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MLB Won't Implement International Draft In 2014
1:09pm: Major League Baseball has officially announced that there will not be an international draft in 2014, per Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times (on Twitter).
12:35pm: Passan's sources tell him that MLB and the MLBPA are planning on tabling the discussion until after the current CBA expires in 2016. That raises the question as to whether or not baseball's next commissioner will be as adamant about implementing a worldwide draft as current commissioner Bud Selig is (Twitter links). Selig, of course, is expected to retire in January 2015 after turning down a five-year contract in lieu of a two-year deal.
11:25am: Major League Baseball is expected to announce today that it was not able to reach an agreement during negotiations with the MLBPA regarding an international draft for the 2014 season, writes Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. The two sides were working with a June 1 deadline for an agreement.
Negotiations are set to continue, and an international draft is "considered something of a certainty" at some point, according to Passan. Detractors of the draft feel that it would dry up the pipeline of international talent, as has been the case with Puerto Rico since it became included within the annual Rule 4 draft. League officials in favor of an international draft argue that the current system is rampant with identity fraud and encourages PED use among teenagers.
Talks of negotiations and the June 1 deadline were reported back in mid-March. According to those reports, there was a possibility of incorporating international players into the existing draft but also of holding a separate draft for foreign prospects. ESPN's Buster Olney added that MLB was willing to make significant concessions to make the draft happen, such as increasing the minimum salary for players and moving up the arbitration threshhold.
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