Trading Draft Picks
Should teams be able to trade draft picks?
With the conclusion of this year’s MLB draft, I couldn’t help but think about ways to improve the draft. I think Major League Baseball has done a solid job over the last decade in creating a better event and the coverage is steadily growing on the players that are expected to be drafted. But on the actual night of the draft, there isn’t nearly as much excitement or “wow moments” as the NFL or NBA draft. Trading draft picks could be the answer.
One of the most intriguing aspects of the NFL and NBA drafts is if a team is willing to trade assets for the right to a specific pick, it can change the entire dynamic of the draft. For example, the Houston Texans had the second overall pick and drafted a QB and then traded for the rights to the third overall pick and made a huge splash with getting 2 top 3 talents to build their next core around. The Texans gave up the 12th pick, the 33rd pick (the second pick in the second round) and a first and a third round pick in next year’s draft. There is no question they gave up a lot but they saw a player who could change their organization and went for it.
What if something like this could happen in the MLB draft?
As it stands currently in MLB, teams cannot trade draft picks. There are really 2 main strategies that teams use to draft. One way teams draft is by drafting the best player available and worry about how that player fits into the organization at a later date. The second way teams draft is by drafting players who were projected to go later in the draft to save money. Then, they use that money to try to lure other players in later rounds to sign with them rather than lose them to going to college. One way doesn’t seem better than the other but a lot of the smaller market teams believe that quantity is better than quality when it comes to drafting young prospects.
This year’s draft was not that exciting once the Pirates decided to draft Paul Skenes. It was pretty predictable which players were going to go in the top 5. But would the draft have been different if teams could have traded up for a talent that they felt was an organization changer? For teams that are rebuilding like the Nationals, Pirates, and Tigers, would they be interested in a package like this:
The ability to trade draft picks may allow organizations that like the “quantity over quality” to execute that plan even more with additional picks.
It’s possible that teams would not value the first pick more than the third pick but if a contending team had a chance to acquire the first pick, would they do it? If the Los Angeles Angels at #11 or the Arizona Diamondbacks at #12 had a chance to trade up and acquire Skenes, would they consider it? Some believe that Skenes is only a year away from impacting a big league roster and a team that is in “win now mode” could benefit from signing a player like Skenes.
The in-draft trades may not be attractive to some teams but I think trading players along with draft picks could be enticing. There are very few trades that occur prior to the week of the trade deadline. If teams had the opportunity to acquire draft picks, it could force teams to trade much sooner than the August deadline. Imagine if the Angels decided they were toast (they should do this) and decided to trade Shohei Ohtani right before the draft. Not only could they have acquired a couple of top prospects from a team but they could have also acquired another first round pick or a couple of picks in the top 5 rounds. A move like that could change an organization’s farm system rapidly.
Just like certain teams in the NBA and NFL, there would be teams that would rarely trade their draft picks. I think contending teams would consider it and the small market teams would jump at the opportunity to gain more draft capital.
If MLB decided to change to allowing teams to trade draft picks, there would need to be a limit on how far in advance a team can trade picks. There is a rule in the NBA known as the “Stepien Rule” that tries to prevent teams from trading first round picks in back-to-back drafts. I think a rule like this would be necessary to prevent a team from trading away most of their draft capital and leaving an organization bare. Maybe instead of not being able to trade back-to-back first round picks, maybe it’s 3 or 4 straight seasons. But the last thing MLB needs is more teams that are not competitive for long stretches.
The one aspect of the draft that would make trading picks difficult is the money that is attached to picks. First round draft picks have assigned values and teams go into the draft with a set amount of money they can spend. For example, the Pirates #1 pick had a slot value of 9,721,000. In rounds 1-10 and a competitive balance pick after the second round, Pittsburgh’s bonus pool total was 16,185,700. Unless teams would send money with picks, it would be difficult to sign multiple first rounders as well as a team’s other top 10 round picks. This would be something that would have to be adjusted if trading picks came into play.
I am all for a rule change that increases transactions. The MLB draft has come a long way but it can continue to improve and become more entertaining. Trading draft picks could create a lot more buzz around baseball, which is always a good thing for the sport.
Do you think teams should be able to trade draft picks?