‘Why do we want to bastardize our game?’: MLB players and managers join criticism of Golden At-Bat proposal

Picture the scene. It’s the bottom of the ninth, the Los Angeles Dodgers are down one with two outs and two men on base. Enrique Hernández is due up, but manager Dave Roberts sits him down and sends star man Shohei Ohtani to the plate instead.

That is the essence of MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s Golden At-Bat proposal, which he floated in late October during an appearance on The Varsity with John Ourand. The rule would allow each team one chance per game to swap in its best hitter for an at-bat, even if it is not his turn.

“There are a variety of (rule change ideas) that are being talked about out there,” Manfred said on the podcast. “One of them – there was a little buzz around it at an owners’ meeting – was the idea of a Golden At-Bat.”

While Manfred was quick to remind listeners that the suggestion was “in the conversation-only stage right now,” that hasn’t stopped various figures from around the league from criticizing the proposal since then.

“Our game is not built that way,” said Joe Maddon – former manager of the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Angels – in an interview with The Athletic. “Why do we want to bastardize our game and make it like everybody else?

“The more we see things, the less impact they have,” he continued. “The Trout-Ohtani thing (the final at-bat in the 2023 WBC Championship) was outstanding because you rarely see it. You don’t see Halley’s Comet every night.”

Some have voiced their opposition to the suggestion on the grounds that it would deprive lesser-known players of the opportunity to produce huge, unexpected moments.

“Not all change is great,” said former Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis on X. “The best part of baseball is when the guy least expected to get the big hit delivers at the end of the game. A memory that lasts a lifetime for the player and fans.

“The roller coaster ride of emotions in sports is what makes it the best unscripted entertainment.”

Others are worried about what it would mean for relievers, who would likely see a hit to their statistics were they facing the world’s best every time they took to the mound.

“I wouldn’t like that,” Phillies reliever Matt Strahm told The Athletic. “Nah, that messes with baseball history too much. I don’t like that one. Say you have a guy like (veteran reliever) Craig Kimbrel, who is going to be chasing 500 saves. Then he’s got to do it at the end of his career against Aaron Judge and Juan Soto for every save? Nah. That’s not right.”

Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa was concerned about what it would mean for the healthiness of a pitching staff.

“I can’t agree with that one because the relievers are going to be under really, really high stress all the time, and then the injuries are going to go even higher,” he said, per The Athletic.

Former Seattle Mariners catcher Chris Howard criticized Manfred for not focusing on what he felt was a more pressing issue – the blackout rules which prevent fans in certain areas watching certain games on TV, to encourage them to attend in person.

“Please tell me the ‘Golden At Bat’ rule is just an April Fool’s joke a few months early,” he wrote on X Tuesday. “Someone needs to tell Manfred to stop watching Savannah Bananas games. You want to do something, stop the blackouts.”

Meanwhile, seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens simply said of the proposal on X: “This can’t be real.”

Manfred has overseen a controversial period for rule changes as commissioner over the last decade. While the pitch clock, which was introduced in 2023, has generally been met with praise, other ideas like the ghost runner rule – which automatically places a runner on second base at the start of each extra inning in regular-season games – have proved far more divisive.

It remains to be seen whether the Golden At-Bat proposal will ever make it beyond the ideas stage. But if it does, it will likely be Manfred’s most contentious rule change yet.

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