Baseball players and owners announced today that they’ve agreed to terms on a five-year collective bargaining agreement that assures MLB of two decades of labor peace. MLB.com offers a detailed look at the CBA. Here are some highlights:
Draft Pick Compensation:
- There are no longer ranked free agents under the new CBA. Type As, Type Bs and the Elias system are history.
- "Only players who have been with their clubs for the entire season will be subject to compensation," according to the CBA.
- Free agents will cost compensatory draft picks if their former clubs offer guaranteed one-year deals with an average salary that matches or exceeds the average salary of the 125 highest-paid players from the previous season. The offer "must be made at the end of the five-day free agent “quiet period,” and the player will have seven days to accept," according to the CBA.
- Teams that sign players who have been offered these lucrative one-year salaries will surrender their first round draft choice. However, teams with top-ten picks will give up their second-highest pick instead.
- Here are the details on changes for Type A free agents this offseason.
- Going forward, It appears possible that teams will still obtain two picks for losing free agents after offering arbitration. The signing team forfeits one of its top selections and the club obtains a selection at the end of the first round.
Postseason:
- MLB will announce by March 1 whether playoffs will expand in 2012 or in 2013. Commissioner Bud Selig says he's hopeful of expanding playoffs next year.
- The Astros are moving to the American League in 2013 to accomodate a more balanced divisional setup.
Amateur Draft Spending Limitations:
- The sides added heavy restrictions on draft spending. Each club has a spending limit for the amateur draft that varies depending on when the club is scheduled to make its first ten selections. Bonuses after the tenth round don't count, as long as they're under $100K. Teams will face limits in the $4.5-11.5MM range, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter).
- Teams that spend more than 5% over-slot on the draft will face a 75% tax. Teams that go over slot by 5-10% face a 75% tax and the loss of a first rounder. Teams that go over slot by 10-15% face a 100% tax and the loss of a first and second rounder. Teams that exceed slot by 15% or more face a 100% tax and the loss of first rounders in the next two drafts. This set of rules will also reduce draft spending significantly, a bonus for owners.
- There will be no more MLB deals for draft picks.
- The draft signing deadline moves to the July 12-18 range from August 15th (the precise date will depend on the date of the All-Star Game).
- Proceeds from the tax will go to clubs that did not over-spend via revenue sharing. Forfeited picks go to clubs "through a lottery in which a club’s odds of winning will be based on its prior season’s winning percentage and its prior season’s revenue," according to the CBA.
Competitive Balance Lottery
- Low-revenue teams obtain additional draft picks via lottery. The ten clubs with the lowest revenues and the ten clubs in the smallest revenues are eligible to win one of six draft choice that will be added after the first round. Teams’ chances of winning the lottery will depend on their winning percentage in the previous season.
- The teams that don’t win additional picks and all other teams that qualify under the revenue sharing plan will be eligible for a second lottery for six more picks after the second round. Again, teams’ chances of winning the lottery will depend on their winning percentage in the previous season.
- “Picks awarded in the competitive balance lottery may be assigned by a club, subject to certain restrictions,” the CBA explains. Teams can trade these draft choices.
International Spending:
- Each team faces an equal spending limit for 2012-13. Following the 2012-13 year, clubs will face different spending restrictions depending on their winning percentage (teams that win less can spend more). Teams that exceed the spending limit from 2012-13 and 2013-14 face a 75% tax if they exceed the limit by up to 5%. If they exceed the limit by 5-10%, they pay the 75% tax and lose the right to provide more than one player with a bonus worth more than $500K in the next signing period. If they exceed the limit by 10-15%, they face a 100% tax and are prevented from signing any player for $500K or more in the next signing period. If teams exceed the limit by 15% or more, they face a 100% tax and lose the right to spend $250K on any player in the next signing period.
- From 2014-15 on penalties will increase if a worldwide draft isn't in place.
- Every team will have $2.9MM to spend on international bonuses this offseason, according to Yahoo's Jeff Passan. Eventually the limits will be in the $1.8-5MM range, according to Passan. Starting in 2013-14, teams will be able to trade money from their spending allowance for international players, according to Passan (all Twitter links). However, teams can only boost their original spending limit by 50% through trades.
- Cubans under 23 years old with less than three years of professional experience will be considered amateurs and count against international spending limits, according to Passan (on Twitter). 26-year-old Yoenis Cespedes won't be subject to these limits.
- The international signing limits won't affect the posting system for players from Japan, according to Knobler (on Twitter).
Arbitration
- The cutoff for super two players will rise from the top 17% of players with 2-3 years service time to the top 22%. "All players tied at the 22% cutoff will be eligible for arbitration," according to the CBA. Michael Weiner said this was a key point for the players.
- The deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration eligible players is now December 2nd.
Drug Testing:
- Blood testing for HGH will not be occur during the season without reasonable suspicion. ESPN's Buster Olney says (on Twitter) that offseason testing will begin next winter, 2012-2013.
