Max Scherzer hates robot umps but has hilarious solution to MLB’s umpire problem

As Texas Rangers starting pitcher Max Scherzer rehabs from surgery on a herniated disc, the Hall-of-Fame caliber starter made an appearance in Round Rock for the Rangers Triple-A team.

While Scherzer is no doubt fully focused on his rehab, he can't help but take a look around baseball at the moment, and the frustration with the league's umpires and union. Angel Hernandez and Hunter Wendelstedt have become household names for the wrong reasons.

Scherzer's last start came in the minor leagues, where MLB is testing ABS, otherwise known as robo umps.

“I’m not a fan,” Scherzer said of robot umps. “It feels too weird back there having a robot call the game.”

Max Scherzer hates robot umps, but offers up a funny solution

While Scherzer wasn't the biggest fan of the automated strike zone, he did offer a clever solution to fix MLB's umpire problem: Just rank them. Scherzer wasn't done there, of course. He does see a need for ABS at the MLB level, just not in the way you might think.

“I think when you talk to the guys, we want the human element of the game. The human element is good, and we need to keep that in baseball. I think we’ve done so much in baseball to try to remove the human element," Scherzer continued.

“For me going forward, how I’ve conceptualized what the electronic strike zone should be used is we need to rank the umpires. Let the electronic strike zone rank the umpires, and then we need to have a conversation about the bottom 10 percent or whatever you want to declare what the bottom is and talk about relegating those umpires to the minor leagues and getting the best umpires in the game."

Scherzer's system would be one of promotion and relegation, where the worst umpires in MLB are sent down to the minors to hone their craft, and replaced by the best umps at the Triple-A level. On the surface it makes some sense, but there's also no way the all-powerful Umpires Union would sign off on such a request.

The point of ABS is it takes the pressure off umpires to be perfect. There will still be a human element to the game, but it'll occur on the basepaths, via the league's challenge and instant replay systems and maintaining law and order on the field. Umpires aren't going anywhere, but the way they are employed sure will.

And, frankly, it'll lead to fans and pundits focusing on the game itself rather than those calling it. Isn't that what we all want here?