Randar68
09-04-2002, 12:13 AM
The agreement between the players and owners contains three provisions that will have an effect on the draft:
1. Both sides will form a committee that will try to finalize a worldwide draft for June 2003. Among the issues the committee will have to resolve are the number of rounds, which figures to fall between 20 (the players' proposal) and 38 (the owners' counter), down from the current 50 in the domestic draft. The committee also will decide whether teams should be permitted to trade draft picks and whether clubs' negotiating rights to different classes of players will change. As I discussed in the July 23 Ask BA, I believe a worldwide draft will cause more problems than it will solve. I'm for the trading of draft picks, though it will lead to agents blackmailing teams into dealing high-priced prospects to the larger-revenue teams unless mandatory bonus slotting is instituted.
2. Team that fail to sign their first-round pick no longer will get a supplemental first-round pick the following year. Instead, they will get a bonus first-round pick immediately following the overall selection corresponding to the player they failed to sign. In other words, should the Orioles not come to terms with 2002's No. 4 overall pick, Adam Loewen, they'll get an extra first-round pick following the fourth choice in 2003. This will allow teams to exert even more leverage when trying to sign first-rounders, an issue I tackled in the August 27 Ask BA. Teams are starting to hold their ground more than they have in the past, and this will help their cause.
3. The most important ramification for the draft is the elimination of compensation picks for the loss of quality (Type A, B or C) free agents. This means that once the joint committee resolves the issues mentioned above, the players could have no say in determining draft rules, which fall outside the Basic Agreement. This would allow owners to put in NBA-style mandatory bonus slotting without the union having to approve it. While the players as a whole would like to see draft bonuses reduced so more money would trickle up to them, they don't want to come out publicly in favor of restricting any kind of free market.
1. Both sides will form a committee that will try to finalize a worldwide draft for June 2003. Among the issues the committee will have to resolve are the number of rounds, which figures to fall between 20 (the players' proposal) and 38 (the owners' counter), down from the current 50 in the domestic draft. The committee also will decide whether teams should be permitted to trade draft picks and whether clubs' negotiating rights to different classes of players will change. As I discussed in the July 23 Ask BA, I believe a worldwide draft will cause more problems than it will solve. I'm for the trading of draft picks, though it will lead to agents blackmailing teams into dealing high-priced prospects to the larger-revenue teams unless mandatory bonus slotting is instituted.
2. Team that fail to sign their first-round pick no longer will get a supplemental first-round pick the following year. Instead, they will get a bonus first-round pick immediately following the overall selection corresponding to the player they failed to sign. In other words, should the Orioles not come to terms with 2002's No. 4 overall pick, Adam Loewen, they'll get an extra first-round pick following the fourth choice in 2003. This will allow teams to exert even more leverage when trying to sign first-rounders, an issue I tackled in the August 27 Ask BA. Teams are starting to hold their ground more than they have in the past, and this will help their cause.
3. The most important ramification for the draft is the elimination of compensation picks for the loss of quality (Type A, B or C) free agents. This means that once the joint committee resolves the issues mentioned above, the players could have no say in determining draft rules, which fall outside the Basic Agreement. This would allow owners to put in NBA-style mandatory bonus slotting without the union having to approve it. While the players as a whole would like to see draft bonuses reduced so more money would trickle up to them, they don't want to come out publicly in favor of restricting any kind of free market.