Rob Manfred says player safety, and protecting infielders in particular, is "really high on our radar screen," but he admitted that finding the proper wording for a new rule governing slides will be "difficult."
"I hate to admit this," the commissioner said, "but I think the way we had to work through the home-plate situation gives you a feel for how difficult it is to write that kind of rule that involves in-game action and an important part of the game."
Manfred began thinking about the issue even before Chase Utley's controversial slide broke Ruben Tejada's leg this week. When Jung Ho Kang was injured on a similar slide in September, he said, it was the type of incident that "brings it into focus how damaging it can be to a club and, obviously, to the player."