New draft rules an opportunity for A's, Giants
No matter how much baseball tweaks its draft and promotes it on its own network, it'll never carry the weight of the NFL and NBA drafts.
Even if it steals the riveting idea of ping-pong poker.
This year's draft, which runs Monday through Wednesday, will come and go without the fanfare or media coverage of football and basketball drafts. But there is a newness that put the baseball establishment on alert and affects how the A's and Giants do business.
"Instead of making (decisions) relative to revenue, this will be a benefit to teams that played the poorest the year before," A's scouting director Eric Kubota said, "and hopefully you can take your perceived best player available."
How it ought to be.
According to the new collective bargaining agreement, teams are allotted "bonus pools" and will be taxed if they exceed them. The pools are adjusted depending on how high teams pick and how many picks they have in the first 10 rounds.
Furthermore, the signing deadline was moved up a month to July 13, a wise decision because it forbids agents from waiting until mid-August to get their clients signed, a practice that gave players virtually no time to play pro ball until the following season.
"That's a practical benefit because those kids can play an extra month this summer," Kubota said. "You sign on Aug. 15, there's very little chance to go out and play other than maybe for a few at-bats or a few innings."
The new rules are especially significant for the A's, who have their most important draft in several years, with five picks (among the top 74) in the first two rounds, including No. 11 overall.
Their pool is $8,468,800, the sixth highest in the majors. Any dollar over that, they'll be taxed.
The breakdown: Their 11th overall pick is slotted for $2.625 million, their 34th pick for $1.5 million, 47th for $1.079 million, 62nd for $831,200 and 74th for $691,000.
The Giants pick 20th and have a $4,076,400 pool, including $1.85 million for the first pick.
That's suggested, not mandatory, slotting. The A's could pay their top pick $3 million, but they'd need to pay below slot to other players to balance it out so they wouldn't exceed their allotted pool.
So signability (and knowing beforehand what a draftee would accept) seems more important than ever.
Spending up to 5 percent above a pool warrants a 75 percent tax rate. Spending 5 to 10 percent above the pool, a team loses a first-round pick next year (and still is taxed at 75 percent). Spending 10 to 15 percent above the pool, the tax rate is 100 percent and first- and second-round picks are forfeited.
Exceeding 15 percent? The penalty is 100 percent tax plus forfeited first-rounders in each of the next two drafts.
Money spent beyond $100,000 for players past the 10th round also counts against the pool. If a club doesn't sign a pick, the money for that slot can't be used on another draftee.
On the surface, the new system seems to favor the clubs. It's not a blow to the union, considering draftees aren't union members until they're placed on 40-man rosters.
If the Astros select Stanford pitcher Mark Appel as the first overall pick, he won't make Stephen Strasburg money ($15.1 million major-league contract). Not only is the top pick slotted at $7.2 million, but another new rule states draftees can sign only minor-league deals.
(source San Francisco Chronicle)
Posted by Necesitamos Mas Football
on 3:40 p. m..
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