The new CBA and how it effects the offseason

[Chico]

What are some thoughts on major changes that may be coming with the new CBA?

Qualifying offers, Opt outs, International daft, and mlb draft could all be altered and could change our strategy this offseason.

I think a no brainer needs to be that if a player opts out of his contract the team cannot acquire a pick for compensation.

I also think the competitive balance picks has to change. Teams like the Pirates and Cardinals should not be receiving comp picks. The lottery part is silly as well.

I don't know how to change the qualifying offer structure, but it will definitely be changed. Upping the amount would be the easiest way to keep teams from offering them to every FA. Extending the mandatory signing period could be another.

The International draft is going to happen. It's just a question of if it's going to be combined with MLB or not.

[smootness]

I think the QO should basically be equivalent to the franchise tag in the NFL, where if you want to receive a compensatory pick, you have to offer the player the average of the top 5 players at his position in the league. Otherwise, you can just approach him as any other FA and don't receive anything if you don't re-sign him.

And I don't see any way you can throw 16-year-old international kids in with the 18-22 year old American guys in the draft. They have to be separate.

[Chico]

I think the QO should basically be equivalent to the franchise tag in the NFL, where if you want to receive a compensatory pick, you have to offer the player the average of the top 5 players at his position in the league. Otherwise, you can just approach him as any other FA and don't receive anything if you don't re-sign him.

And I don't see any way you can throw 16-year-old international kids in with the 18-22 year old American guys in the draft. They have to be separate.

I agree. I think they should also be separate. Also from a marketing standpoint I'd think MLB would want two separate drafts. That's two separate "events" to sell.

[Hudson2]

Competitive balance picks should be for teams with the worst records plain and simple.

[Russ2dollas]

I don't think the draft and FA should have anything to do with one another. At worst if you lose a level A free agent then you get a pick. But there should not be a penalty for signing someone.

The MLB draft has plenty of picks. We don't need more. Maybe you can supplement small market teams' bonus pool, but I don't see why you need to add picks. We are already drafting picks that everyone knows will never play in the minors.

[Carp]

I agree with the franchise tag analogy. The qualifying offer needs to be near 20 million or more to discourage teams to offer it to the non elite free agents.

[gilesfan]

What you guys are discussing would hurt a mid market team like the Braves though. (especially Smoot)

[Enscheff]

The players absolutely HATE having the loss of a pick attached to the mid-level FAs. I would be shocked if that part doesn't go away. I don't think there will be any penalty to signing a FA in the next CBA.

I haven't heard any other talk about possible changes, but I would like to see a 2 tiered QO system:

Tier 1 QO would be a 1 year deal similar in value to what the QO currently is. Losing a player who was given a Tier 1 QO would net the team a late 2nd round pick.

Tier 2 QO qould be a 3 year deal at the T1 value each year. Losing a T2 player would gain the team a late 2nd and late 1st round pick.

In neither case would the acquiring team lose a draft pick for signing a FA.

[smootness]

Competitive balance picks should be for teams with the worst records plain and simple.

Eh, I think that's too short-sighted. I'm ok with the way they're set up now. A team with a big budget and a lot of resources can have a bad record from time to time, but they're still set up better long-term than a team with a small budget who currently has a winning record. It's easier for the large market teams to grab FAs, so I'm ok with tipping the draft just a bit toward smaller market teams.

The draft doesn't impact the major league product for a while anyway, so I'm ok with the longer term view on competitive balance picks.

[smootness]

What you guys are discussing would hurt a mid market team like the Braves though. (especially Smoot)

Not really. I don't think big market teams are that much more likely to offer a big QO to a player they don't actually want. That's still way too much money devoted to a player you don't want in that instance.

I get that a smaller market team can offer a lower QO, knowing it will be rejected, and grab a draft pick...but large market teams can do that as well. I don't see that change negatively impacting small market teams relative to the current setup.