As part of the new collective bargaining agreement, there were significant changes made to the Rule 4 amateur draft process. For those unfamiliar with the ins-and-outs of the new CBA (like most EVERYONE in the world) the Rule 4 draft is for American born prospects, most often high schoolers and college players. And next year, small market teams will get extra Rule 4 picks in an effort to increase competetive balance. I’m not kidding. In a press release today, mlb.com explains particulars of the new process, one that effectively rewards teams for playing where no one lives or having a small payroll. I’m not a big fan of this system, but let me first explain all that it entails.
According to that mlb.com press release:
The lottery, scheduled to take place Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. ET in New York, is a mechanism designed to help teams perceived to need the most assistance by awarding extra Draft picks to some of them. The 10 smallest-market teams and 10 lowest-revenue teams will have the chance to win one of six extra selections in the 2013 First-Year Player Draft.
Of course there is some overlap between the 10 smallest-market teams and the 10 lowest-revenue teams, thus making a total of 13 teams eligible for the 6 selections: D-backs, Orioles, Indians, Royals, A’s, Pirates, Padres, Rays, Reds, Rockies, Marlins, Brewers and Cardinals. 
Before we get into the inherent flaws of this new lottery system, there is one glaring issue that must be addressed. The Cardinals just won the World Series but are “perceived to need assistance” based on the criteria set our in the new CBA. Aside from the obvious fact that they managed to assemble the best team last year, they also traditionally (Albert) have a payroll that ranks among the games’ elite. I’m not sure that a team would intentionally undercut another to have the outside shot at receiving that extra draft pick, but we may see more teams hesitate to hand out $2 million to a pinch hitter. In any cae, the point remains: what are the Cardinals–the reigning World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals–doing on this list of teams in need of assistance?
Now to address the rule itself. I like the theoretical grounding. Bad teams should get more picks in the crapshoot that is the MLB Amateur Draft. Pirates fans will tell you that the current system isn’t perfect. However, a lottery for six extra picks in the supplemental first round seems dumb for a few reasons.
First, the supplemental round theoretically contains the 31st best draft eligible player on down. That is a very significant reward for a “team in need.” It seems a pick at the back end of the second round would be more in accordance with the league’s current level of competitive imbalance.
Second, these small market teams are already being compensated with revenue sharing. Now they’re getting revenue sharing and extra draft picks? I’m no genius, or MBA, or accountant, but it sure seems like these small market owners know what’s up. They may even be ripping off the big market owners, but that’s up to the corporate giants to decide.
One aspect of this new system about which I am excited is the mobility of the lottery picks: they can be traded. The idea is that these teams in need will see their window of opportunity opening and trade their relatively high picks in next years’ draft to fill a present need. Eventually I foresee teams being allowed to trade all of their draft picks, but this is a start in giving the “disadvantaged teams” more assets to field a good squad. (The owners did manage to ban the lottery picks from being sold for cash… and that’s really smart.)
While this draft lottery may seem like a GoodWill at Christmas, handing out toys to “disadvantaged teens” while struggling, abused rich kids (Chicago Cubs) sit idly by, there does seem to be some good, progressive thinking going on. I’m just concerned that the provisions set forth in the new CBA will benefit teams who really don’t need it, like the Cardinals. I would rather see the ten teams most in need of the draft picks given entry into the lottery (perhaps by votefrom the GMs?), rather than the defending World Series Champions awarded a pick because they play in a small city. Things have a way of working themselves out and I’m sure that the kinks will be worked out and this provision in the new CBA will be a good thing overall.
Stat of the Day: A “jiffy” is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.
Part 2 of the Stat of the Day: The billionth digit of pi is 9.
-Sean Morash
