Trading draft picks

[CrimsonTribe]

Here's a couple year old MLB.com article I found on it.

[DrungoHazewood]

This is correct. It would allow the Yankees, for example, to trade their pick, typically near the bottom of the 1st round, for a historical cheap and bad team like Pittsburgh's or Kansas City's pick at the top of the round, say a #2 or #3. This would allow cheap ownership to move down and save money, and the rich teams like either New York, LA, or Chicago team or Boston to totally dominate the draft. It's enough that they can afford to sign any free agent they want, but trading draft picks would also allow them to cherry pick the best amateurs, as well. As it is, the Yanks have the highest paid shortstop (Jeter), third baseman (Rodriguez), right fielder (Abreu), catcher (Posada), left handed starter (Pettite) and reliever (Rivera) in the American League (several of them for all of the majors). Baseball shouldn't also let them have the best prospects as well. The draft is meant to spread talent throughout the league, not concentrate it.

Note: Brian Roberts is the highest paid second baseman in the AL.

On the other hand, trading draft picks gives a team flexibility. Right now the Rays have no choice but to draft BJ Uptons and hope they work out in 2, 3, 4 years. If they could trade the rights to draft BJ Upton for major league talent they could more realistically make a run at winning right now. A high draft pick could be a very valuable commodity, maybe a franchise's most valuable piece. But only if they had some ability to leverage that value.

[Wingman]

Baseball needs to institute a draft system like the NHL's...

I'm not an expert on all the details of the NHL's draft but I do know that once a player is drafted they are the "property" of the drafting team for several years and most kids are 18/19/20 years old when they're drafted and play in juniors in Canada or in the NCAA here in the states and there's a signing period in each year where you can sign your drafted players from previous years' drafts it's not an unlimited time frame but it gives the drafting teams alot more leverage in the process.

If the draft really is supposed to be a leveling agent in MLB than I think they ought to institute a system like this...

[RShack]

Baseball needs to institute a draft system like the NHL's...

I'm not an expert on all the details of the NHL's draft but I do know that once a player is drafted they are the "property" of the drafting team for several years...

Well, yeah... if your goal is to have MLB be a monopoly that has a pseudo-Reserve Clause for kids getting right out of school so they don't have any rights whatsoever.

I just wonder how many people would like it if they, say, majored in computer science in college, and then graduated to find that places like IBM and Microsoft and whoever else had instituted a draft, and that after you graduated, you could only go to work for the company who drafted you and nobody else, and that those companies had all gotten together and established a pay-scale for everybody, and that your only choice was to take it or leave it. Whatver kind of job you have, change the details but keep the basic idea. How would you like that? Because that's basically what you're advocating.

[DrungoHazewood]

Well, yeah... if your goal is to have MLB be a monopoly that has a pseudo-Reserve Clause for kids getting right out of school so they don't have any rights whatsoever.

I just wonder how many people would like it if they, say, majored in computer science in college, and then graduated to find that places like IBM and Microsoft and whoever else had instituted a draft, and that after you graduated, you could only go to work for the company who drafted you and nobody else, and that those companies had all gotten together and established a pay-scale for everybody, and that your only choice was to take it or leave it. Whatver kind of job you have, change the details but keep the basic idea. How would you like that? Because that's basically what you're advocating.

But... but... major league players are filthy rich so they should just suck it up!! Rights are only for middle class and poor people!

There is a related thread going on here.

[orayole]

I'm a strong proponent of the adage, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Considering how the Royals and Rays have built their farms up the last few years, I'm perfectly happy with the current drafting process.

The only thing that sucks for us is that the guy's who drafted for us in the past (before Jordan) were dumb and/or handicapped by the FO.

It is broke. The poor teams skip on players like Wieters because of their high asking price. If they could trade picks they could trade it to a wealthy team to let them draft him, giving the poorer team more picks.

[davearm]

It is broke. The poor teams skip on players like Wieters because of their high asking price. If they could trade picks they could trade it to a wealthy team to let them draft him, giving the poorer team more picks.

Having more picks only exacerbates the problem you're describing.

Are you going to end up with more elite-caliber talent like Wieters if you've got $5M and three guys to sign, or if you've got $5M and one guy to sign?

[orayole]

Having more picks only exacerbates the problem you're describing.

Are you going to end up with more elite-caliber talent like Wieters if you've got $5M and three guys to sign, or if you've got $5M and one guy to sign?

I don't know about you but I'd rather sign 3 guys for $5M than 1 guy at $5M if I'm a low income team.

[davearm]

I don't know about you but I'd rather sign 3 guys for $5M than 1 guy at $5M if I'm a low income team.

The O's last three 2nd round picks have been Ryan Adams (06), Nolan Reimold (05), and Brian Finch (03).

You'd trade Wieters for three guys like that?

Regardless, the point remains that having more picks puts a budget-constrained team further away from the elite caliber talent, not closer to it. And naturally, that leaves more of the elite guys for the big boys to scoop up. That right there is the problem we're trying to solve. This makes the situation worse, not better.

[DrungoHazewood]

The O's last three 2nd round picks have been Ryan Adams (06), Nolan Reimold (05), and Brian Finch (03).

You'd trade Wieters for three guys like that?

Regardless, the point remains that having more picks puts a budget-constrained team further away from the elite caliber talent, not closer to it. And naturally, that leaves more of the elite guys for the big boys to scoop up. That right there is the problem we're trying to solve. This makes the situation worse, not better.

Well, if you're offered three 2nd-round picks for the #1 or #3 overall selection you obviously don't do it. You hold out for Phillip Hughes, or Adam Jones, or something like that.

Right now your choice is take #3 talent and hope you can sign him, take a lesser player, or pull a Brian Sabean and sign Michael Tucker and forfeit your first round pick. You have very few options to leverage that pick into anything else.

I don't think baseball should make its rules to keep stupid teams from doing stupid things, like trading all their picks for a bag of magic beans. Transaction rules should allow maximum flexibility unless there's a very compelling reason not to.

[orayole]

The O's last three 2nd round picks have been Ryan Adams (06), Nolan Reimold (05), and Brian Finch (03).

You'd trade Wieters for three guys like that?

Regardless, the point remains that having more picks puts a budget-constrained team further away from the elite caliber talent, not closer to it. And naturally, that leaves more of the elite guys for the big boys to scoop up. That right there is the problem we're trying to solve. This makes the situation worse, not better.

No. I'm saying for the teams that *PASSED* on Wieters. What's better. Pass on Wieters because you can't afford his asking price or trade your pick for 2 or 3 others?

And who says that the picks you get will be 3 2nd rounders? Trading your pick where a guy like Wieters will be drafted might get you a slightly lower 1st round pick this year, another 1st rounder next year and another 2nd rounder this year.