Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred announced former Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein has joined the league’s office as a consultant regarding on-field matters.
Epstein is one of the most successful MLB executives in recent history, ending long championship droughts for both the Boston Red Sox and Cubs. He retired at the beginning of this offseason, paving the way for him to take this job under Manfred.
“It is an honor to assist the efforts by Major League Baseball and the Competition Committee to improve the on-field product, and I appreciate Commissioner Manfred asking me to be a part of these important conversations,” Epstein said in a statement.
“As the game evolves, we all have an interest in ensuring the changes we see on the field make the game as entertaining and action-packed as possible for the fans, while preserving all that makes baseball so special. I look forward to working with interested parties throughout the industry to help us collectively navigate toward the very best version of our game.”
Among Epstein’s responsibilities, in his new role, he will be working with baseball analytics experts for the league and teams to create new rule changes to make the game more entertaining. MLB has worked tirelessly in recent years to make the game more entertaining, creating rule changes to improve pace of play.
The 2020 shortened season was used to experiment with new rules, such as a universal designated hitter and expanded postseason. Both received quality reviews across the league and could become permanent changes moving forward.
Manfred telling teams to plan for 162-game season in 2021
While there are some things that have yet to be determined for the 2021 season, Manfred recently reportedly informed teams the plan is to play a full 162-game season with Spring Training starting on time.
That is not yet set in stone and a lot can change depending on the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, but it is good to see that MLB is doing what it can to play a full season in 2021 after only getting 60 games in last year.
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