Draft Pick Bonuses Will Be In Focus At MLB Owners Meetings

MLB owners today will begin a set of quarterly meetings in Cooperstown, N.Y. With a previously scheduled vote on the proposed sale of the Astros to Houston businessman Jim Crane now delayed, the sessions will focus primarily on economic and labor matters, particularly with MLB teams this week aggressively doling out about $70M in first-round draft pick bonuses. A hard slotting system to rein in such payments has long been a priority of MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, and the subject is a key one in ongoing labor negotiations with the MLBPA.

The gathering will also be the first set of owners' meetings since the Dodgers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 27. Dodgers Owner Frank McCourt plans to be present, as is his usual custom, even as he appears to now have few remaining allies in the game.