Joe Torre is somehow surprised that managers are using replay as it was designed to be used - MLB

Ken Rosenthal talks to Joe Torre about replay today. Mostly about the delays and the number of challenges. It’s rather interesting to hear Torre’s general stance and demeanor about it all, as he sounds genuinely surprised about things he should not be at all surprised about.

Specifically, about the delays managers cause while waiting for their review team to tell him if he should challenge or not. And the sheer number of challenges. Here he’s talking about how there have been far more challenges than he and Tony La Russa anticipated:

“I know Tony was preaching this from Day One: ‘Guys, go out there if it’s an obvious miss . . . But there have been so many of these bang-bang calls that have been challenged, and a number have been overturned. Probably more have been challenged than we anticipated, especially in situations that didn’t seem (critical) — and, as a former manager, I know there is no such thing as an unimportant time in a game. I think we’ve had a lot more things challenged — man at first, two outs, things of that nature.”

Torre adds that he thinks a lot of managers are challenging — or at least walking out onto the field to consider challenging — based on the reaction of his players to calls on the field as opposed to a call clearly being missed and it having a real chance of being overturned.

I’m not sure why any of this is surprising to him. The biggest reasons managers get criticized and/or fired is by either appearing to be passive figures who let opportunities pass by or by losing the clubhouse. You give a manager a tool to get even a slight edge and to appear a bit more proactive, he’s gonna use it. You give a manager an extra chance to show he has his players’ backs, he’s gonna take it. Torre and La Russa should know that better than anyone.

To be fair, Torre is right that, overall, game times are only up by about three minutes a game. And I would say that, results-wise, replay has been a success so far. But the delays are annoying and the number of replays would be far, far less — and far, far less intrusive — if they were taken out of managers’ hands and placed in the hands of a person in the booth with access to the game and camera feeds who can overturn bad calls as he sees them. Such a person could exercise judgment on those bang-bang plays Torre and La Russa would like to see too.

Of course, I and many others argued this two or three years before this challenge system went on line. Major League Baseball didn’t listen then, so I doubt they have any intention of listening now, no matter how surprised they somehow are.

YOKOHAMA, Japan – Trevor Bauer apparently was shunned by every major league team, so he’s signed a one-year deal with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.

Before about 75 reporters in a Yokohama hotel, he slipped on the BayStars uniform – No. 96 – on Friday and said all the right things. Not a single Japanese reporter asked him about his suspension in the United States over domestic violence allegations or the reasons surrounding it.

The only question about it came from The Associated Press. Bauer disputed the fact the question suggested he was suspended from the major leagues.

“I don’t believe that’s accurate,” he said of the suspension. “But I’m excited to be here. I’m excited to pitch again. I’ve always wanted to play in Japan.”

He said the suspension dealt technically with matters of pay, and he said he had contacted major league teams about playing this year. He said he would have been eligible, but did not say if he had offers.

The 2020 NL Cy Young Award winner was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Jan. 12, three weeks after an arbitrator reduced his suspension imposed by Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred from 324 to 194 games.

The penalty followed an investigation into domestic violence, which the pitcher has denied.

Manfred suspended Bauer last April for violating the league’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy, after a San Diego woman said he beat and sexually abused her in 2021.

Bauer has maintained he did nothing wrong, saying everything that happened between him and the woman was consensual. He was never charged with a crime.

Bauer joined his hometown Dodgers before the 2021 season and was 8-5 with a 2.59 ERA in 17 starts before being placed on paid leave.

Bauer said his goal with the BayStars was to strike out 200 and keep his average fastball velocity at 96 mph – hence his uniform number. He said he is also working on a better change-up pitch.

He said he hoped to play by mid-April – about two weeks after the Japanese season begins – and said he has been training for the last 1 1/2 years.

“I’ve been doing a lot of strength training and throwing,” he said. “I didn’t really take any time off. So I’ve had a year and a half of development time. I’m stronger than ever. More powerful than ever.”

Yokohama has not won a title in 25 years, and Bauer said that was his goal in the one-year deal.

“First and foremost, I want to help the Stars win a championship,” he said. “That involves pitching well. That involves helping teammates and learning from them. If they have questions – you know – share my knowledge with them.”

He also repeated several times about his desire to play in Japan, dating from a collegiate tournament in 2009 at the Tokyo Dome. He said playing in Japan was on his mind even before winning the Cy Young – and also immediately after.

“The Tokyo Dome was sold out,” he said. “I’d never played in front of that many people – probably combined in my life. In the United States, college games aren’t very big, so seeing that amount of passion. How many people came to a college game in Japan. It really struck me.”

He said he’d been practicing with the Japanese ball, which he said was slightly softer with higher seams.

“But overall it just feels like a baseball and the pitches move the same. The velocity is similar. I don’t notice much of a difference.”

Other teams in Japan have made similar controversial signings before.

Former major league reliever Roberto Osuna – who received a 75-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy – signed last season with the Chiba Lotte Marines.

He has signed for this season with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.

In 1987, Dodgers relief pitcher Steve Howe, who had a career plagued with drug problems, tried to sign with the Seibu Lions. But he did not play in the country after the Japanese baseball commissioner disqualified Howe because of his history of drug abuse.

Bauer was an All-Star in 2018 and went 83-69 with a 3.79 ERA in 10 seasons for Arizona (2012), Cleveland, (2013-19), Cincinnati (2019-20) and the Dodgers. He won the NL Cy Young Award with Cincinnati during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.