1:00pm: Alden Gonzalez and Jeff Passan of ESPN add some further details (Twitter links). The top pick’s slot value is actually a slight bit higher than previously reported, landing at $5.5125MM. That’s due to MLB upping the size of each slot value from the weekend by a matter of five percent. Gonzalez notes that MLB is “flexible” on the $20K cap for undrafted free agents, though the extent to which the league is willing to bend isn’t totally clear.
Passan writes that rather than set the draft order based on record, teams would be broken up into “pods” which would rotate every year. Castrovince suggested a similar setup this weekend, writing that pods of six clubs would rotate through the draft order each year; in other words, Pod A would have selections one through six in a given year, then seven through twelve the following season, etc. Passan posits “pod” sizes of seven or eight teams rather than six (thus giving teams a crack at the top of the draft every fourth year rather than every fifth), but the general concept remains the same.
11:50am: Newsday’s Tim Healey tweets that under MLB’s proposal, the international draft would not go into effect until 2024. That’s surely vital for Latin American players, as some prominent figures have stressed that if implemented, the finer details should not be rushed.
Among those prominent voices is Red Sox icon David Ortiz, who spoke passionately in a message to his countrymen from the Dominican Republic today (Twitter thread via ESPN’s Jeff Passan). Ortiz stressed the importance of the league and players working together to get the specifics of the draft right. Ortiz adds:
“Baseball is such a big thing in the Dominican. Baseball keeps kids off the streets. We don’t want that to walk away from us. We want it to get better. That’s my focus. Nothing else. We have the youth. People wanting to be me, Pedro, Pujols. We can’t let that go away. At the end of the day, I don’t want those kids to be affected by it. I already played baseball. I had a career. I care about the kids being treated right. I understand MLB wants to have control over everything they do, but you’re not going to change the system overnight. Baseball is one of the secret weapons of the Dominican economy. If you talk about a draft here in the states, you have choices. You can do football, basketball. … Dominican has baseball to make your way out. That’s it. You have to be careful.”
11:00am: The potential implementation of an international draft has become a focal point in collective bargaining between MLB and the Players Association as gaps elsewhere in negotiations begin to close. Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith reported last night that the international draft is one of the largest remaining obstacles in talks. The league, reportedly, is seeking to trade an elimination of the qualifying offer system for the draft — a concept they’d already proposed in prior packages. Of course, everything in these package proposals is dependent on other factors, so the league now using the QO elimination as a “give” in exchange for the international draft likely just reflects the manner in which other elements of the proposals have ebbed and flowed.
In some new developments on the topic of the proposed international draft, Maria Torres and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic report this morning that MLB’s latest proposal included a slot value of $5.5MM for the No. 1 overall pick (Twitter thread). That’s up slightly from the league’s weekend proposal, wherein MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince reported that MLB was positing a potential $5.25MM slot value for the first pick of a 20-round draft. Slots would be hard-capped and picks could be traded, per Castrovince, as opposed to the soft-capped “recommended” slot values in the domestic draft, where picks cannot be traded (save for those awarded via the Competitive Balance Lottery). The newly proposed $5.5MM top overall slot value is still miles shy of the $8.415MM first overall slot value from this past summer’s domestic amateur draft; today’s $250K bump narrowly pushes the top international slot’s value past the No. 7 overall slot value from the 2021 amateur draft.
Major League Baseball’s pitch to the union is that the proposed slot values could generate as much as $23MM in additional spending on international amateurs in a given year, per Torres. She adds that the final 100 slots in the draft would be valued at a combined $3.3MM, whereas MLB has pointed out to the union that the bottom 100 bonuses in the past couple of signing periods have averaged about $1.78MM in total. Notably, that particular spin ignores that the “bottom 100 bonuses” in prior signing periods is not necessarily equivalent to the “bottom 100 slots” in an international draft where only a finite number of players (600) can be selected. Torres notes that undrafted international amateurs could still sign, but Rosenthal tweets that bonuses would be capped at $20K.
