Universal DH Decision Time

As we sit here and wait to find out who's going to be the President, MLB owners and players have a decision of their own to make.  The universal DH, long a source of controversy among National League die-hards, was adopted as one of the pandemic provisions for the 2020 season.  Now they need to figure out whether they want to adopt it permanently.  And they need to figure that out sooner rather than later.

They'll likely discuss all of the 2020 rule changes at the (virtual) Winter Meetings, and the most serious conversations will probably be about the universal DH.  As they should be.  Because that's not just the rule change most likely to be adopted permanently, it's also the only one that directly impacts roster construction.  Which is why the Winter Meetings is the absolute latest this can be decided.  One way or the other.

DH is an expensive position.  That's one reason National League owners have been so resistant to it for so long.  You'd have to think that'd be especially true coming off a year when nobody had fans in the stands and revenue is down significantly.  But, at the same time, they had it last season, which was a major change some people thought would never happen.  So, now that they've used it for a season and finally seem to accept it, you'd think this is the time to go all the way.

You know the players are in favor of the universal DH, too.  It creates 15 high-salary jobs and unifies the rules for both leagues (although, I'll admit, I'm one of the few people who likes the fact that they had different rules).  And those are 15 jobs that teams are gonna have to fill. 

Likewise, there are free agents whose markets will be impacted by whether there's a universal DH or not.  Nelson Cruz is a free agent.  He's 40 years old and hasn't played the field in years.  But he can still hit, and you'd figure somebody will want to sign him.  Will his market be limited to the 15 AL teams?  Or will he be able to take his pick of all 30?

And how about Marcell Ozuna, who served as the Braves' primary DH and put up absurd numbers?  Ozuna is still a serviceable outfielder, but his market value increases immensely if he can DH.  Especially if he can DH for any of the 30 teams.

Ozuna isn't the only one.  And, frankly, there are plenty of other National League free agents-to-be who fit the DH mold more than Ozuna does.  Kyle Schwarber is a terrible outfielder.  Yoenis Cespedes, on the rare occasion he actually did play last season, was used primarily as a DH, a position he played almost exclusively in interleague road games in the past.  Then there's Jay Bruce, who's been relegated to pinch-hitting duty for years because he's been on National League teams but isn't good enough to play the field (he's even worse at first base than he is in the outfield, which I didn't even think was possible!).

National League managers and GMs would obviously like to know whether they're going to have a DH or not, too.  Last season they kinda just had it thrown on them, but it wasn't as big of an issue since they had the expanded rosters to compensate, so they were, for the most part, able to make-do with what they had.  But with rosters going back to the standard 26 players in 2021, the DH (or lack thereof) will definitely influence roster construction.

Most of all, though, teams need time to prepare themselves for such a major change.  You can't just spring it on them.  Remember how upset playoff teams were when they didn't find out until after the trade deadline that there wouldn't be any off days during the Division Series or LCS this season?  We definitely saw the impact that had on the exhausted bullpens, and you know that those teams would've been more active looking for pitching help had they known earlier.

It was during last year's Winter Meetings that they voted to expand rosters to 26 players during the season and 28 in September.  It was also during last year's Winter Meetings that they passed the rule change requiring relievers to pitch to at least three hitters or end an inning.  That allowed teams to go into Spring Training (the original one in March) and build their rosters with those rules in mind.

This rule change, I'd argue, is more consequential than either of those.  The 26th player is the last guy on the bench.  And the three-batter rule meant you had to swap your LOOGY for a reliever that can get both lefties and righties out.  A utility guy and a reliever aren't exactly the highest-priced players.  DHs can be.  So, if you want a good one, you need to have the money for him.  Even if you don't want a good one, you need to plan your roster and lineup around having a DH, which is obviously vastly different than having pitchers hitting.

Ultimately, I do think that the universal DH is here to stay.  The 2021 season is the last under the current CBA, and it seemed likely that this was going to be a major discussion point during negotiations for the new one.  In fact, the momentum towards it had become so strong that I thought 2021 would be the last season where we see pitchers hitting.

However, that all changed when Major League Baseball had to adjust on the fly just to play a 2020 season.  They went to the universal DH over the objections of National League purists, and those same people came to realize it's not all that bad.  And now that they've done it, it would be silly to go back.  Especially when things were moving that way already.

So now it's really just a matter of timing.  And the sooner the better.  Don't waste everybody's time by waiting to announce it, especially if the decision is ultimately going to be the one we all expect anyway.  Make the universal DH permanent at the Winter Meetings in early December before its official debut in 2021.