Sam Mellinger posts on how amateur draft pick compensation will be the big issue in both the next NFL and MLB CBA negotiations. Established players seem to be upset that untested draftees are getting big money.
Baseball’s CBA is scheduled to end after the 2011 season. Many baseball insiders on both sides of the negotiation say the players are willing to institute some sort of slotting system for draft picks, but need to get something back from owners in return.
I would guess that something would be a faster path to free agency. Of course, if owners and players were smart, they would just abolish the draft (subscription required).
This goes hand-in-hand with your previous post about how teams are using 12 or 13 pitchers these days:
What about increasing rosters to 27 or 28? It seems like something that would help both sides, as opposed to a shorter path to the majors. For the union, the benefit is more Major League jobs for players. For teams, it gives them more depth for their benches.
The downside for teams is that it would be increasing the ML payroll by, what, $1.2M or so? But I think that would be a fair tradeoff for being able to sign their picks.
Isn’t it interesting how established players have voiced an interest in a slotting system, but still want the owners to give something back in return?
Would more sizeable increases in the maximum payroll limit before luxary taxes kick in be a viable tradeoff? Or would that be too minor as the teams that are over the treshold seem to be unfazed by the additional financial committment.
I wonder if the tradeoff will involve free agent compensation, too. The increased emphasis on draft picks in free agency definitely affected Orlando Hudson and Juan Cruz. Some teams sound willing to blow up the current FA compensation system as well.
@Theron — I have a feeling that Hudson’s problem finding work had a lot more to do with people being concerned about lingering effects from his wrist injury than any consequences of free agency compensatory draft picks, though I’m sure the latter didn’t help.