Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association have begun negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement, with the current one coming to an end on December 1.
If the two sides cannot reach an agreement on a wide range of topics by next spring, it could lead to a partial or full lockout in 2027. It goes without saying that it would be a catastrophic result for baseball and its fans.
On Thursday, Major League Baseball proposed dramatic changes regarding amateur players.
The most significant change would be the implementation of an international draft, which has been a topic of discussion since the 2021-22 negotiations. According to a report from The Athletic’s Evan Drellich, the league has proposed that both the international and domestic drafts be 12 rounds.
Limiting the draft, specifically the domestic draft, to 12 rounds would eliminate a large number of professional opportunities for amateur players ranging from high school to college baseball programs. The current structure of the Rule 4 Draft is 20 rounds.
“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,” Drellich wrote Thursday. “In Thursday’s proposal, the league is looking to reduce their overall outlay for amateurs by at least $200 million each year.”
With the reduction of signings and bonuses, MLB is aiming to cut down on the number of agreements stemming from the international signing period, which runs from Jan. 15 to Dec. 15 each year, that don’t pan out.
Drellich reports that only six percent of international players who sign with Major League organizations during the international signing period reach the Majors. Many of them are cut loose from their contracts, life-changing money for the players and their families, within a few years.
New proposals to the domestic draft would require prospective draftees to be at least 20 years old as of Sept. 1 of that year, which means many high school graduates would most likely commit to a college program for a few years before entering the draft.
“By 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 — and ultimately the major leagues — more quickly,” MLB said in a statement.
International amateur prospects would have to be at least 18 on the same date. Under the current CBA, they have to be at least 17, though many international amateurs have verbal agreements with MLB clubs well before that.
Ethical or not, that’s the modern-day trend. An international draft would, essentially, eliminate those premeditated agreements between a player and an organization.
The immediate response to the league’s new proposal from the MLBPA was one of great disappointment.
“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,” the MLBPA said in a statement.
Of course, the main problem that looms from these negotiations is whether the league will implement a salary cap, something the league and owners want, and players vehemently oppose.
Clearly, there are more than a few disagreements that require close monitoring between now and next spring. Hopefully, the negotiations don’t reach that point.
Photo: Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred speaks during a news conference, June 29, 2019, in London. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland, file)