- Olney also mentions that players will be tested in Spring Training "to determine energy levels" after testing, then the results will be discarded. The two sides will then determine how to proceed (all Twitter links).
Revenue Sharing & Luxury Tax:
- By 2016 the top 15 markets will be ineligible for revenue sharing.
- Teams that surpass the luxury tax threshold of $178MM will be taxed 42% in 2012 and 50% in 2013.
Other:
- Players on minor league contracts who don't make their teams' Opening Day rosters and aren't released five days before Opening Day obtain a $100K retention bonus and the right to opt out on June 1.
- MLB rosters will expand to 26 for some doubleheaders.
- Instant replay will be expanded to include fair/foul plays and "trap" plays, subject to discussions between MLB and the umpires.
- The minimum salary will increase to $480K in 2012.
“instant replay will be expanded to include fair/foul plays and “trap” plays, subject to discussions between MLB and the umpires.”
But…but…but the human element! Won’t someone PLEASE think of the human element?!
So trapped balls are subject to review? Something tells me the usage of protective cups will soon decline.
Are you being facetious? I’m actually a big fan of the human element of the game – it’s why all those great authors describe the sport as being analogous to the human condition and life itself. You may get burned every so often on a bad call, but you’d be lying if you said that you didn’t also get away with something in your favor just as often…the game consistently breaks even. That’s why I love it. And that’s why I don’t want any replay at all. I love bad calls, both ways!
“Are you being facetious?”
Yes. This is a good development. It’ll take about half a minute to figure it out via replay, there’s no excuse for bad calls like that anymore.
Except that bad calls are part of the sport and part of what makes the game great.
speak for yourself. to me, screwing over players and teams with bad calls that could easily be reanalyzed is what makes the game bad.
Being able to choose whether or not you wore a batting helmet was part of the game once. Things change.
(I honestly cannot tell if you’re being sarcastic)
I think getting the call right is worth the lessening of the “human element” in the game and the extra time it takes as well.
WHAT extra time? The time not spent by the manager calling the umpire bad names?
screw that, getting it right makes the game great. Having a single umpire decide who wins a game rather than the 50 guys in the dugouts is not a great thing in any reality whatsoever.
Nobody pays to see an ump.
Then
Move to Cuba and watch baseball there. This is 2011 it’s about time this game caught up with technology. This only makes the game it’s self better.
So you’re saying instead of buying DVR, lets let the umpires literally freeze the game for us?
I honestly kind of want to. Have you ever been to a lower profile baseball game? Thats what I love about the cape cod league or collegiate baseball. It’s baseball. Nothing more nothing less. No replay, no scoreboard trying to tell me to get loud, nothing more than 10 guys, 1 bat, one ball, and 9 gloves. I hate anything that takes away from that simplistic situation in any sport. and I feel like baseball is one of the few sports sticking to those roots but replay (among other things) is changing that
You are sooooooo not mainstream. Soooooooo cool.
The reason why replay was instituted in MLB in the first place, was BECAUSE of the lower levels of play. Particularly the Little League World Series. MLB watched how LL implemented it, saw it was highly successful, and instituted the replay.
1st off, a little delayed in the comment here. 2nd, I wouldn’t call the LL WS lower level. All the games are nationally, check that – world wide – televised. As a business enterprise it probably is 3rd only behind the MLB and CWS (without looking at numbers). Definitely a lot larger than Cuban league of the Cape Cod league
I like what you said, and all that can still remain true with limited replay. Most of those bad calls come from strikes/balls, out/safe, etc.. They had a clear view and made an error.
However, when you’re talking about a ball going 400 foot at a very fast pace, it tends to cause unwanted errors. If a player gets a hit stolen because an ump said the ball beat him to first, that’s an element of human error. But if a player catches a ball in deep center field that was actually trapped and then called out, that goes beyond human error. That goes beyond the small percentage of out/safe calls made from an umpire mere inches away.
This is silly. Another step in the wrong direction for baseball.
Yeah, because NFL fans are furious with the replay rules that they once implemented. The game has never been the same……
/sarcasm
Baseball is different. You can’t have an ump yelling foul and then finding out it was fair. The runners will stop. There’s no way of knowing how many runs would have scored or how many bases a runner would have went. This is just a nutty idea.
In the Little League World Series, they handled that problem well, in a way I think MLB should consider: If it was called foul, it couldn’t be overturned, because of that problem, but if it was called fair, replay could overturn it to be foul.
No, they only need to instruct players to play all close fair/foul calls as if they are fair, and then if they are foul they get reversed by the umpires.
Or the rule for umpires could be “Anything close, rule it fair and then figure it out later”, that way we always get a result.
If only Type A relievers wont cost a draft pick,
does Kellly Johnson still cost a round 1 draft pick?
