Elephant Rumblings: League submits counter-proposals for potential rule changes

A’s Coverage:

• Shea: A’s Mike Fiers looks sharp, says Opening Night start would be an ‘honor’...
• Shea: A’s Bob Melvin suddenly among deans of baseball’s managing fraternity...
• Ring: Let’s Check in on Dustin Fowler’s Lawsuit Against the White Sox...
• Hall: Updating the Oakland A’s lineup for 2019...
• Shea: A’s Frankie Montas has new pitch, better equipped to make roster...
• Lockard: Bay Area prospect mailbag - A’s starting pitching options, Giants outfield depth... ($)
• McWilliams: A’s mailbag - What’s the outlook for Franklin Barreto, and will they add more starting pitching? ($)
• Hall: Spring Game #5: A’s lose big, but with plenty of golden linings...
• fatrolf: Oakland A’s Player Profile - Joakim Soria...
• Brazil: How Ramón Laureano can take next steps after breakout season in 2018...
• Ross: A’s Nick Martini leaves spring training game with hyperextended back...
• Oakland A’s 2019 Community Prospect List #19: Nick Allen has tools but a lot to prove...

MLB News:

• Passan: MLB prepared to ditch clock until 2022, among other rule proposals...
• Passan: Arenado agrees to record-breaking 8-year contract with Rockies...
• Harvey: Aaron Hicks signs 7-year extension with Yankees...
• Goold: Cardinals, Miles Mikolas reach 4-year extension...
• Heyman: Phillies have offered Bryce Harper more than $300 million...
• Cooper: Atlantic League Expected To Add Robo-Umps, Other Changes From New MLB Agreement...

Baseball Interest Stories:

• Sharma: ‘It’s awful’ - Kris Bryant on how baseball’s service-time rule needs to change... ($)
• The Athletic staff and others (incl. Slusser): The Best Game I Ever Covered... ($)
• Leitch: The players, teams affected by Arenado’s deal...
• Ring: On MLB’s New Pitch Clock and “Icing the Pitcher”...
• MLB Pipeline Team: 30 prospects we’ll be talking about in 2021...

Today in Baseball History:

• 1901 - The National League Rules Committee decrees that all foul balls are to count as strikes, except after two strikes. To cut the cost of lost foul balls, the committee urges that batsmen who foul off good strikes are to be disciplined. The American League will not adopt this rule for several years. Other new rules: catchers must play within 10 feet of the batter; a ball will be called if the pitcher does not throw to a ready and waiting batter within 20 seconds, and players using indecent or improper language will be banished by the umpire. A ball will be called when a batter is hit by a pitch, but, in a mail vote, the owners will rescind this in April, and a HBP will earn a batter first base.
• 2012 - The A’s get some bad news when tests on the injured knee of 3B Scott Sizemore reveal a torn ligament, leaving the team without its starter at the hot corner for the entire season. He will undergo surgery once the swelling in his knee subsides.

Best of Twitter:

• While a little behind schedule, Oakland’s best player is nearing a return...

• As reported by McWilliams and confirmed by Gallegos, Chris Bassitt has a fourth option, which could provide clarity for the back end of the rotation...

• Jorge Mateo’s raw tools are off the charts...