"Baseball commissioner Bud Selig proudly announced the formation of his "special committee for on-field matters" on Tuesday. Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune wonders if Selig may have set up the mechanism that could at some point lead to the elimination of the designated hitter.
The committee, which meets for the first time next month in Phoenix, will examine issues such as scheduling, umpiring, the strike zone and pace of game. It will be baseball's answer to the NFL's competition committee and Rogers writes that "the DH rule could face its first real threat since the American League accepted it permanently for the 1976 season, after a three-year experiment that began as a way to create run scoring and increase attendance."
Rogers cautions that any such talk is premature, but noted that two of the committee members, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa and longtime Braves executive John Schuerholz, listed the DH as the one thing they potentially would change if they could. Don't expect a change anytime soon. Ending the DH would need the approval of the Players' Association, which would oppose the elimination of the high-paying jobs (ESPN)."
Let me start by saying I don't see this happening at all. The Player's Association would never let this happen, because highly paid players would be out of a job (Thome, Ortiz, ect). Saying that, I still think it is silly that the NL doesn't have it, and the AL does. I think it really gives an advantage to the AL, and they can take a chance on a guy with a longer contract since at worst they can throw him into the DH spot. I would be fine if they changed that rule, but they won't so it kind of doesn't matter.
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