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| VIDEO REPLAY 'CONFUSION' |
At the end of last weeks winter meetings the managers indicated that what they were told at the GM's meetings last month, is far different than the regulations that were being discussed at the winter meetings.
Joe Torre, the MLB vice president for baseball operations, disagreed with this perception. "The fact of the matter is we still have to receive approval from the MLBPA and umpires union, so there is really nothing that is in stone at this point in time. But I thought it was a good opportunity to give the managers a little head's up, and especially the fact that the next time we see them it will be Spring Training, just give them something to think about, and to let them call us with any questions or suggestions".
Torre added, "So it certainly wasn't a meeting where we said, 'This is the way it's going to be', it was basically, 'This is where we are right now', and I really don't want to go into it only because it may not be the same thing we start the season with. We have a pretty good idea of where we want to be, but, again, we still have to wait for the unions to sign off".
What a difference a month makes. Last month, Torre was talking about ways to keep managers from 'stalling' to allow others in the press box to look at replays and give a signal as to whether the play should be appealed.
More than one manager though, at this weeks meetings were under the impression not only would electronic help be available but that it would be ready within 10 seconds, and that each ballpark would have equal access in both dugouts.
When asked about this specifically, Torre said, "It's just that we've talked about a lot of stuff. The one thing in this process that our goal is to make everything uniform for all the teams. So you have a road team and a home team, we are making sure that the home team is not going to have an advantage over the road team. We plan on having the technology standardized for everybody".
As well, the managers were told, that they would be given just one challenge per game and if it was upheld they would get another.
"Umpires are my responsibility," Torre said, "I'd like to see no challenges through the course of the ballgame. We have to be realistic, but the fewer, the better. Right now, I think our take on it is we've missed like one call every 5.7 or 5.8 games. The fact is that there is nothing insignificant about any play that happens during the course of a game, because it can turn into something big. We just sort of planted some seeds today on some of our thinking, on how we're thinking. As far as how many challenges, you know, the fewer the better for me."
One thing that will not change is that the review will be made by 'MLB Advanced Media' headquarters in New York City.
MLB has been aware from the beginning about 'the pace of the game', and how it would be impacted by the changes.
Torre elaborated, "The game is the most important thing. I know we have the technology. We can't ignore it. But we certainly don't want to affect the rhythm of the game. Our sport is a little different than other sports. We don't have the built-in timeouts that other sports have where they can do stuff. And we're trying to make sense of what we can do without interfering, and what is important for us".
Joe Torre and MLB remain confident there will be a replay system in place for 2014, the system has been tested already in the Arizona Fall League. But there obviously are a few wrinkles to iron out yet.
Last word to Joe, " I think it can come together very quickly. We're certainly not going to force something if we're not ready to do it the right way. We're pretty confident we can do it with the six or seven weeks of Spring Training, and that will be our practice ground both in Florida and Arizona. I think we'll be in pretty good shape by that time. But they're just loose ends not tied up. It's not like we're all over the place."
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