In the last 24 hours, there has been a lot of action in the MLB world. While the league decided to impose a new deadline (which could save a 162-game season) last night, it was extended to today because there would be a real possibility of reaching agreement.
Is the possibility real or is it just a repeat of last week’s (bad) scenario? I tend to believe in the first option.
From the beginning, the players have emphasized the financial aspect of the employment contract. They want, among other things, to increase the salaries of young players and they want the luxury tax thresholds to be higher to encourage owners to take out the checkbook.
And what we currently feel is that MLB is ready to make concessions at this level … in exchange for concessions elsewhere. Since yesterday, the owners seem to be negotiating in good faith and we feel that there is hope.
Ownership source on MLB offer: “I never thought they’d get to these levels.” Sure, consider source, but MLB is at $230M luxury threshold, $700K minimum pay, $40M bonus pool in 2022. Not long ago MLB was at $214M CBT (w/huge penalties), $605K min. bonus is new (good player idea)
—Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 9, 2022
But for them to sign the contract today, the two parties will have to settle the thorny question of the international amateur draft, which has been attracting all the attention since yesterday.
Because right now, it’s the big demand from owners. And they are even ready to make concessions to pass this pill: they are ready to wait until 2024 before introducing it.
MLB is now proposing that the international draft would not start before the 2024 season, as @chelsea_janes reported.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 9, 2022
Note that this would be a separate draft from that usually held in MLB and that it would not work in the same way. Here, roughly, is the outline of the MLB idea.
Some more context here, per sources. The proposed international draft would break teams into pods of 7 or 8. They would rotate draft position to theoretically have access to top talent every four years. Draft position would not be based on record. And picks would be tradable. https://t.co/hs3SsAsHCb
—Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 9, 2022
But if the report that the league is ready to wait until 2024 turns out to be true, it’s a major development on the record. It gives everyone a bit more time to get it right and allows players to get one more year with the status quo.
Also remember that MLB asks players to accept this in exchange for the elimination of the qualifying offer.
It could be a potential compromise. In return, there would no longer be any qualifying offers placed on free agents, requiring teams to surrender a potential draft pick. https://t.co/ObeyWeJUHQ
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 9, 2022
We currently feel that MLB is ready to make concessions. However, we must be careful: perhaps they are also trying to pass on other aspects to their advantage that are not reported. This had been the case last week, in particular.
Honestly, there is reason to be optimistic, but (because there is a “but”) this offer might not be accepted by the players.
This morning, David Ortiz, who is a voice very important in the world of baseball in Latin America, has openly spoken out against the idea of the amateur draft. He recommends that players avoid it, but as we can see in this row of Tweets, he doesn’t tell them to completely shut the door to the idea. It must only be done with respect for their reality.
In a voice message sent to a group chat that has been widely shared in Dominican baseball circles, David Ortiz, perhaps the most influential baseball voice in the country, came out strongly against the international draft, according to a copy of the message obtained by ESPN .
—Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 9, 2022
Also remember that Fernando Tatis Jr., who also has a significant impact in the world of baseball, also spoke out against the idea this morning.
Fernando Tatis Jr. opposes international draft
In his eyes, it would kill baseball in the Dominican Republic. Expect players to hold their own on this.
Basically, the project’s detractors maintain that there is too much risk that an amateur draft will ruin the bonuses granted to young people there, which precisely allow them to get out of misery.
This is not the reality for all players, but the international free agent system helps many in this regard.
On the other hand, the international draft could help limit the “mafia” that exists in international amateur baseball. Young people are often manipulated (they are sometimes forced to consume doping substances) and, if MLB could supervise little better all this, it might help.
The league even goes so far as to claim that the international draft system would cause teams to spend more on young international players than they currently do.
MLB source estimates international draft would guarantee the top 600 players $181 million/year. League projects total annual spending on int’l players would total $190 million, or about $6.33 million per team. That’s more than teams spent in 2020-21 per league calculations.
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) March 9, 2022
In short, we will see if it leads, but for there to be agreement today, the players will probably have to accept the arrival of an international amateur draft. Could slight financial changes help? Maybe…
