The MLB Players Association announced details of its first proposal related to the amateur Rule 4 draft on Wednesday. This comes a month after the initial proposal of the department. Evan Drellich of The Athletic and JJ Cooper of Baseball America were among those in attendance.
Unsurprisingly, there is very little overlap. The Players Union is very close to the status quo, and the league has been demanding significant changes. MLB’s proposal would bar high school players from being eligible and limit the draft to players 20 and older. The league also wanted to go from 20 rounds to 12 with tight slots that don’t allow players to negotiate their signing bonuses.
The MLBPA wants to keep the 20-round draft and flexible slot value system, which allows teams to split their signing bonuses however they like as long as they stay within a fixed pool. The amount of the pool varies based on the selections the team has, each of which comes with a “recommended” slot amount.
Each team will sign certain players in the upper or lower position to increase their skill draw. Most high schoolers sign for the upper slot, as they have a chance to go to college if teams don’t meet the high asking price. Clubs can compensate by signing college players (many of them seniors) to bonuses below slot value to make the math work.
Teams are technically allowed to transfer their entire bonus pool. They would lose future draft picks and incur tax penalties for doing so, so no team has ever gone that route. The MLBPA, as one might expect, wants to reduce those penalties and increase the bonus pools overall.
The union wants more flexibility for players to negotiate their bonuses. They will probably consider high school eligibility very important. Their proposal also called for extending eligibility to all college graduates, a year earlier than the current program for non-junior college players under the age of 21.
The MLBPA does not represent student players. However, the union is well aware of the rising costs of players entering the professional ranks early. They can move quickly through the minors and start their service clock, with some of the top prospects reaching the majors in their early 20s. That leads them to settlement and free labor faster, which keeps long-term contracts in play.
This union proposal included few changes compared to the current situation. Of particular note to fans, the MLBPA also proposed allowing draft trades with certain restrictions. The division’s proposal also allowed for trade in pickaxes, a rare resource for the same area.
Most fans support the trade expansion of draft picks over competitive balance picks, and there’s a good chance it will eventually be used in the next CBA. There will be limits to how much a team can trade in the future, but MLB’s strict approach thus far has put them behind other leagues and removed a source of intrigue leading up to the draft.
The union also suggested that the draft be moved to June. That was the way it was traditionally. MLB moved it to July in 2021, aligning it with the All-Star festivities in hopes of generating more fan interest. The proposal did not mention a possible international draft, which MLB has sought without success in 2022 negotiations and proposed again.
