Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron reports that Major League Baseball emailed all 30 teams today to announce that, effective following this year’s draft, players selected in the amateur draft will be permitted to be traded beginning the day after the conclusion of the World Series.
The change is a much-needed revamp of the previous iteration, which had prohibited clubs from trading players for one year after being drafted. However, because the rules regarding players to be named later (PTBNLs) stated that teams had six months to determine the PTBNL in question, a loophole had been exploited in which prospects from the most recent draft were simply included as a PTBNL in trades that occurred more than six months after the draft in which they were selected.
In order to prevent any further loopholes, MLB has explicitly stated that any PTBNL must be eligible to be traded at the time the trade is agreed upon. In other words, draftees cannot be included as PTBNLs between their draft and the completion of the World Series.
The most recent example of this, of course, is Padres 2014 first-rounder Trea Turner. It’s one of the worst-kept secrets in baseball that Turner, selected 13th overall by the Padres, will be revealed as the PTBNL in the three-team Wil Myers/Steven Souza trade. Turner will be officially eligible to be traded to the Nationals in early June, but he’s spent the entirety of Spring Training and the early portion of the season with the Padres organization due to the previous iteration of rules.
Via Cameron, the official wording of the email sent by the league is as follows:
Please be advised that the Commissioner’s Office and the Players Association have agreed to amend the Major League Rules in advance of this year’s Rule 4 Draft with respect to players-to-be-named-later (“PTBNLs”) under Rule 12(e)(2), and the trading of draft picks under Rule 3(b)(6). …commencing with players eligible for the 2015 Rule 4 Draft, (a) players selected in the Draft may be traded beginning on the day following the conclusion of the World Series, and (b) drafted players cannot be PTBNLs unless they otherwise could be traded pursuant to Rule 3(b)(6), as amended, at the time of the trade.
Turner’s situation certainly isn’t the first in which a recent draftee has been used as a PTBNL while waiting for official clearance to be included in a trade. For example, just one year ago, the Pirates acquired Ike Davis from the Mets in exchange for righty Zack Thornton and a PTBNL, who was later (on June 15) revealed to be 2013 second-round left-hander Blake Taylor.
As Cameron notes, the rule change does little for Turner, as it takes effect only in regards to players eligible in the 2015 Rule 4 (June amateur) draft. He’ll remain in development with the Padres until, presumably, June 6 — the day after the one-year anniversary of the 2014 amateur draft.
Very good, simple change. Glad to see this.
Just so I understand this correctly:
If the Dodgers draft Joe Schmo in June, and they then trade for Cole Hamels in July… Joe Schmo cannot be included into the trade at any capacity, even if they wait til after the WS to announce him as the PTBNL?
Am I understanding that accurately?
Yes. If not it would just create the whole PTBNL problem again.
Correct. No 2015 draftee can be included in a trade, in any capacity (PTBNL or otherwise) until after the completion of the 2015 World Series.
How is the PTBNL part enforceable though?
Example: If a team like LA sent a 2014 draft pick Grant Holmes to Philly for a trade of Hamels last season after the WS then MLB would void it. Once the PTBNL is named everyone will know if you’re breaking the rules.
I don’t know. Manfred didn’t bat an eyelash when the Diamondbacks and Braves flagrantly violated the rule about trading compensation picks only during the regular season. As soon as Peicoro reported that the Cahill trade was contingent upon the Reyes-for-Comp pick swap, the commissioner should have stepped in.
Yes. If you could immediately use them as a PTBNL, it would essentially mean MLB is allowing the trading of draft picks.
Which would have been very interesting, I might add.
That’s a good point.
Very good change. Too bad the league won’t just apply it to Turner as an exception.
Can you imagine the chaos that would ensue if they updated people’s cases to the newest set of rules? Teams and players would line up to have contracts changed.
Turner has to be grandfathered in, for the MLB’s and the Union’s sake.
Can we hurry up and allow the trading of draft picks already?
Why not just let teams sell draft picks then? Loria would be in heaven.
Those are Loria’s favorite players, cheap and talented. Owners aren’t going to sacrifice the future by selling off most of their draft picks. Even giving up top picks isn’t that bad considering the depth and talent in the MLB draft’s lower rounds. What’s the difference between selling picks & selling prospects after the WS? 6 months of scouting, that’s not much considering these guys are mostly 3-7 years away from sniffing the majors.
You know that the MLB lets some teams trade picks already, right? Also, “cheap” owners are primarily interested in fielding competitive yet cost effective teams. That is a pretty strong disincentive to trading picks. Also, you could make it so that they cannot trade for cash considerations.
The compensation picks can be traded, but that’s only 2 rounds and is regulated by free agent signings. Manfred sounds like he is going to totally recreate the domestic and international drafts so everything is fair. Making FA signings more like the NHL with Restricted free agents and compensation via draft picks (just mix it into real rounds, not supplementary) would clean up the system. Let any of the 40 rounds be traded. If they’re really worried about it, make a min/max pick limit. Every team has to pick so many players and can’t pick more than __.
