MLB Set to Expand Instant Replay for 2014 Season

Major League Baseball has plans to expand instant replay video review next season, allowing for manager challenges and more, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

If passed, these sweeping changes will allow managers three challenges per game, and almost every type of play will be up for review. Only the strike zone would remain off limits and be completely up to the umpire’s discretion, per Nightengale.

The league owners will vote on these drastic new measures during a quarterly meeting in Orlando, Fla., which is scheduled to take place on Nov. 13 and 14.

Managers will need to use their challenges wisely; a presentation given by MLB vice president Joe Torre, Atlanta Braves president John Schuerholz and advisor Tony La Russa indicated that teams would only receive one review to exercise in the first six innings and two more to use in the seventh through the conclusion of a contest.

An umpire may also ask for a review, but only if a manager has used all three challenges and the play in question concerns a home run.

According to Nightengale, MLB commissioner Bud Selig is excited about the expansion of replay, calling it a “historic day.”

It seems that the ownership vote is nothing more than a formality at this juncture, although 75 percent of the 30 league owners will have to ratify the changes, and the players’ association and umpires also must give consent, per a separate report from Nightengale.

Nightengale indicates that the umpires are willing to go through with the expansion of replay in order to improve the game:

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Joe West, president of the World Umpires Association, did not want to talk publicly about negotiations, but said Tuesday, "This group of umpires today are more conscientious of getting things correct than ever before. Umpires want everything they can to help them."

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The league’s MLBAM offices in New York will be outfitted with replay cameras, which will be monitored by employees with umpiring experience. The final call will come from there as opposed to on the field.