Attention to Minor League Players

The MLB draft doesn't get a whole lot of attention unlike the NFL or NBA. Since it doesn't get a prime T.V. slot on a major network Often times it just happens and nobody knows who their team ended up drafting. When minor league players get called up people rarely know who they are. If there's someone ready to be called up giving them attention can bring hype surrounding their debut

Being a fan of a small market team (Go Twins! ), I constantly pay attention to whats going on in the minors, its how my favorite team is built. Its true that almost everyone else I know pays no attention to the MLB Draft, or the minors, but I understand. They just want to watch the finished product win, they don't really care how they got there.

3 Add a 3 Batter Minimum

If they want to cut down on time and make things more interesting this would be a good idea. The New York Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson has said this: "I would require a pitcher to throw to three hitters. One, it would speed up the game. Two, and more important, it would change the dynamics of the game in the late innings. Today, we have too few lead changes late in games, in part due to the dominance and specialization of relievers. One way to offset dominance is change the dynamics a little bit, as we see occur when things get out of balance in other sports all the time." He might have a good idea. There's too much down time currently with the pitching changes and this could help fix that

4 Further Limit Mound Visits

In 2018 managers were limited to 6 visits per game which dropped the average game time 5 minutes. I say maybe limit it even further to 4 or even 3. This puts pressure on the managers and could change the dynamic of a game.

5 Use the Designated Hitter in the National League

It does feel weird that both leagues play under different rules. I think it would be smart to let pitchers bat in both leagues. Like they all used to. Pitchers already proved since the professional leagues got organized that they can be complete players. Not letting pitchers hit would be like a catcher who didn't hit. If people think a designated hitter is a good idea, then every position should have a designated hitter. In football, there are 11 players on offense, and 11 different players on defense. Would baseball be better with 9 players who batted, and a different 9 people who played against the other team's batters?

6 Limit Teams to One Lineup Change Per Game

Only once a game manager should be allowed to make a lineup change in the game. After it's used, the players would return to their normal positions. This could add some strategy to the games and would again put the managers under pressure. Just imagine all the drama this could cause especially in the playoffs. It would keep people on the edge of their seats until the final few outs. If a team was down in the bottom of the 9th they could use this to put in somebody like Aaron Judge or Mike Trout. The other way this could be used is if a big name player like Trout, Machado, Pujols, or any other big hitter got out the manager could use this to make them up next as a second chance. This has big potential to cause controversy and something that Undisputed or First Take could talk about for days.

7 Give Teams the “Hard Knocks” Treatment

In the NFL fans get inside access to training camps. The MLB not so much. They did have a similar show to Hard Knocks called The Franchise but it only aired for a few seasons. Think of all the things they could cover. Calling someone up, sending someone down, learning a new swing technique, learning a new pitch, etc although The Franchise was cancelled maybe they could focus more on coverage of spring training like Hard Knocks. We could see stories of long shots and new guys. There's a plethora of content to work with

8 Fix the Blackouts

The MLB has a network which allows you to watch games wherever. Only problem is the blackout restrictions. The MLBtv network is a great idea but they need to fix the restrictions. Imagine someone in New York not being able to watch Aaron Judge? Or someone in San Francisco not being able to see Madison Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw have a pitching duel? Or imagine living in Iowa and not being able to watch 20% of the teams? (Twins, Royals, Cubs, Brewers, White Sox, or Cardinals) I get they can't just snap their fingers and make it go away. Not with multi billion dollar T.V. contracts but all fans want is to watch baseball anywhere anytime. They shouldn't have to use another source (via cable subscription) to watch a game.

9 Cut Down on Commercials

I know they probably don't want to do this but currently there's commercials after every half inning and for every pitching change. That's not even counting other times like mound visits or injuries. Overall there's probably about 20-30 minutes of commercials in a game. Maybe shortening the down time by a few seconds would keep more people interested in the game

10 Lower Ticket Prices

When I say lower prices I mean lower them on everything. Tickets could be anywhere from 10-160 dollars apiece plus parking which depending on location could be another 20 dollars plus if you want any concessions or souvenirs that's more money. Overall just taking a family of 4 is easily over 200 or 300 dollars. Maybe lowering prices by a few bucks here or there would draw more people to the games.

The Contenders
11 Hype Up the Draft

Kinda ties in with giving more minor league players attention but yeah restating what I said earlier it's not on a major network so most of the time people don't even know who their team drafted. Give the draft more attention so we can be hyped about the future faces of the big leagues

Agreed. I have never once been interested in watching or paying attention to this draft

12 Add a Foul Ball Limit

Disagree. Seems a little unfair to call someone out who's in a major duel. Imagine if it's game 7 and the bottom of the 9th. It seems kinda lame to have it end with a foul ball (unless it's caught)

Us true baseball fans actually like pitcher/batter duels.

13 Serve Latin Food in Stadiums

Yeah this would be more unique than just average hot dogs, peanuts, popcorn, etc. Expanding the menu might make more people interested in buying different food products.

14 Give Every Ballpark a Signature Food Item

Not only would this increase the chances of people buying more food but it would give more incentive to people who want to visit every park. It could also make the menu tied closer to the city the team plays for. Give every ballpark a unique item that you can only get at that ballpark

15 Hype Up College/High School Players
16 Get a Better Commissioner

Rob Manfred is clueless. He may understand the financial aspect of the game, but does not understand the "on-field" product. He showed absolutely no courage in disciplining the cheating Houston Astros' players for their 2017 scandal. He says he wants to speed up the game (and it is extremely B-O-R-I-N-G), but have implemented very few things to do so. MLB games should not last 3.5 - 4 hours. That's ridiculous. The Wild Card should be a 2 out of 3 series. How can he justify one game to determine who advances after a 6-month, 162-game schedule? This is a "regional" sports fan game, unlike the NFL.

17 Have More Promotional Nights

If they don't want to decrease ticket prices then maybe offer more bang for their buck. It doesn't have to be a bobble head either it could be anything from after the game fireworks to discounted concessions to free giveaways like hats or anything really. Give more incentives to buy higher priced tickets

18 Make the Wildcard a Series

Nope I disagree with this the Wild Card game is supposed to be exciting with two teams fighting for their season to continue. Doing this kinda makes it less exciting and just drags the postseason on longer

Or get rid of the stupid wildcard play in game altogether.

I know it's called "wildcard" and it's very exciting to watch, but having to decide a franchise life in ONE game after playing 162 regular matches is surreal and doesn't make any sense from a sportive perspective

19 Have a Salary Minimum

It would make teams be forced to pay good players their worth, and it would keep teams much closer.

20 Give More Attention to Atlantic League Players
21 Baseball Teams Change Leagues According to Their Division Using a Lottery Similar Like FIFA or FIBA One Every Certain Number of Years

My opinion is that the baseball can play in the traditional divisions in years 1, 2, 3 and 4. Year 5 will have a lottery where teams can be either in the National League or American league. Years 6, 7, 8 and 9 will return to the traditional divisions. For example all the teams from the east will pass through a lottery where it will determine to play into AL or the NL.

22 Add Budget Cuts
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