The Association of Professional Baseball Players of the US and Canada Premier League (MLBPA) has rejected the MLB`s proposal to introduce a pitcher, ESPN reported, citing its anonymous sources. However, a change aimed at enhancing the pace of the game will come into force as early as 2018 thanks to a 1-year advance notice issued by commissioner Rob Manfred last January, giving him the right to a unilateral decision. `I personally prefer to get to a mutual deal with the players, ` said Manfred during a meeting with club owners in Florida in November - `But if we can not reach an agreement with the MLBPA, we will change the rules for the nextseason one way or another. `Although the players agree with the commission office that the duration of the matches is too high, they think there are other tools to shorten the time;for example, limiting video repetitions and stricter pause between the innings. The syndicate has even discussed the possibility of returning the used carts for the harvesters, but this idea has quickly faded. The request of MLB is to have a timer that limits the time between two pitcher throws up to 20 seconds. The requirement for the battery will be to stand in the box no later than 5 sec. before the end of the countdown. The stopwatch will start at the moment the pitcher receives the ball on the hill, and will be reset when the tire drops off or when it tries to make a pico. Any first violation of a player in a match according football betting record will be punished by a warning from the judge, and in case of a re-run of time, a pitcher will be punished with pain and a batter;with a strike. Also, a limit on hill visits will be introduced and each team will have the right to a one-on-one pitcher visit, whether by manager, coach or teammate. A second visit to the same pitcher will lead to a mandatory change. All changes to the rules require the approval of the owners of the 30 MLB clubs. Their first-ever meeting will be held from January 30 to February 1 in Beverly Hills, California. Spring training starts on February 23 in Florida and Arizona, and the regular season 2018 opens on March 29.