Theo Epstein Reveals His Plan For Making Baseball Cool Again

Theo Epstein stepped down from his position as Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations earlier in the offseason. He thought it was the right time to turn the team over to his buddy, Jed Hoyer, as the Cubs appear to be entering a “rebuild” or “retool” or whatever you want to call it.

While Epstein will likely take the reigns of another MLB franchise at some point, he took a position with the commissioner’s office for the short-term. Why? Because he’s committed to making baseball more popular.

With Opening Day approaching this week, Theo Epstein sat down with The Athletic, and shared his ideas for the league. Where the whole thing starts is with Theo admitting that the game is not in its ‘best version’.

“What is the very best version of baseball?” Theo asks.” “What’s the most enjoyable version of baseball, the most entertaining version of baseball? The version that brings you the most joy, and that will bring other people the most joy? And what does it look like?

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Theo Epstein would go on to reveal what he thinks fans are looking for…things that the game of baseball currently lacks.

“When you talk to … thousands of people who love the game about what’s the best version of the game, there’s a growing consensus about what that means,” he said. “I think for most people, it means that we want more action in the game, and a faster pace of play for the game, and a little bit less dead time. And it means we want more contact and more balls in play, and probably fewer strikeouts than we have now.
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“We want to see more athleticism on display. We want more doubles and triples and more stolen bases — and probably less of the three true outcomes on offense. And those are consistent themes that you hear.”

Epstein also talked about how a lot of fans are scared of the game changing too much, but points out that not many people would be disappointed if games involved a little more action, a little more speed.

“Very few people,” he said, “will say … ‘I don’t need more action in the game.’ Or, `I don’t need more balls in play.’ Or, `I don’t like doubles, triples or stolen bases. … I like to watch walks.’”

The experimental projects that Epstein and the MLB have plugged into the minor leagues will help them gather information on what might work, and what might not, for the MLB.

Epstein would go on to say that he’s a fan of some of the rule changes that have already been put in place such as the pitch clock. But he still thinks the pace needs to be picked up, the ball needs to be in play more, and the athletes in the game need to have their skills on full-display a little bit more.

It is going to be no small task to get baseball to a place where the game will grow exponentially. It’s not going to happen overnight. However, we should feel a little optimistic when there are smart, analytical people such as Theo Epstein who are actively trying to be part of the solution.

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