By Paul Sullivan

Chicago Tribune

WASHINGTON — Commissioner Rob Manfred and players union chief Tony Clark agreed on one thing Tuesday when speaking separately with reporters at a meeting of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Major League Baseball and the players union will have conversations about potential changes in the game down the road.

When, where and what those potential changes might be are to be determined, though defensive shifts, bullpen usage and the implementation of pitch clocks to speed up the game are among the topics likely to be broached.

“We are paying attention to the organic changes going on in terms of the way the game is being played, and there’s a growing consensus that we have to have a serious conversation about whether all those organic changes are good for the game overall,” Manfred said before the annual All-Star Game at Nationals Park.

Of course, the players’ biggest gripe was the slower-than-a-backup-catcher free-agent market over the winter, which led to late signings and contracts that did not meet their expectations. Clark said he hoped it was an “anomaly” but called it a “direct attack on free agency” and said players will have “tough decisions to make” if it happens again, which sounded like a hint that players could stage a work stoppage.

Manfred said the system worked well, adding that teams made “sound decisions” and he didn’t see “anything out of the ordinary” in the market.

“Direct attack involves or connotes some sort of purposeful behavior,” Manfred said. “The only purposeful behavior that took place in the free-agent market last year is our clubs carefully analyzed the available players and made individual decisions as to what they thought those player were worth.”

As for the state of the game, Manfred said the product is “fundamentally sound,” pointing to local TV ratings and relatively high attendance. He blamed the attendance drop on weather issues, saying it was down 8-9 percent early and is at 5 { percent now. In 2017, only two games were played in 40 degrees or less, but in April they played 35 such games, he said, also mentioning a “record number” of postponements.

“Can I tell you it’s nothing else?” he said. “No, I’m not a crystal-ball guy.”

Manfred said the lack of offense and continued increase in strikeouts are a byproduct of “organic changes” from the increased use of data, which for example lets teams pinpoint more precisely when a starter should be lifted or where a player hits a ball.

“The period between putting balls in play, the number of strikeouts, to a lesser extent the number of home runs, the significance of the shift and what it has done to the game, the use of relief pitchers and the way starting pitchers are going to be used …” Manfred said, listing several issues.

He added that both sides are concerned with those issues. Clark said “we may get to a point where those coming to the ballpark, for whatever reasons, aren’t 100 percent certain that what they’re seeing is the game they want to see.”

Clark also said there is “growing momentum” among players for a universal DH, meaning the National League would adopt the American League rules. Manfred disagreed, saying the “most likely outcome at this point remains the status quo.”

Manfred insisted “commentary about the game I think runs negative” from the fans and media.

“But I think it runs negative because people care about it so much,” he said. “They don’t want to see something bad happen to a great American institution,” he said.

Clark mentioned “roster manipulation” as a primary concern of the union, including service-time manipulation — keeping star prospects in the minors long enough to get an extra year of service before the player is eligible for free agency. Before spring training Clark claimed tanking teams were engaged in a “race to the bottom” that was damaging the game. He wouldn’t go that far Tuesday but said his concerns haven’t changed.

“We still have concerns now, based on what we’ve been seeing in what appears to be a distinct separation between this grouping of teams at the top and … teams underneath them,” he said.