Pete Mackanin has taken a job with the New York Yankees as a major league scout. Mackanin was Cincinnati’s advance scout when manager Jerry Narron was fired on July 1. The Yankees expressed an interest in Mackanin after baseball’s winter meetings in December.

While football and hockey referees enjoy the benefit of “going upstairs” in order to review close calls, this kind of practice has no place in MLB. We can study any replay for all eternity, but the fact of the matter is that everything will be decided as the umpire rules. And here lies the beauty of the game. Technically, in practice, umpires could be completely replaced by video cameras and laser sensors, but then we will lose all those quirks that make the wonderful game of baseball the greatest sport in the world.