The MLB Draft Needs Changed

Scott Boras discussed the MLB draft with 619 Sports today. In it Boras says that as revenues increase around baseball the money should trickle down to the players into the draft. While that conversation alone could warrant it's own seperate blog entry, the draft as a whole needs corrected and Scott Boras could have a big impact in it.

As a fan, I'd love to see Scott Boras put in handcuffs and taken away for the money he has stolen from management and hostage situations he has put fans in. Pirates fans witnessed it first hand when the Pirates drafted Pedro Alvarez, were forced to wait until the deadline until he signed, only to have the rug pulled underneath him when Boras and Alvarez said "wait a second, I didn't really sign". But the reality is that Boras has earned his players millions and he represents some pretty damn good players.

Boras' argument that the players in the draft deserve the trickle down in increased revenues has a bit of weight behind it. The cost of living has surely gone up since the 1990s, 1980s, and so on. The problem is where does it end? If super prospect Bryce Harper is eligible next year and is selected first overall will Boras say "this is hands down the single best prospect I've ever seen, and this time I really mean it, even though I said it last year!" Will teams have to pony up $18, $20, $30 million just to even talk to Harper?

Obviously the people most effected by this is the owners because it's their money being spent, but what about the players currently in the major leagues? Owners are being more thrifty and are spending more than ever on the draft. So all those marginal starters, like a Eric Hinske, Mike Lamb, etc, looking for work that could have easily gotten $3-$6mil will probably be hoping for minor league contracts and bench roles on bad teams.

Jayson Stark discussed all of this in a column this week and brought some great ideas that appear to be thrown around such as: Slotting, trading of picks, making it world wide, and increasing control.

In my opinion, the most logical idea would be an NHL style combination of the two. First, increase the club's control of a player. If you select a High School player, you've got that guy for 3-4 years, so basically his junior year. If you fail to sign him going into his SR year, the player can then jump back into the draft for one last stab. What happens after that is completely up to MLB. Maybe he becomes a Free Agent or perhaps one last draft and then free agency.

On top of being able to control the players, you should be able to trade your picks. This works well in two ways. Take Bryce Harper for example. Say he wants $50 million and you know he's not getting that. You can trade him to a team that might like the Red Sox, Dodgers, or Yankees. But you can always keep him around and maybe his price lowers. Also, maybe a team like the Pirates are looking for prospects now and don't have much they want to offer, but they've got this great player in Harper that would be a mega star if he hits it big in a market like LA. They trade him for a package and net a whole bunch of prospects or major league players to get them over the hump.

Agents and draftees may not like this idea because the club holds you hostage now for approximately 3 years, but it leaves a lot of room for leverage and contract discussion. Also, what happens if a player goes to college and gets hurt? Then his stock has plummeted,giving room for the club to get him on the cheap or for the prospect to be forced to stay an extra year to increase his value or even have to go back into the draft!

This may shake things up a bit and all parties may be upset at some point, but it seems to work pretty well in the NHL. However, rather than look at a new perspective, Selig seems to really believe in the slotting system, but more stiff this time, and now wants to open the draft world wide! I really don't think this will work and it will just add more Scott Boras "best prospect I've seen since 5 minutes ago" type prospects that "deserve" $10-$20million without setting foot on a professional field.

While I hope something is changed, and more than just slotting and worldwide are considered, I think Jason Stark summed the current draft style up pretty well:

Strasburg is guaranteed slightly more money than Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz were guaranteed for this season put together. Those guys own a combined nine Cy Young Awards. Strasburg has thrown a combined zero professional pitches.

But don't worry, he's the greatest college pitcher one man has ever seen.