[DiMaggio5CF]

Many who play out the games have been frustrated when they give a runner a steal sign, only to get the message that the player can't get a good jump.

Some have suggested that the steal sign become a "hard" steal, where the player takes off regardless of whether he gets a good jump or not.

However, this might not work for everyone. It would be good when it is extremely important to try to move a runner over, but when the manager wants to simply "give it a shot" but doesn't want to risk running out of an inning, it wouldn't be a great tool.

So what I propose is changing the steal sign to a "hard" steal where the player goes no matter what, and adding an option to "give the green light" where the runner takes off only if he can get a good jump.

Managers might find it more useful if they can give the green light and hope that the runner gets a good jump on the first few pitches and then decide whether to take the sign off or roll the dice and give the steal sign.

Players with high stealing ability and low speed might struggle with the "hard" steal sign because they rely heavily on getting a good jump. Players with a high speed rating, on the other hand, might be able to handle a "hard" steal more easily because their speed can make up for a bad jump.

Either way, giving the "hard" steal would be more risky than giving the green light (because the runner may or may not get a good jump . . . in giving the green light, the runner should always get a good jump), but it's a way for the manager to take the risk when he feels that it has to be taken.

So instead of making it an either-or situation, add another option to give the manager more felxibility and make everyone happy.