I believe they dropped the criteria, so he is not a Type B, but now they’re saying the Elias rating is being dropped altogether so I don’t know.
don’t think so. az says thank you toronto!
johnson isnt a type a anymore, but the jays still get compensated like he was, they get a sandwich 1st round pick and a 2nd rounder.
is the 2nd rounder from whichever the team signs him?
No, it’s not “from” the team that signs him. It’s just an additional sandwich pick (between the 1st and 2nd rounds).
What’s the sense of having HGH testing but not during the season? Guys are using it for quicker recovery/healing during the season…
It sounds like an attempt to look like they’re doing something about HGH without actually stopping players from using.
After all, chicks don’t dig the 9 inning shutout.
It was meant as a rhetorical question, but thanks.
But they do dig “replays” involving balls 😉
[The discussion]
Selig: We want you to use replays on fair, foul, and trapped balls
Umpires: Over our dead bodies.
[End of discussion]
I’m surprised Joe West didn’t eject Selig after he brought up that notion.
There’s nothing “instant” about a replay where you have four umpires in a confab, then they waddle down a tunnel and watch TV for ten minutes and emerge to tell us what everyone at home knew ten minutes ago. Give us true “instant” replay, with a major league umpire sitting up in the booth that makes a call instantly and can reverse a bad call on any scoring play or any call at any base if necessary. It can be done both right and instantly.
Or we can have “instant” replay where the umps literally freeze time to allow them to walk over and see where the ball is about to land.
You joke, but the technology for them to be able to determine exactly where the ball landed within seconds probably wouldn’t be too hard to implement.
You keep taking this as if it’s some huge slight, but honestly, if I was an ump, I think I’d be all for this. The technology’s out there and people see you botch the call in real time. I’d bet you anything that if Jim Joyce was given a choice between having his call overturned by a computer and dealing with the multiple death threats and constant media scrutiny he dealt with after the Galarraga incident, he’d probably take the former.
Considering the way things are run these days, with knowledge of who made a bad call seconds away on google, it’s only a matter of time before someone actually goes to the extreme of attacking an MLB ump over a bad call. Instant replay mitigates the chances of stuff like that.
I’m gonna bet that the technology is there and we’re just waiting for MLB or the broadcasters to license it sooner or later.
I mean if we have the things to tell us whether a ball is in or out in Tennis in real-time, we can have that in baseball. I don’t know about the trap plays, that might be too much, but we can definitely have fair/foul lights on the home run poles.
You must be joking. With the umpires of today, they would have to freeze time for three hours to walk from first base to the outfield. It is hard getting all those pounds moving in the same direction. lol.
Can you imagine Cowboy Joe West’s reaction the 1st time one of his plain as day, obviously blown drop/catches is reversed?
The scene will be absolutely PRICELESS!!!!
I’m not a fan of instant reply. That said, I’ve never understood why they bother making the umpires go down the tunnel to check the replay when the announcers are able to discern the “right” call within seconds. The answer to me is simple: put an umpire in the video booth who has access to the same camera feeds that the announcers do. But then, I’m one of those weirdo fans of “the human element,” so…
the broadcasters are all biased. If they’re in charge of it, they’d have a motive to intentionally feed them the angles that make it look good to the home team every time.
I very much dislike this new CBA agreement.
What exactly is the nature or your problem with this new Collective Barganing Agreement agreement?
It’s a little redundant.
teams like the Washington Nationals are on the verge of competing (or at least look that way) because they have spent aggressively on the draft, handing out over slot deals to HS players in late rounds (AJ Cole, Robbie Ray, etc.) and players that were deemed un-signable such as Matt Purke. Over the last three years under this draft philosophy (and due to some amazing luck with the top overall picks) the Nats farm system looks like they now on the fast track to having the talent to compete with the big boys in the NL east.
the problem with draft caps is that it levels this field specifically, without really leveling anything else. It is comparative inexpensive to go over slot to sign young, cost controlled talent, thus minimizing team risk while infusing the team with potential. I mean how much did strasburg and bryce harper cost? if you guess less than ONE YEAR of A-rod, you would be 100% correct.
every system is flawed, but this is especially flawed and tips the scales in favor of big market teams who can now focus spending more money on established big league players.
if MLB really wanted to balance the playing field, they would have implemented similar rules for the luxury tax threshold–teams like the Yankees and Red Sox would be significantly less inclined to sign another high priced vet if they knew it would cost them money and a pick.
I love your attitude, you have the best intentions, and a solid viewpoint, but the Nats just aren’t on the verge of competing.
On the verge might be a bit strong, but the Nationals are a lot closer than people seem to think. They’ve got something every competing team wants: a bunch of young, cost controlled arms. Once you’ve got that, it’s simply a matter of building up vets around them. Considering they’re in a large market, the Nats have the resources to fill in the blanks. With the new playoff setup, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the Nationals vying for a playoff spot inside of three years. They’re certainly closer than teams like the Cubs, Orioles, Mets or Dordgers.
