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Free Agent Class Ranks 2006
This isn't a major concern for most teams, (especially in the current market) but sandwich picks and other compensation in the rule 4 (amateur) draft are determined by a cockamamie formula developed by the Elias Sports Bureau.
Teams that lose a Type A free agent are compensated with two draft picks. Teams that lose a Type B free agent get one pick in return. The other particulars, along with the entire list of this year's FA Class Rankings, can be found here. The entire list of Elias rankings (everybody, not just FAs) can be seen here. (The formula takes into account the previous two seasons--that's how a guy like Mark Mulder and his 93 IP of 7.14 ERA in '06 can wiggle his way to the top of the B class of starting pitchers.)
It's interesting because it's an exploitable area. If you're a low-budget team looking to build your organization through the draft and player development, losing the right guys (overvalued, Type A free agents) can pay dividends. Similarly, signing the right low-level (Type-B/No-Comp) undervalued FAs, whereby you don't lose a pick, is certainly low-risk, and might be high-return if you're lucky.
With position classes weighted equally, losing David Riske (RP) gets you as many compensatory picks as losing Jason Schmidt (SP) or Alfonso Soriano (1B,OF,DH). White Sox fans can feel good about that one, and Red Sox fans can rejoice with Mark Loretta making the A-list.
Keep in mind, nearly all these comped picks are within the first two rounds, that's before solid-looking prospects like Jonathan Papelbon, Elijah Dukes, or Ricky Nolasco are getting picked...they are slots where you're essentially getting instant top-20 prospects within your organization.
(UPDATE: Apologies. Teams that sign a Type B Free Agent do lose one of their own draft picks. Also, (and something pretty important that I forgot to mention) the top 15 picks are protected. So, as a few commenters pointed out, the Cubs, for instance, do not lose their cozy #3 slot as a result of signing Alf.
--Koch at CubDumb
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What are the rules for losing draft picks? And how does it work if a team signs several "A" or "B" free agents in one off-season?
Posted by: NewJerseyDave | November 22, 2006 at 09:36 AM
yeah dave i was thinking the same thing. So if glavine goes back to atlanta, the mets get 2 draft picks?
Posted by: nrmax88 | November 22, 2006 at 09:41 AM
Heres my understanding of the rules guys:
1. If an A type free agent leaves the team that let him leave gets the other teams 1st round draft pick and a 1st round/2nd round sandwich pick.
Stipulation: If the team that got the player is in the top 15 picks in the first round, the team gets a sandwich pick and the 2nd round pick.
2. If a type B free agent signs the team gets a 2nd round pick and a sandwich pick.
3. If multiple free agents are signed by one team, then the team gets the next closest round.
I.E. if the Yankees sign 3 type A free agents, the first team would get the round 1 pick, the 2nd team would get the round 2 pick, the 3rd team would get the round 3 pick.
Lets take the cubs for example. They signed A. Soriano who is a type A FA. They gave up their 2nd round pick for him because their first round pick is "protected" under the stipulation of rule one. They are expected to sign a type A or type B free agent pitcher. In this case they would give their 3rd round pick to the team because they spent their 2nd round pick on A. Soriano. If they sign another type A or B free agent, after the last one they will give their 4th round pick because the other two have already been given.
In other words, letting a FA go to get the draft pick is risky buisness, for example, the Nationals let Soriano go to get the 1st round draft pick and instead they ended up with a second round pick. Imagine if the Cubs signed a CF and gave up their 3rd and then signed an elite SP and all the team got for them was a 4th round pick! What a rip off!
Hope this helps.
- Brad
Posted by: greenbaydude1232 | November 22, 2006 at 11:22 AM
It does help, thank you. I wasnt sure if in the case of a team signing more then one type a free agent, if they would forfeit the following years draft pick. It is a rip off when u look at the hypo situation u posted, but still it is better then nothing. I honestly dont think the team losing a player should get anything. They had a contract, it ended, and he is a free. Thus free agent. 4th round picks are still relatively high in baseball drafts though. Stars can be plucked in very very late rounds. Mike Piazza, I believe was the last pick in the entire draft the year he was picked. Ironically, Piazza was drafted by lasorda as a favor to Piazzas father
Posted by: nrmax88 | November 22, 2006 at 11:42 AM
I think the key here is that you don't lose a draft pick unless you've offered the FA player arbitration and he declines. That's why the market for a lot of Type-A Free Agents will pick up after Dec. 1, the deadline for offering arbitration.
Posted by: Pip | November 22, 2006 at 12:04 PM
I think the process is a great thing for baseball. Otherwise the teams with the most money (and smallest brains) could sign the best players and have an equal chance in the draft. They'd monopolize the pool of available players. This way it gives the edge to smaller market teams who can't lock up big contracts the ability to evaluate and draft more talent.
It makes the game better.
Posted by: Dave | November 22, 2006 at 12:11 PM
The second link (the rankings for all players, not just free agents) isn't up to date with the new CBA, as type A free agents are now only the top 20% instead of top 30%, and there are no type C free agents anymore.
The first link is fine.
Posted by: MetFanBen | November 22, 2006 at 12:15 PM
That makes more sense...thanks for the explanation Brad.
It seems to me that all of this should happen a week or so after the World Series. By that point the team should either offer the player arbitration or let him go for nothing.
The way the system currently is set up could lead to some alternative negotiation. For example, say the Cubs had an agreement with Soriano, but didn't "officially" sign it until after December 1st. The Nationals then make another trade with the Cubs that is quite lobsided in the Nationals favor in order for the Cubs to save the draft pick.
Maybe I'm way off base, but it seems that this is just another way that Pud Selig has sealed his fate as the worst baseball commissioner ever.
Posted by: NewJerseyDave | November 22, 2006 at 12:17 PM
If your player is not "officially" signed, then someone else can "officially" sign them out from under you.
The situation you pose isn't really a problem. Both teams would have to agree to it, along with MLB. The Cubs would have to give up someone to get the draft pick...which means they'd have to gauge the value of the draft pick against what they have to give up...what am I missing?
And they'd run the risk of not locking up their target as soon as possible...
Posted by: Dave | November 22, 2006 at 01:24 PM
No, that is wrong: Type B free agents under the new CBA do not cost the signing team any draft pick, the team losing the free agent gets a supplemental pick between the 1st and 2nd round.
Also, ranking for the draft pick is not related to when the player is signed (first, etc.) but rather by his ranking in the Elias rankings. Team losing highest ranked player to a team that signed 3 Type A free agents, gets their first round pick unless it is a Top 15 pick, in which case they get the second round pick. Then the next ranked player signed's former team would get the next higher round pick and so on. But they will all get a supplemental pick as well as this pick.
Posted by: obsessivegiantscompulsive | November 22, 2006 at 11:55 PM
The above poster is correct. This entire conversation about teams losing draft picks for Type B free agents is wrong. Mark DeRosa was a Type B free agent. The Cubs forfeit *nothing* by signing him. Juan Pierre is a Type B free agent. The Dodgers are not losing any draft picks. The only compensation is a supplemental first round pick (sandwich round). Baseball America covered this a few weeks ago.
Posted by: DentalPlan | November 23, 2006 at 10:57 PM