data-mm-id=”_r6fb7y3eg”>MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has come up with a handful of terrible ideas on how to get a younger audience more engaged with baseball, including implementing a pitch clock, forcing relievers to throw to more batters and, most recently, adding more teams to the playoffs and allowing teams to choose who they're playing on live TV. Turns out the best idea on how to get people more engaged has been right under their nose the whole time. Today, Cubs stars Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant were mic'd up during the Cubs Spring Training game against the Angels. The result was pure greatness. Here's a little friendly banter between @KrisBryant_23 & @ARizzo44 to brighten your Monday. pic.twitter.com/3wGE0vpFh1— Cut4 (@Cut4) March 2, 2020While every player won't be as engaging as these two, and while teammates won't joke like this during regular-season games, this would increase player notoriety, something the MLB has been unable to do with its young stars. Hearing two players joke about hats and gloves is interesting. It shows their human side. It also creates viral videos like the one above, which is important in the era of social media and another element baseball has lagged behind the other leagues. "Feeling a heater right here because I've only seen one today from him." @ARizzo44 called it. pic.twitter.com/ebcRqr65RN— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 2, 2020For the last three years, Manfred has been busy reminding everyone how boring baseball is with his rule changes designed to fix a game that was never broken. Meanwhile, he's failed to realize the best way to get young people involved is through their phone. Highlights are cool, but how many times is a kid going to retweet or like a home run video? Not as many as they would fresh video of a player being himself on the field. The MLB does dugout chats with managers, pitching coaches and players, but it's not the same as hearing them on the field. We don't get that in the other leagues during real-time performances. The MLB could be a trendsetter in this arena. At the end of the day, baseball needs minor tweaks, not complete overhauls. This is one example where the players get what they want (more exposure), the league gets what it wants (more engagement) and the networks get what they want (a new hook to get people to watch). It's a win-win-win. Make it happen MLB.
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