MLBPA calls to preserve draft system after owners’ proposal
Say what you will about a salary cap, but the PA is obviously correct about the rule 4 draft though. MLB’s proposal would cost us the early career of so many of the best active position players (Mike Trout would have lost two 10 WAR years due to ineligibility). That’s not to mention that it’s obviously setting up for further MiLB contraction, or the fact that this makes professional baseball less appealing to multi-sport athletes.
It would just be bad for the quality of the product on the field.
You’re forgetting the fact that it also has an effective consequence of ensuring that no one enters for agency before the age of 28, which one combine with a free agency proposal effectively means most players even good enough to enter traditional for the agency will most have one true free agency contract, that is itself extremely limited
This is true, and it’s the real purpose of MLB’s proposal. I was trying not to talk about that because it has to do with the interests of the players, and whenever I do that people start talking about how they don’t care about Juan Soto’s bank account.
It also allows them to outsource years of player development to colleges
Haven’t you heard? The millionaire players are ruining the league by not letting the billionaires rob the players, fans, and taxpayers.
Which I would think would vastly increase the number of players signing team-friendly extensions to hedge their bets.
This might be the weirdest ownership proposal so far. Why restrict domestic players by age but not international players?
If they are worried about young people mortgaging their future to pursue their dream of playing baseball - then they should be worried about all teenagers, not just the ones coming out of USA high schools.
It’s such a strange, counterintuitive proposal that I’m almost certain it’s one of the things that they’re including simply to be given up quickly in negotiations
They have long been wanting to gut the draft and minors entirely. They took advantage of COVID by shrinking the draft in half and dropping 40 cities as minor league affiliates
The extremely charitable read is they are proposing ridiculous non-starters to make people angry but also to make compromise look more palatable.
The cynical read is they saw their contraction of MILB and the draft go relatively unchallenged previously, so why not try to offload more expenses?
Cutting costs of lower minor leagues (rookie and single A) while also potentially making the development ladder and talent pool a bit more certain seeing that the college level is viewed as being around a AA level league.
I see why they’d want to do it. Even if I don’t necessarily agree with it.
They’re not as concerned with the foreign players because they probably think they can get them cheaper just by “offering them an opportunity” or some nonsense
I think the theory is that players that come up younger get paid younger and thus get more money
Like a college guy might not be a fa until 30 depending on how fast he develops, while a hs player may come up at 19 and be a fa in his mid 20s, getting a boat load (see eg Manny Machado)
so do the same thing for international players, who can sign at something ridiculous like age 16
That might be their end goal with the international draft
The owner proposal restricts both domestic and international players by age. It raises the domestic age to 20 and raises the international age to 18 (is currently 16).
In both cases it’s about cost cutting. By delaying player entry into professional baseball they will also delay their development and likely their MLB debut, which also delays their free agency. Owners get players for best years and then don’t have to commit to them as they age out of their prime.
It’s a proposal to throw out in negotiations to get what you actually reasonably want
Obviously the owners would love to do this, but they definitely don’t think it’s feasible. You still throw it out there in the negotiations and concede it instead of what you really realistically want
I believe as part of this proposal, the league did include an international draft which did require international prospects to be 18 to enter the draft, which is up from the current restriction of the prospect being 16.
so its okay to draft an international player at age 18, but not to draft a domestic player? the difference in rules is what I am calling out as ridiculous
I mean, those rules are already different as international players can sign at 16 now while domestic can’t be drafted until 18.
Because international players will sign for pennies on the dollar rather than domestic players knowing they can demand more.
MLB wants to take a hacksaw to the minors again, American prospects tend to be more expensive, and the goal with raising the age limits is to keep players under team control for more of their ‘prime’.
It’s one of those things where the proposals don’t make a ton of sense independently, but when contextualized with the goals of the owners’ side of things it stops being confusing.
people are excited about this wave of 19 year old players in the MLB and so the league wants to make sure it doesnt happen anymore. surely this wont have any negative impacts
[removes exciting feature] “Why don’t people like the game anymore?”
Its sure going to be a long lockout.
Naw. I’m still convinced we start by May 1st.
If I want a \(2 raise, I ask for a \)5 raise, show proof and let my bosses think they’re winning by talking me down to $2.
The owners want to go to 12 rounds, the players want all 19 year olds to enter. The compromise is going to 12 rounds and anybody over 18⁄16 can be drafted.
I’m My co
You ok bruv?
There’s nothing wrong with the draft. Owners are just mad they didn’t realize how impactful the lottery would be
They also want to contract the minors again and think they can do it, since there wasn’t much pushback last time.
Man this all sucks. I’ve just gotten fully back into baseball after many years off and then now we’re staring down a lockout with seemingly no chance of avoiding it.
It’s a pleasant surprise that the MLBPA is pushing back against this, which is the worst of all the things that the owners are proposing, yet not something that affects active players directly.
Literally yesterday’s news
Personally I think 2 years out of high school might not be a bad thing. Plus it helps more talent get cycled into college. But if doing that then similar rules need to be put into place for non US citizens as well. So no more 16 year olds signed.
