The negotiations between MLB and the MLBPA have only just begun; right now, almost everything that is exchanged between the two sides is as firm as a cloud; it is not quite Kabuki theater, but it’s close. Last week, the owners made a “sweeping proposal” that would provide a “massive overhaul” of the MLB Draft. Here are the highlights:
- No high school players would be eligible for the domestic amateur draft. Like in the NBA and the NFL, there would be age restrictions for draft eligibility. MLB proposes that to be draft-eligible, players must be at least 20 years old.
- MLB Draft would be reduced from 20 rounds to 12 rounds. This seems to be a trend in major sports; the NBA Draft used to be 10 rounds; the NFL Draft used to be as high as 30 rounds; in MLB there was a time when the draft went 50 rounds.
- MLB proposes an international amateur draft. To be eligible players must be 17 years old. There would be a set amount of bonus money for the draft ($200M) and players not chosen in that draft would be free agents who could sign anywhere to fixed/structured contracts.
Note first that nothing in these proposals has even a smidgen of relevance to anyone involved in this current set of negotiations. No players in the deepest minor leagues – let alone players in MLB – would be affected by anything in this new construct. Nonetheless, since we are in the “Kabuki theater phase” of the talks, the players have taken the required pose and have categorically rejected the idea and labeled it as demonic. Here is the players’ response:
“Today, MLB made another set of proposals that are flat out bad for baseball, ones that would cripple the next generation of players and damage the future of our game. They would, among other things:
“Eliminate over a billion dollars in player compensation from the international and domestic system over the next five years, with a $400 million reduction from 2026 to 2027 alone.
“Destroy fundamental player rights and remove talent from our sport by barring high school and junior college players (anyone under age 20) from the domestic draft.
“Abolish an entire year of international signings by delaying the first draft until at least September of 2027 (and as late as March of 2028), denying young international players the ability to start their professional careers.
“Players remain committed to bargaining in good faith and leaving baseball better than they found it — the league’s proposals fall woefully short.”
I am not into Kabuki theater; so, let me ignore the posing and the drama contained in the above. The real winner if the owners proposal were to be accepted would be college baseball. The best high school players would have to spend at least one year and probably two in college baseball honing skills there before being draft eligible. But don’t get too excited because there are still more than 5 months until the current CBA expires and nothing meaningful is likely to happen before Halloween.
And speaking of college baseball, the College World Series will be decided tonight. Oklahoma and UNC have each won one game in Omaha over the weekend. So, tonight’s game is for all the cheese. Game time is 7:00 PM ET and you can find it on ESPN. The oddsmakers have UNC as the favorites in the game at odds of minus-158.
Sticking with baseball, there was an odd game last week between the Angels and the A’s:
- First, the A’s took a 4-0 lead.
- Then the Angels scored 11 unanswered runs to lead 11-4.
- The A’s rallied to tie the game in the ninth inning with a home-run when they were down to their last hitter.
- The A’s won 12-11 in the tenth inning scoring on a bases-loaded walk.
In that up-and-down contest, the Angels hit 5 home runs, had an inning where they scored 7 runs and had a 7 run lead at one point in the game. And they lost …
Finally, some advice from Warren Buffet:
“Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget Rule No.1.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………