Yahoo Sports Ban the shift? Brewers manager Craig Counsell thinks that's a very, very bad idea
LAS VEGAS — Major League Baseball has a long list of contentious topics that people love to bicker about. The designated hitter. Bullpenning. Advanced stats. And, one that’s been in the news a lot lately, the shift.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has floated the idea in the past of banning or limiting the shift. A recent article in The Athletic said he was getting support from around the game to do just that. You know what happened next: People argued about it.
On Tuesday at baseball’s annual winter meetings at Mandalay Bay, Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell made it quite clear which side of the debate he’s on. He really, really, really thinks banning the shift is a bad idea.
Let’s consult the entire back-and-forth between Counsell and reporters:
Q. When you look — they’re talking about banning the shift over the next year or so.
CRAIG COUNSELL: I really — I don’t think that’s going to happen. I don’t know. I just don’t know why that’s even an article. I don’t think it’s going to happen. I think it’s not going to happen.
Q. Even though the Commissioner is talking about it?
CRAIG COUNSELL: I don’t think it’s going to happen.
Q. That would dramatically change the way you play defense?
CRAIG COUNSELL: You can say I was wrong, I just can’t see it happening. I’ll just say, I don’t see the sense in banning the shift at all. I don’t see how it improves the game. I think it’s a strategic part of the game that is one of the things that makes our game fun, is let’s find strategies to win baseball games. That’s why we love the game, because we spend hours — that’s why you guys have jobs, because we talk about strategy all the time. So if you want to eliminate all the strategies, I don’t know, you guys better think about that.
Q. Brush up on our resumés are you saying?
CRAIG COUNSELL: That’s what I’m saying (laughter). The beauty of the game is all the strategies that we can employ and players can employ. And so I do think we can make a concerted effort on the downtime in the game. I would love for us to try to attack the dead time in games. But attacking strategies to win baseball games, man, I just don’t see that as improving the game.
Q. Have you had an opportunity to share thoughts of managers being given an opportunity with the league? Because they’ve spoke, the Commissioner has spoken about this as a possibility.
CRAIG COUNSELL: I have not.
Q. Wouldn’t you think, though, that it is the easiest way to increase action in scoring, since for most of a hundred years the game is played with two guys on each side [inaudible] won’t look that different? Isn’t that a way to increase some hitting?
CRAIG COUNSELL: The easiest way to increase hitting — I’m not suggesting this — would be to change where the mound is. If you want more action.
Wow. That’s a pretty strong take.
Here’s what we know about the Brewers of right now: They’re a team that’s invested heavy into analytics in recent years, realizing they have to get more creative and smart to compete against larger market teams.
That’s led to some bold moves — like employing the bullpenning strategy in the postseason. They’re trying to gain an edge where they can. In other words: They’re exactly the type of team that will leverage things like advanced defensive shifts to work in their favor.
They’re hardly the only ones. The whole league is shifting. And pull hitters on every team would be thrilled to see the league help them by limiting the shift. No matter what side you’re on, just know that this conversation isn’t going away anytime soon.
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