I’m glad that MLB can’t trade draft picks. The success rate for draft picks, even first rounders, is so low compared to their perceived value it would be a fiasco of the highest proportions. I’m also glad that we still have some semblance of the Incaviglia Rule left, so that players (and their agents) can’t force trades by refusing to sign.
Some picks can be traded. Not sure how the success rate makes trading a greater or lesses fiasco.
Mark Prior told the Twins he wouldn’t sign with them and they chose a cheaper hometown sign in Mauer.
Do you guys think we’ll ever be able to watch teams trade draft picks before the draft? Would make the trades more interesting. How would you guys set that up?
One individual (stl_cards16, just so they get the credit) put it really well in a post below…I’ll paraphrase: if you can trade draft picks, why make rules regarding draft picks being PTBNL? This would be the same, essentially.
If the current slot bonus system is being built on to I’d like to see the cap bonuses eliminated in a few rounds. Something like rounds 10, 20, 30, and 40 are uncapped or restrictions are loosened. Add round 40 to the trade eligible picks. That would limit any advantage to big spending teams but also allow baseball to keep the raw athletes who slipped because of football or basketball scholarships.
Might as well just allow trading draft picks now, that’s what this will turn into, an NFL-type arrangement.
Why have any waiting period at all? Why not be able to trade draftees after they’re signed, or potentially allow trading the rights to the player?
It could be that it prevents players from demanding to be traded or else they’ll refuse to not sign for a team. There are loopholes to that, such as going back to college or not playing, but neither are advantageous to the player.
There are probably more reasons, but that’s one instance I can see.
That’s a pretty good rationale, thanks.
That’s the reason they actually put it in originally.
I think the expressed reason was that MLB didn’t want teams like the Yankees or Red Sox, who were often picking low in the draft to just buy draft picks from cheap teams like the Marlins or Astros, who didn’t want to pay high draft picks what they were worth
If you look at the history of the draft, especially in the ’90s or 2000s, you see cheap teams, like the Padres. constantly picking lesser talents with high draft picks so they didn’t get stuck with huge bonuses to pay – Matt Bush is a perfect example. Nobody in baseball thought he was the #1 overall pick, but the Padres knew he’d be a cheap sign. That turned out pretty well, huh? If draft picks could have been traded the Yankees probably could have bought that pick from SD, despite being a successful team, and I think baseball wants to avoid the idea of a good team getting a high draft pick. With early draft-picks bonuses capped now, I think it’s less of an issue, and I think draft picks should be allowed to be traded.
While that’s an interesting theory, there’s a reason the rule about trading drafted players is called the “Incaviglia Rule.” And it has nothing to do with the Yankees, Red Sox or big money clubs.
After he was drafted by the Expos, Incaviglia refused to sign until November, when he finally agreed to a deal that was contingent on being traded to Texas. The Expos got essentially nothing in return in the trade.
Since at the time, clubs didn’t get compensation for an unsigned player in the draft, the Expos had a choice to get nothing from the pick and let Inky go back into the draft, or to get virtually nothing from the pick and send Inky to a team of his choice.
With the changes in the draft rules, players no longer hold that same card (under today’s rules, the Expos could have just told him to pound sand and received the 8th overall pick in the following year’s draft), so there’s some reason to think the new change the commissioner’s office announced today makes more sense for the current situation.
Even top 10 MLB picks bust at very high rates. The Yankees had the 1-1 in 91 and took the best HS LHP, who could hit 98-99 MPH. Brien Taylor never made the majors and like Matt Bush is 1 of only 3 players picked #1 overall who can say that after retirement. Taylor was a big $ guy. I think the Yankees best 2 1st rounders of the last 20 years went unsigned. Buying picks isn’t very advantageous if you’re scouting or FO get it wrong. Picking high certainly helps but most teams in the top 10 aren’t too interested in selling whoever they’re interested in picking. The idea that teams would buy draft picks but not A ball players who are only slightly older is strange to me.
Well, Taylor is an interesting case in that his baseball skills were never in question. He was dominating in the low minors when he injured his shoulder in a bar fight and was never the same again; teams certainly risk a bust high in the draft in every sport, but you hedge your bets by getting the most talented players available. Most of the very best players in baseball were very high draft picks. And Bush was an outlier anyway; most scouts didn’t even have him as a top-5 player. Padres picked him because he would be cheap.
I agree with you that most teams now, with baseball awash in money and the cheap owners mostly gone, understand the value of a draft pick and wouldn’t trade it anyway. All the more reason to get rid of the rule.
CCO represent!
Why not just allow any PTBNL that is currently in limbo, cough Turner cough, to go to their team now?? Who cares if it really takes effect next year. They should clean the slate starting NOW, not next season. Why make a big deal over the Turner situation and then not even allow him the opportunity to benefit from the rule?