Mookie suggests replacing HR Derby with skills competition
With less than a week until the annual Home Run Derby, part of Major League Baseball's All-Star festivities, the field is thin.
Washington Nationals superstar Bryce Harper was the first to throw his hat in the ring for the event being held at his home ballpark. He was followed by Los Angeles Dodgers surprise slugger Max Muncy on Monday. Beyond that, no one has volunteered.
New York Yankees teammates Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge have ruled themselves out and no one else has offered to fill the void, including Boston Red Sox hitters J.D. Martinez and Mookie Betts. Betts has an idea on how to fix it.
"Do something else, or take it out. Don't even do it," Betts said, according to Rob Bradford of WEEI. "Anything you do too much, people are going to get tired of it."
Instead, Betts recommends MLB adopt a skills competition like the one he participated in when he was a kid during an annual youth tournament at the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Cooperstown hosts four different skills-based events, including a mini home run derby called "King of Swat," during which players only get five swings per round before receiving 10 chances in the finals.
Variety really kicks in after that. The "Golden Arm" pits players in center field, requiring them to make throws to home plate. They are rewarded for accuracy and distance. Imagine watching Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig face off against the New York Mets' Yoenis Cespedes in such a contest.
The "Roadrunner" tests speed on the basepaths, timing players as they run from home to home. Miss a base and lose time.
Finally, there's "Around the Horn Plus" which has a team of players rifle the ball around the field to one another in a timed event.
Betts says this is the best avenue to reinvigorate interest in the event, though it doesn't have to follow the Cooperstown formula perfectly.
"Something like a throwing from the outfield contest. Some type of throwing contest," he said. "Trying to throw into a barrel or infielders have to take a ground ball to your left, ground ball to your right, slow roller and they have to throw into a screen with a box. That might be something."
The Home Run Derby is scheduled for Monday, July 16, so any of Betts' suggestions will have to wait another year.