Regardless of specific permutations on the late rounds and undrafted amateurs, there’s still some considerable pushback against the concept from the players’ end of things — particularly among Latin American big leaguers. Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. has publicly pushed back, telling El Caribe (Twitter link):
“The International Draft is going to kill baseball in [Dominican Republic]. It’s going to affect us a lot, because there will be many young people who used to give them the opportunity to get a bonus and with the draft it will not be the same.”
ESPN’s Marly Rivera reports that many Latin American players share those concerns, adding that the general sentiment among Puerto Rican players is that their entry into the amateur draft has stunted the development of baseball on the whole. Astros catcher Martin Maldonado, originally drafted by the Angels out of Dr. Juan J. Nunez high school in Puerto Rico, tweeted this morning that he “agrees 100%” with the concerns raised by Tatis.
As Rivera further notes, MLB’s position on the international draft is that it will help to regulate some of the many improprieties that currently exist on the international market. It’s a poorly kept secret that verbal agreements between Major League teams and international amateurs are in place years before those players are eligible to sign on their 16th birthdays; Major League scouts are regularly evaluating players before they even reach their teenage years, and players can have verbal agreements with teams as early as 13 or 14 years of age. Additional concerns include steroid usage among baseball hopefuls during those critical formative years, as well as exploitative behavior from many “buscones” who arrange deals between teams and amateur players.
The pushback from the union, presumably, is that these improprieties can be corrected without the implementation of an amateur draft. Major League Baseball has rules and regulations in place that are intended to bar early agreements of this nature. However, with the exception of former Braves GM John Coppolella being banned for circumventing those rules, punishments have been few and far between. Even after Coppolella’s ouster, early deals have continued. As Mike Axisa of CBS Sports explored recently, MLB could crack down on corruption on the international market by simply choosing to enforce its own typically ignored rules and regulations.
All that said, the draft system does figure to have some benefits for international amateurs. MLB’s current system is hard-capped, and while the draft wouldn’t change that, the simple fact that the combined value of the draft slots being proposed exceeds the combined value of the current international bonus pools means more money will go to those amateurs. Further, even though the league could likely cut down on corruption without implementing the draft, that does not change the fact that the draft ought to nevertheless curtail those early agreements. (Other forms of corruption, of course, will be more difficult to suppress.)
For the players, concerns surely remain about the potential stunting of baseball’s growth in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Panama, Colombia and other markets. It’s also a clear negative for a player not to be able to choose his first team and to not be able to negotiate more openly. The draft could potentially lead to fewer high-dollar deals for the market’s very best prospects — depending on the exact distribution of slot values.
Ultimately, given the manner in which the two sides have begun to move closer to an agreement on other elements of the deal, it seems hard to imagine the finer points of an international draft truly scuttling a deal. It’s clear there’s still work to be done, though, and much of it will center around this topic.
No.
I repeat: No.
MLB has tried to insert an international draft in the last five CBAs. It has nothing to do with correcting the illegal activities around the drafting of players. It’s simply about the owners saving money. Listen to the Latin players who oppose this change. Remove it from the CBA and then sign the deal.
Did you miss this part, “the combined value of the draft slots being proposed exceeds the combined value of the current international bonus pools”
No.
You: It’s simply about the owners saving money.
Mc Tim: “Did you miss this part, “the combined value of the draft slots being proposed exceeds the combined value of the current international bonus pools”
You: No.
So are you backing off your original statement that this is all about the owners saving money?
I think you’ve missed his point. His point is that in his view any system that may cost MLB owners more money, no matter how sleazy and corrupt, is preferable.
With that ethical underpinning in place, one suspects his life isn’t an easy one.
About right. I get really frustrated by some of the fans, certainly on both sides, for criticizing “the other guys” for doing stuff they would do in a heartbeat.
“The players are greedy”. Sure, but one is the last time any of us said “don’t bother giving me a raise this year”?
