The biggest story of the offseason has been the storm that continues to brew between Major League Baseball and the players’ union, manifesting itself in a whole training camp’s worth of free agents that have yet to be signed. The discontent between the two sides has spilled into a matter that has flown under the radar somewhat this offseason: pace of play negotiations.
Rob Manfred believes baseball has a pace of play problem and cites the ever-lengthening average time of a game, up about 20 minutes from 15 years ago. Last month, it seemed like MLB was going to unilaterally implement a 20-second pitch clock after the players’ union rejected Rob Manfred’s original pace of play proposal.