Thursday Rockpile: Increasing offense while decreasing length of games

Shorter games and more offense? It's possible - FOX Sports
Dave Cameron has a piece for FOX Sports on ways to accomplish both of commissioner Rob Manfred's goals in one fell swoop, but one of them is not pitch clocks. He also notes that length of games and run production have not correlated since 1950, and runs per hour of game play were at their lowest in 65 years in 2014.

Does MLB Need More Offense In the Modern Game? - Fangraphs
Cameron has another, more in-depth piece on the topic for Fangraphs, discussing whether the game even needs to shorten or see an increase in offense. He also points out that the increase in game length is most likely due to an increase in both strikeouts and walks over the last 30 years.

Reminder: The Rockies love Brandon Barnes - RoxPile
With all the talk of possible trades of the Rockies' other four outfielders this winter, it is easy to forget that Brandon Barnes is still with the club. Hayden Kane has a refresher on the Rockies' fifth outfielder.

Finding Value At Third Base - Rotographs
For fantasy baseball players, Michael Barr has a primer for the third base position entering 2015, including an endorsement for the value of Nolan Arenado compared to other options at the hot corner.