MESA, Ariz. – Major League Baseball’s never-ending quest to trim the length of games cropped up again Thursday with the announcement that starting this season, managers will have a maximum of 30 seconds to challenge a call on the field.
A’s manager Bob Melvin isn’t a huge fan of rule changes, but he said Thursday it’s not going to be an issue for him.
“It looks like it’s an issue for the managers,” Melvin said, “but it’s an issue for the video guys, because they’re the ones who report back to us.”
The A’s video coordinator, Adam Rhoden, has to review as much video as he can on close plays and get the word back to Melvin, who will have stepped onto the edge of the field to alert the umpiring crew that a challenge may be forthcoming.