¡Intentional walks are muertos; Viva intentional walks! - A Hunt and Peck

The rules of baseball are a’changing. No longer will the catcher throw his arm up, stand up, and catch four straight pitches in order to purposefully allow a batter to reach base. Instead there will just be some sort of signal and the batter takes his base, saving the viewer precious seconds of watching grown men play pitch and catch.

And it is fine, I guess.

Yeah, it is weird. Baseball has rules and so it goes against the tradition of baseball just to save a little bit of time. And yes, weird baseball can happen during an IBB. But overall, the game is fairly unaffected. So... meh?

Now you want to makes this actually interesting? Get rid of intentional walks altogether. But for now, goodbye IBBs...

Intentional walks are the worst. Long live intentional walks. | SBNation.com

what else is going on in baseball...

• Tim Buss arrives at Cubs practice in Ferrari | MLB.com
• American League West will be tight race | MLB.com
• MLB rules changes to be revisited prior to '18 | MLB.com
• Will any pitcher win 300 games again? | MLB.com
• You've never known true love until you've watched Bartolo Colon on Photo Day | MLB.com
• Under-the-radar MLB players to keep an eye on. | Sports on Earth
• Eric Hosmer is an Historical Anomaly | FanGraphs Baseball
• A Year Without the Yankees | FanGraphs Baseball
• Last Year’s Unluckiest Changeup | FanGraphs Baseball
• Nationals Sign Matt Wieters For Some Reason | FanGraphs Baseball
• Betts, Lindor Top Contract-Extension Candidates | FanGraphs Baseball
• Restricted Free Agency, Anyone? | FanGraphs Baseball
• Rob Manfred and MLB are freaking out about rule changes, which doesn’t make sense | SBNation.com
• MLB commissioner Rob Manfred says MLBPA will have no say in rules changes for 2018 | SBNation.com
• The Nationals are baseball’s sneakiest superteam again | SBNation.com
• Some of MLB's most high-profile umpires are stepping down | SBNation.com
• Positions of strength: Where MLB teams have shined most for past decade | SweetSpot | ESPN

what the cardinals are up to...

• Miklasz 'would bet on' Wainwright bouncing back | ESPN
• Ortiz: Cards prospect Sherriff has to make tough choice | Jesus Ortiz | stltoday.com
• Weaver to start Cardinals' first exhibition game | Cardinal Beat | stltoday.com
• Ozzie aims to boost Cards’ confidence in the field | St. Louis Cardinals | stltoday.com
• Cardinals notes: Wainwright not a fan of changing the game | St. Louis Cardinals | stltoday.com
• Daily Bernie: Feb. 21 - Who's the Current 'Face of the Cardinals'?; Blues Enter Bye on Low Note | 101Sports.com

KNOW THINE ENEMY...

the nl central

• Cubs' big-money decisions start with Jake Arrieta | Chicago Cubs Blog | ESPN