One of the bigger stories in baseball has been the idea of ‘banning the shift.’ MLB wants to get rid of the shift to make sure left-handers get a more fair shot at the plate. Shift defense has become a huge part of what teams to including the Milwaukee Brewers. Counsell did not spare any words for Commissioner Rob Manfred by explaining why putting everything together is so important. Good words from Counsell here about this topic. Hope he speaks his mind more because this is truly great stuff.

Ban the shift? Let's just say Craig Counsell is not a fan of that idea. pic.twitter.com/XeiiICzr75

— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) December 12, 2018

On Twitter a couple weeks ago when this topic bubbled again, I spoke out in favor of banning the shift citing the NFL, NBA and NHL have all done things to increase scoring by taking away defensive-related things. More scoring leads to more eyeballs which ultimately leads to more money. Counsell wants to work with baseball to think of other ways to speed up the game. We’re all with him there. The fact Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts makes four pitching changes in one inning is far too much and takes up so much time.

Counsell is not the only manager or player speaking out against a potential shift ban. Players and coaches both know this isn’t going to work like MLB thinks it will, so why should Manfred push for it? To me, the dead ball times like the Brewers manager referred to is spot on. There are many times where the game just comes to a halt for no real reason at all. Those are the things to fix. Why baseball hasn’t added a competition committee with players, managers, owners, general managers? It seems like a logical move.

Baseball has a mess on their hands, but that’s nothing new.