Girardi believes player headphones will help speed up games

Joe Girardi wants to take a page out of the NFL's playbook.

After Major League Baseball and the Players Association agreed to eliminate the required four pitches for an intentional walk Wednesday, Girardi chimed in with another option to help speed up games: headphones.

"I'm a big proponent of trying to introduce some type of communication through headphones. Like they do in the NFL," Girardi said, according to USA TODAY Sports' Steve Gardner. "I think you could speed the game up that way in certain instances."

Commissioner Rob Manfred has been adamant about finding a way to hasten the pace of play in games this offseason. Though the MLB boss was able to push through the intentional walk change, he has bemoaned the union's "lack of cooperation" in instituting more rule changes.

Girardi, though, argues his idea could benefit both players and the league, as it could eliminate lengthy mound visits, as well as the laborious process of giving complicated signs.

"You'd put earpieces in certain people," he said, according to Gardner. "You could put it, realistically, in your hitters' helmets and you could say what you wanted and then it's not a sign from me, a sign to the third base coach, and then a sign to the player."