New CBA

[Edgy MD]

Gwreck wrote: I found this nugget very interesting: "Active Roster limits will be expanded to 26 for certain regular or split doubleheaders."

Oh, mercy. Thank God Tony LaRussa won't be around for that indulgence.

[Edgy MD]

Ceetar wrote: LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Edgy DC wrote: I'm going to say boo on the luxury tax thingie. Not only is it unethical, but-- as the "Bonus Pool" formulation is a de facto slotting system-- it kinda puts another dagger in small-market gamblin'-type organizations, doesn't it? except small-market teams get extra picks, plus over-slot is still clearly possible, but you have to be smarter with it. Can't just willy nilly throw money at everyone. So benefits the small market in a way. Draftees will also be bidding against each other. The faster you sign, the more is available in the pool to give you. On the o ther hand, if you wait it out, maybe a higher pick opts for college, opening up all that extra money for you. 26 man rosters for doubleheaders, changes to the 4th option/outrighting rules, more replay. lots of interesting stuff.

Amateur talent shouldn't be competing against each other for an artificially finite amount of money. Teams should be competing against each other for a naturally finite amount of talent.

[Frayed Knot]

Some details/less-noted changes (courtesy of BP):

* Free agents who sign minor-leaguer contracts who are not added to opening day roster or are unconditionally released five days prior to the start of the season will receive a $100,000 retention bonus and the right to elect free agency June 1.

* On FA signings
- Only players who have been with their clubs for the entire season will be subject to compensation [no comp for Beltran-like pickups]
- A free agent will be subject to compensation if his former club offers him a guaranteed one-year contract with a salary equal to the average salary of the 125-highest paid players from the prior season [currently around $12.5mil]. 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 the offer.
- A club that signs a player subject to compensation will forfeit its first round selection, unless it selects [u:3pxabs33]in the top 10[/u:3pxabs33], in which case it will forfeit its second highest selection in the draft. [previously that was top 15]
- The player�s former club will receive a selection at the end of the first round beginning after the last regularly scheduled selection in the round [iOW, a supplemental pick]. The former clubs will select based on reverse order of winning percentage from the prior championship season [previously this was based on the "value" of the FA signed as per the now-discarded) Elias ratings].
[What this whole thing also means is fewer supplemental picks and sliding the start of round 2 much earlier]

* On first-year (Rule 4) player drafts
- The signing deadline will be moved to a date between July 12 and July 18 depending on the date of the All-Star Game [previously Aug 15th]
- Drafted players may only sign minor-league contracts. [this one is actually a biggie and it seems to me it may turn certain multi-sport athletes away from baseball]
- Players selected after the 10th round do not count against a club�s signing bonus pool if they receive bonuses up to $100,000. Any amounts paid in excess of $100,000 will count against the pool.

[Gwreck]

Frayed Knot wrote: it seems to me it may turn certain multi-sport athletes away from baseball

Yes. As will the new procedure to hold down the signing bonuses paid to draft picks.

Say you're an elite high school athlete. Chances are that you play something in the fall or winter besides baseball.

If you were getting a $5M bonus guaranteed, you might be persuaded to forego a scholarship at a Big 10 or SEC University. But if they're only offering $500,000, well, playing basketball or football while also getting a degree might be more attractive.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Gwreck wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: it seems to me it may turn certain multi-sport athletes away from baseball Yes. As will the new procedure to hold down the signing bonuses paid to draft picks. Say you're an elite high school athlete. Chances are that you play something in the fall or winter besides baseball.

I used to think this, too, and that was probably true when you and I were kids. But, as my son progressed through high school sports, I learned that the elite kids play the same sport year-round, or at least a sport very similar.

My son was not an elite player -- I was so excited when he finally scored a goal in water polo and won a race in swimming -- but the stud players who were aiming at scholarships went from the regular season to "club" sports and travel teams. The water polo guys and swimmers were pretty much the same group, but I was surprised that they went year-round.

Now,what do baseball players do in Michigan in February? I'm not sure. We have a bunch of indoor facilities where they work on hitting and throwing.

[Frayed Knot]

There are still multi-sport athletes though despite this age of youth specialization. Not a lot, but the handful that do exist a frequently the elite types who can choose their path at a young age.

As will the new procedure to hold down the signing bonuses paid to draft picks.

It's not just the signing bonus. That's part of it although the true elite prospects will still tend to get their money.
But the lack of the ML contract, which serves to speed up the timetable for advancement through the apprenticeship that is the minor leagues, could push those elites into their other sport where the payoff from HS star to 'big-time' colleges, or from college draftee straight into the pros is so much quicker.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

I read that the new contract has a clause requiring players elected to the All-Star team to actually show up unless out with an injury or have special permission. They should call it "the Jeter Rule."