I am certainly bullish on the Nats. But then again, if you sit around for a few years and watch teams that features a starting 9 of guys like Nook Logan, Mike Bacsik, Wil Nieves, Odalis Perez, and a whole handful of other completely forgettable guys, the people that the Nats are fielding these days look like they could win the WS and take the White House in 2012… relatively speaking that is…
Depends on what you mean by on the verge. 2012? Expect them to finish over .500, but not contend. 2013? Probably gonna contend. They went 80-81 this year, and they’re only improving.
I stumbled into this post when looking for luxury tax details: “but the Nats just aren’t on the verge of competing.”
We’ve all had to eat words before. I don’t mean to rub it in, but you look ridiculous right now.
I personally am not a big fan of the new draft rules. I’m in favor of the new compensation rules and some of the other aspects.
? It basically reeks with regards to the draft.
how much more could it have been torn to shreds and taken to NBA/NFL stands and made even more disgustingly pro small market?
Selig and his cronies did not just fold, they gave up the bank on every thing that mattered.
So what if the ball is called foul, then reviewed and turned to fair. where do the runners go????
Where they ended up? If a player’s too lazy to run out a ball on the line, he didn’t deserve that extra base.
It basically means you’re going to get a lot more “play to the whistle” type plays in baseball. If I’m a player, I’m just assuming it’s fair and running/trying to make the play and any manager will expect that of his team. If it turns out it was foul, you go back to your base and move on.
But there is a “whistle” when it comes to fair/foul calls: the umpire signalling foul. I have no reason not to support instant replay but Steve’s question is legitimate.
I figure it’ll boil down to a simple matter of having the first and third base coaches going by their judgment. Like I said, if it turns out it’s foul, the worst that can happen is you waste a few seconds of sprinting. Basically, if it looks like it’s landing fair, keep the play going.
I feel like you’re missing the bigger point though…
What if a hard line drive (one in which the runner has barely made it out of the box) is called foul, but is then reviewed and called fair. Do the umpires then get together and discuss whether or not the trajectory of the ball would have caused it to ricochet oddly off the wall, consider the speed of the runner and the arm of the right fielder to determine whether or not the ball should have been a single, double, or triple and award the base accordingly?
This isn’t like football, where you can review, and determine whether or not someone stepped out of bounds, and either spot the ball there, or give the team a touchdown (or their additional yardage). Or where you can rule the ball in the back of the end zone a catch, or an incomplete pass and then start over again from the same spot. Both are games of inches, but the odds of replicating the result of a batted ball are next to impossible.
The only real spot that it makes sense to have replay for fair and foul is when it comes to home runs, and all baserunners are already moving a predetermined distance. And we already have that…
“I feel like you’re missing the bigger point though… ”
I feel like you’re greatly overanalyzing this.
What do the umpires do when they overturn a home run on fan interference? Do they analyze the position of the closest fielder while accounting for his run speed and arm strength while accounting for the angle of the field in respect to where the ball would have impacted had it not been interfered with?
No, they just give the guy two bases and call it a day. This will likely have the same result.
What do they do for a ground rule double? Why can’t that just be implemented in this situation?
Because if you have a slow Rod Barajas-type player hitting that ball, there is no way he is getting to second on a line drive down the line, unless it would go all the way to the corner, but we cant know if it would have gotten there for sure because the ball-boy or girl would have picked up the foul ball. Therefore, awarding a slow runner second would only punish the fielding team for the bad call.
If a ball is called foul, there’s no way they can review it. It’s like a premature whistle. The play is dead. Do over.
I think this only applies to homerun balls.
We already have that.
I don’t think the replay as it stands now can go over if the ball was on witch side of the foul pole. Now they can.
Yes they can. It’s for home runs, whether it went over the fence or not, fair or foul, fan interfereance, etc.
I suppose it will go by the umpire’s best judgment. Just like sometimes it can be an official scorer’s best judgment as to whether or not a run can be earned or unearned in some instances
Such as let’s say a runner is on 2nd with 2 out. A passed ball and he goes to 3rd base. The batter drives him home with a single. Then the next guy gets the last out of the inning.
It’s an official scorers judgement on whether to put that run as earned or unearned because it can depend on how hard the ball was hit, where it was hit to, and the speed of the base runner. I don’t think you will ever see any of the Molina brothers score from 2nd on a line drive to LF right to the LFer.
I completely disagree with instant replay review in baseball at all. This really bothers me.
Just my opinion, but I think the runners should get 2 bases, the batter should get 1. I realize there are probably a lot of plays where the batter probably could have made 2nd base, but having a foul ball called fair and getting 1 base is better than having a foul ball called foul and getting no bases. The baserunners, however, almost always have an advantage running because of their leadoff and the fact that they are in a running position, not swinging a bat. Not perfect at all, but IMO it’s a decent compromise.
