Procedures and rules Major League Baseball draft

1 procedures , rules

1.1 eligibility
1.2 draft order
1.3 negotiating rights
1.4 compensatory picks

1.4.1 pre-2013 rules
1.4.2 current rules


1.5 other changes 2012

1.5.1 bonus pool
1.5.2 new signing rules

procedures , rules
eligibility

to drafted, player must fit following criteria:

be resident of, or have attended educational institution in, united states, canada, or u.s. territory such puerto rico. players other countries not subject draft, , can signed team unless have attended educational institution in aforementioned areas.
have never signed major or minor league contract.
high school players eligible after graduation, , if have not attended college.
players @ four-year colleges , universities eligible 3 years after first enrolling in such institution, or after 21st birthdays (whichever occurs first).
junior , community college players eligible drafted @ time.

draft order

the general draft order reverse order of previous year s standings. if 2 teams finish identical records, previous year s standings of 2 teams tiebreaker, team having worse record receiving higher pick.

negotiating rights

prior 2007, team retained rights sign selected player until 1 week prior next draft, or until player enters, or returns to, four-year college on full-time basis. known draft-and-follow procedure.

starting in 2012, deadline signing drafted player july 15. selected player enters junior college cannot signed until conclusion of school s baseball season. player drafted , not sign club selected him may drafted again @ future year s draft, long player eligible year s draft. club may not select player again in subsequent year, unless player has consented re-selection.

a player eligible selected , passed on every club becomes free agent , may sign club, until 1 week before next draft, or until player enters, or returns to, four-year college full-time or enters, or returns to, junior college. in one-week period before draft, called closed period , general rule no club may sign new player.

compensatory picks

currently, teams can earn compensatory picks in draft based on departing free agents reject qualifying offer respective team. qualifying offer defined one-year contract worth average value of top 120 player contracts year (in 2015, value of qualifying offer $15.8 million). 2013 draft saw major changes compensation rules. implemented part of recent collective bargaining agreement (cba) between mlb , players union, took effect 2012 season.

pre-2013 rules

before 2013 draft, free agents ranked elias sports bureau based on previous 2 years of playing, , against players of similar positions. players categorized either type or type b, or fell category of other players. below description of each free agent class , compensation free agent s former team received when player signed different team.

• type free agent ranked in top 20 percent of players @ position. team signed type player gave top draft pick club player left; club received supplemental pick in sandwich round between first , second rounds.

• type b free agent ranked below top 20 percent in top 40 percent of players @ position. team lost type b player received supplemental pick, signing team did not lose pick.

• other players carried no compensation @ all. there had been third class of type c players, eliminated in 2007 cba.

to earn compensatory pick, free agent must have been either signed before arbitration deadline in december, or offered arbitration former team still signed team.

compensatory picks 1 team gave via method highest available pick team had, exception of picks in top half of first round. these picks protected being used compensation. if team picked in top half of first draft signed type free agent, give second-round pick. if team owed 2 other teams draft picks via type free agents, team departing player had higher score got higher-ranked pick. team not lose picks earned via compensation. post-2012 rules aspect of draft similar, except type , type b designations no longer exist (see below).

the order of supplemental round between first , second rounds, feature remain in place in 2013 , beyond, determined inverse order of previous year s standings. under pre-2013 rules, type picks made first, , order reset type b compensation picks.

in feature did not change recent cba in 2012, teams can earn compensation unsigned picks previous year s draft. if team doesn t sign first or second round pick, pick @ same slot plus 1 following year. example, if team #5 pick not sign player, have #6 pick following year. regular draft order continue around picks. compensation not signing third round pick, teams pick in supplemental round between third , fourth rounds. if team fails sign player 1 of these compensated picks, there no compensation following year.

current rules

for 2012 draft, previous type , type b designations remained in place, cba included special provisions modified statuses of 11 players type free agents under 2007 cba. 6 of these modified type —meaning signing team did not forfeit draft pick, player s former team received compensatory pick in same position have earned under regular type rules. remaining 5 modified type b , compensation identical other type b free agents.

starting 2013 draft, free agents no longer classified type . instead, team able receive compensation if makes former player offer @ least equal average of 125 richest contracts. however, if player traded during final season of contract, new team ineligible receive compensation.

other changes 2012

the new cba introduced other significant changes draft.

bonus pool

from 2012 draft on, each team allocated bonus pool can offer initial contracts drafted players. each team s pool based on draft position , number of picks, plus amount spent in previous year s draft. 2012 draft, these pools ranged $4.5 million $11.5 million. if team goes on threshold 5 percent or less, must pay luxury tax of 75% on amount on threshold. teams go 5 10 percent on must pay 100% tax on excess, , lose next first-round pick. team goes 15 percent on can lose next 2 first-round picks, in addition luxury tax . these excess picks go smaller-revenue teams via yet-to-be-reported formula. uniquely, these compensatory picks can traded—marking first time mlb has allowed trading of draft picks. however, previous rules against trading of regular picks, or picks awarded free agent compensation, remain in force.

new signing rules

teams can no longer offer major league contracts draft choices—only minor league contracts available. exception drafted players have scholarships in other sports. also, date signing new picks has moved mid-august mid-july.