Manfred on the new ballpark and pace-of-play rule changes

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Rob Manfred had been to The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches only once before. Or, more specifically, he had been to the future site of The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches only once before.

On Nov. 9, 2015, Major League Baseball's commissioner joined owners of both the Nationals and Astros to break ground on what at the time was an empty lot and former landfill. Construction crews faced a tight timeline - fewer than 16 months - to build not only the stadium but major and minor league clubhouses and six practice fields for each team, and there was plenty of concern along the way that the job wouldn't be done in time.

Today, Manfred stood in the center of the diamond, again surrounded by both Nationals and Astros owners, and cut the ceremonial ribbon that officially opened this glistening spring training ballpark on time.

"It is an amazing feat to build a complex this extensive in 15 months," the commissioner said. "I know along the way there were some nervous people in terms of making sure it got delivered. But here we are. We're open, and we're up and running. It's great for everybody."

Manfred was given a tour of the entire complex and emerged impressed with the scope and quality of the place.

"I have to tell you, these spring training facilities just seem to get better and better," he said. "And you see little features, for example, of great facilities we have in Arizona that the Astros and Nationals have incorporated into the facility here. The stadium bowl itself is absolutely first-rate. But I think the back fields and practice fields are amazing as well."

The Nationals had been looking for a new spring home for years, determined to leave remote Viera for a location closer to other teams' complexes. At various times, they explored venues on Florida's Gulf Coast and near Orlando. In the end, they wound up partnering with the Astros on this facility in West Palm Beach, a strategic move that now positions five clubs (the Nats, Astros, Cardinals, Marlins and Mets) within 45 minutes of each other.

"It's good for the game to have two centers of baseball in the state of Florida," Manfred said. "It allows teams to keep their travel times down. But you do need a certain number of teams to make it work. And I think these two teams now being anchored in southeastern Florida is huge for the game and huge for the state."

Manfred also fielded questions about his initiative to speed up baseball's pace of play, an initiative that so far has been met with resistance from the players' union. For now, the only rule changes expected to take effect in 2017 are the elimination of throwing pitches during intentional walks and some tweaks to the replay system to reduce dead time.

Those changes, Manfred said, could officially be implemented within a week once all 30 clubs have a chance to review and approve language.

Manfred has taken heat for the intentional walk change from those who say it won't make much difference, but the commissioner described it as merely one small alteration and a precursor to more substantial moves he'll continue to negotiate with the players.

"We don't think that rule change - we know how the math works - is going to have a momentous impact on the game," he said. "By the same token, every little change that makes the game faster, I personally believe is a good thing for the game over the long haul. We were able to make an agreement with the players on it. We'll move forward with that and we'll continue our dialogue with them."

Manfred said he's committed to negotiating with the union over the next two years and made no threat of a unilateral rule changes as he did last week in Arizona.

"We want an agreement with the players," he said. "That's what always works best when dealing with something between the white lines. And we're intent on pursuing the process through and getting ourselves an agreement with them on a set of changes that makes sense for the game."