MLB legend Kevin Millar says he's optimistic about pace-of-game rule changes

It's boring. It takes too long. Baseball fans are used to hearing the complaints.

Unfortunately, the naysayers have a point. In 2017, MLB games rose to a record-high length of three hours and five minutes. When compared to the duration of NBA and NHL games, which average between two and two-and-a-half hours, baseball games seem tedious.

Major League Baseball is acutely aware of the problem and has been steadily implementing new rules over the past several seasons to speed up the pace of the game.

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"It's always hard for us to make adjustments because we get used to one way," Kevin Millar, 2004 World Series champion and current MLB Network analyst, told AOL.com on behalf of Budweiser. "The question is, what exactly is going to speed up a game? We don't know."

See Millar through his baseball career:

Pace-of-play rule changes for the 2018 MLB season include a timer clock for pitching changes and between-inning breaks, as well as a limit to the number of times a team can visit the pitcher's mound per game. The mound visits, in particular, have been a point of contention for players.

As a former infielder, most notably with the Boston Red Sox from 2003-2005, Millar can relate to active players' frustration with the limitations.

"You understand it when you're Brian McCann for the Astros, as an example, and you feel like someone is picking up your signs," he said. "You need to go change them and you're in the middle of trying to win a baseball game."

"But, from a fan side of it, you know there's got to be a speed-up process."

In addition to the rules implemented by the majors, Minor League Baseball will be utilizing a pitch clock and altering the play of extra innings in an effort to speed up the games. If those changes are successful, those rules may be making their way to MLB ballparks in the future.

"I think you put these rules in play, whether you like them or not, and see how it goes," Millar said. "If they're not good, make adjustments."

"You never know, it might be beneficial and we won't have to sit there and watch catchers go to the mound 15 times an inning."