Baseball is our greatest game, but it needs some work. A bit of tinkering behind the scenes. Here are a few things we’d like to see implemented, or at least considered, with the game’s collective bargaining agreement due to expire in December:

The wild-card playoff: The Giants have survived the desperation of this winner-take-all format, having beaten the Pirates in 2014, and they could find themselves in that position again this season. It makes for great television, but it leaves fairness behind. After 162 games, and the inevitable wild-card race against several other teams, a best-of-three series should decide it. Not to mention giving fans the guarantee of at least one home postseason game. But this makes sense only in the event of...

A shortened season: Sources indicate serious discussion about a 154-game season — as it was for decades on end — to lessen travel fatigue and injuries. Baseball moves far too slowly to make this happen with dispatch, but it makes so much sense. The postseason shouldn’t end anywhere near November, rather concluding around Oct. 25. Shorten spring training by a week, start the regular season in the last week of March, go with 154 games and schedule a few old-fashioned doubleheaders (noon start) on Saturdays.

Pace of play: John Shea’s Sunday column in The Chronicle raised the notion of a 20-second pitch clock, reportedly quite successful in the minor leagues, essentially telling pitchers and batters to speed things up. It’s a great idea in theory; there’s no excuse for batters constantly stepping out of the box, or for pitchers taking forever to deliver. The penalty for stalling is the assessment of a ball or strike. But it can’t be an actual clock, in bright neon, for players and fans to see. Not in the big leagues. Baseball’s beauty is its escape from regimen, and this wouldn’t fly with players out there trying to make a living on television.

Imagine trying to concentrate on a Madison Bumgarner-Bryce Harper showdown in the playoffs as a little clock winds down. Imagine Bumgarner being told that 2-and-1 count is now 3-1. Absolutely not. The timing has to be in a certain umpire’s hands, and he has to be vigilant — not like last season, when pace-of-play enforcement slacked off so noticeably, but every night. I’d suggest a half-season with no penalties, allowing players to adjust to an umpire’s admonishment. Start cracking down after the All-Star break. Then ditch the clocks altogether in the postseason. With so much at stake, in a game designed to be timeless, a man’s deliberation must be tolerated.

Ditch the maple: I don’t know what’s more depressing, the sight of a broken-bat weapon heading toward unsuspecting humanity, or the players’ utter lack of pride in using maple bats. Forget the testing and the alleged improvements; maple bats snap into pieces, often for no good reason. Traditional ash may crack, but seldom explodes, and studies show that a maple-struck baseball travels no farther.

There’s a man in Pennsylvania by the name of Kent Williamson who has received a patent on a revolutionary bat design. Google the Williamson Baseball Bat Co. for details, but it entails a rubberized threading process inside the bat, from below the label to the knob, that acts to minimize shattering upon impact. Stay with it, sir. We’ve seen enough of players, coaches and fans being impaled by bats that have no place in civilized society.

Roster expansion: The obsession with 13-man pitching staffs creates what Mike Krukow calls a “skeleton bench,” consisting of just four players, creating all sorts of havoc in extra-inning National League games. Expand rosters from 25 to 28 and managers can employ a pinch-running specialist, or a traditional pinch-hitter who represents real danger (as opposed to a multipurpose bench guy who can do a little of everything but is hardly the answer against a lights-out reliever). Plus, a bunch of new jobs are created. I really don’t see any downside.

Expansion: Granted, it’s cool to see the Giants playing in Yankee Stadium, or hosting the Orioles, but the novelty of interleague play has given way to nightly matchups forced by awkward numbers (15 teams in each league). Expansion to 32 teams would restore order, ideally to limit interleague play to a couple of midsummer weeks. And where to expand? Montreal, Mexico City, Las Vegas, Havana — exotic options abound.

A 32-team setup would also terminate the looming menace of designated hitters in both leagues. Commissioner Rob Manfred has said he doesn’t see the DH coming to the National League any time soon, and he smartly embraces the debates raging over the issue each year. Why not leave things as they are, so both sides gain a measure of satisfaction?

Music: As in, none. No music or audio gimmicks of any kind during play, allowed only between innings. Just pipe the hell down and let us hear the game.

The World Series: Home-field advantage goes to the team with the best record. Replace the lunacy of the All-Star Game format with common sense.

Revenue sharing: Make it mandatory that teams spend all of this money on players’ salaries. No alternative methods to keep payroll at a minimum. With any luck, this would drive cheapskate A’s owners Lew Wolff and John Fisher right out of the business.

Bruce Jenkins is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: bjenkins@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Bruce_Jenkins1