Time for the MLB Draft to Evolve

You know, it’s really hard to get excited for the MLB draft. I mean this season the Pirates have the number one overall and I bet even that will only prompt real nuts die hands to watch.

It’s not an event, little drama, the athlete’s stories are often pretty vanilla, and you know for damn sure if your team drafts 15th, they’ll draft 15th.

See MLB is the only of the four North American pro leagues to not allow for the trading of draft picks. It was designed that way to prevent teams from hurting themselves, and I’m sure there are some team execs who would handle it poorly.

Now if you’re a rebuilding team like our Buccos and you have the number one overall pick, you’re probably going to get a really good player, but play with me here a bit, what if the Rangers really really want Jordan Lawler at number 2 and they’d trade that pick to you plus a comp B pick typically like pick 62 or there abouts to ensure they get him. The Pirates could still take Mayer or Leiter at 2 but now they’d get an extra high end piece.

Sure they’d have to mess with slotting money, maybe the slot money follows the pick rather than the team. Regardless why would the team not have that option?

Wouldn’t that help a rebuilding club to stack prospects thus giving them a better chance to really work through the process?

I can hear you now, Bob would always trade the number one pick, he’s so cheap after all. Ok, I’ll ignore the fact nobody has spent more in the draft than your Pirates since the slotting system was implemented, and instead skip to asking how you think having more picks would cause you to spend less.

The CBA negotiations are sure to be contentious after this season, but I still don’t see a cap, the ultimate fix to what ails the sport, that doesn’t mean we can’t actively hope for and discuss some other changes like this that could still help balance a scales a bit more.

Think about if you were able to trade a player for picks you’d make yourself or even use to move up rather than a probable miss prospect or someone else’s problem. MLB has no shortage of problems, and the fix isn’t Cap or bust.