“The owners are greedy”. Sure, but when is the last time a house owner in here paid 20% above market price for replacing their roof?
There is a $12B pool out there, and both sides are, and should be, fighting to get their fair share.
People are very anxious to label people good guys and/or bad guys.
One of the few good things about having a drama background is trying to find motivation for both sides.
Once you eliminate that neither side is intrinsically bad, it’s pretty easy to see things without all the animosity.
Well said Halo.
I wouldn’t go so far as to insult them, but I presume that most of the pro-player posters are democrats, and the pro-owner posters are republicans. And that most of the ones that hate the owners and Manfred are Far Left, and the posters that want the union crushed are Far Right.
And those of us that comment on the pros and cons of each side are moderates.
prov, it’s interesting that you think so poorly of your fellow commenters. Seems you’re leaning on your own misunderstanding.
@prov356, you could be correct, although in my case I’ve long left my 30s and 40s behind. I don’t live in my parents’ basement as that would require me to live at least 12 feet under!
I’m fairly well off, but not enough to own a MLB team. I’ll leave it at that.
@JoeBrady, I’m more pro-player on this specific CBA, although my family would find it quite humorous to have some assume I’m a Democrat!
I’ve stated why I’m opposed to the international draft as presented many times, and in fact you and I have even interacted on it. I once again ran through my issues with it in the later thread–“MLBPA Presents Counteroffer To MLB;” I don’t expect you or others to fully agree, but it’s not simply a pro-player vs. pro-owner stance as you seem to be trying to position many people’s takes. I’ve been consistent on it.
Shut the window, the draft is done
Open the window, everything blows
gbs42 – it was a joke sir. Enjoy it.
The draft is not illegal, it is a manner in which the business has constructed their rules and they are within their rights to do so. So Yes, just Yes
@Joe S. If they eventually agree to change the rules but they haven’t. So for now: So No, just No. I’ve given my list of objections many times, including in the other latest thread. I won’t outline them yet again here.
A draft will make things fair and more competitive… These players will still get paid handsomely. I doubt the Union will agree to a deal that won’t pay the players well… It’s what this is all about… Isn’t it? Players wanting a bigger piece of the pie.
Fair? Handsomely? Yeah, except right now the negotiation power lies with the kids who get to choose and drive up their value. The draft gives the owners more power and the smaller markets even more power again. They’re slowly phasing out any and all equity in the game I’m the name of “competitive balance” while they simply gain access to the top talent on the premise of a “fair” draft, international draft, CBT capped spending, revenue sharing that only benefits them, no floor, & the ancillary annual tanking awards for the Pirates, Orioles, Rox, etc.
Garbage. Fans are not inherently objective, so don’t pretend like you are and cite “fairness” doctrines that only benefit your teams, because the truth is you want the game so rigged your terrible team will finally win.
– There’s no competitiveness anymore, it’s no wonder why we are in the sad state of affairs that exist currently.
Since the Yankees/Dodgers/Red Sox have such a huge financial advantage over other teams, I’m not crying.
But no question about it, for deep pocket teams, this hurts them.
That could be part of the point…
Huh? I don’t get this at all. The bonus pool available to pay for each year’s international class is tiny in the scheme of things. Even the Pirates can afford it. In fact, under the current system that’s the cheapest way teams have of acquiring talent.
Yeah, seamaholic, you would think the MLBPA wouldn’t want all that cheap competition that could water down demand for drafted players.
Just like soccer the idea is to get something global in the off season or off years…
Well…Certainly the quickest since it’s like the Wild West…
No. It’s typical fly by the seat of your pants international ideas. It needs to be formalized so more players are visible and registered as ballplayers. More opportunity. It can’t be look what I found! … this player is new and nobody knows the origins.
Well it certainly hasn’t helped the Dominican Republic not to have a draft.
The MLB team scouts and FO are the ones creating the corruption.
All the money being paid out comes from the teams. All the actions of “signing” players long before they are legally able to sign comes from the teams. Stop the teams personnel from committing corrupt activities and the corruption stops.
