In January 2015, just days after Rob Manfred was installed as Commissioner of Baseball, he mentioned that he might want to ban defensive shifts in an interview he did with ESPN’s Karl Ravech:
Rob Manfred: “For example, things like eliminating shifts — I would be open to those sorts of ideas.”
Karl Ravech: “The forward-thinking, sabermetric defensive shifts?”
RM: “That’s what I’m talking about.”
KR: “Let’s eliminate that?”
RM: “Mmm-hmm.”
KR: “So all of the work that the Cubs and/or Angels and/or whoever has done, you’re willing to say, ‘I appreciate that, good idea, but it’s killing the game in a sense’?