As MLB mulls rule changes, union hints at stoppage

Manfred is nearly as bad as Gary Bettman. There is an insane number of great young players right now and the league office is not only dropping the ball, it is literally blaming players like Mike Trout for not marketing themselves.

New math analysis just came out: the "shift" decreases singles, but increases walks - with the increase in walks being greater than the decrease in singles

Also may be increasing homeruns too, as players solve the shift by hitting over it

Hitters facing the Shift are taking the ball more to center field which suppresses power and what is probably leading to more singles and walks that are offsetting to a very small extent doubles, triples or home runs. It doesn't make fielding easier and you have to go out a few decimal places to see any effect at all but evidently there is a destabilizing impact on both pitchers and batters. It has also been around in some form since the 1870's.

Hitters facing the Shift are taking the ball more to center field which suppresses power and what is probably leading to more singles and walks that are offsetting to a very small extent doubles, triples or home runs.

No, no, there's less singles. Batters prefer going over the top of the shift rather than go the other way, i.e. hitting the ball into the air, leading to more flyballs or homeruns.

Here's some statements from players who face a lot of shifts:

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/24049347/mlb-hitters-explain-why-just-beat-shift

Basically, they don't see themselves just getting on-base then getting stranded there. They'd rather drive themselves home.