Major League Baseball on Thursday proposed massive changes to the way baseball players become professionals, including hundreds of millions of dollars in reductions to the signing bonuses teams pay to amateurs annually and the elimination of high-school draft picks.<\/p>\n
For the first time in this round of bargaining, the league has also proposed an international draft, an expected development after the sides made some progress on that concept in the 2021-22 negotiations.<\/p>\n
The Players Association balked right away, saying in a statement Thursday the league\u2019s proposals \u201care flat out bad for baseball\u201d and \u201cwould cripple the next generation of players and damage the future of our game.\u201d<\/p>\n
But of all the changes the league proposed, an international draft might have the best chance to eventually become reality in some form. MLB\u2019s labor negotiation is still in its early stages, where the sides put forth large requests that will be whittled down over time.<\/p>\n
The league is proposing both the domestic and international drafts would go 12 rounds, and that each draft would come with its own $200 million signing-bonus pool and hard slots, where an inflexible amount of money is tied to each pick. The current domestic draft lasts 20 rounds and does not have hard slots, which allows players to negotiate sums above or below the amounts assigned to their pick.<\/p>\n
Domestic amateurs received about $402 million last year and international amateurs about $197 million, and this year again, teams will pay close to $600 million in combined bonuses. In Thursday\u2019s proposal, the league is looking to reduce their overall outlay for amateurs by at least $200 million each year.<\/p>\n
But, according to the union, the reduction in overall signing bonuses would be $400 million for the first year of the contract, because the league is proposing to skip an entire class of international amateur signings, with only six international drafts taking place during the league\u2019s proposed seven-year agreement.<\/p>\n
Teams incur costs for every player they sign, and the league office appears to be trying to usher in a system that brings in fewer players, as well as players who are ultimately more reliable investments. According to MLB, six percent of international signees reach the big leagues, and 44 percent of all players signed from abroad are released within three years.<\/p>\n
Starting with the 2028 domestic draft, the league wants domestic draftees to be at least 20 years old by Sept. 1 of that year, and will require them to be at least two years removed from high-school graduation.<\/p>\n
MLB is also raising the signing age for international amateurs by a year: currently, they have to be 17 by Sept. 1 of the year they join a team. Now, they\u2019d have to be 18.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the last several years, college baseball has undergone a remarkable transformation,\u201d MLB said in a statement. \u201cToday\u2019s top programs provide players with resources, competition, and national exposure that were unimaginable a decade ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy creating a draft system centered around college-aged players and making most college players eligible one year earlier, more players will benefit from both a college education and an elite development environment while reaching professional baseball \u2014 and ultimately the major leagues \u2014 more quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
In response, the union said that barring high schoolers as well as junior-college players \u2014 another group that would be significantly affected by the age-20 requirement \u2014 would \u201cdestroy fundamental player rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
Player agent Scott Boras said by phone Thursday that MLB\u2019s proposal served to effectively delay when top talents could become free agents. He also positioned it as an affront to the club personnel who work to find and develop younger players.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe commissioner\u2019s office has issued an edict to all major-league franchises, development staff, coaching and scouting staff, that you\u2019re frankly not worthy of choosing and developing talent,\u201d Boras said. \u201cIt\u2019s bad business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Were MLB to successfully reduce the number of draftees, over time, it could follow that MLB would want to reduce the number of minor-league affiliates it partners with: fewer players could mean fewer teams to support.<\/p>\n
But, at least as a part of this specific proposal, the league said Thursday it will not seek to cut the number of affiliates from the present 120. Each minor league team is on a 10-year contract that runs through 2030.<\/p>\n
The players expected something like Thursday\u2019s proposal would be coming.<\/p>\n
At the outset of formal negotiations in late May, the league proposed bringing a salary-cap system to MLB, a particularly divisive issue for players that could lead to a lengthy labor fight. Owners are expected to lock out the players in December, when the current 2022-26 labor deal expires. The 2027 season could be in jeopardy if talks don\u2019t progress by next spring.<\/p>\n
While MLB didn\u2019t specify it directly in its initial cap proposal, the Players Association inferred that as part of that change<\/a>, the league was going to \u201cdrastically reduce or eliminate amateur entry compensation, both domestic and international,\u201d as Bruce Meyer, the interim head of the MLBPA, put it earlier this month.<\/p>\n MLB is proposing to allow teams to trade draft picks in both drafts. In the domestic draft, picks could only be dealt for the next upcoming draft: i.e., 2028 draft selections could only be traded after the 2027 draft.<\/p>\n In the proposed setup, teams can\u2019t deal away first-round picks in consecutive domestic drafts, and teams can\u2019t acquire more than three additional selections within the first three rounds of a given draft (on top of their original picks in those rounds).<\/p>\n MLB is proposing to reduce the number of teams subject to the draft lottery, to four from six.<\/p>\n One thing the league has pushed for in the past and is reviving again here: mandatory medical evaluations before the draft.<\/p>\n For the international draft, most picks could be traded but the league says there will be \u201ccertain limitations.\u201d<\/p>\n The international space<\/p>\n