“The Elias rankings system will be eliminated…”
How will Type A/B free agents be determined without it?
There won’t be Type A/B free agents anymore.
“Starting next year, teams will have to make a ‘qualifying offer’ of a one-year guaranteed contract to their players eligible to become free agents in order to receive compensation if the player signs with another club. That amount will be at least $12.4 million and could rise by next year, depending on a formula.”
Basically, if a potential arbitration offer to a free agent would be above $12.4 million, the club will receive a compensation pick if the free agent signs elsewhere.
This will be in conjunction with other compensation systems though too. I think its a good move, the Elias system has been making the rich richer for way too long. It was a good idea, but a broken system.
This sounds like a good idea to me. By tying it to a money figure, it guarantees that the new “Type A” (using this term for yucks) will only be the very best of the best, the players that will seem to warrant a high salary. You won’t have some top middle reliever or a nice 2B-man, neither of whom would ever warrant a $12.4M salary, getting hosed by getting rated as a Type A FA.
In a sense, what this says is that if you’re averaging the top 125 salaries in MLB, you’re saying (sort of) that if you (the team) thinks that the player is good enough to be in the top 60-ish players (in terms of pay) in MLB, then he warrants the “Type A” ranking (or whatever it gets called). This seems logical.
Details to come, but apparently, a club will have to tender an offer of $ 12.4 million to a player in order to receive compensation from the new club for an elite player. That change comes in winter, 2012.
Do we know if it has to be $12.4 million for one year service or $12.4 collectively for multiple years?
For all we know, owners can offer players a $12.4 mil contract over the course of 15 years just to net the pick. I’m sure worthy players are not willing to sign for such a contract but teams will still be in-line for a pick because it falls within the confine of the new CBA.
One year.
The exact formula is take the average of the 125 highest paid players in the previous season. Apparently, that works out to $ 12.4 million based on 2011 salaries. Has to be a one year offer for that amount. Otherwise, no compensation.
Rock, paper, scissors.
Lucchino: Ben, search them for paper. And bring me a rock.
well this ruined the draft
Spending money on the draft is stupid. Spending money on members of the players’ association is smart. I wish there was a third union that could support issues to ensure the health of the game, and not the just the short-sighted nonsense the players and owners claw out for themselves.
I don’t think it ruins the draft in a given year, I think it ruins the draft in the following year. Teams are allowed to spend over the limit but as mentioned, they will be taxed (understandable I guess but still) and lose next years draft picks (not understandable at all). You still have to figure the small market teams are going to get the players they want, and don’t forget the 6 worst teams will now get an additional 6 free picks at the end of the first round.
Silly question, but since there are no ‘professional leagues’ in Cuba, doesn’t that mean all under 23 are amateurs? Professional sport has been gone in Cuba since the 1960s
Wow, players are actually going to be drafted in the correct order. What a concept.
Wow, the best two sport athletes will now shy away from baseball and all elite high schoolers will go to college. What a concept.
If any elite high schooler is selecting in the top 5 to 10 picks what do they have to gain by going to college? 2 years without a paycheck to maybe move up a couple spots in the draft, seems like a poor decision imo.
The potential loss of 2 sport athletes is a legit concern but the idea that all elite high schooler will go to college is crazy.
Yeah Jim Callis of Baseball America did a little research on players that opted out of signing (from the first round) and it wasn’t pretty
I agree. The goal behind the of the penalty for going over slot is clear, if teams stop paying way over the draft slot players will realize they can’t demand those type of contract. Without those exorbitant contract demands teams will then be able to focus on drafting the best player available rather than the best player available they think they can sign.
Yup. All of that. Haha
#1 – A college education is currently worth about $2 million over a lifetime.
#2 – The top high school draftee in 2010 and 2011 signed a larger contract than most teams will be able to spend in total on the first 10 rounds of the draft starting in 2012.
A much higher percentage of high school players will go to college now.
I think this will move players away from college if anything. Get to the majors sooner, get to be a FA sooner. Or we’ll see other loopholes emerge, such as perks, or huge salaries that aren’t bonuses.
Logical Fallacy.
Maybe the players drafted will just start accepting less money. Very few athletes switch sports at the high school level just because they didn’t get drafted out of high school.
And why would they do that? They’re STILL going to make more money and have less injury risk.
They may be drafted in the correct order, but guys with strong commitments to schools will simply go undrafted. No point in drafting someone who will refuse to sign for slot money. I’m guessing this means a lot more college players will be drafted and signed, as high school players will simply elect to get drafted out of college so they can make 1st round slot money instead of 3rd round slot money. Or change sports.
Or players won’t be honest about their intentions to go to school to see just how high they get drafted. Then if the money isn’t enough, they go to school. Could be a lot more unsigned picks.
