Getting best umpires to work the biggest games isn’t as simple as 1-2-3

In a bag of bargaining chips, this should have been the biggest one.

After a fall that was anything but classic for baseball’s umpires, officials from the commissioner’s office and the umpires’ union sat down to negotiate a new five-year labor agreement. The nationally televised blunders put the focus on the umpires, and on this startling fact: Baseball could not use its best umpires in the most important games.

That should have been atop Bud Selig’s agenda for the labor negotiations. The commissioner should have run the lowlight reel, then asked for an end to any and all restrictions about which umpires could work the postseason.

He didn’t ask. The umpires didn’t offer.

And so, if a blown call helps determine whether the Dodgers get to the World Series, Selig won’t be able to say his very best umpires made the call.

If a blown call helps determine whether the Dodgers win the World Series, he might be able to say that. Or he might not.

The new labor agreement enables the commissioner’s office to assign the best umpires to the World Series, rescinding the rule that an umpire could not work the World Series in consecutive years. The rule restricting an umpire from working in consecutive postseason series remains in force, to the curious satisfaction of Selig.

“There are two competing principles that should be balanced,” said Rob Manfred, baseball’s executive vice president for labor relations.

“On the one hand, you want your very best guys working the most important games. On the other hand, spreading the work around has the advantage of giving other guys a taste of the postseason.”

The Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates would like a taste of the postseason too, but teams qualify for the playoffs based on the standings. The umpires have standings too. The commissioner’s office rates the umps, best to worst.

Yet Manfred says what would appear to be an obvious management position — let us use the best 24 umpires for the division series, the best 12 for the league championship series and the best six for the World Series — is not quite that simple.

“One of the issues in unlimited ‘pick the best guy’ is that you stunt the development of your work force,” Manfred said. “If you pick the same guys for the World Series 10 years in a row, it’s not good for morale, and it doesn’t give other guys a chance to grow. You might miss the window that the next group has for its development.”

Joe West, the union president and a 32-year umpire, said five of his members retired after last season and four more plan to retire after this season.

“You have to bring in new blood to learn how to work a World Series and learn how to work an LCS,” West said. “You can’t use the same guys every year. Let’s say five of the guys you put in the World Series all retire. Now what would you do?”

You would hope that umpires get better just as players do, that some umps would rise in the ratings through the years and some would fall. Even should the metrics show that, Manfred said, the human element might lean toward picking umpires widely perceived as the best.

“There can be an inclination to fall in love with the status quo,” he said.

If the top-rated umpires work every round, six umpires would work throughout the postseason, as many as 19 games within five weeks, a schedule dismissed by Manfred and West as unfairly arduous.

Said Manfred: “It’s just too much for an umpire to work three straight series.”

Said West: “Certain playoffs are much harder to work than the World Series. I’ve worked Yankee-Boston series that were nightmares.”

Dodgers Manager Joe Torre isn’t buying the idea that three rounds of umpiring would be too taxing.

“I don’t necessarily think that’s the case,” Torre said. “But I do think they should incorporate more people.

“You want to increase the pool. Do you want the best? Yes. But you’ve got to encourage people and make it reasonable. It’s incentive for a guy to make the postseason, just like the players. I think it’s important to try and incorporate those umpires who have improved.”

Selig recently appointed Torre and Angels Manager Mike Scioscia to a blue-ribbon committee that basically serves as a suggestion box for the commissioner. Selig won’t let the committee members discuss their suggestions publicly, but we’re betting Scioscia has spoken up on this issue.

“It becomes less of a distraction to players when they feel there are good umpires,” Scioscia said. “There are enough good umpires.”

There are 68 full-time umpires.

“Are there 24 World Series umpires? Absolutely,” West said. “Are there 48 World Series umpires? Absolutely.”

He readily concedes some of those best umpires are better than others.

“There’s three to four no-brainers they’re going to pick from every year,” West said.

That’s a start, if Selig exercises his right to assign them every year. Umpires now can work consecutive years in the World Series, but West suspects Selig might not assign umps for three consecutive years, the better to broaden the pool with World Series experience.

This too is a start, a little-known fact: Umpires draw random assignments for the first five months of the season, but the best umps get the most critical games in September.

“I think, when all is said and done, you’ll see a system where the most talented umpires are working the pennant races and playoff games,” Scioscia said. “Eventually, I think you’ll see a system of merit, for the benefit of the whole game.”

We can’t think of a better reason.

bill.shaikin@latimes.com