Instituting the draft in Puerto Rico killed the sport there, Once the home to 8 to 10+% of all major league players with 48-76 players annually on MLB squads from 1969 until Puerto Rico was added to the MLB draft in 1989, Now there are a total of 28 active players from there and 7 of those were raised in the US due to the lack of baseball opportunities like high school baseball, Little League, and travel ball in Puerto Rico.
Is that what baseball fans want to see happen in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the rest of the Caribbean?
Latin American players signed in international free agency account for 27% of MLB players today. Do we really want to see many of our best ballplayers never even play the game because MLB doesn’t want to police their own people and instead wants to institute a draft in hopes that it will curb the corruption that is fostered by MLB team personnel?
Pads, thats because Puerto Rico is in the regular/domestic draft. An international draft would also benefit Puerto Rico. It is unfair to have them in the same pool as American players, but they would be on more equal footing when grouped with other international players.
You do understand there would be 2 separate drafts, right?
QS, do we know that Puerto Rico would be part of the international draft? I haven’t heard, and I would assume it would stay part of the current Rule 4 draft.
Very smart of the League to do this. That way players can be more certain that they will have a job during free agency. The International Draft is a spectacular way to start what has long been needed. True transparency and a way for fans to focus on this endeavor. Plus the owners can now wheel and deal on this platform as well. Get rid of that Rule 5 draft too, which is dumb.
See what I mean…
So which owner hired you to troll? No actual baseball fan would say those things. So be transparent and tell us who hired you.
An international draft makes complete sense. I’ve been on the players’ side in these negotiations but if domestic players have to go through the draft there’s not a good enough reason for international players not to do so as well.
I’m sure the problem with the international draft is big time Japanese players. Signing them with no other negotiations between other teams. You can’t trade draft picks. Dumb
The draft would only be for international amateurs, wouldn’t affect those guys
This doesn’t seem like a problem that should hold up resolution of a CBA.
Ultimately MLB players dont care that much about it (most of them were drafted) and it doesn’t impact their paycheck.
It likely saves the owners some money but likely not that much. Some of them (the O’s up until recently) dont even put much effort into international scouting/ singings. .
Duncey, try reading the article. 27% of the players in MLB are Latin Americans and they are all against the international draft.
They are not ALL against it. Read it again. Many are, but surely not all. It’s an important distinction.
And since the article makes it seem like bonus money would be the biggest concern, that is surely one MLB could address by bumping up the value of each draft slot. It’s not impossible to address.
Once the MLB owners and the players union ratify a new CBA and lift the lockout today, the permanent rules under a new CBA will be a universal DH for both the AL and the NL, a draft lottery format, an international draft, a 12-team playoff format, a CBT threshold increasing to $238 million, a pre-arbitration bonus pool, a free agency period of 5 years and a collective salary arbitration of $1 billion.
There’s nothing in the talks about 5 year FA – that’s long gone from the discussion.
Well, it’s not going to happen. That’s a major piece and there’s no way the players will do it because it has such a negative impact on the Latin signings
The international draft is intriguing but would the order be based on record like the draft now? That would be incredibly stupid and would increase tanking even more. Even a lottery of non playoff teams would be dumb for the same reasons.
The only fair way would be to put all the teams in a lottery with identical odds, and then have the order reverse for the second round, like a fantasy draft.
WolvesSufferer — When first discussed, the International Draft was said to have no relationship to standings. Instead, what was mentioned was rotating 6 blocks of 5 teams each into the top spots, a kind of rotating blocks. How those blocks would be created was not mentioned, but each blocks would include teams from each division.
What they are discussing now, I have no idea.
“…it seems hard to imagine the finer points of an international draft truly scuttling a deal.”
Way to grossly understate the complexity and far reaching implications of the issue. It can surely “scuttle” a deal.
in dominlcan republic each team has baseball facilities and develop their own players. so why is it ok for the angels to draft a player who was developped by the twins?
