Changes are coming to baseball in 2018, and not all are happy about it – Chicago Tribune

The future of baseball is up in the air thanks to Major League Baseball‘s intent to make rule changes to speed up games.

Commissioner Rob Manfred has been harping on pace-of-game issues since he took over for Bud Selig, yet the average game time of 3 hours, 5 minutes in the first half of this season would set a new record if it holds up the rest of the year.

Manfred reportedly hopes to install a pitch clock to prevent pitchers from dawdling, as has been used in the minors for the last three seasons. Though many pitchers may object, the collective bargaining agreement with players gives Manfred the right to implement it next year unilaterally.

“If I can tell you one thing that has been true about my career in baseball, it’s I’m a deal guy at heart,” Manfred said. “I would much rather have an agreement than proceed unilaterally. That is particularly true when it comes to changes that affect play on the field because only the players are in between those lines, not any of us. So I’m hopeful we (can) have an agreement.”