Should Major League Baseball Ban Shifts?

It’s safe to say Joe Girardi is not a fan of infield shifts.

According to Joe Giglio of NJ.com, the Yankees skipper said he wants Major League Baseball to ban shifts entirely.

“‘It’s illegal defense, just like basketball,’ Girardi said, Giglio wrote, per the New York Post. ‘Guard your man. Guard your spot. If I were commissioner, they’d be illegal. As long as it’s legal, I’m gonna play it. I just think the field was built this way for a reason. Two on one side, two on the other.'”

Just because Girardi said he wants shifts eliminated from baseball doesn’t mean the Yankees will stop employing the shift while it’s still legal.

Despite Girardi’s comments, the Yankees utilize the shift more than the majority of other Major League teams, Giglio said.

“‘The strangest part about Girardi’s take on shifts? He and the Yankees use them often. In 2014, both the New York Post and ESPN the Magazine referenced the Yankees as one the most shift-happy teams in baseball. While year-by-year numbers always will be different based on match-ups and caliber of fielder Girardi has at his disposal, it’s clear that he’ll use data to shift for an advantage.'”“‘Thus far this season, the Yankees rank fifth with 185 shifts on balls in play this year, on pace for their highest year ever. That info, per Ben Jedlovec of Baseball Info Solutions, confirms what your eyes are telling you during Yankees games: Girardi shifts. A lot.'”

So, this begs the question: Should the MLB ban shifts?

I don’t think so.

In recent years, shifts have become an incredibly common part of nearly every Major League game.

They’ve become so common that there is now a statistic for how many times a team shifts on balls in play during a season.

Eliminating something that has morphed into such a routine practice seems like it would not go over well with the majority of MLB players and managers.

I’m sure that if Girardi’s wish to ban shifts was ever proposed to commissioner Rob Manfred, it would receive a ton of backlash from the rest of the baseball world.

Additionally, even though the Yankees manager described shifts as “illegal defense,” a shift does not guarantee an out.

While a shift may increase the odds of retiring an opposing player, it by no means ensures a return trip to the dugout for the hitter.

Professional hitters have the ability to occasionally beat the shift and find holes in the defense.

Even though hitting into the teeth of the shift is what typically happens, it isn’t what always happens. There’s nothing illegal about that.

Let’s all be completely honest for a second.

When a player on our favorite team gets robbed of a hit due to a shift, we get angry.

But, when our favorite team is able to retire an opposing player because of a shift, we love it.

Without a doubt, most baseball fans have a love-hate relationship with shifts, myself included.

Girardi might want to rid baseball of shifts, but it looks like they are here to stay.

Perhaps seeing a shift at the ballpark will one day be as common as buying peanuts and Cracker Jack. Who knows?

If that day ever comes, Girardi will undoubtedly be one unhappy camper.