Either way, it seems like a move that MLB will regret by the time this CBA expires…
MLB probably needs to put in a rule at some point, or maybe it’s the NCAA that would do this, that once you declare for the draft you can’t pull out and go to college. The NBA + NFL work like this, once a kid declares for the draft and hires an agent he can’t go back. That should happen here. You can’t have a kid go into the draft just to see where he ends up, and then decide to go to college. No way, no how can that be allowed to happen.
Actually you can pull out of the draft in the NBA. Happens all the time.
Except all those two-sport high school kids. College baseball and football programs everywhere are rejoicing.
Who truly decides correct order. Teams value different players differently. One team my pick a pitcher who is not supposed to go #15 because they value his stuff and think they can
Work with him better than someone who
Is supposed to go #15. This is stupid. Publishing teams for drafting. Can’t believe the owners agreed to that. Who cares if teams like the bosox over slot
You do know that the Pirates, Nationals, Cubs, Royals, Diamondbacks, Rays, Mariners, and Padres spent more on the draft right? It’s not only the Red Sox that over slot.
Don’t you come on here with your fancy facts there buddy! The Yankees and Red Sox ruin everything and no facts can convince us otherwise!!
LOL…some of the teams mentioned are skewed by their 1st pick signing ($5 to $10 mil). Yankees & Red Sox (and now Jays) do a good job of signing players ranked in Top 20 with their “late” 1st pick and supplemental picks. I imagine this must be an issue for some teams.
“The Yankees and Red Sox ruin everything and no facts can convince us otherwise!!”
Don’t know if that’s sarcasm but I’ll assume not. Actually it’s Bug Selig that ruins everything. Yankees and Red Sox don’t break any rules, they just follow Selig’s rules.
I really don’t think I could of made it anymore obvious. Yes, it was sarcasm. V
That is not really an obvious detection of sarcasm because I know many fans who feel that way.
/not sarcasm
I hope the fair/foul replays are like the tennis line replays, shown on screen (if possible) in the stadium.
that would be awesome but doubt it
reasonable suspicion for hgh testing? I guess that would be like jacoby elsbury, or big poopie then right?
GTFO Fake.
Yeah, they are FAKES! hahaha good 1.
His scouting report always said that he should develop power in the future. It looks like this was the year…
I hope he gets crawford money from them for it.
It would be more convincing if you used CAPS.
Wow, this tax on draft spending makes it almost a hard slotting system. The penalties are so severe for going even slightly over. I don’t like this at all.
Thank god for the Luxury Tax but the draft is screwed now.
“Teams in the ten smallest markets and with the ten lowest revenues will enter a lottery for six additional first and second round picks, according to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times ”
Andrew Friedman just basically hit the jackpot.
What?? More high draft picks for Tampa?
not really. that just seems like a scrap they threw to teams like his since everything else in this agreement screws them over hard
Teams like the Rays used to get compensation picks for free agents that
they simply wont get anymore. In 2011 look at how many picks the Rays
had in the 1st 2 rounds.
The Rays had EIGHT supplemental picks! Now they will get ONE sandwich
pick in the lottery. AND they are limited to spending $11.5 million or
less in the draft. Friedman is HOPPING mad right now.
Teams in the ten smallest markets and with the ten lowest revenues will enter a lottery for six additional first and second round picks, according to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times (on Twitter).
What does that even mean? The same ten teams get extra picks every year for garnering a small revenue?
This rule seems extremely unfair to the rest of the league. So if you are a terrible businessman/owner you get rewarded for poor performance. Yeah, I think the Yankees, Phillies, Red Sox, Braves, Rangers, Tigers, Giants will have a major problem with this rule.
I think the teams that will have the biggest problem are teams in the middle tier if this is how its read. Basically the rule is trying to enhance the compensation system. In my eyes it should be the bottom 10 teams, record-wise, in baseball that get these picks.
Yeah I agree. This obviously hurts teams like the Orioles but helps Milwaukee. Which team needs extra draft picks more? Let’s be honest.
It has nothing to do with what type of businessperson you are. Small Markets are determined by how many people are in the DMA and the media contracts you can get in those DMAs.
San Diego and Tampa Bay have no choice in the matter and no matter how good or bad of a businessperson you are, San Diego will never be the media market or city size of New York.
I just don’t get why they felt the need to penalize the draft and IFA this much. Do you know what two-sport athlete was drafted by a low revenue team this year and was given a lot of money to choose baseball? Bubba Starling. Royals fans must be thankful he was in this draft and not next year’s, because he’d be playing football at Nebraska if he graduated just a year later.
Rec’d Josh.
F-ing idiots are just going to lower the talent level in the minors and eventually the majors with this draft B.S.
Talented Major League Players says: “Hey man, that’s just more money they can give to me. That’s all I care about”
MLB owner says “Hey man, that’s just more money I can put in my pocket.”
So why doesnt the league office just draft the players, determine what they are worth, negotiate and then assign them to the teams they want to win? That way the league office can control MLB like the NFL.
