Rob Manfred wants a resolution, and he wants it stat. Major League Baseball’s commissioner might be having buyer’s remorse about the league’s ESPN opt-out, but perhaps he didn’t watch Wednesday’s First Take segment that showed why the two sides might be disillusioned with each other.

We’ve talked about the topic of a ball-and-strike challenge system here many times. It’s being used in the minor leagues this year, has been tested over quite a few seasons in various minor leagues, and was used in about 60 percent of Spring Training games this year.

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred acknowledged on Wednesday that he intends to submit a proposal to the league's competition committee this offseason that would implement the automated ball-strike challenge system ahead of Opening Day 2026,