Imagining a scheme to doubling the number of baseball playoff teams to eight was a shock to baseball’s hidebound ways. On Wednesday, Jeff Passan at Yahoo Sports reported that Major League Baseball will test a change to the rules in extra innings this season. (The International Baseball Federation has put runners on first and second in extra innings since first testing it in 2008. Passan spoke to Joe Torre, MLB’s Chief Baseball Officer, who offered an old manager’s reasons for wanting to examine the idea. MLB can test the plan in the minors without the approval of the players’ association and such a rule change in the majors would have to be bargained with the union.

Source: National Post February 09, 2017 17:48 UTC