Now that the local drama of drafting and signing first overall pick Stephen Strasburg is over — as well as the future of Mike Rizzo in the Nationals’ front office — is it finally time for the game to tweak the amateur draft system as we’ve known it? It was time to do that some years back.
Unlike other team sports that hold amateur drafts, only baseball doesn’t allow teams to trade picks. They’ve never really come up with a solid reason why, other than to flaunt some kind of moral superiority. The closest they ever came was back in 1985 when the Expos drafted Oklahoma State slugger Pete Incaviglia with the 8th overall pick on June 3, signed him on Nov. 2 — and immediately traded him to Texas for pitcher Bob Sebra and infielder Jim Anderson.
Inky didn’t want to play north of the border; he wanted to play in front of the same fans who watched him in college, and forced the Expos’ hand. It was a wretched deal for Montreal, and shortly thereafter baseball ruled that you couldn’t trade a drafted player until he’d been in your system for a year.
Trading picks would allow struggling ballclubs to swap a high pick — perhaps a player they’d have difficulty signing — for a serviceable big leaguer or two, plus a pick lower in the first round.
Look at the Pirates this year. They drafted catcher Tony Sanchez out of Boston College with the fourth overall pick, and quickly signed him for $2.5 million. Sanchez is a fine prospect, but he got roughly $4 million less than third pick Donavan Tate got from San Diego.
If trading picks were allowed, it’s entirely feasible that Pittsburgh could’ve swapped that pick, moved down a dozen spots — or more — and still have been able to draft Sanchez, who’d been projected to go much later in the first round or early second round. In essence, they drafted Sanchez as much for his signability, but still overpaid because of where he was taken.
Trading draft picks would also liven up TV coverage of the draft itself. The added drama on TV in the NBA and NFL drafts is always entertaining. The fact that the baseball draft takes place during the season instead of the offseason would create added intrigue, since deals might be made then between haves and have-nots that would impact the races well before the non-waiver deadline on July 31.
I’d like to think that MLB has similar progressive thoughts. I’d like to, anyway.
Phil Wood is a contributor to Nats Xtra on MASN. Contact him at philwood@
washingtonexaminer.com.
