New CBA thread

[Guest]

Got it. Thanks all.

[mul21]

Couldn't you conceivably draft a bunch of guys with some of your higher picks that you know won't sign for slot and then use your "pool" money to over slot guys in the later rounds? do you not technically go over slot until you have signed players? or till you have expended your "pool"? Seems like the system is open to some loopholes. Or at least it seems hella confusing.

 

I suppose you could game the system by taking 2-3 really high profile tough signs and using the rest of your picks on crap you don't care about, either forcing them to sign for well below slot or not at all.

[Guest]

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/did-a-steinbrenner-write-the-new-cba/

 

repost on the same page

 

come on kyle

[Hairyducked Idiot]

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/did-a-steinbrenner-write-the-new-cba/

 

repost on the same page

 

come on kyle

 

I go to the box for two minutes and I feel shame :(

[davell]

So, it looks like teams will have between 4.5 and 11.5 mill to spend on the draft, depending on where you're picking. Maybe the Cubs fall somewhere between 8 and 9 mill this year, picking 6th?

[treebird]

So, it looks like teams will have between 4.5 and 11.5 mill to spend on the draft, depending on where you're picking. Maybe the Cubs fall somewhere between 8 and 9 mill this year, picking 6th?

 

i thought none of this applied until 2013

 

i really hope that's the case, i want to see a weirdass 2012 draft where the cubs take the best player available in every round and pay out 10x's slot

[SouthSideRyan]

Then Theo rips off Selig's toupee and slams it against the wall while laughing maniacally like in Liar, Liar

[SouthSideRyan]

Also, if this doesn't take effect until 2013, there won't be many top HS kids going to college this year.

[davell]

Wait, is that true? 2013? Also, I still haven't seen anything on comp picks for this year that would actually pertain to Aramis or Pena? I mean, we may not even offer arb to Pena, but we'll definitely lose out on Aramis. Has that info been released yet?

[MWV]

Why wouldn't this CBA take effect for the 2012 draft? The $2.9 million ceiling for IFAs will be in place in 2012, no?

[jersey cubs fan]

Why wouldn't this CBA take effect for the 2012 draft? The $2.9 million ceiling for IFAs will be in place in 2012, no?

 

Not sure if that is true or not, but it would indicate the agents insisted on some compromise.

[treebird]

Why wouldn't this CBA take effect for the 2012 draft? The $2.9 million ceiling for IFAs will be in place in 2012, no?

 

Not sure if that is true or not, but it would indicate the agents insisted on some compromise.

 

i'm probably just wrong. the 2.9 thing is starting next year, though the rest of the changes aren't going into effect until 2013 (i guess it wouldn't be fair if teams didn't know in advance that they had way more incentive to tank now). i don't see any other dates on anything, and there's no reason to assume it'd be 2013.

[imb]

Also, if this doesn't take effect until 2013, there won't be many top HS kids going to college this year.

 

BACK UP A TRUCK(S) FULL OF CASH

[Guest]

1. A five-year contract, running through Dec. 1, 2016, means that baseball will go at least 20 years without a work stoppage.

 

2. As announced last week, the Astros move from the National League Central to the American League West in 2013, creating two leagues of 15 teams each.

 

3. A second wild-card team will be added in each league, beginning either next year or in 2013. The two wild cards will play a one-game playoff prior to the Division Series.

 

4. Instant replay use expanded to cover fair/foul calls and balls that may have been trapped, subject to negotiations with the umpires union.

 

5. Blood testing for HGH will begin in spring training 2012. Players will be tested each spring, will be subject to random tests during the winter and will be subject to tests "for reasonable cause" during the season.

 

6. "Participation in the All-Star Game will be required unless the player is unable to play due to injury or is otherwise excused by the Office of the Commissioner."

 

7. Major changes were made in an attempt to curb draft spending. Teams will be subject to a "signing bonus pool" that will relate to their spot in the draft. Teams that exceed their pool by up to five percent will pay a 75 percent tax, and teams that exceed by more than that will face a tax and a loss of future draft picks. The picks that are lost will be distributed by a lottery which will be weighted towards teams that lost the most games the previous year.

 

8. Small-market and low-revenue teams will be given extra draft picks after the first and second rounds, distributed by lottery.

 

9. Free-agent compensation is changed dramatically. Players will be subject to compensation only if the current team offers a salary equal to the average of the top 125-paid players in the game.

 

10. International signing bonuses will be limited dramatically, with each team given a "signing bonus pool" assigned based on reverse order of standings. Teams exceeding the pool will pay a tax, and teams exceeding by at least five percent will lose rights to sign high-money international players in future years.

 

11. The luxury-tax threshold will stay at $178 million for the next two years, then will rise to $189 million for the rest of the agreement.

 

12. Players cannot use smokeless tobacco during interviews or club appearances, and cannot carry tobacco tins in their uniforms.

 

13. The minimum salary rises from $414,000 in 2011 to $480,000 in 2012, $490,000 in 2013 and $500,000 in 2014. The rate for the final two years of the agreement will be subject to a cost-of-living increase.

 

 

Welp, the replay thing is nice.

 

Increasing the luxury tax threshold can't hurt us long term, either.

