Report: MLB makes proposal to shorten inning breaks

Eager to curb baseball's increasingly laborious game time, Major League Baseball recently submitted a proposal designed to shorten the amount of time between innings, sources told ESPN's Jayson Stark.

The league's proposal stipulates that pitchers would be required to finish their warm-up pitches 30 seconds before the conclusion of the commercial breaks between innings, while hitters would be required to be in the batter's box 20 seconds before returning from commercial.

League officials reportedly believe that game time could be shortened by 10 to 15 minutes if play is ready to resume immediately after television broadcasts return from commercial breaks. Discussions with the players union, however, are expected to continue for the next several weeks.

Though the league considered implementing a 20-second pitch clock to hasten pace of play, such a measure won't be instituted at the major-league level in 2015.