Why would individual teams keep running those facilities if there was a draft? That’s how baseball would be killed in those countries
Far more complex than that. Each team is only allotted a certain number of Visa slots for their foreign players. These camps are a cheaper venue to develop and further evaluate their talent before making the commitment of trying to obtain a Visa to bring them to the states.
Its how it was killed in Puerto Rico.
This is exactly why I can’t justify implementing an international draft. Why would teams invest money internationally if the element of loyalty is completely eliminated from retaining prospects?
Then the alternative is signing kids that are 15-16 years old. You can run all the camps you want, but unless the kids are tied to the team running the camp, then there is no motivation for running the camp.
Buscones run most of the baseball academies in the DR. Teams only get those kids AFTER they sign, not before.
Exactly what I’ve been saying. If they were to implement one, it should be at least two or three classes before they do it.
That would be part of the corruption being discussed. Taking the 12 year old specifically to the Twins Training facility would put undue pressure on them to sign with the Twins.
Wouldn’t this help the players desire for improved competition? Distributing the top international prospects through a draft seems like it would be good for baseball. I can’t see any reason that an international player should have the right to choose his first team when top high school & college prospects certainly don’t have that freedom.
Once again, someone is getting screwed by this. it’s either going to be the kids in big baseball countries or smaller ones. It will be both to a degree, but I feel one group will end up suffering more.
How are they suffering if they’re getting more money overall? The days of Luis Robert and Yoan Moncada-level signing bonuses are already gone.
To me, it looks like the only ones getting hurt would be the handlers/representatives/(more accurately)pimps of the international players.
“Oh, you wanna sign this really talented player? Well, you’ll have to sign these 3 useless lumps of $#!?, too. Just make the check out to me, I’ll make sure it gets to their families.”
This could actually grow baseball in those areas. It seems like, under the current system, if they don’t develop by 12, they’re not getting into the “baseball factories” and not signed. This could expand into leagues where someone could improve dramatically at 15 and be drafted the next year.
I prefer an int’l draft to the current system, but would rather combine the drafts. With two drafts, teams like the Pirates get a double-bonus for sucking.
Some form of draft pick trading should be included.
100% agree. There’s no excuse I can think of not to include it.
There has been talk of having the draft be in “Groups”. Group A gets first 6 picks via lottery, Group B gets next 6 picks, Etc. Groups are set for next few years to avoid tanking and leave the draft fair for all teams.
“Fair” for all teams doesn’t exist. That’s another term for handicapping smaller markets to win. I’d rather they just start out with like 6 runs per game than to watch baseball try to legitimize itself by handing top draft picks to small markets and then cap spending. It’s stupid.
Next we should just make sure that nobody has more than one great player on their team. If they do, mandatory trade. More than one ace? Mandatory trade. If we are going to make it “fair” then let’s go all the way. Team has too many good coaches? Mandatory trades. Manager is too good? Swap.
Yes!
Absolutely yes! International draft is long overdue.
Putting aside the merits of a Latin draft for a moment, any responsible negotiator for MLBPA would realize that getting rid of the QO is a nothing-burger for 99% of the players. This is catnip for agents, but does nothing at all for virtually anyone else.
Exactly what I’ve been saying. If they were to implement one, it should be at least two or three classes before they do it.
To implement a draft in the DR or anywhere in Latin America it would have to start with a huge investment in amateur baseball. Little League beyond age 12, travel ball, independent academies for those kids 12-15 that are pretty much on the streets without the buscone run camps, high school fields and programs, amateur coaches and trainers.
People that are calling for an international draft have never been to a Latin American country to see what the conditions are. To just implement one without all the things I listed would kill baseball in Latin America.
Today 27% of the MLB players come from those countries as international free agents. Do you really want to lose the next Pedro or Big Papi or Pujols because there is no baseball infrastructure in the DR or Venezuela to help get these kids off the streets and into baseball?
Seems to me a compromise here might be to delay implementation of this draft for a year.
