New Rule

 It was unfortunate that they kept the extra inning rule in place of putting a runner on second base at the start of each extra inning.  It was understandable in the midst of the pandemic, but is too Little League in nature to have been made permanent.

Make a walk 3 balls, and a strikeout 2 strikes. That will speed up the game significantly.

Also, limit time-out/stepping out of box by batter.

Why's everyone in such a hurry?  Part of baseball's charm is it's languorous pace.

Gosh, if the Grateful Dead had just cut the set break and ditched Drums and Space we could have been sucking nitrous balloons and eating dollar grilled cheese sammys an hour earlier.

>> Why's everyone in such a hurry? <<

I've sat through too many 3.5+ hour games at Coors Field.

Personally, I miss the days of kicking back at a ballpark, enjoying the easy pace of a baseball game. In the 60s and 70s, when I had a meager salary, I could still afford a ticket in the cheap seats, enjoy a good cigar and plenty of beer with a Polish dog. This was summer routine when I lived up the hill from Candlestick and the Giants were in town.
Until 1969, the teams with the best records in each league would win their respective pennants and play each other in the World Series. Pitchers still batted in both leagues until 1973.
Changes to post season began with expansion teams. Wild cards were added due to teams with better records, like the '93 Giants, being aced out of a playoff spot.
Even with changes to the structure of teams, few new rules were added that affected managerial and player strategies. Now, a lot of rule changes over the past few years either limit strategy or at least create the need for other strategies to come about.
For example, the new pitch clock rule may not give a pitcher enough time to shake off more than 1 or 2 signals or hold a runner on base. I wonder how long before the players figure out the catcher may be able to hold the ball a little longer to give the pitcher a chance to regroup or to settle on the next pitch call since there is no clock on the catcher - yet.
How about base stealing? Not only have the base paths been shortened by 6 inches, the pitcher can no longer effectively keep a runner close to the bag. And, how about those sliding gloves? Some of them are 14 inches long! There is no rule for these - yet, other than approval by an umpire. I doubt Rickey Henderson's records will ever be broken, but someone as quick as him will surely have an advantage he didn't.
The extra inning runner-on-2nd base rule is just silly.
As for eliminating or limiting managerial strategies, I don't understand how this speeds up the game. Then again, I don't understand the reasoning to rush a baseball game, which was designed to be a pastime; defined by Merriam-Webster as "something that amuses and serves to make time pass agreeably."

stop f'in with it.

>>>What they're trying to change: The increase in the size of the bases should reduce injuries around them while increasing stolen base attempts.

How does this change anything?   

Agree with Turts. 

Still pissed about the DH.

And fielders should be allowed anywhere between the lines.

Shift rule is stupid. A Major Leaguer should be able to poke a single the opposite way.

Haven't been following all the new rule changes. I did read an article on how the shot clock really saved basketball back in the 60's. I could see the need for some kind of rule to rid the game of excessively slow play, but it seems so complicated. There are so many little strategies going on all around the diamond and these are just a great part of the game. To see a pitcher trying to hold someone like Rickey Henderson close to 1st base with multiple throws to first is exciting in my opinion and not a time wasting thing. Likewise the dance that happens between the pitcher and each batter and all the little things each can do to try and unnerve the other.  I don't see how you limit these things and not degrade the game.  And limiting how the defense can position themselves seems a big step in the wrong direction. This is all part of the never ending strategy dance that makes the game great imo. The fact that a game can at times go very quick and at other times stretch into a marathon is a great thing about baseball imo. What is the identified problem that MLB is trying to fix? Are they simply concerned that the average length of a game is longer than it used to be. You had marathon gamers back in the 60's and 70's.  If you go to a game you certainly are aware that it many be quick or long, so you set your schedule accordingly.  I guess I just confused about the whole thing. They spend a lot of extra time waiting for all those advertisements to run on the airwaves; do they not?  Make the pitchers hit again; those are usually pretty quick outs, but can still be full of important strategy. Shorten the length of a time out,  Do away with the 7th inning stretch (what is that about anyway); limit the time teams take to change each inning from offense to defense.;  

>> What is the identified problem that MLB is trying to fix? <<

Drastically reduced viewership. NFL pre-season games get more viewers than Game 7 of the World Series.

