Major League Baseball is the most inequitable professional sport in North America. This year, the New York Yankees boast a payroll of over $200 million, while the Kansas City Royals total payroll sits around $36 million. On average, a Yankees player makes more than 5 times the amount of a Royals player. You can debate whether baseball should institute a salary cap, but that is not the point of today’s discussion. Instead, the Deities’ message today concerns the inequities created by the international free agent market. In a sport with such gross inequities in salaries, the international player market only exacerbates the imbalance.
The amateur draft serves as a counterweight to the imbalances present in all professional sports. Underperforming, small budget teams have the opportunity to sign great players, without having to bid against the big boys. With proper scouting, even the Royals are able to acquire great players. However, in baseball’s draft, only a portion of the talent is available. To be eligible for the MLB draft, the player must be a resident of the United States, Canada, or a U.S. territory such as Puerto Rico. Players from other countries are not subject to the draft, and can be signed by any team (unless they are current members of college teams in the aforementioned countries).
Take a look at any MLB roster. You will most definitely find a significant portion of that roster represented by individuals from other countries. Nearly 30% of MLB players were born somewhere other than the United States. Yet, when these players come to the United States, they are not eligible for the MLB draft. Instead, they become part of a bidding war.
Last year the Cincinnati Reds gave Aroldis Chapman a contract worth more than $30 million. Meanwhile, the Washington Nationals drafted Stephen Strasburg and signed him to a contract worth approximately $15 million. Because of the ridiculous draft rules, the Nationals were able to acquire the best pitching prospect in baseball, for half the price the Reds paid for the second best pitching prospect. It makes no sense.
In a league where inequality runs rampant, a draft system that disqualifies 30% of their future stars is simply unacceptable. The Deities declare that Major League Baseball needs to restructure the draft, in order to make international players available to all teams.
Your thoughts? What problems might MLB officials run into if they attempted to restructure the draft?
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