Report: MLB to test robot umps following 3-year deal with Atlantic League

Robot umpires could come to Major League Baseball, but not before an independent league tests out the functionality.

On Tuesday, a three-year partnership with the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball was announced that will permit MLB to experiment with rules. MLB will install radar-tracking technology in all eight ALPB ballparks.

As for the type of rule changes MLB will test, the provisions are reportedly wide in scope. According to J.J. Cooper of Baseball America, MLB plans to test Trackman software to call balls and strikes. On top of robot umpires, MLB is expected to experiment with moving the mound back from its typical placement of 60-feet and six inches.

The agreement will also allow players to be transferred more directly from the Atlantic League to Major League Baseball, as MLB enhances its scouting coverage of the independent league.

"The Atlantic League prides itself on innovation," league president Rick White said, according to the press release. "In that spirit, our board of directors, led by Chairman and Founder Frank Boulton, enthusiastically and unanimously approved this forward-looking agreement."

Rich Hill and Austin Bibens-Dirkx are among the Atlantic League alumni to jump to the majors. Henderson Alvarez, meanwhile, continues to make his comeback after pitching with the Long Island Ducks in 2017, landing a minor-league contract with the Washington Nationals this winter.