The MLB season is currently winding down and simultaneously gearing up for the upcoming playoffs, which are slated to begin with the Wild Card round later this month. Teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, and others are considered to have a better chance than most at hoisting that elusive World Series trophy.
However, even in this busy part of the baseball calendar, scouts for teams are going across the globe to assess new talent they may want to consider adding to their pipeline.
Recently, the MLB announced a new rule cracking down on which periods of the year scouts are able to do this in order to give young baseball players a rest and prevent future injury.
“Major League Baseball is banning team officials from watching amateur players or collecting data on them for a monthslong period over the winter, warning executives that ‘the amateur baseball calendar is putting young players at dramatic risk of future injury,'” reported MLB insider Jeff Passan of ESPN.
The league is dubbing the new rule the Amateur Recovery Period policy, which they hope will “alleviate the pressure on young players to forego rest and recovery, curb overuse, and keep players healthier as they strive for a future in professional baseball.”
Passan noted that “during the down period, team employees will be barred from seeing any player covered by the policy in a baseball setting or from trying to procure video or third-party data on players, according to the memo.”
If teams break the rules, the punishments could be dire.
“Should employees run afoul of the policy, the memo said, they could be fined, suspended or placed permanently on the game's ineligible list while their teams could face sanctions in the draft or international amateur signings.”
Hopefully this new rule will decrease the alarming number of injuries that have been racking up in the MLB over the past several years.