NEWSLETTER
The staff over at ESPN today wrote up a piece sharing their thoughts on what they’d do as MLB Commissioner for a day. If you want to take in those thoughts, it’s a worthwhile re-framing of a lot of the issues the sport faces.
For me, though, I wanted to focus on something very specific in the article, and a bit of a news-y type thing. Kiley McDaniel, the prospect writer at ESPN, offers up as his suggestion the ability to freely trade draft picks. The focus of McDaniel’s thoughts are mostly about why allowing draft picks to be traded is a good idea – it’s been a good idea for a long time! – but embedded within his answer was a bit of a wind check on what might be coming.
And that’s what caught my eye most:
I think a rule change that seems subtle now but could have the biggest impact on the sport is allowing the trading of draft picks. It’s not guaranteed to come in the next CBA, but I’d say it’s more likely than not at this point.
Not guaranteed, but more likely than not? I like hearing that!
This is the second time in a few months that McDaniel has mentioned the likelihood of tradable draft picks becoming a thing in the new CBA, so clearly he’s hearing something.
At present, the only draft picks that can be traded are the small number of competitive balance picks doled out to small market/low revenue teams each year. They are hardly ever dealt, though, because it’s such a small portion of the draft, and they are teams that tend to be less likely to trade draft assets.
So having ALL picks freely tradable sure feels like it could open up a lot of fun possibilities throughout the year for trades, to say nothing of how it enhances the night(s) of the draft, itself. I’m very into it. Most fans would be, as they are for the other major sports.
Your one big rub is that, if the draft is changed in a significant way in the CBA – including allowing draft picks to be traded – it’s probably going to come with hard slotting, which counteracts some of the fun. In the current system, while picks in the top 10 rounds have slot “values” associated with them, and those values add up to a team’s bonus pool for spending, you don’t actually have to sign the player at slot value. That means there can be added exciting throughout the draft as players slip and teams maneuver to free up enough bonus pool space to take a big, surprising swing later in the draft.
The other big draft thing to keep an eye on in the coming CBA talks, since we’re on the subject: an international draft. The current IFA system feels like it’s gonna be short-lived, because the whole wink-and-nod signing of 14-year-olds can’t be in the long-term best interests of the sport, much less the players (especially in a hard capped system like exists today). The big question is whether we’ll get a combined draft – stateside and international – or two separate drafts.
I’m not sure whether an international draft will be implemented in the CBA or not, but we know that MLB favors it, and where it could further control costs, the league will probably aim for it.
… and if it comes, will THOSE picks be tradable, too? Will there be a bonus pool, like the stateside draft? What if you could trade pool space in the draft, even aside from picks? Or if everything is hard-slotted, will pool space cease to be a thing? The possibilities are intriguing, and a whole lot could change with the draft and/or international free agency in the years ahead.
