I didn't see it in this article but read somewhere that they are limiting commercial breaks to 2 mins (vs 2:05 for local and 2:30 for national games). I'm surprised the league could restrain itself there...
The three batters seems artificial and removes a chess piece from the game, maybe they could just shorten the warmup time on the mound.
Under the agreement, players will be designated as position players or pitchers
Is this a problem? Just when two way players (Ohtani) are becoming a topic they want to limit it? Last year Tampa had parked the pitcher at first (and OF?) for a batter and bringing him back to the mound. That's interesting and probably gone now.
The HR derby is unwatchable for me and this won't change it.
I must have skimmed over the pitcher / position player thing. That is stupid. What difference does it make? If a player is good enough to do both, let them. Especially since pitchers hit in the NL, does this mean a pitcher couldn't pinch hit in the NL now (not that it happens that often)? Or a bigger thing; you can't use a position player to mop up a blow out? That's being going on forever to save pitchers.
Agree about HR derby. They can do whatever they want for the All Star break, it's meaningless.
The three batter rule certainly takes some strategy away, but it can also add new strategy. I don't like it as a change from tradition. It could be okay, I really don't know how I feel about it. It wasn't all that long ago that closers weren't even a thing, so it isn't like bullpen usage (or lack of) hasn't changed over the years already.
The three batter rule is going to hurt bullpen specialists. It might make certain situations more interesting. Idk how I feel about it. I really don't care about pace of play.