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Jesse Rogers, ESPN Staff Writer
The “Golden At-Bat” rule won’t be coming to a ballpark near you — at least not anytime soon.
Speaking at an event at the Italian American Baseball Foundation on Thursday night in New York, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred clarified comments he made on a podcast last month regarding the potential rule change which has led to discussion about the viability of the idea.
“To go from the conversation stage to this actually showing up in MLB is a very long road,” Manfred told the Yes Network on Thursday. “You don’t like the idea? I wouldn’t be too concerned about it right now.”
The “Golden At-Bat” rule, which Manfred says he’s not personally in favor of, allows teams the ability to send any hitter of their choosing to the plate — potentially at any time — once per game.
In other words, if Bryce Harper had just ended the eighth inning with an out, the rule would allow him to be used again to lead-off the ninth or even just in back-to-back plate appearances in the same inning. This would allow for the best players in the game to get an extra at-bat in critical situations, potentially bringing more excitement to the sport.
Manfred’s comments on the podcast brought some online backlash after he revealed there was some “buzz” about the rule coming out of the competition committee during the owners meetings in mid-November.
“It was a very preliminary conversation which did create some buzz,” Manfred reiterated on Thursday. “I do encourage the owners to have conversations about the game.”
But a rule change of that magnitude would be years from making it to the big leagues, if ever. Rule changes — such as the pitch clock — undergo vigorous testing in the minor leagues. The “Golden At-Bat” rule would be no different, and a league official confirmed there are no plans to institute it in the minor leagues next season.
“It has come out that I have spoken publicly about this kind of change years ago, that I was not particularly in favor of it,” Manfred said Thursday. “That remains the case.”