2018 MLB Draft Primer: What Mariners Fans Need to Know About the MLB Draft

Draft Slot System, AKA The Bonus Pool

In a fairly new change to its draft rules, Major League Baseball has set a cap for spending allowed in the draft. This is not that uncommon, as the NFL and NBA have similar model. In this instance, the first pick is assigned a “slot value” or recommended max for signing the player selected in that slot.

However, unlike the other drafts, MLB does not limit the amount you can give to one player. Instead, they set a limit you can spend on your entire draft. This is called a “bonus pool”. The amount you are allowed to spend is proportionate to the number of picks you have and your draft slot.

The team with the #1 pick will get to spend more on these draft picks than the team with the 30th pick.

So why do they do it this way? A really simple answer is to say Scott Boras. Before MLB put in this bonus pool rule in 2012, super agent Scott Boras was turning the draft into a pure auction. Basically, Boras would demand a ridiculous amount of money to sign a player, forcing cash poor teams to lose out on premier talent, because they couldn’t afford said player.

Boras would find a team that was willing to pay his ridiculous demand, and thus was able to shuttle talent away from teams that couldn’t afford it.

You might be asking yourself, what happens if a team outspends it bonus pool? Well, according to MLB:

A team that outspends its pool by 0-5 percent pays a 75 percent tax on the overage. At higher thresholds, clubs lose future picks: a first-rounder and a 75 percent tax for exceeding their pool by more than five and up to 10 percent; a first- and a second-rounder and a 100 percent tax for more than 10 and up to 15 percent; and two first-rounders and a 100 percent tax for more than 15 percent.

It’s common for teams to break this rule, but no team has ever exceeded by more than 5%. So if a team exceeds the pool by $100,000,  they must pay 175,000 as a tax.

In fact, many teams seek to exploit the current system. We saw the Mariners do such last season. With the 55th pick, the team selected Sam Carlson, and paid him $2 million bonus, more than double the recommended slot bonus.

In order to stay under their pool bonus, the Mariners used their 3rd-10th round picks on player who would sign “below slot deals”. In layman’s terms, the Mariners spent a large chunk of their pool on their first 2 players, and punted the rest of their Top 10 picks so not to exceed the pool bonus.

Another common work around is for teams to take player earlier than they expect to go, sign them to below slot deals, and use the savings to get another player or two they like. An example is the 2012 Astros, who saved money by selecting Carlos Correa first overall, then selecting Lance McCullers Jr at pick 43.

Quirky MLB Draft Rules

Perhaps the biggest difference in the MLB draft and its other contemporaries, is what happens on draft day itself. Or rather, what doesn’t happen: trades. Yes, Major League Baseball is the only draft where trading picks isn’t allowed.

There is much debate about whether or not MLB should change this rule. Those in favor, suggest it would make the draft more of an event for fans to watch. It would also add another layer to baseball’s extensive trading practice.

However, others worry that allowing such trades would turn the draft back into an auction. For example, a player wants to play for the Yankees, and won’t sign with the team that has the first round pick. The debate is a fascinating one, but not one we are going to get into here.

Compensatory and Competitive Balance Picks

The next little quirk about the MLB draft are the compensatory and competitive balance picks. Compensatory picks are given to teams who lose a player who was offered a qualifying offer in free agency. For more details, give this Sports Illustrated article a read .

Competitive balance picks are a bit complicated. MLB designates them as such:

The 10 lowest-revenue clubs and the clubs from the 10 smallest markets are eligible to receive a Competitive Balance pick (fewer than 20 clubs are in the mix each year, as some clubs qualify under both criteria). All eligible teams are assigned a pick, either in Competitive Balance Round A or Round B. Round A falls between the first and second rounds of the Rule 4 draft, while Round B comes between the second and third.

Unlike the other draft picks, these picks are eligible for trade, but only during the regular season, and not for cash. The pick can only change hands 1 time. These trades are quite rare though.

Why Does Nobody Care?

The MLB draft is easily the least watched of the 4 major sports. Why is that? There are 2 chief reasons why.

First, nobody knows who these guys are. Unlike the NBA and NFL, baseball fans do not know the potential draft picks. NCAA Football and Basketball are huge, and fans of the sport are often quite familiar with both levels of play.

However, NCAA Baseball is not regularly on television. It requires work to find, and unless you have a conference network TV package, you can’t find the games. In addition, unlike the other 2 sports, high school athletes are eligible for the draft. These players are largely unseen by anybody but scouts and the most die-hard of draft junkies.

Second, the player selected are not seen right away by most fans. In fact, if the Mariners select a high school player, you likely won’t see him in a Mariners uniform for 3-5 years, if he ever makes it that far to begin with.

Even college players can take 2-4 years to reach the big league club, if teams are lucky. There is a pretty good chance your team will never see their first round pick at the big league level.

It is difficult for your average fan to see that far into the future, as they are invested in their local team now. And while this approach is understandable, the draft is still incredibly important to your team, and shouldn’t be ignored.

The players selected in this draft are your future MLB starters. Or perhaps they help you acquire talent to add-on the major league roster. In a league that is placing more and more value on young, cheap, and controllable, restocking your supplies are always great.

Next: Sodo Mojo Mariners Round Table #3: Week 1 in the Books

For a team like the Mariners, they need to hit it out of the park. Strong drafts are the quickest way to build a strong Major League team. Whether it is through player development, or player acquisition, the draft is where championships of tomorrow are built. So pay attention, you just might learn something.