Most of the kids eligible for the next year’s signing period are already connected to clubs., working out with them, building coaching relationships, etc. Seems many teams would like to avoid disrupting that – only those that put limited resources out or make less scouting efforts there would want this to be effective immediately.
And it appears that is the case.
Not a huge fan of an international draft, but if this is the last sticking point (I doubt it is) then it is not the sword to fall on to make a point.
That sword seems to be the CBT, which is stupid to me. Only a handful of teams butt up against it anyway. Increasing it only hampers competitiveness as teams like the Dodgers could then afford another All-Star. It doesn’t make it impossible to win, as the Braves proved, but more difficult for mid- and small-market teams to get to the playoffs.
The players are not going to fall on their swords for this. This draft is good for baseball.
The fact that the overall bonus pool is more than int’l draftees get now means there’s little reason for the players not to agree to this.
I don’t think people have any idea how expensive it is to run the minor leagues.
All these kids are insured… right? What about medical? How much does that add to their salary? What about the signing bonus?
And if they make the major leagues and pitch for a day, Other than the one day salary, there are other benefits provided by MLB.
And if forty percent do only make 350,000 bucks (not including benefits and signing bonus) The teams are losing hundreds of millions of dollars on these players.
The minor league should be streamlined. None of the forementioned players are worth what they cost. If ML players want to get paid what they are worth, they should be on board with this.
Don’t we all want these players to get paid more of what they are worth?
Not really sure how you skipped from the draft to the cost of MiLB, but ok. As for them being streamlined, they already have been. 40 teams were contracted last offseason (mostly in short-season rookie leagues). I don’t see the need for further cuts. And yes, running a minors team is more than a lot of people give it credit for, but the players still don’t make a livable wage, or even minimum wage in some cases.
We know exactly how expensive it is to run the minor leagues. Are you forgetting that 2 teams have to report all their financial info because they are owned by publicly traded companies.
Neither of those teams spent more than $14 million on minor league players, coaches, scouts, trainers, medical expenses, and all other minor league expenses in 2021.
Major league baseball cut 43 minor league teams and got rid of 1273 players and coaches prior to the 2021 season.
Wrong. 27% of the players in baseball are from Latin America and they are against it completely.
This would kill baseball in the rest of the Caribbean just like it did in Puerto Rico.
Yep, absolutely kill it. There’d be no reason to play for a chance at millions of dollars and an amazing lifestyle if you can’t pick the team you play for. I really don’t understand how all US high school and college kids are so dumb. The end of an entire sport in an entire region, just because guys won’t be able to sign with the team of their choice.
And I’m sure they’re against it, but if the money’s still there, they’ll get over it. Throwing $5M at somebody has a tendency to make them like you more.
Go read what MLB is proposing and have proposed since 2002. Then come back.
We know what happened when they did this in PR. 70-75% less players each year from there coming into professional baseball in the US.
Considering how suddenly quiet the talks have become, I believe they will have a CBA today. All of the leaks in the prior weeks were intentional strategic PR. They can keep a secret when they need to.
Well-reasoned Prov.
LOL! I’ve been saying this for a 100 years. This is why most trade rumors and signing rumors are complete make-believe. If Bloom was going to sign Suzuki or trade for Schwarber, The only people that would know this are Suzuki and Schwarber. If Manfred and Clark are $10M apart from a deal, and one side needed to kick in $5M, the only ones that would know this are Manfred & Clark.
Except for the fact that Manfred and Clark are not the lead negotiators and article after article talk about how it is just Hazlem and Meyer in the room much of the time.
I hope you are right
What if the union agrees, on the condition that the international draft will be hosted and MC’d by Coppy.
Nothing more than a cheap negotiating ploy by ownership trying to cause dissension among union members.
If the union is concerned about a draft killing the current system, they are right. No team will run a camp without some financial benefit.
On the MLB side, if you don’t have camps for the kids, you won’t have any development, and you would have no way to assess the kids prior to the draft.
