I'm against banning shifts in MLB, but I'm on the verge of reversing my stance.
There is an historical precedence that changed a professional sport and made it very popular.
In the late 1940s the NBA banned zone defenses, because they were able to smother scoring. That didn't solve the problem, because once a team got the lead, it stopped trying to score.
So, in 1954 the NBA adopted the 24 second shot to go along with the ban on zone defense...and also instituted a three second rule to keep big guys from clogging the lane.
The game instantly became faster, higher scoring, and more popular.
And THEN along came the three point line, and BOOM!
Each one of these moves was denigrated by purists. Although now the zone has been partially reinstituted, nobody...not even a purist...would want to go back.
Banning the shift would have some unintended consequences, and I'd have to think about what they might be...and it would take years for players, and the folks that develop players, to fully adjust.
One thing that seems likely is that no shifting would expose infielders who lack defensive ability. Statues at the infield positions would have larger areas to cover, leaving much bigger holes. Offensively, that's a good thing.
Conversely, those statues, generally better hitters, would eventually be replaced by defensive minded infielders, who on average didn't hit so well. Offensively, that may not be so good.
As an example, a good glove-no bat 1B...which Bauers may be...becomes more valuable, and a big stick-no glove 1B...which Bradley may be...becomes less.
What ticks me off most about the shift is that there is a simple way to beat it, but few players even try.
Bunt the freaking baseball. Its simple, but not easy to do. But it gets a lot easier if a player practices it nearly every day, starting at nine years old...and if player development depts demand it.
The shift is giving a batter a base hit.
I know that it is not usually optimal for a player like JRAM to bunt. But the accumulation of base runners leads to quickly rising pitch counts, and earlier exits for pitchers.
Its the steady drip drip drip of water torture as an alternative to getting hit with a ball bat. Both work, but only one beats the shift constantly.