Edit

Saw some stuff about this on the news. Just like in any sport, the rules need to be fucked with. It's pretty tough to justify paying p[layers $120 million when stands are 3/4 empty and nobody's watching on TV. Sure, part of the allure is kicking back and relaxing while watching a chill game, but that doesn't pay the bills. At least some of the players are pretty excited about the larger bags and potential for a faster paced game.

If anyone has ever watched, cricket has the potential to be boring as shit. Then came T20 Cricket. It's more exciting, stands are full, tens of millions watch on TV (especially in India) and it's brought new life to the sport.

the DH one bugs. Dumb.

One of the best day and night I spent at Candlestick was a Giants/Cards double header pre beer cut-off days. Both games went extra innings. Had a ball, spending the event with friends and enjoying lunch and dinner at the park.
I get that people seem to get bored quicker these days and all the instant gratification stuff. It's not me, but I rarely ever ran with the majority. Organized baseball is an entertainment industry, according to Congress and team owners, so I also understand their need to appeal to the masses. I'm glad I was able to relax and experience baseball when it was a game.
I watched a spring training game on TV the other day with the pitch clock going. I swear I felt a bit rushed when I went to make a sandwich during the commercial.

pitchers seem to be getting fairly screwed here. Really I just want to see umpires held accountable.

shift is a rather minor tweak I understand and can probably live with

Will there be an asterisk next to the player who breaks rickey's record? They straight up will have run less miles than rickey ran.

Damn, did baseball finally get something or the majority of something right for a change? I'd say yes

old Cleveland Municipal Stadium  you could get bleacher seats for a buck. God I loved that place 

That picture was a huge crowd in the 70s, you could sit wherever you wanted with a ticket in the stadium for Indians games, except the bleachers. The bleachers were cut off from rest of the stadium, and the bleachers were also home of the Dog Pound for Browns games. Never sat in them for baseball, too far away, but sat there for many Browns games, insane, it was. 

Like the no shift rule.  Sure, hitters should just hit it the other way.....   Easier said than done against major league pitching.

Absolutely hate that extra innings bullshit.  In many ways.

Jury out on the pitch clock. I was against it but it is hugely popular.

El Nino, for a couple years now, relief pitchers have to face 3 batters or end the inning.  I am not really a fan of this rule.

Bases? yeah whatever.

I have always been against the DH.   But slowly coming around to this too. Worked for the Giants last few yrs.

The main thing I don't like about all the changes is a general sour taste of a bunch of suits/the league mandating these things.

I don't mind the larger bags at all, and while I hated the shift because it exposed how stubbornly hitters all focus solely on always trying to hit  home runs no matter the count or situation, I hate more the league telling teams where they can & can't position their players.

I'm pretty sure I'll get used to the clock and will like the crisper pace because it has bugged the hell out of me how modern hitters take so long between every pitch, but I also think the clock is going to lead to pitchers being distracted & rushed, which will lead to more fat pitches, more wild pitches, more hit batters and more walks. That, along with no more shift will lead to more hits/baserunners which will lead to long innings (and four & a half hour games in the vast Coors Field).

It's also going to suck when a violation and not the play on the field will decide a game, but ultimately I expect to get used to the mechanical feel of a clock constantly ticking and all the changes in general.

The only rule I'll never get used to is the extra innings stupidity. It ruins games and I find it almost impossible to watch, and I don't think that will ever change for me. It's an infamnia.

Also, the idea that attendance and general interest in the game is down is fake news. As long as you're calculating from before the pandemic, average attendance was significantly higher in the ten years before 2020 than it was 30 - 50 years earlier. And tv ratings are mostly calculated by nationally broadcast games, which in the modern cable tv era has gone down because before cable it was rare that any games were on tv, which made the Game Of The Week on Saturdays the only game in town, but since cable came along every local market gets every local teams games, which naturally lowers interest in watching some random Indians vs. Twins game (or more often whoever the Yankees were playing).

The bottom line to defying the myth that interest in MLB is dwindling is to look at how much money teams are paying players, which is astronomical and continues to grow. If the money is there than so is the interest, and the money is most definitely there, which means baseball is doing just fine.

Anyway, despite all the medicinal corporate fuckery messing with the purity of the game, as always I'm looking forward to the season.

GO GIANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!