Manny Machado Says MLB’s New Rules Are Going To Make Players ‘Angry And Pissed Off’

manny machado spring training new rules

Getty Image


Major League Baseball, in its infinite wisdom, is implementing several rule changes for the 2023 season.

There will now be a pitch clock, larger bases, a banning of the shift with all infielders being required to be on the infield dirt, and a limit on the number of times a pitcher can make a pickoff attempt, step off the rubber or request time out.

On Friday, the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners will get to be the first guinea pigs when they face off in Spring Training at 3:10 p.m. ET at the Peoria Sports Complex.

On Thursday, Padres star Manny Machado had questions and more than a few concerns about the new rules, Yahoo! Sports reports.

“So, what happens if the umpire has to take a leak? Does he get penalized?” he asked.

“You’re going to have some players who are going to be freakin’ angry and pissed off,” Manny Machado added. “You’re going to have players pissed off at the umpires who are just following the rules. We’re going to be seeing some crazy sh-t for sure.”

Machado also warned, “Some of us older players, we don’t like change too much. We earned the right to be who we are. Now, there’s going to have to be a lot of adjustments. MLB is going to have to be the ones to make adjustments on the fly if things aren’t working. If they do that, then I think everybody will be okay with it. But they’re going to have to be lenient and tweak some things.

“Rob [Manfred] said that he wants to listen to the players. Well, you got to listen to the players and make adjustments during the season if things start spiraling out of control. You can’t just say, ‘This is how it is. It’s this way or the highway.’

“We are changing the game a lot, so let’s make this as simple as possible.”

Well, that’s not going to happen. Rob Manfred doesn’t give a sh-t about baseball, obviously, so Manny Machado is pissing into the wind holding out that hope.

If you’re curious to see how the new rules shake out, in addition to the Padres and Mariners game on Friday, the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals also have a game scheduled.

If nothing else it should be very interesting to watch shortstops and second basemen standing one foot from the bag then racing to the other side when the pitch is thrown to get around the new shift rule. That won’t look at all stupid.

Douglas Charles headshot avatar BroBible
Before settling down at BroBible, Douglas Charles, a graduate of the University of Iowa (Go Hawks), owned and operated a wide assortment of websites. He is also one of the few White Sox fans out there and thinks Michael Jordan is, hands down, the GOAT.