There are plenty of Chicago Cubs players who are less than happy about the new pace of play rules. That includes the new rule that limits mound visits without a pitcher change to six for an entire game. While guys like Jon Lester and Joe Maddon have voiced their displeasure, Willson Contreras has gone one step further. The catcher has said he plans on completely ignoring the new rule. Now that the young slugger has made this pronouncement, it's going to be very interesting to see what Major League Baseball does.

Young Chicago Cubs star is daring MLB to do something

"I don't even care," Contreras told ESPN Tuesday. "If I have to go [out there] again and Pay The Price for my team I will." The Cubs star makes it pretty clear he doesn't think commissioner Rob Manfred thought the new rule all the way through. He also doesn't seem to think the league is going to be able to enforce the rule if it comes to that. Mostly he just thinks it's a dumb rule that doesn't take real game situations into account. He's not entirely wrong.

"What about a tight game or an extra-inning game and you have to go out there?" he asked rhetorically. "They cannot say anything about that. That's my team. If they are going to fine me for mound visit No.

7, I'll pay the price." Contreras pointed to someone like Yu Darvish as one of the reasons to be concerned. He said that since the pitcher throws a large number of pitches, there are going to be times when they are going to need to get on the same page. It's possible that Manfred didn't think about the short mound conferences that pitchers and catchers have to do in situations like that.

Chicago Cubs have to wonder what exactly makes up a mound visit

The Cubs are far from the only team that is worried about the new rule. As Houston Astros pitcher Dallas Kuechel explained, the issue is just what makes up a visit. Some umpires are going to be ok with the catcher and pitcher talking, as long as the game isn't getting stopped so the entire team can have a meeting on the mound.

One of the issues with Manfred laying out these rules without much discussion is that there appears to be some grey areas when it comes to say exactly what is going to be a visit and what isn't. If different umps have different interpretations, that's going to cause a problem throughout the league. It will also be interesting to see just how quick a trigger the league has when it comes to doling out punishment. Now that the Chicago Cubs catcher has made his comments, he's likely in the crosshairs.
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