MLB CBA "Tramples" Small-Market Teams, Future Of Competitive Balance In Question

Low-revenue teams “got trampled” in MLB’s new CBA in such a way that it "raises genuine concerns for their future,” according to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSPORTS.com. One GM on Tuesday said, “We are headed for massive problems in the next CBA. Competitive balance is going to get progressively worse.” Rosenthal wrote the new restrictions on spending in both the amateur draft and international market “are daggers to low-revenue clubs, robbing them of two of the few advantages they had.” The draft “had become a lifeblood for such teams, the one talent pool in which they could play catch-up” (FOXSPORTS.com, 11/22). In Denver, Troy Renck writes for a league “trying to improve competitive balance, the new rules run against logic.” Capping draft spending “will hurt those teams much more than the Red Sox, Yankees and Phillies, who have unlimited resources” (DENVER POST, 11/23). ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark asked, “Do teams like the Royals or Pirates really WANT a ‘bonus pool’ essentially telling them what they can spend on their top picks?” The owners and MLB Commissioner Bud Selig “might want one," but baseball people are “clearly not real thrilled” (ESPN.com, 11/22). On Long Island, Ken Davidoff named “big-market clubs” the winners in the new CBA and named the “ambitious underachievers” the losers. Davidoff: “Why dissuade teams from trying to get better? Why, for that matter, provide any incentive for two-sport athletes to turn elsewhere? It makes no sense” (NEWSDAY, 11/23). ESPN ‘s Buster Olney said the draft structure is "getting a lot of attention within management circles, within the team circle.: Olney: "Small-market executives are furious with the way the draft has been structured” (“Mike & Mike in the Morning,” ESPN2, 11/23).

PRESSING RESET: YAHOO SPORTS’ Jeff Passan writes the new CBA “resets the way some of the most progressive teams do business.” Gone are the days “of unfettered spending by teams that preach scouting and player development -- from the low-revenue Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates, who have overhauled their farm systems with savvy allocation of money, to the big-money Texas Rangers, who leveraged their investments into consecutive World Series appearances.” Whether the complaints are “merely cold feet by executives or legitimate gripes will play itself out in baseball’s petri dish over the next five years” (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 11/23). In Pittsburgh, Dejan Kovacevic writes under the header, “Baseball Sticks It To Pirates.” If the Pirates were to spend $17M next season on signing draft picks, as they did in '11, and their ceiling “were set at $9 million, they'd actually have to pay $25 million.” But Pirates President Frank Coonelly was “adamant that baseball wasn't out to get his team.” Coonelly: "Is this everything the Pittsburgh Pirates hoped it would be? No. But we don't subscribe to the notion it was aimed at us” (PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 11/23). In St. Petersburg, Joe Smith noted the Rays pay "over-slot to players to try to get them to sign, and now with the new system, it means even less margin for error” for the team (TAMPABAY.com, 11/22).

BOOS FROM BORAS: MLB player agent Scott Boras said that the new signing bonus restrictions “will punish low-revenue teams that produce a winning record, because they will have less money to spend on high-end picks.” Boras: "This will hurt all of baseball. This was not good for the game at all. There have to be some amendments to it because this dramatically impacts the game. It goes against the revenue sharing concept. This dramatically affects parity. That concept is gone. A team's chance to dramatically improve has been reduced.” He added, “Try to find a GM who's for this” (USA TODAY, 11/23). Boras said new franchise owners “can no longer rely on the draft to improve their franchise in a major way.” Boras: “The GMs now have less flexibility, less ability to do it. It’s going to take longer to improve your team in a meaningful way” (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 11/22).

NOW HOLD ON A MINUTE...: In Pittsburgh, Bob Smizik writes the new CBA is a "setback” for small-market teams, but they “still will have first crack at the best players.” If paying over slot was “such a clear way to success, the big-spending teams would be doing more of it” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 11/23). In Boston, Michael Silverman notes prior to the new CBA, “deep-pocketed teams such as the Red Sox essentially ignored MLB’s suggested signing bonuses for draft picks.” Now, an “advantage the Red Sox had simply by being rich has been virtually wiped out” (BOSTON HERALD, 11/23). In N.Y., George King III cites a source as saying, "Looking at this thing, there is nothing good in it for the clubs who write checks -- the Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies" (N.Y. POST, 11/23).

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE: In DC, Adam Kilgore writes across the league, “many worried the new rules will prevent baseball from attracting the best athletes in the country.” Their thinking was that the “best athletes will play college football or college basketball without a significant payday from baseball, especially since college baseball teams do not provide full scholarships.” But Selig said, “I have no concerns about that. I don’t believe that that’s a possibility. I believe the sport is on an upgrade at every level” (WASHINGTON POST, 11/23). NBCSPORTS.com’s Craig Calcaterra wrote the tax on draft bonuses “seems downright punitive.” The new CBA is going to make MLB “way less attractive to amateur players.” Calcaterra: “If you’re an elite two-sport athlete you’d be frankly crazy to try baseball first before giving the NBA or NFL a shot.” It may also serve “as a de-incentive for scouts and agents and stuff to look for the next big thing in the Dominican Republic” (NBCSPORTS.com, 11/22). GRANTLAND’s Jonah Keri wrote the new CBA “risks harming the game in two major ways: Smart teams in non-elite markets could fall further behind,” and premium young athletes “could become more motivated to take up basketball, football, soccer … basically any sport that isn't baseball” (GRANTLAND.com, 11/22). Baseball Prospectus’ Kevin Goldstein said, "We'll see fewer people playing baseball. We’re going to see more kids going to play basketball and football and kids not signing out of high school and going to play college in another sport. You are making baseball worse through this, and it's a darn shame” ("Chicago Tribune Live,” Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 11/22).