Major League Baseball is getting close to a new second base slide rule

During Game 2 of the 2015 NLDS, Chase Utley ignited a controversy when he broke up a double play at second base by wiping out Ruben Tejada. Unable to brace himself for impact, the Mets' shortstop suffered a broken leg and was forced to miss the remainder of the campaign.

The aftermath of the incident included Utley being suspended two games for a play which was ruled legal on the field and a lot of talk about how Major League Baseball should create a rule to better protect middle infielders from similar plays.

According to ESPN baseball insider Buster Olney, MLB and the players' union have made significant progress towards a new rule that has a good chance to be implemented before the 2016 season.

Olney's report states that the union wants to make the game safer for middle infielders while not completely taking away the aggressiveness of baserunners. Today's players have been taught from a young age to slide into second with the intention to break up a potential double play, but the new rule should at least make sure that the runner clearly attempts to touch the base.

When Utley broke Tejada's leg, the runner was in line with second base but entered into a late slide that took him well beyond the bag. It's not hard to reason that baserunners can maintain aggressiveness while at the same time avoiding dangerous situations like that one in the future.