The lottery for extra picks is ridiculous to me. Let’s reward a team like the Marlins for pocketing its revenue sharing money and refusing to spend money on players. Oakland and Tampa Bay are really the only teams that have no control over their market and their revenue.
Braaaak. Wrong answer but thanks for playing.
Please try again after you actually learn what a DMA is.
Love the draft spending limit and the bonus tax.. Teams have been taking advantage of draft spending leniency for too long. Love almost every part of the new agreement.
That’s the point though. Teams SHOULD be taking advantage of draft spending. Teams SHOULD be spending more money on amateur talent. Teams SHOULD be doing everything they can to get talent into their system, no matter what avenue they find it.
Penalizing teams that actually SPEND money on amateur talent is completely backwards.
I don’t mind teams spending for amateur talent, my problem is with the overspending and financial irresponsibility of it all. Giving an 18 year old kid 10 million dollars in the HOPES that he becomes a stud Major League player is ridiculous.
Spending $10 million on the draft is likely a better way to get talent into your system compared to spending $10 million on, oh, let’s say Clint Barmes.
The future Joe Mauers, Bubba Starlings, Zach Lee’s, and other two-sport athletes are now going to college to play football or basketball.
Take a look at where the MVP candidates came from this year. You will see a list that says – DRAFT, DRAFT, DRAFT with an occasional trade thrown in for good measure. just one Free Agent signing in the bunch.
I doubt any two sport athlete with half a brain will chose the NBA over anything ..
Counterpoint: High school kids who are on the fence between signing over-slot baseball deals or going to college to play football or basketball will now have a much easier choice to not play baseball. And that’s where lots of stars come from.
That is a good point.
Also bear in mind, even with all the seven figure busts, the draft was still an AMAZING bargain for the owners, because players still had little leverage on account of not being able to test the open market. Look at the year of the loophole draft free agents. Guys like Travis Lee made several times more than they would have otherwise, and that was before amateur talent was properly valued. This year, two 16-year old Dominicans got more money from the Rangers than all but a handful of draft prospects got. Teams should have been spending $10 million a year on the draft and been thrilled and the huge amount of talent that could buy.
Glad you’re happy teams like Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Tampa Bay, etc are being penalized for adding talent the only way they can afford too. They’re taking advantage of draft spending because they cannot afford to spend on premium talent at the Major League level.
The NBA is in a lockout. The NFL has new studies emerging constantly about how the game is killing its players. MLB was spending more on premier amateur talent. Why would baseball do anything to encourage players to choose those other sports when it was starting to get a little leg up?
Is it just me or is this new agreement bs for teams that are currently in a down state, (record wise). It will be so much harder to build through the draft. Thank god this hadn’t happened three years ago. My nats would be soooo screwed.
They just royally F-ed up the draft. Its complicated and highly skewed to help the richer teams. All the money trading that is allowed now reminds me of a system closer to the NFL one. The penalties are way too strong and it will drive the good young highschool talent from baseball into football.
How does this help the rich teams since they can only spend a certain amount of money on each player?
Because poor teams can’t get better by spending through the draft. Free Agency is still basically wide open, and only the higher revenue teams can afford that.
He stated that the draft is now skewed towards the rich teams which doesn’t make sense. I understand that free agency is open for mainly high revenue teams.
I took what he meant to mean that the draft was limited but free agency still wasn’t so overall rich teams benefit.
Poor teams can improve during the draft as they will have a larger spending pool then the better teams.
For the most part it eliminates the “signablity” factor. It does eliminate it for college players. It eliminates the signing bonus leverage of high school prospects.
There will still be some wiggle room with the signing bonuses as your pool is made up of the “value” of all of your picks in the first 10 rounds.
While some 2 sport athletes may elect to go to college instead of signing out of high school (If Mauer was coming of age today, the Twins (and baseball) might of lost him to the NFL).
This plan may not be perfect but at least it is a starting point in the efforts to curb in the outrageous signing bonus for unproven talent. Baseball is much more of a crapshoot than any of the other professional sports. The NHL is the only other sport with a minor leagues. In the NBA and NFL if you get drafted you will either make the roster or be cut. I think it is outrageous to pay a player millions of dollars when you have to develop that player for 3-5 years before he will even contribute to your club.
It’s the only option some teams have. They spend on the draft because it is the only bullet they have to fire. Now for some reason it’s considered unfair. They “fix” the draft but not free agency? Come on, now.
It’s also the only league without revenue sharing or a cap. What MLB is basically saying is that it’s OK for the Red Sox to spend $150 on Adrian Gonzales but not okay for the Pirates to take a chance on Josh Bell for 5. That it’s all right for the Phillies to go out and buy an all-world starting rotation but the Royals can’t overspend on the draft.
The plan is not only not perfect, it is directly worse. Unless, of couse, the goal all along was to make sure the Sox or Yankees both make the playoffs every year.
