MLB and the Players Association are still negotiating the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), and while they still haven’t quite finalized a deal, they do seem closer than they were 48 hours ago.
One of the most critical points, however, is the league’s intention to implement an international draft.
Owners are willing to remove draft pick compensation from the free agent process (from the qualifying offer, to be exact), but they want the amateur free agent period to be substituted with an international draft.
Players are not sold on the idea, and some high-profile names such as Fernando Tatis Jr. have already criticized the league’s intentions.
However, a change wouldn’t be for this season.
“MLB is seeking to implement the international draft starting in 2024, a league official said. So if it happens, it wouldn’t be an immediate change,” Newsday’s Tim Healey tweeted on Wednesday.
MLB is seeking to implement the international draft starting in 2024, a league official said. So if it happens, it wouldn’t be an immediate change.
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) March 9, 2022
Players And Owners Are Split In The Concept Of An International Draft
Commissioner Rob Manfred has said that, “the International Draft would have more fairly allocated talent among the clubs, and reduced abuses in some international markets.”
However, Tatis says that, “the International Draft is going to kill baseball in DR (Dominican Republic). It’s going to affect us a lot, because there will be many young people who used to give them the opportunity to get a bonus and with the draft it will not be the same.”
Fernando Tatis Jr.: "The International Draft is going to kill baseball in DR. It's going to affect us a lot, because there will be many young people who used to give them the opportunity to get a bonus and with the draft it will not be the same ”, per @ElCaribeRD. pic.twitter.com/KpUm6KEazb
— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) March 9, 2022
MLB is mulling the idea of allocating bonuses per draft slot.
The concept is yet to be agreed on and now is viewed as the most important hurdle towards a new CBA deal being approved in the next few hours.
There should be more news coming soon, perhaps later today.
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