If both sides are so magnanimous and concerned about these kids, both sides can chip in $1-2M annually each to develop local teams, maybe associated with a local high school.
Its not about the teams running camps. There are 127 privately run camps in the DR alone today. Most of those camps have 100 to 200 kids from 12-18 years old in them. 6-8 per camp will be signed by MLB teams.
What happens to all those kids when those private camps no longer have financial incentive to house, feed, educate, and train those kids?
The DR is not the US. The parents cannot afford to send their kid for private training and out on travel ball teams.
Do you think MLB is going to step up and create that infrastructure? They certainly did not in Puerto Rico and we have seen the effect of that. A 70-75% drop in players coming out of Puerto Rico.
Its not on the players to chip in. Its on MLB since they are the ones asking to destroy the system in those Latin American countries and it would cost more than $1-2 million per team to house, feed, educate, and train the 2000+ kids in those private camps in the DR alone. It is a $70+ million industry in the DR alone.
Why would they no longer have financial incentive if there’s a draft? Same kids would be taken, probably in a slot value more or less what they would have gotten. The overall money available is more. Seriously, how is this anything but a boon if more money is coming in?
You really need to read what MLB is proposing. Then come back and discuss this.
hyraxwithaflamethrower
Why would they no longer have financial incentive if there’s a draft?
=============================
The entire situation is a circular Catch-22.
Everyone talks badly about the buscones, but no one else fills their role. Unless the buscones get paid, they have no incentive to develop the kids. And the kids have nowhere to go. In the US, every HS has a BB team. For athletically gifted kids, there are often magnet schools to coach them, and top of the line equipment.
Since the DR doesn’t have that structure, someone else has to supply it. And that someone else has to get paid. Same as in the US. If you want additional coaching, you can get it. But you have to pay for it.
Good Lord! Dealing with the MLBPA is like herding cats. No matter what is offered, there is always another constituency to be placated. Now, it is the Dominican Republic.
Damn the M’s are supposed to sign felnin Celestine in 2024, hope they push the draft back to 25 or 26 for multiple reasons.
I find it interesting that an International draft would hold a deal up. These players are not part of the union. Just like the minor leagues that the union hasn’t previously shown any concern for
jintm
This is just an opinion, but they have agreed. They’ll move forward and iron out the specifics for the international draft next year.
Because the owners are offering the players the elimination of the QO system in exchange for this. So they stand to get something if they agree to and international draft.
Back in December the owners were always going to give up the QO. This is kinda like the Owners giving the DH to the NL.
They are trying to get something back for something they already knew they were going to do.
When Rob Manfred “mis spoke” at the press conference about the tax rates being exactly the same (when they were actually proposing to more than double the rates), he threw in that they were seeking additional CBT draft penalties to offset the “loss” of free agent compensation draft penalties.
It’s always a quid pro quo with him. That’s how he bargains. He’s very good at it. He finds things of importance to the players and uses them as bargaining chips to get EVERYTHING on his wish list. Things that Bud Selig could not get, like a salary cap and an international draft. He doesn’t even pretend to be reasonable, but he can also spin it like they’re making huge concessions when they’re trading a dead cat for millions in revenue.
That said, MLB has wanted an international draft since 2002
They wrote into the CBA in 2007 that they could implement one if the two sided agreed, but they wouldn’t give up anything significant for it. So it was Selig’s fondest unfulfilled wish when he left office.
In 2017, MLB offered exactly the same swap. An International draft for getting rid of FA compensation. The deal was almost done when Latin players literally flew to the site of negotiations and put a stop to it. The difference was the signing bonus payments were not guaranteed. That would leave the kids at the mercy of one team, to pay whatever they wanted. Take it or leave it. Stay in poverty in the DR, PR< or Venezuela.
Guaranteed payment of bonuses makes all the difference.
When the deal fell apart in 2017, the players caved anyway with hard slot bonus pools that had such severe penalties that no team has crossed them. Its not a huge step to an international draft from there.
