MLB's new interleague won't have traditional Subway Series format

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Changes are afoot in Major League Baseball, with everything from instant replay to HGH testing to a revised schedule on tap for the not-too-distant future. Commissioner Bud Selig and union chief Michael Weiner each held court before the All-Star Game to touch on a number of issues.

The most immediate change involves next year's schedule, which will feature a minimum of one interleague game daily -- and a tinkering with the "natural rivalry" setup. Selig and Weiner confirmed that the old six-game, home-and-home arrangement will be shortened to either splitting four between two ballparks or reducing it to three. That now means an abbreviated Subway Series.

"It wasn't fair to have six games against an opponent that other teams in your division didn't," Weiner said.

Weiner said the new schedule will have division teams playing the same opponents, such as the entire AL East facing the entire NL Central. They won't be identical, but closer than the way it is now. Selig remains a big fan of interleague play, and one wrinkle that could be added is using a DH in National League parks and having the pitcher hit in the AL stadiums. "I happen to like that idea," Selig said.

Also under consideration for 2013 is expanded HGH testing, which could be implemented during the season for the first time. It was introduced this year in spring training as sort of a trial run -- this testing requires blood samples rather than urine -- and Weiner said it will be discussed during the offseason to see if the program will be expanded.

MLB has been somewhat less forward thinking on instant replay. Selig is reluctant to expand beyond simply using it for home runs because he's worried about the "pace of the game." The next plays that could be reviewed are fair/foul calls over the bag and down the line, but the concern is having enough TV cameras to pull it off.

Selig also was asked about installing a fifth, review umpire in the press box for immediate help on calls. But Joe Torre, the MLB vice president in charge of umpiring, said there are flaws, such as figuring out where runners should be if calls are reversed.

"For all of us that want everything to be right all the time, that's not going to be the case," Torre said. "I don't know why we want everything to be perfect because it's not a perfect game . . . Life isn't perfect, and I think this is a game of life, myself."