Actually, the NBA does have a minor league system. It’s called D-League (or NBA D-League).
there was a great opportunity to simplify the system in addition to trying to make it more fair. Instead it’s even more arcane and rather questionable as to whether the game is even any better off after the new cba
Why delete my comment on HGH and reasonable suspicion. If you had “reasonable suspicion” on who was using from last year, who would you test?
Bautista, Ellsbury, Kemp, Chris Young, Berkman
You really think looking at numbers is “reasonable suspicion”? Keep from embarrassing yourself
I’m not looking at the numbers per se. These players are completely realistic given what HGH does for you (accelerates muscle growth after injury, increased concentration, etc.)
Are you just all upset because I mentioned Berkman?
haha…..No. I could care less who your poor opinion chooses to think might be on hgh.
My issue is with you guys’ definition of reasonable suspicion. It’s not going to be players you don’t like or players that had good seasons. A guy recovering from an injury quickly is not “reasonable suspicion”.
No but guy coming off an injury plagued season and hitting 24 more HRs than ever before isn’t ‘reasonable suspicion’? Come on.
I imagine they’ll test more than 5 players a year so the definition of reasonable must be relatively low.
And for the record, I’m not saying I think these guys are on HGH. Just that they are reasonable testing candidates.
If Nick Punto shows up in spring training with biceps like Pujols and he glows in the dark, that would be reasonable suspicion.
But seriously, in reality, they’ll have a helluva time narrowing down who fits the description other than those that have tested dirty in the past.
That’s the thing. What are they going to consider reasonable suspicion? Chances are its going to be a lot of guys you never heard of, or guys on contract years looking for a breakout season to get their big payday.
30 Man Rosters from Opening Day to September and then again for Postseason would be good. Also Trading Draft Picks,Expand Playoffs Teams to 6 in each legaue and Radical Realignment like in other sports.
All this talk about getting taxed for going over slot, but are there any actual plans to raise the dollar amount of the slots themselves? From what I understand, they’ve been the same for a while now.
The “slot” in reality is the signing bonus as all the players will be making minor league minimum as far as salary goes. And the slot is a signing bonus pool comprised of the value of your picks in the 1st 10 rounds (including any supplemental picks). If you want you could blow all of your pool money on rounds 1-5 and not sign your players in rounds 6-10.
I’m not sure I like the fact that they shortened the signing period by a month.
An agreement with no lockout or drawn out discussions? Basketball, take notes.
I don’t think that MLB has the same money problems that the NBA has. It’s probably a LOT easier coming to an agreement when everyone’s making money.
“Only players who have been with their clubs for the entire season will be subject to compensation,” according to the CBA.
AKA the Blue Jays rule.
So if a team trades for a player 1 week after the season starts and they end up being a “type A”, the team losing him gets nothing? Who comes up with these things?
Bud Selig
i also just saw that players aren’t allowed to have tobacco tins in their back pockets for games & can’t chew during interviews & team activities. Thank god Francona isn’t managing this year
So does this mean that rounds 11-50 are uncapped?
If so that is going to make for a wild 11th round
With the new system those teams wont be able to spend nearly what they did unless they want to pay a huge tax AND they wont have as many draft picks. The Padres had 6 picks in the first 2 rounds in 2011 because of compensation picks for free agents. Now they will have 2, possibly 3 picks MAX.
Except they will only have a maximum of $11.5 million to spend on ten rounds of picks and there are no longer compensation picks unless you offer your FA $12+ million on a qualifying offer.
Teams like the RAys were able to compete by having 4-5-6 picks in the first 2 rounds because of compensation picks. Now they wikll have a max of 3 in first two rounds unless they offer a FA $12+ million and the FA still signs elsewhere.
Teams like the Rays used to get compensation picks for free agents that they simply wont get anymore. In 2011 look at how many picks the Rays had in the 1st 2 rounds.
The Rays had EIGHT supplemental picks! Now they will get ONE sandwich pick in the lottery. AND they are limited to spending $11.5 million or less in the draft. Friedman is HOPPING mad right now.
Teams like the Rays used to get compensation picks for free agents that
they simply wont get anymore. In 2011 look at how many picks the Rays
had in the 1st 2 rounds.
The Rays had EIGHT supplemental picks! Now they will get ONE sandwich
pick in the lottery. AND they are limited to spending $11.5 million or
less in the draft. Friedman is HOPPING mad right now.
I wouldn’t say all of them are horrible biased, or as bad as say.. Dewayne Staats.. Tommy Hutton and the most outlandish of all….Michael Kay.
Speaking of all time biased announcers… Worst ever heard was NYY Scooter Rhizzuto, Tom “Machine Gunner” Prince of various teams and the Orioles Mel Procter.
I just thought of something. Why couldn’t teams just sign their draftees to 1-yr deals, then renegotiate to get around the draft limits? If Kenshin Kawakami can make $7mil in AA, why can’t a prospect? Just move the money to salary instead of bonuses.