"You can’t set the date two years ahead of time... You have to be able to get the greatest matchup" - MLB legend Alex Rodriguez gives a rundown of how to make MLB more buzzworthy like NBA and NFL
New York Yankees legend Alex Rodriguez gave his take on how the MLB could improve its scheduling to match the likes of the NBA and NFL.
In an interview with the New York Post on Saturday, Rodriguez opened up on the missed opportunities for the baseball league:
“You feed all your national partners — ESPN/ABC, Fox, TBS — and feed them with four national games. They have to be huge, dynamic matchups. You can’t set the date two years ahead of time. You have to be able to get the greatest matchup.”
As for rule changes... Beginning in 2023, a committee comprised of four active players, six members appointed by MLB, and one umpire, will be tasked with adopting changes to playing rules such as a pitch clock, base size, defensive positioning and automatic ball/strike zone.
He cited Cardinals star Albert Pujols, who moved to the LA Dodgers in 2012, saying:
"As an example, when [Albert] Pujols left the Cardinals, I thought it was a missed opportunity that it took eight years to get him back to St. Louis. You have to be able to dynamically flip that schedule.”
Unlike MLB, the NFL and NBA draft their respective schedules after free agency for next season. MLB, on the other hand, announced next year’s schedule in August. However, the league is taking measures to improve this issue, as starting in the 2023 season, every team will play at least one series against every other team in the league.
MLB unveils new plan for the 2023 season
Starting next season, every major league team will play each other in the same season after switching to its first balanced schedule since 2000. As a result, the intradivision games will drop from 47% to 32%, with every team hosting the other clubs at least once every two seasons.
The season is set to start on March 30, with the aim of starting every team on the same day. Chris Marinak, MLB’s chief operations and strategy officer, explained the reasons behind the new schedule in August:
“This new format creates more common opponents, both in the division and among your league opponents. So that typically when you’re competing for the wild card, there’s a much higher percentage of common opponents across divisions.”
The American League used this from 1977–2000, with the National League doing it from 1993–2000. Interleague games were introduced in 1997 with 15–18 games per season for each team.
The schedule for the season is usually drafted in the winter months, with next year’s season commencing the earliest since 2019. The next season will also revert to 186 calendar days from the 182 it was shortened to this year due to the labor agreement issue.