Negotiations between Major League Baseball and the MLBPA centered around the possibility of an international draft, sources close to the ownership told ESPN on Wednesday.
The union is not in favor, according to those sources, while the league would like to institute it for the first time in history. The league also believes this is tied to the elimination of draft pick compensation for free agents who leave their former teams.
Without the draft, the league won’t eliminate the compensation a team must forgo when it signs a free agent. The rule hurts the market for players who have turned down qualifying offers.
The league offers the union alternatives to the original offer: finish the parameters of the rest of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and sign it while the pros and cons of the international draft are examined for two years. If by 2024, the union still doesn’t want to implement the draft, then the league would have the right to reopen the CBA.
Another option would be to take a deal without the draft and without eliminating draft pick compensation.
The third option is to complete the original offer: institute an international draft, and in exchange, the league will eliminate draft pick compensation.