[davell]

The more I've thought about, I'm not sure how much this winds up affecting us. The slot bonus for where we pick evidently only pertains to the 1st 10 rounds. Any signings after that 100,000 or less don't count towards the slot cap. If we're truly committed to building through the draft, it can certainly be done. Just by paying a penalty. The strategy could very well change from trying to sign 9 of our top 10 picks to only signing 5 or so. Draft all the big names you possibly can, keep them from other teams basically and sign as many as you can under your slot cap. If you go over and have to pay the penalty, so what? Yeah, you're basically paying double. That's big. But, it's still worth it to do, because I doubt other teams will be doing that. So you lose your 1st and 2nd rounders EVERY single year? Again, there are going to be 1st round talents available in the 3rd round anyway, so take them and incorporate the same strategy as I just outlined. Yeah, the cost just went up, but if we're committed to the draft, it can still be ran in a way that nets us 3 to 5 bigtime prospects every single year. Fill out rounds 11 through 50 with org guys and easy signs. Do it every year, laugh at Bud, and keep getting guys who fall each year. No more Chris Rusin type 40,000 signs. Just big bonus guys to fill out our cap and draft for depth later on.

[AlwaysaCub]

As I understand this CBA, one of the effects will be to limit the incentive for teams to pay up for ultra-premium talent (or Jeff Samardzija) in the draft or internationally. That will drive the top athletes into other sports, which is detrimental to the long-term vitality of the league. Not a fan.

[davell]

By the way, I'm not sure this has been asked or answered either, but is the luxury tax imposed on the entire amount you've spent on the draft or just on the amount you've gone over your slot cap? While I'd assume it's the first, if it's the latter, it makes it easier to go over as well........

[Guest]

Jim Callis says don't panic just yet:

Baseball America[/url]"]However, the initial assumption that the new penalties would be based on or near the old slots doesn't appear to be correct. Last year, MLB valued the total worth of the 331 picks in the first 10 rounds at $133 million. Those slot numbers were less that MLB's guidelines from five years earlier, however, and were 44 percent than the $192 million teams paid to sign 303 of those players.

 

MLB won't get to unilaterally decide the worth of draft picks going forward, though. It negotiated the values with the MLBPA, and they reportedly (and not surprisingly) will be much higher. Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman and CBS Sports' Danny Knobler Tweeted that the aggregate pools would range from $4.5 million to $11.5 million, depending on how many picks a team had and where they fell. Yahoo's Jeff Passan Tweeted that the total pool for all 30 teams would be around $200 million.

 

Based on MLB's 2011 slot values, 20 of the 30 teams would have paid a 100 percent tax on their overage as well as forfeited two first-round picks. If the total for the first 10 rounds rises from last year's $133 million to Passan's $200 million, that's a 50 percent increase. Extrapolating the 2011 numbers, only six clubs would have received the maximum penalty.

 

The limits on draft spending will restrict less-advantaged teams such as the Pirates (who spent a draft-record $17 million on bonuses in 2011) and Royals ($14 million) who are aggressive in the draft but can't go toe to toe with baseball's big spenders for major league free agents. But if the reports from Heyman, Knobler and Passan are correct, the draft crap isn't as devastating a blow as initially feared.

[Guest]

 

In a phone conversation, Boras argued that the new rules governing draft spending will affect baseball to the highest reaches of the league – he said that the limitations on spending could lessen the value of franchises.

 

...“The franchise values, I think, are going to be affected by this,” Boras said. “New franchise owners such as the Lerners can no longer rely on the draft to improve their franchise in a major way. The GMs now have less flexibility, less ability to do it. It’s going to take longer to improve your team in a meaningful way.

 

“It used to be, the owner could think, ‘I’ll hire the right people, I’ll have the scouting intellect.’ Now artificial behavior prevents that. I think the decrease in values of GMs and scouting is a loss.

 

“If I’m a new franchise purchaser, if I’m the Lerner family and I’m buying the Nationals, and if you put limitations on Mike Rizzo, his value is worth a lot less to me. That limits the value of the principal employees.”

[Vinestal]

Boras is just mad because it effects his own pockets.

[Guest]

Boras is just mad because it effects his own pockets.

Not really. This is about the owners and the current crop of the MLBPA deciding they want more of the pie. It's bad for baseball in the mid and long term. But in America we don't do long term. Anyway, according to the Myans and Jon Cusac we've only got 12 more months.

 

Boras will still get his money.

[davell]

Slots for the top 4 picks are 7.2, 6.2, 5.2, and 4.2 mill. My guess is the 6th pick will be 3.4.

[davell]

A guy on Twitter already found a solid loophole and Callis thinks it's interesting. Don't sign your 1st rounder, spend more money on your other picks and then receive the extra 1st the following year, plus a larger budget to work with as well.

[Vinestal]

A guy on Twitter already found a solid loophole and Callis thinks it's interesting. Don't sign your 1st rounder, spend more money on your other picks and then receive the extra 1st the following year, plus a larger budget to work with as well.

I saw that as well, this would be particularly effective when a draft class is weak at the top. Just don't sign the top pick, use that money to get guys that might slip due to signability and get another first rounder next year when the draft class is possibly stronger.

[East Coast Cubbies]

Dave Cameron on FanGraphs Audio said it best...if this had been in place during the 2001 draft, Mauer is the starting quarterback for FSU. That for me, more than anything, is why this CBA is bad for baseball.