PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- A change to baseball's longstanding "neighborhood play" at second base may have saved Ruben Tejada a broken bone last October, and perhaps even turned a postseason loss into a win. But that does not necessarily make Mets manager Terry Collins a fan of the new rule, which requires runners to "engage in a bona fide slide" to avoid interference calls. The rule change also makes neighborhood plays reviewable for the first time.
Tejada, who suffered a broken leg during the National League Division Series in a collision near second base with Dodgers infielder Chase Utley, was gone from Mets camp for the day when MLB announced the rule change.