Imagine Aaron Judge batting twice in the ninth inning with the game on the line.
Meet the out-of-the-box “Golden at-bat rule” that MLB commissioner Rob Manfred claimed is creating “a little buzz” among the sport’s owners.
For those unfamiliar with the idea, the general concept would allow a team to pick one at-bat in every game to send up its best hitter even if it was not their turn to hit, per The Athletic.
“There are a variety of [rule changes] that are being talked about out there. One of them—there was a little buzz around it at an owners’ meeting — was the idea of a ‘Golden at-bat,’” Manfred said during “The Varsity Podcast” with John Ourand.
The MLB commish did clarify that it was very early in the process.
“That rule, and things like that, are in the conversation-only stage right now,” Manfred said.
Manfred has not been shy about exploring different rule changes for baseball, which has drawn criticism for being too slow and, at times, devoid of action.
MLB instituted a pitch clock and ghost runner in extra innings to help speed up games, banned certain shifts to, in theory, lead to more run production in the three true outcomes era, and has discussed other weirder ideas like inning requirements for starting pitchers.
The “Golden at-bat” rule, though, may be the zaniest.
There are a number of variations that could come with the rule, according to The Athletic, ranging from limiting the opportunity to just the team trailing to allowing each team to receive just one “Golden at-bat” but only beginning in the seventh inning.
While some may disagree, Manfred said there has been positive feedback while MLB has instituted new rules in recent years.
The “Golden at-bat” rule, though, is such a drastic deviation from the sports’ rules and structure that it may take quite the pitch for it to be implemented.
“One of the best things about the success we had last year … [was] that it makes people in the game more comfortable talking about change, you know?” Manfred said. “They had some confidence that you can manage the change process in a way that produces a good outcome.”