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Report: MLB approves dugout signal for intentional walks for 2017

Jason O. Watson / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Just hours after Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said there won't be any significant rule changes for the upcoming season "due to a lack of cooperation from the MLBPA," it appears implementation of a dugout signal for an intentional walk, effective in 2017, has been approved, team and union sources told ESPN's Howard Bryant.

With league officials resolved to improve pace of action following an increase in average game time of four minutes, 28 seconds last season, signalling intentional walks from the dugout instead of having the pitcher throw four balls was one of several game-quickening measures discussed this winter, though Manfred wasn't convinced a "meaningful change" like this would be approved by Opening Day.

"Unfortunately, it now appears there won’t be any meaningful changes for the 2017 season due to a lack of cooperation from the MLBPA," Manfred said Tuesday at a press conference in Arizona.

"I'm firmly convinced that our fans, both our avid fans and casual fans, want us to respond to and manage the change that’s going on in the game," he added. "I know - I’m certain - that our job as stewards of the game is to be responsive to fans, and I reject the notion that we can 'educate' fans to embrace the game as it’s currently being played."

It remains to be seen, however, how impactful this reported change will be. The intentional walk - which took about 37.25 seconds in 2016, according to the Wall Street Journal - has been steadily declining since 2011, and last year's 932 free passes represent the lowest single-season total since 1981 (895).

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