[MFS62]

Frayed Knot wrote: ... could push those elites into their other sport where the payoff from HS star to 'big-time' colleges, or from college draftee straight into the pros is so much quicker.

Depending the school, under the limitations of the new CBA, the move from college to pros could represent a sunstanital decrease in income.


Later

[Frayed Knot]

More CBA details concerning the draft:

- The draft has been reduced from 50 to 40 rounds.

- The draft caps for all 30 teams for the first 10 rounds will total approximately $185 million in 2012, varying depending on the number of supplemental picks created by free-agent compensation and failure to sign 2011 draftees from the first three rounds. The competitive-balance lottery selections don't come into play until 2013.

- Any attempt to circumvent the draft cap, such as an under-the-table agreement, is expressly prohibited.

- If a team fails to sign a player in the first 10 rounds, its draft cap is reduced by the assigned value of his pick. It can't reallocate that value to sign other players. However, it can reallocate the difference between a player's bonus and the value of his choice.

- If a player fails a physical and the team fails to offer him 40 percent of the assigned value of his pick, he becomes a free agent. In that case, the club's draft cap would be reduced by the value of his selection.

- Not only has the signing deadline moved from Aug. 15 to mid-July, it will be at 5 p.m. rather than midnight ET. The 2012 deadline is July 13.

- MLB has eliminated its draft-support program, which served as a clearinghouse for offers and was used to strong-arm teams into not disclosing over-slot deals until shortly before the deadline. This means clubs actually can announce signings as they happen rather than pretend that they haven't occurred.

- Competitive-balance lottery picks (and only those picks) can be traded. They can only be dealt by the original team that held the choice, and they can't be exchanged for cash (unless it's cash to offset the salary of players included in the trade, subject to MLB approval). Lottery-pick deals can occur only during a regular season and not during an offseason.

- Teams get an extra year of protection for compensation picks for failure to sign draftees from the first three rounds. For example, the Blue Jays get the 22nd pick in 2012 after not signing No. 21 overall choice Tyler Beede in 2011. If Toronto can't come to terms with the compensation selection, it would get another one in 2013.

- Teams no longer are required to physically tender a contract to draftees within 15 days of the draft, eliminating the rule that infamously led to the four loophole free agents of 1996.

- The logistics for a proposed predraft medical combine still are being worked out.

[Edgy MD]

I hope the top five picks of 2012 all declare themselves free agents.

[Vic Sage]

Edgy DC wrote: I hope the top five picks of 2012 all declare themselves free agents.

Under what theory? MLB has an anti-trust exemption and the draft is legal.
Not that i wouldn't enjoy the ensuing chaos...

[Edgy MD]

That the anti-trust exemption is mounted on a bogus foundation and should be thrown out by a court, as MLB continues to use it to rob amateurs of their rights to shop their talents on the open market. And now, by capping draftee salaries, they're expanding that anti-competitive open conspiracy.

[Frayed Knot]

Courts have also upheld the legality of the NFL's draft even as it not only dictates the team that players are limited to negotiating with but also severely limits when they can enter into it, and all despite that league having no such blanket anti-trust exemption.

[Edgy MD]

Well, sheesh, it's wrong and I nonetheless hopes that the system collapses.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

The draft system itself is a joke and an artificial drag on salaries. To introduce $$ limits will only hurt the flow of athletes to baseball over the long haul.

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy DC wrote: Well, jeez, I hope nonetheless.

And that's fine.
It's just that MLB's anti-trust exemption has been so watered-down over the years that it barely matters and it's long been my contention that the threat of it's removal remains a vastly over-played card. The protection could disappear tomorrow and I doubt much if anything would change now that we're four decades into the unionized era.

[Ceetar]

I suspect it's far from certain that this is necessarily going to drive talent away from baseball, or necessarily hurt small market teams. It's something to keep an eye on, but I don't think anyone exactly sure how it'll end up playing out.

[Frayed Knot]

The point being that the very existence of a draft works to severely limit the amount of money an incoming player can make from that initial contract; that's why the team owners like it, they see it as something which saves them money and in the short run it certainly does.
But that same limiting process can also drive potential players away from the sport particularly in baseball where the odds against succeeding are long as is the apprenticeship and therefore the lead-time until reaching the really big money. Teenagers tempted by the quicker perceived route to stardom - as in college basketball or football - will often choose that option.

[Edgy MD]

Frayed Knot wrote: Edgy DC wrote: Well, jeez, I hope nonetheless. And that's fine. It's just that MLB's anti-trust exemption has been so watered-down over the years that it barely matters and it's long been my contention that the threat of it's removal remains a vastly over-played card. The protection could disappear tomorrow and I doubt much if anything would change now that we're four decades into the unionized era.

And the draft would still be bogus. And we're far more than four decades into unionized ball.

I haven't played a card. It's Sage who brought up the anti-trust exemption.