Geez, come on. I know that baseball fans are stuck in their thinking but why would you object to starting each inning with the top of the order? I've been advocating that for a while.
Now as a baby step towards common sense, how about replacing the moronic extra inning 2020 and 2021 rule of starting each EXTRA inning with a runner on second base? I think that rule is going away in 2023 but my suggestion might stimulate discussion of a fundamental change that could easily have been the rule all along or at least once major league baseball really became big business.
It would justify paying players, as distinct from pitchers, huge salaries for only 4 or 5 plate appearances (PA) per 9 inning game. With my rule the best hitters would bat at least 8 times at home and 9 on the road.
What kind of idiot wants to see the bottom of the order? What possible reason is there for MLB to object? In amatuer baseball it makes sense to increase participation but at the highest professional level it makes no sense.
And everyone would play the field, no "golfer" designated hitter who only swings the club. My real original preference is six batters and three designated fielders but starting each inning with the top of the order is more than a reasonable step in the right direction.
Mike Trout was a 10 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) player when he was a 2012 rookie being paid the minimum of about half a million dollars. Now that he is getting $37 million and can't be much more than a 10 WAR player, Trout is one 74th as valuable. As a rookie 10 WAR player, that $36.5 million difference could have been paid to teammates. As much as I like Trout, there is no way to justify his receiving so much of his team's payroll for such a limited impact. He could go days without an impact PA.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/2021-misc.shtml
Trout's 2021 Angels team payroll was about $188 million, so Trout was paid $37/$188 = 19.7%, about one fifth.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/2012-misc.shtml
Trout as a 2012 rookie: $.5/$144 = .3%, about one third of one percent.
If 40% of team payroll goes to pitchers, the Angels paid their 2021 baseball players about $113 million. Of that, Trout accounts for $37/$113 = 32.7%, about one third. But he could get only a little more than one of every nine PA, maybe 12%.
Mike Trout
Position: Centerfielder
Bats: Right • Throws: Right
6-2, 235lb (188cm, 106kg)
Team: Los Angeles Angels (majors)
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