New CBA Wishlist

[harfman77]

The CBA is up at the end of this season so the players and owners will need to agree on a new deal, I put together some things that I would like to see added in the next iteration.

 

1. Change the compensation system for free agents. A qualifying offer would be the average of the top 10 salaries at a players position. Allow a team to only offer a QO to one player per season.

 

For example, the QO's next season right now would be:

C - $12,085,000

1B - $20,835,700

SP - $25,119,047

RP - $7,167,500 (non-closer)

 

2. Make all amateur draft picks (and corresponding draft slot values) tradeable.

 

3. Create an international draft. All players outside the US would need to pass through. That means that MLB would pay the posting fees for international free agents.

 

4. Lower service time requirement to get to free agency from 6 years to 5. This would generate more high quality free agents in their prime. Also get rid of Super Two status and make all players arb eligible after one plus seasons of service time.

 

5. Remove competitive balance selections.

 

6. Move the draft(s) to July and make it part of an All Star weekend experience. Have the draft travel with the All-Star game.

A prospective schedule would be:

Friday: Futures Game

Saturday am: Part one MLB draft

Saturday pm: Home run derby

Sunday am: Celebrity game

Sunday pm: All-Star game

Monday: Conference call portion of MLB draft

 

7. Expand active rosters to 26, or allow MLB teams to set one player inactive for every game (most likely the last games SP) without optioning them.

 

8. Enhance revenue sharing to better distribute the income of local TV contracts. This will help to ensure parity when the competitive balance picks are removed. Set a mid point bench mark and have the teams above that benchmark contribute to the teams below it.

 

9. Increase luxury tax threshold to $200M and increase it 5% per season.

 

10. Use luxury tax money for MLB to open baseball academies in Latin America, China, the Caribbean, and Europe to help promote the game and identify talent for the international draft. This will be necessary to help fill the vacuum created when the buscones are forced out of business in many LA countries.

 

Any other thoughts?

[southsider2k5]

A world wide draft. The NHL and NBA can do it, so can MLB.

[lasttriptotulsa]

I think you make some valid points and gave a good template to work with so I will state my opinions of what you have already shared.

 

1. Something needs to be done about the QO situation but I'm not sure if making it positional based is the way to go. I do think that the value of a QO should be based on say the top 75 or top 100 contracts instead of the top 125. When guys like Dextor Fowler and Colby Rasmus are receiving qualifying offers, it not only hurts their pocket books because teams aren't willing to pay as much due to the draft pick compensation but it also hurts the lower budget teams that rely on building their team through the draft more so than the free agent market. The mid level guys are the ones they can afford but when signing them is going to take a draft pick away they are far less likely to make any free agent signings.

 

2. Agree 100%. I think this is something that will actually be done. Teams can currently trade competitive balance picks and international bonus pool money so I think the ability to trade regular draft picks is the next step.

 

3. I agree on the draft though I don't know how feasible it is to have MLB pay the posting fees.

 

4. I disagree on this point. I think the free agent service time should stay at 6 years but I think something needs to be done about teams manipulating service time by keeping players in the minors longer than they need to be (I.E. the Kris Bryant situation). I think if a player spends more than half the season at the Major League level it should count as a full year towards service time and if a player spends between a quarter and half a season at the Major League level they should be Super 2 eligible. Teams would be less likely to try to manipulate service time if they weren't able to call them up until July without affecting their free agency.

 

5. I think competitive balance selections are okay but the rules need to be changed. It makes zero sense to give the Cardinals a competitive balance pick just because they are in a small market. I think it should be changed to something completely based on performance. Maybe take a rolling 5 year average of a teams overall standing and base competitive balance picks off of that.

 

6. I disagree on moving the draft to July. Teams are already under the wire to get players signed in time to get a little MiLB experience during their draft year and that would make it even more difficult.

 

7. Agree 100%. With the advent of the 12 man pitching staff, benches are short as it is and when a guy has a minor day to day injury there shouldn't be any reason a team can't use somebody in his spot until he returns.

 

8. Agree somewhat. I don't think every team should have equal income from local tv contracts but the current disparity is too large and makes it hard for small market teams or teams with poor ratings to compete.

 

9. I think 5% growth would be too large. At that growth rate the luxury tax threshold would more than double to $415 million in just 15 years.

 

10. This is not a bad idea. The luxury tax money currently goes into industry development, but where exactly is it spent? I don't know.