MLBPA head: Players 'concerned' about rule changes

Despite working with Major League Baseball to help devise the new pace-of-play initiatives announced Monday, players are still "concerned" about the potential impact of rule changes for both 2018 and beyond, according to MLBPA executive director Tony Clark.

"Players were involved in the pace-of-game discussion from Day 1, and are committed to playing a crisp and exciting brand of baseball for the fans, but they remain concerned about rule changes that could alter the outcome of games and the fabric of the game itself - now or in the future," Clark said in a statement.

With spring-training games set to begin later this week, the commissioner's office unveiled several rule changes for the 2018 campaign, notably limiting each team to six mound visits without a pitching change per game and cutting the time between innings and pitching changes to two minutes, five seconds. Though commissioner Rob Manfred was reportedly prepared to implement a pitch clock with or without the approval of the players' union, he decided against it for 2018.

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In announcing the new rules, Manfred also said the league and the players' union agreed to meet during the season to continue discussing pace of play.

"I am pleased that we were able to reach an understanding with the Players Association to take concrete steps to address pace of play with the cooperation of players," Manfred said. "My strong preference is to continue to have ongoing dialogue with players on this topic to find mutually acceptable solutions."