MLB: Will the Draft Hold Up the Next CBA?

Draft Manipulation and the MLB CBA: An Introduction

We’ll start this off with a quick writer introduction. My name is Benjamin Chase, and this is actually my first article for Call To The Pen! I have a few years under my belt already writing for Tomahawk Take on the FanSided network, the Atlanta Braves blog.

If you’re familiar with my work, you’ll know that much of my focus and interest is in scouting and the road to the major leagues. I’ve written over 30 scouting reports on the Braves minor league system, and I love taking time to look at a player’s tape and video to see what’s in a player to make him tick.

With that said, the big area coming up in baseball regarding prospects is the annual draft, to be held June 9th. Many words have been written on who the best players are in the draft, who the Phillies should pick #1, and the merits of high schoolers vs. college players. This is not that post.

In the offseason after the 2011 season, Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Players’ Association (MLBPA) entered into a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Many remember this CBA for its striking moves toward drug testing, but it did some pretty significant things to change the way the MLB draft worked.

As mentioned in this archived MLB.com article by Jonathan Mayo, the previous system was essentially free-wheeling. A team at the 30th selection could spend as much for their selection as the team who selected 1st spent for theirs. This led to teams like the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox (among others) spending heavily throughout the draft and causing players to refuse to sign with teams with lesser profiles in order to attempt to put themselves into better financial position.

The stated goal of this change to a “slotted” system was to ensure that all teams had a fair shot at players, and that teams would be able to sign the players they drafted. Interestingly, in the four drafts of this system (2012-2015), there have been 5 players selected in the first 50 picks of a draft who did not sign, and in the four years just prior to the agreement being signed, that total was 9, including two top-10 selections in the 2010 draft, which was likely an impetus for this change.

However, while the changes in the draft may have closed the door on some of the previous issues with the draft, it’s opened doors to new issues that likely were never even considered by those who set out to make these new rules. With the current CBA set to expire this coming offseason, what will these current draft loopholes and manipulations mean for changes in the next CBA?

Next: Current Methods