MLB Draft Begin With New Policies in Place

Baseball's annual amateur has begun. This year will be a bit different due to mandated changes included in the collective bargaining agreement signed last year. The first and compensation rounds for those teams that lost players to free agency in winter of last year took place last night as the rest of the draft continues through Wednesday. The draft comes with an air of uncertainly with the implementation of new policies designed to bring the process back to its intended purpose which is to, and always has been, to strengthen weaker teams. One of the main changes has affected the bonus pool, a revamped version of unofficial slotting, suggested bonus money centered on draft position, that MLB previously attempted to get clubs to take part in. The major fault in that in that system was that lower-revenue teams tended to avoid talented players due to the cost involved in signing them as richer teams snatched them up. Each team's pool for the initial 10 rounds is built on a complex system that considers draft position, number of picks and cash spent in the prior year. Bonuses less than $100,000 following round 10 will not count against the pool. As for this year, the pools range from $12.3 million for the Minnesota Twins' 13 selections to $1.6 million for the Los Angeles Angels' 8 selections. Players taken this week will come with a signing deadline of July 13th.