PR has been part of the MLB draft since 1989. 70-75% less players per year are coming out of PR than in the 3 decades prior to that happening.
27% of the union members are from Latin America and entered MLB through the current system. They are uniformly and vociferously against an international draft.
It affects them and their entire country.
Have always been in favor of this. Why should some 16 year old from the DR get to sign with whatever team he wants and 18-22 year old kids from the US have to go with whatever team drafted them?
Because woke
It’s about opportunities. US kids have way more opportunities to earn then kids from the DR, PR, Venezuela, Colombia, etc. The point that current and former players are making is that the baseball academy’s in these countries helps them to develop life skills and provide a way for these kids to make it out of the economic hole they were born in to. An international draft would severely cut down the need for these academy’s.
You know my response to that T Doc- “follow the money”
Jay has a very nice article today on the draft.
https://www.blessyouboys.com/2022/3/9/22968364/mlb-international-free-agency-draft-cba-negotiations
This is worth a read
Like many others, I was very much opposed to MLB’s draft proposal five years ago, but I’m slowly coming on board with this proposal. Of course, we know that MLB’s motive is money. MLB is a business (sorry SCOTUS). and they’re the ones that have enabled the Buscones to process these kids like they’re raising cattle.
But that does not mean that a draft would not be good for them- the kids.
Anyone else taking note of the fact that MLBPA will stick up for these amateurs, yet they throw amateur players under the bus at every opportunity. It would be nice if American players stuck up for college and high school kids as well as Big Papi and Miggy stuck up for these players.
Kids in the US don’t have to go with the team that drafted them. In 2021, 22% chose not to sign. Most of the top 4 rounds did, but even there it was over 10% that chose not to sign.
You should also learn about the system in place in Latin American countries before commenting on why it is the way it is.
Does that 22% include all those HS kids that have already picked a college?
My problem isn’t whether or not there needs to be an international draft (I think there should be). My concern is this is yet another issue inserted by the owners that may cause consternation with the union and further help prevent an agreement. I say let’s stick to the basics qnd get this thing solved so we can have baseball. They can deal with the draft later.
coop, I don’t think the players are going to go to war over this one.
Hope not. But it’s just another thing to discuss outside of the core economic issues they are still far apart on.
Dayn Perry on CBS is reporting as of 15 mins ago that the draft “seems to be the final major hurdle” and “the primary impediment” to a deal.
Halo- if the union agrees to an international draft without the support of Latin players, they could have a huge civil war on their hands. They need to keep their membership on board, and they will. I think they will get there, but diplomacy takes some time.
Did you mention the guaranteed bonus in one of your posts?
I hope it gets worked out. I’m a big fan of win-win.
Coop, I think Prov got this right. This is not going to hold up the agreement.
Man, I hope so. That would be welcome news, to say the least.
make amateur draft picks tradeable and you got a deal
I’ve been wanting that for years. I get that the draft is a crapshoot, more so than in any other sport, but the right to draft a guy like Torkelson or Rutschman is an asset. Why shouldn’t you be allowed to trade your player assets?
Leave it to Big Papi to ruin things. Stop pls.
Now, I am no expert on the economies of either Venezuela or the Dominican Republic, but even $20K would be something of a lottery win for the families of the players who do not get drafted. I know that not every undrafted player will get $20K but it doesn’t seem like the doom and gloom portrayed by some in the media.
I can’t believe players are going to let the QO get in the way of a season. It’s not nearly as impactful on free agency as they think
The QO draft compensation is a non-entity. It only effects 2-3 players a season. The international draft affects the 27% of MLB players that are from Latin America.
The owners asking for an international draft is a huge impediment standing in the way of a CBA.
Why would that be, iyo? The owners are saying that their draft commitment would be higher than the current structure. If that was the case, and I was the owner, I’d drop the issue immediately.
Guess who Jeff Passan’s agent works for?
You got it, SBC.
More media corruption, ESPN should dust his butt.